Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 158
Only Noblemtl
Episode 158. A Time When War Was Better
On Earth, the American and Eurasian continents were isolated after the Ice Age because there was no way to cross, and the Oceania continent was also isolated and developed its own species, but… … .
There are very few isolated territories in this world. The Far West (Vulcan) can be easily crossed by a small boat, and the Far East can be reached by a small boat.
A remote place untouched by civilization. That very word is somewhat unfamiliar to the people of this world. The underground passage was unified by Enrakisho, and the polar regions were occupied by Penkant. Even in space, there are space demons… … .
So, let’s say, in ancient times, almost all places in the world were discovered, and people drew primitive world maps at this point. The measurements are not exact, but the structure itself is similar.
It’s surprising to think that there were undiscovered wilderness areas on Earth almost until the modern era.
The sailors who traveled around on ships worked hard to develop and cultivate the land. This must have been because they had a powerful force called mystery.
However, it is not the case that there are no independent regions in this world.
The people of this world are not accustomed to so-called ‘ocean navigation’ because the lands are too close together. The only time they attempt it is when surveying has been completed and a shortcut is known.
Datang, who has little interest in sailing in particular, is a truly unknown territory, with only a few islands in the western sea and no way to get there or return.
I don’t know if there is land or not. It is difficult to see land with Patchar’s eyes in the sea.
The Datons did not necessarily attempt reckless voyages. The first to attempt them was the Datang ship called Kiamor Orolan.
And the invincible one who wanted to expand his territory in the far western region by any means possible.
Orolan’s contact was actually faster, but the invincible one gets the blame. That’s because Orolan’s contact didn’t make them land directly in Datang, but because the invincible one touched them, instead of going the eastern route, they went through the route of Vulcon->Eron->Baekara->Datang & Tatop->Goaran & Dongyang, and landed all over the world.
So who are these people who later came to be called ‘disease demons’?
Why are they called the Disease Demons and why are they completely destroying the population of this mysterious world?
Let’s check it out for yourself now.
It is now between the primordial era and the primitive era. The world is full of hexapods, and the primordial gods are roughly evolving hexapods into various creatures, including Iyakan and dragons. This era can be called the Mesozoic era.
In this Mesozoic era, in addition to creatures based on skein pods, various plants, and fungi, new types of creatures were flourishing.
‘Devils’. They are creatures that ended the primordial era. There are plant-based monsters that convert atmospheric magic into energy through magic synthesis, as well as plant-based monsters and animal-based monsters that move by lowering external magic pressure.
Those who ended the ancient gods in the ancient era evolved independently in this era and spread throughout the world. They are the ancestors of various monsters such as Malrangmalrang, Fungi, and others.
In a sense, the creatures of this world are vessels created by the primordial gods, so it could be said that these monsters are the true natives of this world.
The monsters endlessly lowered the magical pressure around them. They multiplied and grew, ate and were eaten by each other, and eventually they were all buried underground or fell into the sea, lowering the magical pressure on the ground and in the air.
So in this era, the whole world is in a state where super-super-super-high-magic zones are the norm. The hexapod creatures are growing to unimaginable sizes. They’ve learned how to create body structures using magic, similar to monsters.
Some evolved, while others were artificially created by the primordial gods through genetic modification.
In this world, the continents were moving, the supercontinents were spreading, and there was an island that had just separated from the polar regions while they were merging. This island was later considered the birthplace of the ‘Disease Demons’.
It is an island, but it is almost half the size of Shujor, and although it is an island, it is not round but closer to an archipelago made up of hundreds or thousands of islands, and here, monsters evolve and thrive independently.
To them, this is the world. The story of the island and evolution is a very interesting topic even in the science of Earth, but simply put, these monsters are in an endless competition, with their evolution accelerated by overflowing magical power pressure, the moon fixed in the sky, and various other factors.
And they evolve quite independently. With their abundant magical resources, these creatures create all sorts of luxurious physical structures and useful yet powerful organs.
Originally, the genes of ‘demons’ mutate more frequently than the genes of organisms such as plants and animals.
To put it extremely, one mutation appears every three generations.
It’s not so unstable that evolution and generational inheritance are impossible, but it’s not so stable that we can say that species maintenance is easy.
-What the hell is going on?
And there were a few primordial gods who came to life thanks to their will. They were greatly surprised that the creatures they had ruined rather than the organisms their relatives had entrusted their bodies to flourish.
“?”
And I was quite surprised that they evolved a very primitive intelligence.
In fact, it is primitive, but compared to the history of living things, it was quite advanced. It is the intelligence of a frog.
They didn’t have the evolutionary pressure to evolve ‘intelligence’. Intelligence is much harder to develop than you might think. Some species, especially primates and apes, such as humans, evolved ‘intelligence’ to avoid all kinds of threats, but in reality, it’s cheaper to have a detoxification system and a strong stomach that can eat any plant than to have high intelligence to distinguish between edible and inedible plants.
-Hmm. They don’t seem to be completely biologically unreasonable, so if we just raise their intelligence a bit, something good might come out of them…
The primordial gods decide to increase their intelligence.
It’s kind of funny, but it might have been the dumbest decision in the history of the world.
