Chapter 7: The Serene Giant Cocoon
Paladin Loranda temporarily resolved the internal conflicts within his chosen race and gradually led the Silver Wizards to grow and thrive in the game. Soon, the Silver Wizard tribe became increasingly prosperous and expanded across the entire world, entering the prelude to the fourth stage, 'Civilization.'
Meanwhile, Priest's controlled 'Pro-Element Cell Body' had just emerged from the 'Spore' stage and officially entered the 'Organism' stage.
The game process naturally could not fully replicate hundreds of millions of years of evolution and development, nor could it reproduce every step of progress in biology and civilization. However, the Continent of Strife still managed to achieve a state of 'approximate reality.' At least for Priest, a game of this caliber felt quite realistic.
During the Spore stage, Priest used water currents to flank and ambush, and after a grueling struggle, he obtained a 'High-Level Light-Sensitive Component.' After equipping this part, Priest finally had a somewhat reliable means of observation, allowing him to find more valuable food and cells in the dark ocean.
After a full eight hours of game time (accelerated by 64 times, equating to seven and a half minutes in reality), Priest finally concluded the Spore stage of the game.
His cell's harvest during this stage was exceptionally bountiful.
Elemental Perception Component, Thick Cell Wall, Chitinous Ram, Sturdy Flagellum, High-Energy Cell Engine... Aside from these basic parts of varying quality, Priest also unexpectedly obtained an extremely rare special component: 'Elemental Absorbent Substance'!
This was an accidental find during an expedition inside a volcano. At the time, Priest had grown into a predatory organism with considerable lethality, capable of hunting by spraying water jets and smashing shells with its ram. He was foraging in a dormant volcano when he was suddenly attacked by a special dual-element creature of 'Fire and Earth.'
The battle process is not worth detailing, but it was quite thrilling. In short, by using the unique terrain to trap the unknown dual-element creature in a crevice and grinding it down alive, Priest discovered that the being, which looked like an elemental creature, was actually just an ordinary hard-gelatinous octopus. However, the octopus's surface was covered with a special layer of cytoplasm. This cytoplasm could absorb large amounts of beneficial elements from the surrounding environment, temporarily transforming itself into something resembling an elemental lifeform!
After plundering this special genetic component called 'Elemental Absorbent Substance,' the 'cell' controlled by Priest gained a powerful advantage. Since he could now use magical elements as an attack method, the 'Chitinous Ram' component, which occupied a large portion of his physique, could be removed and replaced with other parts, such as a High-Energy Cell Engine to power the cytoplasm or a special energy storage structure.
Soon, Priest, who was nearly invincible in the surrounding seas, successfully met the conditions for 'advancement' and could enter the second stage, the 'Organism' stage.
"This is amazing!"
Even though he had already played for over eight hours, Priest's enthusiasm remained undiminished. Especially after mentally calculating that only less than ten minutes had passed in reality, he had no intention of pausing the game and planned to continue playing.
"Anyway, it's all entertainment. This is way more fun than wandering the streets."
Thinking this, Priest unhesitatingly clicked 'Continue.'
Then, a silver light screen appeared before him.
First Stage 'Spore' Complete. Now Beginning Scoring:
Ferocity: 10/10 - You are the purest hunter. Devouring other cells is the meaning of your existence.
Symbiosis: 3/10 - You would rest in coral reefs shaded by sea anemones. That's probably the only time you need help from other organisms.
Nurturing: 0/10 - Predators have always scorned this. You only produce waste.
Collection: 9/10 - You have collected numerous special components. You even obtained the rarest abilities in the most dangerous extreme zones.
Strength: 9/10 - Your power is unmatched in the multicellular world. You are one of the most powerful beings in the entire primordial ocean.
Beginning Random Evolution of Biological Form... Beginning Random Renaming of 'Pro-Element Cell Body.'
Because Priest had chosen 'Full Random' from the start, even at the Organism stage, his cellular biological form and name were completely 'random.' Priest didn't care at all. He was the type of person who 'likes it as long as I have it.' Whether or not he created the creature or named it himself, as long as he started playing, he could immerse himself.
Soon, the biological evolution was complete. The 'Pro-Element Cell Body,' which swayed long, sturdy tentacles, had a seemingly soft but actually very hard shell, and flashed with various elemental lights, immediately grew and transformed in a flash of white light.
But quickly, as the form rapidly changed, the white light gradually dissipated. What appeared before Priest was an extremely strange 'cocoon'-shaped creature. It had over twenty protruding bone-like armor plates that wrapped around the soft internal organs. Outside the armor was a thick layer of Elemental Absorbent Substance. At first glance, it looked like a giant white, spiky pinecone.
