The Strange Fish

Based on echolocation, the attackers were identified as four fish, each approximately 30 centimeters in length.

Rowan relaxed a little. They were few in number and not the biggest in size. He wondered where they got the courage to provoke him.

The attackers approached rapidly, Rowan finally saw their appearance clearly. They had particularly large heads, but thin tails, and were generally dark gray with some red crescent-shaped patterns. Their mouths were filled with densely packed sharp teeth, which looked very intimidating.

Unfortunately, they ran into Rowan, who was well-prepared. As soon as one of the strange fish approached Rowan, a huge Pincer Limb clamped down on it. Although the Pincer Limb looked somewhat clumsy, it was actually very fast, creating a trail of white waves underwater.

The strange fish was also very agile, twisting its body to avoid the Pincer Limb. But at that moment, a Walking Leg shot out from the shadows and pierced its body from the side.

In an instant, the red blood gradually spread in the water.

The three companions following behind the strange fish sensed the blood and, instead of rushing towards Rowan, turned around and attacked the injured fish.

In the blink of an eye, the injured monster fish was torn to pieces, with various limbs, scales, and bits of flesh floating in the water.

This sudden turn of events caught Rowan off guard, and his subsequent attack sequence lost its target.

But what happened next left Rowan no time to be surprised. Just seconds after the blood energy spread, hundreds of unusual fluctuations suddenly came from the depths of the river.

They seemed to be startled by the bloody aura and rushed towards this direction at top speed.

Based on the feedback, Rowan realized that they were all these strange fish. It was foreseeable that a full-blown brawl might break out in this small area.

As an outsider, Rowan was better off not interfering in the activities of these strange fish. Realizing the three strange fish were no longer paying attention to him, Rowan quickly swam away into the distance.

He had only swum a dozen meters when the water behind him seemed to boil, with dense white waves churning the surface. Rowan had no intention of turning back to watch the spectacle. After swimming more than fifty meters, he quietly poked his head out from the riverbank.

The commotion was spreading, and Rowan, being a slow swimmer, might get caught in it soon. Compared to the monster fish's menacing teeth, the Flying Bug seemed rather cute.

Choosing between ordinary danger and extreme danger doesn't seem difficult.

Fortunately, Rowan had already swum some distance, and the Flying Bug seemed to have been attracted by the changes on the water's surface. Moreover, Rowan had just taken a shower, washing away most of the pollen particles.

Rowan slowly climbed ashore, his figure gradually disappearing from sight, though the floating watermarks and dripping droplets still hinted at his movements. But now, no one was paying attention to him anymore.

Rowan was more than happy to see this happen, and he quickly ran into the jungle and gradually disappeared.

The surrounding environment is familiar, and there are traces of his pheromones. He had scouted this place a few days ago, and there is Crypt of Fat-Tail Rat nearby where he could temporarily stay.

As for where the Fat-Tail Rat went?

The Crypt was quite spacious for Rowan, and the unpleasant smell from before had mostly dissipated over the past few days. The series of actions just now had exhausted him considerably; in the past, he might have needed to eat before resting. But since he developed his Tail Fat Organ, this kind of exertion was nothing.

Rowan closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his mind, and uploaded the newly acquired Flying Insect Gene to the Swarm Network.

This is a new feature he discovered a few days ago; he can upload his genetic data to the Swarm Network for backup, and only he and the Mother Nest have download permissions.

It's like how storage used to be local, but now it's cloud storage.

This feature made things much easier for Rowan, as he no longer needed to return to the base every time he acquired a new gene; instead, he could share genes by linking to the Mother Nest.

After uploading, he began to examine the Flying Insect Gene. Now he possessed the ability to actively choose gene evolution, and he was no longer passively accepting various talents, but could pick and choose.

Of the genes he had previously acquired, he only selected two: heat source sensing and echolocation; he abandoned the others, such as web weaving.

While weaving the web looks pretty cool, to gain this new ability, a new gland must be added to his body. And in addition to the poison glands at the roots of his teeth, he also has a "Gatling" system.

In addition to having two glands, each storing different chemical substances, the "Gatling" system also has a reaction chamber. This system already occupies most of the space in his abdomen.

Not to mention that a Tail Fat Organ was added recently.

If he wanted to add new glands, there was no room left to store them unless he reduced the Gatling's ammunition reserves. After careful consideration, Rowan realized that his understanding of web weaving was only influenced by some movies. In reality, this ability required a long time to prepare in advance and was not as magical as depicted in the movies.

Therefore, Rowan ultimately chose to give up. Most of the other abilities he gave up were similarly abandoned, such as feathers, since he simply didn't have anywhere on his body to grow them.

Moreover, as he comes into contact with more and more creatures, his abilities become more diverse and adaptable. However, in some situations, having all-around abilities is not a good thing.

Many abilities require a corresponding physical structure to function.

For example, when it comes to flight, its round and bulky body simply cannot take off without the anti-gravity technology of its elytra. Not to mention creatures like birds and Pterosaur, which have adapted their bodies to be streamlined for flight.

Take swimming for example. Compared to fish, Rowan's swimming skills could only be described as barely being able to drown underwater. In terms of speed and agility, he was on a completely different level.

Even with echolocation systems, bats have a pair of huge ears to act as receivers, while he only has two small ear holes; the performance difference is self-evident.

Perhaps only a system like the "Gatling" allows him to surpass the original version by virtue of his size advantage. But this cannot mask some of the shortcomings of his multiple abilities.

All this thinking doesn't mean Rowan wants to give up his multiple talents. His multiple talents make him more adaptable, allowing him to survive in various dangerous situations.

And for Rowan, the supreme commander of the Swarm, this was his most important task.

Therefore, multiple talents suit him. The reason he thinks so much is that he is considering how to modify the Swarm units in the future, whether to develop them towards multi-ability adaptability or to move towards specialized targeting.

Rowan had already sensed the limitations of his own knowledge base and the inadequacy of his intelligence and thinking. But he had no solution. The Ant Queen was more like an intelligent AI, only able to "obey orders" and unable to "communicate".

Fortunately, our current adversaries are not strong enough. With the Swarm's unique abilities, as long as we have the resources, dealing with them shouldn't be a problem.

So, the idea only briefly crossed Rowan's mind before being discarded.