"Damn it!"

Scientists who get interrupted during experiments are usually displeased, because no one knows whether the next step might yield the long-awaited results. Although Thunder Bug isn’t a bona fide scientist, and mentioning any credentials is out of the question, at this moment, his feelings were remarkably similar.

"What happened?"

Filled with anger, frustration, and confusion, Thunder Bug quickly propelled himself out of the nest using the elasticity of his muscles, just as a shadow loomed overhead.

With a swift twist, leveraging his entire body’s muscle elasticity, Thunder Bug moved sideways in a burst and instinctively released an electric shock, dodging the shadow sweeping down at him.

Only then did Thunder Bug look up at the attacker.

"What kind of creature is this?"

It might be a turtle, but extending from its shell were several long, slender tentacles.

There was no time to speculate on the creature’s nature; identifying it as an enemy was enough.

Thunder Bug, a veteran of numerous battles, noted that while the attacker seemed formidable, it was far from matching the majesty of the Thunder Beast, and he did not plan to flee immediately.

Currently, the attacker was feeding several unresponsive Thunder Bugs into its beaked mouth using its tentacles. One seemed to have a little life left, discharging a faint electric shock, but the tentacle gripping it merely shuddered before tightening again.

The nesting area was in chaos, as many Thunder Bugs had returned to the nest with nightfall approaching, most hid in narrow crevices, while a few mindless ones scurried about aimlessly.

"What should I do now? This looks tough to handle."

At this juncture, Thunder Bug's irritation over the interrupted experiment had vanished, replaced by strategic considerations of confronting the enemy. The attacker’s main body was an oval disc, unable to fit into rock crevices, but the eight pairs of tentacles extending from its core could easily enter, moving swiftly and deftly, outmatching the Thunder Bugs' speed.

As Thunder Bug pondered, an empty tentacle whipped out again, striking an evasive Thunder Bug. This scene captured Thunder Bug’s strategic attention.

The Thunder Bug reacted quickly, deploying its Electric Burst species skill upon realizing escape was impossible.

The tentacle visibly darkened from the electric shock, yet seemed unfazed, continuing along its arc to strike the Thunder Bug against a nearby rock.

With only a thin layer of hardened skin and no internal protection, the Thunder Bug’s organs and brain were damaged, leaving it unconscious.

The tentacle, having succeeded, coiled around the Thunder Bug and fed it to the mouth.

“Damn, so that’s its attack method.”

"Weak points—I need weak points!"

The enemy appeared formidable, with tentacles and a turtle shell offering comprehensive defense for its main body. Any visible enemy couldn’t evade a tentacle strike.

"Eyes? That’s it."

Realizing something, Thunder Bug focused on the enemy's main body and finally noticed two pairs of compound eyes protruding slightly from beneath the shell's front and back.

Attacking the eyes was Thunder Bug’s plan. In a one-on-one scenario, penetrating the tight tentacle defense to strike a foe’s eye was nearly impossible, even for a Thunder Bug. If one could, there would be no need; simply eliminating the tentacles would ensure victory.

"But I'm not alone—um, we have numbers."

Indeed, although the enemy had already taken down a dozen Thunder Bugs in the chaos, several hundred remained. While the method of discovering the nest was unknown, hiding in crevices would only allow the enemy's tentacles to pick them off.

Better to fight desperately than to sit and await death.

Thunder Bug instructed the Thunder Bugs to form a circle around the attacker’s horizontal plane, maintaining a safe distance outside the tentacle range, and to move collectively in response to any direction the attacker chose. With its slow-moving body, this was a plausible tactic.

But how to reach the underside and attack the four eyes? While the fish circle could distract those eyes, ascending vertically halfway would still alert the enemy.

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At this point, a faint memory surfaced of an octopus-like machine in a movie throwing bombs—grabbing a bomb, spinning it around rapidly in place, and launching it with momentum.

Thunder Bug mimicked this method, limited by its physical condition from achieving high velocity. One Thunder Bug could supply initial speed to another, which could then swim to attack the eyes before the enemy reacted. With its four lower eyes gone, tentacle attacks would surely diminish.

The plan seemed sound, and Thunder Bug swiftly ordered the Thunder Bugs into action.

Hesitation lingered as the Thunder Bugs wavered between obeying their primary consciousness and fearing the formidable enemy before them. Only after brief indecision did they accept the commands, a detail Thunder Bug, busy planning execution, overlooked.

Cautiously emerging from the rocks, the Thunder Bugs formed a fish circle with the attacker at its center, keeping a radius just beyond its tentacle reach. Predictably, the low-intellect attacker extended all tentacles, like a flower in bloom, towards the nearby prey, hindered by the surrounding Thunder Bugs drawing all its attention, including those four compound eyes.

No time to lose, Thunder Bug, along with three robust Thunder Bugs, formed two teams. Two Thunder Bugs, under Thunder Bug's control, grabbed him and another and, after a few spins, hurled them at the attacker above.

