Later, after checking the information, I found that my friend wasn't lying; this big thing is called Armillaria mellea.
It is truly as big as 1,300 football fields, as heavy as 200 blue whales, and covers a forest the size of the entire Macau Island.
Most of the time, it hides in the forest soil, connecting all the tree roots with mycelium, obtaining carbohydrates from them, and then transporting some nutrients to the tree roots.
The physical pressure generated by the growth of mycelium can easily exceed 10 times the tire pressure, ruthlessly crushing rocks, and the enzymes produced at its tip can dissolve almost any material known to humankind.
Then, based on the length of the hyphae that grow each year, scientists estimated that this creature is between 2,400 and 8,600 years old.
Currently, about 100,000 species of fungi have been discovered. Biologists originally estimated that the total number of fungi was about 1.5 million, but current molecular biology research suggests that there may be more than 5 million species of fungi on Earth. This is definitely the largest category of organisms on Earth, and we currently only understand less than 1%.
With every breath you take, you inhale and exhale hundreds of types of fungi.
Furthermore, unlike other plants and animals, fungi have an energy utilization capacity that surpasses that of all other species, making them truly deserving of the title "superorganisms."
A group of biologists, fully equipped, once went to the area with the highest radiation levels in Chernobyl.
They wanted to verify a hypothesis: whether mutant fungi could grow in extremely strong radiation.
The results were even more surprising than they had imagined; there were indeed many fungi here, and their growth rate was even faster than that of the same type of fungi in ordinary areas.
So what are the nutrients for these fungi?
Fungi cannot perform photosynthesis; in normal environments, they must obtain nutrients from other plants or decaying matter to grow.
However, there are almost no plants or decaying matter in the radiation zone, so what is accelerating their growth?
The research results are jaw-dropping: these fungi can actually utilize beta radiation and grow by relying on radiation for nutrients!
Fungal experts say, "Don't worry, this is how they grew when Earth was bombarded by cosmic radiation. They grew into trees that are 8-9 meters tall to modify the Earth's environment."
Seeing this, I'm speechless. The young indigenous people, seeing these strange, unfamiliar trees, simply felt a sense of wonder.
But I know that if these prehistoric giant mushrooms spread in the rainforest, our entire species will be reshuffled.
It's important to know that there were no plants before this giant mushroom existed. It was this kind of mushroom that converted all the carbon dioxide on Earth in its early stages into oxygen.
With the existing modern vegetation providing normal oxygen levels, this highly efficient carbon dioxide converter from prehistoric times continues to operate, producing large amounts of oxygen.
With the combined effects of modern vegetation and this prehistoric mushroom, the oxygen concentration in the air at that time is estimated to be much higher than just 20%.
It could be a terrifying figure exceeding 40%, or even 60%.
That will be a catastrophe for species, with common insects being the first to recover. They will grow larger and larger in the high concentration of oxygen.
Mosquitoes the size of swans, centipedes several meters long, and dragonflies weighing hundreds of kilograms will no longer be fictional.
According to the golden ratio, once these insects grow to a certain size, they will be able to overwhelm all vertebrates in strength. Coupled with their super reproductive capacity, they will once again rule the world.
The young local didn't know what was wrong with me. Seeing me staring blankly at that strange tree, he gently nudged me to indicate that I was alright.
I recovered from the immense shock, a shock that was no less intense than that of the young natives who heard the gunshot.
However, the terrain here looks like a large, deep pit cage, and there are thick clouds and fog above the sinkhole all year round. It would be difficult for the spores of these prehistoric mushrooms to spread.
Thinking back to the insects I've encountered outside, their sizes were all relatively normal, so these prehistoric mushrooms must be trapped inside this sinkhole and unable to get out.
Otherwise, the area outside the rainforest would have been a chaotic mess long ago.
Thinking about this made me feel a little more at ease. For now, I shouldn't think about it too much; I just need to find Pat and get out of here as soon as possible.
The species here are beyond the comprehension of ordinary reasoning; they are far beyond what I and the young natives can handle.
Without hesitation, I took out the survival whistle. This time, when the young native saw me about to put it in my mouth and blow it again, he was so frightened that he quickly covered his ears.
The whistle rang out again from the sinkhole. This time I was certain that as long as Pat was down there, the sinkhole surrounded by stone walls couldn't possibly miss my whistle.
Top, who quickly pricked up his ears to listen carefully, had a look of surprise in his eyes. Clearly, he had heard Pat's response.
"Top, can you hear Pat's voice?"
Seeing Top's expression, I asked him a question.
Top nodded happily at me, and then led me and the young natives to run towards the place where it had heard the sound.
We followed Top for about twenty minutes before reaching the foot of a cliff with a pool of water.
Looking up from here, the rock face appears almost as a straight line, and due to the swirling clouds and mist, the top is completely invisible.
Then I spotted that familiar figure—it was Pat, the one we'd been searching for. Beside him lay a deer, already dead, which looked somewhat like a sub-adult red deer.
It seems my guess was right; Pat did indeed go hunting. And he even chose a red deer much larger than himself as his prey.
However, my joy didn't last long before my brows furrowed again.
Because at that moment I saw that Pat's left wing was always open, I guess he couldn't let go of the claw in time when he was catching the deer, which is why he was dragged down into the sinkhole with the deer.
The wing was probably injured when it hit some bushes or something on the edge of the cliff, so much so that even if we whistled and called out to it from above, it was no use, because it had no way to fly anymore.
Before that, the clouds and mist shrouded the sinkhole, so our voices couldn't reach each other's ears.
Pat was also very happy and excited to see me. He immediately spread half of his wings and limped toward me.
I examined its injuries and found that the bones were not broken, only the joints and surface were damaged.
Looking at the huge bloodstains on the deer, it seemed that Pat had pulled his claws out of the deer's body at the last moment before it hit the ground; otherwise, the outcome would probably have been very different.
Just as I was thinking about what to do with the deer, a series of buzzing sounds, quieter than before but more intense, came again!
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