chsdbacks Chapter 114 Karl: This is it! The known universe! The perfect life form! Be born!
Chapter 114 Karl: This is it! The known universe! The perfect life form! Be born!
"That does sound interesting."
Hai Dong lowered his arms from his chest, walked up to Karl, and carefully examined the data description of the "Pan-Zerg Symbiote".
"But, can he really do it?" He still had doubts.
Special genes of the alien insect
It sounds simple, but Haidong isn't sure if it can be achieved.
After all, these alien insects are, in essence, “alien creatures.”
But what this universe excels at most is genes, especially "super genes".
Carl hadn't been this happy in a long time.
Hai Dong's questioning did not displease him; on the contrary, it made him laugh even more heartily.
Hai Dong raised an eyebrow as he looked at Karl, who suddenly burst into laughter.
Karl took out a vial of reagent, which was full of green liquid.
Looking at the vial of reagent, Hai Dong had a bold guess in his mind:
"This is……"
Karl nodded, his eyes seemingly sparkling:
"That's right. This is the super gene from the 'guy' you gave me."
"Supergene" is just a term Karl uses habitually.
This vial of reagent contains the special genes extracted from the alien insect that cause it to molt, grow, accelerate, and mimic.
Karl walked slowly toward the experimental chamber and tapped the holographic panel a few times with his finger.
Inside the chamber, the culture medium began to slowly drain out, and the figure suspended within was finally fully exposed to the cold light of the laboratory for the first time.
Pan-worm symbiotes, that's what Karl calls them.
It is about two meters long, and its head is a combination of dragonfly-like giant compound eyes and stag beetle-like forked horns.
Its compound eyes gleamed with a cold, metallic green light, and its giant horns were covered with spiral patterns, their tips a dark blue as if quenched.
The mouthparts are a mantis-like chewing structure, with two sickle-shaped mandibles overlapping on the outside and densely covered with serrations along the edges.
The pronotum is high and raised, covered with a dark bronze beetle and a hard, twig-like shell, with two pairs of wings extending from the back of the pronotum.
The forewings are thick, horny elytra, while the hindwings are as thin as cicada wings and folded under the elytra.
The forelimbs are mantis-like catching legs, with a row of barbs on the inner side of the femur and tibia, below which are wasp-like serrated claw pads and bee-like specialized pollen baskets.
It lay quietly at the bottom of the cabin, its luminous panel flickering in rhythm with its breathing.
"Initiate gene adaptation testing." Carl's voice regained the composure characteristic of a researcher.
On the holographic panel, the genetic map of the pan-worm symbiote was unfolded.
It was an extremely complex double helix network, with each gene sequence labeled with its origin:
Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Mantis...
Countless insect genes are stitched together on this chain, yet there is no rejection reaction between them.
Hai Dong stood to the side with his arms crossed, looking at the dense stream of data on the panel, and suddenly frowned.
"How do you manage to keep the genes of so many different species from clashing?" He wasn't a researcher, though.
However, having seen so much of the world, I've also encountered quite a few mad scientists.
Normally, such a rejection reaction to cross-species gene fusion should be fatal.
Karl smiled slightly, as if he had been waiting for this question:
"Because insects are among the most adaptable life forms in the known universe."
"They can adapt to all environments, from tropical rainforests to polar permafrost, and can evolve venom, mimicry, social division of labor, pheromone communication, and thrive in the ruins of nuclear radiation."
"Their genes are designed for fusion and mutation... and I just added a catalyst to this fusion process."
As he spoke, the compatibility test results on the panel popped up one after another.
Hai Dong looked at those numbers, his eyebrows rising higher and higher.
The compatibility rate soared, eventually stabilizing at an almost absurd number.
Hai Dong paused for a moment, then said, "Is your testing system broken?"
"It's not bad." Karl's voice held a suppressed, almost pious fervor.
"Mr. Haidong, do you know what this means? The genetic structure of the pan-worm symbiote is modular."
"Each segment of an insect's gene is an independent module that can be replaced, upgraded, and recombined without disrupting the overall structure. It is essentially a living gene editor."
"And your Zerg genes happen to be insect-type. That's evolution... ...no, that's fate."
He turned and walked toward the experimental chamber, holding the green reagent tube in his hand, which glowed faintly under the cold light.
He loaded the reagent into the injection device and aimed the needle at the carapace seam between the thorax and abdomen of the pan-worm symbiote.
There is a natural groove there, as if it was a pre-prepared interface for this stitch.
The needle pierced the carapace, and green liquid was slowly pushed in.
The symbiote shuddered violently, its luminescent panel flashed intensely a few times, and then began to change color at a visible speed.
It changed from dark green to deep purple, and then from deep purple to a strange fluorescent blue that was somewhere in between.
Its compound eyes lit up, no longer the faint glow of its semi-dormant state, but a true, predator-like light.
Tens of thousands of lenses focused on Karl at the same time, and then his mouth opened slightly, emitting an extremely faint sound, somewhere between an insect chirp and the friction of metal.
Hai Dong subconsciously took half a step back.
"...It's calling you."
"I know," Carl said softly, as if afraid of disturbing something. "It's calling me."
He bent down and placed his hand on the glass wall of the experimental chamber.
The antennae of the symbiote slowly rose and touched his palm through the glass.
For a fleeting moment, all the instruments in the lab lit up simultaneously, then returned to normal.
Carl straightened up and turned to look at Haidong.
His face bore an expression that Haidong had never seen before.
It is not the smug satisfaction of an ambitious person, but the unique, almost divine satisfaction of the Creator after completing the creation of the world.
He extended his right hand toward Haidong, a slight smile playing on his lips:
"Thank you, Mr. Haidong. In return, I will let you witness it with your own eyes—"
How did the most perfect life form in the known universe come into being?
Seeing this scene, only one thought flashed through Hai Dong's mind.
Did I go a little too far?
But then he smiled again.
Thinking to myself: Well, I believe our Saga-san will have a way to solve this.
Thinking this, Hai Dong stepped closer and began to carefully observe the pan-insect symbiote.
How long will it take for him to shed his skin?
"Shedding skin?" Karl was taken aback, then nodded thoughtfully.
"That makes sense. For insects, evolution and metamorphosis are essentially molting. That explanation is more accurate."
Carl turned his gaze to the adult insects inside the other protective shield.
"That's something I don't understand either..."
"Its molting process seemed to be very slow, but it seemed to speed up after it started mimicking me. Later, I found quite a few other people for it to mimic, and it completed the 'molting' you mentioned in just a few days."
Hai Dong nodded; he knew that too, but he didn't know the specific principle behind it.
He has no interest in these things.
"What are his abilities like?"
Haidong was quite curious about this.
If it's too strong, Shigasang will suffer another defeat.
Karl seemed quite satisfied with his creation.
"I don't know, but we'll find out after testing it out, which will be perfect..."