“So, what should I do now?”
As the sunlight outside the nest gradually faded, Thunder Bug found himself unable to sleep. Although shedding the nearly formed shell had been an episode two bodies ago, his current back seemed to still ache subtly.
“It’s proven that electric stone and mineral accumulation can form a bony shell, and electric stone might be the most suitable mineral for my species. But…”
“Do I have to continue accumulating on my back?”
“After the snail came the appearance of a lightweight shell. How was that formed? By making the shell thinner?”
Stretching his now light and flexible body, Thunder Bug moved to the crevice of the nest, observing the outside world through his lens eyes as night gradually descended.
“In terms of lightweight shells, those beetles seem capable of floating effortlessly. Excluding mineral composition, it might be due to increased spacing between minerals or thinner shells. But this makes the primary function of the shell as a real supportive exoskeleton, unlike the defensive shell of a snail.”
“But is an exoskeleton really sufficient for me? And those lightweight beetles’ defenses are not weak either.”
It was now completely dark outside. Through the gaps in the rocks, Thunder Bug could occasionally see a large predator swim past overhead, and some medium and small creatures passed by the nest, perhaps heading to rest.
“Looking at Earth’s creatures, an endoskeletal spine seems superior. Dinosaurs, humans, and other large terrestrial organisms rely on a spine rather than an exoskeleton, whereas insects don't occupy high niches later on.” Gar believed in 'existence is reasonable,' and given his knowledge, an endoskeleton would surely be better than an exoskeleton. So why not aim for an endoskeleton? “I should try forming an endoskeleton from the start.”
But this raised another issue.
“So how does an endoskeleton form?”
The water had darkened completely, suggesting another cloudy night.
“Those Lightning Bugs should be able to forage better.”
“Wonder how the Lightning Bugs are faring.”
“Why am I thinking of them? I should focus on how to form an endoskeleton.”
“Ah, I'm so sleepy.”
Whether due to long nocturnal habits, Thunder Bugs seemed to have developed a routine; as night fully settled, Thunder Bug succumbed to sleep, leaning against a companion. However, dreaming might still be beyond his brain's current capabilities.
※※※
For a while thereafter, Thunder Bug did not revisit the Thunder Beast’s sandy area.
Not out of fear, for apart from respecting the Thunder Beast’s might, Thunder Bug realized there was no danger if he didn’t disturb its rest.
He avoided the sandy area to gather minerals because he wanted to thoroughly contemplate forming a spine, while also hunting to accumulate evolution points.
Today, Thunder Bug returned to the sandy area with his current companions.
Instructing them to forage independently but avoid the electric stone zone and not discharge electricity, Thunder Bug swam to the familiar rock where he had obtained electric stone.
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“Let’s try laying a layer of thicker skin on the surface first, using a mesh as the framework, at least to boost defense. As long as it doesn't reach shell level, the current weight is manageable.”
Collecting only small amounts of electric stone left no trace in the flowing water, something Thunder Bug ignored. Using mucus, internal currents, and mental observation to adjust cellular distribution, Thunder Bug gradually enhanced his bristle skin with electric stone, making it hard yet smooth. Amidst the soft, transparent companions, Thunder Bug donned a thin, tight networked skin, exuding an imposing presence.
“Luckily, I can still micro-control body cells from the single-cell stage—likely not possible after this stage.”
But skin mineral accumulation should stop here. Despite muscular development from training with electric appendages allowing him to bear the current weight and speed not decreasing much, further mineral accumulation might lower Thunder Bug to a civilian level.
“Even if I aim to complete this stage swiftly, I want to do it right—I don’t want 8051 mocking a flawed product.”
“Now to test forming a spine. Wonder if spines exist on this planet yet?”
Feeling the food consumed could last until tomorrow, Thunder Bug led his still-soft companions to the sandy area.
“Proven effective and beneficial, these companions can also undergo skin hardening.”
This simple improvement meant companions could also receive a survival-boosting hardened skin.
“Best keep them from the sandy area for now—to avoid accidentally waking the Thunder Beast.”
“I’ll transport the electric stone to them—it requires little anyway.”
Flexing the daily trained electric appendages, the slightly streamlined body propelled rapidly in the water with hardened skin, effectively reducing water resistance.
For soft-bodied Thunder Bugs, though body form was streamlined in the biological editing space, external forces altered it in water. Encased in hard skin, the streamlined form reduced speed impediments from added weight.
Gently separating pure electric stone from sand with electricity, Thunder Bug instructed companions to bond the networked electric stone to their skin, like him. He then glanced at the remaining particles.
“Time to start assembling internal bone.”
Swallowing an electric stone particle, Thunder Bug carefully focused mental force on the tiny internal particle.
“Is this the legendary inner vision? I’m this amazing now, ha.”
Within, releasing currents to purify the electric stone, discarding impurities, Thunder Bug meticulously manipulated internal cells, slowly nudging purified electric stone toward the back.
First crafted internally was a head-to-tail connected electric stone line—the initial plan. The process wasn’t as hard as imagined, with only mild vigilance needed for small predator threats, and cellular control allowed swift completion.
The narrow line, composed of mucus and electric stone, connected rear-brain skin and trailing to edited 'tail' flagella.
More a rudimentary tendon than the first spine step, this surprise led Thunder Bug to eagerly integrate the tendon into lower electric appendages, connecting to muscle fibers. The head-end appendage nearly forgotten.
This 'tendon' was foreign yet vital for stage completion. Companions’ skin hardening appeared equally significant but lacked mental finesse and cellular adjustment—ordinary hardening left their skin imperfect.
Thunder Bug, seeing their sun-dimmed hardening forms, returned them to the nest. Forming a spine wasn’t an overnight success.
※※※
“Continuing spinal construction.”
With companions fed, Thunder Bugs ventured to sandy grounds again, transporting freshly refined electric stones to the nest before adding them to the forming internal spine.
Memory recalled articulated spines pivoting fully, but unclear recollections hindered precise construction—common folk rarely ponder spinal details.
Reluctantly, Thunder Bug installed cylindrical segments spaced apart on the tendon spine, testing movement and filling gaps with fine electric stones. Simple yet effective, though taxing time and effort. Sometimes, feeding relied on companions delivering subdued creature bodies to the experimenting Thunder Bug.
“Feeling a bit like a scientist, ha.”
Thunder Bug humorously acknowledged self.
“And my workshop is my body.”
Time fluttered between fast and slow, nights and days cycling on, species experiencing a reproduction increase to over a thousand, several hundred departing as Thunder Bug envisioned—to land.
“They’ll be my landing pioneers.” Thought Thunder Bug, whose landing plan still lingered at “once this stage is complete, head to land.”
To boost survival odds, leader-class survivability Thunder Bugs completed skin hardening, led by Thunder Bug in rotation.
Subsequently, within Thunder Bug's spinal construction trials, almost a thousand finished skin hardening.
“I might be this planet's first spinal evolution, haha.”
Feeling the improving internal spine, Thunder Bug couldn't help but smile proudly. Within his roam zone, no creatures possessed endoskeleton systems; most became exoskeletal.
One day, a stir jolted the focused Thunder Bug from nearly complete spinal construction.