Chapter 53
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Chapter 53: Trilobites Developed True Sociality!?
"Ah, this…"
Trilobite stared at the Trilobites he’d fed with excrement and skin flakes, plus the "young lady Trilobites" nourished by meat strands from his teeth, feeling a twinge of embarrassment.
"This really became the ‘pets shaming me’ series…"
Watching the resolute Trilobites form a massive defensive array to protect their home, Trilobite suddenly recalled bees swarming wasp scouts.
He never imagined these Trilobites could show such initiative!
And leading them was his own spawn.
"Could she be a queen?"
"Who knew Trilobites could develop sociality?"
"Primitive though—nowhere near ants or termites."
"But impressive nonetheless."
This phenomenon isn’t rare in nature.
Sardines and small fish form schools to intimidate predators while distributing predation risk among members, boosting survival odds.
Flamingos and small birds also gather in huge groups.
Yet such groups hardly qualify as social.
But this Trilobite colony was extraordinary. Under the largest "young lady Trilobite," they arranged into specific formations, mimicking giant fish and sea snakes to confuse enemies!
They’d developed coordination—even discipline!
"So that’s it…"
"Given opportunity, life always finds its way."
"Is this your chosen evolution?"
"Shameful! Far better than my ideas of modifying Limbs or upgrading hardware!"
"But…"
Seeing Leviathan hornstone raise tentacles while ignoring his escape, fire burned in Trilobite.
"Whoosh—!"
The true finned fish’s tail whipped, carving a graceful arc through water.
"Don’t underestimate me!"
"Soft-bodied relic!"
His maw gaped wide at Leviathan hornstone’s tentacles looming over the Trilobites.
"Raaagh—!"
"Chomp—!"
Jaws snapped shut. His guillotine-like lower jawbone sheared through dozens of tentacles.
Leviathan hornstone’s noodle-thin tentacles offered poor defense. Over ten severed limbs drifted seaward instantly.
"Chirp—sizzle—!"
The Leviathan hornstone felt a sharp pain and angrily struck Trilobite’s forehead with its tentacles.
But how much power could those thin tentacles really have?
Aside from the pain, they couldn’t inflict any real harm on Trilobite.
Of course, being whipped by a bunch of tiny whips wasn’t pleasant either.
Trilobite immediately shook his head…
"Whoosh… rumble…"
The true finned fish’s big head wildly thrashed about, stirring the chaotic current and tearing through the dense mass of tentacles.
"Bang—!"
"Pshhh—!"
Tentacles snapped one after another, and the pain along with a sense of impending defeat spread in the Leviathan hornstone’s heart.
"Sizzle—!"
It let out a terrified wail, began to spray water constantly, and slowly retreated; the buoyancy chambers inside its conical shell emptied one after another, making its body lighter and causing it to slowly rise.
However, the thrust produced by the water spray had to push that heavy calcareous shell; this couldn’t be called speed at all!
Some squids moved quickly, but that was only after they had shed their shells to become agile.
The slow-moving Leviathan hornstone was quickly caught up by Trilobite.
The fish’s head broke through the feeble entanglement of tentacles, charging straight toward the hornstone’s head, while blood-red jaws avoided the tentacles’ grip and cast a shadow over the Leviathan hornstone’s forehead.
If it were an octopus or squid, they might still have had a last resort—their ink sacs—to escape, just like their ancestors, the Mantis Shrimp.
But unfortunately, the nautiluses had no ink sacs and could not spray ink to confuse their enemies.
If they couldn’t fight and couldn’t flee, then there was only one outcome!
"Ah—ugh—!"
Trilobite ruthlessly bit down onto the Leviathan hornstone’s head!
"Pshhh—!"
Thick, somewhat sticky juices burst forth, splattering into Trilobite’s mouth.
Slightly fishy, with a hint of sweetness and a touch of saltiness from the seawater.
"Slurp…"
Trilobite even greedily "slurped" some more.
"Not bad…"
"Although my sense of taste wasn’t very sensitive, it was really quite good…"
In reality, the enjoyment of food by people was only partly derived from taste; a large portion came from smell.
Though Trilobite didn’t have many taste buds on his tongue, he possessed the Olfactory Membranes of a shark!
He still had the capability to appreciate deliciousness.
The delicious taste stirred his appetite and greed.
So the true finned fish’s massive jaws snapped open and shut, repeatedly biting the Leviathan hornstone’s head with wet "smack-smack" sounds.
"Hmm, there are benefits to a hornstone growing this big after all."
"Lots of meat! Plenty of juices!"
Trilobite thought while persistently gnawing at the Leviathan hornstone’s forehead, trying to squeeze out more delicious juices.
Just then…
"Ding—!"
【Your Symbiotic Creature No. 1 is browsing the ‘Evolution Mall.’ You may go and offer guidance.】
—-
"Heavens! Heavens!"
"So cruel! So cruel!"
"Horrifying! Horrifying!"
"Pitiful! Pitiful!"
Beneath the Giant God’s shadow, three Outer Gods crept about stealthily and fearfully.
Their plan worked.
The blood octopus Outer God had drawn mortals’ and the Giant God’s attention with its terrifying presence—they completely overlooked these insignificant beings.
Not to mention, they’d changed their skin to a dull gray matching the crater’s surroundings.
Yet fear still gripped their hearts.
They couldn’t be sure they’d escaped the Giant God’s notice.
That "Giant God" looming above them was utterly dreadful!
Though the unlucky Outer God was already dead, the "Giant God" kept savagely biting its head, as if determined to chew the deity who’d offended him and his spawn into pulp!
"Mercy! Mercy! Don’t provoke him! Don’t!"
"Such vengeance! Such vengeance!"
"But keep biting! Keep punishing him!"
"Don’t notice us! Don’t!"
"He deserved it! He was evil! We’re not!"
…
Their target wasn’t Trilobite or his spawn anyway.
They couldn’t defeat Trilobite, and his spawn held no value for them.
The real prize was…
"Success! Success!"
"Bones! Long bones!"
"1000 shards of divine rank! Ours! Ours!"
The vampire squids struggled to drag Trilobite’s shed vertebrae with their tentacles, slowly swimming away.
Their little scheme couldn’t fool Trilobite, equipped as he was with the Lorentz Jar, Olfactory Membranes, and lateral line.
"Hmm…"
"Smack… smack…"
Trilobite kept pressing the Leviathan hornstone’s forehead, savoring the rich juices splashing into his mouth while watching the vampire squids’ bizarre antics.
"What’s wrong with these ancient vampire squids?"
"Some weird obsession?"
