Crystals were truly wondrous things.
Lin had yet to thoroughly study crystals. There were many types of crystals, and almost all of them were shiny. The group of creatures Lin was observing used crystals to build a city that belonged to them.
Irregular crystals were built on the ground. Most of them were one to two meters tall, while some were more than ten meters tall. They almost touched the ice wall at the top. Every crystal was connected to each other like pipes. A large number of ancient squid shuttled back and forth in the pipes, which reminded Lin of the Kibucha Worms.
They even 'planted' a type of plant on the crystal … No, it should be a creature similar to an anemone. This type of anemone was similar in size to an ancient squid. They emitted a faint glow, which caused the entire city under the ice to shimmer.
This' crystal city 'was built near the rift valley. It stretched for several kilometers, which was quite large for creatures that were only ten centimeters long.
Their main source of life was in the rift valley. The water in the rift valley was very warm. It could even be said that it was relatively hot. The ice here was also thinner than other places. There were no ancient squid living in the rift valley, but they had built many pipes that led to the bottom of the rift valley.
Lin was very curious about their habits. While the Ark was being rebuilt, she decided to do some research on them.
From Lin's observation, she found that these ancient squid mainly used two types of crystals. The first type of crystal was heat insulating, which was their main building material. The ancient squid would break these crystals. Then, they would secrete something to glue them together. A large number of these crystals were glued together and eventually formed a city here.
The second type of crystal seemed to be able to absorb heat. In fact, the pipes that connected the crystal buildings were made of this type of crystal. These pipes eventually extended to the bottom of the rift valley. The purpose of these pipes was to channel the heat from the rift valley into the crystal buildings above. However, they did not only do that. They would also throw a large number of crystals down to the bottom of the rift valley. After they absorbed enough heat, they would bring them up again.
This wondrous action allowed their entire city to be in a warm environment. That was why they built their cities along the Rift Valley. However, they did not seem to be able to expand outwards. This Crystal City seemed to have been built a long time ago. Lin could see some remnants of buildings further away from the Rift Valley.
Perhaps the ancient squids were widely distributed in the past, but most of them died when the weather suddenly turned cold, and those that survived gathered near the rift valley.
The 'heat pipes' between the buildings should have been built recently. They seemed to have quite a bit of intelligence.
These crystals seemed to have been dug out from the ground. Lin remembered that there weren't any crystals here before, but she didn't pay much attention to them back then …
Lin was slightly surprised by the habits of these ancient squids. Even though they had gathered into a large group, they got along well with each other. They also relied on changing colors to communicate and did not use any other methods. Most importantly, they trusted their own kind.
There was no mistrust or hostility between the same species in the Ancient Squids, which meant that they did not steal or cheat. They also did not trade with each other. They used a fair distribution method similar to the Humerus Dragon.
Lin noticed that there was a leader among them. The leader's role so far was only to distribute things. However, it did not take the opportunity to distribute more to itself, which meant that it was not selfish.
As long as there was no such phenomenon in the beginning, all the cheating and disputes later on would not occur.
This was very strange … Lin originally thought that if creatures with personalities continued to develop without 'teaching', they would all become like the Humerus Dragon or the Emerald Dragon.
However, that was not certain. After all, the ancient squids came from creatures like ammonites. They were very different from dinosaurs, so it was not strange that they developed special personalities. However, it was unknown if they were related to the group of ancient squids that Lin had observed before.
The group of ancient squids that she saw fighting at sea should be two different species. Although there was no 'infighting' among them, they would still fight among themselves.
The ancient squids here usually ate the frozen creatures around them, as well as the sea anemones. Lin noticed that they would sometimes break the tentacles of the sea anemones and feed the sea anemones with their own excrement.
It was a very common symbiotic relationship, just like growing plants …
However, after the creatures around them were eaten, their survival was uncertain. They were not the only creatures that survived. Some creatures would fight with them for food, or even attack them.
Now, at the edge of the city, Lin found a creature. It was the kind of creature she saw on land … a crystal trilobite.
The trilobites she saw on land might have run out after digging through the ice, but … that seemed to have run too far. Did trilobites have such an ability?
The thirty-centimeter-long trilobite was like a monster to the ancient squids. The trilobite tried to dig through the crystalline buildings of the ancient squids, but the ancient squids quickly defended and counterattacked.
Although these ancient squids could build complex crystalline buildings and pipe systems, their weapons were very simple. They used sharp stones or shell fragments to pierce the trilobite's joints. After being attacked many times, the trilobite seemed to feel the pain and ran away.
The ancient squids were still chasing after it. They kept attacking the trilobite, trying to drive it further away. However, during the attack, some ancient squids were caught and torn apart by the trilobite.
However, the ancient squids' crazy attacks were effective. The trilobite could not move because of the damage to its joints, and finally fell to the seabed …
However, this was not the seabed.
The ancient squids kept changing into bright colors to celebrate their victory. They seemed to have learned a kind of light ability. Lin noticed that this was because there was some kind of fungus on their skin.
Then, they called for more ancient squids and tried to eat the trilobite. Lin noticed that they seemed to bring small pieces of crystals to keep them warm. After all, they had ten tentacles, so it was much easier for them to carry things. They removed the meat from the joints and quickly brought it back. Because it could not be kept warm for long, they needed to move quickly. They might have been living like this recently.
Although these ancient squids seemed to be living well here, they also faced many problems. Food would run out sooner or later. Food in other parts of the rift valley could not be obtained because it was too far away. The oxygen here was also a problem.
Therefore, they needed a neighbor. Floating astronomy.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
