Strictly speaking, Professor Gao understood his scheme best. After all, without him, his "Brain in a Vat" project would already have succeeded.
With over a hundred lives offered as sacrifices, he would have had no complaints even if the other party had executed him on the spot.
"You don't hate me?"
"Hate you? Why? The people who died were from your Cable Tribe, and the little women who became brain toilets had nothing to do with me."
Professor Han's eyes grew complicated. "Is that so? I thought someone as righteous as you would avenge the dead."
Righteous? Me?
Professor Gao's head filled with question marks. Weren't those two words opposites?
Oh.
Professor Gao understood.
Helping when he encountered injustice.
Sending free food to the tribe many times.
And finally, after hearing about the mad scientist's "brain-in-a-vat experiment," coming here without hesitation and risking his life to save people.
Put that way, even Professor Gao was moved by himself.
What a good person!
If not for the quest rewards and his subjugation plan, he might almost have believed it.
Ahem. Since the other party thought so highly of him, he shouldn't shatter that beautiful fantasy.
Professor Gao put on a solemn expression. "Do you think that, for the sake of visions that only look beautiful, it's acceptable to sacrifice other people?"
"I..." Professor Han opened and closed his mouth. After a long while, he said, "Great endeavors are forged through sacrifice. Someone once told me that."
"So, without obtaining their consent, you treated them as lab rats. It seems you never regarded them as intelligent beings equal to yourself."
"You considered yourself superior, and naturally made others pave the way according to your plans."
"But you ignored whether the tides of the era needed someone like you to guide them, and whether your scientific achievements could support your fantasies."
"Your accumulation of scientific knowledge, in this desolate radioactive zone, gradually nurtured arrogance, greed, and vanity—the seven deadly sins within you."
"In this backward tribe, you treated yourself as a god. Gods can't be wrong, can they?"
Professor Han covered his head in pain.
"How did I fall this far? Science shouldn't become a new theology."
"I'm a sinner!"
Professor Gao quietly curled his lips.
It wasn't just him. As the technology tree rose, all civilizations that had yet to ascend would breed large numbers of thoughts like these.
The rapid development and expansion of civilization, the emergence and spread of new technologies, accelerated planetary migration, the weakening of species identity, and the appearance of new theories of life.
At a certain point, the gap between people would no longer be a matter of belonging to the same species.
Would you consider a dog one of your kind?
Really, during the development of low-level civilizations, there would inevitably be many people who thought this way. They could be political leaders, technological heroes, genetic slave owners, or heads of megacorporations.
Genetic enhancement, biological modification, hive technology, super-life, dimensional transformation—the genetic links between species would be broken without mercy.
What remained in the end was the liberation of oneself from the constraints of morality and ethics.
And by then, it would no longer be a split on the social level, but a split on the civilizational level.
To break this "curse," there was only one way: ascension, and ascension on the level of civilization.
Using supertechnology that covered an entire civilization to reshape the lifeforms of primitive species.
Ahem, that was getting off track.
The reason Professor Gao felt no disgust toward the other party, much less condemned him morally, was that, frankly speaking, he had done plenty of similar things in his previous life.
For example, while trying to move the reproductive system into the virtual world, he had accidentally erased the primary sexual characteristics of an intelligent species.
Although he later sent them hundreds of millions of virtual sensory machines to make up for that minor mistake—with better and more lasting results—
those people had actually taken him to the Civilizational Court, claiming he was a civilization-extinction-level criminal.
That was completely unreasonable.
What did species inheritance matter?
Weren't paper wives wonderful?
Or he had transformed an asexually reproducing species into a sexually reproducing one, and a sexually reproducing species into an asexually reproducing one.
Ahem. Technical adjustments. Completely technical adjustments. Definitely not a product defect.
Compared with him, Professor Han's little operation wasn't that he looked down on it...
Fine, he absolutely looked down on it.
On the surface, however, Professor Gao said solemnly, "If death can atone for one's sins, then what do the people who are still alive count as?"
"Searching for light in the darkness and hope in despair—isn't that what life is all about?"
"The knowledge you possess could play a much greater role. Are you really going to give up now?"
Professor Han inhaled deeply several times before saying firmly, "I understand. At least for as long as I'm still alive, I'll do everything I can to help the tribe—and you."
"Someone who came from the age of civilization should be like this!"
Professor Gao nodded in satisfaction.
"Then please introduce these things to me."
As Professor Han explained, Professor Gao gradually understood the functions of these organs and the body parts where they could be transplanted.
The blade limb was an almost two-meter-long structure that was half wing and half blade. A biological neural cable at the wing root could connect to a prosthetic interface.
The problem was that humans without enhanced neural modifications couldn't support this "high-amplitude flight mode."
Therefore, there were only two possibilities. The first was to remove its wings and turn it into a purely bladed limb.
