“What nice weather.”

Swordfish and the entire school hid within the recently discovered electric stone crevice, gazing at the turbulent sea surface. The sky roared with thunder and lightning.

At that moment, the sea surface must have been just like that; without ears, the Swordfish might have hidden even further. After Swordfish found the electric stone mine with the school, he had planned to first resolve the electric stone deficiency within the school and then enter the breeding phase, returning to the biological editing space to spend the accumulated evolution points. Then, he'd lead the school to continue searching for electric stone mines while heading towards land.

The plan was perfect, but reality often complicates plans.

A sudden storm easily disrupted Swordfish's entire plan.

Perhaps it was because they were closer to land, with shallow waters, that the storm stirred water deep enough to affect the sea floor, even the previous nest of the Swordfish. Although its impact on the sea floor was not as extensive or prolonged as the previous earthquakes, the shallow sea floor still lay in ruins.

“I wonder how strong this storm is? Category 12 or higher?”

As a human, Gar only experienced five to six-grade earthquakes, having only seen storms on TV as an inland creature. But now, having even crossed worlds, encountering anything from underwater volcanoes to global quakes, Gar could face them calmly. Thus, this seemingly powerful storm was just an ordinary experience for Gar.

Having confirmed the sturdiness of the electric stone crevice where they took refuge, Swordfish led the curious school to peer out and observe the chaotic reality.

Fish schools—or rather, remnants of fish schools—floated above the crevice in the turbulent waters.

“Since when were there so many creatures in the shallows?”

“How did I not notice anything? Could it be I've been too relaxed?”

For Swordfish, the storm didn't just muddle the waters or devastate the sea bottom; it revealed countless marine species, or rather, fish. Some appeared, panic-stricken, or flung by the storm from elsewhere to drop here, others drifted in unconscious or dead, swept along by the churned waters. Occasionally, Swordfish saw sharks even larger than the Anomalocaris encountered before.

“Wow, so sharks have been around this long?”

Thankfully, they were scattered aimlessly, providing relief to the Swordfish. Although they wouldn’t necessarily lose a fight, Swordfish had an instinctive fear of these Earth-like sharks, suspecting hidden attack methods, much like the Swordfish themselves.

Through the storm, Swordfish was suddenly aware that the seabed seemed overtaken by fish. None were recognizable, as many were unknown to Gar; nor was he interested in naming them—that was the job of paleontologists long from now.

That said, since crossing over, Gar hadn't seen any creature exactly like those from before.

“Why do I feel like I'm drooling?”

“Lovely storm, bringing me so much food.”

In the past, Gar might have lamented life's fragility and the storm’s power. But now, Swordfish only saw a massive amount of food due to the storm, fresh and succulent flesh.

“I've fallen so low.”

“Damn storm, why won’t you stop?”

No matter the temptation of so much food, Swordfish dared not lead the school out of the crevice to eat, lest they become part of the food.

The storm lasted for N days, a duration Swordfish couldn’t measure, but the school no longer had any electric stone deficiency cases, and though the juveniles’ growth was slightly affected, it was of no serious consequence.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Then, as the storm ceased, the Swordfish, on the verge of growing mold in the crevice, dashed out along with all surviving life towards the floating fresh fish.

The storm brought doom to some and sustenance to others.

It was a feast for the survivors.

No predator attacked the normally wary living beings at that time, as nearly endless food filled the entire water body, promising many creatures significant growth after this feast.

The Swordfish were no exception.

After filling up, the Swordfish withdrew, returning to the crevice to prepare for reproduction, while Swordfish readied to return to the biological editing space for a good upgrade.

“First, this useless jaw.”

Due to their jaw issues, Swordfish often found themselves at a disadvantage in the food contest and could slowly eat and digest post-hunt normally. But this communal feast had Swordfish unwittingly competing in a feeding frenzy with other creatures.

Frustrated, Swordfish specifically targeted fish with seemingly strong jaws, hoping to have more skeleton choices for later when entering the biological editing space—thanks to some unfortunate fish that hadn’t yet died, Swordfish got plenty of help.

