Chapter 29

Ling aimed at the mouth of the round shield worm and launched the explosive spheres and conical cells. These individual cells were very small, allowing them to easily dodge the sharp edges around the worm's mouth and enter it directly.

Inside, there was no light, but in the darkness, Ling relied on the cells' sensory abilities to understand that the space inside was similar to a pipe, constantly contracting and pushing everything deeper inside.

The water flow inside was very strong, and the cells Ling sent in were continuously tossed around, unable to move freely. After a violent shaking, Ling found that the invading cells had somehow been flushed out of the round shield worm's body and back into the cold water.

Ling noticed that there were two long, narrow slits on either side of the round shield worm's head, through which it seemed to expel the water it had ingested. The cells Ling sent in were also expelled from there, indicating that somewhere in its esophagus, the worm had a mechanism to separate food from water.

Ling's attacks had been largely ineffective. Not only were the cells that entered the mouth expelled, but the phagocytes that entered the wounds faced an endless number of blue cells. Other phagocytes attacking the joints also failed, as the round shield worm had noticed them and could easily shake them off by moving its segments.

The round shield worm's feeding had not stopped; it had almost eaten half of the aircraft carrier. The pain from the tearing and ripping never ceased, and in this situation, Ling might start to lose her composure.

Blow up its esophagus!

Ling's thoughts became increasingly rapid, and she quickly decided on the next plan. Countless explosive spheres rushed into the round shield worm's mouth again. This time, Ling made them start to expand and self-destruct before they were flushed out with the water.

The explosions released large amounts of corrosive liquid. Although the situation inside was unclear, Ling noticed that the corrosive liquid seemed to cause the round shield worm pain. After a large number of explosive spheres exploded, the worm stopped tearing the aircraft carrier and instead shook its head violently, spitting out a large amount of green liquid.

It seemed that the esophagus, which was composed of cells, was significantly damaged by the corrosive liquid.

Ling had now regained her composure, but she could not continue the attack because... there were no more explosive spheres.

The number of explosive spheres was not large, and their production time was long. With the aircraft carrier almost in ruins and some resource storage points destroyed, it was impossible to produce more explosive spheres at the moment.

What to do? Direct attack!

Ling ordered the phagocytes to abandon their attacks on the joints and instead rush directly into the round shield worm's mouth!

The round shield worm also noticed that these round objects were charging towards its mouth.

The worm's mouth could not open and close, so its only defense was the ring of sharp structures around its mouth.

The phagocytes were much larger than single cells, so the first batch that rushed in was instantly cut into pieces by the sharp structures around the worm's mouth. The pain signals quickly reached Ling's mind, but some smaller phagocytes managed to dodge the attack and enter the worm's mouth.

The phagocytes' built-in lighting and vision allowed Ling to see the structure inside the round shield worm's mouth.

It was a large esophagus with blue walls. If you looked closely, you could see that it was composed of countless blue cells. The esophagus was filled with the corrosive liquid from the explosive spheres, which had caused extensive damage to the walls.

This was probably the source of the round shield worm's pain.

Ling suddenly realized that "esophagus" was a new term for her.

Never mind.

Ling suddenly saw some larger, amoeba-like cells appearing at the damaged areas. They enveloped the wounds, and Ling believed this was a repair behavior.

These wound-repairing amoeba cells were quite large, even larger than Ling's phagocytes, allowing them to cover the entire wound for repair.

However, these cells likely had little combat ability.

Kill them!

The phagocytes rushed forward, biting and pulling the wound-repairing amoeba cells in different directions, tearing them into pieces in an instant.

At the same time, Ling ordered the phagocytes to tear the wounds, making them larger.

But this was far from enough, as thousands of amoeba cells were still repairing other wounds in the esophagus.

Ling had only a few hundred phagocytes inside the esophagus, and they were all small. Larger ones were blocked by the sharp structures around the mouth and could not enter.

Ling needed more reinforcements.

Ling began to mobilize individual cells, including diggers, conical cells, and acid injectors. Because the round shield worm had stopped feeding, the strong water flow in the esophagus had weakened, allowing Ling's cells to cause significant damage if they invaded now.

Attack!

Ling's army charged forward. The sharp structures around the round shield worm's mouth could not stop these tiny single cells from invading.

Once the cell army entered the round shield worm's esophagus, they began to attack fiercely. Each cell used its abilities to tear, pierce, dissolve, and damage the esophageal walls. Even some of the large diggers that Ling used to dig through ice managed to enter the worm's mouth, using their ice-cracking saws to create numerous wounds in the esophagus.

These small cells caused the round shield worm immense pain, and it began to shake its head violently. The strong water flow it created scattered the cells Ling had not yet entered the mouth, and then it turned and fled back into the ice cave it had dug earlier.

However, as Ling and the worm fought intensely, the surrounding water temperature dropped again, and the cave the worm had dug had frozen into a thick layer of ice.

Ling's millions of cells remained inside the round shield worm's esophagus, continuing their relentless destruction. Just as the worm had started eating Ling's aircraft carrier, Ling showed no mercy. She ordered the conical cells to drill countless holes in the esophagus and the diggers and phagocytes to advance deeper into the esophagus, preparing to destroy the worm's core.

The round shield worm, in pain, kept colliding with the ice walls. It seemed to have forgotten how to dig through ice, only creating cracks on the surface. Gradually, its movements slowed, and it finally lay on the ice wall, its ten segments tightly gripping the protrusions and cracks, completely motionless.

Was it dead?

From the outside, it certainly looked that way, but from the inside, it was a different story.

The scene inside the esophagus had completely changed. Initially, there were only a few amoeba cells, but after the worm became motionless, a large number of new cells suddenly appeared. These cells were white, with some as large as Ling's phagocytes and others as small as her basic cells.

They were extremely numerous, constantly emerging from the depths of the esophagus or from the wounds, and in no time, their numbers matched Ling's invading cells, reaching over a million.

These cells were the round shield worm's internal defense force. They began to attack Ling's cells, but their attack method was simple: enveloping.

These white cells had fine tentacles all over their bodies. Their attack method was to swim to Ling's cells, wrap them with their tentacles, and squeeze them until they were flattened.

Ling had anticipated the appearance of a defense force when she invaded the round shield worm's body, but she did not expect it to be so late and in such large numbers.

Ling immediately launched a counterattack, and the round shield worm's esophagus became a battlefield.

The tentacle-covered white cells were skilled in one-on-one combat, and their tentacles could easily grab and crush any of Ling's cells. However, in group battles, they were too crowded, and their tentacles were less effective. They were easily overwhelmed by the synchronized acid attacks of the acid injectors or the charges of the diggers and conical cells.

So, these white cells emerged from different directions, trying to scatter Ling's forces and force her cells into one-on-one combat. However, Ling did not fall for it. She consolidated her forces and collectively defeated these white cells.

Ling had the upper hand in the current battle, but she had no reinforcements, while the white cells could continuously emerge, and some even split during the battle to increase their numbers.

Ling planned to continue sending cells into the round shield worm's mouth for reinforcement, as the worm's body was now motionless.

Wait...

Ling suddenly noticed a problem.

If she continued to send reinforcements, she did not know how many losses it would take to kill the round shield worm, or even if she could defeat it. Ling had no idea how many defense cells the worm had inside.

But what if there was something that could directly convert enemies into allies?

Ling had just such a thing.

Infected cells—these small, bright red creatures had survived the oxygen crisis and were kept in Ling's cell group.

Now, it was their turn to take the stage...

...

Thank you, Shengyangyu, for the support! Let's aim for a smaller update goal, as 12,000 is really not feasible in the near future...

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