Evolution Complete. Beginning Random Naming Based on Elements: Serene Giant Cocoon.
Serene Giant Cocoon: High-Level Elemental Absorbent Substance, Full-System Elemental Affinity, Sturdy Skeleton, Sturdy Exoskeleton, Shock-Resistant Internal Organs...
"How... how am I supposed to control a cocoon?"
Seeing the creature his cell had randomly evolved into, Priest was stunned. The giant cocoon was about seventy centimeters tall. For some deep-sea behemoths, it could be considered very small, but for a cocoon-shaped creature resembling a pinecone... it was far too large.
Originally, Priest thought he would still be living in the sea. If so, controlling the Serene Giant Cocoon wouldn't be too difficult, as he could rely on elemental manipulation to make the cocoon swim. But he never expected that, due to the factor of 'continental ecological adaptation,' the opening of the Serene Giant Cocoon's 'Organism' stage would be on a beach!
"Could it be that I have to wait for the tide to flood the beach and return to the sea then?"
This thought appeared for only a moment before Priest dismissed it. For some reason, he vaguely felt that things weren't that simple. Since the instance had sent him to the beach, it meant the Serene Giant Cocoon had the ability to live on land. Moreover, Priest had a premonition: the Serene Giant Cocoon had evolved from the fragile multicellular body to this point precisely to emerge from the ocean and conquer the land!
Behind that 'randomness,' there must be some deeply hidden meaning!
"I must not have figured out what to do yet... Think carefully, Priest. Based on the Serene Giant Cocoon's abilities, what method does it have to move on land?"
In fact, he didn't need to rack his brains or exert all his effort. Priest only had to think briefly along the right path to understand what to do.
"In a supernatural world, there's no need to adhere to the common sense of the mortal realm... The teacher said that death is merely a beginning, and lacking limbs doesn't mean you cannot walk."
Daily thought. Whispering a certain count's quote under his breath, Priest frowned and began to pour his mental energy into the layer of 'Elemental Absorbent Substance' on the cocoon's surface. He murmured to himself, "Don't be bound by conventional thinking. If I can control elements, why do I need to grow limbs myself?"
As soon as he finished speaking.
As Priest began to control the surrounding elements through the Elemental Absorbent Substance, the extremely condensed 'Water' and 'Earth' elements in the sand began to converge. Clear seawater mixed with sediment could be seen forming a pale golden elemental fluid. As if alive, it crawled onto the Serene Giant Cocoon!
Countless elemental tentacles extended and spread to every corner of the cocoon. Then, under Priest's control, this elemental fluid transformed into hands and feet, a body and a head, forming a 'giant' figure several meters tall, placing the 'Serene Giant Cocoon' in the center of its chest.
"Great!"
Controlling the elemental fluid, freely walking on the beach, Priest couldn't help but want to cheer excitedly—he was already cheering. This was the potential of the Serene Giant Cocoon! By relying on the evolution-to-the-extreme Elemental Absorbent Substance, he could completely control natural elements, transform into various forms, and achieve various states of action and goals!
Just as Priest was celebrating his first steps on land.
Inside the Magic Net main server, Joshua, walking with Number 3 in front of a series of light screens, was observing the performance of other players.
The so-called randomness was not truly random. It directly selected a civilization with similar elements from the records of Chaos, assigning it to those who chose the random option.
Priest's performance was satisfactory. The Serene Giant Cocoon's evolutionary path was a biological evolutionary process with actual historical records. Priest could immediately jump out of the original Spore stage, fully immerse himself in playing the Serene Giant Cocoon, and quickly find a method of action, proving his clear thinking and freedom from traditional concepts.
In this world, there weren't many people with gaming talent or good luck, and even fewer were playing the Continent of Strife. Many people got stuck in the simplest Spore stage, let alone the Organism stage.
Even with corresponding intelligence, if one's thinking was inadequate, it was useless.
Joshua surveyed the light screens. Among the nearly 6,000 players, 1,700 had already been eliminated. They had temporarily entered a one-day cooldown period in the real world and could only re-enter the Continent of Strife after a day to continue the civilization game.
This was to avoid possible backlash from Chaos memories due to game failure, and also to give them time to seriously think about how to solve their own predicaments.
Joshua saw that many people, unintentionally, led their races and tribes to a dead end. Perhaps they were too presumptuous, or perhaps they hadn't clearly thought about the conflicts between different civilizations, and thus made rash choices, leading to game failure... This method of failure was remarkably similar to the reasons for the destruction of most civilizations in the Chaos records.
"They will learn."
Whispering to himself, Joshua turned his head and continued watching Priest's game process.
But the other's subsequent actions made Joshua shake his head with some disappointment.