Chapter 21

Although she was trying hard to see if she could write more words in a short time... it's unlikely to reach twelve thousand...

...

Lin named the huge semi-circular shield she built as the 'cell wall.' The cell wall was composed of three layers of cells. The outermost layer, which Lin called the 'cortex,' was the thickest and most flexible. The two inner layers were called the middle layer and the inner wall, which were not as thick as the cortex. However, if the cortex was damaged by certain factors, the inner layers would quickly harden to prevent any external threats from advancing further.

However, there was nothing that could threaten Lin at the moment, so she began to construct something on the outer cortex.

That was a trap.

Lin started to form some cylindrical structures on the cortex using cells. These cylinders were hollow in the center and had an opening at the top. At the bottom, she placed some gypsum as bait. The inner walls of the cylinders were covered with conical cells. As soon as any cell was lured in, the cylinder would immediately squeeze inward, using countless sharp cones to shred the prey.

In addition to these lethal cylinders, there were also tentacle-like structures. They were not as large as the giant tentacles in the center but were smaller, elongated structures made of a few cells. These small tentacles were covered with needle cells that could shoot and kill any approaching cells.

Lin also discovered something interesting: luminous objects could attract other cells. This was something she discovered by chance, especially at night, where even a small light could attract a large number of cells. Therefore, Lin began to place glowing explosive balls at the ends of some small tentacles to attract prey.

As night fell, the word 'beautiful' entered Lin's thoughts. On the cortex, a large number of glowing small tentacles swayed in the darkness, luring cells to approach. However, they did not know that these were terrifying traps. As soon as they touched the tentacles, they would be instantly killed by the needle cells' toxic needles.

The needle cells now knew to shoot their toxic needles based on the movements of Lin's cells, rather than firing randomly.

When the night passed, Lin relied on the lethal cylinders to hunt. The ignorant cells, lured by the white gypsum inside the cylinders, would be instantly crushed by the closing cylinders and the sharp cones inside, with no cell able to escape.

The giant tentacle in the center would directly engulf any passing cells and then use the acid injectors inside to decompose and dissolve the prey.

With these traps, Lin could obtain a large amount of food besides the white gypsum, as the incoming cells were endless. Lin's colony began to grow continuously...

Moreover, after Lin learned how to combine cells, she never encountered any threats again. Even when she encountered crystal fungi, ghost fog fungi, or other previous opponents, Lin could easily crush them.

Once, a gigantic amoeba drifted onto Lin's cortex. The amoeba was over ten thousand times the size of Lin's basic cells, but Lin still managed to kill it using a large number of toxic-tipped tentacles and the giant tentacle.

The only somewhat troublesome thing was the viruses. Since the tentacles on the cortex could not move, they were vulnerable to virus attacks. However, the viruses could not penetrate the cortex, so even if a few tentacles were destroyed, Lin could immediately send acid injectors to dissolve and deal with the viruses.

Regarding the viruses, Lin kept a few infected cells that were dyed bright red, but she never let their numbers exceed ten.

Many nights passed... With continuous hunting, Lin's colony grew immensely. She began to feel invincible, as she had never seen any other type of cell with the ability to combine like hers.

Lin's colony was now several times larger, and the tentacles on the cortex were becoming more dense and thicker. Lin no longer used the trap cylinders but relied entirely on the tentacles, finding this method more effective.

Using the 'lifespan' strategy, Lin continuously replaced old cells, keeping them in their most vibrant state. However, there was one cell that Lin would never replace.

That was the observer.

Even though the colony was now so large, Lin still only had one cell with vision.

This cell was too small to observe the entire colony, so Lin needed a few larger cells with vision.

Lin knew that the observer could see not just because it had eaten a strange hard object, but mainly because of light.

Vision was primarily the result of absorbing light.

In other words, if Lin's other cells could also receive light, they should also have vision.

But how to do it?

Yes, by the old method. Lin formed a large group of cells and gave them the thought of receiving light and gaining vision.

At first, it was unsuccessful, and the group of cells showed no reaction.

However, when Lin combined the observer with this group of cells, the cells underwent a miraculous change. The surface cells began to change their color and shape, while the internal cells also changed, but in a completely different way. They became thinner and formed a web-like structure.

The evolution process was not controlled by Lin. In fact, Lin had never controlled cell evolution; she only gave them the thought of "what they should evolve into." The more detailed process was automatically generated by the cells.

Lin found this incredible.

Cells could automatically perform certain tasks, such as when Lin instructed a digger to attack an enemy, it would automatically twist its body and use its surface saw teeth to cut the enemy without Lin needing to control its movements. Other cells were similar, but explosive balls required Lin to control their water absorption and explosion.

Lin initially thought cells could only perform simple actions automatically, but now it seemed they could do much more complex tasks.

Even though the colony was so large and Lin's intelligence had increased significantly, she still could not understand why.

Why?

Lin's current perspective could not see, but the cells continued to change. The surface cells began to form hexagonal shapes, while the internal cells changed from a web-like structure into a large sphere, with the hexagonal cells appearing to be embedded in the sphere.

Lin felt the rate of change slowing down, indicating that the process was nearing completion. She also began to feel it.

Vision.

A larger amount of light flooded into Lin's thoughts, just like before, but this time it was much broader because it was a giant eye composed of six thousand cells.

Since Lin formed this eye in the water outside the cortex, she could look down and see the dense, hair-like tentacles she had formed on the cortex.

However, this large eye had no muscles, so it could not move. Lin combined some tentacles to form a larger one and connected it to the back of the eye. By moving this tentacle, Lin could see in different directions. She named this tentacle the eye tentacle.

Lin then separated the observer from the eye. Her cells could be separated after combination unless they were completely fused like the cortex cells.

After the observer was separated, the eye still had vision. This time, Lin could finally see what an eye looked like.

Two different images appeared in Lin's thoughts, but she felt no sense of dissonance and could clearly observe all the details in both images.

The surface of the giant eye looked like a large hexagonal crystal. Lin did not expect cells to form such a shape, but there was nothing particularly special about it.

Lin's cells, whether combined or individual, were generally transparent except for the core. However, this eye was slightly gray, making it difficult to see the internal structure.

Lin also saw her observer for the first time. The observer's body was similar to the basic cell, but its outer membrane had a crystalline sphere.

That was probably the hard object it had eaten?

Lin did not know why this object could give it vision, and she never encountered a similar object again.

... Why? Even with such a large colony, Lin still had many questions.

In any case, it was successful, so she would continue to grow.

The word 'future' appeared in Lin's thoughts.

What would the future be like?

Lin did not know. Even with such a large eye, when she looked into the distance, she saw only endless deep blue... Although she considered herself invincible here, there were surely more unknowns and mysteries in the world...