Endless Evolution as a Centipede in a Game-Like World

The surface of the sea rippled and moved like real water despite its appearance. Tiny droplets splashed onto my antennae. It tasted salty, just like real sea water.

"Hmm, what do we do now?" Amanda wondered as we sat on a platform just above the body of water.

There were no land masses as far as the eyes could see. And the strong winds in this area made it unsuitable for flying.

What else are we supposed to do?

Suddenly Amanda turned to me with a frown.

"Can’t you swim?"

"Actually... I can."

Centipedes are actually good swimmers. They swim by moving their bodies side to side, like an eel. In fact, some species are known to hunt in streams.

Centipedes don’t have gills or lungs. Instead, we breathe air through tiny openings distributed along the sides of our body called spiracles. Our respiratory systems consist of internal tubes that make us more efficient than most creatures.

We can close off our respiratory valve and hold our breath for several hours. And since we are cold-blooded and have an incredibly low metabolic rate, our oxygen requirement drops to near zero as we put ourselves in a near-comatose state while underwater.

This was what allowed me to swim through magma and dig underground without issue. I can even trap air bubbles underneath my exoskeleton since obsidian is waterproof. This would allow me to stay underwater for even longer by slowly absorbing the oxygen from the air bubbles like an artificial lung.

[10 Biomass has been used to improve the efficiency of your spiracles by 25%, allowing you to hold your breath for 8 hours.]

This was the first time I was evolving this organ since I didn’t really need to before, but since I might be swimming for an extensive period of time, I could use the extra boost.

"I’ll swim ahead and scout for land. It will be easier this way. I’ll come back for you after."

"Be careful. I can’t have you dying on me before our training even begins."

I waved my antennae, signaling that I understood, before diving deep into the ocean. As I entered the water, I immediately noticed a difference between this black liquid and regular sea water. This water was much more thicker and harder to swim through.

Because of the murkiness of the water, visibility was all but impossible, forcing me to activate mana sight. Immediately, I could see the heat signatures of different monsters swimming in the water with me. One of them was headed straight for me!

These monsters were large, and the outline of their bodies was similar to a fish, only they had sharp, needle-like teeth protruding from their mouths! Its eyes were red and some of its body wasn’t even covered in flesh as I could clearly see sections of its bones.

It looked like an undead creature.

’Piranhas?!’

The Piranha, exploded towards me, moving its body size to size as it propelled itself forward like a high speed bullet. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Twisting my body to the side, I moved out of the monster’s path, before piercing the monster in the side with the stinger I created.

[You have slain an E ranked Ghoul Piranha]

The creature’s body was covered in tiny spikes, and its scales were bitter, but regardless, I devoured the monster without hesitation.

[You have gained 80 biomass]

Immediately, hundreds of piranhas surrounded me, biting at my exoskeleton, but their teeth couldn’t even scratch my carapace. Still, they all latched on regardless, creating a ball of chaos and fury.

They all remained oblivious as the water around me slowly began to boil and evaporate as the surrounding liquid turned into magma.

But being in the middle of the sea, the magma was rapidly cooled. The magma was instantly shattered into tiny fragments of volcanic ash and glass, resulting in a powerful steam explosion!

[You have slain 97 Ghoul Piranhas]

[You have gained 3,680 biomass]

Most of the piranhas were blown to bits, leaving nothing behind, so I had to gather what remained of the ones who weren’t, netting me 3,680 biomass in total.

The explosion created a powerful sonic wave in the ocean, causing the water to move more violently. After devouring the piranhas, I quickly made an escape from the air.

I folded my legs and undulated my body back and forth as I moved through the dark waters. I swam for hours, until there were miles between Amanda and I, but still, I couldn’t find any land masses.

And apart from piranhas, I didn’t encounter any other creatures. I was just about to give up and turn around, but just then, I spotted something. My eyes widened as I saw the outline of a mana signature far out in the distance.

But what surprised me was how the mana signature was shaped.

It was almost human-like.

Realizing this, I quickly swam to the bottom of the sea and hid myself below the sand. Soon, more human-like creatures began to emerge, except they were clearly not human.

No human swims like that...

Their fingers and toes had webbings like a frog, and their ears were shaped like gills. There were 6 of them in total, and they all carried spears. The water around their bodies propelled them forward like a jet.

Suddenly, the creatures stopped and lined up side by side, as if waiting for someone.

A heartbeat later, something emerged from the darkness. This creature’s massive body circled around them, as if observing prey. Its long body moved gracefully through the water. Its lower half was a tail with dark, fish-like scales, while its upper half was similar to a human woman.

Her skin was gray, and the hair on her head seemed alive. They were like worms wiggling about. Watching this interaction between her and the fishmen, made my skin began to crawl.

There was something unsettling about the creature. Suddenly, I no longer wished to be in the same water.

...

Back on the platform, Amanda sat boredly watching the water’s edge while sharpening her weapons. She could feel a growing anxiousness as she waited.

"Come on, where are you? Amelia will kill me if you get yourself killed."

Just then, she spotted movements at the edge of the water. Expecting it to be Liam, she quickly climbed to her feet in anticipation, but what emerged next wasn’t what she hoped.

What she saw first was the shiny, round head of an octopus.

Realizing it was another monster, she readied herself to kill it. She immediately threw her knife forward, ready to kill the monster in one hit, but in a shocking turn, the blade merely bounced off the octopus’s head.

At the same time, the octopus exploded with water like a rock. Reacting instantly, she sidestepped the octopus, but what she couldn’t react to was the jet of ink that sprayed from the octopus’s underside and splashed into her face.

"Yuck!"

She was disgusted by the substance, but she wasn’t alarmed by it since she had a high resistance to poison and venom. No matter how toxic a venom is, it usually had no effect on her.

That was her thought, but in the next second, her vision blurred as she lost her footing. The last thing she saw was the octopus slowly approaching her before her mind collapsed.