Begin from the original form of torture and become immortal

Chapter 1739 Demons in the Deep Sea

The super-fast regenerative ability brought by Godzilla's proud genes has now fallen silent, like a machine that has been unplugged.

His bioenergy had been completely depleted in the previous battle and the final "freeze," and now it was so low that even maintaining the minimum level of neural activity was precarious.

Without energy, regeneration is like water without a source or a tree without roots.

He was like a piece of biological waste discarded in a deep-sea landfill.

Despair, like the surrounding sea, heavily pressed down on his remaining consciousness. Was eternal imprisonment and slow demise his fate?

No! Godzilla's instincts, the primal desire to survive, and even Connors's own obsessive scientific will, all erupted with astonishing power at this moment.

He cannot die! He must recover! He must... exact revenge!
Concentrate! Concentrate all remaining consciousness!
He stopped thinking about his missing body and his desperate situation.

He focused all his remaining bioenergy and all his desire for "existence" on one point—on the only remaining tissue near the remnants of the esophagus.

This is a process that is so painful it pushes you to the limit, like forcibly growing new flesh and blood on a scorching hot iron.

Cells are forced to divide and differentiate under conditions of energy deficiency.

A faint spark of bioelectricity flickered in the darkness.

A day? A week? Time is meaningless here.

The strong smell of blood, along with the not-yet-completely-coagulated bodily fluids slowly seeping from the broken part of his skull, became the most primal lure.

The first to be attracted were the true inhabitants of the abyss:
Amphipod crustaceans, thousands upon thousands of pale, transparent "sea lice" the size of fingernails, surged in like a white tide, covering the necrotic tissue and crusted crevices of Connors's head, greedily feeding.

Polychaeta annelids are bizarre, worm-like creatures that use their mouthparts to drill into softer tissues.

Hagfish are slippery, jawless primitive fish that secrete mucus in an attempt to dissolve tissue and suck it up.

Connors' remaining consciousness was driven by his last biological instincts.

He cannot actively hunt for food and can only "endure" being gnawed by these tiny creatures.

But he concentrated all his remaining energy and will, and deep within his skull, near the remnants of the primitive digestive structure, he gave birth to an extremely primitive energy-absorbing organ—the “seed stomach.”

This is not a real stomach.

It lacks a muscle wall and is more like a biological "filter membrane" or "sponge" composed of special cells that can secrete powerful extracellular digestive enzymes and directly absorb decomposition products.

Inefficient and painful process—like rubbing your nerves with sandpaper.

The bodies of tiny organisms and the tissue fragments they gnaw on are rapidly broken down by secreted enzymes when they come into contact with the surface of the "seed stomach".

The minuscule amount of energy—primarily protein, chitin, and trace minerals—is absorbed with great difficulty.

With this amount of energy, it's barely enough to maintain even the most basic level of consciousness, let alone regenerate.

But it proved feasible and temporarily prevented consciousness from completely dissipating.

The signals of bloodshed and carrion are carried by the ocean currents. Larger predators are drawn in.

A gigantic, ghostly shadow silently swept by. The colossal squid!
This deep-sea behemoth, exceeding 12 meters in length, possesses the largest eyes on Earth, a razor-sharp beak, and hooked tentacles at the ends. It is one of the true apex predators of this abyss.

The giant squid's tentacles, like deadly whips, suddenly coiled towards the "heap of rotting flesh" where Connors' head lay.

It didn't want to devour the entire head (its beak couldn't crush the hard, mutated bones), but rather to tear off a large chunk of tissue.

Just as the giant squid's suckers and claws tore through the softer tissue on the surface of its skull and penetrated into the relatively "fresh" internal area!

Connors' remaining consciousness erupted with unprecedented concentration!
The "seed stomach" operates at unprecedented power, secreting an astonishing concentration of digestive enzymes, and "attaches" to the wounds on the giant squid's tentacles like a living thing!

At the same time, the tough tendons and bone spurs remaining inside the skull instinctively wrap around and pierce the giant squid's tentacles!

This is the beginning of plunder and parasitism.

Digestive enzymes relentlessly erode the giant squid's protein- and energy-rich muscle tissue.

The giant squid struggled in agony, its tentacles violently yanking back!
This violent action actually tore off a large chunk of squid meat, which was partially broken down by enzymes and rich in energy, along with some tentacle tissue, from the wound. The pieces were left near Connors' "seed stomach" and were quickly absorbed by him!
Connors gained far more energy than the tiny scavengers!

The giant squid lost some of its tentacle tips and retreated in pain and anger.

Connors' "seed stomach" was significantly strengthened for the first time, with improved absorption efficiency, and extremely weak new granulation tissue began to grow inside his skull, repairing the torn wounds.

The encounter with the giant squid made Connors realize that passively waiting for large predators to come to them was not only inefficient but also extremely risky.

He needs a more stable and larger energy source.

After enduring countless hours (perhaps weeks or months) of tiny carrion and numerous perilous encounters (attracting giant isopods, deep-sea sharks, etc., the process being similar to the battle with the giant squid, each time gaining some energy and strengthening himself), he propelled his newly formed head and neck structure, covered with rudimentary pressure-resistant scales and bony armor (only twice the size of his original head, far from fully recovered), like the most primitive deep-sea reptile, as he laboriously moved through the sea mud, following the direction of the vibrations and heat source.

After traversing a desolate deep-sea plain and bypassing steep underwater cliffs, a strange sight finally appeared in his newly formed compound eyes (partially restored vision), which had adapted to the dim light environment.

Deep-sea hydrothermal vent!

Several enormous "chimneys" stand tall on the seabed, spewing out hot (up to 400 degrees Celsius) black water rich in minerals (sulfides, metal ions).

Surrounding the base of the chimney is an oasis of life blooming in absolute darkness:

The dense, lawn-like tubular worms use chemosynthetic bacteria within their bodies to convert hydrogen sulfide ejected from the hot springs into energy, forming dense colonies several meters high.

Giant deep-sea mussels and clams also rely on symbiotic bacteria, with shells reaching up to 30 centimeters in length.

Blind armored shrimp and crabs dart among the tube worms in search of food.

Various microbial mats adapted to high temperature and high pressure.

This is the key to Connors' recovery!
Connors drives the enhanced "seed stomach" (which has now evolved into a more efficient absorption sac) to begin devouring giant mussels, clams, and tube worms near the hot spring vent (tearing open the outer skin to absorb the nutrient-rich and symbiotic tissue inside).

These organisms contain far more energy than ordinary deep-sea fish.

It preys on crustaceans such as armored shrimp and crabs that feed on microorganisms and debris to obtain chitin and protein.

(End of this chapter)