Chapter 23

Gray, countless gray stones filled Lin's field of vision.

These stones were each at least a thousand times larger than Lin's cells, and there were so many of them that they even covered the farthest distance Lin could see.

However, for this scene, Lin's thoughts contained new terms: this place filled with stones was called a 'seabed,' and these stones were called 'sand grains,' and the sight of them spread out was called a 'beach.'

Beach? Sand grains? Sand?

Although 'sand' was a term that appeared in Lin's thoughts for the first time, it immediately gave Lin the feeling that 'sand' should refer to something very small.

But the sand in front of Lin was not small at all.

Lin's explorer swayed its body and swam towards the seemingly endless beach below.

The closer it got to the beach, the larger the sand grains appeared. They were all different in shape and size, but even the smallest sand grain was more than twice the size of Lin's explorer.

The explorer landed on a relatively flat sand grain, mainly to rest. At this moment, Lin also felt that this sand grain was particularly... warm.

No, it was more than warm; it was almost beyond Lin's temperature tolerance.

There must be something here...

The observer started to swim, and Lin decided to move deeper.

Because the sand grains were of different shapes and sizes, even when they were piled together, there were countless gaps and cracks between them. Lin's explorer could easily swim through these cracks.

Swimming among the huge sand grains, Lin felt that the temperature here was indeed very high, and it increased noticeably with each step deeper.

After passing a few sand grains, Lin saw a large rock buried under a large number of sand grains. This rock was much larger than the surrounding sand grains, so Lin classified it as a rock rather than sand.

The rock was black, with many holes on its surface, and a transparent spherical substance was oozing out from these holes.

What is that?

Lin tried to get closer to the rock, but the high temperature it emitted prevented the explorer from getting any closer.

Suddenly, more and more transparent spheres emerged from the holes in the rock, and the entire rock began to tremble.

What's happening?

Lin noticed that not only the rock but also all the surrounding sand grains started to vibrate.

The vibrations became more intense, and suddenly a large sand grain slid down from above the explorer. Lin quickly swam away to avoid it.

However, with the fall of this large sand grain, all the sand grains piled together began to collapse, and countless sand grains rolled down one after another.

Relying on its small size, Lin's explorer dodged the collapsing sand grains while swimming upwards. The water here was getting hotter, and staying any longer would definitely be dangerous.

Avoiding several falling sand grains, Lin saw the light of the exit above, only a hundred cells away!

However, at this moment, the surrounding sand grains began to vibrate violently again. Two sand grains rolled over and trapped the explorer's elongated body tightly. No matter how hard Lin tried, it could not break free.

But Lin still had a trick up its sleeve. The explorer's round head suddenly began to swell, and when it reached a certain size, it burst like a balloon, propelling the internal observer and a few fat cells out of the collapsing sand grain area.

The explorer, whose head had burst, was immediately buried under the countless collapsing sand grains.

That was dangerous...

Lin's observer swam to a higher position and looked down at the entire beach. It noticed that the sand seemed to be constantly vibrating, and suddenly some areas of sand sank, forming quicksand pits.

Suddenly, a red substance gushed out from one of the pits, and Lin felt the temperature around it rise several times. A nearby fat cell even died instantly due to the heated water.

Lin's observer and the remaining fat cells swam higher, so they were not injured.

Lin carefully observed the red substance, which appeared to be very viscous and hot. It continuously spewed out from the sand pit, spreading over the sand and gradually turning the entire beach into a scorching red.

Lava.

Lin's thoughts had a new term for this red, viscous substance.

Whatever it was, it emitted high temperatures and should not be approached casually.

Thinking this, Lin swam upwards, away from these terrifying things called lava.

Swimming upwards, Lin noticed that the large ice crystals that originally covered the upper area were gone. The water temperature was now much higher than before, so it was not surprising that the ice crystals had disappeared.

However, Lin still could not figure out why the cells were not appearing.

Even if the lava was terrifying, it was impossible for any cell to deliberately rush into the lava.

Could it be that the lava can spew very high? This would cause the water temperature to rise significantly, eventually killing all the cells.

But from what Lin could see, the lava did not spew very high, and after a while, it would fall back down.

Maybe I should go up and take a look?

Thinking this, Lin swam towards the light above.

Lin still remembered that when it first approached the top of the water, the light was extremely bright and dangerous. The ultraviolet light could instantly kill its cells.

Could it be caused by ultraviolet light?

While thinking and swimming, Lin suddenly stopped.

Around Lin's observer, a large number of cell clusters suddenly appeared.

These cell clusters were of various types, floating around Lin's cells. They must have been brought by the water, suddenly appearing in Lin's field of vision. If one were to estimate their number, it would probably be in the millions... no, it should be in the billions.

Why did so many cells suddenly appear?

No... something is strange.

At this moment, Lin realized that these cells were almost all motionless, as if... they were all dead.

These... are all corpses.

Lin's observer swam closer to one of the corpses and examined it closely. The cell's corpse contained nothing inside, but its nucleus seemed to have been destroyed and mashed into a mess, while the outer membrane was intact. This phenomenon did not seem to be caused by a virus.

Lin examined other cell corpses and found that they all died in a similar manner, likely due to the same cause. But what could it be?

Lin did not know.

Lin felt very uncomfortable. It was the first time it had seen such a large number of deaths. Among the floating cell corpses, there was even a large amoeba.

Lin swam closer to look. The amoeba was also dead, showing no signs of life.

The amoeba was the largest creature Lin had seen besides itself, yet it could not escape this large-scale death.

What caused this? The water temperature here is normal... Lin did not think it was due to temperature.

While puzzled, Lin suddenly noticed that the surroundings seemed to have darkened. This was different from the feeling of nightfall; it was as if the light had been blocked.

Only a massive creature passing by would have this effect. Thinking this, Lin immediately looked up.

A large expanse of green appeared in Lin's field of vision.

What is that?

Green, to be precise, it was a large group of green cells. Unlike the surrounding corpses, they were very active, swimming in the water. Their numbers were so great that they darkened the entire area Lin could see.

Could these green cells be the cause of this tragic scene?

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