After all, in terms of sharpness, a biological blade was in no way inferior to the "Red Unicorn."
The second was to do the opposite: remove the blade limb and implant membranous wings. These wings could perform "short-distance high-altitude gliding" and "speed enhancement," making them the biological equivalent of a human glider.
The only problem was that wings without blade limbs were relatively fragile. They were also too large, and installing them would turn him into a "birdman."
The biological iron armor was the Reaper Queen's shell. Professor Gao tested it, and the armor provided at least +100 defense. No wonder it had been so difficult to cut through.
If the biological iron armor were implanted, it would come with an "Armor Recovery" ability.
At least he wouldn't have to worry about it becoming unusable.
If the biological modification succeeded completely, it should also come with a "Reinforced Repair" skill. During battle, it would draw a large amount of stamina in exchange for faster movement and armor repairs.
The electronic tentacles came with radar functions and could connect to other mechanical bio-beasts.
The subcutaneous blood pump was a good thing, equivalent to a mobile blood bag.
The sensory knees needed no explanation. An ordinary Reaper weighed at least five hundred pounds. Combined with the gravitational acceleration from dropping out of the sky, an ordinary knee would have exploded upon landing.
Of these five biological organs, the first things Professor Gao abandoned were the "blade limb modification" and the "biological iron armor."
There was no other reason. Both contained a certain degree of mechanical components. If they caused the "mechanical modification rate" of his motor system to exceed ten percent, he would be finished.
He still intended to follow the carbon-based path.
Of the remaining three, Professor Gao first abandoned the electronic tentacles. There was no other reason: the thing was simply too ugly.
A sticky tentacle might possibly come in handy later, but he didn't want a little feeler stuck in his forehead. He wasn't about to become a cockroach man.
Besides, the electronic tentacles' functions overlapped with those of a cyber-eye to some extent. There was no need for them at all.
The subcutaneous blood pump and sensory knees were genuinely excellent. Not only were their effects good, but the best part was that they were completely unnoticeable after biological modification.
He wouldn't even need cosmetic surgery.
Professor Han then introduced three modifiable systems.
The reason system modification was more troublesome than organ transplantation was that modifying a system wasn't like replacing a part—cut it out, put in the new one, and be done.
The biological system had to be modified into a system mode that the human body could adapt to before being installed. The complexity was a hundred times greater than that of organ transplantation.
Moreover, system modification wasn't as straightforward as organ modification.
It had more possibilities, but also greater risks.
Professor Gao didn't even look at it before eliminating the reproductive system modification. The reason? Did that even need an explanation?
"The greatest characteristic of a Reaper's circulatory system is its immortality. Unless it's killed outright and every trace of vitality is removed..." Professor Han gave Professor Gao a strange look as he said this.
Professor Gao remained calm.
"In theory, even if its head is cut off, there's still a certain probability that it can grow back."
"In other words, its body has no vital weak points."
"Exactly. Its circulatory system can sever the vessels of any damaged organ at any time and form a new circulation."
Professor Gao rubbed his neck. "So if the modification succeeds, can I grow my head back even if it's chopped off?"
"Uh, that's impossible. After all, you're only being biologically modified. You're not a true Reaper."
"However, if a battlefield doctor performs a restorative operation shortly after your head is cut off, it should be possible to save you."
"Oh. What else?"
"There's also a severed-limb regeneration mode. Of course, at most, this only applies to severed fingers. If an arm or leg is chopped off, the result is the same as with the head."
"In other words, miniature organ regeneration."
"That's right."
"Anything else?"
"Reapers also have a self-mutilation phenomenon. This occurs mostly among arthropods. Simply put, it's intra-species predation, which causes the aggressor to enter a state of 'excitement.'"
"You mean that if I hunt mechanical bio-beasts in the future, I'll receive a status boost?"
"In theory, yes. But I can't determine whether this 'excitement' only targets Reapers, or all mechanical bio-beasts in the mantis order of the insect class."
"To summarize: organ vital-point removal, miniature limb regeneration, and an intra-species hunting boost."
"That's right."
Professor Gao nodded. "Introduce the next one."
It seemed as though he had returned to his days of research. Professor Han rarely became excited, and his voice rose several pitches.
"A Reaper's digestive system is like that of other Reapers. It can restore a certain amount of stamina by consuming metal."
"Mm. Metal digestion."
"Like the previous intra-species hunting ability, digesting the corpses of its own kind can also produce an 'excited effect.'"
"An intra-species predation boost." Professor Gao smacked his lips. "I've never had much of an appetite."
"And its greatest characteristic is the externalization of its digestive organs."
"Externalization? What does that mean?"
Professor Han led Professor Gao to a nutrient tank. Inside were a section of blade limb and a section of claw.