'This creature … is really made of bones.'
That was Lin's first thought after dissecting the rib centipede. Its entire carapace was similar to the skeletal structure of other creatures. Although the carapace of most arthropods also contained some skeletal components, there were still many differences.
But the rib centipede was different. It completely covered its body with its skeleton, and Lin found that its internal structure was not like that of arthropods, but more like a reptile. It had organs such as lungs, and its muscles were similar to those of vertebrates, but there was no hydraulic system.
This creature should not be an arthropod, but a creature that grew its bones outside its body like a tortoise. But this creature's appearance was too strange. It looked exactly like a rib. The 'spine' was its body, and the 'ribs' were its limbs. It had a total of six pairs of limbs, and its overall shape was quite similar to that of a centipede. But in fact, it only had three pairs of limbs. The other three pairs of limbs on its upper body were formed by knuckles. Its fingers had undergone specialization to have the same structure as its limbs, but the residual structure of its fingers could still be seen inside its body.
It was a bit like the wing membrane of a pterosaur, which was also stretched open with fingers.
This creature looked like a centipede, but it was a vertebrate. It felt quite strange. The most amazing thing was that the three pairs of limbs on its upper body had small holes arranged in a row, which could be used to discharge a special substance.
Lin felt that this substance was collected from various corpses and skeletons. This substance was very flammable, and when it came into contact with the air, it would ignite into a blue-green flame, which was why the previous flame phenomenon appeared. The rib centipede would then blow through the small holes to push the flame to attack.
This was really interesting. The rib centipede was probably a scavenger. It had been living in piles of corpses for a long time, constantly evolving. Its body had also become similar to that of a skeleton. It was quite good for camouflage. Not only did it look like a skeleton, but it also tasted like a skeleton. But there were still some creatures with strong bite strength that could attack it, so it must also have the ability to defend itself. And unlike those slow tortoises, it was very agile, and the teeth in its mouth had also become similar to that of an insect. It was suitable for cutting bones and meat.
Also, its vocal cords were special, and it could scream "Ah —". Lin felt that this was more interesting than the fact that it could set fire.
But what puzzled Lin was, why did it mix with the scorpion? These two creatures should not have any mutually beneficial relationship, but the Rib Centipede was indeed lying on the scorpion's body …
Lin recalled the plague fungi. Only after being infected by them would creatures of different species mix together. However, this centipede was perfectly normal, its brain wasn't affected in any way, so there shouldn't be any issues with its ability to discern anything. At the same time, the scorpion was the same. Lin had seen it before.
It was certain that they had reached some sort of relationship. But how did he do it? Because scorpions were also scavengers? This way, they should be more competitive.
Leviathan placed the centipede on the ground, and Susumi immediately jumped down and began to eat it. She grabbed the bone and tried to bite it a few times, but it was too hard.
Leviathan grabbed Susumi onto its back and continued to fly deeper into the cave.
There must be a secret about the centipede and the scorpion …
There were quite a lot of bones on the floor of the cave. Lin felt that they were all collected from the outside, but how did they drag these big bones so far away?
Up ahead, the cave became narrower. Although Leviathan could still pass through, Lin felt that it might get narrower and narrower. As expected, it wasn't very convenient to be too big.
However, after going deeper into the cave, the 'cold' feeling from the outside subsided. It seemed that it didn't affect this place.
The surroundings became darker and darker, and Leviathan lit up. Lin saw that the entire cave seemed to be covered in bones, and there were many Rib Centipedes lurking among them. Lin could now identify them very well.
This is …
Lin noticed that the cave suddenly widened, and they had reached the end. The wall at the end of the cave was completely flat, and it looked very suspicious at first glance.
Leviathan approached the wall and reached out with its tentacles to knock on it. The wall was completely made of mud, and it seemed to be very soft.
"Gah!" Susumi suddenly screamed, and a rumbling sound came from above the cave wall. Countless cracks appeared on the wall, and then it collapsed instantly, turning into a pile of mud that fell to the ground.
This structure was actually so fragile?
After the smoke and dust of the collapse dissipated, Leviathan's light shone into the cave behind the wall, and what appeared in front of them was … a large number of flying creatures!
Countless flying creatures with black bodies screeched and rushed towards Leviathan. They seemed to be a type of small pterosaur. They didn't attack, but all of them scattered and flew towards the exit of the cave.
After they flew away, Lin finally got a good look at the structure of the cave.
This is … water?
