Read chapter twenty that was posted just now before reading this.

Chapter Twenty One Eye

Lin named its giant hemisphere shield “cell wall.” The cell way was made out of three layers of cells. Lin called the outer layer the “ectoderm.” It was the thickest and the most flexible layer.

The inner layers were called the “mesoderm” and the “endoderm.” They were not as thick as the ectoderm. However, if the ectoderm was damaged for some reason, then the inner layers would quickly harden to stop the danger from the outside from advancing.

However, there was nothing that was a threat to Lin now. Therefore, it started to create things on the endoderm.

Traps.

Lin started to form some cylindrical structures on the endoderm. These cylinders were empty, and there was an opening at the ends. White gel was put at the bottom of these cylinders as bait. The inner walls of the cylinder had spikes like the cone-shaped cells. If any cell was lured in, the cylinders would squeeze inwards, and use its spikes to grind the prey down.

Other than these fat cylinders, there was tentacle structures. They was not as large as the enormous tentacle. They were relatively small, and made from a small number of cells. These small tentacles had cells that were filled with stinger cells that could shoot at any that came close.

Lin still found something interesting. Light would cause other cells to come close. It had discovered this by accident. Especially in the night, a bit of light would attract a great number of cells. Consequently, Lin started to use flashing exploding balls at the bottom of the little tentacles to attract prey.

When night came, Lin had a new term appear “beautiful.”On the ectoderm, large amounts of little tentacles swayed in the darkness and attracted cells that swam by to come close. However, the cells did not know that this was a terrifying trap. If they came into contract with the tentacle, they would be killed by the toxic stingers of the cnidocytes.

The present stinger cells understood to attack with their toxic stingers according to the movement of Lin’s cells rather than at their own will.

After night passed, Lin relied on the deadly cylinders to hunt for prey. Those ignorant cells were attracted into the cylinders by the food inside. They would be torn to pieces immediately by the cylinder that closed and the spikes inside. No cell was able to escape.

The enormous tentacle at the center would directly suck in all the cells that swam by and then use the acid ejectors inside to dissolve the prey.

Relying on these traps, Lin obtained a large amount of food outside the white gel. Because the cells that come from outside was unlimited, Lin’s cell group started to grow …. …

Also, after Lin learned how to combine cells together, it did not encounter anything that was a match for it. It had encountered past enemies such as the crystal microbes and the ghost mist microbes. Lin could easily destroy them.

Once, a gigantic shapeshifting cell floated onto Lin’s ectoderm. This shapeshifting cell was more then ten thousand times the size of Lin’s basic cell. However, Lin still used its numerous tentacles with its toxic stingers and the enormous tentacle to kill it.

The only thing that was slightly troublesome were the viruses. Because the tentacles that lived on the ectoderm could not be moved, they were easily attacked by viruses. However, the viruses could not penetrate the ectoderm so even if several tentacles were destroyed, Lin could immediately send out acid ejectors to dissolve and take care of the viruses.

Concerning viruses, Lin still kept the infectors that were bright red. However, Lin did not let there be more than ten of them.

Innumerable black nights passed … … relying on constant slaughter, Lin’s cells group grew greatly. It started to feel as though it was an invincible being because it had never encounter any other cell like it that could combine cells together.

Lin’s cell group had multiplied in size. The tentacles on the ectoderm grew more packed and even longer and thicker. Right now, Lin did not need to use those cylinder traps. It felt that it was more effective relying completely on the tentacles.

Using the “Longevity” plan, Lin constantly switched out old cells for new ones. The cells were kept in their most active state, but Lin had a cell that it definitely would not switch out.

It was the observer.

Even tough the cell group was so large now, Lin still only had one cell with the ability to see.

This cell was too small. It could not observe the entire situation of the cell group. Therefore, Lin required several more cells that possessed sight and a large field of view.

Lin knew the reason the observer could see wasn’t just because it had ate that strange hard thing at the start, but because there had been light.

The main reason that sight had formed was became it absorbed light.

