Chapter Ch88.1 - Pelycosaur
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Lightning suddenly split across the night sky, and big raindrops fell like blades with almost enough force to create deep holes in the ground.
Their field of vision seemed grim.
There were about 13 or 14 lizards in total. The biggest one was close to three meters long and the smallest was still over one meter. They were more like crocodiles than lizards––their bellies were close to the ground, and they were covered with armored scales from head to tail. Their thick jaws seemed to have the same origin as the two Anteosaurus from the lake.
The most frightening thing about them was the bright red, sticky, towering spine sails on their backs.
They looked like bloody ribs that had been cut open and inserted on the back of a crocodile in a disgusting form of deterrence.
Lin Ke’s throat moved convulsively, and he was about to let loose with a loud scream on the spot––
Ming Yao clutched him around the waist and pressed him down tightly while covering his mouth with a hand, “Ancestor! Don’t... holy shit, what the hell is that?!”
Wu Jin’s heart leapt up to his throat. Everything in front of him was far beyond his expectations.
“Pelycosaurs.” Wu Jin’s voice was hoarse.
Ming Yao: “What???”
The theoretical information from the handout flashed quickly across Wu Jin’s eyes, and his memory searched rapidly through numerous indexed entries, flipping pages and positioning them in a flash as he analyzed everything in the scene in front of him and put it all together.
No, the era wasn’t right, how could they be here at this time––
The first giant lizard looked up. Its head was one size smaller than the Anteosaurus, but its head was just as hard and strong. Smelly saliva dripped down its jaw and mixed with the rain, and giant, scale-covered claws protruded outwards!
“Run!” Wu Jin didn’t hesitate anymore as he sent out a short signal.
Behind them, the lizards burst out with speed that was faster than theirs.
The huge fern leaves were pelted by the rain, and the sound of roaring almost deafened the four people. Wu Jin could clearly detect the sound of their lashing tails smashing against the trees.
Out of the four of them, Ming Yao and Sora were the fastest sprinters, with Wu Jin second. Lin Ke could only follow behind them. After passing a certain turning point, Ming Yao and Wu Jin suddenly turned back and pulled Lin Ke forward half a step&#k2013;&#k2013;
There was a ripping sound.
Lin Ke shuddered and removed his protective jacket. When he looked at the back, he saw that the tough fabric had been clawed up by a lizard.
“Quickly find shelter.” Ming Yao’s expression changed sharply, “These things aren’t easy to deal with––”
Wu Jin made a prompt decision, “Up the tree.”
Ming Yao stilled for a moment, then immediately showed a look of joy.
These disgusting things could only walk close to the ground. They were surrounded by large stretches of giant, towering trees. As humanoid mammals, they belonged to the Homo sapiens species and were survival show trainees. They had an absolute aerial advantage.
Taking advantage of when the group of monsters were distracted by Lin Ke’s protective clothing, Wu Jin quickly jumped up onto the thick calamite behind him. In the great fern forest, the reed-like plants grew higher than any other vegetation, and there were bamboo-like knots on the brown trunks––
This horsetail variety hadn’t escaped from extinction, but it frequently appeared in the form of coal and natural gas during the industrial era, and even in the retro hot pot stoves in the year 3018.
Wu Jin climbed up three or four meters and became the first boy group lead dancer to hold onto a calamite as he squinted down from above.
The creatures had been unable to obtain any meat from the protective clothing, and their eyes were infused with blood as they converged beneath the trees.
The reeds were around 3 meters in diameter. Fortunately, the predators of the Permian period hadn’t yet evolved towards the giant Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus whose bodies could shake the earth. The branches shook beneath the siege of the creatures, but they ultimately couldn’t force Wu Jin down.
On the same tree, Ming Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He quickly leaned his hip against the branch and pulled out the parachute tarp from his backpack to block out the rain over his head. At this time, he and Wu Jin were all soaked, and getting pelted by the huge raindrops hurt their backs.
“Just now, you said... what is this?” Ming Yao asked.
Wu Jin looked beneath the tree, “Pelycosaur.”
Ming Yao froze, “Dinosaurs? They’re showing up now? Is this evolution, or––”
Wu Jin shook his head, “It’s not a dinosaur. They’re Synaspids. Amniota, Pelycosaurs. Their long neural spine evolved into the back sail, which is used for courtship and intimidation. It was at the top of the food chain in the era it existed in.”
