Chapter 199: Living Relic!

The control room, carrying Cangyuan’s elite squad, descended rapidly in a straight line, picking up speed.

200 meters, 500 meters,

When the depth exceeded 1.5 kilometers, the concrete outside the control room window turned into transparent pipes. A massive underground space appeared before everyone's eyes.

Click, click, click!

The searchlights on the outside of the pipes turned on one by one, casting strong beams into the depths of the underground space.

Everyone was too astonished to speak, for they saw the most shocking scene in the game “Star Sea” to date: a colossal “aquarium” at least two kilometers deep!

Suspended within that aquarium was a strange, deep purple object. It had an elegant spindle shape, approximately 700 meters high and 100 meters wide. Its surface was covered by an extremely thick carapace, and numerous unidentified cables connected to its sides and rear.

All these cables converged towards a control console directly below it.

“What—what is that thing?”

No sooner had Black Smoke’s voice faded than the mysterious object awakened! Multiple cracks appeared on its surface, its carapace unfolded, and from the cracks emerged a dozen thick, fleshy tentacles, along with a purple eye so large it instilled an instinctive fear!

“That’s—a Superorganism! How could there be one hidden here too?! It’s even bigger than the one we first saw!”

Ye Xing exclaimed.

No one refuted his judgment.

On this planet, only a Superorganism could possess such a massive physique. If a Radiant Dragon were placed beside this creature, it would be as miniature as a figurine toy.

“Holy crap, why is it staring at us?! Executive Officer, I don’t feel safe here! Should we return to the surface?”

“No need.”

Lu Yuan remained calm, observing carefully.

“Look, with its size and the movement capabilities of those tentacles, it shouldn’t be difficult for it to break free from the cables behind it, yet it’s very well-behaved.”

Indeed...

Everyone came to their senses.

Compared to the Superorganism they first encountered, this one was somewhat overly docile; it lacked that fierce temperament.

If the previous underwater Superorganism felt like a “beast,” then the one before them made one instinctively think of a “Scholar.”

“Let’s continue downwards!” Lu Yuan decided.

Thus, the players gradually approached the Infinite Deep Space and the greatest secret of this jungle planet.

Minutes later, the control room reached the very bottom.

Ahead was a long steel-structured gangway, extending all the way beneath the gigantic “Scholar,” whose body and tentacles combined exceeded 1200 meters in length. At its end was the mysterious control console, seen from above, to which all the unidentified cables were connected.

Prairie led the team out of the control room first. After confirming there was no danger in the surroundings, Lu Yuan led everyone, striding towards the control console.

The holographic screen on the control console was as large as a classroom, but at this moment, it only displayed a short line of text.

【Gaia Main Brain v1.0】

The players were utterly bewildered.

Only Lu Yuan, who had a private conversation with Sasha, knew what these words meant!

Could it be that the perfect Gaia species, dreamed of by the Infinite Deep Space radicals, had already been created 2800 years ago? Was this creature before him it? And it was the highest-grade, rarest individual of the decision-making Main Brain level!?

Infinite Deep Space is actually so strong—no, this doesn’t align with a lot of previous intelligence details...

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and typed a line.

【Hello, we mean no harm. Could you explain your origin?】

Lines of text information then appeared on the screen.

It turned out that the reason Infinite Deep Space’s radical faction chose Emerald Star to build their research institute was not a random choice.

The universe is vast, vast enough to accommodate all sorts of “miracles.” Long before humans visited, the ideal Gaia species already existed on Emerald Star.

Approximately 10 billion years ago, Emerald Star’s ecosystem was even more flourishing than it is now. At that time, it was not a jungle planet, but a more terrifying “mycelial planet,” its surface covered by several kilometers of thick organic matter.

Within the voids of these sponge-like fungi, conflict and predation occurred at extremely high frequencies, spurring incredibly rapid evolution. Ultimately, a hive-like swarm that shared consciousness through psionics gradually established itself as the dominant species, mastering controllable evolution.

Over the next tens of thousands of years, they completely consumed the mycelial mat on Emerald Star’s surface, evolving into gigantic, kilometer-sized bodies, and no longer had any natural predators.

The puddles on Emerald Star’s surface, exceeding 10 kilometers in depth, were the larval incubation sites excavated by these creatures.

Afterward, the most completely evolved subspecies chose to leave Emerald Star, traveling as biological warships into the depths of space in search of more food; other less completely evolved and slightly smaller subspecies remained on Emerald Star, falling into dormancy due to extreme food shortages.

They were the “Superorganisms” that nearly swallowed Lu Yuan whole, and their relationship with their close relatives who flew into space is similar to that between apes and humans.

The two have high genetic similarity, but their strength is vastly different.

10 years later, the Infinite Deep Space radicals landed. They were fortunate enough to find a “Swarm Main Brain” that, for some unknown reason, had not followed its kin into space.

The entity was unusually docile and even expressed a willingness to cooperate with humans to explore the mysteries of science.

