Having encountered a multicellular organism once, the small cells waited quietly, knowing what the large shadow, the disturbed water flow, and the environmental changes signified. This was undoubtedly another multicellular organism.
“Is it the split-jaw?”
“There’s no winning against it now.”
Glancing back at their group, the small cell opened its mouth hook dejectedly.
The small cells shrank back and continued to wait. They had no questions about why the main consciousness cell remained in this dangerous spot; they simply followed its lead, focusing on finding food, accumulating nutrients, and reproducing—even as they felt extreme anxiety.
Slowly, a massive body emerged from the shadow, a huge opening at its front. The hole opened slowly, drawing in a rush of water along with cell debris, organics, and other detritus, almost like a miniature black hole. As the hole gradually closed, the water flow returned to normal. Fortunately, the clever redirection by the small cells allowed them to escape the powerful current.
Only then did the small cell feel a hint of lingering fear.
“Not going for the food was the right choice.”
“The big mouth is not the split-jaw.”
“The split-jaw’s mouth splits open, the big mouth doesn’t.”
“The big mouth is also much larger than the split-jaw.”
The small cell wiggled its three cilia, leading the group to retreat a little further.
The big mouth swam slowly past where the small cells had been. The small cell noticed the multicellular organism’s enormous body had two flagella, thicker than the small cell itself, slowly swaying and propelling it forward.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“There’s no food here anymore.”
With this in mind, the small cell led its group away from the line of the big mouth’s path, heading in another direction. The multicellular organism, continuing its opening and closing motion, ignored the small cells entirely, as if unaware of their presence.
“Does it have a lot of food on it?”
While swimming, a bold idea crossed the small cell's mind. Perhaps its spikes could harm the big mouth, and their speed seemed faster than the big mouth’s.
“Many ants can bite an elephant to death, right?”
Shaking slightly with the thought, the small cell glanced at its wobbly companions.
“Forget it.”
Even if those pathetic spikes could harm the big mouth, relying on these struggling companions, the success rate might be lower than an EVA going berserk.
Up ahead, they encountered a group of small cells—common single-celled organisms with a single cilium and a mouth hook, which the small cell privately dubbed "moving food." After all, the small cell itself was once like this.
Discarding impractical notions, the small cell led the group in an organized fashion toward the tangible food before them.
Time continued to pass unnoticed, carrying on its indifferent path.
“This is the advance scout first squad, no abnormalities detected.”
“This is the outer scout second squad, no abnormalities detected.”
“Alright, this is the flagship. First squad, return to protect the flagship, outer second squad advances, third squad takes over as the outer scout.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
…
“This is the outer third squad, we’ve spotted a hostile fleet of four cells on the lower right side.”
“They’ve noticed us and are approaching. Please advise.”
“Outer third squad, return. Second squad, turn right, follow an arc route to circle behind them and prevent their escape. Central first squad, turn right and advance with me. Wipe them out.”
“Oh—.”
“This is the second squad, we’ve moved behind them without proximity to avoid detection, requesting permission to attack.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“This is the flagship, we and the first squad are engaging two of the enemy vessels, third squad has diverted the other two, assist third squad in eliminating them, then return to assist.”
“Yes, second squad, for the future of the group, attack!”
…
The battle ended.
Well, the above described the clash between the small cell group and four hostile cells—please imagine the process yourself.
Ahaha.
The skirmish in the tranquil space concluded swiftly, with the small cell and its nine companions easily defeating the intrusive hostile cells.
In truth, these so-called hostile cells merely had minor offensive capabilities.
Having consumed the defeated cells' remnants, the small cell wiggled its spikes in satisfaction, celebrating their victory.
Recently, life in these waters had steadily increased, with most single-celled organisms forming small clusters. As long as nutrients were sufficient, the docile single cells would divide collectively. Once, the wandering small cell even discovered a cluster of nearly a hundred cells, and it was foreseeable that these clusters would continue to grow.
However, considering the increased nutrient demands of large clusters, combined with its control limitations, the current population size adequately met the group’s needs, so the small cell temporarily capped it at ten. Although the small cell itself didn’t know why, if the number exceeded ten, reaching fifteen, five cells would leave the group in a single direction.
“Companions are everywhere by now.”
Food acquisition during the single-cell stage was largely a matter of luck. The small cell didn’t know its luck, and it wasn’t human anymore. Hence, it led the group to consume any accessible food, accumulating nutrient points and expanding the group’s range through division and dispatching cells, though the main consciousness didn’t know if this approach would be beneficial. It could be billions of years before the outcome was evident, but the small cell remained enthusiastic about it.
