Chapter 86

The worm seemed to sense the taste of water as well. It, which had been moving slowly, suddenly sped up, almost dashing towards the water.

Lin's flyer arrived at the water source much faster than the worm. From the sky, it was a lake with a diameter of several dozen meters. Around the lake, there was a circle of green, tentacle-like objects, which were definitely plants. In the vast desert, the existence of this lake and these plants seemed to bring a sense of wonder.

How did this form? Why did the water gather here? Lin was very curious about this. Could the water pass through the scorching sand, cross the sandstorm, and drift to the center of the desert?

The flyer flew to the edge of the lake, and Lin discovered that there were some small arthropods here. Lin let the flyer drink some water and found that the water here was particularly clear, with very few impurities, probably composed of water droplets from the air.

Now, Lin was a bit hesitant.

Since the water source had been found, should the worm be killed to let Leviathan out? But this water source only occupied a small area and could have problems due to various factors.

While Lin was thinking, the worm also approached. It extended its massive head from the sand, stared at the water for a while, and then plunged into it.

As the worm plunged into the water, its entire body emerged from the sand. Lin saw the worm's body buried deep in the sand, from head to tail, which, though not twenty meters, was still over ten meters long.

How did it grow so big? This was still a mystery. Now, the worm was drinking a large amount of water in the lake, and Leviathan could feel a large amount of water flowing into the worm's esophagus.

At this point, the worm's esophagus began to truly activate, and the inner wall suddenly started secreting a large amount of dissolving fluid. It seemed to be preparing to digest Leviathan.

It didn't digest when it set out, was it because of the lack of water? And the worm didn't drink seawater, possibly because the seawater hadn't recovered, or for some other reason.

The probe Lin used to detect the seawater had already died, possibly eaten. Lin didn't replenish it afterward, and it seemed that the seawater indeed had problems.

The amount of dissolving fluid secreted by the worm was quite large. It seemed to directly convert the water into dissolving fluid. It could easily corrode Leviathan's outer armor, digesting the chitinous structure into a pile of powder.

But corroding the inner layer would take some time. All the holes on Leviathan's shell had the ability to open and close. When completely closed, not even a virus could enter. So Lin didn't need to worry about the dissolving fluid seeping in. Lin slightly opened the pores, let a small amount of dissolving fluid into the body, and then analyzed its components to see what kind of dissolving fluid it was.

It was a very strong acid...

The components of the dissolving fluid varied greatly depending on the different organisms that secreted it. However, Lin didn't give them any classification names, calling them all dissolving fluids.

Different dissolving fluids had very different properties. Sometimes, a dissolving fluid that could easily corrode thick armor could be blocked by a single layer of cells. For the worm's dissolving fluid, Lin had already thought of a solution.

Lin had previously combined chitinous substances to resist the dissolving fluid of the Aztec bugs. The components of the worm's dissolving fluid were similar to those of the Aztec bugs but contained some special substances that accelerated the dissolution rate. Creating a corresponding defense was not difficult.

However, Lin also wanted to know how the worm's esophagus resisted the dissolving fluid it secreted.

This might be the key to killing the worm. Since it had started to digest Leviathan, Lin didn't plan to stay inside it any longer.

The worm's dissolving fluid corroded Leviathan's outer shell, and Lin secreted a transparent anti-corrosion layer on the innermost layer. Lin also created a small unit with the same anti-corrosion shell and sent it out through the pores to observe the changes in the esophagus wall in the worm's esophagus filled with dissolving fluid.

So, it was like this...

A layer of white mucus adhered to the worm's esophagus wall. Clearly, the worm relied on this to prevent itself from being corroded.

Lin scraped some mucus off the esophagus wall and returned to Leviathan to analyze its components.

At this time, the flyer was circling over the lake. Lin could see the worm's huge body floating motionless on the water, as if it were dead. However, inside, it was undergoing intense activity, continuously secreting a large amount of dissolving fluid to try to crush Leviathan with these liquids.

However, Lin had already analyzed the components of the mucus on the worm's esophagus wall, which was mainly composed of special cells. Lin knew a special method to strip these cells from the esophagus wall.

Thinking about this, Lin began to produce a large amount of special solution. This liquid specifically targeted the cells of the worm's esophagus wall, breaking down the connections between the cells.

However, just as Lin was about to release the solution, the worm's body suddenly trembled. The flyer outside saw that the worm, which had been motionless on the water, suddenly wriggled and dived into the water.

What was happening?

Lin was puzzled when she suddenly saw a creature approaching the lake. This creature, Lin had seen before...

A desert scorpion, a scorpion almost as big as Leviathan, appeared by the lake in the desert. Clearly, it was there for the water.

Many creatures habitually use liquids to expel waste from their bodies, so they are prone to dehydration, even if they have non-leaky shells.

The flyer could see the worm's vague giant shadow in the lake slowly approaching the scorpion drinking water by the lake. It was clearly hunting.

Let's wait a bit, Lin thought, and had Leviathan stop releasing the liquid. It wouldn't be too late to deal with the worm after it ate the scorpion.

The scorpion didn't notice the worm in the lake at all. The worm's hunting method was quite sophisticated. It slowly approached, tightened its body, and then suddenly burst out of the water!

The scorpion barely reacted before being bitten by the worm. Then came the sound of the shell being crushed. The scorpion was quickly torn into pieces and swallowed.

Lin couldn't help but feel a bit scared. If she hadn't calculated the timing correctly when entering the worm's mouth, she would have been torn into pieces like that...

After the worm finished swallowing the scorpion, it retreated into the water and continued to float on the surface, pretending to be a corpse.

As the esophagus moved, Lin's eye with the anti-corrosion shell could see many pieces of the scorpion being squeezed to the same position as Leviathan, soaking in the acid to digest slowly...

Now, it's time to act...

Thinking about this, Lin began to have Leviathan release the special solution. This liquid was not affected by stomach acid and spread in large quantities. The cells of the esophagus wall were connected by a layer of mucus, but this liquid would destroy the mucus, breaking the connections between the cells.

Without the protection of these cells, the esophagus wall began to show signs of corrosion when directly exposed to the acid.

'Gurgling...'

The worm, floating on the surface, felt the problem inside and made a strange sound.

Leviathan continued to release a large amount of solution. The worm's body now had large areas of rotting wounds that were continuously expanding.

The worm twisted its body, burst out of the lake, and crawled onto the sand, shaking its head violently. Leviathan felt the esophagus wall twisting intensely, trying to squeeze everything out!

The flyer saw the worm open its huge mouth, and Leviathan felt a strong current of water. With this current, the worm vomited everything out onto the sand, including Leviathan, scorpion fragments, and a large amount of acid.

It could vomit from such a deep position?

Leviathan stood up, the sunlight penetrating its already corroded, pitted shell and directly burning the cells inside. Leviathan's inner shell could only resist corrosion, not the heat of the sunlight.

The worm stood with one-third of its body, its bright red eyes staring straight at Leviathan. It seemed to know that Lin was the cause of the problem. However, after a short while of this intense stare, the worm's head tilted to one side, and its entire body collapsed onto the sand.

...

Thank you to ~godmorgan~ and ~soul seeker~ for your support.

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