Chapter 670: The Ancestor's Gift (59)

Clownfish followed closely behind. Du Zhengyi did not pay attention to the fact that he was right behind him, and it was clear that he had made up his mind to observe his operations.

The diameter of the central sphere exceeded forty meters, but in reality, only half of the spherical central console could be used. Half of the sphere was solid, while the other half was an area where people could move about; a desk-like console extended from the wall. There were seven grooves in the base of the console, arranged in the order of the Big Dipper. These were the most normal-looking parts of this place.

The solid half of the sphere made Clownfish reflexively step back half a pace. That part of the sphere was actually translucent, and one could clearly see it was filled with a large number of gelatinous vesicles, looking just like a part of a biological brain structure. Those vesicles squirmed as if simulating the process of brain pulsation, constantly writhing to carry out some kind of information exchange and reorganization.

"What is this?" Clownfish said with disgust, uncharacteristically tense. "Was someone's brain left here? Was the Progenitor Mage's brain this big? Such a big head?"

Du Zhengyi only glanced faintly at the things in the wall, then lowered his head to examine the three grooves in the base, pondered for a moment, and pressed his palm into the groove representing Tianxuan.

Clownfish leaned in closer again, watching Du Zhengyi's hand carefully. Blood flowed out from his hand and seeped into the interior of the groove.

"A trick, piercing your skin to draw blood for genetic authentication? It can only be used to fool Mages, because Mages are all illiterate. Only a few thousand years have passed, and human civilization has already grown to the point where it can see through these tricks." Clownfish said in a low voice, then felt somewhat puzzled. "Actually, ever since you entered this Seal Land, this place has activated for you, which means their ability to identify genes is actually very advanced. So why perform blood analysis on you here?"

"A religious reason?" Clownfish said tentatively again. Du Zhengyi did not respond to him, so he pondered to himself. "Who is it for? Those idiots, the Lotus Burners..."

A translucent plant grew out from under the console, winding toward Du Zhengyi's hand like a snake. Translucent, vine-like things inserted themselves into Du Zhengyi's wrist, as if wanting to coexist with him as one body.

"Ugh, that's disgusting," Clownfish said immediately. "Are you going to be eaten? Is a member of the Du Family sacrificed for the seal every time?"

Du Zhengyi's attention was highly focused, and he completely stopped responding to him, failing to notice that Clownfish appeared to be listening intently.

A moment later, Clownfish chuckled. "I feel your brain responding to something else being generated; you are interacting. Are you talking to this giant brain? But this interaction of yours is not a connection of Yajian; it is more primitive than Yajian communication. The fact that you cannot communicate via Yajian means this giant brain is not real. The Progenitor Mages were clearly biologists, and of course, they would also use computers to execute so-called 'Magic', so this giant brain must be a computer. A computer based on biotechnology, which is why they used genetic locks to apply more complex encryption to this machine. Is the computer connecting to you through neurons? I guess it also records your brainwaves to confirm your genes and your brain in a special way. Do you have some ancient memories? Or does your inherited gene cause your brainwaves to have some trait that can be recognized by the biological computer to confirm its system administrator?"

Clownfish slowly paced to the wall, one hand pressed on an empty groove, the other hand pressed against the wall, as if touching that brain. "There must be. They used so many layers of encryption to prevent outside interference, enough to keep people like us out. No wonder you can operate in front of me without worrying that I have ulterior motives."

In a place Du Zhengyi could not see, he wore an antique ring on the index finger of his right hand. When his thumb slid across the ring, a needle stood up from the ring setting. His finger moved slightly, and the needle pierced into the gelatinous substance of the sphere.

"This place looks like an ancient altar, but in reality, it is a computer server room. Humans have not yet figured out the design principles of biological computers; they think the computing performance cannot be very good, so they have basically abandoned this direction. But who knows, perhaps when human biotechnology evolves to the point where they can use the body as replaceable parts, they will also discover new principles of computer composition." Clownfish spoke as if chatting idly. After a pause, he added, "But I hope they don't head in this direction; the combination of biology and technology is really a bit disgusting."

A low humming sound emerged in the air, not like mechanical noise. Fine halos flowed on the branches of the Tree Structure, like ripples at the dawn of life. The vines entangling Du Zhengyi were like extended neurons, and the humming sound was like the whispers of life.

Clownfish listened for a while and couldn't help but speak up again. "Regardless, biotechnology is indeed very easy to combine with mysticism, and it is also very suitable for developing religion. If you mastered such technology, would you want to find a group of primitive people to worship you? Definitely not; you are too reclusive and wouldn't enjoy that. So, a god must be someone with major personality defects."

Du Zhengyi finally sighed.

"What's wrong?" Clownfish turned to him. "Need a break? Brain-machine connection is very tiring, right?"

"I don't know why, but there is no way to shut down the life of the remaining Seal Beasts," Du Zhengyi said.

"Has this situation never occurred before?" Clownfish asked.

"Not in the records either," Du Zhengyi replied. He silently recited the Secret Language that should have taken effect once again. The new attempt still had no effect.

Clownfish thought for a while and said, "Could it be because the remaining creatures here are not entirely Seal Beasts generated by the Progenitor Mages?"

This was a mouthful, so he explained it in another way. "Judging from the types of creatures that have appeared, some creatures can pass human verification and must have lived on Earth at some point or are currently living there, but they were clearly genetically modified by the Progenitor Mages. These genetic modifications also included brain control, erasing the self-awareness of the organisms to facilitate the control of their will. But some creatures clearly have their own will, such as those blue-eyed humanoid creatures. They are stronger and react faster than current humans, more like different versions that appeared during the evolutionary process of Earth humans. They are stronger than humans, but have smaller brains."

"However, I'm not saying the blue-eyed ones have their own will; there are clearly other wills behind them controlling them. This will behind them, whatever it is, is a complete organism. Perhaps as a bug, this type of organism is stuck in the system, causing the erasure program you triggered to have no effect. I suspect that for safety reasons, the objects the erasure program can erase are all laboratory products lacking subjective consciousness; the program needs to identify a certain flag bit of theirs to execute." Clownfish added.

Du Zhengyi turned his head to look at Clownfish. His way of thinking was so similar to Luo Qi's, only tougher and more stable. Luo Qi would tentatively ask for his thoughts, sometimes even looking at his expression with a bit of craftiness. But Clownfish was someone who had been an adult for a long time, and whose soul had begun to cool.

Clownfish's shadow also turned, as if sizing up Du Zhengyi. "The original purpose of these Seal Beasts kept by the Progenitor Mages may not have been for war. With their highly developed level of civilization, the mode of war would not rely on biological hand-to-hand combat; they might have just been conducting experiments. The blue-eyed bodies are stronger and more beautiful, and at least some of the genes are very desirable. Perhaps after the Progenitor Mages drew extensively from sources on Earth, they artificially synthesized the so-called Mages. They fit the aesthetic of the average human face; we all have looks that combine the advantages of several Earth races, most of our bodies are stronger and more agile than humans, but our brains are not superior."

Du Zhengyi suddenly realized that this passage was more like Luo Qi, or rather, more like the young Luo Qi. His unfocused thinking jumped infinitely, wandering off at every turn, and he couldn't reach the goal directly when thinking about problems, but this shouldn't be Clownfish's way. He had no reason to tell him these things—unless he was stalling for time.