The attack was successful; before the enemy reacted, four electric appendages from both Thunder Bugs struck the four eyes, blinding the enemy, at least below. Above-eye status remained unknown.

Thunder Bug swiftly distanced himself from the enemy, but the slower Thunder Bug was promptly crushed by the frenzied tentacles of the attacker, the force leaving Thunder Bug staring agape.

With the attack thwarted, Thunder Bug didn’t intend to eliminate the enemy, as its frenzied state already had it cautiously retreating while forming an impenetrable tentacle barrier.

More pressing was the attention of large predators drawn by the injured attacker and the activity above the rocks.

For safety, Thunder Bug ordered all Thunder Bugs back into the rock shelters.

※※※

Regardless of how the enemy discovered the nest, this was inevitable, yet the unprotected brain and organs were a significant vulnerability.

Thus, while continuing spinal repairs, Thunder Bug focused on the head.

To Gar, familiar with human brains, it seemed small and simple, yet it was crucial for a civilization-evolving species. Protecting it from soft tissue damage was essential. Utilizing the refined electric stone assembly skills honed for spinal construction, mimicking the remembered skull structure, Thunder Bug crafted bone plates beneath the skin, encasing the head, with openings for the eyes and even the upper jaw forming a Thunder Bug 'skull.'

Using the interlocking spine technique developed during tests, the skull connected to the nearly completed backbone. To boost defense further, Thunder Bug reduced mineral spacing within the skull, increasing weight but maintaining speed with electric appendage tendons and muscle fiber integration.

Yet swimming endurance again suffered.

“Seems the soft-bodied visceral system is losing its suitability.”

“This skull, lacking only a jaw, is impressive. And, right, teeth should be added; despite no jaw articulation, a crude upper and lower jaw with teeth can form, allowing muscle-fiber biting—not strong, but enhancing damage capacity. Electrifying the teeth may focus electric shocks when gripping an enemy.”

Thus, a row of sharp teeth below the skull emerged. Thunder Bug, now addicted, crafted two elongated fangs on the upper jaw, components that on Earth took hundreds of millions of years to evolve.

“Now I realize that coming from an Earth evolving for billions of years, even with scant biological knowledge, everyday snippets impart huge advantages here.”

Gazing at the incongruous skull and teeth, Thunder Bug felt a surge of confidence in his species.

※※※

“How comfortable.”

Using muscle and tendons to steer his almost complete spine, Thunder Bug swayed a slightly flattened tail, propelling water, with bones inserted beneath, linking muscle and the spine. Now electric appendages powerfully drove movement.

“Even organs are bone-protected; am I now the most advanced life on this planet?”

Since beginning electric stone collection and spinal assembly, much time had passed. Extensive trial and error had perfected his spine, granting free movement. Thunder Bug, addicted to bone assembly, after surviving the nest attack, provided remaining Thunder Bugs with spines and skulls and referenced fish anatomy to bone-protect internal organs and adorn appendages and tail with primitive bone spurs mimicking fins and tails.

During this period, the species underwent three more reproductions, dispersing several completed Thunder Bugs. New Thunder Bugs lacked ancestral bones, needing assembly to the extent that growth would later fill, indicating the bones hadn’t entered reproduction systems but were being accepted.

Dedicated to bone assembly, Thunder Bug delayed entering the biological editing space, not due to forgetfulness but awaiting full skeletal completion to signify this stage's end.

In this realm, only Thunder Beast’s sandy habitat offered abundant electric stone resources. Common sand contained sparse electric stone; its surrounding area insufficiently dispersed for Thunder Bugs, forcing thousands to cluster near sandy locales.

Thunder Bug remained ever wary of disturbing the Thunder Beast.

To meet elevated nutritional demands due to skeletal growth, ordinary Thunder Bugs began foraging plants in groups, hunting creatures. Excluding Thunder Bug's strong components, their instinctive cooperative strategy, nurtured since single-cell diminutive forms, proved advantageous in an ancient sea of individualistic predators, ensuring escape with minimal losses.

Thus, under Thunder Bug’s guidance, balancing factors, the nest maintained nearly a thousand Thunder Bugs, splitting excesses for new colonies, leading to explosive reproduction and dispersal.

Eventually, while considering another sandy area visit to add playful spikes, Thunder Bug’s body stiffened, bones subtly rearranging internally.

A system notification appeared as expected.

[This is the dawn of a new era. Following 230 million years of evolution, your species transitioned from deep to shallow seas, simple to complex forms. Brain development enhanced bodily regulation and food acquisition. Then, one day, you, the main consciousness, saw minerals not as mere world ornaments but as structural supports for your soft body. Utilizing minerals, you assembled superior bones for your species; with these bones, you built a promising future for your kind. In this phase, you earned the title of Bone Architect, while your species gained the Legion Race title. Return to the biological editing space and bid farewell to the world of soft-bodied organisms.]

[Entering biological editing space, main consciousness transferring.]

"I'm back again!"