Biotechnology Was Far Too Weak

All the crystallites in Hati's star system were swept up in one net. This enormous number of crystallites was divided into three groups and imprisoned inside three planetary organisms.

Even long after the battle ended, Bahadun'er could not forget that scene.

A gigantic solid planet covered in swamps split open along its equator. A planetary maw formed by immense psionic power acting upon the planet itself swallowed the crystallites, which had been gathered together and restrained by psionic power, in one brief, swift bite.

By the time Bahadun'er came back to its senses, it was already trapped in lightless darkness.

This darkness was unusual. It truly could not perceive a single photon. Based only on its earlier memories, it confirmed that the crystallites had been imprisoned inside a planetary organism.

While Bahadun'er surveyed its surroundings, Lu Shang was also examining Bahadun'er's crystallite.

"According to physical analysis, the basic structure of this crystallite differs from the Swarm's cellular structure. A central core serves as the control center, wrapped in a mass of synthetic matter. It remains fluid when unstressed, but immediately hardens upon even the slightest stimulation..."

He patiently listened as the other Overminds and Hives explained the results of their dissection and analysis after acquiring the crystallites.

Like other organisms, crystallites possessed fundamental units that made up their bodies.

But these fundamental units were completely different from the Swarm's cells. They had no cytoplasm, nucleus, or cell membrane. Instead, they consisted of a slightly magnetic center that controlled a mass of non-Newtonian fluid which hardened when stimulated.

To Lu Shang, it felt more like microscopic machinery.

But it would not be accurate to say crystallites were made of nanomachines. Once a machine ran out of energy, it merely stopped and could resume operating once energy was supplied again. Once life ran out of energy, however, it directly lost its vitality.

The fundamental units of these crystallites likewise could not lose the energy that maintained their vitality. Otherwise, the units would die. From that perspective, crystallites fit the same definition as ordinary organisms—life fed on negative entropy.

Lu Shang thought for a moment, then curiously asked, "Then how do they maintain their vitality?"

"Through electric current."

"Electric current?" Lu Shang looked surprised. Among the organisms he knew of, there were practically none that directly used electric current to operate their fundamental units.

Those that directly ran on electricity were robots.

Overmind Kasha explained, "Many cilia-like structures float within the synthetic matter surrounding the control center. These cilia are magnetic and are affected by the control center's weak magnetism, normally radiating outward. This allows the energy needed to maintain the crystallite's vitality to travel from the center to the exterior even if its basic structure completely hardens."

"This kind of structure can be integrated into the Swarm, right?" Lu Shang asked with interest. If direct electricity could maintain vitality, it sounded excellent no matter how he looked at it.

What if they could break free from the constraints of their current chemical biology and achieve mechanical ascension?

The Overminds, who had been enthusiastically explaining just moments ago, all fell silent. For a time, they did not know how to answer Lu Shang.

The Hives, on the other hand, did not overthink things. One of them answered, "I'm afraid that won't work. This is an entirely different life system. Even the expression of genetic information is different. Furthermore, the suitable temperature threshold for the crystallites' basic structure is three times higher than that of Swarm cells. Falling below that threshold means losing vitality. Temperature alone makes it impossible for the genetic material of the two to be grafted together."

Crystallites also had genetic material and could reproduce, but their genetic material was not carbon-based genes with a helical structure. If one had to describe it, it could barely be considered iron-based.

Moreover, this iron base differed somewhat from traditional chemical molecules. Part of its genetic information was stored within the iron lattice formed by the genetic material, in a manner somewhat similar to a mechanical hard drive.

How could their genes be extracted completely?

And after extraction, how could they be expressed through the Swarm's genetic methods?

Could forcibly grafted genetic material express cellular vitality?

Then there was the temperature threshold suitable for maintaining vitality. Genetic material could be affected by temperature. If the temperature was too high, it would be damaged; if it was too low, it would lose its vitality.

The temperature at which crystallite genetic material maintained vitality was three times that of Swarm genes. If Swarm genes were heated to the same temperature as crystallite genetic material, they would be destroyed. Conversely, if crystallite genetic material was cooled to the same temperature as Swarm genes, it would lose vitality and become no different from ordinary metal compounds.

What could they do?

After quietly learning from the Hives why it could not be done, Lu Shang remained silent for a long time. Several times, he seemed to want to say something, only to fall silent again.

At last, Lu Shang let out a deep sigh and said, "...I originally thought that although the Babel Swarm of the past had been working in the wrong direction, it had at least achieved some results through all that effort—such as powerful biotechnology."

"Are you planning to completely deny every effort the Swarm made in the past?"

The Hives: "???"

Lu Shang continued, "You have a lifeform like this right in front of you. Just because the temperature at which its basic structure remains active is three times higher than the Swarm's, just because its genetic material does not belong to the same life system as the Swarm's, its biology cannot be absorbed by the Swarm. That means the biotechnology the Swarm focused on developing throughout its entire history was only mediocre at best."

"..."

The Hives, only now realizing the implication, fell silent. The Overminds, who had long expected Lu Shang to rebuke them, were even quieter than before.

Lu Shang did not care. He continued, "If a lifeform with a crystallite structure like this cannot have its genetic material absorbed by the Swarm, what happens when the Swarm encounters even more extreme forms of life in the future? Plasma life, electronic life, condensed-matter life, microscopic particle life, and so on? What should the Swarm do then? Can it absorb the genetic information of those lifeforms and use it to optimize itself?"

"Can it? It can't, can it?" Lu Shang asked.

The Babel Swarm: "..."

Lu Shang asked, "Did the Babel Swarm of the past expect every lifeform in the universe to be just like itself—carbon-based, or at least some other type of life with only minor biological differences, whose genetic material could be easily absorbed?"

"Did the Swarm expect every lifeform it encountered to necessarily be a molecular-structured lifeform? To use genetic material expressed in the same way? To maintain cellular vitality within roughly the same temperature range?"

"I've truly tried my best to underestimate the Babel Swarm of the past. Are you still going to keep lowering the limits of my understanding?"

"Surely not?"

Only silence filled the Swarm network.

Had this been human society, Lu Shang would have already been shouted down by countless people—things like, "You're not an expert in that field, so why meddle so much?"

But the Swarm was different. Though they were foolish, they were not good at making so many excuses. Once a problem had been pointed out, they could only acknowledge it.

So the Swarm could only answer Lu Shang's string of questions with silence.

Lu Shang said, "I told you before: what the Swarm needs is not some exceptionally capable individual to lead it. The Swarm needs more individuals willing to think about its future and seek progress through thought."

"You Overminds and Hives should not be saying that something cannot be done. You should use your brains and think about what must be done to achieve what was previously impossible. If you do not do it, no one will. Then one day, the Babel Swarm will perish as a species. Understand?"

"If you understand, then hurry up and get it done!"

With Lu Shang's command, the entire Babel Swarm became busy once more.