Chapter 380: Thinking Overclocking Technology

This seemingly useless paper was initially slated for rejection by the Zerg auxiliary brain, and Xu Zhi would never have seen it. Yet, due to his prior instruction, it was retained.

"Mind overclocking, a species that controls time..." Xu Zhi sat on his chair, meticulously reviewing this speculative paper. "The paper proposes a frightening concept: employing special methods to accelerate brain neurons, thereby achieving 'overclocked' thinking. The acceleration of a creature's thought process would effectively slow down the external world."

The paper posited: If primeval humans commanded the power of 'space,' then this would be a magnificent race controlling 'time.' Possessing a 'time talent,' they would be extraordinary beings, surpassing all others.

"This person is brilliant!" Xu Zhi was momentarily stunned, his mind blank for a few seconds, before continuing to read with growing astonishment. "His grasp of time relativity is quite impressive." Yet, he immediately grasped why the Zerg auxiliary brain, that artificial intelligence, had decided to discard this revolutionary paper on a new species, deeming it utterly useless for the current Zerg.

"Because we Zerg already possess this very characteristic..." Xu Zhi mused, propping his chin on his hand. "He, surprisingly, wants to create a species akin to our own."

Xu Zhi then pulled up the author's profile. It was a university student in his twenties, a neuroscience major and a homebody, who wore black-rimmed glasses. His hair, surprisingly, was thick, black, and curly, quite defying typical expectations.

"This individual is truly formidable," Xu Zhi remarked, admiring the species' life structure as he flipped through the details. "To have such pioneering ideas and even outline a viable practical plan is impressive."

The Zerg auxiliary brain's mechanical voice chimed in: "Mind overclocking is a technology common to advanced civilizations, not an exclusive talent of the Zerg. In fact, contemporary human scientists have already proposed similar concepts to accelerate thought processes as a means of extending lifespan; this human merely sought to actualize it."

"Oh?" Xu Zhi paused, taken aback.

"As the current Zerg Empress," the auxiliary brain inquired, "where do you perceive the distinction between advanced and lesser civilizations in the vast universe? Is it technology, weaponry, destructive power, or something else entirely?"

Xu Zhi pondered. Truly advanced civilizations would be beyond modern human comprehension. They would possess unimaginably powerful weapons – perhaps causality weapons, temporal weapons, or quantum weapons? Regardless, they would surely be capable of effortlessly and silently wiping out humanity, potentially extinguishing it in an instant, without any prior warning.

"Actually, there's no need for abstract speculation, Zerg Empress. You've overlooked many things," the auxiliary brain stated directly. "The Zerg are, through and through, a true cosmic advanced civilization. What would happen if we Zerg chose to destroy Earth?"

"If we Zerg were to destroy Earth?" Xu Zhi paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "On the surface, current human nuclear weapons seem incredibly potent. Even a Celestial Emperor couldn't withstand them; a direct hit would instantly cripple a deity. The world's nuclear arsenals could destroy Earth countless times over, and no deity could survive a direct confrontation, as gods can traverse the cosmos but not obliterate stars. However, in reality, it's not calculated that way. Our time moves so fast that, to us, the entire human society—people on the streets, in cars, in supermarkets—would appear as motionless statues!"

Xu Zhi continued to organize his thoughts: "In a real confrontation, not even deities would pose a threat. Even a low-tier Zerg expert, say Fourth or Third Tier, could cause catastrophic destruction. They would all be frozen, utterly incapable of resistance."

Xu Zhi's mind reeled as an incredible thought suddenly emerged: "This is the distinction between advanced and lesser civilizations—mind overclocking technology?"

"Precisely," the Zerg auxiliary brain affirmed. "The disparity is immense! Even the weakest, lowest-tier citizen from an advanced civilization in the universe, despite having less inherent destructive power than your weapons, could easily annihilate you by simply mastering mind overclocking technology."

Xu Zhi was profoundly shaken. Perhaps, this indeed was the core distinction between advanced and lesser civilizations in the vast cosmos.

Advanced civilizations had crossed the threshold into a new realm. They resided in a special dimensional world where time flowed at an accelerated rate. This not only enabled their technology to develop at a terrifying pace, with incredibly rapid iterations, but also allowed them to strike civilizations existing in "lower temporal dimensions" directly from their "higher temporal dimension" at any moment.

If you are a stationary being in my eyes, how can you possibly resist? Your destruction would occur independently of you.

The Zerg auxiliary brain elaborated: "Civilizations with Level 8 combat power are considered to have crossed the threshold into advanced civilization. They begin to develop rudimentary mind acceleration technology, though the degree of acceleration varies significantly between civilizations, ranging from several to over ten times. This often comes with various costs due to 'mental overload,' such as swollen or deformed brains, characterized by disproportionately large heads."

Xu Zhi paused, instantly recalling the large-headed aliens, often depicted as Greys, in movies.

The intelligent auxiliary brain continued: "To mitigate these costs, some even more advanced civilizations choose to inhabit spaces designed for overall accelerated time. Civilizations with Level 9 combat power can typically achieve temporal speeds of over fifty times. The absolute maximum thinking speed is one hundred times, effectively experiencing a century in a single day—this is the ultimate cognitive threshold, an insurmountable limit. Moreover, some higher-tier Level 9 civilizations can accelerate both their thoughts and their body's cellular division, thus synchronizing their physical and mental processes. Our Zerg, having been one of the universe's supreme races, are capable of this, as the synchronization of mind and body is an inherent racial talent for us."

Xu Zhi fell silent. So, their innate 'accelerated suicide' talent was actually a pinnacle of cosmic technology? This was astonishing! Other civilizations had to evolve to an advanced state to achieve such a feat, while the Zerg began as an advanced civilization, endowed with this inherent ability from the start.

The Zerg auxiliary brain replied, "If we were not to apply mind acceleration to Level 8 deities, given their formidable knowledge and understanding, they would eventually develop their own methods for self-acceleration, though likely not achieving extremely high thought multipliers."

Xu Zhi absorbed the explanation. Did this imply that deities like Armin, Phoenix, and Di Qi could achieve mind acceleration simply by reaching a certain developmental stage? And that as their life level progressed, their thought speed would continuously increase—was this the inevitable trajectory for higher life forms?

Xu Zhi found this somewhat coincidental. These deities truly exemplified the saying: "One day in heaven is one year on Earth."

This extensive analysis greatly broadened Xu Zhi's understanding; he had indeed been like a frog in a well before. It was difficult to imagine the magnificent world inhabited by advanced civilizations in the cosmos, employing 'black technologies' beyond the comprehension of lesser civilizations. Yet, despite gaining this knowledge, he found it largely impractical for his immediate needs.

Xu Zhi's reaction was simple: What does this have to do with me?! He was merely using this technology for a quiet, world-building farming life.

He redirected his attention to the paper. "So, this paper on a potential mind-overclocking species isn't particularly useful to us, as we've already easily reached the limits of thought acceleration. He cannot use this to propagate a species for further mind acceleration; such a species is destined to fail." Xu Zhi mused, "Still, let him in. He's a talented individual!"

Xu Zhi valued talent. Each of these balding geniuses was a treasure to him.