Chapter 11

Ling let the observers swim to a higher position, trying to find what had attacked the acid-secreting organisms. Ling remembered that the pain from the fallen acid-secreting organism had come from below, so the attack must have come from below as well.

Ling noticed that there were many protruding black grains on the rock surface beneath the acid-secreting organisms. These grains were not very noticeable in the rocky area, and the acid-secreting organisms were floating very close to these grains. Ling believed that the attack came from these grains.

Camouflage... A certain creature camouflages itself as something common in its environment to ambush prey.

Although Ling had never seen such a situation, she knew that such a thing existed.

So Ling decided to counterattack. The acid-secreting organisms immediately aimed at the grains beneath them, spraying a large amount of dissolving liquid onto these grains. The grains, when hit by the dissolving liquid, indeed moved, but not just one; all the grains in the entire area began to tremble violently, and then the ground covered with grains slowly rose.

Ling did not expect this situation and quickly let the acid-secreting organisms disperse. As they moved away, the creature hidden underground revealed its form.

Its body was a combination of black and gray, just like the surrounding rocks, and its surface was covered with many protruding grains, similar to the sawteeth on the surface of the diggers. It had a large number of flagella underneath, but its size was over fifty times that of a digger. After it floated up, a large defect appeared in the rock below.

Rock Worm.

Ling gave this large and well-camouflaged creature a name and then decided to kill it.

Ling let one acid-secreting organism approach, as she did not know the Rock Worm's attack method and did not dare to send all the acid-secreting organisms out recklessly.

When the acid-secreting organism approached the Rock Worm, it reacted. This time, Ling clearly saw that a small grain on the Rock Worm's body slightly moved, and an almost invisible, tiny, sharp object shot out from it, instantly piercing the acid-secreting organism.

Ling then felt the same pain as before, and there was no further response.

A very terrifying attack method, but Ling saw clearly that the grains on the Rock Worm's body, which looked like rocks, hid some sharp objects, and these objects contained a liquid that could quickly destroy the cell nuclei of the acid-secreting organisms.

Poison?

Although it was a new term, Ling felt that it represented something similar to the dissolving liquid of the acid-secreting organisms, both being highly damaging liquids.

The Rock Worm moved its massive body, slowly turned around, and swam toward the corpse of the fallen acid-secreting organism.

When the Rock Worm turned around, Ling saw a strange black protrusion on its upper mouth, different from the grains. This protrusion was quite large and had a glossy, ice-like appearance.

Eyes...

Although she had never seen them, Ling realized what they were. It was the first time she saw another creature with vision besides her observers.

Curiosity.

Ling began to feel increasingly curious about the Rock Worm, not just because of its eyes but also because of its unique attack method. If her cells could have such abilities, it would be very interesting.

Therefore, Ling was even more determined not to let the Rock Worm go.

The Rock Worm had already swum to the side of the acid-secreting organism's corpse. It opened its large, cave-like mouth and slowly swallowed it, but did not completely consume the corpse. Instead, it tore the remaining part with its flagella and threw the fragments toward the grains on its body.

Do the grains need to eat as well?

Although curious, Ling did not stop her actions. Almost at the same time, she let the acid-secreting organisms launch another attack.

Although the Rock Worm had a powerful attack method, Ling noticed that the number of grains was not many, about 20, which could not compare to the number of her acid-secreting organisms.

As long as there were basic cells, she could continuously grow new acid-secreting organisms, so she did not need to worry much about the losses from the attack.

The acid-secreting organisms rushed forward, facing the massive opponent, and sprayed a large amount of dissolving liquid, turning the surrounding water green.

The Rock Worm's body, not only in color but also in hardness, was extremely strong. When hit by the dissolving liquid of the acid-secreting organisms, only the surface was slightly corroded.

The Rock Worm counterattacked, and the grains on its body shot out a large number of sharp spines, instantly killing several acid-secreting organisms.

Although the acid-secreting organisms had evolved from conical cells, they had not used their bodies to dig for a long time, so their hard outer shells had degenerated and could not withstand such attacks.

However, Ling had to use the acid-secreting organisms to attack because, besides them, she estimated that other cells could not tear the Rock Worm's outer membrane.

The Rock Worm twisted its body, seemingly in great pain from the dissolving liquid. It began to sway its flagella, as if trying to escape.

But the Rock Worm's speed was not fast, even comparable to that of her fat-storing cells.

Not because of its large size, but because of its habit of long-term hiding and camouflage, its mobility had started to degenerate.

At this moment, Ling let the conical cells join the attack. Hundreds of conical cells instantly surrounded the Rock Worm, and she let them use their conical tips to pierce the wounds on the Rock Worm's body.

The Rock Worm was no longer able to resist; the spines on its body seemed to have been used up.

