Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Soldier
Inside a specialized cultivation tank.
A large colony of coral, under the influence of hormones and nutrient solution, was growing at a rate several dozen times faster than ordinary coral.
In reality, this could no longer be called coral. It was a cobbled-together biological entity.
The part of the Photon Coral resembling an oyster mushroom was cut away. This component was the Photon Coral’s chip organ. Its framework was composed of calcium and silicon crystals, with a dense matrix of scleroprotein and various specialized cells interspersed within.
Li Qingye placed this object under a microscope, carefully examining its surface structure. He then used various lasers to stimulate the photosensitive cells on the surface.
Under the laser stimulation, the biological chip began to change.
In fact, Li Qingye had designed these lasers by drawing inspiration from current fiber-optic signal transmission models.
Unlike industrially produced electronic chips, the internal structure of a Photon Biological Chip was not uniform. This meant that every single biological chip was unique.
Borrowing some techniques from fiber-optic transmission and encoding, he continuously tested the biological chip’s storage capacity, processing core, external connection ports, and other features.
Because each biological chip had variations, every one had to undergo a trial run to identify its functional structures.
This situation was actually similar to modern electronic chips. During the photolithography process, some circuits and structures on a chip might be defective, while other parts remain usable.
To avoid waste, these chips are reprocessed and sold as lower-grade products.
The biological chip before Li Qingye was a similar case. He had to identify the unusable parts and disable those structures.
So far, only five biological chips had completed testing.
However, their computing power was quite impressive. The statistics for the five chips showed an average processing speed of 230 to 450 megaflops per second. This was with 60–70% of their structures being malformed; otherwise, they could have broken the gigaflop level.
The biological chip’s energy consumption was also extremely low. Converted to glucose, a full day of operation consumed the equivalent of 4–8% of an average person’s daily glucose intake.
And that was at full power. If it entered a low-power mode, consumption could be reduced by about half.
Furthermore, the biological chip’s storage capacity was incredibly high, currently averaging between 150 to 250 terabytes.
Rubbing his eyes, Li Qingye felt a certain dryness—an obvious side effect of staring into a microscope for too long.
’I have to find a better way. I can’t keep testing these biological chips manually. It’s fine for small batches, but if the quantity increases, my eyes will be ruined,’ he thought with a sense of resignation.
However, looking at the biological chips in the sealed petri dishes beside him, he felt a surge of gratification.
The biological chips, about the size of a dollar coin, had an iridescent sheen. This wasn’t the chip’s own color, but light reflecting off its structure.
It was similar to butterflies in nature. A butterfly’s wings don’t possess rich colors themselves; rather, it’s the minute nanostructures reflecting different light waves that make them appear so vibrant.
Over the next few days, he managed to assemble a total of 10 biological chips and completed the system and software installation.
The system within the biological chips was one he had developed bit by bit, named the [Fuxi System].
The installed software included only: [Soldier], [Daily Life], [Combat Skills], [Weapon Mastery], [Expression Management], and [Interpersonal Communication].
The Soldier software was an artificial intelligence responsible for managing and running the entire system.
Of course, these chips also required some special peripherals.
For example, a USB-like interface to connect to other devices and transfer data, a way to control the brain’s hormone and pheromone levels, a method for connecting to nerve cells, and so on.
While these components had been developed, they had only been tested on animals, and the results were mediocre at best.
But Li Qingye, desperate for manpower, had to make do.
「May 19th.」
He began the second phase of modifications on the test subjects.
After the test subject was anesthetized, the top of their skull was cut open. He then carved a special shape into the removed piece of skull bone, perfectly fitting the biological chip into it.
Next, he connected the biological optical fibers. Various biological peripherals—functional bio-components modified from parasites and microorganisms—were assembled piece by piece. These included a hormone generator, a pheromone generator, a glucose power supply, a neuron connector, and a data interface for the ear canal.
Because they were all made of biological materials, these peripherals were not only extremely covert and difficult to detect with ordinary scans, but they could also self-repair. This avoided the need for another craniotomy to replace them in case of a malfunction.
After the surgery was complete, to eliminate any traces of the procedure, he first applied a rapid bone-repair solution. This was a compound extracted from genetically modified coral which, when mixed with bone powder, could quickly mend bone. Standard medical scanners would be unable to detect the surgical incisions.
The incisions on the skin also needed to be treated. Although they were hidden in areas covered by hair, that wasn’t secure enough.
He then took out a special hormone extracted from genetically modified sea cucumbers to stimulate accelerated healing of the wounds, along with some other supplementary drugs.
As long as it was consistently injected into the skin tissue near the incisions, the scars would be virtually invisible in about twenty days.
For a solid week, he performed surgeries, modifying all seven test subjects.
The first test subject, Bafate, had already mostly recovered.
A special fiber-optic cable was inserted into Bafate’s left ear, and a virtual interface popped up on Li Qingye’s computer screen.
This was the virtual interface of the Fuxi System.
[Initializing Soldier 00001]
[Please set password...]
Li Qingye renamed Soldier 00001 to: Soldier—Bafate. He also stored all relevant information about Bafate in this Soldier’s history log.
Compared to a typical artificial intelligence, the Soldiers had one advantage: they still possessed a human brain, albeit one stripped of emotion.
This brain wasn’t unusable; it had just lost its capacity for emotion and desire. The Soldier’s function was to substitute for these natural feelings and urges.
The Soldier’s core logic was very simple: loyalty to Li Qingye.
"Bafate."
"Here, Boss." Bafate gave him a stiff salute.
"Get me a glass of water."
"Yes, sir."
Bafate quickly brought over a glass of plain water.
While testing Bafate’s responsiveness, Li Qingye adjusted the Soldier’s operational model.
He was also populating its database. This particular biological chip had a massive storage capacity of about 203 TB, which was more than enough to store general knowledge and the like.
In truth, the most crucial program for a Soldier was its operational model, also known as "simulated thought."
This model contained preset simulated scenarios. When a Soldier encountered a corresponding situation, it would execute a response based on the simulation.
For example, if Bafate encountered someone offering him money, he would smile and accept it. If the person then asked for a favor, he would say he needed some time to consider it, but he would secretly record the matter and report it to Li Qingye on a regular basis.
Li Qingye had preset thousands of such scenarios for the Soldier. In a situation not covered by a simulation, the Soldier would perform a computational analysis and choose one of 30 general-purpose templates to muddle through the situation before reporting back to him.
In reality, the scenarios he had preset could already handle the vast majority of situations.
Besides, the Soldiers’ databases and programs could be updated. With time and use, they would become increasingly comprehensive.
Moreover, Li Qingye didn’t need them for tasks like business negotiations or scientific research. He only needed them to monitor his inner circle and protect him. For that, the first-generation Soldiers were barely adequate.
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