"What a desolate place!"

With a dozen fellow creatures following, Lightning remarked on the barren, rocky shallow sea world perceived through their senses, all while searching for creatures to eliminate as food, for evolution points, or as component providers. The occasional passing plankton was quickly shared and consumed by the group.

Stopping once more from their leaping progression, Lightning touched the solid seabed, quietly appreciating the weighty sensation of the firm ground beneath. Perceptions from his mental sensing revealed nothing but rocks and sand—no signs of lurking ambushers like the tentacle bugs, or at least none that were obvious.

"So empty, not even a single creature in sight."

Muttering to himself, Lightning cautiously led his group into a cluster of rocks, advancing further into the shallow seas.

"Could it be that the shallow seas haven't experienced a species explosion yet, or are we simply among the first few batches of creatures to arrive here?"

Puzzled by this, Lightning inadvertently noticed that their group—which initially had seventeen lightning bugs—was one member short.

"That's odd, did I miscount?"

He utilized his mental sensing again to count the number of kin around him.

Sixteen.

"Or perhaps I didn’t include myself?"

"Impossible."

Pausing his movement, Lightning slowly floated upwards, his mental focus sharpening.

"Danger!"

"Damn, I knew it wasn't that simple."

There was no anomaly in his mental sensing, but the water near the vanished kin was slightly clouded. If he hadn’t noticed quickly, the current would have soon cleared the murkiness, erasing all traces. He swiftly ordered all the lightning bugs to leave the area and ascend to his side, observing carefully.

The previously murky spot cleared up, revealing a few light gray rocks with minor cracks. Except for some plankton and plants, there were no signs of any other life activities.

There was nothing out of the ordinary with the surrounding environment—a plain sandy area dotted with a few ordinary rocks.

"Damn it, what could have taken out one of the lightning bugs so quickly that it didn't even have time to discharge electricity? Did the rocks swallow it?"

"What a joke!"

Being ambushed just upon reaching the shallow seas made Lightning furious. It wasn't his fault; despite being careful, ignorance led to such a misstep.

"Should I approach for a closer look? The enemy seems quick but might just be an ordinary creature with special abilities like a tentacle bug. I don’t want to be scared away from the seabed again after the first encounter with them, especially since movement now relies on the sea floor rocks."

Deciding to investigate, Lightning opted not to go himself but instead sent one of his kind to scout toward the suspicious area. Meanwhile, he heightened his vigilance for the surrounding environment. Given the presence of a hunter, more predators might lurk nearby; his mental sensing range currently couldn’t detect far-off threats, necessitating extra caution from him, spreading his kind in a plane across the water.

Unaware of the creeping danger, the scouting lightning bug slowly advanced.

As it neared the suspect rocks, Lightning assumed the enemy was hiding somewhere among them.

Nothing unusual?

What could this mean? Maybe the foe had already left or concealed itself.

It’s possible the enemy was satisfied with one lightning bug and moved on.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Out of caution, Lightning instructed the scout to circle the area a few times to no avail.

“Damn it, show yourself already. This is frustrating.”

The unknown always arouses curiosity and fear.

"Until I understand the enemy’s attack method, it's better not to approach carelessly. Tch."

Thinking this, Lightning reluctantly prepared to lead the group away from the seabed.

He recalled the scout but as it passed by one rock, a slight fissure suddenly opened, swallowing the unsuspecting lightning bug whole. Had Lightning not been fully focused on mental sensing, he’d have missed the swift action.

“Damn, so you’re the culprit.”

Identifying the assailant, he felt a slight relief despite the loss. Yet, his lightning bugs currently couldn't counter it—their electric shocks would be futile against the rocky exterior. However, possessing human-like intelligence, Lightning compared the rock creature’s disguise against the genuine rocks, noting subtle differences.

“It might fool ordinary creatures, but I’m the primary consciousness of a species with mental sensing. We’ll settle this score later. Hmph!”

After discerning the general differences, he guided some kin to swim near what looked like natural rocks.

"As expected, everything is normal."

