The next step required quite a few modifications, mainly focused on the design of the Symbiote Cats.
Using Strangle as a template was fine, but Strangle was not flawless either.
First, the instinct for mutual slaughter embedded in the symbiote genes had to be removed. Although devouring their own kind was like looting someone else's crate in a battle royale game—the fastest way to grow stronger—this survival-of-the-fittest model was truly unsuitable for the development of a species.
They only needed to slightly alter the Symbiote Cats' way of thinking, letting them know that they could evolve by eating their own kind, but did not need to. That was simple enough; they just had to implant the social instincts humans already possessed.
Second, they needed to remove the Symbiote Cats' dependence on brains for food. If they only ate a prey's brain while leaving the headless corpse behind, their material utilization was a little too low. They should learn not to waste food.
Lastly, they needed to alter the reproduction rate of the symbiotes.
Strangle's situation was special. In order to specialize in the devouring-and-evolution branch of abilities, it had given up its reproductive function. After all, for a symbiote like it that had already reached the immortal level, reproduction was useless.
Ordinary symbiotes were different. When faced with a crisis, they would automatically split off reproductive spores in order to continue their species. When supplies were abundant, they would also reproduce offspring on their own.
Those pellet-like spores would hatch into new symbiotes in around four hours.
If they wished, reproducing hundreds of generations in a single night would not be a problem. As long as food was available, they could even continue indefinitely.
Their efficiency was far greater than that of Flerkens, which looked remarkably like cats. But if