A Cornered Beast Bites

Huo Gu was troubled. It was currently facing a difficult problem.

The formation of a cell wall originated from the DNA blueprint within a single cell. To shrink that tunnel for material flow, it would need to modify the DNA blueprint.

However, Huo Gu currently lacked the means to do that—or rather, it did not have enough time. It had no idea when it would encounter the next wave of bacteriophages, and the cell wall had to be completed before then.

"Is there really no viable method?"

Huo Gu asked itself as it focused on the cell wall sample and sank into thought.

If it wanted to narrow the tunnel, the key had to lie in the tunnel itself...

In its mind, Huo Gu continuously recalled its past life as a human. Every memory related to "pipes" flashed past like scenes on a revolving lantern.

Suddenly, it thought of something.

"Got it!"

"If I only want to narrow the passage, I don't necessarily need to modify it from scratch. As long as I make the passage walls bend to a certain extent, part of the passage will naturally become narrower."

The cell wall before Huo Gu seemed to be gradually dismantling and reconstructing itself, while the blueprint in its mind became increasingly clear.

"To make the passage bend, I can offset the two layers of cell walls. That way, part of the passage can be narrowed."

Without delay, Huo Gu immediately began constructing this new type of cell wall.

The single cell with a cell wall that served as the sample received Huo Gu's command and began unwinding and transcribing its own DNA. Meanwhile, Huo Gu stared intently at the genetic chain left behind by the bacteriophage.

Very quickly, a brand-new cell with a cell wall appeared before Huo Gu. At the same time, Huo Gu also mastered the segment of DNA responsible for generating cell walls.

It directed the newly formed cell to partially unwind its DNA and produce another cell wall.

The material-flow passage in this cell wall was slightly offset from the original cell wall, exactly as Huo Gu had planned.

With its previous experience operating enzymes through cytoplasm, the construction of the cell wall was completed in a single attempt.

Huo Gu looked at the single cell with its double-layered cell wall and felt extremely satisfied.

The cell's two layers of cell walls would definitely be enough to defend against the injections of those bacteriophages.

As for the tunnel, it had shrunk until only a single molecular cluster could pass through. Huo Gu was certain that no bacteriophage could invade the cell through that route.

Everything seemed so perfect...

"With this, I can finally relax a little... Hm?"

Just as Huo Gu was about to turn its attention elsewhere, it noticed something strange.

The double-walled cell serving as the experiment sample was gradually losing its original vitality.

"This..."

Before long, Huo Gu completely lost control of the double-walled cell. That meant the cell had died. The DNA chain at its core collapsed as well, and the cell membrane completely lost its permeability.

"Why did this happen?"

Toxins? Decomposing enzymes? Antibiotics?...

Countless possibilities flashed through Huo Gu's mind. Each seemed to match the current situation, yet none truly fit upon closer thought.

"Calm down. Something must have gone wrong during the operation just now. As long as I carefully check them one by one..."

Just as Huo Gu was about to investigate the cause of the double-walled cell's death, alarm bells suddenly rang in its mind.

The entire single-celled colony was successively coming into contact with multiple uninvited guests—and they were the virulent bacteriophages Huo Gu least wanted to see.

"Hiss—more than thirty bacteriophages!?"

"No, their numbers are still increasing!"

The previous method would definitely not work against this many bacteriophages. And it had yet to find the cause of the double-walled cells' deaths. Forcing their use would be no different from seeking death.

Was there no way out?

Huo Gu seemed to see the gates of death slowly opening before it, with endless darkness beyond them...

"No!"

"When this damn gate opens is up to me!"

Death's approach ignited Huo Gu's fury. A cornered beast would bite, and the entire single-celled colony seemed infected by Huo Gu's emotions, maintaining an intensely excited state.

The colony's excitement in turn affected Huo Gu's collective consciousness. Huo Gu could clearly see the flow of cytoplasm, the division of bacteriophages—everything slowing down while becoming extraordinarily distinct. In this state, it could even see individual molecules.

Not only that, the memories of its past as a human repeatedly rewound and fast-forwarded. As long as it wished, it could immediately recall every detail of any memory, as though aided by the gods.

"There's a chance. There's definitely a chance. They're only a bunch of bacteriophages..."

Like an experienced hunter crouching in the grass, all its memories and knowledge were like animals hurrying past, utterly unaware of the threat hidden in the brush.

Then, suddenly, the "prey" appeared.

"...I'm such an idiot. I actually overlooked such a trump card."

As it murmured this, vast numbers of cells throughout the single-celled colony spontaneously began releasing large quantities of enzymes: endonucleases, exonucleases, polymerases, ligases, and more. So long as they were enzymes, they were all produced.

Then, through the flow of cytoplasm, all those miscellaneous enzymes were guided toward the vicinity of the cell membranes.

After the enzymes reached the cell membranes, the membranes gradually began to thin. But Huo Gu no longer cared about that. Eliminating these damned bacteriophages was the top priority.

Meanwhile, the parasitized cells that could still be controlled rapidly began producing massive amounts of enzymes in a suicidal fashion under Huo Gu's command, killing both the invading bacteriophage genes and themselves.

In the blink of an eye, the number of bacteriophages in the process of parasitizing cells dropped by more than half.

Huo Gu did not relax because of this. It knew very well that battles in the microscopic world differed from those in the macroscopic world. Numbers often did not play a decisive role.

As long as even one bacteriophage remained alive, it could directly threaten the survival of the entire single-celled colony.

Just as Huo Gu saw victory in this battle drawing near, another massive wave of bacteriophages landed on its single-celled colony.

"Damn it!"

Huo Gu cursed and directed the cells to build a protective layer with their bodies, isolating the vast majority of the bacteriophages outside.

To maintain its cell count, Huo Gu also directed some cells to divide. With that support, both sides entered a war of attrition.

Either the virulent bacteriophages would overwhelm the single-celled colony led by Huo Gu with their sheer numbers.

Or Huo Gu's single-celled colony would wear down this enormous swarm of bacteriophages.

As the battle dragged on, Huo Gu's bloodlust surged. Its thoughts were gradually tilting in an increasingly brutal direction.