Ling's acid-secreting organisms would also run out of dissolving liquid, but she could easily replenish this deficiency with numbers. The Rock Worm, however, could not. Under the cooperation of the acid-secreting organisms and conical cells, the Rock Worm's massive body finally stopped moving, and its rock-colored outer membrane was torn into pieces by the conical cells, floating in the water...

This time, only 15 acid-secreting organisms were lost. Many of the Rock Worm's spines hit the same acid-secreting organism, so the losses were much fewer than Ling had expected. However, by consuming the Rock Worm, Ling could immediately split into hundreds more.

Ling could finally examine the parts she was curious about, starting with the eyes. She had particularly instructed the acid-secreting organisms not to corrode the Rock Worm's eyes.

The eyes were particularly large, about twice the size of her cells. Ling let the conical cells dig them out from the Rock Worm's corpse. Because they were too large, ordinary cells could not consume them, so she specially let the fat-storing cells try.

The fat-storing cells slowly swam over. These large, fat cells, to store more food, had become very soft and had grown to five times the size of ordinary cells. Even swallowing the Rock Worm's eye was more than enough.

After the fat-storing cells swallowed the Rock Worm's eye, Ling immediately transmitted a message in her thoughts.

This message was the same as when she initially wanted to gain vision. She tried to let this cell use the eye to gain vision.

But it failed. The fat-storing cells had no reaction, and the eye was slowly decomposed and digested, converted into fat and stored.

Is there no way?

Forget it...

Ling shifted her next target to the small grains that shot out the lethal spines.

If you looked closely, you could see a small hole on these grains, from which the highly toxic spines were shot.

Based on Ling's previous experience, if a cell was harmed by poison and survived to successfully split, it might develop resistance to the poison. Then, if the resistant cells consumed the poison, they might gain the ability to secrete it. Although she did not understand the principle, the acid-secreting organisms had evolved this way.

However, unfortunately, none of Ling's cells could survive being hit by the highly toxic spines.

If she let them eat directly, it would likely just result in more cell deaths, and Ling felt a bit troubled.

At this moment, Ling suddenly saw one of the grains crack open, and a small, round creature emerged from inside.

This creature had a lid-like structure on its body. From its transparent body, you could see that under the lid, there were long, coiled tentacles, and at the end of the tentacles, there was a fine needle.

Was the toxic needle shot by this creature?

Ling curiously observed this creature, which was clearly different from the Rock Worm and was another type of cell.

What was its relationship with the Rock Worm? Was it like her, where a group had multiple different types of cells?

If so, it should have attacked her when she was so close to the spore cells, but it did not react.

Ling thought about it and let a conical cell poke the spore cell. The spore cell immediately reacted as if startled, opening the lid on its body, and the tentacles inside instantly stood up, shooting out the needle at the end.

Although it did not hit, it startled Ling.

However, Ling immediately had a new idea.

This spore cell might be useful to her...

After some observation, Ling found that these small spore cells were about one-tenth the size of her cells. They seemed to collect rock fragments, gather them around themselves, and stick to the ground, camouflaging as grains with a small hole at the top, clearly for shooting out the needle.

These cells usually ambushed other cells by camouflaging as grains, but why did they have a relationship with the Rock Worm? And their attack commands seemed to be controlled by the Rock Worm.

However, regardless, Ling could use them like the Rock Worm did.

Ling tried to attach these grain-like spore cells to a digger. The digger could use its sawteeth to hold these small grains, thus gaining the ability to shoot out toxic spines.

Perhaps these spore cells just happened to land on the Rock Worm, and after some communication, they reached a mutual agreement, thus helping...

Communication?

Ling had never tried to communicate with other creatures before. This seemed to promote a special relationship, which was... symbiosis.

Although Ling had never tried it, she knew such a thing existed.

Ling began to feel a bit puzzled, wondering why she knew so many things naturally. Shouldn't these things be discovered gradually?

Ling began to feel strange about this, but she was still the same. If she couldn't figure it out, she wouldn't continue thinking about it.

So, Ling returned her thoughts.

Since she had obtained the spore cells, Ling decided to treat them like the Rock Worm did, feeding them and using them as an attack method.

However, Ling did not know how to feed them, so she learned from the Rock Worm and placed some food fragments at the openings of the grain-like spore cells.

There was a reaction; the spore cells would suck in the food fragments at the opening.

However, Ling still did not know how to command these spore cells to attack, so for now, she just carried them on a few diggers.

Next, Ling let her cells consume the Rock Worm's massive body, which significantly increased her colony. Then, she shifted her focus to the various creatures in this area.

This rocky area was home to many cells, most of which were in large numbers and of types she had never seen before. However, Ling did not attack recklessly, as cells had many unique attack methods, and