4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution Volume 2 Chapter 34
Last chapter recap: Lin explores fast freezing ice and gets thrown out of the water.
This chapter is brought to you by me, and WanderingGummiOfDoom.
Chapter Thirty Four - On the Ice River
The Leviathan did not manage to dodge the speedy shadow and was propelled out of the ice hole. The Leviathan crashed onto the ice outside the hole.
What had knocked it out of the hole.?
The surrounding environment was endless, land completely made out of ice. The ice reflected the powerful light, and the omnipresent ultraviolet light constantly damaged Leviathan's cells.
It had to immediately return to the water!
Leviathan drove down Leviathan's biting tentacle, using its teeth to bite the ice and pull the Leviathan to climb back into the ice hole.
Leviathan had never crawled on land before. However, its six biting tentacles had been strengthened with muscle in order to crush sh.e.l.ls. Even on land, they could drag along Leviathan's enormous armored body.
But the tentacles did not have any sh.e.l.l. The ultraviolet light penetrated the ectoderm and rapidly destroyed the cells inside. In one instant, Lin learned that millions of cells had died.
But Lin did not stop. It made the heart beat faster, sending cells to repair the damage, and moved all of its tentacles. The Leviathan's heavy body crawled towards the ice opening … …
Just a little more … …
The cells in the tentacle ectoderm were completely destroyed, the muscle cells inside were damaged as well. However, one of the tentacles bit to the edge of the ice hole. It was strong enough to pull the Leviathan back into the water!
But fate was never so perfect.
An enormous being suddenly charged out of the water. It quickly climbed next to the hole and pushed Leviathan back out. Leviathan rolled a few times on the ice before stopping. Lin found it had slid to a place further away than before.
The ultraviolet light had completely destroyed the tentacles. While some cells had not died, they could not pull the Leviathan's body.
Leviathan's eyeball was on the underside of its round body. Due to this, it had not been damaged by the light so Lin clearly saw what had hit Leviathan twice.
This organism had a round head, and its tail part was flat. Its forelimbs were large and thick. The first section had a toothed and hooked structure. Lin thought that this organism most likely used that structure to dig the ice hole. It also had six other thick and large limbs. Four of them were used for walking, the last two curved. They also seemed to have openings on the end and likely the ability to expel water.
This organism appeared similar to the commonly seen trilobite but it was much bigger. While it wasn't as wide as the Leviathan, it was two times longer than the Leviathan. Its sh.e.l.l was a clear crystal white that shone with reflected light.
There were many strange organisms recently … …
Lin named this organism "ice crystal monster." Its armor was similar to ice. Lin didn't know if that sh.e.l.l was made out of the chitin substance it was familiar with. This might be something different.
The "ice crystal monster's" goal in digging the hole was clear. The organisms swimming under the dark ice layer would be attracted to the light shining through the hole. Then the ice crystal monster would hit them out of the ice where the organisms would die due to the ultraviolet light or the lack of oxygen. It would then climb out of the hole to consume the corpse.
Right now, the ice crystal moved its segmented limbs to climb slowly towards the stationary Leviathan.
Terrible.
Leviathan might die here. At present, the tentacles were unable to move. The death of Leviathan would be a great loss. It could be considered Lin's strongest type and it carried a great volume of information about new organisms.
Additionally, the journey would have been for nothing.
It could not die here!
Looking at incoming ice crystal monster, Leviathan immediately started to manipulate the structures inside Leviathan's body. Leviathan's openings for the cells were connected to the surrounding water spouts.
This meant that the spouts could expel troops and also meant it could send out the exploding bomb!
Lin quickly put the exploding bombs into the water spout pa.s.sages. Through the muscles in the pa.s.sage, Lin forced a large amount of water at the end of the pa.s.sageway, then took aim and opened the water spout!
Dozens of exploding bomb shot out along with the spraying water. They hit the ice crystal monster's head and exploded. The dissolving fluid landed on the bright sh.e.l.l and left behind a gouges of corroded marks.
The ice crystal monster's outer sh.e.l.l was strange, almost crystlike, but the dissolving fluid could still damage it. This rea.s.sured Lin slightly.
The dissolving fluid did not seem to penetrate the outer sh.e.l.l. But the ice crystal monster hadn't thought that Lin would attack so it hesitated in its spot. At this time, Lin had prepared the second wave of bombs.
Shoot!
