Chapter 602

""The task is going smoothly; everyone here loves the sleep-banana little monkeys, especially the young people represented by the students. They will create a new synesthetic dream, the 'Moment of the Sleep Banana,' and catalyze its growth, expansion, and even evolution...""

Luan Po clenched his fists, his teeth grinding with a "creak" sound: "Does the Imperial Monkey House slaughter all living beings under heaven just to establish an evil kingdom of the Hundred Demons Night March?"

——

Marvel Universe

In the hallway of Central City High School, bustling with voices, Ned flung his arms around Peter Parker, who was about to slip away to change clothes, his chubby face full of disbelief.

"Hey! Peter! That Banana Master has admitted his guilt— that guy isn't even willing to act a bit!" Ned's voice rose over the surrounding noise: "To plunge all of Pinokangni into a meme virus, creating countless monkeys as infection sources, and it's just a 'second-class research monkey'?"

Peter absentmindedly grunted an "uh," trying to pull his backpack strap out of Ned's enthusiastic embrace. The meme virus doesn't trigger his spider-sense, and it has already infected many classmates… Although the situation isn't utterly disastrous, a deeper unease continually weighs on his shoulders.

"Second-class research monkey!" Ned repeated, as if the words themselves held power: "Listen to that title! It means there's also a 'first-class' and even a 'special-class'! Good heavens, Peter, imagine what a first-class research monkey is like—have they already graduated? Is their research topic assisting in building a civilization?"

"Maybe… Ned, I have to…"

Peter tried to interrupt him; he needed to go find Mr. Stark for a moment.

Peter glanced out the window, calculating the best route from the third-floor window to the opposite building's roof.

"Moreover, he's still planning to create a new synesthetic dream! He intends to make the monkeys grow—grow into what? Is he trying to make humans re-evolve? Peter, these research monkeys are utterly crazy, or is it that all scientists are this mad? Perhaps to them the universe is just a giant lab!" Ned was completely immersed in his reasoning, going on and on: "Peter, do you think there are lurking research monkeys on Earth secretly conducting atavism experiments? If so—hey! The Avengers would have to reassemble! Haha, awesome—"

Ned tried to pat his friend's shoulder, intending to discuss what pose they should strike for the next Avengers assembly, but his slap met only air… He turned around—his side was already empty.

Outside the window, Peter had already nimbly clung to the outer wall of the school building.

""Sorry, buddy, the situation is urgent…" Peter slipped on his Spider-Man mask, "... you'll have to eat dinner by yourself.""

——

""Fellow student, your words are really hard to understand—are you scolding me?" The Banana Master adopted an aloof attitude and sighed: "Never mind, ordinary people can't grasp the greatness of the atavism experiment. Before I explain the doctrine, let's have a pop quiz: do you know how bananas reproduce?"

""To ensure texture, most commercial bananas are propagated asexually, with no seeds or pollen, requiring shoots to be cultivated from identical rhizomes." Dan Heng said.

""Correct answer. Five Amber Eras ago, the Erudition Society cultivated a banana that humanity deemed perfect—the Golden Sleep Banana. The Golden Sleep Banana quickly dominated the fruit market; it is nutritionally rich, sweet-tasting, and its peel emits a captivating golden glow, making every night in an interstellar banana garden shine like a golden moment."

""But it went extinct in the end, right?"

Ban Shou nodded: "Exactly, only artificially propagated sleep bananas have no possibility of evolution; identical genes give them identical weaknesses. When a deadly space fungus began to spread along the production line…… this species that dominated the universe vanished within just a few months."

Dan Heng's gaze darkened: "You mean, humans are the same?"

"Yes, the ancestor of the sleep banana was a wildly prolific green wild banana. Without human intervention, it should have blossomed with even more colorful brilliance, just like Pinokangni." Ban Shou walked to the window, gazing into the distance at the skyscrapers: "But the people here chose a crude imitation: building skyscrapers, establishing cities, printing currency, and then willingly becoming a piece of the cosmic puzzle."

"Just like the golden sleep banana, unchanging, fragile at a touch, and ultimately useless." Ban Shou withdrew his gaze from afar, looking at the neatly arranged books on the nearby shelf: "Because it accepted erroneous banana cultivation, the doctor wants to return the misguided world to an embryo full of potential, giving them a chance to grow again—that is the atavism experiment."

——

Original God.

"This monkey…… I actually feel that what he says makes some sense."

Apart from the gift of the Mondstadt angel, the nighttime clamor has not completely taken over this place. Kaeya swayed the Afternoon Death in his hand, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Let the misguided world return to the embryo, gain a chance to grow again—can it ensure that the reborn embryo can reach today's level of civilization?"

"Of course not." Rosalia, sitting across the table, lightly exhaled a puff of smoke and flicked off the ash: "Misguided…… who gets to define what is a 'misguided path'? Is it the banana‑loving Ban Shou and the primitive doctor?"

"If one can arbitrarily decide a civilization's fate based solely on personal preference, then the universe is doomed. Today he can define the lavish, wine‑filled Pinokangni as misguided; tomorrow he can define our technologically backward selves as misguided…… it's just a matter of their saying so."

"Wow, this sister has keen insight." Venti cast an appreciative glance at the sister who looked sleep‑deprived, "But if I may say, the charm of life lies precisely in its unpredictable process—sprouting, growing, flourishing, withering…… no matter the pain and despair experienced in between, these are the verses that make this world unique. If everything were erased through the atavism experiment……" He shook his head, "This isn't salvation; it's the utmost arrogance and destruction… sigh… it seems the primitive doctor knows nothing of the romance of poetry."

"Hey hey… Venti bro, why are you speaking so prim and proper today?" Kaeya casually topped up Venti's cup with wine, "Usually when you drink you're not so restrained, right? I'll say this up front—I didn't bring any Mora to pay for your poetry."

"Eh heh, any?" Venti gave a light smile, "Maybe it's because too many people cheered me on in the square today, letting my poetic inspiration flow endlessly."

——

"However, I have visited those star systems." Luanpo walked out from behind the star, "I have gone star by star, yet found not a single ninja able to speak—all are fiends…… and you clearly know they were not born this way."

"The monkey that just crawled past your feet was, a few years ago, still a sailor, usually brewing his own drink." Luanpo shifted his gaze to another monkey leaping about behind him, "The one mingling with the other monkeys in the distance is the smartest person on that planet—he once knew how humans could fly to the heavens."

Luanpo gritted his teeth, word by word: "But from now on, they…… are just monkeys."

"Is this my illusion? Classmate, you seem to have learned to speak normally." Ban Shou lightly laughed, "Or perhaps——this scene reminds you of the past?"