Ming Yao suddenly thought of the Anteosaurus that had been driven away by the fire in the valley, “Weren’t the two just now also at the top of the food chain? They’re so close together, and they’re all predators...” Ming Yao’s scalp was drenched in the rain, but he was hit by a flash of inspiration as he made use of this new knowledge, “This evolutionary niche is too full!”
Their habitat was the same, and their prey was similar. There was only one throne at the top of the food chain, and this supreme niche could only hold one king.
Wu Jin looked at Ming Yao in surprise, then reacted instantly––he’d been teamed up with Caesar for a long time and was used to dealing with single-core CPUs. He’d forgotten that not everyone was like Caesar.
He nodded immediately, “Yes. The niche is too full, but they don’t belong to the same era. The Pelycosaurs was the overlord of the end of the Carboniferous period, and the start of the Permian period, while the Anteosaurus was from the end of the Permian period––to be precise, the Pelycosaurs is the Anteosaurus’ ancestor.”
Ming Yao’s gaze froze. “The timeline has been distorted? We’re not only in the Permian period?”
Wu Jin didn’t give a direct answer. He stretched out his hand and marked out the length of the Pelycosaurs with his hands, “I believe we’re in the Permian period.”
“2.5 meters, Pelycosaurs. 4.5 meters, Anteosaurus.”
“From the Carboniferous period to the Permian period, Triassic period, Jurassic period, and Cretaceous period, the evolution of organisms followed a very simple rule: a species’ ability to eat superior food translated into the superiority of their body shapes. Once a slight lead exists in the evolutionary competition, the vast majority of species would follow the megatrend and develop.”
“Regardless of whether it’s a Pelycosaurs or an Anteosaurus, even at their largest size, they can’t be compared with a dinosaur that’s tens of meters long. If they’re at the top of the food chain––then it can only be the Permian period.”
Ming Yao quickly went over it in his head, “Then, what’s the reason for the simultaneous appearance of the Pelycosaurs and the Anteosaurus?”
Wu Jin paused slightly, “I’m not sure. I guess––it’s because the timeline is moving too quickly.”
Ming Yao’s mouth opened wide in surprise, but it wasn’t that unexpected for Wu Jin to mention the timeline, “According to what I learned from the handouts before, it really is possible that we’ll move from the Permian period to the emergence of dinosaurs over the course of the competition.”
Wu Jin nodded and gave a simple example.
“In the fourth elimination match, based on the Red Queen’s theorem, the theme is biological evolution. The most natural duration for this process is 500 million years.”
“If the game is completely modelled after 500 million years, then the changes in each ‘frame’ of time will be very slow. The Pelycosaurs will rule the land for 4 million years, and once the time frames speed up––the content of each frame would increase beyond the scope of what the human eye can catch. Virtual shadows will form like a crazy fast forward screen.”
“It’s impossible for the program group to control the emergence and extinction of all the creatures on the planet down to each individual organism. That means that in some frames, there will be species from different eras existing at the same time.”
“Like the Pelycosaurs and Anteosaurus.”
Ming Yao’s thinking was nimble, and he quickly pointed out, “Got it. A single movie is compressed into several slides, and millions of years worth of creatures will be compressed into the same time frame!”
Beneath the tree, the several Pelycosaurs were still slamming against the trunk of the tree.
Ming Yao uncovered the canvas he was using as a poncho and looked down at the base of the tree. “Keep smashing! What’s the use of smashing?! You’ve all been compressed into a single slide. If you keep smashing, you’ll become a custom animation!”
Wu Jin couldn’t help but look at Ming Yao again.
Compared with the Ming Yao who had been crying and whining in Zuo Botang’s arms, the Ming Yao in front of him was quite free-spirited. He thought flexibly and was even a little wild. His knowledge was deeper than most of Crosson Show’s contestants as well.
Wu Jin suddenly remembered that Jingyi, which had always been warm but not fiery, always paid attention to the cultivation of their children. They taught the six arts, and five shots for one... Ming Yao and Zuo Botang were clearly the best examples.
Due to the change in temperature and humidity, Ming Yao had no choice but to duck his head again. He casually asked, “Hey, Wu Jin, based on what you just said, the timeline is on fast forward. We’ve now suddenly been pushed forward four million years towards the end of the Permian period––”
Ming Yao seemed to have thought of something and froze.
Another flash of lightning crossed the sky, splitting through the dark night and illuminating the pale branches, dense ferns, and countless creatures in the forest.
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