A Colossus rushes in at the start

Chapter 87 The Unknown Attack Was Too Unexpected

Time ticked by, and as the ink-black substance completely covered the entire planet, the pause button on the timer was pressed at the same moment.

"Its proliferation rate is consistent with that of the original nanomachines."

"It seems that the proliferation ability of nanomachines has not been weakened," Lu Shang judged.

While its efficiency cannot compare to that of nanomachines that employ an "emergent" concept, it is not much worse than that of nanomachines with control units.

Next, another test was conducted. Lu Shang asked, "Could you try to penetrate psionic energy deep into the interior of atoms?"

"It can be done."

The nanobiota responded by saying they had captured a free oxygen atom on the planet.

Although oxygen atoms are highly reactive, that's only if other atoms are nearby. If you isolate an oxygen atom with your spiritual energy, its chemical reactivity is useless because there are no other atoms around it to form chemical bonds with it.

"Can you break down the atoms?" Lu Shang asked.

The nanobots tried targeting oxygen atoms, then replied, "It's impossible; our psionic power is too weak."

Lu Shang frowned slightly and asked, "Can't we separate the atoms by using psionic energy in combination?"

The nanobiota replied, "We've already tried it; even with collective use of psionic energy, the power is still far from enough to break down atoms."

The reason is simple: the level of psionic energy is too low. Even if the area is filled with nanobiomes, it is impossible to disassemble a single oxygen atom within the range of psionic energy.

Lu Shang thought for a moment, then asked, "Could we provide your vision to the swarm network?"

"Can."

Lu Shang nodded upon receiving the reply, then gave the planetary creatures the order: "Follow the instructions of these nanobiomes to capture atoms, and then dismantle them."

"OK."

The planetary organism responded briefly, and then, guided by the nano-organism, disassembled the oxygen atoms used as the test subject.

"It has been disassembled. The oxygen atom used in the experiment has been broken down into eight protons, eight neutrons, and eight electrons according to the minimum standard," the nanobiotechnology reported to Lu Shang.

Lu Shang nodded and said, "Very good. Keep up this cooperation. The task of researching atomic machinery will be handed over to you nanobiotechnology researchers."

"Disassemble atoms, find stable structures to act as machines, add the characteristic of 'feeding on negative entropy,' and then find a way to connect them to a swarm network."

"Okay," the nanobiomes responded.

After assigning several planetary creatures to the command of the nanobots, Lu Shang said, "Time acceleration, I await your good news."

Due to the psionic distortions of numerous planetary life forms, the nanobiomes entered a state of accelerated time flow.

After waiting for about an hour, the nanobiotech team still hadn't given any results, but Kasha's team had already produced new findings.

"Lu Shang, I've solved the compatibility issue with the bee colony's genetic profile."

Lu Shang asked with great curiosity, "Oh? Solved? How did you do it?"

Kasha said, "Start with the more fundamental micro-genes and then expand to the macro-genes."

"What do you mean?" Lu Shang said, indicating that he didn't understand.

Kasha explained, "This means that worker bees and molecules are no longer the carriers of the colony's genes. The colony is abandoning its existing basic structural framework and letting more microscopic fundamental particles serve as the carriers of genes."

"Cells are made up of molecules, and molecules are made up of atoms. So, as long as the basic genes are recorded at the atomic level, atomic organisms can build molecular organisms, and molecular organisms can build the genes and cells of the current bee colony. Then, there will be no compatibility issues between the genes of the current bee colony organisms and the new version of microorganisms."

Cells are made up of molecules, and molecules are made up of atoms. If that's the case, then there's really no need to record genetic information at the molecular level.

The genes of bee colonies can be recorded in the genetic material of atomic organisms or even more microscopic organisms. Then, microscopic organisms can create macroscopic beehives and worker bees, and worker bees and beehives can create even larger planetary organisms.

Doesn't that make it compatible?

"Simply put, it's about replacing the current worker bees with microorganisms in the bee colony," Lu Shang said, seemingly understanding but not quite. He wasn't very good at genetics.

Speaking of which, Lu Shang, the mastermind, is truly a unique case in the history of the swarm.

Throughout bee history, there has never been a mastermind that didn't manipulate genes.

"That's one way to understand it, but not entirely, unless we can improve the efficiency of microscopic organisms..."

While Kasha and Lu Shang were talking, they suddenly received an attack warning message from another bee colony when it was attacked.

The source of this information is the time-accelerated region of the nanobiomes!

"Combat alert? What's going on?" Kaisa was a little confused. The swarm experiment was conducted in a small universe, and the civilization in the galaxy had been wiped out by the swarm not long ago.

How could individual bees be attacked in a microcosm?

