The 'glandular cells' had completed their evolution. As the water level dropped, Lin had them rapidly divide and assemble on her skin to create her own shell.
Lin noticed that the food she normally ate, including wild cells and other multicellular organisms, contained materials that could be used to create a shell, so she didn't have to search for them in the cracks of the rocks.
These materials were originally considered waste, so Lin would squeeze the leftover waste onto her skin to expel them, but it seemed like she had to keep them for now.
There were many materials that could be used to create a shell, but due to the urgency of the situation, Lin simply chose one to assemble.
The water level dropped very slowly, but Lin's cells were doing the exact opposite. They covered her skin with a layer of white substance. Although it wasn't as hard as other hard-shelled organisms, it was more than enough to protect her from light. Since it wasn't made of living cells, Lin wouldn't feel any pain no matter how much UV light shone on it.
The substance would slowly harden after being secreted, so Lin covered the entire Mothership with the same substance. As for the tentacles that were used to swim and hammer, Lin had them shrink back into the Mothership. Lin didn't want to add a shell on the tentacles, as that would greatly reduce their flexibility.
After that, Lin no longer felt any pain. The shell was very effective in protecting her from UV light.
However, the water level was still dropping. Lin's crisis had yet to be resolved. She didn't want to be completely exposed to the water, as there was no telling what would happen.
As the water level dropped, so did the temperature. Perhaps it was because of the crystals, the heat they absorbed from the UV light was affecting the water.
The flatworms had been swimming around the area, preying on the wild cells that were killed by the UV light. These cells were originally hiding in the cracks of the rocks, but as the water temperature rose, the cells began to swim out and became the flatworms' food.
As Lin observed them, a thought suddenly appeared in her mind.
Could it be … that this circular area was made by the flatworms?
Lin was already suspicious. Normal rocks wouldn't be able to form such a neat shape, so there must be something wrong with it.
With that thought in mind, Lin immediately activated the jet behind the Mothership and charged at a large rock in front of her!
Countless rocks crumbled under the Mothership's impact, leaving a large dent in the rock.
As expected.
If the flatworms could use their mucus to stick sand to their bodies, then they could also use their mucus to form other things. These rocks were actually formed by the flatworms using countless small rocks!
Lin did not observe carefully at first, but now she knew that it was actually quite easy to get out.
Then, Lin asked the Guardian to come forward. It used its limbs to easily dig a hole in the boulder that was big enough for the aircraft carrier to pass through.
Lin finally managed to escape. Fortunately, the water level was not so low that the aircraft carrier could not move.
After exiting the boulder circle, Lin saw an obvious downward slope in front of her, leading directly to deeper waters.
It seemed that he had inadvertently reached this position close to the surface of the water at night.
The water level here would be very high at night, but it would lower during the day. The flatworms should have made these giant stone rings at night.
Perhaps the reason why they made the boulder circle was to prevent predators, or to allow the crystals to be easily heated inside, or to design a trap for large creatures like Lin to enter and be shot to death by the ultraviolet rays. That way, they would have a lot of food to eat.
The third reason didn't seem very likely.
Lin slowly swayed her tentacles and swam down the slope into the deeper waters. She felt that she had gained a lot from this trip. If not for this, Lin might not have tried to evolve a carapace.
A carapace was a very strange thing. Lin found that the original food contained many kinds of substances that could be used to form a carapace. Lin called them 'chitin'. By changing the way the chitin was combined, Lin could change the hardness of the carapace, its toughness, the hardening time after secretion, and many other different effects.
This was quite complicated, and Lin still needed to study it. However, after successfully combining it once, it would be much simpler in the future.
Lin's hammer also contained chitin. At that time, she only combined hardened cells together. Lin did not know how to separate the cells from the shell.
Now that she had successfully separated the cells from the shell, it could increase the hardness of the shell by a lot, and the cells would not be directly attacked.
While thinking, Lin had already swam back to the deeper parts of the beach. The cold water and the dim light made Lin feel at ease again.
However, Lin would not give up so easily. She would go back and evolve a perfect method to resist ultraviolet rays.
For now, let's eat more.
During this trip, Lin had seen the rich variety of creatures around her. She was no longer worried about the lack of food.
Lin observed the beach around her. There were a lot of different creatures here, including the familiar leaf-shaped worms, as well as some creatures she had never seen before.
The creatures she had never seen before were of different shapes, but they all had one thing in common … they were very small.
Lin began to release the Devourers to hunt these creatures, while the Mothership and Protectors were responsible for dealing with the larger ones like the leaf-shaped worms.
While devouring these creatures, Lin also increased the carapace of the Mothership. During this time, Lin found a lot of problems. The thicker the carapace, the greater the burden on the Mothership. No wonder the thick-shelled worms could only crawl on the ground.
Moreover, if the carapace covered the entire body, the carapace itself would not be able to grow along with the Mothership. This situation was quite troublesome …
For example, how did creatures like the leaf-shaped worms and the round shield worms maintain the growth of their carapace and body at the same time?
Moreover, it was more troublesome to discharge waste.
When the cells digested food, there would always be some indigestible substances. Lin would let these substances be discharged into the water through the cell's nutrient exchange system. However, it would be difficult to squeeze them out if the carapace was covered.
In the end, Lin decided to only cover the top of the Mothership with the carapace. The bottom of the Mothership would still use the original combination of hardened cells. The tentacles would not be covered with any carapace to maintain flexibility.
Of course, this was only done for the Mothership itself. For a new type of troop, Lin could easily create a terrifying thing with a full body armor.
However, Lin had only solidified the Breeder of Green Cells. On both sides of its transparent center, she added two layers of carapace that could be opened and closed, controlled by the internal muscles.
As for the other combination with armor … Well, that would have to wait until nighttime.
Just like that, Lin hunted the creatures on the beach and waited slowly. When night approached, Lin swam towards the previous place again.
Lin called that place 'the shoal', meaning the place close to the surface of the water.
Although it was not completely dark yet, Lin had already raised the lantern. She swam across the beach, past the rocky area, and soon saw the ring of boulders again.
Lin had smashed a hole in one of the boulders. She could now see that the flatworms were repairing it. They collected sand and debris from the surroundings and filled the hole.
It seemed that the repair work was progressing very slowly. It had already been a day and they were not even halfway done.
Now, they would probably never be able to repair it.
Lin rushed forward and smashed the hole that was being repaired. She then released a large number of Devourers to kill the flatworms around.
Due to the receding of the day and the cold water, the flatworms' movements were much slower. The Devourers could now easily capture them.
Meanwhile, Lin's Mothership and Protector had completely destroyed the ring of boulders. Seeing this, the flatworms fled into the distance.
Lin did not chase after them. Instead, she had the Mothership stop near a piece of crystal. At the same time, she began to research a new combination in her mind.
Lin wanted to create a new combination of cells. It needed to be able to resist ultraviolet rays and have a sturdy carapace. Lin wanted to use the entire creature to carry out a special plan.