Island

After calibrating against its new opponent, the design of a new macroscopic organism was also moved up the agenda. At the same time, Huo Gu finally had some attention to spare for the surrounding environment.

This was an alkaline body of water. The strongest proof was the excessively high concentration of free metal compounds in the aqueous solution.

For organisms from acidic waters, this place was a land of death. Entering meant dying. Their life mechanisms, which could withstand strong acids, could not help them resist the erosion of strong alkalis.

However, for the rhizoids, which had Huo Gu's super-mind, this was not much of a problem. By adjusting the osmotic pressure inside and outside the cell membrane, as well as the screening mechanism, the rhizoids transformed from acidophiles into alkaliphiles.

There were three volcanoes nearby, two in the water and one above the surface. The cooling lava had already formed a volcanic island that was still releasing gray smoke and dust into the atmosphere.

The entire island was black. Between the cracks in the rock, faint flashes of bloodlike crimson could be seen. When rain fell on it, wisps of thin blue smoke rose up. From afar, it looked as if it had just been fished out of a fire.

"Land from the Hadean Eon..."

Something suddenly stirred in his mind. His thoughts flashed to the super wave he had previously encountered, one capable of sweeping across an entire sea, and then his attention focused again on the volcanic island before him.

"Isn't that a perfect 'shelter'?"

Unable to wait, Huo Gu gazed at the lava island in the distance and issued an order to the rhizoids.

As before, it was an elongated formation meant to ensure safety during exploration.

However, with previous experience, the time needed to spread out the formation was much shorter this time. Adjusting for the delay had also become second nature to Huo Gu.

The closer they got to the shore, the higher the water temperature rose. Huo Gu could see the ellipsoidal or pillow-shaped forms created when the scorching lava of the submerged part of the volcanic island cooled, also known as pillow lava.

This section was mainly located at the very bottom of the volcanic island, while the middle section consisted of columnar joints. Because the lava rapidly cooled and contracted, it often formed cracks perpendicular to the cooling surface, and those cracks were parallel to one another, resulting in these long pentagonal or hexagonal stone columns.

In addition, the closer they came to the volcanic island, the more obvious the interference from the waves became. Coupled with the command delay, the rhizoid individuals at the very front became sharply more difficult for Huo Gu to operate.

Fortunately, it was not as if there were no solution. The width of the rhizoids' exploration formation increased, raising the margin for error.

After much effort, the rhizoids could finally come into close contact with this volcanic island.

The first batch of rhizoids rode the waves as the first animals to set foot on this planet's land.

However, good news did not continue to favor Huo Gu's side. All the rhizoid individuals that crawled onto land died.

Huo Gu did not have much of an emotional reaction to this, because these rhizoid individuals had been sent up there to die in the first place. Everything was for the sake of learning what dangers existed above the sea's surface.

These rhizoid individuals died in all sorts of ways.

Some were due to atmospheric composition. The atmosphere did not merely contain carbon dioxide at an off-the-charts concentration, but also excessive methane, sulfur dioxide, and other elements.

Without any preparation, these elements were inhaled into the rhizoids' bodies, affecting the material circulation inside them. Added to the difference in pressure between water and air, this ultimately led to death.

Some died from external injuries. There was no such thing as fine sand in the Hadean Eon. There were rocks everywhere, and angular stones made up the vast majority of the shore. Most of the rhizoids washed onto the coast were slashed open with huge cuts. Without external limbs like feet to return to the sea, all their cells died of dehydration.

There was also a very small portion of rhizoids that barely adapted to the unfamiliar atmospheric environment. Their wall cells were not destroyed by the stones, or only an extremely small portion was damaged, but they still failed to survive.

The reason lay with the microbial colonies living on the island. Long before the rhizoids arrived, this island already had "natives." They had been washed onto land by the waves and had occupied the volcanic island earlier than Huo Gu.

Because land was unlike the ocean, organic macromolecules such as amino acids, proteins, and phospholipid groups were practically nonexistent. Huo Gu used his old method to kill the microorganisms invading the rhizoids' bodies, and the stored organic materials were quickly exhausted. After all, maintaining the cells' own life activities also depended on these organic materials.

And so, the final survivors among this batch of rhizoids died of hunger.

"Rocks... In that case, don't tell me..."

Huo Gu suddenly realized that the second method of death was very similar to the unknown attack they had suffered when they encountered the previous wave.

During the Hadean Eon, there should not have been any large macroscopic organisms apart from microorganisms. In other words, the unknown objects that had pierced through the rhizoids should have been nonliving things.

With that, it became very easy to understand. The super wave had not swept up only the rhizoids, but also those rocks, all tumbling together within the surge.

Think of putting small stones and water balloons into a side-loading washing machine, and it was easy to understand. The small stones, given kinetic energy by the washing machine, would not show any mercy to the water balloons that burst at a touch, and thus the tragic scene within the wave had been created.

"So, to avoid encountering that kind of danger again, a safe harbor is necessary. Only a stable environment can guarantee survival."

This was a compromise. Establishing a base on an active volcanic island certainly carried enormous risk, but before designing a biological engine that could give the rhizoids greater speed, this was undoubtedly the optimal choice.

Moreover, after the Hadean Eon passed, advancing onto land was also one of Huo Gu's goals. He might as well start now and accumulate more experience for future plans.

"The rhizoid's structure is indeed very useful in a liquid environment, but on land..."

Without the support of water's buoyancy, the effect of gravity became prominent. Their physiological structure determined that rhizoids were not suited to moving on land.

All kinds of biological arms and legs drifted through Huo Gu's thoughts, then were immediately rejected. The reason was simple: they consumed too much energy. Just collecting those proteins and amino acids was already quite troublesome and time-consuming.

Huo Gu's gaze settled on the columnar joints in the middle of the island in the sea. The hexagonal stone columns looked more like performance art carved by human hands.

"Perhaps... I can learn from plants..."

"Right, plants. Why must I be limited to animal forms? If it's plants, that should also be a pretty good choice."

"Wait, if it's plants, then doesn't that mean I can also..."

The instant the idea appeared, it was like a wild horse breaking free of its reins, swelling out of control. In the blink of an eye, it occupied all of Huo Gu's thoughts.

Plants were only the trigger. What truly excited Huo Gu so much that he could barely restrain himself was the even bolder idea that extended from this trigger.