Black Prince

"The Retired Emperor, the old emperor's father?"

The senior engineer blinked, took two steps back, and looked the nutrient capsule up and down. The nine dragons pulling the coffin, or rather, the nine dragons carved capsule, the 'dragons', or rather, the serpentine mythical creatures of this planet, were surrounded by various magnificent patterns, and next to the patterns were some ancient characters, like seal script.

It really is a top-quality coffin.

"The Emperor Emeritus's brains are here, but where is he?"

"When the retired emperor became the third-generation AI emperor, he already had no physical body."

In imperial states, the emperor undoubtedly holds supreme power, and the boundaries of that power are quite vast.

But as we all know, emperors are creatures with both a very high ceiling and a very low floor. They might be drawn by lottery to become a powerful figure who leads an era, or they might be drawn by a player who shows off their skills but ends up causing the downfall of their country and the extinction of their race.

Although the former is impressive, their later years are often bleak.

Therefore, in a first-level civilization, the "emperor" often transforms into a mascot, and his power is divided among political families, top-level civil servants, and super orators.

However, in Type II civilizations, as interstellar migration becomes more common, planetary territories expand, and populations grow exponentially, the emergence of super-political strongmen is a common phenomenon in order to maintain the cohesion of the civilization.

However, most of these super political strongmen are not "human," because humans have selfish motives, form cliques, and seek benefits for their descendants.

An emperor cannot have this kind of humanity.

The mechanical emperor is one example. The empire selects a suitable successor from among the electors, then performs semi-mechanical transformation, imprinting the policy objectives into the other person's brain like a mind imprint, while removing a part of his "personal feelings," and using high-tech means to mold him into a super leader.

996 is nothing. I, the Emperor, will set an example and show you what 007 is all about.

Once the "ruling task" of this phase is completed, the "emperor" will abdicate and free up his brain from the "emperor's engine," replacing it with a new bionic human body, and retire as appropriate.

The term "retired emperor" is an example of this.

According to Professor Han, during the reign of the retired emperor, large-scale rebellions or signs of secession occurred in the asteroid belt, extraterrestrial bases, and surrounding island nations. Therefore, the retired emperor's martial virtue was exceptionally abundant, and his "Emperor Model" was Conqueror Type 3, which is the highest level of war prosthetic body.

However, because he fought too fiercely and exhausted himself while in power, he suffered from cerebral palsy after stepping down and spent his time "recovering" at this research institute until he passed away.

"Interesting. So, the posthumous titles of mechanical emperors are based on their mecha models? The retired emperor is called the Conqueror Emperor, the old emperor is called the Giant Ship Emperor, and what about the crown prince?"

"The prince is called the Black Prince."

"Uh, why is he called the Black Prince? It sounds quite ominous."

"I'm just a researcher. You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Professor Han finally finished his work. He unplugged a connector from the data interface. The other end of the connector was an old-fashioned single-person network access module, which looked like Magneto's helmet. Its function was similar to a USB flash drive plus a local area network, except that it downloaded data not to a computer, but to the human brain.

"It's an old thing, the electrode plates are a bit leaky, but it still works."

The senior engineer took the helmet and put it on his head.

The next moment, a sea of experimental data and information flooded into my mind.

The sheer volume of information overwhelmed the senior engineer, leaving him dizzy, nauseous, and nearly crashing his computer.

Damn, can't this thing adjust the transmission speed?

The senior engineer immediately switched to 'information transmission' mode, and invisible tentacles appeared on his temples, instantly relieving the dizziness and headache.

Upon seeing this, Professor Han's lips curled into a smile.

The senior engineer gave him the middle finger; this guy definitely did it on purpose!

Information Transmission (Bio-Modification): The Brain in a Cylinder has given you powerful information reading abilities; your information processing speed is a hundred times faster than that of an ordinary person.

With a processing speed a hundred times faster, the senior engineer finally began to digest these classified documents.

[You have read the secret materials of the 'Brain Science Project,' and your 'Invasive Neuromodification Technology' has been upgraded to level 6.]

[You have read the secret materials of the 'Brain Science Project,' and your 'Invasive Neuromodification Technology' has been upgraded to level 7.]

[You have read the secret materials of the 'Brain Science Project,' and your 'Invasive Neuromodification Technology' has been upgraded to level 8.]

[You have read the secret documents of the 'Brain Science Project,' and your 'Invasive Neural Modification Technology' has been upgraded to level 10 (max)]

It took the senior engineer a full hour to digest this massive amount of data.

Professional knowledge acquired through external means without relying on experience is like rote learning and cannot unlock "professional characteristics".

However, the advantage is that it is not affected by job level.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see a few other labs, but they're not as safe as mine. They have some secret experiments that even I don't know about."

