Listening to Hans's description, Meng Lei felt a chill for no reason.

A living human being, watching his flesh and blood slowly melt away by mycelium, but unable to do anything.

Eventually become a medium for parasites and become a complete "vegetative person"!

Such a process of transformation must be extremely painful and terrifying.

Before the crossing, some of Blue Star's literary and film works have appeared similar to this fungal biological concept that uses the human body as nourishment.

Therefore, even if he didn't see the growth process of the thalamus in the human body with his own eyes, Meng Lei would probably be able to make up such a scene in his brain.

It's chilling.

The point is that even if the buds of the thalamus are not attacked, after they grow to the final stage, they will quietly release spores, which is impossible to detect at all, and it is simply impossible to prevent it!

Under normal circumstances, during the voyage of a submarine, the crew rarely wanders around the ballast tank.

As long as it is stable and does not malfunction, the thalamic fungus will crawl all over the ballast tanks, and it is likely that it will not be detected, and the people on the submarine will not even know when they will be hit.

That's the scariest part of the thalamus!

While thinking about it, Hans didn't seem to notice the change in Meng Lei's face, and continued to say to himself:

"These thalamic spores spread in a wide range of ways, and it is difficult to effectively defend and sanitize.

They can follow the current to wherever they want to go, and they can also quietly spread through the air to the gathering place when the submarine is docked.

When I was a child, I heard about the legend of the city of the thalamus.

At that time, a ship carrying a large number of thalamic spores did not dispose of the colony core of the ballast tank in time after docking.

As a result, thalamic spores spread through submarines and the city's ventilation system, infecting the entire city's residents!

By the time people noticed the anomaly, it was already too late.

Since there was no cure for the fungal infection, the entire city was eventually assimilated.

The thalamic mycelium relies on the power reserves of the energy district to proliferate and spread wildly in the city.

Eventually, the entire city will be transformed into a gorgeous and eerie sea of flesh and blood!

The Coalition's investigative team had penetrated deep into its interior, capturing the terrifying and beautiful image of the central area.

Then he left in a hurry, not daring to stay long.

And the legend of the city of the thalamus is not unique, there have been many similar events in history, and each time it has caused a huge sensation! ”

Hans paused to catch his breath.

Meng Lei also forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart, and took a deep breath in place.

The City of the Talam!

A city completely infested with fungi makes your scalp tingle just to think about!

"The city is full of vegetative people?

In such a place, the concentration of spores in the air is unimaginable, and it is estimated that it has already become a forbidden place, which is really terrifying! ”

Meng Lei couldn't help but sigh, and he had a deeper understanding of this terrifying fungal creature.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered what Simon had just said, and another question suddenly came to his mind.

"By the way, Simon just told me not to come close, saying to avoid being pulled into the water, what is the situation?"

Meng Lei looked at Hans suspiciously, puzzled:

"Can these thalamic fungi still drag the submarine from the outside?"

Hearing this, a flash of panic flashed in Hans's eyes, and he nodded with great affirmation, and said:

"Yes, what I just mentioned is only the nascent stage of the thalamus.

After a long and painful struggle, the parasitic creature was finally assimilated to death, and the submarine slowly sank in the gradual erosion and corruption of the internal circuitry.

Organs fail, reactors shut down, electricity disappears.

Everything seems to be over.

But in fact, the growth of the thalamus has only just begun! ”

Hearing this, Meng Lei's eyes couldn't help but widen, and he exclaimed:

"Can this thing continue to grow?!

Could it be that its form will change again?! ”

Hans shook his head:

"What kind of organism does the thalamic fungus belong to during the growth period, the alliance has not been able to give a conclusive conclusion so far.

When the electricity and flesh used as nourishment are gone, the thalamic tissue will quickly cover the shells of parasites, such as submarine wreckage and human bodies.

Next, it falls into a period of dormancy.

During this time, its shell can hunt some organic matter and plankton floating in the water to provide the most basic survival needs.

