Chapter 35

After eating the second leaf-shaped bug, Lin had obtained enough nutrients to revive the round shield worm. Now, she could create a multicellular structure that was streamlined, with a round front and a pointed back. This structure could move quickly in water, and Lin called it a "transporter." Its main function was to transport large amounts of fat cells back to the location of the round shield worm, as Lin did not want to return herself and preferred to continue eating more leaf-shaped bugs.

Lin created ten transporters, each composed of over ten thousand cells. They had a ring of flat, elongated tentacles in the middle of their bodies for swimming, and they carried the fat cells inside their hollow interiors before heading back toward the ice cave.

Then, Lin turned her attention to another leaf-shaped bug nearby.

These immobile foods were truly wonderful.

Lin happily waved the carrier's tentacles, but as she was about to swim, she suddenly felt something was wrong. Some of the cells on her skin lost their sensation, but Lin did not feel any pain.

Dying without feeling pain? That's strange...

Lin released the devourers to investigate the area where the sensation had disappeared. It seemed like an attack, and Lin could only determine that it was near the rear, close to the jet port.

The carrier's body was too large, containing hundreds of millions of cells. The two eye tentacles at the front were not enough to observe the entire body, and the hardened skin made the surface sensation dull. Although there were two small tentacles specifically for sensing water currents, they, like the eyes, could not cover the entire body.

The devourers swam along the carrier's skin to the rear and immediately saw the cause of the incident. A strange creature was attached to the skin near the carrier's jet port. Its body looked like a combination of five thick, flat tentacles. It was stuck to the carrier's skin, and Lin could sense that the skin cells where it was attached were continuously disappearing.

"Starfish."

This name did not come from Lin herself but appeared in her thoughts. She felt it was quite fitting for this creature.

Was this starfish eating the skin cells? But why didn't Lin feel any pain?

Perhaps this creature had a method to prevent the cells from feeling pain, allowing it to "steal" food, but Lin could still sense the cells disappearing, so its plan had failed.

Thinking this, Lin released a large number of devourers to attack.

This "starfish" was about ten times the size of a large devourer. Its surface looked soft and its tentacles could move freely, indicating it had no hard shell and should be easy to deal with.

The devourers bit onto the starfish's five tentacles and tried to pull it off the carrier. However, the starfish clung tightly to the carrier, and no matter how hard the devourers tried, they could not pull it off. Moreover, the conical cell structures in the devourers' mouths could not scratch its skin.

The starfish's skin looked soft and flexible, but it was actually very hard, with many small, sharp protrusions on its surface, making it difficult for the devourers to bite through.

What a troublesome thing.

If only Lin's hammer-shaped tentacles could reach this position, it would be easy to smash it.

However, Lin had more than one type of devourer. The original devourers had single conical cells in their mouths, which were effective for biting and crushing other cells. After the incident with the round shield worm, Lin increased the number of large devourers to deal with other multicellular organisms. Some of these devourers had specialized, and Lin created many long, sharp, hardened structures in their mouths, called "giant teeth." These teeth were much larger than those of the original devourers, making them unsuitable for biting single cells but very effective against multicellular organisms.

Lin ordered the regular devourers to step aside and let the giant-toothed devourers attack the starfish. The giant-toothed devourers bit onto the starfish's tentacles, and their large, sharp teeth, driven by the pressure of their muscles, instantly pierced the starfish's tentacles. Lin immediately ordered the giant-toothed devourers to release their grip, and a large number of cells from the starfish poured out of the wound.

Lin ordered the devourers to quickly collect these cells and then rush to the starfish's wound, tearing apart the exposed soft internal structures.

The starfish no longer clung to the carrier. Its injured tentacle broke off, and the remaining four-tentacled body detached from the carrier's skin and drifted away with the current.

Cutting off a part of its body to escape? How naive.

What is naivety? Although the term was strange, it did not affect Lin's decision to have the giant-toothed devourers chase and completely tear the starfish apart.

After the starfish left, Lin saw the damage to her skin. The area where the starfish had clung looked as if it had been bitten off, leaving a large chunk missing. It was surprising that it could create such a wound without causing pain. It seemed necessary to study this starfish further.

Although the starfish was torn apart, the key parts were preserved, allowing for further study. Lin discovered that the starfish had many small tentacles under its main tentacles. The ends of these small tentacles were hollow and semi-circular, which it used to adhere to the carrier's skin.

These were suction cups? They seemed to generate a lot of force, making it difficult for Lin's devourers to pull it off. They were worth studying.

Under the starfish's skin was a layer of a hard, non-cellular structure, similar to the round shield worm's shell but softer.

However, what Lin was most interested in was the starfish's mouth. It was a hole at the center of the five tentacles, surrounded by curved, spiky structures similar to the round shield worm's mouth. The most important feature was that the tips of these curved spikes had small holes. Lin had cells squeeze into these holes and found that they connected to a sac-like region inside the starfish.

This sac was composed of yellow cells that secreted a liquid. When this liquid came into contact with cells, it put them into a strange state, making them unable to move and lose all sensation.

Not all of the starfish's curved teeth had holes connected to the sac; some had no holes and were likely used to dig out and eat the cells that had lost sensation.

This was a powerful structure. Using sharp spikes to pierce the opponent's skin and inject a destructive liquid? Lin had seen some cells with this ability before, but she had never thought to create a similar multicellular structure.

The acid sprayers, although evolved from conical cells, had soft, non-sharp spray ports, so Lin might not have associated this ability with them.

However, now Lin understood that she could create a similar structure.

Additionally, the starfish had a vascular system, but Lin could not find its heart, which might have been bitten apart by the devourers. The blood vessels themselves and the cells inside did not transport water, so the starfish must have had a heart.

However, Lin found something similar to a heart. It was composed of a cluster of unique cells, which were elongated and had many tentacles. These cells formed a small, oval object connected to a network of tubes that spread throughout the body.

But these tubes did not transport nutrients, and there was nothing inside them. The central oval object did not move. What was its purpose?

"Neuromere"? This term appeared in Lin's thoughts. Although she did not understand it, she had a feeling that it was useless to her.

In addition, there were some strange structures, such as a sac containing many round, white cells. This sac had a hollow tentacle connected to the outside, possibly for ejecting the cells. There were also web-like structures, a cluster of small tentacles, and thick, hollow tentacles, all very complex.

Lin did not know the purpose of most of these structures. She did not expect such a small starfish to be more complex than the larger leaf-shaped bugs. The round shield worm was likely a very complex organism, but it was destroyed by a virus.

However, Lin did not care much about that. What mattered was that she could defeat them.

Lin absorbed only the useful knowledge and ignored the rest, eating everything else.

While studying the starfish, the transporters had already delivered the fat cells to the location of the round shield worm, and the revival process had begun.

Lin believed it would not be long before she could evolve into the apex being once again.

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Thank you~ Big me~ Reward

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