Though the small cell’s group hadn’t met a previously dispatched companion, the small cell continued dreaming of a world filled with bio-branches spawned from itself.
The main consciousness now adeptly controlled three companions while managing simpler actions independently. The small cells were grouped into threes: one for perimeter movement, one to clear the path, and one for rear defense. This allowed the small cell to manage nine companions, despite limiting them to three different simple actions—a method seen as effective by the main consciousness.
“More companions are needed.”
The small cell realized that multicellular organisms were becoming more common. Following the encounter with the big mouth, the small cell met three more multicellular organisms, fortunately, all with “docile” natures (the entire biological world seemed this way now).
Additionally, after discovering a cluster nearing a hundred, the quantity of single-celled organisms continued to rise. While floating organic matter remained plentiful relative to the biological population, competition felt quietly intense. Clusters encountered one another without consciousness but would still consume each other. The emergence of more substantial clusters instilled a subtle tension in the small cell, as if every organism was vying for food and searching for ways to evolve.
“Companions need to increase.”
“Electrodes, attack capability.”
“More food.”
With these thoughts, the small cell led the group, continuing forward with three companions scouting ahead.
That's where more nutrients lay.
Certainly, more dangers too.
“Eh—what’s this?”
The small cell, trailing a dozen companions, moved toward a seemingly solitary "moving food" that three companions had just dispatched.
Aside from its unfortunate isolation, eliminating such single-celled organisms became a routine task for the small cell. Yet, reality often defies expectations.
The recently eliminated "moving food" had its cell debris consumed by the attacking three small cells. Still, an object excited the small cell immensely—a new DNA component chain appeared among the debris.
It had been a long time since the small cell last exited the biological editor—or so it felt.
Aside from encountering the lucky cylindrical jet cell, the small cell group hadn’t met any single-celled organisms with new components. However, a significant number of nutrients had been accumulated through mass reproduction of the same species.
Of course, the small cell didn’t know what nutrient points were; it merely gathered them out of habit, as if previously planned. Just when the small cell felt the need to return to the biological editor, it fortuitously encountered this hapless isolated single cell.
“Could this be the protagonist mode I’ve heard about?”
Returning to the main topic.
Fixating on the DNA component chain beside it, the small cell didn’t question why this strange isolated single cell had a new DNA chain; it unhesitatingly devoured it, seemingly concerned about a repeat of the prior food rivalry involving the big mouth.
Once the DNA component chain was successfully integrated, the small cell relaxed, reducing the frantic outer membrane oscillations to normal levels.
Yet the oscillation soon resumed at an elevated pace.
“New component = more choices = higher survival rate = closer to multicellular.”
This strange equation emerged in the small cell’s unstoppable thoughts.
Though the small cell had no idea what this meant, it felt the newly absorbed DNA component chain would accelerate the group’s evolution. From the beginning, the small cell sensed these elements were crucial.
After a few more excited flicks of its cilia, the small cell felt the DNA chain’s integration complete, accompanied by the anticipated mysterious voice.
[Successfully acquired new DNA fragment. Proceed with division reproduction and enter the biological editing space?]
Surveying the dark space around, the small cell noted its twenty-odd companions surrounding it in a spherical formation, with no apparent threats nearby.
This perception was psychological for the main consciousness; current sensing range meant danger would only reveal itself upon confrontation. Yet, this was already far superior compared to other single cells, which only reacted upon contact.
[Entering the biological editor, main consciousness restrictions lifted.]
“Ah, 8051, Gale is back.”
[…]
“Hey, shouldn’t you be saying ‘Welcome back, Master’ in an adorable voice now?”
[…]
“No sense of flair, honestly.”
“8051, for a being, being silent all day is tiring. Feel life, feel the world. Like me—I experience the world as a small cell, making a monotonous world lively. Right?”
[…]
“…”
“Tch, your life is so dull, truly.”
“Ignore it. I’ll continue with my grand plan for small cell evolution. Once they evolve intelligence, I’ll finally have someone to chat with, discuss life, the universe, and everything.”
This verbose soliloquy, occupying time now static relative to the external environment, was immeasurable.
Finally, after ending the chatter—
“Feels good to talk; being a small cell clouds the mind. Here, I can speak freely.”
“Now, let’s see my cute little cells. With all other single cells forming large clusters, our numbers are lacking. And those pesky multicellular organisms... I’ll become one soon enough and devour you all. Ahahaha.”