Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
No, it was not an ordinary crystal…
Its crystal-clear surface was filled with wrinkles and cracks, and there were thousands of crystal wire strands winding inside, just like a dense neural network.
If the area where the monster mastermind was located was like a giant brain with a diameter of hundreds of meters…
Then, this crystal fragment was like the remains of a brain tissue the size of a walnut!
Moreover, when Meng Chao gazed at it deeply, magnificent brilliance was emanating from within it as if a nonexistent eye had opened slightly and met Meng Chao’s gaze.
Meng Chao felt a biological electric current surge through every nerve ending in his body.
He blurted out, “This is a crystallized nerve ball, and it’s still alive!”
Whether it was a superhuman or a superbeast, after being nourished by the sun and the moon’s essence, spirit energy accumulated in their bodies over a long period of time, there was a certain chance that it would seep into their internal organs, limbs, bones, and blood, gradually giving their body, which was originally made of flesh and blood, a metallic texture. It was even translucent.
This process was called crystallization or “crystallize” for short.
After the organs were crystallized, their functions would be greatly enhanced. They could easily trigger abilities that were ten times or even a hundred times stronger than ordinary organs.
This was the source of the superhumans’ power.
For example, Meng Chao’s latest breakthrough in the five-star Spirit Gaze Realm involved him condensing spirit energy into the retina, the lens, and the optic nerves, allowing these visual organs to crystallize.
Normally, superhumans would be in the three-star Spirit Gathering Realm if they were at the peak of Earth Realm. Meanwhile, after a monster reached the Level 3 Nightmarish Beast stage, their organs would gradually crystallize.
The first to crystallize was usually the bones.
Many superhuman individuals and Nightmarish Beasts could train their bones to be as hard as iron through crystallization and unleash unparalleled strength.
The flesh and tendons were next.
After the crystallization process, the flesh and tendons could expand several times or even several meters long.
Hence, seemingly thin superhumans could instantly transform into three-meter-tall bodies. The muscles on their bodies would be bulging as if they were giant spirits descending on the mortal world.
The organs that were the most difficult to crystallize were undoubtedly the brain tissue and nervous system.
On one hand, the brain tissues were as fragile as the spinal cord.
On the other hand, the brains of carbon-based intelligent creatures contained too many mysteries.
The consequences of rashly pouring a large amount of spirit energy into the brain might not be brain strengthening but brain bleeding, mental derangement, loss of control over the nervous system, imbalance of the endocrine system, and so on.
Therefore, the brain tissues and the nervous system absorbed a large amount of spirit energy and gradually turned crystal clear. Formed crystallized nerve spheres were the rarest materials.
They were more than priceless. They were a priceless treasure.
Back then, Meng Chao and Qin Hu had known each other only because of a cluster of crystallized nerve balls harvested from the body of the Golden Spirit.
The Golden Spirit was only an ordinary monster. Strictly speaking, it was impossible for it to form a real crystallized nerve ball.
It was just a coincidence that the Golden Spirit had been living in the blessed land with abundant spirit energy all year round. It had been contaminated with a few strands of spirit energy, which made its nerve clusters feel crystal clear.
This was enough to change the fate of Meng Chao and his family.
However, the crystal fragment in front of them was like a miniature brain. Although it was small, it had all the five internal organs. The seven-colored mystic light it emitted was like brain waves that could be seen with the naked eye. It was the best crystal nerve ball.
Whether it was Meng Chao, who had the memories of his previous life, or the legendary martial arts legend, Lei Zongchao, they had never seen such a perfect crystal nerve ball with such powerful spirit energy ripples.
The two of them narrowed their eyes at the same time.
“This is… the remains of the monster mastermind?” Meng Chao swallowed hard and moistened his dry throat. His voice was still a little shaky.
“That’s right. I saw it with my own eyes. This is the only thing left after the monster mastermind turned into bubbles and the bubbles burst one after another.”
Shao Zhengyang paused for a moment and said, “However, we are not sure if it can be considered as the remains of the monster mastermind.”
Meng Chao was slightly dazed.
Since it was the only remains of the monster mastermind after it was destroyed, what else could it be other than its remains?
“We are trying to analyze the composition of the crystallized nerve ball. Although we don’t know exactly what material it was made of, we are certain that unless the combination of high temperature, high pressure, and spirit radiation over tens of millions of years or even hundreds of millions of years is involved, such a… perfect shape and texture can’t be created.”
Wu Haibo explained, “Reading the information in the crystallized nerve ball also confirms our speculation—this thing is at least tens of millions of years old.”
“What?” Meng Chao was greatly surprised.
The crystallized nerve ball that looked like a mini brain was tens of millions of years old, or even hundreds of millions of years old. It was definitely an ancient relic.
If it used to be the brain of a powerful living creature, it should have been an ancient creature.
