I saw countless "Nereis silkworms" attached to the inner wall of the abdominal cavity of the king snakehead, desperately eating the flesh and blood of the corpse, making a "rustling" sound like a group of silkworms eating mulberry leaves. The meat in the abdominal cavity has been eaten by them. There were a lot of holes, and the bones were exposed in some places. The "Nereis" that were originally about the thickness of a pencil were now about the same size as a rolling pin. What's more, several tentacles of "Andean Alonso Protozoa" stuck out from somewhere and pierced the skin of the King Squid. He was sucking hard as if he had a straw inserted. It looked very disgusting.
Ling Hao said to Xueting in a deep voice: "The environmental problem you are worried about will probably not happen. Presumably, this 'Andean Alonzo protozoa' makes a living by eating carrion in the lake. At this rate, it will not take more than two years." In a few days, there will be only a pile of bones left here. Go and look at the dead fish floating on the water. If this is the case, then they will all be eaten by this undead monster under our feet within a week. , we will really face a food crisis."
As soon as they finished speaking, Xueting and Tian Yong ran towards the water. After a while, each of them ran back carrying two dead fish. They saw the lugworms falling from the dead fish. It was obvious that the situation was different from Ling's. It was exactly what Hao expected.
This time, no one dared to rest. They used all available utensils, then cut the shark "candles" in the Sword Tomb into eight pieces, and began to bake dried fish. If the fuel was not the corpse of the shark, It feels too disgusting, and it might be poisonous. It would be faster to smoke the dried fish directly over charcoal fire for preservation. The baked dried fish was put into a clay pot and sealed with a plastic bag and Tian Yong's broken diving suit to ensure that the lugworms could never get in. In this way, a competition with undead protozoa for food begins.
In fact, Ling Hao's estimate was conservative. More protozoan tentacles stretched out from the lake water unscrupulously, poking at the king snakehead and sucking it. This giant creature was becoming shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was even more serious on the water surface. There were fewer dead fish floating there. More than half, and few of the remaining ones are complete. There is no day or night in the underground world, but what is certain is that 24 hours a day, Ling Hao and the others are haunted by the sound of empty yogurt boxes being sucked through straws, which is so noisy that they almost go crazy.
Looking at the gradually smaller corpse of the Spotted Snakehead King, Ling Hao and the others also had mixed emotions. They have the ability to prevent the protozoa from continuing to touch this corpse, but keeping this corpse means an ecological disaster. If they don't stop it, it won't be long before the only thing they can eat is those disgusting lugworms.
Two days later, there was only a huge white fish bone and the skull of a king salamander left on the "island". Not to mention dead fish, there were no blood stains on the lake anymore. The lake was clear again, and it seemed that it was even clear. The organic matter in the water seemed to have been filtered, and it was so clean that it was scary. The sound of emptying the yogurt box finally disappeared, and the entire underground world became eerily quiet. Only the faint sound of water leaking from the upper space could be heard in the distance.
Ling Hao and Shui Lingxing went into the water to confirm. At the bottom of the lake, which is nearly 300 meters deep, all the bodies of the Dragon King Salamander have turned into white bones. Countless long tentacles hang down from above, crisscrossing like a jungle. They are still alive. None of the spotted snakeheads could be seen anymore, and there was no living creature in the lake, just like a pool of stagnant water.
"Is this protozoa crazy? It ate everything it could eat. Will it eat dirt in the future?" Xueting rambled anxiously.
"It's just a low-level bug. It only has a nervous system and no brain. Why is it so crazy?" Tian Yong replied carelessly.
Xueting immediately lost her temper and said, "Why does it sound like you?"
