Chapter 548: The Struggle of Life_1

Number Three immediately ordered his subordinates to carry out a new round of observation on the No. 7 Bacterium, based on Jiang Shiliu's speculation.

While waiting for the results, Jiang Shiliu said, "The biggest problem that Thirty-Six and I are facing right now is that we can only observe the very superficial form of the Four-Dimensional Fragment.

"The main reason is that, as three-dimensional beings in the Four-Dimensional Fragment, we naturally lack the perception of one dimension.

"It is very difficult to compensate for this perception with instruments, and we can't even confirm the distances inside the Four-Dimensional Fragment now!

"The No. 7 Bacterium has given me a flash of inspiration. Since developing instruments for observing the fourth dimension is extremely difficult, why not transform ourselves into 'Four-Dimensional Beings'? That would solve most of the problems we are encountering now."

Number Three was somewhat surprised, "Do we have this technology?"

"We didn't have it before," Jiang Shiliu said with a smile, "but now we may find some inspiration from the No. 7 Bacterium."

He spread his hands out, "Life has been proliferating in the universe for so long; quite often, it's much more useful and intricate than man-made instruments."

Number Three nodded slightly, "Since you have this idea, I support it, but please think it through thoroughly before proceeding."

Jiang Shiliu replied, "Don't worry, I won't start applying it until I'm sufficiently confident.

"Hmm, the first problem to solve is how to stop the Four-Dimensional Fragment from falling.

"Right now, we can freely travel between three and four dimensions using warping points, but if we become Four-Dimensional Beings, we won't be able to return to three dimensions so easily anymore.

"It's very likely we would fall with the Four-Dimensional Fragment and become basic particles in three-dimensional space."

In the midst of their casual conversation, the new observational results arrived.

According to the feedback from the gravitational imaging equipment, it had indeed detected that there was matter within the "empty shell" of the No. 7 Bacterium.

What kind of matter and what structure it was are still unknown at this time.

However, this was already a breakthrough progress; at least they knew that the inside of the No. 7 Bacterium was not empty.

Number Three rubbed his forehead, "Is this the power of life? To escape the fate of slaughter, to obtain freedom, it actually evolved into a life form that transcends dimensions!"

"Life seems to have infinite possibilities." Jiang Shiliu laughed at himself, "Humanity is really pathetic! Such a precious gift is presented before us, and yet we 'turn a blind eye' to it."

He sighed deeply, "Perhaps it's precisely because we are so weak and pitiful that we have the courage to press on.

"Because if we do not move forward, we perish."

...

The new round of research on the No. 7 Bacterium began, but the incident with the bacterium was far from over.

The one who first noticed the subsequent impact of the event was the upgraded Galaxy III in Science Space City.

First, it discovered that the newly grown plants in the vast green belts had shown slight mutations.

The external expression of this mutation was that some leaves had changed to colors that did not belong to their species.

For instance, the newly sprouted maple and camellia trees had leaves that had turned purple or orange.

At first, such mutations did not attract much attention, as there were tens of thousands of ornamental plant species in Science Space City, with many closely related species influencing each other during the breeding process, often resulting in minor mutations.

The Green Plant Intelligent Management System in Space City never concerned itself with such mutations.

Another two or three years passed, and Galaxy III further observed some phenomena worthy of attention.

The previously slightly mutated plants were now capable of capturing insects!

Some had grown roots that emerged above ground, designing traps for insect prey.

Others had leaves that thickened, with fine spines on their surface, allowing them to clamp down on insects, with the spines absorbing the insect's body fluids.

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After Galaxy III reported these observations, the research personnel immediately initiated an investigation.

Soon, the researchers discovered that some of these mutated plants indeed possessed parts of the Orange Leaf Assassin's genes.

Clearly, when the Orange Leaf Assassin had escaped from the laboratory years ago, it had spread its genes using means such as pollen.

Moreover, its genes resembled a "universal" type, capable of combining with most plants to produce new species.

Since the No. 7 Bacterium incident, people had focused their attention on the No. 7 Bacterium.

Now, the No. 7 Bacterium had been completely re-contained in laboratories and subjected to cryogenic treatment, while the Orange Leaf Assassin had quietly executed its plan, perpetuating its genes.

Though this perpetuation was weak, it might have been discovered much earlier if it were too obvious.

People did not know whether this was a subjective intelligence like that of the No. 7 Bacterium or an instinctual intelligence.

In any case, the Orange Leaf Assassin's jailbreak had been more successful than that of the No. 7 Bacterium.

At the very least, it had left its offspring outside the "prison."

In response to the mutated new plants showing hunting behaviors, the research staff brought them back to the laboratory and set up a research team for a new round of study.

But everyone knew that there might be some that slipped through the net.

Some mutated species did not show any insect-hunting traits, so the researchers did not take further action.

After all, they couldn't just eliminate the greenbelts with over a hundred years of history and replant them anew, could they?

Since no hunting traits were discovered, they were assumed to be non-dangerous plants by default.

Seven or eight years later, a Root Tentacle Beast with long, sharp spines was observed on Blue Maiden Star.

Initially, botanists thought it was a variant of the Root Tentacle Beast, but when everyone realized that these beasts hunted by shooting the spines, they connected it with the Orange Leaf Assassin.

The Science Academy promptly hunted down a mutated Root Tentacle Beast and, sure enough, found the Orange Leaf Assassin's genes in its body.

Botanists speculated that researchers traveling to and from Science Space City might have brought the Orange Leaf Assassin's genes to Blue Maiden Star.

The combination of the two resulted in Root Tentacle Beasts with mutated, more flexible nervous systems, giving them the potential for higher intelligence.

Consequently, the military deployed Combat Robots to hunt down and kill all mutated Root Tentacle Beasts.

However, the genes of the Orange Leaf Assassin could not be completely eradicated, as many cases remained recessive, making it impossible to exterminate all plants on Blue Maiden Star.

Furthermore, the Orange Leaf Assassin had given humanity a significant incentive: a plant that had grown in a laboratory was this capable of spreading its genes.

As a species that prides itself on high intelligence, how could humanity lose to a plant?

For a time, even the Dark Forest didn't seem so frightening because the sheer force of life itself had greatly inspired people.

Some even proposed that the Orange Leaf Assassin should be seen as a symbol of tenacious life.

Therefore, people were reluctant to eradicate the descendants of the Orange Leaf Assassin.

This wasn't about releasing the tiger back into the mountain but rather lending a romantic hue to life itself.

…

It was the year 81 in the Milky Way, and Jiang Yu's fleet disengaged from light-speed travel. Number Three reported to him the whole process of the No. 7 incident.

And asked, "Should we quietly exterminate all the plants on Blue Maiden Star?"

For humans, this was, in the end, a threat.

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