Faith and the King of Wisdom

Redlichia knelt beneath the statue of the God, a sense of despair washing over him, his expression as if the very heavens had come crashing down.

Yin Shen, however, found his distress rather amusing. "Why do you so desperately want them to see me?" he asked, his tone tinged with curiosity.

Redlichia spread his arms, speaking with unwavering devotion to Yin Shen upon the divine pedestal, "Without seeing the God, how can they have faith? How can they heed your divine will?"

Yin Shen pressed further, "And why do you want them to believe in me?"

Redlichia suddenly found himself at a loss for words. In his mind, faith in the God needed no justification.

Yin Shen continued, his voice taking on a philosophical timbre, "Or is it that... you believe their faith in me is important to me? That without their belief, I cease to exist?"

"I am right here, regardless of whether they can see me or not. I am always present."

"I also have no divine decrees to issue to you. You should simply multiply and thrive, creating your own civilization."

Redlichia crawled forward on his knees, reaching Yin Shen's feet. "We believe in you not because you need us, but because we need you," he declared, his voice filled with conviction.

"Just like..."

He pondered for a long while but couldn't find a suitable analogy.

Until he glimpsed the vast ocean and the radiant sun through the pillars of the temple.

"Just like!"

"Life needs water and light," he proclaimed, his voice resonating with profound truth.

Yin Shen chuckled. As an atheist, even if the true creator of the universe stood before him now, he would merely regard them as a powerful, advanced being.

His concept of a God was entirely different from Redlichia's.

His expression was noncommittal, contemptuous of the word 'God', even though he himself was called one.

Yet Redlichia below was resolute in his faith.

But the next words Redlichia spoke stirred something within Yin Shen.

He pressed his head against the base of the divine pedestal, beside Yin Shen's feet, tears flowing from his eyes.

His tone turned solemn, his voice tinged with sorrow.

"Yinsai God..."

"My greatest fear is that if I perish one day, who will serve you in this temple? Who will guard this sacred place until the end of time?"

"If even my own child cannot see you, how can all this continue?"

"You are so supreme, so magnificent. You can bestow wisdom and life upon all things, change this desolate and lifeless world, yet you cannot change your own solitude."

Yin Shen looked at him, his gaze contemplative.

He had wanted to say that these were merely Redlichia's own thoughts.

He didn't need anyone to watch over this colossal tomb, nor would he remain in this temple until the end of days. He would depart one day. What they guarded was not him, but merely a stone.

Yet seeing Redlichia's tears, for some inexplicable reason, his heart softened.

"Then what do you want?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Redlichia wiped his tears and raised his head to meet Yin Shen's gaze.

"I want to create a great civilization, one that will never fade," he declared, his voice filled with determination.

"I want them to worship you forever, to forever gather beneath this temple."

"I want to forge an unbreakable oath with all Trilobite Men, to have them guard this palace generation after generation, to engrave faith in you into their very bloodline."

Yin Shen shook his head at the still-naive Redlichia.

"These things hold meaning only to you. To me, they are meaningless," he said, his voice tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"There is no eternal civilization. Even the sun in the sky will eventually extinguish, and the universe is inevitably headed towards destruction."

"No matter how great a civilization, it cannot withstand the erosion of time."

"Even the most devout faith will be forgotten, and even the tallest, most unyielding temples and statues will ultimately collapse into ruins."

Redlichia couldn't comprehend the full weight of these words, only feeling that they spanned eons and eternity, mysteries beyond his grasp.

Yin Shen caressed the bone helmet on Redlichia's head, his voice lacking its usual detachment and hollowness.

"But if you are willing to do it, then do it," he said, his words carrying a note of encouragement.

"If these things are what you consider to be the meaning of life."

Redlichia finally spoke, his voice barely a whisper, "If the day comes when I die, please take something from my body and keep it by your side."

"That way..."

"I can accompany you forever."

Yin Shen watched Redlichia's departing figure leave the temple. In that moment, he finally saw Redlichia not as an insect or an object he had casually created, but as a living, sentient being with a heart and soul.

They continuously expanded their city around the lofty temple, encircling the pyramid and palace at the center.

The Trilobite Men grew from the initial hundreds to the current thousands.

This island finally bore a hint of civilization and the semblance of a city-state.

The Trilobite Men learned reverence. Civilization had a distribution of power. They dared not speak Redlichia's name, calling him the King of Wisdom and referring to this city as the God-Given City.

It signified that everything was a gift from the God.

In the valley behind the pyramid, a palace was constructed. Redlichia and his children resided there.

Redlichia used his sons to fill various positions in the God-Given City. Some were responsible for construction, some for food, some for guarding the warehouses, and so on.

They wielded power and united the thousands of Trilobite Men. The originally equal Trilobite Men were divided into different classes.

This Trilobite Man kingdom or city-state began to have a simple power structure.

Redlichia was the king, and his sons became the first generation of Trilobite Man nobles.

On this day, Redlichia's second son suddenly rushed in and knelt before him, his face filled with panic.

"Great King of Wisdom," he blurted out, his voice trembling, "more people have been devoured by the ocean."

Redlichia sat on the cold stone throne, his gaze fixed upon his second son.

"How many?" he asked, his tone grave.

The reply came swiftly: "The entire squad did not return."

Redlichia stood up, worry etched on his features.

He was concerned not only about the deaths but also the crisis hidden behind them.

Being devoured by the sea meant entering the deep ocean and not returning, and most would never return.

This wasn't the first time.

As the Trilobite Man population grew, the food they produced by catching insects and lingulas began to be insufficient. Even though they started drying seaweed from the seabed as food, it was still of no avail.

Their enormous size relative to this era, with thousands gathered together, was enough to empty the coastal waters around the island. And it was impossible to find food on land.

Their appearance was too abrupt for this world. The world was not ready to welcome the Trilobite Man civilization.

People in the God-Given City began to starve to death. They had no choice but to venture into the deep sea, but the deep sea was far from as peaceful as they imagined.

The ocean could nurture life, but it could also devour life.

Many Trilobite Men were lost in the deep sea, trapped in some perilous waters, or encountered unexpected situations and never returned.

Redlichia knew that the Trilobite Man civilization had encountered its first crisis.

If he couldn't overcome this hurdle, let alone establish a great civilization, he feared they would likely be stuck here, forever confined to this tiny island.