Chapter 274: Simulated Universe · Universal Locust Plague (9)

""Heita, when the universal locust plague first broke out, wasn't there any civilization that tried to resist?""

"From Xing's perspective, the locust plague is indeed terrifying, but its spread was almost too 'smooth'. In history, the universal locust plague lasted only a few Amber Ages, and in a few hundred years it swept the entire universe, no longer describable merely as 'cutting down the weak and crushing the strong'."

""I understand what you mean, Xing, but your question only shows that your grasp of the concept of breeding is not deep enough. — Of course, that's not your fault; after all, incorporating inorganic life into the scope of breeding is indeed something that defies ordinary reasoning.""

Teyvat, Mondstadt.

Inside a cave somewhere on Dragonspine, the alchemy platform glowed with a faint blue light. Shatang was diligently recording Ms. Heita's remarks, occasionally looking up at the teacher she was observing in the experiment, her face showing puzzled confusion.

""Organic life? Inorganic life?" Shatang stopped her pen, trying to understand these two similar yet completely opposite unfamiliar terms."

""Probably they refer to living objects and lifeless objects, right?" Abei Duo set down his test tube and explained calmly."

Shatang adjusted her slipping glasses, the ice crystals on the lenses fluttering down: "But, Teacher Abei Duo, Ms. Heita said that incorporating lifeless things into the scope of breeding means that even items like stones and machines could reproduce like small animals. That's just too…"

"... far too unreasonable."

After witnessing the locust plague that swept countless planets, Shatang formed an initial judgment about its outrageous scale, a judgment still within the bounds of her scholarly understanding. But having inorganic matter undergo breeding… she recognized each character individually, yet the combined meaning eluded her.

If it's about creating life from inorganic matter, Teacher Abei Duo, who is profoundly skilled in Alchemy, could achieve it, but having stones give birth to stones, machines give birth to machines, and so on…

""Teacher Abei Duo, can such a thing really be done?""

Abei Duo's expression turned thoughtful: "If you create life using white ash (the primordial material of the First People) and then grant that life the function of breeding, that could be achieved with Alchemy. However, any breeding requires the presence of 'life' as an indispensable prerequisite."

""Breeding without life… Sorry, Shatang, I can't even imagine what that would look like.""

Honkai 3.

"Puff—!"

During lunch at Saint Freya Academy, when Qiana heard Ms. Heita describe inorganic life undergoing breeding, she almost couldn't hold back a spray of milk from her mouth.

""Inorganic life? Isn't that just machines? Could robots even have children? How could that be possible?" Qiana wiped the milk from the corner of her mouth. She imagined two robots using breeding to produce a small robot… that image was indeed a bit abstract."

""…It really is hard to imagine." Beside her, Jizi also showed an incredulous expression, "Inorganic life possessing intelligence isn't surprising, but breeding is a function unique to organic life. Merging organic with inorganic… sounds a lot like magic from a novel.""

Yayi set down her chopsticks, closed the lunchbox that had barely moved due to nausea, and glanced at the densely packed swarm of insects across the sky: "But I think the very act of 'humans giving birth to insects' is already like magic."

""But there is a world of difference between organic and inorganic life—""

Jizi was about to continue when she suddenly heard Qiana let out a series of "Wah‑wah‑wah" exclamations. It turned out that Heita had switched the simulated universe scene again, and this time Xing's location was a factory.

Seeing the various brand‑new weapons and equipment displayed outside the factory, Jizi inferred that this was a military‑industrial plant of some civilization in the universe.

Xing stood before the factory's wide-open doors, hearing the roar of machines inside. Strangely, a steady stream of insects flew out of the factory windows, beating their wings toward the high sky.

As the sky's perspective followed Xing into the factory interior, Qiana instinctively clamped her mouth shut.

On one hand she was shocked; on the other she didn't want to spit out the milk she had just drunk.

Clusters of insects fell rustling from between the robotic arms—each time the precision‑steel stamping mold closed, it 'gave birth' to a dozen or so insects of various species. The molds were clearly made from assorted machines and steel creations, yet at the moment of closure… it was as if a deity kissed iron into rotting flesh, twisting inorganic life into grotesque creations.

The deeper Xing walked into the factory, the stranger the scene became:

On the automatic assembly station, a robotic arm that should be installing firearm triggers was embedding insect eggs into the rifling of rifles.

The pipes atop the plant seemed to become the intestines of a gigantic insect, not only dripping slime but also, every few minutes, 'producing' a bundle of slime‑coated egg sacs from a valve. These sacs hatched into insects within seconds after leaving the line, then began gnawing anything nearby they could bite.

The entire military‑industrial plant seemed to become an insect nest, countless insect hordes born from the assembly line—even though their original material was merely cold iron.

""Why can even this be done? Star God is way too outrageous! Humans turning into insects is one thing, but why can machines become insects too?!" Qiana pointed at the automatically operating mold in the sky, "Its raw material is clearly just iron! It's not insect eggs or anything, so why does it produce insects?!""

""It seems this is the true manifestation of breeding's power…" Jizi said gravely, looking at the insects filling the factory, "Star God… it appears this is also a subject that must be researched immediately.""

""How is it? Impressive, right?" Heita let out a "hehe" laugh, "I already told you earlier, manipulating the breeding of organic life is only part of Tai Zi Yu Luo Si's authority.""

""Under His authority, He can even alter the concept of breeding, turning all notions of reproduction and duplication into 'producing insects', making every creature only able to give birth to insects, making machines only able to manufacture insects, even down to the microscopic cellular level—""

""—Stop, stop, stop!" Xing quickly interrupted her, "If He's so powerful, why did He fall?""

""Because His confrontation with Tan Tao had far‑reaching effects, it already impacted the fates of other Star Gods—especially the newly emerged Order Taiyi. In existing records, He strictly upholds the universe's order; Tan Tao and breeding are, to Him, disruptions, so He must end this chaos.""