Jiang Ye took a nap and woke up to check his messages.
He felt like he was playing a game as a child, with the computer running the game and checking for rewards every now and then. He might get nothing, or he might suddenly get a god-tier item.
First, he checked the alkali-loving bacteria. Mostly good news.
[Alkali-loving bacteria are feeding voraciously. After several consecutive reproductions, their numbers have surged to twenty million.]
[Alkali-loving bacteria begin to expand into the alkaline hot springs, occupying the surface rock formations and continuously absorbing floating alkaline food from the water.]
[A fierce cosmic ray burst struck. Due to the shielding of the rock formations, the alkali-loving bacteria suffered minimal losses and quickly recovered.]
[Some alkali-loving bacteria ventured deep into the hot springs and were severely burned by the high temperatures, resulting in heavy casualties.]
[Some alkali-loving bacteria mutated, becoming smaller with more elastic outer walls, allowing them to adapt to hotter environments. A new species, "heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria," was formed.]
[Heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria entered the alkaline hot springs in large numbers, where there was more alkaline food. They gorged themselves and reproduced rapidly.]
[Ordinary alkali-loving bacteria attempted to enter the alkaline hot springs but were attacked by heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria, leading to fierce combat between the two sides.]
[The battle continued, with millions of bacteria from both sides perishing. However, the heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria had more abundant food and stronger reproductive capabilities, with their total numbers rapidly increasing to 10 million. The total number of ordinary alkali-loving bacteria is currently around 20 million, but their reproduction rate has significantly decreased. The numbers of both sides will reverse in the next few hours.]
Jiang Ye was quite surprised by the rapid expansion.
Not only had the numbers reached tens of millions, but there was even internal conflict, with heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria fighting ordinary alkali-loving bacteria.
From the looks of it, the heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria would soon win the war and become the dominant strain.
However, when he looked at the other column, the survival status of the flagellates, the picture was completely different.
[Flagellates migrated everywhere, trying to find suitable living areas.]
[After a long period without finding food, a large number of flagellates died, with only 200 remaining.]
[A cosmic ray burst struck fiercely. Some flagellates lacked sufficient self-healing abilities and struggled to survive, becoming food for their companions. The total number was only 50.]
[Intelligent bacteria released ten thousand primitive cells into the area of activity of the starving flagellates.]
[Flagellates began a fierce battle with the primitive cells. Due to the propulsive force of their flagella, the flagellates went on a killing spree, darting left and right as if in a sterile environment, quickly killing a large number of primitive cells.]
[Flagellates consumed the remains of the primitive cells and used the absorbed nutrients to reproduce, with their total numbers increasing to 200.]
[Flagellates continued to fight, feed, and reproduce, with their total numbers rising to 3,000. All primitive cells had been consumed, and the flagellates embarked on their journey to find food once more.]
[Some flagellates' flagella became thicker and more flexible, increasing their movement speed by 50%.]
Jiang Ye shook his head, muttering, "Lousy, too lousy!"
They almost starved to death on the way and had to rely on intelligent bacteria for sustenance.
He felt that the future of the flagellates was not optimistic, mainly because the planet was too barren, with almost no organic matter for them to eat. Even if they evolved the ability to move and swim to distant places, what good would it do? They would just die farther away.
Jiang Ye began to work at his desk. Recently, his back had been getting stiffer, and his waist wasn't as good as before. It was all caused by sitting for long periods. The price of high status and heavy responsibility was endless work.
Before he knew it, another afternoon had passed.
At dinner time, Jiang Ye checked the status of the bacteria.
Unexpectedly, the situation had undergone a huge reversal!
First, the alkali-loving bacteria:
[After continuous reproduction, the number of heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria surged to 100 million, while the number of ordinary alkali-loving bacteria was only thirty million.]
[The intensity of the battle escalated, with ten thousand alkali-loving bacteria dying every minute. Their corpses began to pile up on the rock formations at the mouth of the hot springs.]
[The number of heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria increased to 200 million, and they began to spread with the water flow outside the hot springs, seizing more territory.]
[Ordinary alkali-loving bacteria retreated steadily, their numbers dwindling to 5 million.]
[A fierce eruption of magma suddenly occurred within the alkaline hot springs, killing all the heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria occupying the interior. A small number of heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria at the spring mouths survived, with their total numbers reduced to about 2 million. Ordinary alkali-loving bacteria were less affected by the magma, with their numbers maintained at 4 million.]
Jiang Ye exclaimed, "Good heavens!"
What was a natural disaster?
A small geological movement, or rather, not even a geological movement, just a gentle intermittent spurt of magma from the bottom of the hot springs, instantly killed most of the heat-resistant alkali-loving bacteria! After all, heat resistance only meant they could survive in hot water, not withstand magma.
The alkali-loving bacteria battlefield had become somewhat unpredictable.
Then he looked at the flagellates again.
Unexpectedly, the flagellates had struck gold.
[Flagellates that underwent accelerated mutation reached deeper waters and discovered cone-shaped minerals called "manganese nodules."]
[The flagellates were extremely hungry and, out of desperation, attempted to consume manganese.]
[The vast majority of flagellates could not tolerate manganese entering their bodies and died instantly. Their shattered cell membranes released a sweet and fishy organic matter.]
[About 50 flagellates successfully consumed manganese. Manganese could not provide them with energy, but it could act as an antioxidant, stored near their cell membranes, forming a layer of metallic armor to resist the impact of ultraviolet rays. When ultraviolet photons struck manganese atoms, the manganese atoms would release an electron, neutralizing the radiation.]
[A new species, "radiation-resistant flagellates," was born. They began to consume the dead ordinary flagellates nearby. On Spiral Star, there are about five trillion tons of manganese-rich nodules, a vast but not very economically viable mineral deposit. However, for the flagellates, it was a natural bulletproof vest to withstand the hail of cosmic rays.]
Hiss!
Jiang Ye gasped.
"This is something!"
He felt that the flagellates were somewhat defying fate. From now on, they would be immune to ultraviolet attacks. While other bacteria were exposed, the flagellates would have armor and a bulletproof vest, which was indeed practical.
However, the most basic problem remained unsolved.
Spiral Star was completely barren, with no organic matter to eat.
Alkali-loving bacteria could survive by eating the alkaline substances ejected from hot springs. What could flagellates eat?
If the intelligent bacteria didn't feed them, they would eventually starve to death.
Wait.
Jiang Ye's eyes suddenly changed; he thought of something.
But he didn't know if his idea would be validated; he felt there was still a certain probability.
...
The next morning.
A cold hand reached into Jiang Ye's neck, waking him up abruptly.
Jiang Ye opened his eyes to see Cen Yemeng smiling as she sat by the bed, seemingly having just come from a very cold place. Her fair face was flushed red from the cold.
"Happy birthday, husband!" Cen Yemeng said. "Surprised?"
"So surprised!" Jiang Ye began to act, as if he hadn't expected it at all. "I'm so touched!"
"Get up and eat. I've already eaten on the way. Today, I'm going to make you a birthday cake myself," Cen Yemeng said, reaching out to pat her husband's face.