Lu Shang immediately ordered the planetary lifeforms to stop accelerating time, and then sent inquiry messages to the nano-lifeforms.

"What happened?"

The nanobots reported: "An unknown civilization has launched an attack on us and is currently under the control of the planetary lifeforms' psionic energy."

Lu Shang felt like he was hallucinating. He exclaimed incredulously, "Civilization? In this microcosm?"

Are you kidding me?

Didn't we just massacre the entire galaxy not long ago?

It's impossible that all the civilizations that were killed have turned into vengeful ghosts and are coming to claim the lives of the bees, right?

That would be great; we could arrest them and study them.

While Lu Shang's thinking drifted somewhat, the nanobiomes replied, "Yes, they released many regular signals to us, so we tentatively presume that they are one or more civilizations."

Based on the assessments of the nanobots, and with the situation still unclear, Lu Shang, the planetary beings, immediately issued an order.

"All planetary life forms, prepare for battle; the obstacles in our microcosms have not yet been cleared away."

Then, Lu Shang gave orders to all swarm units.

"All individuals engaged in mental work receive new tasks, deciphering the content of these regular signals; the swarm needs to understand more intelligence."

Rabi, who was busy with the river system's aquaculture farm, and Nanali, who was dealing with the civilization envoys from the Star Alliance, along with a group of other mainbrains, all suspended their current tasks due to Lu Shang's urgent message and began to carry out the new tasks assigned by Lu Shang.

The text wasn't deciphered in a long time, partly because Nanali and her team were experienced, and partly because the text hadn't been encrypted.

By releasing electromagnetic waves through nanomechanics, they can simulate the other party's language and communicate with the atom that has been captured by the planetary organism's psionic energy.

"Who are you?"

Lu Shang asked a question, then, after thinking for a moment, added, "Who are you?"

[This unit is from graveyard number 80-WER-432......dedicated to carrying existence information...the graveyard's function is to serve as an information carrier after the extinction of the species...please cease any destructive actions against this unit...partial damage...activating repair protocol...]

"Whose graveyard are you?" Lu Shang asked.

[Ze... Alliance Clan...]

"When did you come into existence in this galaxy, and where did you come from?" Lu Shang asked, somewhat suspicious that there might be many similar things hidden in the galaxy of the microcosm.

[It drifted here on a piece of ship debris... The timeline is corrupted, so I cannot answer your questions...]

Lu Shang said, "Then the Zelian Clan you mentioned was destroyed, right?"

【Yes……】

Lu Shang pressed further, "How was it destroyed? Who destroyed it?"

The ship is damaged... they sank into the sea... other races on other ships rammed and destroyed it...

ferry?

Does it refer to a spaceship?

If it can appear in space, it certainly can't be a liquid ocean. If it refers to a spaceship, then it means the sea is a galactic sea.

Other races wrecked the ship... that could very well be a sign of a space war.

"And then? You started working from then on?" Lu Shang asked.

【Yes……】

Lu Shang asked, "Did the Zelian tribe originally live on ships?"

[They used to live on land... but when they couldn't stay on land any longer, they started escaping by boat...]

A civilization faces a crisis that could lead to its extinction, forcing the entire civilization to choose to flee collectively.

Lu Shang recalled his previous answers and tried to connect the dots.

The two civilizations went to war. The Zelian tribe was defeated and chose to flee en masse. However, the enemy had no intention of letting them go and launched a pursuit, which ultimately led to the extermination of the Zelian tribe.

This line of reasoning should connect, but Lu Shang still felt something was off.

"So, the Zelian tribe was attacked and wiped out?" Lu Shang asked.

[I don't know... It could be an accident... or it could be an attack... The ship collided with another group's ship... The Zelian ship sank...]

The cemetery's response finally made Lu Shang realize what was strange.

Bump!

In space, collisions are extremely difficult to occur. Unless spacecraft are arranged very close together and specifically targeted for collision, it is very difficult for two spacecraft to collide during normal travel because the universe is truly vast.

To confirm the Zelian tribe's technological level, Lu Shang asked, "How fast can the Zelian tribe's ships travel? How many times faster than the speed of light can they reach?"

The boat has no speed...

"How can you move without speed?"

Lu Shang was taken aback. After thinking about it, he realized that warp drive could not be considered normal movement, so there was no speed to speak of.

So Lu Shang changed his tune, saying, "I mean, the ship's actual displacement velocity has nothing to do with its momentum."

The ship won't move...

"..."

Lu Shang fell silent this time. There was no momentum or displacement, and he already had a vague guess in his mind.

To confirm his suspicions, Lu Shang continued to question the cemetery: "You just said you drifted here on the wreckage of a ship. Now tell me, where are you?"

On your ship...

(End of this chapter)