A Colossus rushes in at the start

Chapter 43 Biotechnology is Too Weak

All the crystals in Hat's star system were wiped out, and this huge number of crystals were divided into three and imprisoned in the bodies of three planetary organisms.

Bahadur could not forget that scene long after the battle ended.

A massive, muddy, solid planet split open along its equator, revealing a gigantic maw formed by immense psychic energy acting upon the planet itself. This maw swiftly and briefly devoured the crystalline structures that had been bound together by the psychic energy.

When Bahadun came to its senses, it was trapped in complete darkness.

This darkness was unusual; it was truly impossible to detect even a single photon. Only by combining it with previous memories could it be confirmed that the crystal was imprisoned within the planetary organism.

While Bahadunl was surveying his surroundings, Lu Shang was also observing Bahadunl's crystals.

"Based on physical analysis, the basic structure of this crystal differs from the cellular structure of a bee colony. It has a central nucleus as a control center, surrounded by a mass of synthetic material that is in a fluid state when not under stress, but hardens immediately upon slight stimulation..."

Patiently listen to the results obtained by other mainframes and the Hive after they have analyzed the crystals they have obtained.

Like other living organisms, crystals, as living organisms, also have basic building blocks that constitute themselves.

However, these basic units are completely different from the cells of a bee colony. They lack cytoplasm, nucleus, and cell membrane. Instead, they consist of a slightly magnetic center that controls a mass of non-Newtonian fluid that hardens upon stimulation.

In my personal opinion, this is more like microscopic machinery.

However, it is not accurate to say that crystals are composed of nanomechanical components. Once a machine runs out of energy, it simply stops and will continue to operate once energy is inputted. Similarly, once life runs out of energy, it directly loses its activity.

The basic units of these crystals also cannot lose the energy to maintain their activity; otherwise, the basic units will die. From this point of view, crystals have the same definition as ordinary organisms, namely, life feeds on negative entropy.

Lu Shang thought for a moment, then asked curiously, "How do they maintain their own activity?"

"Passing through electric current."

"Electric current?" Lu Shang looked surprised. Using electric current to operate the basic unit was something he knew of that was practically nonexistent among living beings.

Those that are directly powered are robots.

The mastermind, Kasha, explained: "Many cilia-like structures float in the synthetic material surrounding the control center. These cilia-like structures are magnetic. The slight magnetic influence of the control center causes it to radiate outwards. In this way, even if the basic structure of the crystal is completely hardened, the energy supply required to maintain its activity can still be delivered from the center to the outside."

"With this structure, it can be integrated into the bee colony, right?" Lu Shang asked with interest. He thought it was great that it could maintain its activity by simply applying electricity.

What if we could break free from these chemical and biological constraints and achieve mechanical ascension?

The main brains, who had just been actively explaining, suddenly fell silent, unsure how to respond to Lu Shang.

The hives, however, didn't have so many ideas. One hive replied, "I'm afraid that won't work. This is a completely different life system. The expression of genetic information is different, and the suitable temperature line for the basic structure of the crystal is three times higher than that of the cells in the bee colony. Below the temperature line, it means loss of activity. Just this temperature line alone means that the genetic material of the two is destined to be difficult to graft together."

Crystals also have genetic material and can reproduce, but their genetic material is not a helical carbon-based gene; if we had to name one, it would be iron-based.

Moreover, this iron-based material differs from traditional chemical molecules; a portion of its genetic information is stored in the iron lattice formed by genetic material, a storage method somewhat similar to that of a mechanical hard drive.

How can we extract genes completely?

After extraction, how can it be expressed using bee colony genes?

Can genetic material from rigid grafting express cellular activity?

Then there is the appropriate temperature range to maintain activity. Genetic material can be affected by temperature. If the temperature is too high, the genetic material will be damaged, and if the temperature is too low, the genetic material will lose its activity.

The temperature at which the genetic material of the crystal remains active is three times that of the bee colony's genetic material. If the bee colony's genetic material is heated to the same temperature as the genetic material of the crystal, the bee colony's genetic material will be destroyed. Conversely, if the genetic material of the crystal is cooled to the same temperature as the bee colony's genetic material, the genetic material of the crystal will lose its activity and become no different from ordinary metal compounds.

What should I do?

After Lu Shang quietly learned from the Hive why it couldn't be done, he remained silent for a long time, wanting to say something several times, but then fell silent again.

Finally, Lu Shang sighed and said, "...I originally thought that although the Babel bee colony was working in the wrong direction, it still managed to achieve some results, such as powerful biotechnology."

"Are you planning to completely negate all the efforts the hive has made in the past?"

The beehives: "???"

Lu Shang continued, "There is such a life form in front of you. Just because the activity temperature of its basic structure is three times higher than that of the bee colony, and just because its genetic material is not the same life system as that of the bee colony, its biological properties cannot be absorbed by the bee colony. That means that the biotechnology that the bee colony has focused on developing throughout its history is just so-so."

"..."

The belatedly aware Hives fell silent, while the mainframes, who had already anticipated being rebuked by Lu Shang, were even more silent than before.

Lu Shang didn't care about any of that. He continued, "Right now, life forms with this crystalline structure can't have their genetic material absorbed by the bee colony. So what will the bee colony do if it encounters more extreme life forms, such as plasma life, electronic life, condensed matter life, or even microscopic particle life? Can it absorb the genetic information of these life forms and use it to optimize the colony?"

"Can you? I don't think so?" Lu Shang asked rhetorically.

The Babel bee swarm: "..."

Lu Shang asked, "Did the Babel bee swarm in the past all expect that all life forms in the universe were like themselves, carbon-based? Or that they were other types of life with little biological difference, capable of easily absorbing genetic material?"

"Does a bee colony necessarily expect all life forms it encounters to be molecularly structured, using the same mode of genetic expression, and maintaining cellular activity within a relatively constant temperature range?"

"I really tried my best to underestimate the Babel swarm in the past. Are you going to keep pushing the boundaries of my understanding?"

"No way?"

In the swarm network, there was only silence.

If this happened in human society, Lu Shang would have been ridiculed by a bunch of people, with comments like, "You're not an expert in that field, what right do you have to spout nonsense? If you're so good, why don't you do it yourself?"

But bee colonies are different. Although they are stupid, they are not good at making excuses. Once the problem is pointed out, they can only accept it.

Therefore, the swarm could only answer the series of questions posed by Fu Lu Shang with silence.

Lu Shang said, "I told you before that what a bee colony needs is not some outstanding individual to lead it, but more individuals who are willing to think about the future of the colony and seek progress through thinking."

"You masters and the hive shouldn't just say 'it can't be done,' but rather use your brains to think about how to do things that were previously impossible. If you don't do it, no one else will, and the Babel hive will one day face extinction, understand?"

"If you understand, then get on with it right now!"

At Lu Shang's command, the entire Babel Tower bee swarm sprang into action once again.

(End of this chapter)