Chapter 52

 By the time the night was over, there was nothing left of the hook worms. Lin had completely converted them into nutrients for her body.

However, she felt that although using 'explosive bombs' to attack was powerful, it was a bit of a waste. There was no way to recycle them if they exploded, so she decided to use troops that didn't self-destruct next time.

Let's think about that next time. Right now, Lin was most concerned about the situation below. She could only see it clearly during the day.

The lava that erupted earlier had now turned grayish-black. It maintained its previous spreading and flowing shape as it solidified at the bottom of the sea. This was very similar to what Lin saw in the trench earlier.

Why did the lava solidify?

Was it because of the cold? The temperature of the water was very low. If low temperature could harden the water, then it could also harden the lava.

How interesting.

The Leviathan slowly swam above the solidified lava. Lin used her tentacles to touch the black surface of the lava, but she couldn't feel any heat.

Had it completely turned cold? It was as if the temperature of the entire water body was fake.

'Fake'?

What a strange word, as if it meant that things weren't necessarily what they felt … Where did these words come from? This wasn't the first time Lin suspected this, but she never got an answer.

So she turned her attention back to the lava.

Although the lava caused great damage and killed many creatures, it attracted even more creatures. A large number of single-celled creatures came here at the fastest speed. They drilled into the cracks in the solidified lava as if they were looking for something to eat.

Could there be something similar to the edible substance in the trench?

Lin was a bit curious. She released the Collectors and had them drill into the cracks in the lava. Sure enough, they found something edible inside.

This place must have attracted a large number of creatures, so they needed to occupy this place.

With that in mind, Lin placed a Seed Base at this location.

Then let's go take a look at that place.

The Leviathan swam to the mouth of the lava. There were a large number of oddly colored fragments and bubbles floating in the water here. If these bubbles were inhaled, it would cause the cells that came into contact with the gas to die.

Poisonous gas …

Perhaps it was useful. Lin could store these gases in the Gas Collectors' airbags, as long as they didn't inhale the cells, there would be no problem.

If it was injected into other creatures, they would uncontrollably absorb it because they wouldn't be able to perfectly control every single cell.

The mouth of the cave had been sealed by the solidified lava. Who knew if more lava would come out?

This place was a little dangerous. Placing a base here for observation was indeed the right choice. Perhaps there would be another outbreak in the future.

Then, it was time to leave …

When Leviathan swam out of the cave, it suddenly saw some large multicellular creatures swimming in this direction from above.

It was a hookworm.

There were a total of three of them. They were obviously not interested in the single-celled organisms floating around them. Instead, they swam toward the Leviathan from the beginning. However, they did not attack directly. Instead, they circled around the Leviathan.

Hookworms had brains, and they were much bigger than flatworms. However, according to the ratio, the hookworm's brain should be smaller.

They used the leaf-like appendages on the sides of their bodies to swim quickly in the water. This allowed them to be very agile even though they were covered in carapaces. If he were to deal with three of them at once, he would probably suffer some losses.

That's good.

Lin asked the Gas Storages to inhale the poisonous gas and swam towards the hookworm.

These hookworms were not like the last one that foolishly fell into the trap. They all dodged to the side when they saw the poisonous gas.

Their intelligence was obviously different from when they were at night … Or was it a difference between individuals?

Then, Lin created a small sphere. It was only the size of a hundred cells. The hookworm's vision could not see it clearly. There were some infected people inside the sphere. The outer layer of the sphere was equipped with eyeballs, a hollow syringe, and a tentacle that was highly sensitive to vibration.

It was called the 'Infection Sphere'. It could spray water and swim. This was a new infection method that Lin came up with. It was mainly used against creatures with brains. She wanted to see what kind of effect the virus would have on the brain of various creatures.

The Infection Sphere slowly swam towards one of the hookworms and approached its gills. The gills of the hookworm had some small tentacle structures that looked like 'filter nets'. However, they were only there to block the infection. They did not have a purpose to capture the invaders. Lin could easily avoid these filters and enter the hookworm's blood vessels through its oxygen system.

The hookworm's brain was in the center of its body. The Infection Sphere was only in one of the countless blood vessels. Lin had no idea where it was, but by relying on the Infection Sphere's tentacle, it could sense the signal from the brain and swim towards the brain.

The hookworm's blood vessels were filled with all kinds of cells, nutrients, waste, and other things, including immune cells. Lin now had to avoid the immune cells and enter the hookworm's brain to inject the virus into the brain cells.

Immune cells would attack anything that tried to invade, but the infection sphere was wrapped in a layer of hard shell, and it moved much faster than normal cells. Furthermore, the blood vessel was flowing smoothly, so Lin managed to leave the attacking immune cells behind without much effort.

The feeling in front of her was getting stronger. Lin believed that it had reached the brain.

Then, she inserted the Infection Sphere's syringe into the blood vessel wall and injected all the virus in her body.

Was the Infection Sphere useless now? No, its mission was not over yet. The Infection Sphere inserted the syringe into the blood vessel wall to prevent itself from being washed away by the blood flow. At the same time, its shell fell off and the cells inside began to divide until they were large enough to block the entire blood vessel. Then, it secreted a crustaceous substance outside its body and completely blocked the blood vessel with the hard shell.

This was mainly to block the immune cells. They might find a way to get rid of the blockage sooner or later, but by then, the virus would have already divided in large numbers.

Now, all she had to do was wait and see what would happen next.

The three hookworms did not attack Leviathan because of the poisonous gas. Instead, they were swimming nearby. Lin paid attention to the infected hookworm and observed its changes...

At first, there were no changes, but after a while, its behavior changed significantly. First, its body began to twitch, then its speed and movements became much faster. However, its movements were no longer regular. Instead, it looked like it had gone mad.

It seemed that 'mad' was a word used to describe a creature with a brain that could not control itself.

The infected hookworm made a strange move. It rushed and attacked its own kind nearby. It used its thick curved forelimbs to grab its companion's tail and tore it off in an instant.

The muscles of the hookworm should not have the strength to tear off the tail that was attached to the carapace. Could it be that its strength increased after being infected?

The torn hookworm could not continue to swim. It could only twist its body and sink to the bottom of the water, while the other hookworm quickly swam away.

The infected hookworm swam around in the water a few times, then swam quickly in another direction.

Lin thought that the way it swam would undoubtedly hit a rock or something. But it was interesting. It seemed that the virus did not harm its brain cells, or it would be dead by now.

Instead, the virus made it go mad. Who knew how long it could live? The virus turned out to be such an interesting thing.

Leviathan swam close to the hookworm that was struggling on the solidified lava. It stretched out its tentacles and rolled it up.

A hundred cells could be exchanged for one? It felt good. The virus had a lot of research value.

Research was really an interesting thing. Not only the virus, but now Lin suddenly realized that the research on the sea base that covered the green cells had also made progress.

After adjusting and synthesizing the 'pigments' in the cells, they could now produce a green color.

But … just the green color did not seem to be useful.

But Lin already knew how to adjust the 'pigments'.

Just like adjusting the crustacean, they were composed of a certain substance in the cells. If it was controlled, they could produce a variety of different colors.

If necessary, Lin could sense the different substances in the cells, so it could also adjust this kind of substance.

This seemed to be called … 'taste'?

…

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