Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones

Chapter 438 438: Wrong Chapter Don't unlock

The people gathered in the secure conference room argued and debated endlessly.

If the alien personality had completely devoured Peter's memories, humanity would have had no way to predict or control the potential sabotage it could cause. In that scenario, a single bullet to the head would have been the only safe option.

However, the fact that Peter's dominant human personality was actively suppressing the alien entity changed the equation significantly.

"How can you be absolutely sure Peter can suppress this alien personality permanently?" Austin demanded, unconvinced.

In his view as the security chief, absolute safety was paramount! The entity was a non-human invader; by definition, it possessed an alien ideology and hostile intentions. Why was there even a debate about keeping it alive?!

"It's obvious! If Peter couldn't suppress it, do you honestly think he would have come running to the captain to snitch on himself? He would be hiding as far away as possible right now!" Dr. Arthur Lambert argued back, waving his hand dismissively.

The scientific mindset was fundamentally different from the military mindset. Austin and the former special forces commanders instinctively wanted to neutralize any potential danger before it could bloom. Arthur and the scientists, however, were acutely aware of the agonizing difficulty of true technological advancement.

Even now, with a massive hoard of extraterrestrial artifacts available for study, and a research pace where one year of progress equaled twenty years back on Earth, humanity still hadn't achieved the dramatic, explosive leap forward they had envisioned.

The gap between humanity and a true Interstellar Civilization was comprehensive, particularly regarding their theoretical shortcomings!

For example, the scientists *still* didn't fully understand the underlying physics of Peter's room-temperature superconductor. They had the formula, but they didn't know exactly *why* the specific molecular structure eliminated electrical resistance at room temperature.

Knowing *what* happens without understanding *why* it happens is deeply frustrating for a physicist. It meant humanity was blindly utilizing extraterrestrial technology with only a superficial understanding of it. The true purpose of science was to comprehend the fundamental laws of the universe, not merely to blindly copy formulas for results.

The superconductor was vital, but understanding its underlying principles was even more important. Not knowing the core physics meant the technology would never truly belong to humanity. The scientists found that unacceptable!

And it wasn't just superconductivity; humanity's overall understanding of the cosmos was pathetically limited. They were desperately trying to expand their theoretical framework. It was the exact reason they had just approved the Super Hadron Collider project.

"...The manufacturing formula for the superconductor was provided by this alien memory," Arthur continued, his voice rising excitedly. "Its reasons for cooperating are obviously complex and likely self-serving, but one thing is absolutely certain: it possesses high intelligence and is capable of direct communication!"

"Think about it! If we can actually exploit it, I don't even need to list the benefits, do I? Whether it provides advanced physics formulas or general intelligence regarding the wider universe, it possesses the exact knowledge that humanity desperately lacks!" Arthur practically shouted, gesturing wildly with his hands to emphasize his point.

Hearing this, Austin immediately slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "No! We must be extremely cautious! A race capable of resurrecting its dead via neural overwriting is far too dangerous for us to control. We cannot put the entire civilian population at risk just for a few physics formulas!"

Austin glared across the table, expressing his staunch opposition. "Their technology is eons ahead of ours. Why would a god-like entity easily bow down to us? Put yourself in their shoes: would you willingly submit to being ruled by a bunch of primitive monkeys? Of course not! It's definitely plotting to sabotage us from the inside!"

As the head of the Federation Security Department, Austin controlled the military forces aboard the Noah, making him second only to Jason in terms of practical authority. His concerns were highly valid, and Jason had to weigh them carefully.

It was a terrifying truth. Why would a superior cosmic race willingly submit to an inferior one?

Arthur, his face flushed red, fired back at Austin. "It is no longer a physical alien! It's nothing more than a digitized memory engram trapped inside an ordinary human brain! Just a fragment of data!"

"Why are we so terrified of a localized data fragment? With proper quarantine protocols, we can completely minimize the risk! Risk and reward are always proportional! By your paranoid logic, we shouldn't even salvage alien technology at all! We might accidentally pick up a booby-trapped memory weapon, right? We should all just hide in our bunks and wait to die!"

