"Gulp..." The cold was eating away at her body. Hunger and thirst were tormenting her mind. Even though there was no longer any need for her to report back to Susumu, her cells were still sending painful messages to her brain. This could be called the "final torture." She would slowly... die under this pain.
If Leviathan hadn't shown up, that would have been the case.
Lin found Susumu in a muddy hole in the ground. When Lin found the small green figure, she was already on the verge of death. Her mouth was still uttering the word "help..."
Although most of her organs were close to shutting down, and her brain was about to shut down due to lack of nutrients, she was still alive. That was the most important thing. No matter how much damage a creature suffered, as long as it wasn't dead, Lin could wake it up again.
Leviathan placed Susumu on the ground, extended its tentacles, and injected her with what Lin named "cell regeneration fluid." This fluid could quickly replenish her body with nutrients and restore the vitality of her organs. At the same time, it also added in some soldiers to help her get rid of viruses, parasites, and harmful bacteria.
When a creature was weak, these things would always take advantage of its weakness. It was a nice phrase.
Susumu's weakness was mainly due to hunger and thirst. There seemed to be no other problems. She wasn't injured, and there were no signs of being attacked.
The 'cold' feeling when the Leviathan came in was obviously caused by some creatures. Lin had always thought that it was a trick used by predatory creatures to confuse their prey so that they could attack. However, Susumi seemed to be fine, so it did not seem to be the case.
What was that feeling? Also, those strange vocal organs seemed useless. Why did they grow from trees? This was a wasteland where nutrients were scarce. Growing such organs would consume a lot of nutrients.
"Gah..." Susumu seemed to have regained some consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes, then closed them again.
Her recovery speed was not bad. She should be able to wake up in a few thousand seconds. While treating Susumu, Lin also did some research on the crystal tortoise she encountered earlier. This creature that could shoot out crystal cones was quite interesting...
Just as Lin was thinking, she suddenly heard some sounds around Leviathan. A large group of creatures surrounded Leviathan and Susumu.
Were these the crystal scorpions they saw earlier? Leviathan looked at the surrounding creatures strangely. He remembered that they only wandered around the periphery. Why did they come here? Or did they appear here as well?
These scorpions circled around Leviathan, wanting to get close but not daring to. They seemed to be afraid of Leviathan's size.
Lin, on the other hand, was quite interested in them. These scorpions had completely broken away from their aquatic life and maintained a relatively large body. They should be carefully observed and studied. The Leviathan had cut off the nutrient delivery system, and this tentacle itself had stored nutrients. At the same time, Leviathan used another tentacle to spray a large amount of viscous liquid, forming a hemispherical shape that covered Susumi on the ground.
The liquid quickly hardened, forming a layer of shell that protected Susumi from attacks.
After it was done, Leviathan slowly floated up and looked at the surrounding crystal scorpions. Leviathan stretched out its tentacles and rushed over!
The group of scorpions seemed to be shocked. They instantly scattered, but Leviathan still easily caught one. It was tied up by Leviathan's tentacles, and at the same time, it began to put in a miniature troop for research.
So that's how it is. This scorpion's respiratory system had some changes. Some contractile organs had grown in its body, and it could inhale a large amount of air from the outside, then mix it with water in its body, and bring the water to its gills to breathe.
It felt quite complicated, although it didn't have lungs. But this system was quite similar to lungs.
"Hiss …" While Lin was tying up a scorpion for research, the other scorpions that had escaped earlier all surrounded her. They kept waving their pincers and tail hooks while making strange sounds as if they were about to attack.
Were they trying to save her? Their habits seemed to have changed after they came ashore. Lin remembered that the Bloondo scorpions in the sea often fought with each other.
Psst! A scorpion on the right side of Leviathan suddenly rushed over, but it was instantly sent flying by Leviathan's tentacles. It rolled on the ground a few times before coming to a stop...
This was the so-called 'overestimating one's strength'.
However, these scorpions were smarter. They immediately retreated when they saw their companion being sent flying. Lin saw a few of them running to Susumi's location. They tried to open the shell that wrapped Susumi with their pincers, but no matter how hard they tried, there was no crack.
Of course, that was not something they could open. Lin Sanjiu decided to take Susumi away from here after she recovered. Although they still had to continue their journey, this place was not suitable for Susumi to explore. They should find an area rich in creatures, and this place was indeed strange. They had to investigate it thoroughly.
