Researchers also discovered the same Red Rope Worm inside the polar bear.
After completing their task, they both died, including the worm in their brains.
The worms inside them were male and female; the one in the sheep was male, and the one in the polar bear was female.
This sheep's poignant love story also gave the researchers an idea.
Thus, they named this worm the "Red Rope Worm."
Seeing this, Mo Ling could sense the namer's twisted sense of humor.
It was now confirmed that the healing ability came from the Red Rope Worm. Barring any surprises, the enhanced senses were likely also the result of some kind of evolution.
The initial records of the Red Rope Worm ended there.
They had spent a great deal of effort tracking a sheep, only to end up discovering such a strange creature.
Subsequent records also described the peculiar behavior of certain creatures after being infected by this worm.
As long as it was left alone, the infected host would naturally perish. Trying to stop it would, on the contrary, trigger evolution.
After driving the creatures back into the abyss, the Red Rope Worm also vanished from Earth.
Afterwards, some Hunters who went into the abyss also became infected with the worm, but they could only count themselves unlucky.
Not only that, but Mo Ling also discovered that the Red Rope Worm found in the Vibrating Beast's brain earlier was only a larva. At this stage, the host's consciousness had not yet disappeared.
This was why those Vibrating Beasts still attacked Li Luo.
After reading all the records, there was only one treatment method: let-it-rot therapy.
But that would mean the mission was a failure.
If she couldn't resolve the Vibrating Beasts' abnormal behavior, the mission would be incomplete.
They were at an impasse.
Li Luo had clearly realized this problem as well. She sat in the vehicle and began to think.
She continued to flip through the records on the worm.
Suddenly, as if she had realized something, Li Luo started the vehicle and drove directly into the depths of the valley.
More and more Vibrating Beasts appeared on the road, and their senses were especially sharp.
Every single one that entered Mo Ling's field of vision was already in an attack posture.
The view plunged into the fleshy mass on its head. 'Red Rope Worms again!'
'Why are there so many?'
Mo Ling had guessed Li Luo's idea.
In the previous records, the Red Rope Worm always appeared by infecting a single individual within a population.
It wasn't contagious, let alone appearing in large numbers.
But the Vibrating Beasts' rampage was on a massive scale, which was inconsistent with a Red Rope Worm infection.
Thinking of this, Mo Ling quickly destroyed the attacking Vibrating Beast using the same method as before.
Once again, the infected piece of flesh was sent before Li Luo.
This time, Li Luo didn't need a reminder. She took out her tools and began searching for the worm within the flesh.
Li Luo's theory was confirmed.
She quickly got back in the vehicle and set off deeper into the valley.
The deeper they went, the larger the Vibrating Beasts became.
But these Vibrating Beasts had all lost consciousness. The spherical masses of flesh on their heads pulsed slowly as they moved forward blankly.
They didn't even react when the vehicle drove past them.
Normally, so many Vibrating Beasts could never coexist so peacefully.
The vibrations they emitted would have been enough to trigger a massive brawl.
An infected Vibrating Beast fell into a deep pit, but even so, its two metal legs continued to twitch nonstop.
A short, new appendage extended from the spherical metal mesh, a clear sign of evolution.
It was trying to climb out of the pit.
The vehicle continued forward, arriving at a large lake.
Mo Ling only saw Li Luo's pupils instantly dilate before she parked the vehicle by the lake.
She took out her recording device and began to document the situation in the lake.
Following the device's screen, Mo Ling also saw the shocking sight.
Countless Vibrating Beasts were submerged in the center of the lake, their dense metal appendages crammed together.
As the fleshy masses pulsed, the appendages made the lake water tremble, sending chaotic ripples all the way to the shore.
And on the shore, several more unconscious Vibrating Beasts were walking straight toward the center of the lake.
On the opposite shore, fully evolved Vibrating Beasts were stranded.
Their two legs had merged into one, becoming a fin-like shape that flapped continuously as their heads swelled.
But having lost the ability to walk, they could only hop around on the shore, struggling to launch themselves further away.
Just by watching through the screen, Mo Ling could feel the terror of the scene before them.
In that instant, Mo Ling shared the same question that had been on the original researchers' minds:
'Where are they going?'
After recording the scene, Li Luo drove around the large lake and continued onward.
She opened her map and marked a location.
The direction the Vibrating Beasts were moving was toward the center of their habitat.
Soon, the vehicle screeched to a halt before a downward slope.
'What's wrong?'
Mo Ling's vision was limited, so they didn't know what had happened.
Fortunately, Li Luo took out the recording instrument again.
Mo Ling quickly looked.
...
It was a sea of Vibrating Beasts.
Vibrating Beasts of all forms were fighting nonstop at the bottom of the slope.
When their own kind blocked their path, they attacked what was in front of them relentlessly, just like that first sheep.
The violent tremors caused the soil in the entire area to liquefy, and the gathered Vibrating Beasts had forcibly created a massive, funnel-shaped pit.
Weaker Vibrating Beasts were trampled into the mud by their companions. The ones further in were stronger, their appendages grotesque and menacing.
Like a Gu-vessel, the appendages of the Vibrating Beasts inside had sprouted all sorts of metal spikes.
The spikes pierced the flesh of their companions, and crimson strands of meat continuously stuck together and healed, trapping the appendages within.
Trapped Vibrating Beasts would sever their own appendages, turning into a ball and rolling forward.
The balls that rolled in got stuck among other balls, leaving only tiny gaps.
The flesh could only pulse and stretch forward, flowing like liquid from the holes in the metal mesh.
They had become Flesh Slimes.
The swarms of Slimes then squeezed together, converging into a red pool.
'What are they fighting over?'
'Could it be that all these Vibrating Beasts controlled by the Red Rope Worm are heading toward the same single creature?'
Li Luo controlled the recording instrument, continuously zooming in on the center of the red pool in the pit.
Mo Ling's gaze also fixed on the abrupt patch of black.
On the surface of the crimson water, a spiral-shaped, pure black object was floating.
Waves splashed up around it as the fighting Slimes pushed the black object back and forth.
'Is that... a horn?'
The horn of some unknown creature. It was tough, straight, and jet-black, without a hint of any other color.
It was as if it absorbed all light; if not for the curve of its edges, one couldn't even make out the horn's shape.
Li Luo put the image of the black horn into the database to search.
Information popped up. She compared them one by one, but surprisingly found no match.
The search yielded no results.
The investigation was at an impasse again.
Mo Ling began to doubt the records on the Red Rope Worm.
'Why is the target a horn? Can a dead creature be infected by the worm?'
Just as Mo Ling was feeling puzzled, Li Luo patted the Block again.
She waved the electronic screen with the picture of the black horn in front of the Block, then gave the Block a thumbs-up.
"I'll need your help in a bit. Get this, understood?"
She seemed to trust the Block's abilities and had probably deduced from its act of teleporting the worm that the Block was actively trying to help her.
After giving her instructions, Li Luo decisively accelerated and plunged into the deep pit.