Chapter 157
"First there was a vast emptiness, not unlike the space currently around the Hope .
"Within this emptiness, there was a glob of writhing mass of meat . It was unexpectedly huge . Based on my speculation, it was as big as several Earths combined . Furthermore, it was emanating rays of eerie light…
"As the rays shot at the folds of flesh, the meat started decaying and breaking . Bones and sinews started falling apart from the mass of meat . Yes, I felt that it was dying, dying from old age…
"But the process took a long time, taking perhaps several millennia to complete . Using curvature navigation to travel through space on its last legs of life, it stumbled upon a life-supporting planet . It disintegrated just before entering the planet . The excess muscles and weight were abandoned into space while the glob at its disgusting center shot into the planet .
"The growth process that followed was equally long . After another several millennia, a native civilization appeared on this planet . It was an aquatic civilization . With technological advancement came an issue that similarly had troubled us: natural pollution . However, since they survived by ways of water, the effect of the pollution was viscerally felt . Therefore, when they reached the end of their 3rd revolution, their scientific focus was on technology that could reduce pollution . Then…
"When they reached 4th revolution, they had to focus on space travelling technology because the pollution had become too serious for them to undo . When their first spaceship traveled beyond their planet’s orbit… they found a neutron star surging towards their planet . "
Yao Yuan stood up in shock . "Wait, a neutron star? You sure? Why was this civilization attacked by a neutron star too? Could it be that it was similarly targeted like Earth?"
Zhang Heng shook his head listlessly . "Who knows? The dream I had described things that happened millennia ago… Plus, I can’t really explain anything because it was all in a dream . Anyway, let me continue . The civilization too was hamstrung by the sudden appearance of the neutron star . Finally, as a last resort, the civilization pooled together to build a large spaceship with their early 4th revolution technology . However, around that time… the glob that hid itself in the planet’s core hatched . Its product was a clot of bacteria, festering like an ugly wound .
"In its weak, initial stage, it could only survive by absorbing the buried plant and animal bodies around it . However, with each absorption, parts of dead bodies’ DNA were translated into the bacteria’s genetic coding . Gradually, the bulk of the bacteria grew .
"Finally, it grew to such a size that it couldn’t hide from the planet’s native civilization anymore . After running out of ideas, the civilization decided to use an H-bomb to blow the bacteria mass up in one go…
"However, things didn’t go as planned . The alien had already released parts of itself into the water source . The bacterial pieces seeped through the ground into the surface water source… Since the natives were aquatic organisms, they were easy pickings for the alien bacteria . They were slowly digested and consumed by the bacteria . From that, the mass of muscle essentially absorbed their technology . It learned how to fire bullets from within its body, how to create electromagnetic shields, and even how to build polymerized reactors . Like many of our myths, the sea granted it an unlimited force of life . It started to reproduce itself in the sea into the monsters we saw aboveground…
"Several years after that, the mass of meat fully digested the planet and left its star system . It started trawling the cosmos for more life-supporting planets to consume . This process repeats ad nauseam until finally it finds itself in this star system . "
Zhang Heng leaned back in his chair to take a breath . Ji Jie, who had sat down beside Yao Yuan while Zhang Heng was talking, joined Yao Yuan in his musings .
"Let me confirm . When the meat alien was born, it didn’t know any science, right? And the creatures that it produces are coded with the DNA it previously consumed?" Yao Yuan asked .
Zhang Heng nodded . "You’re correct . Initially, the meat alien was a blank paper . The more organisms it consumes, the more varied the creatures it can produce . Similarly, the more civilizations it consumes, the greater its technology becomes . "
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login