In other words, if Lin’s other cells could absorb light, they would also have the ability to see.

But how to do that?

Yes, Lin used his old method. He had a group of cells make a great swarm and then gave them thoughts of accepting light and obtaining vision.

It was not successful at the start, and the group of cells didn’t react.

However, after Lin’s observer joined this group, this group seemed to have a wondrous transformation. The ones on the surface started to change the color of their bodies and their shape. The interior was changing at the same time, but was completely different from the outside. They made themselves thinner, and formed something in the shape of a net.

Lin did not try to control the process of evolution. In truth, Lin had never control the evolution of cells. At most, it gave them thoughts of “what should they evolve as.” The finer details were produced naturally by the cells themselves.

Lin felt incredulity at this quality.

The cells would automatically do some things. For example, when Lin had the diggers go attack an enemy, they would twist and use their denticles to slice at the enemy. Lin did not need to control them to move and twist. It was about the same with the other cells. However, Lin had to control the exploding balls to suck in water before they exploded.

Lin thought at the start that the cells would only be able to do simple actions on their own. But now, it seemed that this was not the case. They could do complex actions.

While the cell group was enormous, and Lin’s intelligence was much higher, Lin still could not understand this.

Why?

Lin could not see from its viewpoint but the cells were still evolving. The cells on the surface were starting to turn into a hexagon, and the cells on the inside changed from a web-like structure to a large sphere. The hexagons on the surface seemed to be inserted on the surface of the sphere.

Lin felt the speed of their evolution was slowing. This meant that they were almost completed. Lin started to feel it.

Vision.

Even more light flooded Lin’s thoughts. Just like vision before, but it was unlike Lin’s narrow field of view. This time, it was large because this was an enormous eye that Lin used six thousand cells to form.

Because Lin had formed this in the water outside the ectoderm, it only needed to look down slightly to see the fur-like tentacles it had constructed on the surface of the ectoderm.

However, this large eye did not have any muscles and it was unable to move. Lin put some tentacles together to form a larger tentacle and then connected the tentacle to the back of the eye.

Now, Lin only needed to move the tentacle to see in all directions. Lin named this tentacle the eyeball antenna.

Lin then had the observer leave the eyeball. Unless the cells were merged together like the cells on the ectoderm, Lin’s cells could split after merging together.

After Lin’s observer left, the eyeball still had the ability to see. This time, Lin could finally see what the so-called eye looked like.

Two different images appeared in Lin’s thoughts but it did not feel any discordance. It still could see every detail from the two images it observed clearly.

The enormous eye’s surface was composed of hexagonal crystals. Lin hadn’t through that the cells would turn into such a shape. However, there was nothing special other than this.

No matter if Lin’s cells were combined or single, they were usually transparent other than the nucleus. However, this eyeball was tinged grey, and it was not easy to see the structure inside.

It was the first time Lin saw the appearance of its observer. The observer’s body was the same as the basic cells but its outer membrane seemed more like a crystal sphere.

This was probably the hard thing that it ate back then?

Lin didn’t know why this thing would allow it to obtain the ability to see. Lin had never encountered something similar ever since then.

… … Why? Even if the cell group was enormous, Lin still did not understand many things.

In the end, it was a success, so then let it continue to grow.

The term “future” appeared in Lin’s thoughts.

Future, what would it be like?

Lin didn’t know. Even if it had such a large eye, when it looked into the distance, all it could see was an endless deep blue… … Lin thought that it was invincible here, but in this world, there definitely were many more unknowns and wonders … …

Translator Ramblings: All eyes were theorized to have all evolved from a “protocol-eye” a few hundred million years ago. Unicellular organisms can have “eyespots.” A example in a species of marine plankton, warnowiids, comes with pretty pictures. Of course, Lin’s eye seems to be compound, more close to that of an insect but the wawrnowiids have eye structures that are similar to humans. Funnily enough, the warnowiids also hunt other cells with “harpoons.” .,….

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