Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 685 Time and Music

"Music and time travel will produce amazing results."

"If the previous steps were extensions built on the shoulders of predecessors, then this step is the result of my own years of exploration, summarizing the rules and making inventions."

At this point, D's voice became excited and enthusiastic.

“Mr. Zhou, music is a wonderful thing. By the standards of ancient human civilizations, it predates writing by at least 3 years and is one of the earliest carriers of human thought.”

"Music has three major origins."

"The first is the rhythmic shouts spurred by collective labor, such as logging chants and shouts during lifting and carrying, which are still in use today."

"The second is the babbling of babies, which is biologically related to birdsong and is driven by the dopamine reward mechanism in the body."

"Thirdly, it is used for supernatural communication. In shamanic rituals or worship of gods and ancestors, music is a universal medium between humans and gods. Whether it is an instrument, a poem, a chant, or an ode, they all have distinct musical rhythms."

"Music is humanity's pursuit of rhythm and order, as well as the expression of emotions that transcend its own limitations."

It continued, “In fact, it’s not just limited to humans; music can affect all sorts of creatures. Zebra finches can recognize Bach and Schoenberg sequences, and parrots can sway to the beat of the drums—a capability unique to birds and humans.”

"A 400Hz sine wave can improve the honey-collecting efficiency of bees, and 50-500Hz sound waves promote the root growth of Arabidopsis thaliana—the mechanism is the triggering of the calcium signaling pathway."

"Even more interesting is rice. Experiments have shown that classical music (100dB) can increase yield by 25%, but heavy metal music inhibits tillering."

D chuckled: "At least it seems that the rice people are classicists and don't like heavy metal."

This area falls outside Zhou Yi's area of ​​expertise.

However, D's remarks had a strong AI flavor, which is indeed in line with its prototype.

For Zhou Yi, music is an integral part of life, just like eating, sleeping, and surfing the internet—it's a natural part of it.

He had seen some videos in the past where small animals would respond to music and even dance along, but at the time he just enjoyed it and didn't think much of it.

Zhou Yi asked, "Does it work for all living things? Even microorganisms?"

"It works just as well."

D said, "Microorganisms need their own music. They sense low-frequency vibrations through cell membrane deformation, flagellar and cilia swaying, but this need is not usually noticed. Their lives are short, so it is difficult for them to play and compose their own music. So I specially composed a song for them called 'Nobody Sings for Them.'"

"Would you like to hear it? I can transcode it into a version we can hear."

Zhou Yi became interested: "Okay. But we have employees in the field of microbiology in our company, I'll have them come and listen."

“That’s great! To be honest, although I can tell from the reactions of the microbial audience that they like it, they can’t directly express such complex information. So I’m a little nervous…”

D said this.

The person invited to listen to the song was naturally from the Dong family.

The Dong family lived in the palace, but this sophisticated device could also collect external sound vibrations with high precision.

D took out a small player, assembled it, and then adjusted it after aiming it at the palace.

Confirmed to be unaffected.

D said, "Then I'll begin."

Music began to play softly from the player.

This song is very energetic, and it reminded Zhou Yi of the background music from "Pacific Rim".

He couldn't help but shake.

The karaoke enthusiast gave it the highest praise: "I need to learn this song properly."

However, the Dong family remained silent for a long time.

The song is over.

D's face trembled slightly as she asked somewhat nervously, "I don't know, what does Mr. Microbiology think?"

Zhou Yi asked twice.

The reply came from the Cave Clan: "Chairman Zhou, the Cave People just showed unprecedented excitement, even descending into chaos. Their energy absorption efficiency increased by 38%, drug resistance gene expression was upregulated, biofilm formation speed increased, and iteration accelerated!"

"This music is terrifying... The cavemen just went on a wild party like they never have before."

It’s really useful.

Zhou Yi said, "Then can music be played for everyone for a long time to promote everyone's growth?"

"I think it's best not to."

At this point, Dong Shi showed great restraint: "This power did bring about various positive evolutions in the Dong people, but it also made the Dong people group overly excited, impulsive and crazy."

