4.6 Billion Year Symphony of Evolution - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen The Path of Multicellularity

In truth, when Lin entered the crack, it had started to consider how to endure the water current .

This was like blocking off the hydrothermal vent at the entrance to the crack . If Lin gathered the cells to form a gigantic shield, it would be able to stop the attack form the water current .

But in order to stop the strong flows outside, Lin needed even stronger and bigger shields . Lin thought that regardless of how many cells were gathered together, they would be blown apart .

The cells had to be connected in a certain way so that they would form something that would not be easily washed away .

For example, using the diggers’ denticles to hook onto their fellows? But it would be easy to have damage occur .

But Lin thought there would be other ways to connect cells together . Cells were soft and could change shape . Two cells originally had been one, except they divided . Therefore, they should be able to be put back together … …

Also, how did cells split? Why would it divide? Rather than grow big at the start?

It seemed very complex . Lin did not like to consider complex matters so it decided to directly experiment . It first had two cells squeeze together and use their cell membranes to cover each other, and continued to give them the thought of “combining . ”

But this did not seem very successful . Lin’s cells were not like the shapeshifting cells . At most, they could only form small protrusions on their cell membranes and were unable to grab onto each other .

Then maybe it would have they evolving onto shapeshifters? Lin thought that the shapeshifters had taken form because they liked to burrow into narrow places .

When it thought of this, Lin had some basic cells search for narrow cracks in the cavern to burrow through to see if they could evolve into shapeshifters after a while .

However, Lin did not want to just wait so it immediately did another experiment .

It tried to see if it could stop the division of cells .

When cells divided, it would first divide the nucleus into two, and then slowly tear apart the cell membrane until it became two cells .

What Lin needed to do was to stop the division when their cell membranes had almost finished splitting up . This way, the two cells might be connected together .

Lin’s cell group had been constantly eating all this time so Lin quickly found a cell that was about to divide . Fortunately, this was also a basic cell .

Lin immediately acted according to its idea . When there were two cell nuclei, the cell membrane would start to tear from the middle, and the two nuclei would move towards the two sides .

When the membrane in the middle was about to completely split apart, Lin suddenly gave it a thought of “stop . ”

It stopped!

The cell that had been splitting apart stopped . It had almost split into two cells . There was only a little bit of cell membrane at the end connecting the two cells .

While it was a success, the membrane would probably break with a pull .

Lin had them strengthen the connection and then maintain this state .

After a while, Lin felt that the connection should be stronger because the cell membrane at the point of connection became visibly thicker .

Then Lin had one of the cells move outwards while pulling the other cell or for the two cells to move in opposing directions . Even at their greatest force, the connection did not break .

It seemed to be a success . So, Lin had a new cell type, but what to call it?

“Connector?”

It felt very average … … but never mind . Following this, Lin could use the connectors to resist the enormous wall of water in the current!

Lin had the connectors eat more and then had them divide . Of course, it was not to divide completely like they did before . This way, the cells that were connected would grow in a mass .

Lin’s present connector cell group easily surpassed the large cells such as the cachers and the exploding balls . Also, they had a special trait . Not all of them needed to feed . When one of them fed, the energy passed onto all the cells that was connected to the cell . This was very convenient .

However, there were also problems . After this cell ball started to grow, their movement would become difficult since all of them were stuck together .

Therefore, Lin had them move below the crack, and then to grow upwards in a spiral fashion . They formed an enormous circular pillar of cells . The center of this pillar was empty for Lin’s other cells to enter . There was an opening at the end for Lin’s to enter from the top .

This round pillar continued to grow through the cells at the top dividing and growing upwards . In the end, it reached the exit to the crack, and arrived at the outside .

Lin found something interesting . Because the pillar was made from basic cells, Lin could still have them evolve .

Lin could have these cells turn into diggers, and move the part with the hard shell and the denticle to face outside . With their weak parts facing inwards, they did not need to worry about the attacks from the outside . Even viruses would not be able to burrow in .

Watching as the cell pillar continued to grow, Lin gave them a new name, “giant tentacle . ”

Lin still hoped to connect the scattered cells but not through this troublesome method .

Then Lin found two more basic cells and had them stick together, then giving them a thought to combine .

The cell membranes of the two cells were pushed together without any cracks as though they were two spheres pushed together .

En? It succeeded this time?

Lin was curious . Why was it able to act out a “combine” now?

Was it because after stopping them from dividing before, the cells understood what “combine” meant?

This felt good . This way, Lin could form “walls of cells” everywhere rather than deliberately interrupting cell division, and then have them slowly grow . That was so troublesome … …

However, it was enough to have one giant tentacle . Lin decided to wait until it was outside to create other walls .

What Lin had to do now was to slowly feed and crow . It was not so fast for a tentacle to grow from the cavern deep within the rock to reach the outside .

Now, the darkness outside had come . However, Lin’s large numbers of flashing exploding balls caused this cavern to still be light … …

Lin saw that group of luminescent microbes still huddled in the corner . However, some daring ones had come out in search of food .

Daring? What was daring?

Lin once again felt puzzled at the new word but just like usual, it did not think more about it .

There was more white gel inside the cavern than on the outside . They also appeared to never stop growing . Even if Lin’s cell group was doubled, it would not be able to finish eating them all so Lin did not care whether the luminescent microbes at or not .

However, Lin would not let them grow too much .

In the next period of time, Lin watched the giant tentacle grow . Those basic cells that had gone to squeeze themselves in to the narrow crevices finally started to show the effects of evolution . Their bodies became very flexible, and they could be pressed to a great degree as well as change form .

But that was not enough . Lin wanted them to change shape freely just like the shapeshifting cell .

Time slowly passed . Lin’s giant tentacle had grown near the opening of the crack but the hot water there stopped it from growing further .

At this time, Lin’ had the cachers which had the ability to resist heat to circle around the top of the tentacle and then continue to grow . In the end, the enormous tentacle took almost all the space of the opening . The small vents on the walls of the crack that sprouted hot water were blocked .

The moment the tentacle reached the outside, Lin switched back to using basic cells .

Lin used tens of thousands of cells on this giant tentacle . This was all possible due to the abundant food in the cavern below .

At the same time, the situation outside was not the same as before . The water current seemed to have stopped . Because of Lin’s departure, a large number of other cell types had gathered here again .

It really was a pity . Lin had wanted to see if the tentacle could resist the water current .

However, both this tentacle and the method of combining cells would be of great use in Lin’s future growth .

Lin’s cells swam out of the cavern through the hollow interior of the tentacle . Lin planned to take back its territory again … …

Translator Ramblings: There are a lot of theories on how multicelluarity developed . In this case, Lin acts out two ways to get a multicellular structure . The first product, which is when cell nuclei are created but the cells do not split apart, is called a coenocyte . The second way which is pushing individual cells into combining creates a syncytium . The cells membranes fuse together .

Also, balls that flash makes me think of traffic lights … … Lin the traffic light .