Tian Yong pretended not to understand and changed the subject: "I guess it was stimulated by the bloody fight between the two groups. This lake is an ecosystem. It used to be very balanced. The corpses of the spotted snakehead and dragon king salamander that occasionally grew old, sick and died maintained this The most basic survival of a monster. Anyway, it is an undead protozoa. Those with a slight stutter will not die. But a big war created a lot of food for it. It is like a link in the food chain. The previous link suddenly increases in size. The food chain is so unbalanced. When the food is gone, I believe these tentacles will shrink. This undead protozoa will Once it has eaten, it will fall into dormancy and wait for the ecosystem to recover. Do you think what I said makes sense?"
Ling Hao was very impressed after hearing this. He didn't expect that he could understand such a complicated truth. However, Shui Lingxing sneered and said: "As humans at the top of the food chain, you are too used to standing outside the ecosystem and looking at the ecosystem. Don't forget, we here are just a link in the food chain. If this protozoa really knows how to If it is so hungry that it goes into hibernation, we will definitely be its last dish before that happens."
Everyone was silent, and a shadow hung over everyone's heart. They were engaged in a very dangerous job, and died from the mouths of sharks, drowned, crushed by water pressure, and even bitten to death by many strange and weird sea creatures. They have all thought about the possibility, but if they have straws inserted into their bodies and let people drink it like a drink, just thinking about it will make them feel creepy and unacceptable.
For the next seven or eight days, everyone spent the next seven or eight days in fear. Even when sleeping, everyone took turns. There was always one person who was awake and stayed on guard, but nothing happened. It was as if everyone was watching. It seems like unfounded worries.
"Could it be that the protozoa is not interested in living things? It's been several days, right? There's been no movement at all. Have we been a little too careful?" Tian Yong sat on the ground and muttered.
"You know what you're doing. You can never make a big mistake if you're careful, don't you know? How many times have you gone into the water in the past few days and have you ever seen a living creature? Where are those snakeheads that survived? You should explain to me." Xueting's willow eyebrows stood up, displaying her feminine power.
Ling Hao turned a deaf ear to the two men's movements and just sat silently by the water, not knowing what he was thinking. Shui Lingxing emerged from the sword tomb, slowly came to sit down next to Ling Hao, and whispered: "I have been studying the gentian and blood coagulation beads down there for the past two days. One gathers energy and the other coagulates blood. They are both right." Evil poison has a strong restraining effect. I think it may have a miraculous effect on your father's voodoo, but I'm not sure. Don't put all your expectations here..." Shui Lingxing's words suddenly stopped. Stop, because at this moment Ling Hao was jumping up with excitement, his eyes were shining with excitement, and he held her hands tightly with both hands, as if he was about to confess his love.
Shui Lingxing was startled for a moment, then her cheeks turned red, and she said with rare restraint: "Although I am a spirit body, it is not impossible to push him down on the spot, but there are two people behind us. You are not planning to perform for others, are you? ?”
Ling Hao's face was full of black lines and he said angrily: "What are you thinking about? I just want to thank you for my father!"
"Hey, it's boring!" Shui Lingxing curled her lips in disinterest and continued: "Don't thank me in a hurry. Whether you can get out alive is still a question. I was down there just now and saw that there was no dried fish in your jar. How much, I’m afraid you’ll have to eat bugs in less than two days.”
Xueting's sharp ears heard Shui Lingxing talking about "storing food", and she also came over and said helplessly: "Boss, although I only drank one fish soup every day for the past two days, even so, the rest The dried fish is only enough to last us three more days. After three days, we will either use the last emergency field rations or we will have to catch bugs to eat."
Ling Hao sighed and asked, "You've really eaten that field ration. How many times have you eaten it? What's left?"
Xueting flipped through the carrying bag and then said: "One bag of 350g beef buckwheat rice, one can of 250g luncheon meat, three packages of 50g biscuits, one can each of 50g meat pate and liver pate, 5 chocolate bars, 5 energy bars Great. In addition, there are some instant drinks, black tea, coffee, some pepper, white sugar, vitamin tablets and two water purification tablets. The key is that there is very little salt. We cannot maintain our strength without salt, so we need to use these reserves. Food?"
