Brain

The problem of adhesion had been solved, and the number of identical lifeforms being copied began to surge exponentially.

...Two... four... eight... sixteen...

As their numbers grew, many "shackles" were loosened as well. This further stimulated the lifeforms, driving them to replicate and divide into even more of their kind.

When the number of clustered replicas reached a certain threshold, the lifeform underwent an essential change.

"I... I am Huo Gu."

The lifeform—Huo Gu—finally gained a clear awareness of itself, completely breaking free from its previous muddled state.

At the same time, it had no choice but to accept the fact that it had become a "single-celled organism collective consciousness."

"No, perhaps I merely inherited the memories of that human called 'Huo Gu'..."

Huo Gu did not dwell on that question for long. I think, therefore I am. Only by existing in the present did it have the right to contemplate such wildly imaginative matters.

Right now, it had a far more pressing problem to solve.

It was the portion of genes implanted into this single-celled cluster's DNA by the temperate bacteriophage.

A temperate bacteriophage was still a bacteriophage in the end, not some benevolent entity, even if it was temperate.

What was a bacteriophage?

It was a virus specialized in infecting and invading microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, actinomycetes, and spirochetes—a terrifying killer in the microbial world.

The only difference from virulent bacteriophages was that temperate bacteriophages had a longer reaction cycle.

It was like poison: there were chronic poisons and fast-acting poisons. A chronic poison was not non-toxic or nonlethal; its toxic cycle merely took longer.

More fatal still, as the single cells divided, the temperate bacteriophages would infect the newly divided replicas. In other words, the entire cluster of single-celled organisms Huo Gu inhabited had already been infected.

Once the temperate bacteriophages entered their final lytic cycle, the single-celled organisms hosting Huo Gu would be finished as well.

And what would happen to Huo Gu after losing its host? The answer was obvious.

Then what should I do?

That question lay before Huo Gu, plunging it into deep thought.

Bacteria and viruses were fundamentally the same kind of thing: lifeforms built upon amino acids, merely with different modes of survival...

A gene chain was like the tape inside a recorder; only when connected as one could it perform its intended function...

"Though troublesome, this is the only feasible method."

Emerging from its contemplation, Huo Gu thought of a rather clumsy method—using DNA "unwinding" to gradually isolate the gene fragment responsible for replicating bacteriophages.

Before that, however, it needed to make some preparations.

First came the choice of experimental subject. Huo Gu did not select one of the single-celled organisms currently serving as its host. Instead, it directed an outermost replica to divide and produce a daughter cell.

After separating, that replica was directed by Huo Gu to press tightly against the clustered mass of single-celled organisms.

The daughter cell's DNA began to unwind. Huo Gu watched the process with intense focus, not daring to relax in the slightest for fear of missing some detail.

Then came partial transcription. Starting from the gene fragment that replicated the protein structure, the unwound section was transcribed outward toward both ends, expanding step by step.

"Careful... careful... I must be even more careful..."

Huo Gu warned itself over and over. If the incomplete fragments produced by transcription formed virulent bacteriophages, it would be extremely dangerous for it.

The first replication began. After producing a protein structure that could serve as a connecting bridge, all that followed were useless proteins. Though they connected with the transcribed bacteriophage tail, their form was merely a fuzzy spherical shell, completely unlike a bacteriophage's outer casing.

From this, Huo Gu determined that the gene chain on one end belonged to the DNA of the single-celled cluster currently serving as its host, and it focused even more intently on the other end.

The second replication began. This time, transcription did occur, but only the bacteriophage shell was produced; none of the bacteriophage's genes were replicated.

Huo Gu was not in a hurry. Experiments required sufficient patience. That was the basic quality of a researcher; working day after day, year after year, was normal.

The third replication began. The bases on the single-stranded gene chain spontaneously sought their partners to complete themselves. As amino acids gathered to form proteins, the bacteriophage finally began to take shape.

Three pairs of scaffold-like tails, along with the rocket-shaped protein container connected to them, were precisely the shell of that temperate bacteriophage.

The transcription continued. This time, the amino acids combined in a manner completely different from before, forming strands of single chains that independently completed their base pairings before entering the bacteriophage shells.

Huo Gu knew it had found the gene fragment it had expended so much effort searching for.

Yet before it could breathe a sigh of relief, what happened next made it tense again. Its greatest concern had still come to pass.

The single strand being replicated did not stop transcribing bacteriophage genes. The number of bacteriophages inside the daughter cell continued to increase, while the single DNA strand completely lost control, transcribing genes and manufacturing bacteriophages at all costs.

Clearly, these were virulent bacteriophages—the type of bacteriophage that posed the greatest threat to Huo Gu.

Huo Gu could roughly guess what had happened. The bacteriophage gene replication was still incomplete, and it was precisely this incompleteness that had transformed the temperate bacteriophages into virulent ones.

At this rate, the virulent bacteriophages would gradually burst through the cell membrane from within, then infect other single-celled organisms, repeating the cycle of "infect-replicate-burst."

And the first to bear the brunt would be the single-celled cluster Huo Gu inhabited.

Fortunately, Huo Gu had prepared safeguards in advance in case the experiment went wrong.

"Move away from us."

Huo Gu issued the command to the daughter cell, which had not formed a connection with the single-celled cluster.

The daughter cell, packed full of bacteriophages, immediately broke off its state of adhesion. Riding the forces erupting all around in the darkness, it sped away from Huo Gu and vanished.

Huo Gu did not remain idle either. Taking advantage of those erupting forces, it quickly moved in the opposite direction.

After an unknown amount of time, after traveling an unknown distance, the single-celled cluster finally stopped moving once Huo Gu believed it was truly safe.

The matter was far from over. Up to this point, it had merely been gathering information for the next step.

Huo Gu fixed its target on a daughter cell from a certain single-celled cluster.

Next, it would perform "surgery" and save itself.

(Please bookmark! Please vote! OwO)