Li Mu and the three of them enjoyed dinner in the warm RV, and the night sky outside the car was full of stars.

The sound emitted by the octopus is very similar to Morse code, "tick tick", and the sound wave spreads to the Western Zhou. Like a pebble falling into a calm lake, the sound of beak strikes resounded one after another. Hundreds of octopuses emerge from the caves under the tundra, which constantly change their colors. Eight tentacles covered in slime crawl on the ground, leaving snail-like traces.

When the sun sets, the ultraviolet rays also weaken, so the amphibian octopuses come out to feed on a large scale.

The amphibious octopus uses its tentacles to turn over the soil under the moss to find the earthworm, which is then sent into the beak that resembles a parrot's beak through the tentacles. Amphibian octopuses do not have vocal cords, and the reason why they can make a "tick-tick" sound is achieved through the tapping of their beaks.

Li Mu placed eight cameras, which were evenly placed 50 meters around the RV. The camera has night vision and can capture anything approaching the RV in the dark and connect to the RV via radio.

"Based on the experience of previous explorers, a kind of octopus the size of a puppy appears here at night. If you're lucky, these cameras can capture these animals. Chiyo monitored the display screen and explained to Li Mu why she was asked to get out of the car and place the camera.

"I see, I thought you were guarding against other explorers."

"Of course, there is also this consideration, the bracket has a laser transmitter and a receiver, and if someone passes through the bracket without permission, the cab will sound an alarm. I kept a gun in the storage compartment just in case. "Chiyo has been on a few solo expeditions and is quite experienced in this area.

"Safety first. In ancient times, when marching and fighting, good armies would dig deep trenches when they set up camp. Li Mu agrees with this approach.

"Look, there's an octopus." Lin Li kept staring at the monitor and saw an octopus slowly crawling close to the camera.

"What a magical creature that has survived the extinction of other large animals." Chiyo exclaimed.

"Every mass extinction empties the top-level organisms and leaves a niche for the bottom-level organisms. In the first mass extinction, cyanobacteria used photosynthesis to produce oxygen to poison other anaerobic organisms, making photosynthesis the main source of energy for existing organisms. The Fifth Mass Extinction destroyed reptiles on land, sea and air, giving our ancestral mammals a chance to occupy more resources. Li Mu stared at the octopus on the screen and recalled.

"Is Komaki saying that the sixth mass extinction should be these octopuses replacing us? It's like mammals replacing reptile supremacy. Chiyo asked.

"Not sure, after all, these octopuses are only halfway through their journey from the ocean." Li Mu shook his head and said.

"Why don't we catch a few and see?" Chiyo suggested, "It seems that no one in the castle uses it as an ingredient. ”

"It may be that I am worried about radiation, after all, the radiation intensity of the outside world is still large." Lin Li guessed.

"Then we won't eat it, catch a few alive and observe them, and then release them." Li Mudao.

"Okay."

"Agreed."

The amphibian octopus is a new species of marine octopus that landed after the mass extinction and formed in the water and land environment, and can touch the ground with muscular tentacles and crawl on the ground with mucus secretion on the surface of the body. Octopuses breathe through their gills in the ocean, but just 100 years after the mass extinction, they evolved into air-breathing book lungs. Snails, like octopuses, are mollusks that use the lungs to breathe.

Octopuses are the most intelligent of mollusks, and their eyes have evolved to be more perfect than humans. In the case of global mass extinctions, most animals in the oceans are extinct, and terrestrial animals are basically extinct, except for humans and a few scavengers in the soil.

After the mass extinction, a large number of ecological niches will be vacated, allowing previously suppressed animals to become owners. For example, mammals form some time later than reptiles, but are suppressed by reptiles. It wasn't until the fifth mass extinction, the extinction of terrestrial dinosaurs, aerial pterosaurs, and marine cattodonic animals, that mammals had a chance to dominate the world. And birds, descendants of dinosaurs, can only occupy the sky and survive.