Ling Hao shook his head resolutely and said: "Looking at the terrain here, even if our rescuers open a gap from the top, even if they lower a rope ladder, we still need to have enough physical strength to climb up, so we should try to save as much as possible. Eat, and save enough food until the end. Especially salt. Without salt, we will suffer from low blood pressure, general weakness, and even muscle spasms, losing the chance to get out alive. The last bit of salt and salty food must be Wait until you have to eat it. Also, I have been thinking for the past two days whether the 'Andean Alonso protozoa' under my feet is a threat to us, will it attack us? Maybe it is just a A very simple scavenger, only interested in carcasses that were starting to stink, and it didn't do anything to us because we were all alive."
Tian Yong had been listening, and then he said: "This matter is easy to handle. As long as it is a ferocious beast, it will always show its fangs. I will go down and test it. If it dares to bar its teeth at me, I will chop it with my sword." Got it."
Tian Yong displayed the demeanor of a peerless master, holding his sword, and turned around in a graceful way to get into the water. Xueting immediately opened her almond-shaped eyes and shouted angrily: "The scars on my body haven't been stitched out yet, and I started squealing again." Right? If your skin is itchy, I'll loosen your bones!"
Tian Yong was immediately frightened and said sarcastically: "Look at you, why are you so anxious? Your skin is itchy and your bones are loose. This is not the right thing." This statement made everyone amused.
Shui Lingxing sighed and said, "Don't waste your energy. I'm going to give it a try to see if this undead protozoa is really just a stupid bug, or a ferocious beast with hidden fangs."
As she said that, she jumped into the lake. Ling Hao smiled bitterly and followed her into the water. Although with Shui Lingxing's ability, there was little chance of danger, but they had been together for such a long time and had experienced life and death together. It was impossible without some friendship. How could Ling Hao trust her to go alone?
Under the water, the tentacles of the protozoa are already crisscrossing each other, to a terrifying level that makes one's scalp numb, just like the vines everywhere in the tropical rain forest. Shui Lingxing glanced at Ling Hao, hesitated for a moment, and then the trident in his hand suddenly lengthened, and he swung out a halberd, cutting off one of the thicker ones. The tentacles were in pain, contracted and trembled, and a dark red liquid gushes out. I don't know if it was blood or something else. But the other tentacles didn't react at all. Just like cutting off a branch, the tree had no ability to make any resistance.
After waiting for a long time, there was no other movement. The severed tentacle shrank rapidly like a rubber band, as if it had been absorbed by the protozoa. It really didn't waste any nutrients. Shui Lingxing cut off several more tentacles one after another, but the result was still the same.
"It seems that we are worrying too much. To be honest, this is a primitive creature with only a low-level nervous system and no brain. It may have strong vitality, but its aggression is nothing." Shui Lingxing laughed at himself. Laughing, he turned around and swam to the shore. Ling Hao pondered for a moment and then left.
That night, no one stayed on watch anymore, and everyone slept peacefully. In the dark underground, there was no boundary between day and night, and all lighting relied on a "mermaid candle". Everyone's biological clocks had long been out of order, and there was nothing going on. Yes, it is normal to sleep for more than ten hours a day. Because the diet is simple and nutritious, everyone has begun to show some symptoms of malnutrition. He has finished eating the vitamin tablets, and Tian Yong’s wounds have begun to become red, swollen and inflamed. He relies on the medicine in the medical bag. With that antibiotic, I have started to have a low fever in the past two days. Although everyone sleeps for a long time every day, they still seem to be unable to wake up. Moreover, they still feel tired after waking up, and their physical strength has begun to decline.
The candlelight was dim and swayed strangely from time to time. Everyone was sleeping deeply, and even slight snoring could be heard.
I don’t know what time it was, but Ling Hao was shaken awake by Xueting. The latter said solemnly: “Boss, something happened. Come with me and take a look.”
