The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 321: Underground Giant
The surface of Dikla.

Near the equator is the main base of the colony on the surface of Dikla. The improved space elevator designed for the environment of a life planet, shared by Lin Yi and the Anomalocaris colony, stands above the earth. A large area nearby is covered by fungal mat tissue and various derivative structures.

Reactors, column organs and some terrestrial nest-like organizations are placed underground, connected to the main body of the organization through a complex fungal mat rhizome structure, while the surface is mostly covered with some special structures.

These structures are shaped like spires, but with slightly bulged ends. They are scattered in an orderly manner near the main part of the space elevator, which is a huge "digestive tract" structure made of a material similar to carbon nanofibers.

At the enlarged top, a series of openings are tightly closed at this time, and below, the developed root system is connected to a series of nearby structures, which can transport large amounts of substances upward at any time.

Near the root system are countless huge underground rhizome structures that look like potatoes covered with exoskeletons - still the classic configuration of the past, because indeed, the underground structure is afraid that it will never get along with potatoes in this life.
A large number of nearby fungal tissues use bioreactors and autotrophic synthesis to convert inorganic matter into organic matter, most of which is stored in these huge potato-shaped underground rhizomes, waiting to be used.

At this time, a large amount of nutrients began to be transported in the underground rhizome structure, moving upward along the pipe tissue in the spire-shaped structures and gathering at the end of the structure. At the same time, more grade individuals began to approach, and the effects of these special spire structures began to emerge.

Huge shadows were cast, and then countless giant football-shaped creatures with special heads and five pairs of appendages floated over. Fiery tails sprayed downward from their sides, allowing those incredibly huge bodies to float in the air.

Gastrocystis, a super-large aerial transport class based on a nuclear fusion reactor, has been one of the main forces of transportation within the hive on a planet with an atmosphere since its birth. It has its own advantages and disadvantages compared to large pipelines when transporting nutrients, but the role of individual transport classes cannot be replaced for the time being.

However, due to various reasons, Dikla has not built a global nutrient transport pipeline system, so the transportation of nutrients can only be carried out by these super-large heavy-duty vehicles as the main force.

At this time, in the opening structure under their bodies, a series of special structures will dock with the tops of the spire-like structures below. The entire body will be stabilized in mid-air under the action of the jet of high-temperature airflow, and nutrients will flow into the body from below.

The fusion engine provides tremendous power and carrying capacity, which is incomparable to the largest An-225 transport aircraft in later generations and even the transport vehicle called armored gunboat by the Ezki people, which is also powered by nuclear fusion.

The abdominal sac that occupies most of the rugby-shaped body of the gastrocysts is basically filled with nutrients. At this time, the terminal structure detaches, and the huge body slowly rises under the push of the airflow and gathers into a team.

A large number of Big-Winged Divers had been on standby for a long time. At this time, they vibrated their hind wings, guarding the sides of the huge body of the Gastrocystis and escorting it. This transport team, loaded with an astonishing amount of nutrients and various necessary resources, began to sail towards the target location.

The first transport formation of the gastrocysts arrived at the location quickly. Below, some shadow flies that had been nearby had already begun to clear the area. All creatures that could pose a threat were driven away or killed. The Kui Chi Divers that escorted the gastrocysts were the first to dive down with a scream. At the end of the abdomens of several Kui Chi Divers, a special symbiont based on the improved Euglena shrunkenii emitted bursts of special low-frequency sound waves, which echoed in the sky.

This is a kind of infrasound wave with a frequency that can drive away most of the complex animals on the planet Dikla. Even if there are some fish that slip through the net, they will be driven away by these sound waves. Those who are unwilling to leave can only be made to feel the same beating that the terrestrial arthropod nests had felt billions of years ago by the Kui Chi Divers equipped with offensive weapons.

After further clearing the area, the first few cysticercosis that arrived opened the opening valve structure under the abdominal sac, and a large amount of tissue stored inside immediately poured out, gathering into a pool of purple-black tissue on the ground, and quickly squirmed and solidified.

These concentrated nutrients contain a large number of fungal spores, which quickly multiply and spread into the first fungal tissue structure after landing. A fungal tumor also quickly forms in the center, temporarily serving as the core of the spatial synapse connecting a large area of ​​nearby fungal carpet.

The roots began to spread underground, and pupated into huge sac-like structures at the fastest speed. Then, more gastrocysts came forward, and tube-like structures were thrown out from the abdomen. The ends quickly connected with the fungal carpet tissue to quickly transport nutrients.

The last batch of gastrocysts dispersed directly and slowly landed on the ground. They stabilized their bodies with their four pairs of appendages that could barely support their bodies and a pair of flat paddling-like appendages that served as aerodynamic control surfaces in the air, and began the process of pupation.

The bodies of these gastrocysts are not filled with nutrients or fungal spores, but are filled with extra fusion fuel. At this moment, they are slowly dissolving their bodies and fusing with the fungal tissue below.

The fusion reactor organs in their bodies are changing their structure, from a structure responsible for heating the air and discharging it at high speed to a structure that continuously outputs energy while the core parts such as the tokamak device are still running and the fusion reaction has not yet been extinguished.

This kind of dangerous operation, which would definitely be considered a fatal mistake for a mechanical structure, is just a basic operation with the support of the biological structure of the nest. It has been used many times, giving Lin Yi considerable experience.

A self-sufficient, self-producing fungal mat tissue group quickly took shape, but the nutrients in the gastrocysts had not yet been completely transported. The second and third batches of gastrocysts were also coming from other directions. The real purpose, which was to build a direct channel between the surface and the underground world, had not yet been completed.

Underground, a large number of fungal root structures squirmed and twisted together, clearing out a large area of ​​space. An astonishingly large space, hundreds of meters long, and from a visual perspective, a sac-like structure that even looked a bit like a space pupa sac was taking shape.

Nutrients and various mineral structures collected by the roots on site continuously flow into it, and inside this structure, which is larger than the pupal sac used on any planet, pupation slowly begins - its huge volume indicates that this will be an astonishing behemoth that is also far superior to any individual of the same grade on any planet before.

(End of this chapter)