Jiang Ye continued to observe the evolutionary process.
[The body size of the Ugly Meat Fish continued to grow]
[The Ugly Meat Fish evolved more powerful fins, and the hypothalamus mutated, developing altruism. It would feel sympathy for its companions and be willing to gather with them]
[The fins of the Ugly Meat Fish grew stronger, enabling it to leave the water and crawl onto land]
[The swim bladder of the Ugly Meat Fish began to thicken, and some of its swim bladder wall cells gained the ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide, forming rudimentary lung cells]
[Most of the Ugly Meat Fish's swim bladders degenerated, with only two expanding to form two pink, thick lungs capable of breathing air]
[The shape of the gills changed. A small piece of bone that controlled the opening and closing of the gills elongated, becoming an auditory ossicle]
[The gills degenerated, and ear openings capable of hearing faint sounds appeared. The auditory ossicle's ability to transmit vibrations strengthened, and related nerves connected to the brain]
Jiang Ye touched his ear.
So this thing evolved from gills?
A breathing organ actually turned into an organ of hearing?
It felt like the evolution was rather perfunctory, taking a component from the body, modifying it slightly, and calling it a new part.
The Intelligent Fungi requested a change of liquid and resumed their work.
[The bones within the fins elongated, encasing muscles, and the rudiments of four legs appeared]
[Its body size increased, becoming the size of a basketball. It could flail and walk along the shore, searching for food on land]
[The four legs continued to strengthen, bones elongating, joints increasing, and feet appeared]
[Walking on land with feet was prone to being pricked by small stones, so the feet transformed into hooves]
[Its body became larger, and its circulatory system began to encounter problems. A completely symmetrical heart and body made it difficult to complete blood circulation. The tail received insufficient blood supply, bordering on necrosis, and the lungs were under excessive pressure, on the verge of exploding]
[Its body began to develop asymmetry. The right ventricle and right atrium shrank, and blood vessels differentiated into arteries and veins to complete a clockwise blood circulation]
[Due to the asymmetry of its body, it became right-handed, with a small chance of becoming left-handed]
After waiting for another three full days.
The carnivorous animal was basically finalized.
Its appearance was very similar to... a sheep.
An extra-large sheep, with adult individuals weighing over 300 jin, comparable to a pig.
However, its wool was not white, but green.
The wool contained chloroplasts, allowing it to perform photosynthesis to supplement its energy.
The horns on its head were sharp, flat horns, with movable bones and muscles that controlled the two horns to come together, like lobster claws.
Jiang Ye was deeply impressed.
Jiang Ye: [What kind of divine beast is this?]
[Intelligent Fungi: Scissor Sheep. The scissor horns on its head can easily trim small shrubs, facilitating feeding, and can also fend off attacks from other animals in critical moments.]
Jiang Ye pondered. The name was passable. As long as it wasn't named after himself.
The Intelligent Fungi sent over a panoramic view of the Scissor Sheep.
Jiang Ye looked it over.
Sheep face, sheep tail, green sheep wool, sheep hooves – all familiar.
This Scissor Sheep was apparently hermaphroditic, as Jiang Ye found no such organs on its abdomen.
The sheep's abdomen had an umbilicus, suggesting it was viviparous. The parent sheep and the offspring sheep were connected by an umbilical cord.
Jiang Ye: [Do these sheep not have genders? If so, are the lambs born identical to the parent? Cloning itself? How long does it take to give birth, and how many offspring per litter?]
[Intelligent Fungi: They are not divided into male and female. Sexual reproduction is primarily for genetic evolution. However, the Scissor Sheep was designed as a carnivorous sheep for the environment of Birong Star. The evolution of food items is of secondary importance. Under conditions of sufficient food and no illness, the Scissor Sheep lays eggs by the water once a week, laying 10 eggs each time.]
Jiang Ye was somewhat surprised.
[Egg-laying? I saw an umbilicus on the sheep's abdomen. Isn't that a trace of an umbilical cord? Shouldn't it be viviparous?]
[Intelligent Fungi: Egg-laying animals also have umbilici and umbilical cords. However, the umbilical cord of egg-laying animals connects to the yolk sac membrane, and the young absorb nutrients from the yolk within the egg for growth. The umbilicus and umbilical cord of viviparous animals connect to the mother's placenta. The placenta is a complex structure where cells with different genes connect at both ends but must exchange substances. It was unnecessary to use this for the Scissor Sheep; laying eggs is quite satisfactory.]
Jiang Ye organized the process. [So, this carnivorous animal starts as an egg, hatches into an Ugly Meat Fish fry, grows in the water for a period, then crawls ashore and rapidly transforms into a Scissor Sheep? After the Scissor Sheep matures, it goes to the water to lay eggs?]
[Intelligent Fungi: That is correct. From egg hatching to the sheep laying eggs, the entire process takes approximately six months. It should be noted that the first sheep to lay eggs weighs less than 100 jin and is still a tender young sheep. Slaughtering it at this stage would not be cost-effective. This is a breeding period we have specifically reserved. It is more cost-effective to slaughter the sheep when it reaches 200 jin.]
Jiang Ye: [Can a fish rapidly transform into a sheep? In just six months, this metamorphosis is too extreme! How is this achieved?]
[Intelligent Fungi: The gene chain is divided into two parts, connected by a temporal gene. The first part is expressed during the fish stage, and the second part is activated during the sheep stage. Among Earth's organisms, there are few creatures with such drastic metamorphosis between juvenile and adult stages because Earth's day-night cycles and seasonal changes are too rapid.]
[Intelligent Fungi: The integrated design of the Ugly Meat Fish and the Scissor Sheep was based on some extraterrestrial organisms. On many planets, the metamorphic range of organisms can even span realms, with juveniles being plants and adults becoming animals. We also considered creating carnivorous creatures that are plants as juveniles and animals as adults, but the span is too large, requiring at least two to three years to harvest a round of edible meat. This does not align with Birong Star's conditions, so we only made the transition from aquatic to terrestrial organisms.]
Jiang Ye inexplicably recalled, "In the northern darkness, there are fish, named Kun. They transform into birds, named Peng."
In that case, the genes of Kun and Peng must operate in a similar manner.
Zhuangzi had some interesting ideas.
However, Jiang Ye had another question.
Jiang Ye: [Why not design a separate fish and a separate sheep? Why combine them? Is it because it's fashionable?]
[Intelligent Fungi: There are multiple considerations. Master, listen to me explain, and you will understand the brilliance of this design.]
[Intelligent Fungi: What we aim to create is an animal that can be casually tossed into nature, requires no supervision, and after a few months, transforms into edible meat readily available everywhere. After all, Birong Star is short-handed and lacks funds. If the designed carnivorous animals require the establishment of farms and care, then it would be meaningless.]
[Intelligent Fungi: Based on environmental sampling on Birong Star, the food density on land is not as high as in the ocean. If we only created Scissor Sheep, it would be difficult for the sheep's young to survive. During seasonal changes, vegetation withers extensively, and sheep might not survive at all. If we only created Ugly Meat Fish, it would require troublesome fishing, and many people dislike the taste of aquatic animals.]