However, the life of the main brain of the monster was definitely not as long as hundreds of millions of years.
Other than a few plants, it was impossible and unnecessary for a carbon-based creature that looked like a giant ant queen to live for such a long time.
“In other words, there is another… ancient brain in the body of the monster mastermind that doesn’t belong to it?” Meng Chao was shocked.
“A more reasonable guess is that this ancient brain had been asleep for billions of years. After it gradually woke up, it released a mysterious power similar to brainwaves, attracting the carbon-based creatures around it to its side and slowly wrapping it up. Its cells continued to divide, proliferate, and grow. In the end, it became the monster mastermind.”
Wu Haibo said, “To put it simply, the ancient brain woke up after hundreds of millions of years of sleep and felt that it needed a body. Therefore, it created the monster mastermind and used it to drive an even larger super giant brain and even the entire mother body.
“Right. The ancient ruins research center named the brain that was hundreds of meters in diameter as the giant brain, and the crystal nerve ball as the micro brain.
“We believe that the micro brain is the core of the mother system.”
“It’s unbelievable.”
Meng Chao clicked his tongue and exclaimed, “Such a brain the size of a walnut can drive a giant brain that’s hundreds of meters in diameter, a mother body that occupies dozens of kilometers underground, or even thousands of beast tides?”
“Not just one.”
Wu Haibo corrected him. “By reading the information stored in the micro brain and the other evidence found in the depths of Ruins No. 2, our preliminary speculation is that hundreds of thousands of micro brains will be needed to activate 100% of the mother’s performance and strength. They will be connected together in an unbelievable way to form a collective thinking unit.
“It’s a pity that most of these ‘micro computers’ were destroyed in the ancient war, and only 1% of the mother’s living tissues were left. Only the last micro computer survived the orbital attack of the space-based weapons and the erosion of billions of years.
“Of course, there’s no such thing as ‘pity.’
“If two micro computers were awakened at the same time, and they activated 2% of the active tissues in the mother body, we wouldn’t be studying it right now. Instead, they would have killed 90% of the human beings, as well as captured the remaining 10% of human beings in the laboratory, tied them to the operating table, and studied them as they wished.”
Meng Chao agreed with him.
Closing his eyes, a mysterious and magnificent picture appeared before his eyes.
At the core of the picture were hundreds of crystal-clear micro brains the size of walnuts. They were connected to each other by nanoscale crystal wires, forming an even, solemn, and precise cube.
Such a model not only avoided the defects of a brain that was too big, had poor heat dissipation, and lacked mobility, as well as defense ability. It also allowed the brain to carry different “shells” when necessary. The “shells” could be broken into pieces, making it easier for the brain to expand, fight, and migrate.
Outside the collective thinking unit, there was a giant brain that was hundreds of meters in diameter.
The micro brain could be responsible for the calculation and deduction tasks at the thought level, while the giant brain could be responsible for the specific advancement and implementation at the execution level. The division of labor was clear, and the cooperation was tacit.
Outside the giant brain, there was the mother body. It housed the resource collection center, resource smelting center, genetic laboratory, biochemical weapon manufacturing workshop, recruit training camp, and service upgrade center of the ancient civilization and monster civilization!
Outside the mother body, the world naturally produced endless beast tides through the marvelous system.
“The ancient civilization’s biochemical technology has indeed reached the peak. With such technology, it will only take a few Ancients with a few ‘mother body seeds’ to cross the sea of stars and conquer a planet!”
Meng Chao clicked his tongue in wonder.
Although the ancient civilization has a transmigration engine and can directly teleport a city to the other side of the sea of stars…
Meng Chao felt that such a crossing had to consume astronomical energy. There were many restrictions, and they might not be able to do as they wished.
If one was not careful, the whole city would pass through an extremely harsh environment that was not suitable for the continuation of civilization, or it could even be entrenched in a location with a powerful enemy. Would that road not lead to death?
It would be much simpler and cheaper to send a few Ancients with a few mother seeds.
Even if these Ancients were unfortunate enough to encounter an accident, it would not cause too much damage to the entire ancient civilization.
Wait a minute…
Meng Chao suddenly read between the lines of Wu Haibo’s words.
“You can read information about the ancient era in the ‘micro computer?'” He widened his eyes.
“Of course.”
Wu Haibo smiled. “Many ancient relics contain a lot of information that originate from the ancient times.
“Entering the ancient ruins, coming into contact with the relics, listening to the ancient ruins’ summon, and trying to figure out the mysterious pictures that emerge in your mind—those are the important ways for human beings to learn from the ancient times. It is also the key to Dragon City’s technological leap and even explosion in this short half a century, successfully transforming into a spirit civilization.
“Not to mention, the micro brain is an organ for analyzing and storing information.. After billions of years of spirit energy nourishment, a lot of information is still shining and fresh.”