novelraw Chapter 544: Preparation
Chapter 544: Preparation
Chapter 544 Preparation
Time passed day by day.
In the following decades, Jie Ming did not immediately take action against the Nest.
In one corner of the laboratory, a testing device that Jie Ming had built himself stood ready.
At the core of the device was a transparent sealed chamber, inside which an ordinary ore floated suspended.
Jie Ming activated the device. The light around the ore began to distort, then it started to weather and disintegrate at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally turning into a pile of powder.
That was the effect of time acceleration.
He swapped in another ore and activated the reverse program.
This time, a strange sense of solidification appeared on the ore’s surface, as if it had been frozen in time. No matter how the outside world changed, it remained completely motionless. Jie Ming carefully observed the data from each test, repeatedly adjusted the parameters, and recorded the results.
Indeed, rather than immediately beginning the modification, he had instead turned to studying time-related knowledge. Strictly speaking, it was the batch of time-related knowledge he had obtained back in the Samsara Plane.
In the archive section of the central laboratory, Jie Ming sat cross-legged, with more than a dozen recording crystals floating around him.
These crystals were somewhat old; their surface luster could not compare to newly made ones, yet the content stored within them repeatedly drew Jie Ming into deep immersion.
He raised his hand, and one crystal slowly drifted in front of him.
His spiritual power probed inside. It contained a research record from back then: several high-ranking wizards sat around a massive round table, complex mathematical models floating above its surface as they discussed the operating principles of the Samsara Machine.
Listening to the recording, a faint, nostalgic smile appeared at the corner of Jie Ming’s mouth.
Back when he was in the Samsara Plane, this was exactly where he had fallen behind.
At that time, his academic level was limited. At the beginning, he could barely understand the content of the discussion.
Later on, the wizards who specialized in this field spoke deeper and deeper. Professional terms and complex models emerged one after another, and he quickly could no longer follow. In the end, he had no choice but to leave early and return to his own laboratory.
But now…
Jie Ming closed his eyes and perceived the content within the crystal.
After this period of intensive supplementation, those formulas and theories that had once been like heavenly books to him could now be understood for the most part.
Although there were still some parts he did not fully grasp, it was already far beyond his previous level.
He opened his eyes and summoned another crystal.
This crystal stored the complete research materials on the Sickle-Skull race.
As biological weapons supporting the Samsara Machine, the Sickle-Skull race’s body structure inherently contained a large amount of time-related knowledge.
Their combat instincts that could predict attacks, their adaptive ability to complete evolution in a short time after a samsara occurred, and even the rapid production mechanism of the brood units—all carried the shadow of the Time Law behind them.
The time-related knowledge Jie Ming had once mastered came from rather mixed sources.
The earliest was from researching the snow monsters of the Flamefrost Plane, from which he had obtained the abilities of time acceleration and deceleration.
Later, after consuming a strand of the origin from the Water Elemental Plane, he gained some further insights into time.
But all of that knowledge had been scattered and unsystematic.
Afterward, inside the samsara, Jie Ming had learned many more related pieces of knowledge.
However, his foundation had been too weak at the time, so he had not gained much. Fortunately, he had brought back most of the records.
Now that he had supplemented his foundation, those research records from the Samsara Plane could perfectly help him piece all this knowledge together.
One day, just as Jie Ming had finished that day’s study, he received a communication from the Black Giant Priest.
He opened it with a glance, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared in Jie Ming’s eyes.
He quickly walked to the laboratory and looked at the object floating inside the cultivation chamber before him, nodding in satisfaction.
It was a set of biological tissue.
On the surface, it resembled a human nervous system, with dense neurons and synapses interwoven into a complex network structure. But upon closer inspection, one would notice that these “neurons” were much thicker than those of humans, and their surfaces emitted a faint silver luster. This was the time pheromone sensory organ extracted from high-ranking members of the Sickle-Skull race.
Back in the Samsara Plane, the Sickle-Skull race used this organ to perceive the time pheromones released by the Samsara Machine, thereby achieving synchronization and coordination with the machine.
Without this organ, the Sickle-Skull race would be nothing more than ordinary biological weapons. Only with it could they become part of the Samsara Machine. The organ itself was not large; originally it was only a few millimeters in size.
Jie Ming had spent decades using biological techniques to cultivate it further.
After failure after failure, he had finally produced such a complete, large piece.
Now it floated quietly in the nutrient solution, its silver luster flickering faintly within the pale green liquid, looking both eerie and beautiful. Jie Ming stepped forward and carefully observed this organ.
“This thing is perfect to serve as the new core for the Nest.”
Jie Ming thought with satisfaction for a moment, then casually tapped a few times on the light screen beside him.
The ceiling above the cultivation chamber slowly opened, revealing an empty cavity.
A mechanical arm descended from above, firmly grasped the cultivation chamber, and retracted it upward.
Jie Ming turned and walked toward the large door in the other direction.
The laboratory’s main door opened automatically.
Behind the door was a vast space, comparable to an indoor stadium.
In the exact center of the space, a huge, semi-transparent gelatinous mass lay quietly.
That was the Nest.
Its size had grown another circle compared to decades ago. When fully spread out on the ground, it looked like a small lake.
Its semi-transparent body rose and fell slightly, its surface glowing with a faint blue luster – the remnant of recently digested energy.
Looking at it, Jie Ming felt a complex emotion well up in his heart.
The Nest was one of the earliest units he had created. Its original design purpose was to serve as a biological warship – one that could fight in water, rapidly produce soldiers, and adapt to various harsh environments.
But the facts proved that attempting to research a multi-dimensional combat system when his knowledge was insufficient had simply been overreaching.
After the Nest was created, it had barely been put to any use.
Not only was its performance in actual combat unsatisfactory, but later, once the internal cave-heaven technology matured, the automatic factories inside the cave-heaven could completely replace the Nest’s production functions.
It had thus been left idle for several hundred years.
Jie Ming had once considered scrapping it, but every time he saw it, he could not bear to do so.
After all, it was a work he had painstakingly created back then.
The sound of mechanical operation came from behind.
The cultivation chamber that had just been taken up was now transported over by another set of mechanical arms and placed steadily on one side of the laboratory.
Jie Ming glanced at the silver biological tissue, then at the huge gelatinous mass before him.
He stretched his body, walked to the control console, and placed both hands on the light screen.
“Then… let’s begin the modification.”