Zhou Yi was shocked and quickly put the shell back into the energy blocks.

The shelter immediately integrated into the solid-state Light Core Body.

"What's the matter?"

Zhou Yi asked with concern, "What kind of monster? Is the damage serious?"

"We lost 102 of our own kind."

In a sorrowful tone, Dong said, "They were too fierce, attacking us madly... We are not combat members, we don't have combat tools, and all-out efforts were insufficient to win."

"The monsters here are endless, and they are much larger than us, strong and savage. They were unmoved by our attempts at friendly greetings, merely colliding with and hunting us."

"Mr. Zhou, the world you live in is terrifying..."

After listening to its intermittent complaints, Zhou Yi finally understood what had happened.

Some of the Cave People attempted to leave their shelter, naturally assuming that the world outside would be as friendly and safe as Zhou Yi had seemed.

Instead, as soon as they came out, they were besieged by the local monsters, which were much larger than them, ranging from 10 to 200 times their volume, and seemingly infinitely numerous.

In fact, these monsters were just plankton, microorganisms invisible to the naked eye.

Zhou Yi immediately called Da Vinci over for a measurement of the Cave People's shelter.

"Chairman, this is a closed object made of a special material. X-rays cannot penetrate it; the specific structure inside cannot be discerned."

"On the surface of the shell-shaped shelter, we found some very small life forms. They no longer show signs of life, but their bodies are fixed on the shell surface, held together by a strange force of attraction. I think, these must be the deceased Cave People."

"The diameter of a Cave Person is about 0.3 micrometers, which belongs to the smallest category of bacterial sizes, much smaller than a single cell."

"The plankton in our Dead Sea, including planktonic bacteria and eukaryotic plankton, generally have a diameter of 0.5 to 100 micrometers. Cave People are extremely fragile; here, they become targets for medium to large plankton predators."

The Mechanical Doctor displayed the form of the Cave People with a high-power microscope.

They looked like translucid tic-tac-toe characters, very slender, able to interconnect with each other through their extending sets of four legs to form stable combination structures.

"It is hard to imagine that this life form not only created a civilization but also mastered space technology."

Da Vinci continued, "Such fragile physiological structures, my existing databases cannot deduce how they utilize high-density energy. Life is truly magnificent and miraculous!"

Zhou Yi inquired, "Is there any device that can protect them? Like a cage that can keep the plankton outside at bay?"

"There is. The plankton net can do that; our hospital had previously purchased some and has a slight inventory."

"The mesh size is minimal, ensuring that external plankton cannot enter while maintaining airflow."

Da Vinci went back to the hospital to get a few small net cages, showing them to Zhou Yi.

Under the microscope, it was clear that the mesh indeed blocked various forms of plankton from getting through, as they failed to break through the fine mesh structure.

There are numerous plankton in the Dead Sea, generally large in size. However, upon entering the surrounding land of the Dead Sea, the density of plankton suddenly drops, as if moving from a crowded subway during rush hour to a scarcely traveled small country lane.

Inside the net cage, the Cave People emerged from the outer shell of their shell shelter, observing this unfamiliar world.

"Mr. Zhou, it's safe here now, thank you, truly thank you!" Dong expressed gratitude.

"It's nothing."

Zhou Yi returned to Jade City with the net cage, putting a wheat grain inside.

The Dong side reacted intensely, "Remarkable new life material! We have never seen this kind before; its texture and structure are astounding, containing unique and enchanting life information."

"We are trying to exchange with it."

Zhou Yi was reminded of Breaker Haruk by these words.

Haruk, too, was very eager for the various forms of life on land, to obtain their DNA to aid in his evolution to a stronger Evolution.

It seemed the Cave People had similar inclinations.

It took 1500 Cave People four days to completely decompose and digest that one grain of wheat.

Dong stated that after cautious trials, they obtained a large amount of valuable life substance, which they integrated into every Cave Person's body, achieving a certain degree of evolution and growth.

"Great Mr. Zhou, we hope to make contact with those monsters again."

Zhou Yi was curious, "Can you beat them now?"

"Purely depending on our physical constitution to collide, we stand no chance, but we must make contact with them, even if it means fighting. We need to exchange life information with them, to gain further growth and reproduction—they reproduce like monsters!"

Dong continued, "During the last contact, we discovered that they and us have a similar life form, belonging to nearly the same species. Only they have taken a different evolutionary path."

"Cave People, generation after generation, have learned to make tools and transform the world, making it possible to safely house our fragile bodies."

"The nearly same species here follows the most primitive life principles, making themselves as strong as possible, reproducing as many offspring as possible. They have persisted in the simplest way."

"At first, everyone in the shelter agreed that their monstrous path was ignorant and absurd, lacking even basic enlightenment."

"But after some deep discussions during this period, everyone realized that this was not the case. They merely took a different evolutionary road than us, and while we may take pride in our technical experience and accumulation, now we might be left with only this one shelter."

Dong said in a solemn tone, "Look at them again."