After the scorpions knocked a few times and realized that they could not knock it down, they dispersed. They quickly ran into the forest and disappeared. At this time, the Leviathan also let go of the scorpion that it had caught before. After they all ran away, the Leviathan continued to fly to Susumi's side and waited for it to recover.
"Ahhh —!"
Suddenly, Leviathan heard a scream coming from the surrounding crystal trees.
Strange. Leviathan had searched some of the trees here before, and remembered that they only recorded Susumi's faint voice. Speaking of which, the scorpions could also scream, but the trees did not record it.
What … was that?
While Lin was thinking, she found that the scorpions ran back, and they were carrying something strange on their backs. It looked like … the ribs of a creature.
"Ahhh —" At this time, another scream was heard. Lin heard it clearly. It came from the ribs on the scorpions' backs!
Why did the bones scream? That was an interesting question … Leviathan slowly floated up. When it was about to rush to the scorpions again, it suddenly found that the ribs moved.
Not only could they scream, but they could also move? Lin found that the front half of the ribs lifted up, and at the same time, each of the ribs opened up. At the top of the 'spine' in the middle, there was a structure that looked like a cockroach's mouth. There were a few compound eyes above the mouth.
So it was a kind of arthropod creature? It might be a centipede, but its body looked too much like a rib, and even its color was very similar. Perhaps it should be called a 'rib centipede'.
Generally speaking, this form should be a disguise. It could pretend to be a dead creature's rib, but why was it lying on the scorpions? And it could … "Ahhh —!!!"
The rib centipede once again let out an extremely sharp scream. The other rib centipedes on the backs of the scorpions also screamed together. The sound instantly resounded through the forest, but Leviathan was unmoved.
Normal creatures would definitely not be able to withstand this kind of scream. After all, most animals had developed hearing. When they heard this kind of scream, they would feel irritated because of the constant signals in their brain. Although Leviathan's hearing was also developed, it was completely fine.
The rib centipedes screamed for a while, and when they found that Leviathan was not moving, they seemed to have started using a new trick. A few of the centipedes raised their upper bodies and began waving their rib-like appendages.
Were they dancing? At this time, Lin suddenly smelled a scent. She saw a blue-green flame suddenly ignite between the four forelimbs of a rib centipede.
… Flame?
The rib centipede spread its appendages, and the flame floated towards Leviathan.
… A flame that burns and floats in the air? Although it was slow, it was indeed floating.
This was a strange feeling … Could flames be made like this? Lin's preliminary judgment was that the rib centipede might have spat out an extremely light flammable substance, and then used the wind to blow this strange colored flame.
But was there really such a thing? Why didn't it disperse in the air? Why could it keep burning for so long?
The flame slowly approached Leviathan. Leviathan stretched out its tentacles slowly towards the flame, wanting to touch it to check its temperature, but it was extinguished before it touched it.
It seemed that it didn't burn for long … But it was hard to confirm whether it was a real flame or not. When Leviathan stretched out its tentacles, it didn't seem to feel any change in temperature.
However, the 'cold' feeling from before had been affecting Leviathan's perception, so the feeling now might not be accurate.
But at this time, all the rib centipedes in the surroundings created this kind of flame, and these flames slowly floated towards Leviathan's direction.
Because the speed of the flame wasn't fast, Leviathan could easily fly up and dodge it. Then, it aimed at one of the rib centipedes. Lin decided to find out what was going on with this flame.
The rib centipedes rode on the scorpion's back, and Lin wasn't sure if they were symbiotic or something else. Leviathan suddenly accelerated, stretched out its tentacles, and rushed towards one of the scorpions carrying a centipede on its back!
The moment Leviathan rushed over, the rib centipede on the scorpion's back suddenly spread out its limbs and spat out a flame, hitting Leviathan's helmet head-on! But this didn't stop Leviathan's advance at all. A large number of tentacles instantly tied up the scorpion.
… Just a scorpion? What about the centipede? The eyeball on Leviathan's back saw the centipede jump into the air. After it landed on the ground, it quickly moved its rib-like limbs and fled into the forest.
Bang! Leviathan aimed at the centipede and fired a shot. The rib centipede immediately hid behind a tree. The moment the bullet hit the tree, it rushed out again and ran into the depths of the forest.
If it ran so fast, why was it still riding on the scorpion's back?
The other centipedes and scorpions in the surroundings did the same. They quickly scattered and ran away. Would they come back with some strange insect this time?
Or … would they escape back to their nest? (To be continued.) Continue reading.)
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