Behind the cave wall was a huge underground lake that was nearly a hundred meters wide. Occasionally, there would be a strange glow in the lake, probably because there were light-emitting microbes living here.
Leviathan reached out with its tentacles and created something like a transparent cover over Susumi's face. Lin called it a 'filter.' At the bottom of it was a set of small organs that could filter the air in the water for Susumi to breathe.
"Gah? What is this? "Susumi fiddled with the cover on her head curiously.
"Don't do it. You can get air in the water."
As Lin spoke, the filter instantly expanded after inhaling the air, and Leviathan also entered the water.
"Water! Water! " Susumi shouted excitedly from within the cover, while Lin observed the surroundings. Through the light emitted by the Leviathan, Lin saw that the surface of the lake was densely covered with crystals, and occasionally, a huge crystal pillar would protrude from the surface.
There were also many scorpions moving around on the crystals at the bottom of the lake. They were completely amphibious creatures.
There were also many fish here. Some small fish swam around Leviathan, and Susumi kept trying to catch them on Leviathan's back. She didn't know whether these fish swam in from the outside or were brought in by other creatures.
If they swam in … there might be some passages that led outside.
Leviathan had already seen many caves at the bottom of the lake. They were of different sizes, and they were also filled with crystals. Some fish were hiding in them, but most of them didn't have crystals on their bodies. Lin thought that there should be a cave that led to the river outside …
… That's …
Lin suddenly noticed something in front of her. The Leviathan immediately turned off the light, and the surroundings instantly fell into darkness. At this time, a lot of fluorescent lights appeared in the lake. They floated around in the water, and now Lin could see that they were a kind of tiny creatures.
About ten meters in front of Leviathan, there was a cluster of fluorescent lights. It wasn't a small creature, but a two-meter-long … arthropod?
The arthropod's entire body was emitting fluorescent light, and its body was somewhat like a scorpion. Its front limbs were slender, and the bottom limb was very thick. It looked like … legs? Could it be that it moved with its legs?
The creature was lying on the crystals at the bottom of the lake. There were eight eyes on its head, and all of them were closed, as if it was sleeping at the bottom of the lake.
This arthropod actually had a structure similar to an eyelid that allowed it to close its eyes? This was the first time she had seen such a thing. Perhaps it wasn't an arthropod, but a creature with a spine like a rib centipede?
However, this creature had the pincers and tail of a scorpion, and it did look like a scorpion …
As the Leviathan slowly approached, the creature suddenly opened its eyes. The moment it saw the huge body of the Leviathan with its own fluorescent light, it was immediately shocked! It swung its body in panic and fled from Leviathan.
This creature mainly relied on moving its arthropods to swim, and it looked very clumsy. Leviathan could easily catch up to it. This was probably a terrestrial creature, and it had come to the water … Sleeping?
When the creature realized that Leviathan was about to catch up to it, it immediately turned around and dived into a cave at the bottom of the lake …
The cave was too narrow for Leviathan to enter. Lin watched as the fluorescent light slowly disappeared into the cave. This seemed to be a very long tunnel …
"It's gone in, it's escaped!" Susumi looked into the cave from the entrance. It seemed like it wanted to chase after it, and its body was completely inside. Lin suddenly thought of an idea, and said to Susumi, "Go in, track the target, but don't disturb it."
Then, Leviathan stuck two eyeballs on Susumi's hood, making it look like a hat with eyes.
Speaking of which, 'hat' referred to something that was worn on the head, right? The word sounded very strange …
"Gah …" Susumi was confused, but she swam into the cave. There was a fluorescent creature in the cave, allowing Susumi to see her surroundings …
The emerald dragon's swimming skills were not bad. At least, it was faster than the creature. The creature's fluorescent body soon appeared in front of Lin. Susumi kept a distance from it and swam slowly without being discovered.
The tunnel was very long, and there were many creatures here, such as fish, arthropods, and shell conches. The underground structure was quite complicated.
After swimming a few dozen meters, Susumi followed the creature out of the cave and arrived at another lake.
The lake was very small. The creature swam to the shore and climbed up. Susumi poked her head out of the water to observe …
As soon as Susumi came out of the water, the first thing Lin saw was a huge pile of … skeletons of creatures.
The creature walked on top of the pile of skeletons. Its lower body moved with two pairs of arthropods, while its upper body stood up to move. However, what surprised Lin was the environment and the creatures here.
It was indeed a group of creatures, but there was something different about it … Lin Sanjiu wondered.
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