The feast went on for days, with the female Swordfish laying large numbers of eggs amid the food surplus. Although Swordfish, being a male, developed certain favorable thoughts about some females.

But “it’s just hormones, hormones, mentally I'm absolutely fine,” Swordfish assured himself, then retreated to ponder other matters, ignoring the spawning of the school nearby. (Though often, attraction towards the opposite sex is influenced by hormones. Heh.)

“This should be quite the harvest.” Selecting a healthy egg, Swordfish returned once more.

[Entering biological editing space, primary consciousness emerges, main consciousness transfer initiated.]

“8051, I'm back!”

[Welcome back, Gar.]

※※※

Silvery scales sparking with electricity extended from the head to the broad, beautiful tail. Powerful, three pairs of electric fins churned the clear water, stirring a sea breeze. The sword teeth vanished, replaced by a powerful fish mouth opening and closing, sipping on refreshing current. Adorned with a gracefully electric blue unicorn on the head, its streamlined body exuded speed and power—this was the image of Swordfish’s evolution.

After careful deliberation, Gar decided to uphold the principle of having refined, rather than numerous, attack methods. He firmly committed to enhancing electric abilities, unwavering until civilization was achieved.

Discarding the chaotic variety of attack forms acquired, such as poison and physical attacks, Gar meticulously curated an elegant yet powerful evolutionary form.

No better internal system met the evolutionary criteria, precluding a change, though a simple nose had resolved the scent issue. However, hearing remained unresolved, something Gar deferred solving until reaching land, confident in a swift ascent.

The full-bodied scales offered better defense compared to past hard skin. Their sleek form reduced drag, boosting swimming speed—a primary reason for equipping scales. As for their aesthetic appearance—that was merely coincidental, truly incidental, not due to their looks.

To further enhance speed, Gar replaced the tail with a broad, strong alternative, substituting electric stone for bone. Electric fins increased to three pairs, amplifying agile movement.

Perhaps the most intriguing feature was the unicorn. Derived from an exoskeletal creature, it adapted to an endoskeletal framework. With bone substitutions to electric stone, the resulting electric unicorn possessed considerable electric power and elegant looks, captivating Gar at first sight.

[Electric Unicorn

Horn-like electric stone component

Attack: 40

Required: 200 evolution points (Bone)]

If it only offered 40 attack, while high, Gar wouldn’t have chosen it, since the new mouth also totaled 40 attack.

Though appearance played a role, the unicorn's additional functions were paramount.

While practicing in the biological editing space, Gar inadvertently discovered that the unicorn, being the sole exposed skeletal component besides teeth, could focus electricity during full-body discharges. Instead of dispersing, the electric energy channeled through the skeleton, concentrating at the unicorn, dramatically increasing individual strike power from an electric burst of 170 attack.

The evolutionary form could execute high-speed charge attacks, embedding the unicorn to deliver massive damage. Though an individual could only perform two to three bursts after feasting, the Swordfish relied on collective tactics.

With the potent unicorn, the jaw lost prominence, yet Gar, with substantial evolution points, still upgraded to a stronger, aesthetically pleasing jaw, reducing food consumption time.

The once-groundbreaking sword teeth, now unused, were replaced by Gar.

“Hey, 8051, what do you think? Isn’t my Swordfish evolution beautiful?”

[Looks fine, for a male main consciousness. 8051 earnestly praised the form’s appearance.]

“…”

“Why does that sound off, though praise is nice. Still, it’s 'male,' 'male,' not 'masculine,' 8051.”

[Understood, it’s 'male main consciousness,' 8051 carefully amended.]

“…==#”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

[Purpose? 8051 feigned ignorance.]

[Through main consciousness’s memories, 8051 noticed 'male' seems subtler than 'masculine.' 'Heroic' and 'staunch' are well-regarded, but 'gender' nuances are complex. Hearing 'male,' 8051 cleverly swapped 'masculine' for 'male,' smart, right? 8051 gazed at male main consciousness with starry eyes.]

“…” Powerless…

“Just call me Gar or main consciousness; no prefixes, I surrender.”

[Understood, Gar.]

“Also, 8051, where’d you get starry eyes from?”

[From your memories.]