As a master of bionics, if Professor Han had a system panel, all his bionics knowledge would be at level 5 or higher, and in the areas he specializes in, his bionics knowledge could even reach level 8, level 9, or even the maximum level.

But that's not enough.

To unlock an entire "professional knowledge chain," all professional knowledge must be at the maximum level.

Before leaving, Gaia spread his hands apart, and a massive amount of spiritual power surged out. The next moment, all the brains quickly withered.

These neural circuits in the brain can contribute to its "virtual world".

Soon, the senior engineer followed Professor Han to the second large laboratory, which looked like a huge creature with its mouth open.

Before entering, the engineer suddenly turned his head and saw a head shrinking back from the corner of the wall.

It was a human face, but it seemed to have no eyes.

This large laboratory was divided into smaller laboratories, like a high-tech version of a corridor. In a core data room, they found only professional knowledge from level 1 to level 5.

According to Professor Han, these different types of laboratories are conducting "separation bionic experiments" in different directions.

These experiments will provide more experimental data for "biomimicry".

Soon, the senior engineer learned what "biomimicry of life" meant.

In a laboratory, the senior engineer saw countless "living" arms, hundreds of them. Some were crawling, some were moving their fingers, and some were rotating their wrists.

They are not mechanical, because each arm is made of "normal" flesh and blood.

But they weren't entirely prosthetics, because each arm gave him a feeling of being 'alive'.

A normal arm cannot be separated from the body, let alone remain in a normal state for decades.

The entire laboratory floor has been transformed into wireless charging pads, and it is clear that these arms rely on charging to maintain their 'neural circuits'.

"I participated in this research," Professor Han explained. "The research focuses on the self-sustaining model, specifically whether the various organs of the human body can reorganize into a life system after being separated from the body system."

"So this is what biomimicry is like," the senior engineer exclaimed, looking at Gaia.

Gaia stretched out her palm, and the next moment, all the hundreds of arms fell silent.

The senior engineer also found level 6 "life-inspired bionic data" in this laboratory.

After navigating through the laboratory filled with parts such as arms, thighs, chests, hearts, and fingers, the senior engineer finally gathered all the knowledge and materials related to "bionic life".

However, they weren't so lucky every time; the next laboratory was empty, with nothing inside.

"This is where the research on 'biomimicry of exchange' was conducted. At that time, the head of the laboratory was Zhang Hai, a famous biologist in the empire, and its research was a key project."

"What does this 'bionic exchange' mean? Is it exchanging hands and feet, or exchanging one's own head with someone else's?"

Professor Han shook his head. "It's not that simple. In fact, it's this research that makes me feel there's a possibility that your problem can be solved."

"Oh, what is that?" The senior engineer immediately became interested.

"The 'bionic exchange' involves the exchange of functions among the eight major systems of the human body: motor, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems."

The senior engineer blinked, and a bad thought popped into his mind.

Even someone as perverted as him felt somewhat disgusted.

"Is what you mean the way I think it is?"

"Yes."

"You mean, eating with your heart, giving birth with your fingers, excreting through neural networks, and controlling brain function with your bones?"

"Theoretically speaking, it is possible."

"According to your theory, your brain could also be filled with excrement."

"If nerve cells can digest food, then yes, they can."

The senior engineer was speechless for a long while before finally asking, "So what's the situation now?"

"All the experimental materials have disappeared, which doesn't seem like an outsider's doing," Professor Han pondered. "It might be a special kind of fusion phenomenon."

"What's the meaning."

"The biggest reason for rejection is the incompatibility between life forms, while 'exchange bionics' does the opposite, allowing the functions of each system to be interchanged, thereby greatly improving the 'degree of integration'. This integration can not only reduce rejection, but also lower the threshold for creating super life forms."

"You mean, all the biological materials here have fused into a super life form, hidden somewhere in this research institute?"

Professor Han remained calm. "There's another possibility: this super life form has already merged with the entire research institute, and we are inside its belly."

The senior engineer took a deep breath.

"I don't actually mind that 'it' pulled me out from the front door."

"I'm afraid that won't work."

"That's definitely not going to work."

The three senior engineers looked around and saw figures emerging from the stairs, the door, and the corner, surrounding them.

These people look exactly like the men in black from "Death God Elementary School Student"—hairless, naked, except they have no eyes and their skin is deathly pale.

"The appearance of this android is really poorly made."

"I'm complaining," the senior engineer remarked.

"This is a research institute, not a custom android shop," Professor Han said calmly.

"Is this the institute's defense system operating spontaneously, or is it the work of that super life form?"

"I don't know," Professor Han stepped back, patted the senior engineer on the shoulder, and said, "It's up to you."

The senior engineer also stepped back and patted "Little Woman No. 2" on the shoulder.

"It's up to you now."

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