Chapter 5, The Acidifier

The virus encountered the acidic solution and instantly turned into fragments, these small entities are exceedingly fragile

The acid sprayer continued to spray incessantly until even the body of the excavator behind was completely dissolved, at which point Lin finally ceased her actions

After a period of evolution, the acid injectors have developed small holes at the serrated tips of their originally conical heads, allowing them to spray a large amount of dissolved liquid at once

When the community is still small, a slight increase in numbers can significantly enhance its intelligence, but as the community grows larger, the increase in intelligence slows down

Cone cells, due to their anterior transformation into a conical shape and subsequent hardening, find it difficult to engulf substances in the same manner as their original cellular form. They can only create a small opening at the tip of the cone, resulting in a considerably slow rate of food intake

What Lin currently understands is that after a virus infects a cell, it causes persistent pain, ultimately killing the cell, and then releases a large number of viruses on the remains of the cell

Lin often feels that her intelligence is lacking, and this is also the case now; she has no idea why this is happening.

Only by continuing to eat can we discuss further after finishing this piece of food

Subsequently, Lin instructed this conical cell to engulf the dissolved liquid of the abnormal cells

When Lin's intelligence is insufficient, such a situation will arise; the only way to enhance intelligence is to expand one's community

It is water again

There are 10 acid injectors, 300 excavators, 20 conical cells, and one observer with vision. Through continuous excavation and evolution, there are almost no traces left of the original basic cells.

It is a very dangerous and troublesome thing

The joy of victory

Lin turned her gaze towards the remaining peculiar cells, and suddenly contemplated whether to eliminate them all, as this might lead to the division of more robust conical cells.

Under Lin's command, ten acid injectors surrounded the virus-infected excavator cells.

To illustrate with numbers, there are only 20 cells in the community, and for each additional cell, one point of intelligence can be gained. In the case of a community with 200 cells, ten additional cells must be added to gain one point of intelligence

However, Lin remained motionless, as it wished to witness the entire process

At that moment, a massive amount of acidic liquid enveloped these viruses, as the acid dispensers sprayed an enormous volume of dissolving solution. Even if the number of these viruses were to increase tenfold, they would still be unable to escape.

From the outside, it can be observed that the originally transparent cell membrane of the infected excavator cells has begun to dull, appearing to be filled with peculiar white threads and liquid, causing Lin to experience excruciating pain, and it has also become increasingly difficult to control this cell.

Just as Lin was gazing at the vast ocean, suddenly something rushed into her line of sight

Lin originally thought that there would be something interesting beneath this massive food, but she was disappointed

This object is approximately one percent the size of Lin's cells, yet it still cannot escape her sight

Lin discovered a problem

Thus, Lin named this new conical cell.

Still say ... ...

However, the most pressing issue for Lin now is that it has excavated this enormous food source

This thing is called ... . ... virus, by the way, the spiky ball I encountered earlier is also a virus, but they are not the same type.

Curiosity compelled Lin to keep watching, without making any move

This entity punctured a small hole in the cell membrane with its tail, and then the spherical head of this entity gradually shrank and diminished in size, while some gray liquid was injected into the cell through its tail.

Lin now has a community size that allows it to possess sufficient intelligence to understand the strange thing injected into its cells

By the way, I have figured out what this thing is

The tail of this virus is hollow; after it anchors its tail onto the cell, it can inject a certain liquid from its head into the cell.

Acidifier!

Why is that

It seems that these cells will darken in color as long as they possess resistance to the dissolving solution

Let's just forget it

Lin discovered that this object was approaching a digger cell along the flow of water

Pain

Viruses are different from cells; they are a peculiar entity, yet Lin has not been able to comprehend their details

Lin tried it, and indeed, this conical cell once again ejected the dissolving solution

What lies at the end of this water?

Can other fast-eating cells be used to replace it for consumption

Is this also... evolution

Although the dissolved food particles are mixed with the dissolving liquid, they can still be consumed by other ordinary cells, causing at most some damage, but not fatal. Using this method, Lin can enable these damaged cells to divide and produce cells that possess resistance to the dissolving liquid.

But this time Lin will not run away

This time, the quantity is approximately one hundred

Lin's first reaction was pain, as if a strange liquid had been injected into her. The excavator cells emitted a severe pain response

Then, let it go into the hole it just created and use the dissolving solution to dissolve those harder foods

What does this mean? Can this cell produce the dissolving solution on its own? Is it capable of utilizing the abilities of the strange cells?

Infection

This time, the feeling was not as intense as when defeating the monstrous cells, but Lin still sensed it

Lin allowed this new, resilient conical cell to consume a considerable amount of the dissolving solution, yet there were no signs of damage. It appears that this is the most resilient cell discovered to date

Lin also discovered an interesting phenomenon: the conical cells that have consumed a large amount of the dissolving solution turn green when fully filled with the solution. After expelling all the solution from their bodies, their surface color lightens. However, after resting for a while and consuming some food, their bodies gradually begin to exhibit the green color again

Lin briefly flashed through these two thoughts, but unfortunately, there was no further development

In Lin's thoughts, it seems that a new term called 'sympathy' has emerged

After a while, Lin had completely lost control over this excavator cell, which appeared as if it were dead, becoming entirely murky.

Lin returned to the depths of the cave with the new conical cells. Upon reaching the deepest and hardest part of the food, Lin instructed the conical cells to spray out the dissolved liquid they had ingested. Indeed, the harder food was easily dissolved.

Lin completely does not understand how the organization operates within.

The cone cells damaged by the dissolving solution have divided, and this time the cells are similar to the cone cells, but with a slightly darker color

With the assistance of the acid injectors, Lin's cell colonies continued to delve deeper while consuming and excavating, constantly expanding the colonies. Through the continuous division of cells, Lin's colony has now reached 331 cells

A grayish-white color, an elongated tail, and a head structure resembling a sphere

Lin is still unclear about what these liquids are, but it is evident that they are not good substances, as they cause her great pain, and Lin also knows how to describe this phenomenon.

How to replace?

Lin, its goal is an endless path of evolution

At this moment, the cell membrane began to slowly develop some fissures.

What is this

This virus does not cause the cells to burst like the previous spiky virus, but these small gaps are also beginning to increase in number, and then those viruses surged out in large quantities from the cracks

After the last layer of white food in front was dissolved by the acid injector, Lin once again saw the boundless azure in her vision

It first bypassed the serrated and relatively hard parts of the excavator, instead moving to the fragile cell membrane at its rear, and then pierced it with its long tail

However, once wisdom is heightened, one will be able to understand

However, it is indeed nothing to be joyful about, merely having defeated some weaker viruses