Random Growth

A major crisis had emerged in the Tree Transformer Tribe.

Just as that Metamorphic Tree had said before, they could no longer turn into trees.

The Metamorphic Trees had always used Theseus Cells.

But not long ago, when the Metamorphic Trees buried a companion alive as usual, something strange happened.

After that Metamorphic Tree swallowed a Theseus Cell, his companions buried him underground, but despite tending to him for a long time, no sapling grew.

The Metamorphic Trees thought it was a special circumstance, perhaps the temperature or location had been wrong. Such things had happened before, and they merely felt saddened.

But this accident soon repeated itself among other Metamorphic Trees.

More and more Metamorphic Trees failed to grow into saplings after being buried, and their numbers dwindled.

Then one time, after the Metamorphic Trees buried a companion in the ground, a strange creature emerged from the soil after a while.

It was a Black Drill Mole, capable of burrowing underground.

Only then did the Metamorphic Trees realize that the trees had failed to grow not because of a problem with the saplings' development.

It was because the Theseus Cells no longer obeyed their commands.

The cells would change at random and could become any kind of creature. If they became a creature unable to burrow, they would suffocate to death underground.

After learning this, the panicked Metamorphic Trees conducted experiments and confirmed it.

Not only that, they discovered that all creatures throughout the region were changing at random.

The Descendants of living creatures would turn into other species, and the Metamorphic Tree population was actually among the less affected ones.

Chaos had arisen among all kinds of creatures. Strange and grotesque Descendants were born among different populations, triggering the creatures' riots.

That was why so many creatures wanted to escape, desperately attacking the high walls and raiding the Outpost Station.

Li Luo asked another Metamorphic Tree how they controlled Theseus Cells to become trees. The answer she received was, "Instinct."

Their Metamorphic Tree population had appeared out of nowhere from a Great Tree Cave. From the moment they were born, they had only one purpose: to become trees.

As for how they controlled the Theseus Cells, even they did not know, nor did they have any way to solve the chaotic transformations.

After learning of the Theseus Cells' abnormality, Mo Ling fell into deep thought.

Why had the Theseus Cells, which had always been normal, undergone such changes?

It was as if their recognition functions had malfunctioned.

They wanted to disguise themselves as a mouse, only to become an elephant instead.

Li Luo also learned from a Metamorphic Tree that the Great Tree Cave seemed to have become abnormal as well. Strange sounds often came from within it, and fewer and fewer Metamorphic Trees appeared.

If this continued, all the Metamorphic Trees would disappear. That was why the Tree Transformer Tribe was so terrified, with no thought of going to the Outpost Station to exchange for fertilizer.

If the Theseus Cells' abnormality continued, not only the Metamorphic Trees, but every creature in this region would go extinct.

Then Mo Ling had another thought. Wasn't that a good thing?

If every creature infected by Theseus Cells went extinct, then Theseus Cells would no longer exist in this world.

But before that happened, exceptionally powerful creatures would surely be born, and the Outpost Station was already unable to hold out.

They had to find out what was causing the Theseus Cells' abnormality and figure out how to control them.

Such large-scale effects were bound to leave clues.

Mo Ling pondered for a while, then thought again about what the Metamorphic Trees had said earlier.

Strange sounds?

The Great Tree Cave?

He quickly reminded Li Luo with the can, and after getting the Electronic Screen, he wrote four large words on it: "Go to the Great Tree Cave!"

Before the Great Tree Cave, Mo Ling did not hear any strange sounds.

He did not know whether it was because he was trapped inside the Cube.

Looking at Li Luo, she did not seem to hear anything either.

Inside the Great Tree Cave, circular tree roots extended straight down into unfathomable depths. According to the Metamorphic Trees, they had all crawled out of the cave in a daze, and no one knew what lay within.

As they slowly descended along the circular roots, glowing mushrooms filled the Great Tree Cave. Their faint fluorescence made the entire cave seem dreamlike.

Yet around these glowing mushrooms, all sorts of small creatures appeared. They had burrowed out from the mushrooms' roots.

Not only that, there were also enormous creature corpses embedded at the base of the mushrooms. They looked as though they had grown together with the mushrooms, as if the mushrooms had sprouted from their bodies.

As expected, the Theseus Cells were transforming fungi, and the reproduction of these glowing mushrooms had also been affected.

The Great Tree Cave was especially heavily affected. As they continued downward, Mo Ling saw many strangely grown creature remains.

Horns embedded inside tree roots.

Arthropod limbs slanting out of a patch of moss.

The corpse of a deep-sea creature fallen to the ground.

Coral hanging upside down from dead branches.

Bird skeletons submerged in pools of water.

All the evidence showed that this was an area most severely affected by the mutations.

Li Luo took out the Recording Device and documented all these bizarre things.

Yet so far, the strange sound the Metamorphic Tree had mentioned had not appeared.

Instead, many crazed creatures attacked them.

Most of these creatures were starving, their bodies gaunt and skeletal.

Among them, Mo Ling even saw some Earth species that had long gone extinct.

Although they could be dealt with quickly, the creatures that suddenly sprang out from corners still caught Mo Ling off guard.

When they reached a massive tree-root platform, the sight before Mo Ling shocked him even more.

The skeleton of an enormous sea beast lay sleeping there, with multicolored biological limbs chaotically embedded throughout its bones.

The body of a serpent-like creature was skewered among the beast's ribs, yet it stubbornly remained alive. The moment it saw someone approaching, it began attacking frantically.

There were many other living creatures like it. Though embedded within the bones and unable to move, they had survived by attacking one another.

It was like a natural breeding ground for venomous creatures. Only the strongest beings, those best adapted to this environment, could claim a territory.

No wonder the creatures from earlier had all seemed so aggressive.

It was not because of the Theseus Cells, but because they had all been born into such an environment.

From the moment they were born, they had been among different populations, unable to avoid fighting other creatures.

Not only that, Mo Ling saw two creatures fused together.

A turtle-like creature was half-dead, buried in the tree roots.

Yet from atop its Turtle Shell grew the upper body of something like a jackal.

The jackal viciously tore at the turtle without stopping. The turtle's limbs had all been bitten into bloody pulp, and it could only retreat into its shell.

What a grotesque biological mishmash.

Just as Mo Ling was still stunned by the creatures' chaotic mutations, Li Luo suddenly froze in place.

After a while, Li Luo turned toward the Cube and said solemnly:

"I heard it."

"It's the Voice of God!"