Chapter 478 [Chapter of the Forward Cabin of the Abyss] Twenty-Two: Mining Area Ecology

Judging from the bone shape, this snake bone should belong to some kind of highly venomous snake of the class Reptile, suborder Neosnidae, and family Viperidae.

Chen Yan raised his head and followed the light of the searchlight to see more snake bones from the rock wall——

Densely packed snake bones with varying degrees of decay are arranged from the front to the end of the field of vision.

The rock walls of the mine tunnel here are not large blocks of rock that are completely jointed together, but rather a gravel area composed of countless large and small black rocks. Those snake bones exist in the gaps of the black gravel.

Chen Yan silently turned on the camera on his phone and took pictures of the scenes he saw along the way.

He walked in the mine tunnel and looked at the densely packed snake bones in the cracks of the gravel. He shuddered hard and an inexplicable thought came to his mind:

'This damn place looks like... a tomb passage!'

He shuddered at this thought, and couldn't help but move closer to the rock wall as he moved forward. He saw that the black gravel seemed to be all connected to each other by some kind of solidified "colloidal moss".

The so-called "colloidal moss" is something that has both the "viscous state" of colloids and the "granular state" of moss, which looks very much like moss.

This kind of weird thing... Chen Yan no longer knew what kind of definition he should have for it.

'Since it is in this form, it is probably some kind of bacterial organism.'

He finally understood that it was something like this that connected countless black gravels to form the entire rock formation beneath the A-17 fan blade.

Chen Yan saw that where “colloidal moss” is located, snake-nose rocks usually appear.

'Is this colloid...snake skin? Or is it something that snake meat becomes after decay...or melting?'

'moss……

Why does it look like moss?

Is it easier for bacterial organisms in the form of moss to survive in such an environment?’

Thinking of this, Chen Yan had two guesses in his mind:

‘First guess:

After these strange snakes died, their bodies were eaten by scavenging moss-like bacterial creatures.

The metabolite produced by bacterial organisms after eating is this kind of gel.’

As he followed the team forward, he was immersed in his own speculation:

‘Second guess:

After these strange snakes died, their bodies were parasitized by this bacterial organism and turned into this form of 'gelatinous moss'.'

'No matter which guess it is, it eventually led to the [gelation] of bacterial organisms, which stuck the black gravel together to create the entire A-17 fan blade...even the Omega sector!'

Chen Yan mentally summarized his speculation:

'Strange snakes regard this place as a cemetery and sleep here. Their body fluids cause some kind of [alienation] to this black rock, turning it into a snake-nose rock that can emit electrical energy.'

'At the same time, some unknown bacterial organism was feeding on their corpses.'

'After the bacterial organism was combined with the strange snake in some way, it took on the current form of [colloid]. Countless such [colloids] stabilized the entire A-17 fan blade, and even the entire Omega.

The rock structure of the sector.'

Chen Yan realized that he had discovered something extraordinary, and the mobile phone in his hand faithfully recorded everything he saw.

After thinking about the problem until this point, Chen Yan was only curious about the strange snake group.

Chen Yan recalled that he had seen three different types of strange snakes since entering the underground.

The first type is found in caves and waterways that enter the underground, and can be called alien anacondas;

The second type was found outside the checkpoint in the middle part of the A-17 fan blade in Omega Sector. It has undergone severe morphological alienation and it is impossible to tell what type of snake it is;

The third type is the Viperidae snake bones found here.

The three kinds of strange snakes have different shapes, but according to Chen Yan and his teammates' investigation, they have one thing in common, that is, they all carry some kind of [strain].

Chen Yan didn't know what this strain was for the time being. He only knew that the strange snakes parasitized by this strain showed "hallucinogenic properties" similar to the City of Peaks [Brain Ball Strain].

So, is this strain related to the [brain ball strain] in the City of Peaks?

Chen Yan couldn't help but think that there are different groups of strange snakes in different locations underground. So, are these strange snakes indigenous to this place?

According to the knowledge he had learned, there should not be such a large group of snakes in such a deep underground place - according to the knowledge of common biology, such a deep underground environment is not suitable for the survival of most snakes.

But too many strange events have occurred in places like the Omega Sector, which are completely beyond the scope of normal biological science knowledge.

The reasoning breaks down here.

Chen Yan was therefore wary because he discovered that his reasoning was based on the "mundane biology" of the earth's surface, rather than the extraordinary "abnormal biology".

The knowledge originally learned may no longer be applicable, and the original survival experience on the surface is no longer applicable underground.

This made Chen Yan feel alienated in his heart, as if he had entered a completely different world.

This feeling had appeared when I first entered the underground, but now, when such a huge cemetery and "tomb passage" appeared in front of me, this feeling appeared again with high intensity.

'Why do I suddenly feel such a [sense of alienation]? Is it because I have synesthesia with the things around me?'

Chen Yan looked at his hands that were already wearing miner's gloves, shook his head gently, and shook away the distracting thoughts from his head.

'Like everyone else, I also experienced tremendous mental pressure in such an environment.'

He gradually woke up.

'I already know some information about the underground, and with the help of Spherical Tunguska and Baldy Parrett, this mental pressure has been relieved.'

'But after arriving at this place... the oppressive feeling of this scene was too strong, and there was a small explosion of mental pressure.'

Turning his attention, Chen Yan looked at the mine tunnel in front of him that was filled with green light, and thought to himself:

'This is the fucking tomb passage of the strange snake clan... there won't be any big stuff buried underneath...'

Chen Yan knew before that the snake-kissed rock that can generate electricity was transformed from something secreted by the strange snake tribe.

He also knew before that the underground of the Omega Sector was the cemetery of the strange snake clan.

But today when he saw the tomb-like mine tunnel with his own eyes, he still felt very complicated, especially after noticing the snake bones in the cracks in the rocks, he ignored the dense snake bones mixed in the cracks around the mine tunnel.

It won't fall anymore.

The dense snake bones prove the "prosperity" of this place in the past. Was this place used to be a snake cave for some kind of strange snake?

A snake cave nearly three thousand meters underground?

Chen Yan thought to himself that these things just looked like snakes, just like the alien anacondas with multiple pairs of compound eyes and wings in the cave waters before. They were no longer snakes at all.

What kind of creatures are strange snakes? Why do they gather here? What is the relationship between these underground strange snakes and the giant snake in the City of Mountains?

No one could give him an answer.

After passing the mine tunnel area that slopes downward, people finally entered a relatively gentle mine tunnel with water accumulation.

This water-logged mine tunnel is also a regular hexagon dug out by a small cane. Although there is ankle-deep water under the feet, there is still hard rock under the water.

The engine sound gradually grew louder, and everyone was almost certain that the engine sound of the shuttle mining machine came from the next corner of the mine tunnel.
Chapter completed!