Infinite Deep Space, in turn, developed curiosity and goodwill towards this highly intelligent “Main Brain,” helping it undergo cybernetic modification, strengthening it into its current appearance.

During the process, the cybernetic modifications greatly increased the “Main Brain’s” psionic output, which accidentally led to the awakening of the dormant Superorganisms.

Bug-like creatures that love scientific research! The world truly is full of wonders...

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but inwardly complain. He immediately asked the other party the reason for their love of scientific research.

The Main Brain’s answer was very concise, only four words.

【This is the Right Path】

No further explanation.

Alright, I’ll believe you for now.

Lu Yuan: 【Understood. Now, please continue to explain the system’s functions.】

Gaia Main Brain v1.0: 【This is an automated scientific research system. The system’s main body is a Main Brain-level Gaia creature, and the attachments are artificial psionic nodes that serve for interaction and auxiliary computation.】

【When the system is activated, the user only needs to input a research topic. The Main Brain will use quantum communication to contact all species on the planet with psionic potential, transmit genetic code to them, and then automatically complete the research topic using evolutionary algorithms.】

“This, this, this…” Ye Xing scratched his head through his helmet, “Do you all understand?”

Everyone spread their hands.

Don’t mention you guys, even I’m confused...

Lu Yuan continued to complain inwardly while typing.

【Suppose I want to develop armor that can defend against lasers. How would the Main Brain system operate? Please explain in the simplest terms possible.】

Currently, “Qinling” class frigates are confident in defending against kinetic weapons due to their kinetic energy shields, but lack countermeasures against high-energy lasers.

To test whether this system is useful, he would use this topic to gauge its capabilities.

The system AI thought for a few seconds, then replied.

【The plan is as follows】

【Use multiple different types of laser weapons to hunt local creatures.】

【Attacked creatures will upload combat information via psionic links. Artificial node devices will filter this information and upload it to the Main Brain.

The Main Brain continuously refines genes, allowing the hunted species to quickly evolve anti-laser shields.】

【The higher the frequency of laser hunting, the faster the research speed.】

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? So it means turning Emerald Star into a super-sized training ground!”

It had to be admitted, Ye Xing was indeed quick to accept new things.

“The monsters in the training ground will gradually develop resistance to lasers. When their resistance is maxed out, we just catch any monster, pin it down, scan it, and we’re done!”

“It’s that simple?” Black Smoke felt refreshed after hearing this. “Wow, if this is true, it completely subverts traditional scientific research...”

Lu Yuan was also very pleasantly surprised.

This was the directed evolution of Gaia species that Sasha had mentioned earlier! The steps were identical, except that under human guidance, the results could be used individually, still serving traditional scientific research.

It hadn’t reached the radical extent of full species genetic ascension yet.

It had to be said, it was indeed very cunning!

【Can the spatial range of directed evolution be controlled?】

While the research idea was good, if it made the already fierce Emerald Star creatures too difficult to deal with, that wouldn’t work either!

【Absolutely. You can delineate the effective range of the evolutionary algorithm on the map. After research is complete, you can also choose to revert to initial genes to avoid accidental losses.】

Lu Yuan: 【Can multiple ranges be delineated simultaneously for different research projects?】

Gaia Main Brain v1.0: 【Yes, but this will inevitably reduce research speed.】

Lu Yuan: 【That’s not a big problem. Can animals be kept away from specific areas?】

Gaia Main Brain v1.0: 【Partially feasible. The Main Brain can control the ecosystem, but cannot regulate all behaviors of all individual organisms.】

That’s enough!

As long as harmful creatures can be driven away, safe zones can be created, and Cangyuan can build its own true camp in this jungle.

The repair of the Infinite Deep Space Research Institute can also be put on the agenda.

Furthermore, with the Main Brain’s psionic communication capabilities, the entire planet could be transformed into a massive instance dungeon.

Different areas of the instance dungeon would have different monster configurations to better suit players of different levels and combat styles, allowing them all to have fun and level up efficiently.

And all the corpses of the instance dungeon monsters could yield more or less zero element!

Troop training, scientific research, and resource development, all in one!

The discovery in the deepest part of the ruins completely changed Emerald Star’s perception in the eyes of the Executive Officer and the players, transforming it from a cruel green hell into a brilliant emerald treasure!

Lu Yuan realized that this planet was already a vital asset in Cangyuan’s hands, with potential no less than Li Star. In the future, more people would definitely be called upon,

To develop it vigorously!

As pride swelled in his heart, system messages appeared in the corner of his vision.

【Archaeological Site Time Ended, Obtained Interstellar Relic: Heart of Emerald Star! Relic Rating: Legendary (Level 3)】

【Achievement Unlocked: Someone Always Wakes Up Earlier Than You; Discovered an Intelligent Species Older Than Humanity, Gained 5 Exchange Points】

【Achievement Unlocked: Apocalypse Catastrophe Investigation—Evolutionary Apex; Discovered a Species That Has Mastered the Mystery of Autonomous Evolution, Gained 5 Exchange Points】