"If this tendency continues for a long time, it will plunge the entire group into a dangerous state of extreme radicalism."

"However, as a stimulant for groups when they are feeling down or negative, it can indeed play a very good role in motivating them."

Zhou Yi was somewhat surprised that the special music had such a great influence on the cave dwellers.

He immediately reported these findings to D.

The electromechanical musician opposite him immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "So that's how it is... I know where the problem lies."

"Because music itself is a manifestation of various emotions and instinctive impulses. In order to see the clear reactions of microorganisms in the experiment, I created this intense piece. As long as I further diversify the composition, I can experience various emotions and instincts in turn."

"This piece is an electronic symphony. I can compose more classical music, pop music, folk music, opera, Indian raga, African drumming... The release of various emotions will be more balanced, and there will be no such extreme impulses."

Zhou Yi also said, "Then I'll trouble you."

"I am a musician."

D, however, said in a relaxed tone: "Finally, we can verify that microorganisms do indeed have very specific needs for music."

"Microorganisms are the most numerous species in this world. They make up the majority of the world, and the flesh and blood life that everyone is familiar with is composed of them. I want to protect this largest audience."

After discussing microbial music for a while.

D then steered the conversation back to the topic: "In short, it was through this kind of testing that I discovered that the two time-traveling creatures in the time machine have a very obvious response to music."

"They can only work with me when music is played; music is the driving force behind them."

"The reason the taxi was able to keep it was because the song 'Jasmine Flower' was playing inside the car."

"I used a lot of tracks to test and finally choreographed a way to make the time traveler go back to the past. However, this going back to the past is actually just them going back to the previous space. As someone who is surrounded by them, I am just a byproduct."

To make this process easier to explain.

This time, D opened his chest cavity directly, revealing a tiny black hole in the center.

The time traveler hovered in the center of a ring of music players. The scene resembled playing a lullaby to a baby's cradle.

Zhou Yi then realized that the low voice coming from D was what was going on.

"Now this 'Hibernation Song' can keep the time traveler in a contracted and static miniature black hole state, that is, in hibernation."

D pointed his metal finger into his chest cavity.

"When needed, you can immediately switch to other tracks and put it into a different state."

"For example, if you want to enter time, turn on this song, 'Amazing Grace.' You can try it and see if you can find me." The country gospel music began to play.

The miniature black hole expanded instantly, engulfing and covering D's entire body, as if it had swapped inside and out with D, becoming a time traveler that swallowed D into its body.

Zhou Yi discovered that the four-dimensional fish did not emit any consciousness fluctuations, and its specific form was difficult to discern. He tried to touch it, wanting to see what was happening inside its body.

Hands can only pass through it, as if everyone is on different layers, and it's as if some accidental bug has occurred in this world.

Just as this electromechanical life said.

Once inside time, it cannot be directly observed, selected, or touched.

At this moment, the time traveler shrank back into a miniature black hole and disappeared completely from view.

Zhou Yi felt a chill run down his spine.

With this ability, it's no wonder that D isn't afraid to show itself up everywhere, and even 404 City can't catch it.

After a few seconds.

The miniature black hole expanded again, and the electromechanical musician with braided hair was spat out.

It staggered to its feet and said, "That's it."

"Mr. Zhou, this is entering time. However, once inside, your own movement will stop, and the limit is also 60 seconds, just like diving in the dimension of time."

Zhou Yi noticed that D's metal body was covered in cracks and splatter marks, with large areas of roughness, and the facial display was completely damaged and scrapped, making it look very disheveled.

"This is?"

“Mr. Zhou, this is the price.” D’s voice was accompanied by a low-pitched electrical hum: “Entering the time dimension, you can’t control your direction, and you can’t see anything. It’s like your body is drifting in an underground river after you’ve fallen asleep.”

"Although the time traveler can recognize my life state and send me back before I reach my limit, the whole process still severely damages my body, as if hundreds of years have passed in an instant, which is difficult to measure. Sometimes I am in better condition, and sometimes even the slightest movement may cause me to fall apart."

