Sea Change

Rowan greatly underestimated the duration of his slumber.

It's normal for him to have some special talents, since he is an extraordinary species from another world.

However, the environment changed, and his talent mutated, becoming beyond his control.

After losing Rowan, the Swarm ravaged the coastline for a time, but due to its lack of fertility, it gradually faded from the scene.

Some arthropods and crustaceans have reclaimed this area.

At the same time, deep-sea fish gradually appeared in shallow waters and even tried to migrate to land.

However, they are no match for the armored crustaceans and arthropods with their sharp weapons. Although they are agile, they still belong to the bottom of the food chain.

On land, due to the devastating sweep by the Swarm, a large number of organisms were wiped out, and even the Insect Egg were not left behind, resulting in severe damage to the ecosystem.

However, the collective disappearance of the insects, without any checks and balances, provided the plants with an opportunity to develop.

As the plants grow denser, they absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, and carbon is deposited as the plants die.

There is less and less carbon in the atmosphere, and the Earth's surface temperature is getting lower and lower.

The vegetation withered, and life faded away.

The planet was gradually covered by frost.

Rowan, who should have awakened at this moment, had casually eaten a frozen insect. The insect possessed a super-dormant gene, which was now activated by Rowan's condition and the surrounding environment...

Rowan then fell into hibernation once again, and this time it was even more complete.

Time flies, and the planet, covered by a thick ice shell, finally erupted a volcano because it had too much energy accumulated underground and could not release it.

Countless underground materials broke free of the ice and shot into the sky. Large amounts of carbon were released along with these materials.

The sky was covered by a large amount of floating volcanic ash. The planet, which should have cooled down again due to the blocking of sunlight, was instead experiencing a continuous rise in temperature due to the large number of volcanic eruptions.

The thick ice shell began to melt, turning into water vapor that rose into the high atmosphere.

At high altitudes, the water vapor cools and, carrying volcanic ash, falls back to the earth.

Volcanic ash contains abundant minerals and nutrients that have accumulated in the Earth's mantle for an unknown period of time.

Life suppressed by the temperature begins to revel; this is a rain of life.

Abundant vegetation absorbs rich mantle nutrients, rises from the ground, and releases large amounts of oxygen.

On the planet, the oxygen concentration is constantly increasing.

Marine life began to migrate back to land, and a special type of deep-sea fish took the opportunity to come ashore.

The dominance of crustaceans and arthropods was completely changed with the arrival of this fish.

This fish possesses a revolutionary technological marvel—a spine.

Animals with a spine have grown larger thanks to an environment with increased oxygen levels.

On the contrary, for crustaceans and arthropods, although in oxygen-rich environments the respiratory system is no longer the main factor limiting their size expansion.

However, due to the Exoskeleton Armor covering the body, one must constantly shed skin to increase body size.

In primitive environments, the immense physical exertion during molting and the subsequent period of weakness are both deadly.

Of the crustaceans and arthropods that pursued gigantism, only a few that remained in the deep sea succeeded; all those that did so on land failed without exception.

After their defeat, crustaceans and arthropods, despite still possessing hard armor and sharp weapons due to their size, found their living space constantly squeezed by increasingly gigantic vertebrates, gradually relegating them to the bottom of the food chain.

Some vertebrates have stopped evolving into larger animals; they have become smaller and have gradually taken over the ecological niches of insects.

Other vertebrates, taking advantage of abundant oxygen, have pursued even greater sizes. Some species have even begun to have thick keratin layers covering their bodies, comparable to Exoskeleton Armor.

Some insects, whose living space was squeezed, one day opened their carapaces, and one or more pairs of wings extended from under the carapaces. These wings appeared out of thin air, making them one of the few successful examples of free resource utilization in evolutionary history.

Their sudden takeoff has created a new, untapped ecological niche.

Insects that gained the ability to fly, with their unique talents, regained their place on the planet.

Some insects have abandoned their armor, including their sturdy carapace and most of their other body parts, in order to gain an increase in size.

Soon after, vertebrates also learned to fly. Unlike insects that had wings for free, they specialized their forelimbs into wings.

Thanks to their size advantage, vertebrates quickly became the new masters of the skies by flying higher and farther.

Thus, vertebrates occupied the land and the sky. Only in the ocean could some large crustaceans and arthropods still occupy a small place.

(This ecological evolution takes place on an unknown alien planet. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is purely coincidental.)

A green beetle, about two or three centimeters long, flapped its wings rapidly, searching for food in a clump of low weeds.

The wings are transparent and delicate, with clearly visible internal patterns.

A massive earthquake recently struck this area, destroying the original surface environment. The familiar hunting grounds are nowhere to be found, so we have no choice but to try our luck in this unfamiliar place.

Suddenly, a long, flesh-colored object flashed by, and the green beetle disappeared.

Not far from where the incident just occurred, a giant frog, about 20 centimeters tall and dark green in color, was drooping its eyelids and swallowing something.

After finishing, he let out a few satisfied "gurgling" sounds, his eardrums expanding and contracting, accompanied by a lazy facial expression, making him appear very content.

A frog's ears are located behind its eyes, and from a distance they look like buttons.

At that moment, its sensitive ears seemed to hear some unusual sound. But it didn't move. Its eyes had a special structure, giving it exceptional dynamic vision, and it was confident that no creature could ambush it.

Blind overconfidence led to its demise.

A violent gust of wind rang out, as if something was rapidly attacking it; its ears were sharp enough to detect this danger.

But just as the frog straightened its hind legs, preparing to jump away, it was as if it had been hit by an unknown weapon; the enormous impact slammed its entire body into the mud.

In a flash, the culprit revealed itself, and finally, its true form could be seen.

At this moment, it was a huge and powerful pincer-shaped Pincer Limb, covered with dense, tiny pits, like a meteorite crater. The pits were filled with fine hairs.

At this moment, its sharp point was piercing into the frog's body. Although the frog was not yet dead, it was only a matter of time before it was seriously injured.

Looking back along its Pincer Limb, its owner was a giant beetle, sixty centimeters long. Even in this oxygen-rich environment, insects of this size are rarely seen on land.

Besides a pair of enormous Pincer Limb, it also has eight spider-like legs. This peculiar combination makes it quite unique, a true heartthrob in the insect world.