Chapter 77

Amidst the green, towering spires densely and neatly arranged before Lin, the gaps between them were just wide enough for Leviathan to pass through, but the worm's large head could not enter.

Lin barely paused, and the remaining transporters and Leviathan quickly darted between the spires. At this moment, the eyeball on Leviathan's back turned to look behind.

In the thick fog, a huge worm suddenly burst out, opening its massive mouth and aiming at Leviathan. However, halfway through its charge, its head got stuck between the spires.

Leviathan left a small eyeball to continue observing and then ran with the transporters into the depths of the spire forest.

This time, Lin had the chance to observe the worm in detail. What kind of creature was this? It struggled fiercely, trying to retreat, but the backward-facing hooks on its carapace prevented it.

Perhaps this creature did not come from the sea but was originally a land creature?

Watching the struggling worm, Lin had many questions. How many of them were there? Why could they mask their scent? How long were they? They seemed very flexible...

These questions would remain unanswered until Lin had the ability to kill one of them.

After struggling for a long time, the worm finally retreated back into the fog.

...Did it give up? The eyeball kept watching, and no more worms emerged from the fog, which made Lin feel slightly more at ease.

Leviathan and the transporters were now deep within the 'spire forest.' Here, the surroundings were filled with nearly hundred-meter-tall spires, each with a diameter of over three meters. Their surfaces were covered in a layer of green, which, upon closer inspection, was composed of countless soft, flat objects.

This was definitely some kind of plant, but the tallest land plants Lin had seen before were only about a meter high and very thin. How could they grow so large here?

No, those spires might have originally been very tall boulders, and these plants just adhered to them. By continuously proliferating and covering the entire boulder, and using some kind of dissolving liquid to modify the boulder over a long period, they transformed it into these forked spires.

However... Lin had never seen such an environment or such creatures before. This was a completely new world.

Now, the rocky land originally filled with fish carcasses and scorpions was occupied by the worms. Lin could not return, and it was uncertain when the seawater would return. It had to start a new life on this continent...

Lin had no idea what kind of creatures or dangers lay ahead, and it had never truly adapted to life on land.

Moreover, only two transporters remained, the others having been killed in the worm attacks...

In the face of the disasters from the sky and the earth, was this all that was left?

While the losses might not be high compared to other creatures, Lin believed it had made many mistakes, the biggest being that it had not explored far enough.

If it had discovered the existence of the Northern Continent earlier, the losses might have been much smaller.

The spirit of exploration must not be interrupted... but building a base was also necessary.

However, it was just a loss of nutrients, not a big deal. As long as the information on evolution and research memories were preserved, it would be fine.

Lin would grow to be enormous on this new continent! This time, it would also develop in the air!

Thinking of this, Lin looked up, and suddenly a flying creature appeared. It moved at an incredible speed through the spire forest, heading toward the distance.

A flying creature?

Lin was instantly captivated, but the creature moved too fast and quickly disappeared into the spire forest.

Lin did not feel regret over its escape; instead, it gained some confidence. It seemed that not only jellyfish could float. If there were many of them, Lin would eventually catch one.

So, the light here was not very good. First, it needed to find a more open area, spread out the transporters, and lay down a green carpet.

The ground of the spire forest was made of very soft, small particles, mixed with sand and various plant debris. A word to describe it—'soil.'

It seemed to be a very peculiar substance. If water seeped into it, it would not be easily blown away by the wind.

Leviathan led the two transporters through the spire forest. Lin did not know which direction to go, so it just moved in the opposite direction of the cliff.

After a while, Lin finally found a slightly open area, about six meters in diameter. However, the ground was not soil but yellow sand. The daylight shone on the sand, reflecting a dazzling light.

The light here was very abundant.

On land, sand seemed to symbolize aridity. When Lin first stepped onto land a hundred million years ago, almost everywhere was covered in this kind of sand, which is why there were no creatures on it?

Soil, on the other hand, stored a lot of water. On land, water was very important, as cells could not move without it.

Lin did not mind, as it could obtain water from other sources, unlike slow-moving plants.

Lin had the transporters move to the center of the sand and lie down, unloading their appendages. At the same time, they began to slowly melt the lower part of their shells.

This was a method Lin had devised for growth on land. When melting the shell, cells were rapidly pushed out and continuously divided and grew. Since they were on land, the outermost cells needed to prevent water from escaping, but they also had to be soft enough to facilitate growth. Once the entire area was covered, they would start to create a transparent, hard shell.

This process was somewhat dangerous, as they were vulnerable to attacks, and Lin did not know what dangerous creatures were in the area.

However, so far, Lin had not seen any land creatures, except for plants.

The transporter began to spread a green carpet around its body, slowly growing and covering the sand. The land carpet was protected by two thin, transparent shells that kept the internal water and photosynthetic cells safe.

As the green carpet spread, the transporter's body began to sink. Eventually, its body disappeared after covering the six-meter-diameter area. Typically, one transporter could create a much larger green carpet, but since there was only so much space, Lin had to make the carpet thicker. Lin preferred to quickly transform the transporters into the green carpet rather than leave them as obvious targets.

Usually, powerful predators would ignore plants, and herbivores would not attack them. Herbivores generally had no offensive capabilities and could not bite through the hard shell of the green carpet. Therefore, quickly laying down the green carpet was also a survival strategy.

After this area was fully occupied, Leviathan led the other transporter deeper into the spire forest.

The spire forest seemed quite large, but this was also because Leviathan moved much slower on land than in water. After walking for a long time, Leviathan did not find another open area like the one before.

Strangely, Lin still had not seen any creatures come out to move around.

Was there only plant life on land? But creatures like the Brontoscorpio could live entirely on land with a bit of effort, even though they did not seem to eat plants.

And those worms, were they land or sea creatures? Regardless, Lin would eventually return to kill one for study.

As daylight faded, Leviathan stopped, looking at the huge spires. Lin had the idea of letting the green carpet cover the spires.

However, covering them so high... it was uncertain if there would be any problems. The pressure might be too great, causing the shell to crack. If it did not create a shell like ordinary plants, it would be easily eaten by other creatures, and it would need to develop many other defensive measures, which seemed very troublesome...

However, if there were really very few creatures on this land... it could give it a try.

Just as Lin was thinking this, a small creature suddenly emerged from the ground in front of Leviathan. It had a flat body with six segmented legs and antennae on its head.

The creature quickly ran away and soon disappeared.

So, there were still some small creatures?

Lin did not try to chase it but had Leviathan and the transporter rest against a spire. Lin would not move in unfamiliar places at night and had to wait for the night to pass.

As the last light of day disappeared and darkness fell, strange sensations began to emanate from the surrounding forest...