Chapter 445

Chapter 445: Multiple Filtrations

The extraordinary beasts, created solely for the purpose of purifying biomass, possessed no thinking ability.

In fact, to conserve nutrients, Clotho had even denied them the luxury of brains.

Within their diminutive skulls lay only the rudimentary structures necessary for basic reflexes—a brainstem, a small cerebellum to facilitate movement, and a minuscule, peanut-sized mass that could scarcely be called a "brain."

Under the will of the mycelium, Clotho’s directive, these new beings began to use their elongated mouthparts to draw in the gray-black substance from the depths of the large crater.

As they sucked vigorously, the biomass ascended through their mouthparts, gradually eroding the surrounding mucosal tissues and seeping toxins into their systems.

However, the mouthparts and digestive tracts of these extraordinary beasts had been specially reinforced to withstand the toxicity for a time, preventing immediate death.

As the biomass was slowly absorbed, the bodies of these extraordinary beasts began to swell like inflated balloons.

Their bellies pressed against the ground, and the snake-like scales expanded with a rasping sound.

The grooves and ridges along the edges of the scales locked tightly under the internal pressure, forming a highly secure self-locking mechanism.

The more biomass the extraordinary beasts ingested, the tighter this simple mechanical structure became, preventing any potential splattering accidents from damaged skin.

Of course, the extraordinary beasts were oblivious to these principles; their limbs gradually lost their points of leverage, and their entire bodies were rapidly transforming into spherical shapes. They no longer needed the ability to move, nor did they possess it.

Two minutes later, the bellies of this batch of extraordinary beasts reached their limits. The resistance of their skin prevented further ingestion of biomass, and due to overconsumption, their bodies instinctively began to vomit.

But Clotho had anticipated this.

As the extraordinary beasts reached their limits, a piece of cartilage in their necks was pushed by muscle contractions to completely seal off their esophagus.

This was a simple one-way valve structure, akin to those found in pressure wells and inflatable tires.

The biomass ingested through the mouthparts could still enter the stomach due to the pressure created by swallowing, but vomiting and stomach contractions could not expel it unless the internal pressure became great enough to break through the cartilage and muscle barriers.

But this was impossible, for just as the pressure was about to reach its limit—

The extraordinary beasts succumbed to the toxins.

This was the power of Clotho’s abilities; with an abundant gene bank at her disposal, she could create species as if she were a creator.

Though these creatures had certain issues with gender and reproduction, Clotho never failed in other aspects.

The hundred or so extraordinary beasts were dead, and before their demise, their tiny heads had already lost all significance.

Their necks, heads, and limbs rapidly shrank before death, leaving behind bodies filled with unknown biomass, encased in layers of skin and scales, forming resilient spherical masses.

Clotho observed her experimental field through the gaps in the Giant Trees and the eyes of the extraordinary beasts.

The first batch of extraordinary beasts was entirely dead, and the second phase of the experiment began.

Several strands of mycelium spread rapidly across the ground, quickly converging and hardening at the tips into hollow structures resembling injection needles.

The living needle approached a spherical mass, probing briefly before piercing through a weak point in the armor’s seams.

The massive intake of biomass had already rendered the spherical mass "thin-skinned and heavily filled."

Yet the constraints of the skin and scales prevented it from bursting under the needle’s pressure.

Under the internal pressure, the biomass began to flow through the channels formed by the mycelium, and Clotho’s second-phase experiment commenced.

The biomass here was no longer the unidentifiable substance that had been unusable; the toxins that Clotho could not analyze had been largely absorbed by the dead extraordinary beasts, leaving behind genuine nutrients.

Or so it should have been.

But as the Giant Tree connected to the mycelium changed color within seconds, Clotho realized her mistake.

In the sea of consciousness, she swiftly severed her connection with the Giant Tree and the mycelium, expelling them from her ecosystem.

Immediately, large masses of mycelium began to writhe, turning the ground into what seemed like liquid.

The Giant Tree, along with the mycelium, was forced into the large crater filled with black substance under immense pressure, slowly disappearing into the thick, lightless void.

Clearly, one purification was insufficient.

Over a hundred spherical masses lay atop the mycelium mat. Less than an hour later, another group of extraordinary beasts, slightly different from the previous batch, arrived near the large crater under the guidance of their "mother."

Their mouthparts had undergone iterations compared to their predecessors, and their design appeared less artificial, as if they had evolved naturally.

Aiming their sharp mouthparts at the weak points of the spherical masses, this new batch of extraordinary beasts began to voraciously consume the remnants left by their forebears.

As their bellies expanded, the original spherical masses began to shrivel.

When the last bit of biomass was consumed by the second generation of extraordinary beasts, the mycelium mat released its constraints, and the first generation of extraordinary beast corpses, now resembling deflated balloons, fell into the darkness below.

Beside the large crater, the second generation of extraordinary beasts endured the agony of toxin erosion.

Though "agony" might be an overstatement, for as a resource-efficient biological designer, Clotho had not granted these creatures the ability to feel pain.

They could only sense a pervasive weakness throughout their bodies, a sensation that dragged their reason into an abyss of oblivion.

The second generation of extraordinary beasts perished.

Clotho repeated the process, compelling a Giant Tree to create hollow mycelium for further toxin testing.

Unfortunately, the toxin levels remained above the threshold. Ignoring the faint pleas from a part of her own being, Clotho pushed the Giant Tree into Pandora’s Box—a source of both hope and immense terror.

The third round of toxin absorption began.

A batch of extraordinary beasts, nearly identical to the second generation, appeared around the large crater. Like their predecessors, they were born to die, devoid of consciousness, their existence meaningless.

Soon, they completed the intake once more; this was the third biological filtration. Clotho observed everything from all angles, marveling at her own formidable thinking ability while closely monitoring this group of extraordinary beasts.