Similarly, this mass extinction also provides a large ecological location for octopuses. A large number of octopuses learned from 400 million years ago when fish climbed onto land and fed on moss and earthworms in the soil. The radiation generated by the nuclear explosion accelerates the evolution of the octopus, and the octopus itself has a strong reproductive ability. Without the restriction of natural predators, there are one billion amphibian octopuses in the world alone. For these, the humans in the city are not very clear.

Li Mu and Chiyo wore protective clothing, and the goggles were replaced with night vision devices. Li Mu tied a bucket around his waist and held a net in his hand, which was originally used for fishing, which was enough for an amphibious octopus the size of a puppy. Chiyo is holding an automatic rifle that she can handle in time if something happens. Lin Li stayed in the RV, paying attention to vigilance and maintaining communication with the two.

Hundreds of amphibian octopuses were foraging for food, not noticing that two humans were sneaking up on them. The largest of the octopuses seemed to sense something, looked at the distant RV with their eyes, saw that there was no movement, and continued to search for earthworms.

Li Mu was cautious, trying not to make a sound, and approached the octopus school step by step. Since there is no moon, the starlight octopus alone cannot find the two of them.

But the amphibian octopus itself will glow. In addition to making a "tick-tick" sound when struck with its beak, the octopus also emits light on its body surface and communicates by emitting light of different colors and intensities. Octopuses change their body color in the ocean and protect themselves by camouflage. Some deep-sea creatures can attract prey by emitting light, such as anglerfish. Amphibian octopuses acquired this ability in mass extinction, by emitting a red light to indicate anger and a blue light to indicate friendliness.

Therefore, the octopus in the night vision device is like a lighthouse, allowing the two to easily lock on to an outlier octopus.

Li Mu approached the octopus and held a net to catch the octopus. The octopus found itself trapped, making a "tick-tick" sound, its body glowing red, and its eight tentacles kept struggling. The other octopuses were stimulated by this and quickly gathered here to Li Mu, and it was still spectacular for hundreds of glowing octopuses to gather together in the dark night.

Li Mu caught the octopus, put it in the prepared bucket, picked up the bucket and ran back. Chiyo followed Li Mu and covered Li Mu's retreat.

The school of octopuses chased after them, and the largest of them made a sharp beak hitting sound, and the entire school of octopuses accelerated directly towards the two of them. Once you get entangled in the body of an octopus, you may be injured by the octopus's beak tearing through the protective suit.

Seeing that the two were being overtaken, Chiyo raised her automatic rifle and aimed at the ground in front of the octopus school, firing several shots in succession.

"Bang bang."

After a few shots, the loud sound and the vibration of the bullets hitting the ground caused the octopuses to stop and flee in all directions. The two took the opportunity to escape back to the RV.

"Phew, octopuses aren't afraid of humans." Li Mu was chased and gasped.

"These octopuses have become fine, and they know how to call friends." Chiyo remembered the captured one, as well as the largest one, both of which were able to communicate with their companions through sound and light.

"Let's see what these guys look like." Li Mu injected the anesthetic into the bucket, and after a while, the octopus in the bucket stopped struggling.

The surface of the octopus in the barrel no longer glows, but returns to flesh color with a small amount of mucus. The eight tentacles are thicker than the octopus tentacles in the ocean, and the original suckers have disappeared, making them more suitable for the terrestrial environment. In addition to the tentacles, only an oval "head" remains of the body. In fact, the brain occupies only one part of the head, and the other parts are the internal organs and digestive tract. There is a white ovate near **.

"Hey, look here." Lin Li noticed the egg.

"It's like an egg." Chiyomichi.

Li Mu reached out and touched the ovate and found that it was hard, "No, this one has been calcified, it can be said to be an egg." ”

"Eggs!" Chiyo and Lin Li's faces changed.

It has only been 300 years since the transformation of a marine creature into an amphibian, and an egg has appeared in an amphibian octopus. It is important to know that amphibian eggs are laid in water and do not have a calcareous hard shell. Once it has a calcareous hard shell, it means that the amphibian octopus has the conditions to live on land and complete the landing.

But in just three hundred years, the octopus will complete its landing. Vertebrates are the ancestors of amphibians 400 million years ago and reptiles and mammals 300 million years ago. It's too fast, and the speed at which these octopuses evolve is terrifying.