"In a world with such an outstanding and towering life as yours, they still thrive everywhere and have a diversity we never had. There are so many types of them, able to survive despite environmental changes, not to mention their reproductive abilities beyond our reach."

"In this world, they are a more successful direction of evolution than us."

"We chose tools... or in your words, to establish a civilization."

"They embrace the most pure essence of life and death, becoming monsters."

"Judging from the results, they maintain vigorous vitality and, without accidents, will continue to thrive. But we have been dwindling for a long time, as an increasing number of our offspring are weak and dying; quite a few in the shelter are like this."

"The newly born of our kind cannot compensate for the deaths, and extinction becomes unavoidable."

It said somewhat sorrowfully, "We have the technology to change the world; we have erected a multitude of Record Lands across the Earth, as proof of our existence and prosperity. Yet we are unable to transform ourselves, unable to perpetuate our lineage."

Zhou Yi conversed with it and consulted the Mechanical Doctor Da Vinci.

Da Vinci believed that the main issue lay in the aberrant life environment of the Cave People.

In the era before trees and insects existed, the life on that world consisted solely of the Cave People.

This was both fortunate and unfortunate.

Fortunate, in that they were the inherent masters of the world, able to accumulate primitive resources without worry for their populace, creating the resplendent civilization of the Cave People over generations.

The misfortune lay in the difficulty of procreation.

They multiplied continuously but only by interbreeding within their clan, resulting in a large number of deformed offspring. The longer time passed, the more severe this issue became.

Da Vinci commented, "For simpler life forms, this is even more fatal. A decline in genetic diversity diminishes the species' adaptability to environmental stress—such as changes in temperature and salinity, increasing the risk of extinction."

"High genetic similarity makes the population more susceptible to specific pathogens, leading to large-scale disease outbreaks."

"Inbreeding could lead to a decrease in reproductive success rates, affecting population numbers."

"The Cave People's desire to interact with the local Floating Heart organisms is the correct judgment and approach. If they could achieve genetic exchange with local species, the offspring of the new generation of Cave People could fundamentally change the current predicament."

After this educational explanation, Zhou Yi felt more at ease.

Da Vinci added, "However, interaction needs to be gradual. Chairman, we can capture some smaller Floating Hearts and release a small number into the cages."

Zhou Yi thought this was a good idea.

The specifics of the operation were left to the professional, Da Vinci.

First, it placed a Floating microscopic organism into the cage.

Half a day later.

The Dong declared excitedly, "We get along very well with it, the nearly related species on land are much more gentle and stable, and their aggressiveness is not as strong."

"It and we coexist peacefully, and our kin have essentially exchanged information with it."

This meant they had mated.

So Zhou Yi told Da Vinci to step up the effort.

As more and more Floating organisms were introduced, the Cave People also gradually became more active.

"Mr. Zhou, we have birthed our first new member, a completely new Cave Person! It is a life born from the exchange and combination with a nearly related local species! This is a moment worthy of remembrance!"

...

"These new generation Cave People are not much different from us; they fit in very well with us. They are just a bit more irritable by nature... We have imparted them with basic knowledge, all of which is recorded on the shelter, fortunately, this part is not forgotten."

...

"Our numbers have increased tenfold!"

...

"We have reached 1 million individuals!"

...

"Mr. Zhou, we want to make contact with the species related to the Dead Sea."

After seeking Da Vinci's opinion, Zhou Yi agreed.

"These monsters!! Still so insane!! Truly a bunch of wild beasts!"

"Fuck, don't think we are afraid of you! Brothers, let's get them!"

"Annihilate them!"

After exchange and reproduction with local Floating organisms, the Cave People continued to undergo generational renewal. Their group personality was also changing with the environment, no longer like the original greenhouse-dwelling timidity and confusion.

Now they were physically integrating with the local Floating organisms and could be said to have blended into the local community.

Zhou Yi monitored the situation inside the cages daily and communicated actively with the Dong.

One day.

The Dong suddenly said, "Mr. Zhou, we want to challenge those Floating organisms you've kept. If we can integrate with local species of this level, I think we can make a difference."

"Not only could we repay your help, but we can also become stronger ourselves."

Zhou Yi took out a first-generation Floating Heart from storage and allowed a part of the Cave People to enter it.

Four days later.

After testing, this Floating Heart had doubled its effectiveness to 3 float, even twice as effective as the second-generation Heart!

Zhou Yi shone it with a multi-band Death Light reflector and saw no green light inside, meaning the Floating organisms had not evolved to be stronger.

What was this situation?

Proudly, the Dong said, "We have completed the information exchange with them, giving birth to a huge number of new generation Cave People. Now inside the Heart, in fact, we have become the dominant presence."

"We use our innate connective structure to release and transmit energy with as little loss as possible."

"Refuse to waste! We can be of help to you!"

Zhou Yi was greatly shocked.

Could it be...

The Floating Hearts could be entirely replaced by the Cave People?

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