The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 241 Spores
What was dispersed in the air early was a special structure related to fungi, and its prototype can be traced back to the species that once lived in symbiosis with moss, used terrestrial arthropod nests to spread, and later parasitized terrestrial organisms. The fungus created a nest of arthropods and eventually parasitized the last Bao, creating a strange fern forest.

After gene editing, these special microscopic carpet tissue structures similar to fungal spores can attach to the epidermis of organisms, invade the flesh and blood tissue of organisms through micro-manipulation at the cellular level, and parasitize them, ultimately achieving their goals.

Of course, the purpose is not to kill the host to spread the virus, but to use this method to sneak into the enemy without anyone noticing and obtain the desired information.

In order to achieve this purpose, this structure has been improved in all aspects - although it roughly refers to that special fungus, it has particularly strengthened its concealment and minimized any meaningless traces. Instead, it is highly specialized and directly directed towards Brain parasitism.

It is quite simple to use this method to kill an alien, but this result is not what Lin Yi wants to see. This will inevitably arouse the other party's vigilance. Once the other party strengthens its defenses, it will not be so easy to infiltrate.

In the imagination, the parasite will be taken directly from the brain, connected to the nerves related to the sensory system, and simultaneously receive the host's sensory signals, and then transmitted to Lin Yi's consciousness through spatial synapses.

Of course, due to the lack of suitable samples, this system has only been tested on earth creatures. For aliens, it is not safe to directly parasitize aliens when the body structure of the opponent is temporarily uncertain.

Logically speaking, one should first dissect an alien to confirm its brain structure, specific location of the nervous system, etc. before parasitizing it. But unfortunately, the fact is that Lin Yi did not have the opportunity to capture an alien first and dissect it, so he could only use the short opportunity to attack him forcefully.

Therefore, among these spores, there are some microstructures similar to those used for gene sequence analysis in the mother nest, which have the ability to analyze gene sequences. As long as the alien gene sequence is still in the category of normal carbon-based organisms, it can be analyzed. And obtain the other party's detailed body structure, and then parasitize.

At this time, these spores had begun to slowly erode the epidermis under the alien's protective suit, and temporarily hollowed out part of the cell tissue under the skin, and began to analyze the genetic sequence.

Just as he imagined, aliens are indeed ordinary, carbon-based organisms composed of cells. Cells still have a nuclear structure, and inside are double helix-structured genetic sequences, exactly the same as those on earth.

The alien's genetic sequence was quickly analyzed by Lin Yi. Although the general structure was similar, the detailed arrangement was obviously different from that of earth animals. It could be seen, but there was an unreasonable sense of familiarity in the consciousness, as if a similar genetic sequence. , where he had seen it before.

Some arrangements of its gene sequence prove that it is far from vertebrates on earth. Instead, based on morphological expression, it is somewhat similar to cephalopods. But the genetic sequence also showed that the aliens had endoskeletons. After thinking about it, Lin Yi suddenly thought of a creature from back then - the Tully Monster!

Tully Monster, according to previous genetic sequence analysis, is a cephalopod mollusk, but it has an endoskeleton similar to that of a vertebrate. The most obvious feature is that it has no skull, and the spine passes between the eyes and almost runs through the entire body. body.

The body structure of the alien shows that it has multiple appendages, but it has an endoskeleton and no skull. The spine passes between the eyes. The developed brain is accommodated in a special space behind the spine. The arrangement of the nervous system is consistent with the spine. Animals are very different.

The idea of ​​"alien releasers" suddenly appeared in Lin Yi's consciousness, and a strange thought emerged. Could it be that the Tully monsters back then were really related to these aliens, or their home planet... However, The similarity of the genetic sequences still rules out this possibility. The genetic sequence of the aliens is still different from that of the Tully monster. The genetic sequence of the Tully monster obviously retains many characteristics similar to those of earthly cephalopods, but the aliens are obviously different from the earthly creatures.

It can only be speculated that the ancestors of the aliens are likely to have a form similar to the Tully Monster on Earth, which may be some kind of convergent evolution across planets. As for why these special Tully Monster-like creatures can become mainstream on alien planets? Replacing vertebrates is even less clear.

The appearance of the alien is somewhat abstract, and its structure seems to indicate that its ancestors are still similar to traditional cephalopods, but the body is elongated, flattened, and semi-erect.

Among them, the side with the beak and mouth faces forward, the tentacles move to the sides of the main body instead of in front, and the eyes also move to the front like the flounder of later generations, forming a "face" located in the front of the body.

As for those tentacles, two on the sides of the body form a pair of arms of the alien, while four go downwards to form two pairs of legs of the alien, and the remaining two pairs on the top of the head form the pair of arms. Special structure similar to horns.

For some reason, such a structure gave Lin Yi an inexplicable sense of sight, as if this was not a bone-footed mollusk similar to Tully's monster, but a... standing, symmetrical version of a starfish?
Talking about the appendages and internal bones, the internal bones of each appendage are similar to the tail vertebrae of vertebrates, with many segments and very flexible.

At the end of each appendage, there are three fingers. The three fingers of the forelimb are flexible. The phalanges are also similar to the tail vertebrae and have the ability to grip. The three fingers of the rear limbs are similar to hooves and are relatively flat, suitable for stepping. The fingers of the pair of appendages on the top of the head have almost degenerated and no longer have any function.

These appendages may be just degenerate remnants, but they also have other uses. There seem to be luminescent cells on their epidermis, and alien eyes are extremely sensitive to this band of light. They may be some kind of means of assisting communication, similar to that of later generations. Human body language.

It seems that as the most suitable configuration, the aliens also have two eyes and one mouth. The genetic sequence shows that they once had horny beaks, but now they have completely degenerated, leaving only a circle of flat structures around the mouth.

However, they also have a radula-like structure and have been preserved, which makes the aliens have no teeth and rely entirely on the radula-like structure in their mouths for chewing.

At the same time, although aliens are more similar to cephalopods, their blood is also red and uses iron ions instead of copper ions to transport oxygen.

At the same time, the respiratory organs, digestive organs, etc. are also highly adapted to life on land. Various structures indicate that this is indeed an alien intelligent creature with independent origin.

(End of this chapter)