Chapter 34

Before her lay an endless stretch of sand, vast waters, and countless strange multicellular organisms on the sand. Behind her was a thick layer of ice, which, apart from the ice-melting bacteria, was likely devoid of anything else.

What should Lin do? Move forward or retreat?

Lin did not know the capabilities of these multicellular organisms. After all, she had suffered greatly when facing the round shield worms, but Lin did not want to retreat. This might be an opportunity for evolution, and Lin needed food.

These organisms seemed to be immobile, fixed to the sand. Lin could perhaps find one that looked easy to handle and kill it.

However, Lin did not know which one would be easy to handle. Size was not the key; the most obvious example was viruses. They were so small but so terrifying.

These multicellular organisms were all quite large. Killing just one would provide Lin with a substantial amount of food.

Thinking this, Lin's carrier began to swim, floating above the group of organisms. Her tentacles, equipped with eyeballs, searched for a target below.

In the end, Lin locked onto a creature standing in the sand. This creature had a round and elongated body, about the same length as Lin's carrier but only as thick as the carrier's skin. It was supported by a round stem embedded in the sand, swaying in the water. Upon closer inspection, Lin confirmed that it was capturing cells carried by the water currents.

Lin decided to call it a 'leaf-shaped worm.' Although she did not know what a 'leaf' was, it felt very fitting.

The leaf-shaped worm's body surface had striped structures, with numerous flagella growing in the gaps between the stripes. When a single-celled organism collided with it, the flagella would grab it and pull it in to be consumed.

Lin felt that this creature was somewhat like her former self, fixed to a rock, capturing passing organisms, living a passive and boring life.

Indeed, giving up that life was the right choice. Being immobile like this would only make one a target for predators.

The carrier slowly approached the leaf-shaped worm. After confirming that it had no means of counterattack, Lin raised her hammer-like tentacle and struck the leaf-shaped worm forcefully.

However, this seemingly flat and easily breakable worm withstood the attack. Its body did not even bend, remaining firmly in place in the sand. The stripes on its surface showed no damage, though the flagella had retracted.

It's so hard. Is this why they don't move? It seems the leaf-shaped worm, like the round shield worm, has a very tough outer shell. However, unlike the mobile round shield worm, the leaf-shaped worm has no joints or mouth. Once the flagella used for capturing prey retract into the shell, it becomes a creature with no weaknesses.

However, Lin's hammer was not limited to a single strike. Continuously supplied by blood vessels, it could rapidly and repeatedly swing the tentacle. The hammer struck the leaf-shaped worm's surface again and again. Under the countless hammer blows, the leaf-shaped worm finally lost its stability and began to sway.

The leaf-shaped worm indeed had no means of counterattack, relying only on its hard shell to resist external attacks. Other organisms might give up after failing to bite through it, but Lin believed that continuous hammering would aid her evolution. Thus, she struck even harder.

In the end, the leaf-shaped worm's shell could not withstand Lin's hammer blows. Cracks appeared on its surface, and some cells began to flow out from the cracks.

Lin's devourers immediately sprang into action, swallowing all the cells that flowed out without leaving a single one.

Next, Lin continued to attack the cracks, making the wounds larger and causing more cells to flow out continuously.

Lin felt a bit strange. These cells had no offensive capabilities, so why were they flowing out? If Lin's carrier's outer skin were torn, the cells inside would not leak out at all. Even the blood vessels could be stopped by halting the heart's beating to prevent anything from leaking out.

However, other multicellular organisms... seemed unable to control the flow of their cells?

How strange.

Lin did not care much about this and continued hammering the leaf-shaped worm's shell. Although Lin's hammer was damaged, she continued attacking without hesitation, as repair was a simple matter.

The leaf-shaped worm's shell was not as hard as the round shield worm's. Being an immobile punching bag, it suffered more and more cracks under Lin's attacks. Gradually, large parts of the surface shell were shattered and fell off, exposing the soft multicellular structure inside to Lin's view.

Hmm? A punching bag? That's a pretty fun word.

While thinking, Lin sent out her devourers to tear into the leaf-shaped worm's internal structure, converting everything into nutrients for her growth.

Lin discovered that the leaf-shaped worm had a structure similar to blood vessels, but it lacked a heart as a 'pump.' Instead, the water inside the vessels was driven by the continuous movement of tentacle-like cells. Apart from that, it was mostly single cells or simple combinations. Overall, there was nothing worth learning from it...

The only useful thing about the leaf-shaped worm for Lin was that it could be eaten.

Lin's devourers quickly consumed the leaf-shaped worm, leaving only a pile of broken shells. Although the leaf-shaped worm was long but flat, eating one was not enough. However, eating another would provide enough nutrients for Lin to revive the round shield worm.

After recalling the devourers who had eaten their fill and repairing the wounds on the hammer, Lin began to observe her surroundings, searching for the next target.

Hmm?

Lin suddenly noticed a disc-shaped object on the sand ahead.

Is this a living organism?

Lin swam over and carefully examined the object. The disc-shaped thing had spiral stripes on its surface, about half the size of Lin's carrier, but its lower part was buried in the sand, so its exact size was unknown. Although it appeared to be a living organism, Lin had never seen it move and did not know how it captured prey.

Should I give it a tap?

Lin swung her giant hammer and struck the disc-shaped object forcefully. The disc did not budge, and Lin felt a painful recoil in her tentacle.

The hardened hammer tip did not feel anything, but Lin could still feel the pain, indicating that the shock had injured the muscle cells inside the tentacle.

How hard must this thing be to cause such an effect? It was certainly harder than the leaf-shaped worm's shell and even harder than the round shield worm's head shield.

A strong thought suddenly appeared in Lin's mind.

What kind of thought was this? Lin did not know how to describe it, but she knew that when she struck the leaf-shaped worm's shell, her thoughts would generate a sense of 'possibly breaking it' and 'having hope.'

However, when she struck the disc-shaped organism, her thoughts instantly generated a sense of 'no hope' and 'impossible to break,' even if she shattered her hammer, she could not create a single crack.

But Lin did not continue the experiment. How did she know this would be the result?

Right, this is called 'computational ability,' isn't it?

As long as there is a first time, one can infer the final outcome based on the initial information.

It felt good. Lin might have had this ability for a long time, but she only now truly realized it.

Lin abandoned the idea of continuing to attack the disc. Although she could dig it out, there were many leaf-shaped worms around, and it was not worth wasting time here.

Lin swam toward a smaller leaf-shaped worm nearby and began another series of hammer strikes. Soon, this punching bag would also become Lin's nutrients.

The beach was full of leaf-shaped worms, making it a wonderful place for Lin. Eating them was much more efficient than eating single-celled organisms, and these punching bags did not counterattack or move. There seemed to be no other predators like the round shield worms here, making it an ideal situation!

Lin would use the resources here to grow and evolve further. Once she became strong enough, she would no longer fear other predators.

While thinking this, Lin did not notice something stirring in the sand beneath her carrier...

---

Thank you to ~Silent Mole~Chasing the Wind~Great Me~ for the support.

Attached is a current image of the organisms: [[Image]]

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