And the inside of the cocoon shell it formed began to undergo earth-shaking changes!

All tissues and organs that have previously evolved into a complete form will dissolve and restructure to form a new core.

Next, under the leadership of the new core, more appendages will be slowly generated.

This process requires a huge amount of energy to support.

However, due to the loss of an important source of energy at this time, many thalamic tissues that have not accumulated enough nutrients in the initial stage will completely fall silent in the pupation stage.

And those tissues and organs with abundant energy will evolve to a whole new stage! ”

Meng Lei could hear that Hans's voice was obviously starting to tremble gradually.

It seems that there is a strong heart for that so-called new stage.

"When the thalamus grows to this stage, its core tissue becomes a large, singular organ full of groove lines.

It's like a human brain, a ravine.

It is suspended in the middle of the pupal shell, under the action of buoyancy and frenulum, which is covered with a large number of hyphal structures that act as neurons.

The overall structure is no different from the human brain!

This gives it the ability to think that is not inferior to that of apex predators, and even more intelligent than the average creeper and swift dragon!

It was already a new form of independent life, beyond any other creature we ever known.

The thalamus brain builds tentacles for defense or attack depending on the environment and the structure of the victim's body.

Even if it is a mechanical body, it will generate corresponding organs.

Take the most common submarine as an example, when the submarine sinks, the original electromagnetic cannon and machine gun turret will be controlled by the thalamus by huge nerve hyphae, creating a kind of flesh gun composed entirely of fungal muscle fibers!

This flesh and blood gun is usually coiled in a huge sac, and when hunting, it will be launched in an instant by the high pressure generated by the instantaneous contraction of the sac, directly piercing the hard shell of the submarine, and the penetration power is even greater than that of ordinary railgun shells!

At the very front of its overall structure, there is also a sharp barb composed of thick and tough hyphae.

According to the difference in the accumulation of energy in the early stage, the overall length of this flesh and blood gun, the maximum ejection distance known at present, is even more than three hundred meters long! ”

Hearing this, Meng Lei was immediately shocked and shouted in disbelief:

"So long?! It's even farther than the maximum range of an electromagnetic cannonball, what kind of monster is this?! ”

The fusion of flesh and blood and machinery surpasses human technology.

It's a completely unknown evolutionary route, and it's incredible.

Hans did not answer Meng Lei's question directly, and he himself was not a professional in scientific research.

This question is undoubtedly a bit over-the-top for him.

Still, Hans tried to use his knowledge to tell Meng Lei about other evolutionary aspects of the thalamus.

"The Flesh Spear is just one of the organs that the thalamic fungus has evolved according to the characteristics of the parasite.

In addition, it has an extremely important universal organ, which is also one of its most fearsome offensive means.

That is, lymphatic tissue! ”

After a pause, Hans took a deep breath and added:

"The lymphoid tissue of the thalamus, in the process of proliferation and growth, will accumulate and produce a large number of attacking cells.

This cell structure is similar to that of human cells, but it is infinitely larger!

There are two main types.

One is the terminal cells that contain the acid of the primordial defense system, which is red in color and will spray acid to cause wide damage to enemies.

On the other hand, there are white blood cells with stinging needles inside, which are dark green in the light.

When a prey approaches, the core of the thalamus senses the vibrations of the sound waves and determines the distance between it and the prey.

Once the opponent is within the attack range of the Flesh Spear, a precise and hard flesh thorn will be launched immediately, and the target will be firmly captured!

Next, the muscle fibers, which are strong enough to withstand tens of tons of tension, will pull the prey continuously towards the thalamus itself.

At the same time, the sharp barb at the end of the Flesh Spear simultaneously releases pheromones to sense the presence of surrounding organisms.

When the prey is close enough to the thalamus itself, under the command of the core organ, a large number of cells and tissues will be released like soldiers, following the guidance of pheromones, and rushing towards the biological target with a clear purpose!

When the time comes, the terminal cells will eject strong acids, corroding the shell of the prey.