And then they are torn to pieces and absorbed by the island’s intelligent creatures, and their power to manipulate genetic code is taken away.
“oh…….”
“The mystery of life… … .”
The creatures on this island have a moderately high level of intelligence. They simply consciously use the genetic code they have acquired.
Evolution, originally uncontrollable and unstable, gains direction. They breed themselves.
And this ability is shared by all monsters. Not just the ‘human’ monsters that simply gained intelligence, but also livestock, insects, parasites that parasitize insects. Parasites that parasitize those. Plants, fungi. Infectious diseases, etc…
They search the oceans to find plants and animals, or ‘organisms’, and are excited to learn that these too can have their genetic code altered.
They take whatever fish they can find from the sea, twist them to their hearts’ content, and fuse monsters and organisms to gradually develop, degenerate, and thrive.
They didn’t know the outside world. They were too dependent on magic pressure. It seemed impossible to cross the ocean. So they developed only on their own islands.
When the polar Iyakan, who branched off from the ancestors of the Penkant long ago, came here, they knew that their bodies had already evolved in their own way and maintained them, leaving the young ones as they were and only ‘mutating’ the adults.
Yes, the monsters here have perfected their biopunk civilization.
Was it faster than Datang? Almost tens of millions of years faster.
Of course, it is a bit questionable whether this is really ‘civilization’.
In short, when they need to move heavy objects, they don’t build cranes, install pulleys, and use tools like chisels, but rather, they create entities that can move such objects. Huge size. Strong skeletons, powerful muscles, and chisel-like claws. They can even mutate in their time.
Genetic manipulation is their mystery. They manipulate the body with their mind, and since the body can be changed at any time, they value the immutable common sense of the mind more.
That is, you study mathematics. You also learn magic. However, you cannot come into contact with ‘demons’.
Their civilization was quite advanced, but they could not go beyond the sea. In fact, there was essentially no reason to do so. It was better to fight fiercely here than to imagine people from other worlds.
So, when the best in the East spread the divine power wave, they were caught up in great excitement.
And there was even more excitement when Pencant’s army landed in the west, in the polar regions.
Pencant came here and thought that something was seriously wrong.
They willingly transform Pencant’s crude body, which contains a great spirit, into something greater.
Their ‘ship’, the whale, can cross the sea, which is a low-magic zone. And if you modify them to be made up of all kinds of aquatic creatures, even the disease demons can now cross the sea.
But when they went to the polar regions, they treated us very harshly. They welcomed guests from the east, but they just ran away.
So, there’s no choice. A guest comes from the north. It seems the northern lands were closer. The ‘Great Being’ quickly left, but it’s okay. We have ships now.
‘They’ have no doubt that the other civilized peoples of the world will welcome us. They, with their indescribable pronunciation, cross over to the far north, to Vulcon… … .
Folks, this may be a random question, but did you know that the conquest of the American continent, or colonization as it was called, was a matter of great luck?
What I mean is, living things cannot have immunity to diseases other than those they have experienced. And only those individuals that have adapted to the disease survive and pass on traits that help them survive to future generations.
The evolutionary pressures posed by this disease are so strong that they have caused red blood cells, which should be round to resist malaria, to bend into a sickle shape.
But. The so-called ‘zoonotic diseases’ that spread from animals to humans are famously vicious. Ebola, AIDS, and COVID-19 all started in animals. The extinct smallpox also came from camels. The Black Death is the same.
But. This… … there wasn’t much livestock in the Americas. So when the European conquerors came, the natives were dying from vicious diseases like smallpox and such, but the Europeans only got syphilis.
What if the natives had raised a lot of livestock? More than 20 species? What if America was a breeding ground for diseases that no one but the natives could survive?
Probably they couldn’t conquer it. Incidentally, this is also the reason why Africa couldn’t be colonized for a long time. The African traditional endemic diseases were so strong that imperialists couldn’t settle there.
That’s what I’m saying.
These creatures have been manipulating the genetic code of living creatures for at least tens of millions of years.
Meanwhile, diseases that parasitize these creatures have also evolved along with them for tens of millions of years.
To overcome that, the monsters also evolved.
Diseases have also evolved to overcome this.
Their appearance is so horrible that it is beyond description, it is beyond words… Let’s say it’s a cultural difference. If you meet them in person, they are gentlemen.
But… … . absolutely. No one. No living thing on the original continent could withstand this disease that was rife and growing in their skin, fur, saliva, stomach, and excrement.
So, they are called the disease demons. It’s a shame, considering that they were actually very willing to talk and were actually quite kind.
What’s even more unfortunate is that the Invincibles beat them all up just by looking at their appearances. So they just passed by the Far West and landed on the Western mainland.
Some people reject others because of their appearance, but those who dare to talk to others despite their appearance will all collapse in a few days.
They are disoriented and transform the dead, using a form of necromancy to drag their souls into stronger bodies.
Those who enter the modified body go crazy and go crazy. They have no choice but to abandon this ‘weak’ race and go somewhere else… … .
The invasion of the Disease Demons began around 1200 AD. They continued to move across the world.
And those things that stand in their way, they break through with their mystery, their unique reproductive powers, and their tenacity, demanding a superior union of the spirit over the physical.
The era of faith ends with them.