This time, the exploding bomb was one large one and not dozens of smaller ones. Lin wanted to use this to destroy the other's armor. But the ice crystal monster reacted this time, and raised its forelimb to block this exploding bomb.
Most of the dissolving fluid from the exploding bomb's explosion was blocked by the ice crystal monster's forelimb. Only some landed on its head. The dissolving fluid left behind deep marks on the forelimb but the ice crystal monster did not show any signs of pain.
its inside still hadn't been damaged?
Lin started to hesitate. If it continued to attack, it would use up a lot of water. Continuing might be dangerous.
The ice crystal monster did not attack this time. It seemed to think that "continuing might be dangerous" as well. Its armor had almost been dissolved through.
In the end, the ice crystal monster chose to withdraw. It turned and went back into the ice hole.
Fleeing? While Lin felt some slight pity, the Leviathan was also an arrow at the end of its flight and had no power to give chase.
Arrow at the end of its flight? Such a strange phrase, but Lin felt it was amusing.
But this was not the time for amus.e.m.e.nt … … Lin quickly created several dozen of warheads to use on land inside the Leviathan. These warheads had segmented limbs with sharp teeth at the end. Lin had them dig at the ice under the Leviathan to create an ice hole for Leviathan to return to the water.
Digging a hole would most likely take a long time … … Lin could only wait now.
The warhead dug rapidly under Leviathan. In this period of time, the ice crystal monster did not appear again. Lin didn't know if the ice crystal monster would appear and ambush Lin so it didn't dare to create too many warheads to drag Leviathan into the ice hole. If Lin used up all of the nutrients, and the ice crystal monster appeared again, then it would really be the end.
Lin first had the warhead dig many tunnels under the Leviathan and then Leviathan's weight would crush those pa.s.sageways. Then the warheads would dig again. This process would continue until Leviathan fell into the water.
The ice layer which had appeared thick grew thinner with the efforts of the warhead. Soon, Lin saw the cold water underneath the ice.
The last layer of ice cracked as the warheads dug. Leviathan finally fell into the water again.
It finally returned … … Lin had never been so happy before at returning to the water, and how comfortable it was to avoid the burning ultraviolet light outside.
But Lin did not have time to enjoy it. It didn't even have time to retrieve the warhead. A glittering enormous shadow charged towards Lin.
The ice crystal monster had been hiding nearby as expected.
Lin was prepared. It immediately activated the water spouts, dodging the attack but the opponent quickly twisted and used its sharp forelimb to leave behind a crack on the Leviathan's armor.
Shoot! Countless exploding bombs flooded out of the unit entrances. Since Lin was already in the water, it didn't have to consider the use of water.
The exploding bombs charged towards the damaged parts of the ice crystal monster using their own water propelling systems. But the ice crystal monster was faster than it had been on land. With a twist of its tail, it dodged to one side. But the exploding bomb also knew how to swerve. A portion of them smashed onto the wounds of the ice crystal monster's forelimb.
The glittering sh.e.l.l completely tore apart and revealed the soft muscle structures inside. The next exploding bomb directly collided into this wound. The pain caused the ice crystal monster to twist.
In pain, the ice crystal monster attacked rather than retreat. It ignored the surrounding exploding b.a.l.l.s, and rushed rapidly towards the Leviathan. It seemed to gather all of its power in this one attack. It created an enormous pit on the Leviathan's outer sh.e.l.l and many blood vessels inside tore apart.
Lin immediately had the blood vessels constrict to stop the flow of blood. At this moment, countless exploding b.a.l.l.s smashed onto the ice crystal monster's head. The dissolving fluid corroded its already damaged parts, and revealed the organ structure inside its armored head.
The ice crystal monster seemed to become angry. It twisted, swimming under Leviathan and biting off a tentacle.
But that tentacle had died long ago. Lin did not feel any pain.
Also … … this battle could be finished.
Among the exploding bombs that Lin had used to destroy the ice crystal monster's head armor, one of them was "special." This bomb did not release dissolving fluid when it exploded, but countless small exploding bombs. These small exploding bomb could not swim but they had many tentacles covered in suckers. So when the bigger bomb exploded, they could stick onto the target, and slowly climb into the enemy's wounds.
Lin called this a "sticky bomb." Right now, a great number of sticky bombs climbed into the ice crystal monster's head wound and was sticking to its internal organs.
Finished.
Translator Ramblings: Digging tunnels around something in order to collapse the ground seems such an inventive tactic to me. I just don't know what animals do this or if this is just an engineering thing.