Whether it's a man-made steel alloy or a hard skull, it will gradually melt under the corrosion of acid.

The white blood cells that carry the paralytic toxin will shoot out the stings in the body according to the change in temperature.

Normally, in the underwater environment, the biggest temperature anomaly is usually the human target.

Once the sting needle containing paralyzing venom injects the toxin into the body, it can quickly cause multiple organs to fail, causing suffocation and convulsions.

If you don't get medical treatment as soon as possible, you will die in a short time!

And as long as the dose is large enough, these paralyzing toxins can even bring down the huge Moluok and the Hammerhead Mother!

Due to the large number of thalamic cells,

Normally, even the largest prey will collapse in front of countless small but terrifying hunters! ”

When Hans said this, he glanced at Meng Lei deeply, and said in a deep voice:

"Captain, that's why Simon won't let you get closer.

Once our Sea Locust is captured by the flesh and blood spear of the thalamus, there is no chance of getting rid of it.

In the end, the only way to end up is to drown in the infinite army of cells.

Like the E-class submarine ahead, it became the next parasitic object of the thalamus. ”

The words fell, and Meng Lei silently sat back on the leather seat in the driver's seat.

A puff of smoke erupted and turned into an indescribable form in the air, just like the depression in Meng Lei's chest, slowly rising.

After listening to Hans's story, Meng Lei suddenly had a strange illusion.

The cell bodies produced by the thalamic lymphatic system seem to work in the same way as the body's white blood cells, and will instinctively attack or defend.

In addition, the thalamus, a fungal organism, can proliferate and grow indefinitely as long as the energy is sufficient.

And according to the changes in the environment, a variety of different biological organs will evolve.

If enough energy is given to it, will it eventually grow into a huge organism that can cover the whole world?

With the size of thalamic cells described by Hans, it is not impossible to make a ratio to human cells!

Meng Lei suddenly felt a burst of horror, and involuntarily gasped.

The idea was so terrible that it scared him out of the way.

"Painted skin parasites, unknown distortion factors, and now one more thalamic fungus!

In this pitch-black and boundless deep sea, how many messy things exist, no matter which one of them, it is not intended to leave a way for humans to live! ”

Meng Lei sighed silently in his heart, and suddenly remembered another question.

"Since the thalamus is so terrible, it is even greater than the threat of the painted skin parasite!

Once the drainage system of the gathering place is infected, the entire gathering place is completely destroyed, and there is no chance of rescue.

Why didn't the coalition do something about it?

I've never even heard of such a thing before? ”

Hearing this, Hans shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"The reason is simple,

This terrible fungal creature is not a frequent visitor to the shallow seas in the first place.

Under normal circumstances, they do not appear at all in the sea above a depth of six thousand meters.

Most of the time, they are only seen frequently in the leveling area. ”

Speaking of this, Hans sighed and said helplessly:

"I was also unlucky, a few years ago I was 'lucky' to see a thalamus shipwreck, and I almost got cold.

And my sighting record is also the only sighting in the waters of the Eastern Hemisphere of the Alliance in several years.

So, the Union doesn't have to worry about the proliferation of the thalamus at all! ”

Hearing this, Meng Lei nodded thoughtfully, touched the stubble on his chin with his left hand, and muttered:

"According to what you say, the thalamus we encountered this time should have been pulled up from the sea area of the flat area by mysterious forces under the influence of the spatial tides......

Hans finally showed an affirmative expression and said seriously:

"It should be like this, otherwise, then we are really unlucky!"

While the two were talking, time flew by.

The shouts of the reconnaissance team in the headset became clearer and clearer, and in the infinite darkness in front of the Sea Locust, a surging light gradually began to shine.

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It was a hazy glow from the searchlight at the front of the underwater thruster, constantly approaching the Sea Locust at a rapid pace.

At the same time, Simon's voice in the headphones sounded again:

"Captain, immediately inform Gina to prepare for treatment, we will be there soon, there is someone in the team who is injured and needs urgent treatment!"