Inside a specialized cultivation tank.
A vast patch of coral was growing under the effects of hormones and nutrient solution, at dozens of times the speed of ordinary coral.
In reality, this coral could no longer be called coral. It was a kind of composite organism.
The part of the Photon coral resembling an oyster mushroom was cut away. This was the Photon coral's chip organ, built around a framework of calcium and silicon crystals, with densely packed hard proteins and various specialized cells inside.
Li Qingye placed it under a microscope and carefully examined its surface structure, then used various lasers to stimulate the light-sensitive cells on its surface.
Under the laser stimulation, the biochip began to change.
In fact, Li Qingye had specially designed these lasers by adapting the signal transmission methods used in existing optical fibers.
Unlike mass-produced electronic chips, Photon biological chips had irregular internal structures, meaning that no two biochips were alike.
Drawing on techniques for optical-fiber transmission and encoding, he repeatedly tested each biochip's storage capacity, processing core, external ports, and other features.
Since every biochip was different, each one had to undergo a test run to identify its functional structures.
Electronic chips faced a similar issue: during photolithography, some circuits and structures might end up defective, even though the rest of the chip remained usable.
To avoid waste, such chips were given secondary processing and used as lower-grade products.
The biochip before Li Qingye was in much the same situation. He had to identify its unusable sections and disable those structures.
So far, only five biochips had completed testing.
Even so, their computing power was impressive. The five tested biochips had an average operating speed of 230 to 450 million calculations per second. And that was with 60 to 70 percent of their structures grown incorrectly. Otherwise, they could have surpassed the billion-per-second mark.
The biochips consumed very little energy. Measured in terms of blood sugar, a full day of operation used an amount equivalent to 4 to 8 percent of an average person's daily blood sugar consumption.
That was with them running at full power. In low-power mode, consumption could be cut by about half.
The biochips also had a very high storage capacity, averaging 150 to 250 terabytes so far.
Li Qingye rubbed his eyes. They felt dry, clearly a side effect of spending so long looking through a microscope.
I'll have to find another way. I can't keep inspecting biochips by hand. A few are manageable, but if production scales up, I'll ruin my eyes, he thought helplessly.
But when he looked at the biochips in the sealed petri dish beside him, he felt a surge of satisfaction.
Each biochip was about the size of a one-yuan coin, its surface shimmering with iridescent colors. Those weren't the chip's actual colors, but light reflected by its structure.
It was like a butterfly in nature. A butterfly's wings didn't actually have such vivid colors; rather, their tiny nanostructures reflected different wavelengths of light, making them appear brilliantly colored.
Over the next several days, he gradually assembled ten biochips and finished installing the system and software.
The system on the biochips was one he had developed himself, piece by piece. He had named it the Fuxi System.
The software consisted of only [Soldier], [Daily Life], [Martial Arts], [Weapon Mastery], [Expression Management], and [Interpersonal Communication].
The Soldier program was an Artificial Intelligence that managed and operated the entire system.
Of course, the chips still needed some specialized peripherals.
These included a USB interface for connecting to other devices and transmitting data, devices for controlling the brain's hormone and pheromone levels, and connections to nerve cells.
Although these components had been developed, they had only been tested on animals so far, and the results were mediocre at best.
But Li Qingye desperately needed manpower, so he had to make do.
May 19.
He began the experimental subjects' second round of modifications.
After anesthetizing a subject, he cut open the top of his skull. Then, on the removed bone flap, he carved a special shape that fit the biochip perfectly.
Next, he connected the biological optical fiber and gradually assembled various biological peripherals—biological functional components modified from parasites and microorganisms. These included a hormone generator, a pheromone generator, a blood-sugar power supply, a neuron connector, and a data interface in the external auditory canal.
Since they were all made from biological materials, these peripherals were not only extremely discreet and difficult to detect with ordinary tests, but could also repair themselves. That way, if something broke, he wouldn't have to open the skull again to replace it.
After the surgery, he used a rapid bone-repair solution to erase the traces. It was a substance extracted from Genetically Modified Coral. Mixed with bone powder, it could rapidly repair bone, making the surgical incisions undetectable by ordinary medical equipment.
The incisions in the skin also needed treatment. Although they were hidden beneath the hair, that alone wasn't enough.
He took out a special hormone extracted from Genetically Modified sea cucumbers and used it, along with other auxiliary drugs, to stimulate the wounds to heal faster.
As long as he kept injecting it into the skin tissue around the incisions, the scars would be nearly invisible after about twenty days.
For a full week, he performed surgeries, modifying all seven experimental subjects.
The first subject, Baffart, had almost fully recovered by then.
A specially made fiber-optic cable was inserted into Baffart's left ear, and a virtual interface appeared on Li Qingye's computer screen.
This was the Fuxi System's virtual interface.
[Initiate Soldier No. 00001]
[Please set a password...]
Li Qingye renamed Soldier No. 00001 to Soldier-Baffart, then saved information about Baffart in the soldier's history log.
Compared to ordinary Artificial Intelligence, soldiers had one advantage: they still had a brain, though one stripped of emotion.
The brain wasn't unusable. It had simply lost its emotions and desires. The soldier's purpose was now to replace natural emotions and desires.
The soldier's underlying logic was very simple: loyalty to Li Qingye.
"Baffart."
"Here, boss." Baffart saluted stiffly.
"Pour me a glass of water."
"Understood."
Baffart soon brought him a glass of plain water.
As he tested Baffart's ability to react to different situations, Li Qingye adjusted the soldier's operating model.
He also continued filling its database. The biochip had a vast storage capacity—about 203 terabytes—more than enough to store basic knowledge and other information.
The soldier's most important program was its operating model, also known as simulated thinking.
It contained a series of preset scenarios. Whenever a soldier encountered a corresponding situation, he would respond according to the scenario.
For example, if someone offered Baffart money, he would smile and accept it. If the person then asked him to do something, he would say he needed time to consider it, while secretly recording the request and periodically reporting it to Li Qingye.
Li Qingye had preset more than a thousand simulated scenarios for the soldiers. If they encountered a situation not covered by one of those scenarios, they would analyze it and choose one of thirty general templates to get through the situation for the time being, then report what had happened to him.
The scenarios he had set up could already handle the vast majority of situations.
Besides, the soldiers' databases and programs could be updated. The longer they were used, the more comprehensive they would become.
What's more, Li Qingye didn't need them to negotiate business deals or conduct research. He only needed them to monitor things internally and protect him. The first-generation soldiers would have to do.
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