Photographing the Base

With a target confirmed, one of the Gourd inhabiting the tail of the Titanium Snail cautiously departed from the area covered by the seafloor curtain.

While moving through the water, it clung to the seabed, following the flow of the currents as much as possible. This ensured that even a submarine equipped with military-grade sonar would be unable to detect the Gourd as an active biological entity in the water.

Huo Gu had no idea if the unknown entity would discover it, but this was the highest level of stealth it could achieve.

Carried by the currents, the Gourd reached a position one nautical mile from the Titanium Snail. This was the edge of the Titanium Snail's life field; any further, and Huo Gu would be unable to transmit commands to the Gourd.

The area the Gourd reached was a sandy stretch of seafloor. There were no large rocks to be seen, the result of constant scouring by underwater currents. It would take a considerable amount of time before this planet could produce the kind of fine sand found on Earth's beaches.

Division began. Under Huo Gu's command, the cells within the Gourd split, doubling its number.

Once the original Gourd completed its division, it sank into the sand to minimize the current's interference with its position. Covered in carbon nanofibers, the Gourd had no need to worry about the coarse seafloor sand scratching its epidermis.

The Gourd flicked its side fins, using the sand to bury itself and complete its concealment.

The newly divided Gourd continued on its journey, heading further away.

During this process, if it encountered underwater volcanoes or islands, it would slightly alter its course. While it did not maintain a perfectly straight line, the principle of moving away from the Titanium Snail's hidden location remained constant.

A significant amount of time passed—Huo Gu did not know exactly how much, though it felt like a long duration. By now, the chain of command had extended for hundreds of nautical miles, and the latency in command transmission became increasingly severe.

This distance should be enough... Even if humans deployed satellites, without an understanding of life fields, it would be absolutely impossible for them to follow the trail and find me.

Despite this thought, Huo Gu, out of caution, extended the distance by another hundred nautical miles.

The Gourd at the furthest point no longer underwent the same division process as the others. Instead, under Huo Gu's instructions, it altered its gene expression sequence.

This Gourd sank to the seabed, landing in a rocky area littered with debris. Much like the coastline of the volcanic island from before, an underwater volcano stood nearby.

The Gourd on the seafloor no longer retained its gourd shape. It transformed into a ball of flesh, pulsing and expanding rhythmically like an independent heart.

The sphere grew larger and larger. Its interior was no longer filled with solid matter but with a liquid environment. Deep within the center of the sphere, a small embryo could be vaguely discerned through the membrane.

To maintain its structural integrity, the expanding sphere consciously thickened its own walls. Thus, in a stable environment, the embryo within completed its shaping and the development of its internal organs.

Finally, the fully developed creature used its titanium-alloy fangs to pierce the sphere from the inside out.

The creature stretched its body, and something that appeared neither entirely biological nor non-biological emerged onto the seafloor.

It was a massive life form, roughly the size of a small hill. It was conical in shape, with a base radius of ten meters and a height of fourteen meters. Six enormous oral cavities at the bottom pressed against the seabed, and another massive mouth existed at the top. Its conical body was covered in countless tiny pores and rows of titanium-alloy spikes.

The core sensory cells were buried underground; Huo Gu had never intended for this behemoth to move through the water during the design phase.

The titanium-alloy skeleton provided sufficient strength to withstand deep-sea pressure while supporting such a massive frame. Its skin was a composite of carbon nanofibers and multiple layers of protein, with titanium-alloy scales attached to the outermost layer.

Under command, this monster-like entity pulsed its body. The large mouth at the top greedily inhaled seawater, which was then expelled through the six bottom cavities.

Through this simple process, it gathered a vast amount of protein.

Roots began to grow from the base of the monster. Unlike those at the volcanic island, these roots lacked a central taproot; they were all of uniform thickness and intertwined to form a net-like structure covering the seafloor.

If one were to zoom in to the cellular level, they would see that these roots were composed of countless smaller roots bundled together. The core of each small root consisted of carbon nanotubes, and since each small root possessed different resource affinities, this new system could process all types of resources while further enhancing structural strength.

Most importantly, these roots constantly generated oxygen, harvested thermal energy from the volcanoes or the water temperature, and reacted with the acidic and alkaline elements in the water.

This design was intended to prevent microorganisms from attacking the root system.

High concentrations of oxygen could destroy cell membranes, making it a powerful weapon in an era dominated by anaerobic microorganisms. More importantly, it was easy to produce, as carbon dioxide was abundant in the atmosphere.

Microorganisms killed by the oxygen would settle to the bottom and be collected by the root system.

Of course, this was a secondary function. Its primary role was to absorb compounds from the covered area and transport them to the conical creature, with the two working in symbiosis.

Nurtured by the protein provided by the conical creature, the expanding root system surged forward, covering a six-kilometer radius with the creature at its core.

During this time, the conical creature used its remaining organic materials to mass-produce Gourds. Under Huo Gu's command, these groups would travel to the edge of the life field, "bury" themselves, and transform into new conical creatures.

Under these conditions, the covered area expanded exponentially. If it encountered a volcano, the root system would not pass it by; excluding areas of extreme heat like the volcanic vents, the entire region would be covered.

Huo Gu had considered sustainable development in its initial design. If it were too reckless, the result might be the premature death of the planet's infant ecosystem—a fate it did not wish to see.

As a researcher of paleontology, learning to respect these life forms was the most basic moral principle.

The metabolism of the root system was faster than the previous generation. The lifespan of individual cells was very short; as they died, they accumulated to form organic matter similar to sludge, which served as a nutrient-rich feast for microorganisms.

When this coverage area expanded to over two hundred nautical miles, it finally drew the attention of that unknown entity once again.