Chapter Twenty-One: The Castle and the Toothless Ancient Ape (Please Vote for Me)

Beyond the area of one hundred acres, each ten acres cost ten thousand yuan. For land less than one hundred thousand acres, the price was rounded off. Fang Zhuowei calculated that acquiring this mountain ridge of a hundred and sixty-five acres would cost him around one hundred thousand yuan. It was a bit more than he had initially anticipated, yet still within his means.

On this trip home, Fang Zhuowei brought all his savings. Over the past few years, he had worked hard, earning nearly three hundred thousand in total—not a fortune, but enough to be comfortable compared to some. The money for the mountain was still manageable.

Having long decided to buy the mountain, he didn't hesitate for long. He paid and signed the contract without delay.

By the time everything was settled, noon had arrived.

He touched his rumbling stomach and casually boiled some noodles, making tomato and egg noodles. After eating until he was about eighty percent full, he set down his bowl and chopsticks.

His pancreas was linked to his stomach and intestines; even if he had an appetite, he couldn't overeat. A moment's indulgence would bring hours of discomfort afterward.

After his meal, Fang Zhuowei went straight to the fish tank.

Though only a morning had passed in the real world, in the world inside the fish tank, tens of thousands of years had already elapsed.

"In just a short while, these little creatures have managed to build castles and similar structures!"

Through the glass, Fang Zhuowei gazed at the tribe of ancient apes on the Black Soil Continent, unable to conceal his astonishment.

Where his gaze fell, on some relatively flat patches of land, oval-shaped structures had sprung up. These oval buildings resembled castles, built from black soil and gleaming under the dim light.

Though crude in form—far less exquisite than the palaces and castles of later eras—these buildings were advanced given the current productivity of the ancient apes.

The castles stretched across the Black Soil Continent, densely packed, bearing some semblance to the early city-states.

What amazed Fang Zhuowei most was that the ancient apes had already reached the tribal era.

They connected their castles into clusters, establishing a vast, unified ancient ape tribe at the foot of Yan Mountain, naming it "Earth."

This unified society allowed the ancient apes a long period of peaceful development, spanning ten thousand years.

Most notably, after ten thousand years of growth, their population had soared to a staggering three hundred thousand.

"But, it seems food is running low!"

Aside from the black soil and inedible moss, their only food source was the rice powder Fang Zhuowei had originally scattered.

The rice powder was the tribe’s sole nourishment, but after so many years, only a scant amount remained.

The most difficult period for the ancient apes was over. From now on, Fang Zhuowei couldn’t simply scatter rice powder or other ready-made food. Conveniently, he had just bought some seeds—why not scatter those instead?

That way, the tribe could learn self-reliance and enjoy abundant food, achieving two goals at once.

Decision made, Fang Zhuowei turned to fetch the seeds.

In the time he took to retrieve them, an unprecedented famine swept through the tribe.

In the thirty-three thousandth year of ancient ape civilization, the last reserves of rice powder were exhausted. The tribe, long accustomed to a life of indulgence—eating and sleeping without care—faced their first food crisis.

Unfortunately, these pleasure-seeking creatures had no ability to cope with the overwhelming famine.

Countless apes died of starvation; the once lively city turned into a wasteland strewn with corpses.

Despair raged through the city, panic boiling over, with the surviving apes struggling desperately.

It was the darkest era, the most terrifying age.

Within just two months, the tribe dwindled by nearly ninety percent, from three hundred thousand to a mere few tens of thousands, and the number continued to plummet.

By the time Fang Zhuowei returned with the seeds, only ten thousand apes remained.

These survivors differed from those who merely waited for food; they had grown up with a sense of crisis, habitually hiding food for emergencies. Thanks to this rare awareness, they survived.

Though the tribe suffered heavy losses, Fang Zhuowei did not feel overly regretful.

After all, only the fittest survive.

Moreover, given the tribe's remarkable ability to reproduce, even if only a hundred remained, they could rapidly grow the population, with only the strongest left behind.

So he wasn’t worried about their extinction.

After retrieving the seeds, Fang Zhuowei shrank them to a suitable size using the black hole.

When all was ready, he waved his hand grandly.

In mid-air, a dense shower of seeds fell like meteors onto the Black Soil Continent.

Thunderous booms resounded.

Dust flew everywhere. The deafening noise caught the attention of the surviving apes, frightening them into hiding.

After the initial panic, they gradually emerged.

In small groups, they gathered around the seeds, scratching their heads. One starved ape, thinking the seeds were food, tried to bite into them—only to have its teeth shatter.

With one "example" set, the others quickly shook their heads and backed away.

A joke, indeed. Hunger aside, they weren’t foolish; without teeth, even food would be useless.

The unfortunate ape was a young one with golden fur, only four or five years old, its face still childish, weaker than an ant and as insignificant as dust—barely visible even with a magnifying glass.

Still, this tiny creature dared to try chewing without hesitation.

Such rare courage!

Sadly, its teeth were clearly not up to the task.

Luckily, it hadn’t reached adulthood; its teeth could grow back, or else eating would be a problem.

Throughout, Fang Zhuowei never revealed himself, nor did he explain the purpose of the seeds. He simply tossed them down.

The apes had merged with the cells of golden monkeys—highly intelligent primate nobles. After fusing with spores and evolving for tens of thousands of years, they had even created their own written language. Their intelligence now rivaled ordinary humans, fully capable of figuring out how to use the seeds.

Fang Zhuowei observed from above, his gaze sharp and calm, quietly watching every move of the tribe below.

“You, you are the wisest among us. Please, take a look—what exactly did that giant beast leave behind?”

Among the remaining apes, a female broke the silence, speaking first.