Carefully steering his group away from the suspicious rocks, Lightning moved through the gaps between the rocks. The large intervals between these rock creatures saved him much trouble; determining which rocks were dangerous would have been arduous.

However, shallow seas housed more than just rock creatures.

“There certainly are a lot of ambush predators.”

Detecting a small bump in the sandy seabed ahead, Lightning made his observation. Visually, this trap blended seamlessly with the surrounding sand, nearly undetectable, but within his mental sensing, it stood out.

Perhaps due to prolonged reliance on mental sensing, Lightning had begun to focus his overall perception slightly in one direction, expanding single-direction range. While less effective than well-developed biological eyes, it sufficed for spotting hidden threats in the sand.

Shortly after leaving the rock creature’s domain, he encountered this trap—dangerous for sight-reliant creatures but simple for him.

“It seems the trap was set after spotting us. Though mental sensing provides a comprehensive view, eyes indeed see much farther.”

Contemplating whether to bypass the trap or have the group confront it for components and evolution points, Lightning suddenly noticed, within the closed mental sensing range, a creature several times larger than a lightning bug charging at the group from behind.

“Damn, I didn’t expect there’d be more than one predator, and so fast.”

Quickly directing the group into nearby rock crevices, the attacker dashed past, clutching an unlucky bug. Still alive, the bug unleashed a bright electric shock, but it barely fazed the predator, only making its grip tighter.

The predator's massive shell prevented it from reaching the bugs hidden in the rocks, and the bugs’ shocks were ineffective. After a stalemate, the predator, having devoured the bug, turned away towards a pitiful hunter emerging from the sand, attempting escape.

Observing this, Lightning realized that the unfortunate hunter was the same armored kin he’d once encountered as “Lightning” climbing from the deep sea.

Well, it’s a small world.

“Your luck is as rotten as ever. No wonder—it’s a mistake choosing such an exposed location without rocks for ambushing.”

“Still, thanks for drawing away that big guy for us.”

Seeing the predator chase after the hunter, Lightning, now minus a quarter of the group, led the survivors away. Sticking to rock crevices minimized visibility to other creatures, safer than floating openly or sprinting across seemingly endless sandy flats.

Of course, relatively speaking, everyone knows relative safety isn’t absolute.

Escaping another large predator, identifiable even at a glance as a hunter, Lightning squeezed through a rock crack before returning to safety after scouting briefly.

“Looks like we weren’t spotted.”

“Now, I desperately need eyes… Coming to the shallow sea made me realize how useless my setup is. Tch.”

Reflecting on his continual evasions since arriving, Lightning planned to emerge and attack a rare soft-bodied creature, but as he revealed himself, it noticed him and vanished from his senses.

“These creatures have honed their escape skills, fleeing as fast as they do.”

Leading the group to feast on the escaped creature’s leftover plants, another predator snatched away a bug.

“Maybe we should move at night. During the day, lightning bugs here are just targets. Some leader I am.”

“At least it’s pitch black at night, and having dwelled in the deep sea, we can adapt.”

Shaking his electrified appendages, Lightning acknowledged the shallow sea’s peril: it’s dangerous, and caution is key.

“Really didn’t expect to have to operate under cover even here. Guess everything needs time to adjust.”

With a diminished group, Lightning painstakingly found a hidden crevice, settling in with their soft bodies to minimize nutritional consumption and entering short hibernation. Meanwhile, he strategized for their current predicament.

Within their sheltered eye-world, dusk fell, though not as dark as the deep sea’s abyssal gloom.

“Seems the skies on this planet are still clean, the moonlight even penetrates this deep. Though, this planet just saw its first aquatic life, so civilization hasn’t had a chance to harm it.”

Lightning thought of the old Earth.

“When we reach civilization, I hope it’s not like that.”

“But why think about such far-off things now?”

“Better focus on getting more and better components, more evolution points, strengthening the species, evolving into aquatic life…”

“Uh, now it seems there’s quite a lot to ponder.”

“Forget it, concentrate on surviving later. What’s future, what’s dreams, what’s evolution, if survival itself is impossible…”

“They’re but fleeting fantasies.”