Chapter 158: Supercell
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The update from the bio lab was devastating.
The Barracks had provided many war plans to deal with the alien on Moon 2. The 3 most feasible were: one, to build a giant H-bomb. The Barracks intended to utilize 1/3 of the planet’s water as hydrogen raw material and heavy water to build a giant H-bomb. An H-bomb that size should be able to blow up Moon 2 with the alien still attached to it.
However, the plan had multiple difficulties. First was to draw such an amount of water there had to be constructions of several enormous buildings, like nuclear fission plants and fission energy generators. The buildings themselves also had to be manned by trained personnel. The entire process would take about 10 years.
Moon 2 would be drained way before that, so the first plan was a fail.
The second plan was to create ‘that’ thing. This thing was the ultimate weapon of the 4th revolution, a weapon of mass destruction that was on a different scale compared to the 3rd revolution H-bombs. The thing was called the Genesis, an electromagnetically based tactical weapon!
Using the core 4th revolution technology, electromagnetism was employed to create micro heatwaves. The heatwaves were then amplified through reflective mirrors. Through the energy of a large polymerized reactor, the heat waves could be multiplied to form a heat ray that was more than several thousand meters wide. This was the ultimate weapon from mankind’s 4th revolution, an energy weapon that had heavy inspiration from 5th revolution technology!
Its power, if properly sustained, could evaporate a planet the size of Earth’s moon in one shot!
This was the Genesis, a weapon suitable for space war!
Nevertheless, this weapon was a creation from the peak of the 4th revolution. Even the junkyard alien was still researching it when they were wiped out. Many inroads had been made by the Academy, especially with Bo Li’s help, ever since mankind inherited the technology!
However, according to overall analysis and prediction, this weapon would not see the light of day in the next 10 years. The Genesis required more than the construction of a few gargantuan buildings, it required special materials, a great store of radioactive ores, and other key resources.
Even though plan 2 could handily destroy the alien, due to time and technological constraints, the plan had to be abandoned.
The third plan was to drop the alien plant on Moon 2.
The alien plant was a gathering organism engineered by a highly advanced race that mankind first stumbled across on Planet Sahara.
It was called a gathering organism because it would digest everything except human flesh to form metal deposits and energy crystals within its body.
If it was dropped onto Moon 2, within the near future, Moon 2 would become a desert planet… that was the trump card that Yao Yuan kept all his hopes on. He believed it would be the plant that consumed the alien and not the other way around. However, the phone call he received had completely shattered his hope.
Yao Yuan, with Zhang Heng and Ji Jie in tow, arrived at the bio lab almost instantly. Standing outside the lab was a group of tired-looking scientists. Among them was Ivan.
"Professor Ivan, skip the formalities. Let’s see this mutated cell," Yao Yuan said as he came forth to shake Ivan’s hand.
An agitated Ivan replied, "Of course, Captain. Please follow me."
Ivan led everyone to the deepest corner of the bio lab. Within a quarantined room, 10 petri dishes sat under 10 microscopes. One of them was bubbling as if it was boiling.
"Captain, as per your orders, we’ve done some dissections on the alien monsters. Then we added some alien plant cells to conduct the consumption experiment…" Ivan explained while pointing at the petri dishes.
"Initially, all of the monster cells were consumed by the alien plant. It didn’t stop because the alien monster cell was sentient. This is very different from us because the plant wouldn’t even consume dead human cells. Everything was going along just fine until…"
Ivan referred to the bubbling dish. "When the experiment came to the 26th dish, the monster cells within it had mutated. It too was consumed like every other cell, but it didn’t die within that process. On the contrary, it started devouring the alien plant. Half an hour later, the monster cells split into a mutated cell that contained the plant’s genes. It has a combination of both the plant and the monster’s properties.
"It can consume everything! Water, microbes, bacteria, and… metallic substances!"
Yao Yuan held onto the table for support. He asked hurriedly, "In other words, the alien cell has inherited the plant’s features?"
Ivan replied firmly, "I believe so, but Captain, this is not even the thing that instilled us with so much fear…"
"There’s more?" Yao Yuan asked incredulously. This was in his mind, the worst result, the third plan was also denied. Could there really be something worse?
"Sadly, yes… Captain, you better see it for yourself. I too am stumped by this development," Ivan said while wiping the sweat off his forehead. He waved for a few of his assistants to get to work.
The microscope above the bubbling dish started moving and soon, a magnified picture of its cellular situation appeared on the monitor. Several light green color cells were presented on screen. Some were stationary, while others were devouring these stationary cells.
Yao Yuan turned towards Ivan with a raised eyebrow. "What are they doing? Why is it attacking itself?"
Ivan laughed bitterly and told the assistant, "Decrease the magnification until you can see the whole picture."
As the magnification decreased, Yao Yuan’s facial expression turned from confusion to downbeat then to terror. The mobile cells were attacking the homogenous cells to obtain materials to… create cellular-sized instruments!
Yao Yuan finally realized what he was witnessing. After obtaining the necessary materials from the other cells’ decomposition, the living cells created rudimentary utensils. The utensils’ usage was an unknown, but they were definitely metallic because they had that metallic glint.
"What… what’s this?!" a shocked Yao Yuan asked.
"Looks like they’re creating an electrical circuit."
A girl’s voice explained calmly.
Yao Yuan turned to see Bo Li giving a deliberate once-over at Ji Jie before adding, "Professor Ivan called me over to give a professional opinion on these metallic substances. And based on the structure, it looks like they’re building an electrical circuit."
Yao Yuan said hurriedly, "Bo Li, it’s good that you’re here. Tell me, what is this thing’s purpose?"
Bo Li’s eyes floated once more to land on Ji Jie. She then explained, "I’ve been here for a long time, you were too occupied to notice me… It’s obvious that this is a type of nano-technology. By the way, do you know how big these new cells are?"
"How big?" Yao Yuan echoed.
"About 10 nanometers. These new cells are modeled after the plant cells, so they are smaller than usual cells. Therefore, the things they’re creating are typical nano-machinery…" Bo Li pointed out as she looked at the screen.
Yao Yuan started to accept the reality before him. Even though he found it unbelievable that a cell could create machinery, the cosmos was home to many mysteries.
After a long while, he questioned, "But why are these cells creating machinery? Do they have a brain?"
Ivan shook his head. "The cells are extremely basic; they don’t have something as complex as a brain. This is also where we’re stumped. What is urging these cells to create such complicated and delicate machinery?"
The room was silent. Yao Yuan suddenly asked, "Then can someone tell me what the use for this machinery is?"
"Communication."
Bo Li answered. "It’s for communication. Our radar detected a weak signal source emanating from the petri dish. It looks like they’re trying to transmit a signal."
"Signal transmission? Why are they doing that?" Zhang Heng, unable to contain his curiosity, finally asked.
Yao Yuan’s expression dropped. His Thinker power told him the answer to Zhang Heng’s question. "They’re telling the main body on Moon 2 to quickly attack because we have something that could greatly improve its evolution…
…the alien plants!"