Chapter 60

Why is this small stone in the tentacle pointing in one direction? Is it a magnetic field? Or a magnet?

Strange words popped up in Lin's mind. She couldn't understand what they meant, but she knew that 'magnetism' should represent attraction.

What is the stone being attracted to?

Leviathan retracted the base seed, and Lin suddenly had a feeling that perhaps the stone's destination was more suitable.

Leviathan continued to move forward in the dark seabed covered with crystals. Following the stone's guidance, Lin found that the surrounding crystals were getting larger, some of them were no longer fragments but complete pieces.

Not only were there crystal fungi, but also some flatfish were active here. However, these flatfish looked a bit strange; their heads were rounder and thicker than usual, and they were covered with a thin layer of shell.

Why do they grow like that? Aren't they swimming slower? And they don't seem to have much defense.

Lin was slightly puzzled but ignored them and continued to swim forward. The crystals here were getting larger, and scattered fragments were almost invisible. Lin observed the surroundings while forming a mental image of the entire area's shape and size.

The outer part of this area is full of shattered crystals, and the further inward, the more complete they become. What kind of thing could create such an environment?

It might be a living organism?

Many flatfish surrounded Leviathan, seemingly very interested in its lanterns. Although Lin didn't see them with eyes, they seemed to sense the light.

Lin extended her tentacles to grab a few and tore them apart to eat. She found nothing special inside them, but their outer skin was covered with many diamond-shaped crystal scales. In the gaps between these scales, there were large amounts of crystal fungi.

Leviathan had reached the next area, where the crystals were conical and stood in the sand, forming a 'thousand crystal forest.'

Another type of organism appeared here. They were small and soft but carried large hard shells. These organisms seemed to be called 'snails.'

Lin had mentioned the word 'snail' before but had never seen a snail-like organism. Its shell was also made of crystals, and inside, besides various organs, there were a considerable number of crystal fungi.

It seems that every organism here has some connection with crystal fungi. How do these fungi communicate with them?

This relationship seems to be called 'symbiosis,' but why do they mix together?

Lin hadn't seen any ice crystal monsters yet, which might be a rare species.

Lin continued to move forward, and the tentacle with the stone was wriggling very intensely, indicating that she was getting close to her target.

At this moment, Lin suddenly thought that she had been focusing on this area recently and hadn't paid much attention to the main base. However, Lin had already disassembled the legion ball, and the internal structure of this organism was quite special. There was a large sac for the small legion balls to live in, and since it had no mouth, it relied on the small legion balls to feed it.

Although it was interesting, Lin was more interested in this area, so she put the main base aside and let the projectiles work automatically.

Suddenly, a large organism flashed past the lantern's light.

An ice crystal monster?

Lin made the lanterns chase the organism, but it swam very fast, and Lin could only see some debris from its tail. Lin retracted the lanterns and grew lantern tentacles on Leviathan's shell to light the way, then made Leviathan swim at full speed to chase the organism. The direction it swam was also the direction the stone pointed.

Leviathan could use its water jets to rotate and swim, allowing it to catch up with other fast-swimming organisms.

After a while, Lin saw the organism again. It was indeed an ice crystal monster, but much smaller. It swam very fast using the water jets from its rear segments, making it difficult for Leviathan to catch up.

At this moment, Lin also noticed that the environment had changed again. Some large crystals appeared, standing like boulders on the seabed. Many organisms were active around these crystals. The small ice crystal monster suddenly accelerated, rushed to a giant crystal wall, and then drilled into it.

This is...

When Leviathan approached, Lin found a hole in the crystal wall just large enough for the ice crystal monster to enter.

And this crystal... is incredibly large, almost unimaginably so.

Lin could only see a vast crystal wall blocking Leviathan's path. The lantern's light couldn't reach its end, so Leviathan released a large number of lanterns to explore the crystal in three different directions.

The lanterns and eyes that went to the sides swam for a long time and eventually circled back to Leviathan's position. It seemed that the crystal was a huge ring structure, possibly wide enough to fit hundreds of Leviathans. However, the eyes and lanterns that went upward never reached the end of the crystal wall...

Could it be...

Lin stopped the lanterns and made Leviathan swim upward along the crystal wall. She found that the crystal extended upward until it reached the ice layer covering the sea surface.

And then, this ice wall actually broke through the ice layer and extended above the water...

It is so huge... This is no longer an ordinary crystal but can be called a 'mountain.'

It extends from the dark depths of the water directly into the air, a mountain of crystals!

Why can it grow so large? How was it formed?

Lin realized that the more she saw, the more she understood, and the more questions she had.

There were no organisms on the crystal wall, unlike the deep water where many organisms gathered. Lin found this quite strange.

However, digging a hole and setting up a base here would be a good idea. With such a large amount of crystals, she could create many crystal-shelled troops.

Although food was scarce here, Lin had completed that research.

It was the final step of 'photosynthesis,' mixing water and a certain gas with light and some substances found inside green cells to form an edible substance.

Lin had already figured out the proportions and could now produce a new type of cell.

Although the substances to be synthesized seemed numerous and complex, the actual amount needed was small, and they were originally inedible. Since these substances were ubiquitous in the water, using them to synthesize food was very cost-effective.

However, this method was not very efficient. The green cells that Lin kept, which fed purely on light, reproduced very slowly. But some other types of green cells reproduced quickly, though they would consume other substances or single-celled organisms.

Although it was not very efficient, it was inexhaustible, so Lin felt that this research was still very useful. This way, bases could be established in areas with scarce food but abundant other resources.

This process is called 'photosynthesis' and 'chlorophyll.'

Actually, organisms that can absorb light are not just green. Lin had seen many other colors of single-celled organisms that could feed on light, including red, blue, and even black.

Lin planned to build a dedicated photosynthesis structure in each base, but for now, she would focus on this one.

As night was about to end and day was approaching, a layer of light filtered through the ice layer above. Lin didn't pay much attention and made Leviathan produce 'miners.' These units had saw-toothed conical horns and three water jets at their tails, allowing them to rapidly rotate and drill into the crystal wall.

Then Lin made the collectors gather the scattered crystal fragments around.

The fragments could be dissolved and combined to make armor, but the dissolving liquid was of different types. Not all could dissolve crystals; some would completely destroy them, making it impossible to recombine them. So creating this type of armor was a bit tricky.

While Lin was drilling holes in the crystal wall, day had fully arrived. As the light above became brighter, the miners drilling holes in the crystal wall suddenly felt the surroundings getting hotter...

Right, these crystals absorb heat!

Lin suddenly remembered this, but it was too late. The miners had drilled too deep and couldn't retreat in time, so they were killed by the extremely high temperature.

The entire crystal seemed to absorb the light of the day, becoming extremely bright.

Such high temperatures might make it impossible to establish a base here, no wonder no organisms stuck to the crystals.

So... what is happening in the deep sea now?

………………………………………………………………………… Thank you, ~Da Wo Cheng~ for the generous donation.

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