4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution

Chapter 40| Table of Contents | 0042

Last chapter recap: Lin saw some new organisms after waking from its deep sleep.

When other organisms leapt ahead in their evolution, Lin stood where it was. The green carpet only had a rare number of units that repaired shells or killed small-sized invaders.

Most of Lin’s army had hibernated. The cells themselves had not changed much. Lin might be able to mimic the appearance of other organisms, but because it did not have such a variety of cells, the interiors were very different.

However, Lin had a unit which had been in a state of freedom. Lin had ordered it to swim through the water before going into hibernation. Its cells would have evolved naturally upon contact with the environment just like other organisms.

Lin did not put any limits on the unit other than for it to go to the carpet to get food if it could not find any. Usually, it hunted on its own and hid from danger.

It had possibly lived a hundred million years. When Lin woke up, it had not been in a hurry to look at this unit. Lin first examined the other organisms in the surrounding water in order to have a good comparison.

So … … what had it changed into?

Leviathan … …

Lin's thought searched through every cell, every structure. It quickly locked onto … … an organism in the distance.

Lin greatly anticipated what this former traveler and the strongest of Lin's units had become.

Lin's thoughts quickly scanned through Leviathan's body. Its oval body had become round at the front and pointed at the end. The streamlined shape made it look like a fish.

So this kind of structure was more suitable to swimming in the water? Yes, while disk-shaped bodies could swim quickly through the water by spinning, it would take more energy.

The thirty spouts had completely degraded but two were left by the tail. Only two biting tentacles remained at the two sides of the head. The fanged mouths at the ends of the tentacles had disappeared, and the tentacles were now covered in denticle-edged suction disks.

It appeared that all organisms evolved into the same direction… …

The heavy armor had become light grey armor. There were two rows of small tentacles on the back armor, seemingly for sensing.

And it was … … smell!

Lin knew what “smell” was the moment it discovered these small tentacles. The cells on these tentacles could feel the minor impurities in the water, know how these impurities were different, and where they came from.

"Smell" originated from the ability of "touch" to feel the movements of the water. This was a convenient ability. If this ability worked together with vision and touch, Lin would be able to travel unobstructed through any environment.

After examining the outer structures of the Leviathan, Lin decided to look inside.

The Leviathan still had its original fighting methods. The reproduction chambers, still the largest organ, were connected to the six openings on the sides of the Leviathan.

The Leviathan also kept its air sac, heart, circulatory system and other organs. Just like before, the Leviathan did not have a mouth and relied on the other units taking food back to the food sac.

The Leviathan had not evolved nerves, much less a brain. It appeared that Lin had the ability to direct every cell, even when hibernating.

Other than this, the Leviathan also had many strange structures. Other than the openings for the combat units, it had many other holes on its body connected to muscular passages within the body. These passages all connected to a sac-like structure which was filled with water.

… … Why did the changes not feel significant? The Leviathan was just three meters long. Even after more than a hundred million years, it only doubled in size?

The biggest organism right now was ten meters long and much bigger than the Leviathan. In the past, the Leviathan could be considered the "king."

Lin felt … … let down?

Lin found this interesting phrase but it could not recover from its disappointment.

But as Lin observed the combat units of the Leviathan, this emotion disappeared completely … …

So this was how it was. Leviathan's evolution was all focused on this?

The Leviathan had inherited Lin's previous way of thinking. After the combat units returned, they would be deconstructed for the next time they were needed. While the Leviathan did not hold any combat units at this moment, Lin learned from the memories of the Leviathan it could produce a dozen unit types. Also, most of them were strangely shaped and unlike any organism Lin had ever seen.

Lin would test their power.

Leviathan looked around. This region of water was far from where the green carpet was. Leviathan likely swam here over time.

Below it was a large coral reef. Lin quickly saw some familiar animals. A thunderstone three meters long was floating on a brain-shaped coral and staring at a helmet fish.

You will be the one! Go!

Leviathan quickly created a new unit type in its body. These units were round, had some thorns on the back and a red underside. This kind of cell had segmented limbs and moved through the water by propulsion through the water spouts.

Lin called this unit type "slaughterer" as they killed their prey with extremely cruel methods.

The slaughterers were only thirty centimeters in size. They charged at the head of the thunderstone. Finding organisms attacking it, the thunderstone ignored the helmet fish, and reached out with its tentacles in an attempt to grab these small organisms charging at it.

The slaughterers did not try to dodge. The thunderstone's tentacles caught them and moved them to the thunderstone's mouth.

The mouth of the thunderstone, an extremely hard beak, was located at the center of the tentacles. When the thunderstone squeezed its tentacles, the abdomens of the slaughterers were pressurized and then split open in an explosion.

However, this was the beginning of the terror.

The slaughterers exploded, sending countless spikes that pierced into the surrounding tentacles. The spikes injected a strange fluid into the tentacle cells of the thunderstone.

Lin did not know what kind of damage the fluid would cause. The Leviathan would not send eyeballs to see the outcome like Lin would have during its days. However, Lin knew what would occur to the organisms after injection of this fluid.

After the thunderstone bit the slaughterers once, it was unable to take another bite. It spat out the slaughterers, its dozen tentacles twisting together wildly. It used the denticles on its suction disks to tear off pieces of flesh from its own body, causing large volumes of blue fluid to spray out.

From all appearances, it would not have long to live. The smell tentacles of Leviathan clearly detected the scent of the fluid the thunderstone was sprouting. It was blood.

The slaughterer likely contained a powerful toxin in their bodies that could cause extreme pain to other organisms. Lin did not know how the Leviathan managed to evolve such a powerful toxin, one even more powerful than viruses.

Also, the slaughterers themselves would not die. Only their abdomens had split apart. Their important organs were behind their back armor. Setting themselves off in an explosion would not damage them.

Watching the thunderstone slowly sinking onto the coral reef, Lin decided to see if there were any unit types for gathering food. But then Leviathan's smell tentacles felt a strange presence gradually coming close.

Smell was as useful as expected. Some organisms would move along the water current so it was difficult to distinguish between a water current and a moving organism. But in cooperation with smell, even the best ambusher could not hide!

Leviathan rapidly sped up to dodge the incoming organism. Lin quickly created eyeballs to look at the organism who just missed Leviathan.

That was … … an organism Lin had never seen before.

This organism was three meters long. Its head was oval shaped, and it had enormous jaws covered in sharp teeth. Its flat tail propelled the body to swim. Also, it had two pairs of thick flesh limbs on the sides of the body with sharp blades at the end.

These flesh limbs seemed to be called "hands" and "feet." And this organism was called … …

"Amphibian."

Translator Ramblings: We finally get real limbs … I can't imagine sleeping for a billion years, that sounds so nice.

Chapter 40| Table of Contents | 0042

• 4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution Volume 3 Chapter 15 "Bombardier Beetle"
• 4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution Volume 3 Chapter 14 "Forest Hunter"
• 4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution Volume 3 Chapter 13 "The Twisted Forest"
• 4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution Volume 3 Chapter 12 "The Green Terminal"
• 4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution Volume 3 Chapter 11 "Devour"