"In the dimension of time, it's like an unknown black box. What is certain is that entering it will cause the body to age rapidly. So I say that perhaps only electromechanical life forms can do this. Other flesh-and-blood life forms will have their lifespan nearing its end after entering it once."

Zhou Yi's expression turned serious upon hearing this.

This is equivalent to living most of one's life directly in the dimension of time.

Indeed, only electromechanical life forms with special mechanisms can withstand it.

"Then this is the advanced version, which only requires opening 'Shanghai Bund'."

"Go back 60 seconds."

After saying that, D walked out the door and went onto the rooftop. Zhou Yi followed.

As a result, it jumped directly off the rooftop and disappeared into the air.

Zhou Yi immediately followed the train of thought and returned indoors.

In room 3101.

The electromechanical musician, shaped like a can, is standing in the living room.

However, by this time it was already more severely damaged, with large areas of the metal shell peeling off, cracking, and curling, making it look like a scrapped robot.

"I'm back in the space I was in 60 seconds ago."

"Mr. Zhou, this is the situation, this is the situation, please help me take care of things..."

Its body suddenly burst open.

It turned into a pile of broken parts.

D's backup unit arrived quickly; it was an identical can-shaped robot, also with pigtails.

It disassembled the scrapped machine and skillfully transplanted the time traveler into its own body.

D then said, "Originally, using it continuously like this would be very risky, but considering that it's with you, Mr. Zhou, and safety is guaranteed, testing it continuously like this will make it more intuitive."

Zhou Yi exclaimed sincerely, "It's an amazing effect. This is the first time I've seen a technique that utilizes the time dimension."

"Thank you for your kind words."

D said, "Your company has always had a good reputation and spares no effort in investing in all kinds of new things."

"From supporting the Electro-Knights on Sundays, working with them to develop the Time Anchor to repair more Semi-Civilized Beings, then the Key, and then the Cultivator... it's clear that you have both vision and courage. You have no prejudice against Electro-Knights and respect and value our group."

"This new type of rally challenge, which cost a huge sum of money, has involved many people in the electromechanical industry, who have experienced unprecedented fun. That's why I finally made up my mind to come and discuss with you, hoping that you can invest in this field."

Demonstrating the functionality and practical effects of this time traveler is inherently risky.

D has brought out his skills to make a living.

Zhou Yi thought to himself.

This reputation and credibility are indeed useful.

Over the years, the company has made solid and steady progress, growing rapidly into a behemoth, yet it never oversteps its bounds and maintains a strong institutional respect and appreciation for innovation and technology. The company consistently praises and supports inventors and innovators, and this culture has become ingrained.

With its continued outreach, the company has gradually gained recognition and trust from more groups, attracting talents from all walks of life, including the Taishan Knights who have taken the initiative to seek cooperation.

You can't get these by force.

Only by being rooted in development and win-win cooperation can we broaden our path and attract more and more partners.

This proves that their grand strategy is sound.

D continued, "...As long as enough light seeds are invested, we can find these time-traveling creatures in the mantle and combine them to create a more powerful time traveler. If it is developed to a sufficiently mature stage, it is possible to bring about a qualitative change, not only in spatial movement, but even in directional temporal movement, to go back to the past. I really want to meet the old humans."

Zhou Yi pulled himself back to reality: "I'm also looking forward to that day."

"But why do time-traveling beings like music so much?"

"do not know."

D stated, "I only discovered this pattern by chance and then applied it."

Therefore, Zhou Yi had no choice but to turn to the omnipotent Golden Tree for help.

After hearing about the situation, Golden Tree was somewhat surprised.

[Ordinary life forms can actually develop time-traveling creatures.]

This D is not bad.

However, this is normal.

Because music itself is a higher dimension—or you could say, a frequency.

[In terms of dimensions, it is the fifth dimension above time. Therefore, beings that exist within time resonate with and react to music, just as humans are born aware of time.]

Zhou Yi exclaimed "Ah!"

Is music actually a higher-dimensional existence?

(End of this chapter)