Lin had been observing the strange infected cell. Although the cell's membrane had become blurry, if one looked closely, one could see some round things floating inside the cell.
Were those viruses? But why didn't they kill the cell? What if they just stayed inside its body?
Lin was very curious. Should she let the cell live or kill it to prevent any danger?
Lin didn't want to kill it directly. Lin wanted to study how the virus worked. Perhaps it could be useful?
Furthermore, the next invasion was about to begin. Lin planned to attack the nearby cells again and finally take control of the entire rock.
If the virus had some useful property, such as being able to harm other cells but not Lin's, then Lin could use the virus to attack other cells.
So Lin decided to keep it alive and try it out. However, the acid injector would always be on the side, so Lin had to observe its every move to see if it was different from normal cells.
From her initial observation, the infected cell could still eat like a normal cell, and Lin didn't feel anything wrong with its control.
However, there seemed to be some problems during the division. The cells produced by this cell would also be infected. It was just that their entire body was bright red. Moreover, during the division process, some viruses would be produced. However, there were not many, only a few.
These viruses looked small and round, and their color was bright red like the infected cells. They were only one percent the size of the infected cells.
Lin used the acid injector to kill these viruses that appeared during the division. She didn't want her entire community to turn red.
But for now, these viruses didn't seem to be much of a threat to Lin's community.
So now was the time to prepare for the next battle.
Lin's community of cells had already surpassed any other cell here. The huge community that occupied 50% of the rock allowed Lin to easily destroy the other cells that lived here.
But this time, Lin wasn't going to deal with an ordinary community of cells.
Lin's vision looked into the distance. On the rocks, there was a group of cells she called Caterpillars. This group of cells was very strange. They were like filaments that grew on the ground, densely covering a large area, like a layer of hair covering the rocks.
These filaments would wrap around the food that flowed out of the cracks or capture other nearby cells. They would then tighten and crush the other party into pieces with pure binding force.
Lin wasn't satisfied with the name Caterpillar, but she couldn't think of any better name … Hmm? Perhaps' Dead Algae Land 'would be more appropriate?
Why do I care about this? Lin felt strange about her own thoughts. In fact, as the community grew larger and Lin's thoughts became broader, Lin would always have some strange thoughts.
In short, the Caterpillars were very strange creatures. Their filamentous bodies and powerful entanglement made it impossible for the Digger and the cone-shaped cells to attack them. However, the biggest weakness of the Caterpillars was that they could not move, so Lin planned to use the Acid Injector to clean them up.
The caterpillars were densely packed on the surface of the rock. It was difficult for Lin to estimate their numbers, but in terms of area, they probably only occupied 10% of the entire rock.
On the other hand, Lin's acidic solution was enough to cover such a large area.
Lin immediately ordered the Acid Injectors to move out. They swam above where the Caterpillars could not reach and sprinkled the dissolving liquid, killing the Caterpillars in large numbers.
Because the caterpillars couldn't move, Lin wasn't afraid that some of them would get hurt and run away. Then, they would split and evolve into new individuals that were resistant to dissolving liquids.
This seemed to be a one-sided massacre. No matter how much the Caterpillars were sprayed with dissolving liquid, they could not pull themselves up from the rock to attack the Acid Injectors.
Although she was curious about how the Caterpillars usually split and reproduce, Lin had no intention of showing mercy. Soon, Lin had almost cleaned them up. The Caterpillars rotted and collapsed in the dissolving liquid, leaving only a small area that was not affected by the dissolving liquid.
Normally, Lin would destroy them directly, but Lin suddenly felt that it was too boring, so she wanted to try something new.
Lin let the infected red basal cell go forward and deliberately let it be entangled by the remaining caterpillars to see what would happen.
As usual, the caterpillars would entangle the infected cells that were close to them. The strong entanglement made Lin feel a new kind of pain.
In the end, the infected cells were squeezed and burst under the entanglement of the Caterpillars. A large number of small red viruses and cell fragments scattered into the water.
As long as the virus came into contact with the Caterpillar, it would drill into the body of the Caterpillar. Just like infected cells, the Caterpillar's entire filamentous body was dyed red. Not long after, all the Caterpillars around were dyed red.
However, the dyed red Caterpillars were not unharmed like Lin's cells. They seemed to be twisting in pain and then drooped down lifelessly. Then, the dead bodies of the Caterpillars slowly began to split open, and a large number of viruses gushed out from them.
This was a clear sign that the virus infection was fatal.
But why could these viruses kill the Caterpillars but not Lin's cells?
Lin didn't know the secret, but it was obviously a good thing.
Now, the remaining Caterpillars were all dead because of the virus infection. A large number of viruses were released from the corpses and floated in the water, dyeing the water red.
Lin let some of the basal cells swim over and let them swim among the viruses, retrieving them into the body.
Sure enough, although Lin's cells were infected red, there was no problem. It didn't affect her movement, and it was not fatal.
Lin called these cells the infected. A new type of cell was born just like that, and it had a powerful destructive ability.
If used well, the virus might be able to easily destroy a large number of cells, but there were also problems.
The biggest problem was that the cells killed by the virus were inedible.
Just like the Caterpillars, after being killed by the virus, only some fragments of their outer membrane were left. There was almost nothing useful left.
Even if the cells were corroded and festered by acid, most of them were still edible.
And those infected, even if they didn't seem to have any problems now, there was no telling if there would be any problems in the future.
Then, Lin also did some tests on the infected. The infected could indeed eat normally, but their movement speed would be slowed down. Most of the food they ate was actually owned by the virus. This was because when the infected ate, the growth and division speed of the infected cells was obviously much slower than other cells that were not infected.
Also, the infected could no longer transform into other types like the original basal cells.
In this way, the infected could be said to be a tool for the virus. The infected could only carry the virus with them, and then let the virus spread around with the cell division and other behaviors.
Lin knew that the fact that the virus didn't harm the infected cells wasn't a good thing. It was just looking for a host to use as a tool to continuously reproduce itself.
That was why Lin didn't let the number of infected get too high. Of the infected cells that had just absorbed the virus, only a small portion would be left, and most of them would be disposed of by Lin at the giant fissure that was spewing out hot water.
Lin left ten infected cells behind. If she encountered any danger in the future, Lin could use this virus as a last resort.
However, what Lin was about to face next didn't seem to be a living opponent.
Lin had long noticed that the small groups of cells that often appeared in this rocky area to look for food had stopped appearing.
But that wasn't because Lin had taken over most of the area, but because of something else.