Chapter 743 - Semi-Finished Products
Chapter 743: Semi-Finished Products
Meng Chao did not give up. On a temporary operating table, he carefully observed and analyzed the monsters in the Hidden Mist Domain.
“These monsters… are so deformed!”
The first monster that was placed on the operating table made Meng Chao slightly startled.
The d*mn thing was like a common two-headed blue-striped lizard in the wilderness.
It was a kind of dangerous reptile monster with acid sacs and poisonous glands.
However, on both sides of its body, there were three pairs of serrated limbs that were common to arthropod monsters. They were shining coldly as if they were attached to a large amount of metal.
Although many monsters were like the amalgamation of many kinds of creatures…
The fusion between their limbs and organs was relatively close and harmonious. It was definitely not like this monster… which appeared to be crudely made and pieced together.
The second monster was the same.
Under the giant python’s head and torso, there was a thick and long scorpion tail.
The dark red scorpion tail hook emitted a faint fishy smell. Plus, the entire tail was covered with thick and long steel needles that looked like that of a porcupine.
While increasing its attack power, it also offset the giant python’s original strength and mobility. It appeared to be neither fish nor fowl, and it was extremely uncoordinated.
The third monster had the appearance of a saber-toothed tiger, the body of a bobcat, and the skin color of a black panther.
Its streamlined body, coupled with its muscles that were as explosive as crystal bombs, would have been the most suitable appearance for hunting.
However, a pair of broad wings grew out of its back. It was as if it had been torn off from the back of a falcon-type monster and was forcefully sewn onto its back.
The problem was that the bones of the falcon-type monster were mostly hollow. In order to reduce its weight to the greatest extent, its internal organs had undergone an “ultra-lightweight” upgrade. Only then could it be pulled up by the rising force of the flapping wings.
The bones and internal organs of this small saber-toothed tiger were still in the posture of a land predator.
In order to soar into the air, it needed an even stronger rising force. Its wings had to be extended to more than ten meters wide.
In order to drive these two enormous wings, the muscles from the wing root to the chest were overstuffed and deformed.
Not only did that reduce its concealment and killing speed, but it also greatly increased its daily energy consumption. That meant it needed more food, wasted more time hunting, and consumed more killing energy.
Moreover, in this environment where there were towering trees and obstacles and traps everywhere, it was meaningless for it to grow a pair of wings that covered the sky and the Earth.
The trees would not only prevent it from rising into the air, but also block its sight when it was patrolling in the air. Even if it found its prey and wanted to dive down to kill it, it would be easily blocked by the crown of the tree and the branches. It would then fall to the ground and even be stuck between the branches, bushes as well as thorns.
In conclusion, the small saber-toothed tiger did not need to develop such a pair of wings, and it should not have.
Meng Chao’s hands turned into two clusters of gray mist. He manipulated more than ten lancet blades at the same time to cut open the stomachs of the three monsters and carefully analyzed their organs.
Then, he compared the small saber-toothed tiger with the griffin, a flying lion-type monster that had successfully evolved.
It was discovered that the shape of the organs, the arrangement of the muscles, and even the density of the griffin’s bones were much more scientific than the small saber-toothed tiger’s.
Moreover, griffins were mainly active in the grasslands and would not easily enter the jungle. That was also relatively reasonable.
How to put it? It was like a teacher asking a question: How to combine falcon-type monsters and liger-type monsters organically?
Brainiac’s answer would be, “Griffins.”
However, the homework that Brainiac handed in would be this small saber-toothed tiger.
It was no wonder that the monsters that looked rather ferocious were easily pierced by human firearms. They did not even need to use swords or sabers.
Meng Chao estimated that with the natural defects of these deformed monsters, even if the exploration team did not open fire, they would not be able to survive for long in the swamp area that was covered in lichen and Blood Flowers.
“Interesting.”
They dissected seven or eight monsters consecutively, and it was all the same. Their appearances were deformed and ugly, but the distribution of their contents was pieced together. It was extremely unscientific.
“What do you mean?”
Long Feijun saw the thoughtful expression on Meng Chao’s face, and his interest was piqued.
“Senior Brother Long, don’t you think that these monsters… are too ugly?” Meng Chao asked.
Long Feijun was slightly stunned, and he could not help but laugh. “Monsters are all ugly.”
“No, no, no. That is just the opinion of ordinary people. In the eyes of the reapers, many monsters possess a peculiar beauty that is in the peak of their speed, strength, explosive power, and ultimate survival ability.”
Meng Chao shook his head and said, “When the nine-headed diamond dragon rose up from the depths of the mist and the sunlight passed through its translucent body, blossoming into colorful brilliance, who could deny that it was a magnificent, domineering, and brutal beauty?
“Even the tiny Demonic Halberd Pig, when it smears its entire body with the mud that contains a lot of minerals in the mountains to form a layer of indestructible heavy armor and dashes forward, doesn’t it look like an armored vehicle that could overcome anything?