"Hell, the Super Hadron Collider is dangerous, too! We might accidentally create a microscopic black hole! Should we just cancel that as well?!"

In his heated frustration, Arthur blurted out a string of rapid-fire English curses.

Austin's jaw clenched. He looked like he wanted to reach across the table and slap the scientist across the face. But Arthur wasn't one of his soldiers, and Austin couldn't physically assault a civilian in a formal council meeting.

The room quickly fractured. The military officers naturally defended Austin's cautious stance, while the senior scientists vehemently supported Arthur's pursuit of knowledge. Both sides had highly valid arguments.

The debate grew louder and more heated. In the blink of an eye, it devolved into a shouting match between the two factions.

"Ahem... Alright, alright. Gentlemen, please lower your voices and listen to me."

It was Dr. Roman. Seeing the tension threatening to boil over, the veteran scientist quickly stepped in to mediate.

"Both Director Austin and Dr. Lambert make excellent points," Roman said calmly. "Now, please allow me to explain my perspective strictly from a biological standpoint."

The shouting in the room subsided slightly, though the two factions still glared at each other with resentment.

"According to our biological research," Roman began, "the physical brain imposes a very strict, inescapable constraint on the mind. No matter how incredibly powerful or advanced a mind is, it is biologically impossible for it to break through the physical limitations of its host body!"

"Think of it this way: if a monkey somehow suddenly gained the memories of a human scientist, it might become slightly more clever, but it would never be able to speak to us. Why? Because a monkey's cerebral cortex lacks the neural density to process complex language, and it physically lacks the vocal cords to articulate words."

Roman gestured toward the center of the table. "Regarding Peter, he is currently the biological container for this alien memory. The alien's behavior will inevitably be heavily constrained by the human body. The human form imposes countless limitations on the mind. It's not just about the basic physiological needs like food, water, sleep, and oxygen. The human body is driven by inherent biological instincts and heavily influenced by a chaotic cocktail of chemical hormones that directly dictate emotional states."

"As you all saw in the surveillance footage," Roman continued, "when the alien lifeform temporarily seized control of Peter's motor functions, it experienced the chemical rush of human adrenaline for the very first time. It was completely unable to process or adapt to the chemical stimulation. It literally lost its mind, wildly jumping over railings and kicking flower pots like a deranged animal... This scientifically proves that the advanced alien mind is highly vulnerable to the limitations and chemical influence of the human body."

In the surveillance footage, Peter's erratic behavior had indeed resembled that of a severe psychiatric patient. It hadn't been a calculated display of alien superiority; it had been a frantic reaction stemming from an utter inability to pilot a human endocrine system.

Jason nodded slightly, fully understanding Dr. Roman's assessment.

The alien memory could not exceed the inherent physical limits of the human body. Peter wouldn't suddenly mutate into a superhuman capable of unleashing massive physical destruction, nor could the alien survive if Peter was deprived of oxygen, water, or food.

He was still just a human. No matter how advanced the alien software was, the human hardware fundamentally bottlenecked its capabilities.

Furthermore, judging from all available evidence, the alien entity no longer possessed any latent telepathic or mind-control abilities. If it did, it would have simply overpowered Peter's consciousness and permanently seized control of the body instead of trying to strike deals.

Jason also had his own secret intel to rely on: Lily had directly peered into Peter's mind and confirmed that the human personality was dominant, holding an absolute 80% advantage over the alien data.

Naturally, Jason couldn't reveal Lily's telepathy during the meeting to prove his point.

Regardless, as long as the host remained an ordinary, physically vulnerable human, the threat was highly manageable. In this specific situation, the potential scientific benefits vastly outweighed the manageable security risks... and humanity could certainly afford to take calculated risks for survival.

Hearing Roman's biological breakdown, Austin's rigid expression softened slightly.

The security chief pondered the logic for a long moment. Finally, he sat back down in his chair, remaining silent.