“There are also some monsters that, at first glance, seemed to have fused two completely different creatures together.
“For example, the Level One superbeast, the seven-star Wolf Spider, has both the characteristics of an arthropod and a canine monster. However, its two sets of completely different organs are perfectly, precisely, and harmoniously coexisting in an inconceivable manner. One cannot help but sigh with emotion. What kind of divine workmanship could have created such a miracle of life!
“However, the monsters here do not have the beauty of brutality or the fusion of science. Many of their organs seem to be doing their own things or even colliding with each other. They are completely shoddy, half-finished products… No, they are failures.
“Logically speaking, such monsters shouldn’t have survived for even a day, no, not even an hour.”
Long Feijun thought for a moment and said, “But our people saw with their own eyes that they were still alive and kicking when the biogas exploded
“That’s why I say that it’s interesting.”
Meng Chao mumbled to himself, “These monsters shouldn’t have appeared in this world at all. Even if they did, they shouldn’t have survived.
“It’s not right. All the monsters shouldn’t have appeared—there’s no natural environment that can evolve a creature that combines the characteristics of a mammal and an arthropod at the same time.
“These monsters are special…”
Meng Chao contemplated for a moment and continued to dissect and analyze with his head lowered.
Then, he activated the extraordinary power of the five-star Spirit Gaze Realm and finally scraped out some light green mucus from the depths of a few monsters’ organs.
It was an important matter, so he gave up on the naked eye operation. He put the mucus under the crystal microscope and analyzed it, then entered the images and data into the tactical computer.
Then, they saw an extremely special cell on the screen.
It simultaneously had chloroplast, giant vacuoles, cell nuclei, and some characteristics of fungi.
It was like a fusion of animal cells, plant cells, and even fungal cells together. It had powerful energy absorption, as well as mass and energy conversion efficiency, which also resulted in an extremely vigorous vitality.
These monsters had clearly been dead for a long time.
Yet, the light green mucus extracted from their bodies was still as active as before.
Even on the slide, thin threads were still desperately stretching out in all directions.
It was just like the green lichen or the red threads of the Blood Flower that Meng Chao had observed earlier.
“Lu Siya and the others have also discovered such strange cells. What exactly are these?” Long Feijun frowned.
“Perhaps, they are a misshapen monster. It is impossible for them to be born. Even if they are, they should have died of organ failure in the first second, but they are still alive and kicking in front of us.”
Meng Chao mumbled to himself and fell into deep thought.
At that moment, another team that had been sent to scout the UHV transmission towers returned.
“The bombing was very effective. All the UHV transmission towers have melted into scrap metal and solidified together. It’s impossible for them to get up again. Of course, the vines, branches, and moss that were wrapped around their bodies were all burned to ashes. Once they are cleaned up, it will be the best landing site. It will be easy for them to take off and land almost a hundred armored airships at the same time!”
“We also found this!” the team leader said excitedly.
They carefully took out a moss-covered cable from a metal tube that was filled with frozen mithril stabilizer.
A thin layer of ice had condensed on the moss, making it look like a frozen poisonous snake.
A dark purple ghost claw was growing out of the end of the cable. The claw was covered in white hair and even came complete with grayish-white fingernails. It looked very lifelike.
“We found it at the edge of the valley. It must have been blown away by the shockwave. When we found it, it was still alive and kicking!”
The captain said, “Don’t worry. No one touched it directly. We froze it right away.”
Meng Chao and Long Feijun moved closer and cautiously observed the ghost claw at the end of the cable. There was a halo in their eyes that rotated and zoomed in. They finally noticed that the white hair was actually mycelium.
“This is Xylaria polymorpha, commonly known as Dead Man’s Fingers. It is a fungus-like creature that even exists on Earth.”
Long Feijun heaved a sigh of relief and said, “It seems that the high voltage transmission towers were made into nests by the highly active vines. They were also parasitized by the moss, lichen, and fungi. That’s why they were moving unsteadily. At first glance, they seemed to be alive.
“As for the crazy waving tentacles, which looked like the claws of demons, they were naturally caused by lichen and Polygonum.”
“What about the electric current?”
Meng Chao asked, “I saw with my own eyes that a cable was electrified and blew up a crystal engine.”
“Many etherealized plants have the same characteristics as electric eels. They can condense and amplify biological electric current and electrocute prey within their hunting range,” Long Feijun explained.
Meng Chao thought about it and could only accept it for the time being.
Right then, due to the increase in temperature, the “frozen” cable gradually “woke up.”
More accurately, the moss, branches, and lichen covering its body came to life.
They looked as the ghost claw wriggled like a ghost, twisted, and struggled. Even the Xylaria polymorpha at the end of the cable opened and closed as if it was groping something. Everyone could not help but feel a chill even though they knew the truth.