Chapter 387: Loading External Plugins in a Super-Brain Civilization

It was the 228th year of the Empire.

Under the development of ten million great Ishdalian thinkers, their civilization far surpassed Mr. Levis' era, iterating and updating almost every month. Each month marked a new technological age!

In the "New Human Project," human genome scientists further analyzed the function and combination of human genes. The Ishdalians had already achieved perfect cloning and experimented with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos. The "Perfect Human Project" was officially launched. They modified the human genome, consisting of over 3 billion base pairs, to create Adam—a perfect DNA infant naturally endowed with the most flawless appearance, strength, and intelligence. Adam was raised in a research institution by dozens of human scientists. He displayed extraordinary talent, able to communicate fully within an hour of birth and mastering a vast amount of human knowledge in three days. “What a perfect creation!” countless scientists exclaimed.

It was the 229th year of the Empire. At just two years old, Adam, during a mech test drive, piloted a K9123 mechanical mech. He massacred top scientists throughout the research institution, broke out into the streets, causing a sensation across the entire mechanical city, and was ultimately gunned down by the arriving mechanical guard force. Humanity suffered immense losses, including countless elite scientists. “This violates morality and human rights!” “Artificial humans and test-tube babies should not be born into this world!” The Ishdalians discovered that IVF embryo babies and genetically modified infants exhibited unnatural, violent, and manic temperaments. The technology was immediately halted and categorized as a prohibited field.

It was the 230th year of the Empire. The Caroline Company once again announced a shocking discovery: “We have researched the reason for the powerful abilities of magical beasts. Once they mature, they possess immense strength and magical arts! The reason is that their innate memory contains a 'meditation' cultivation mechanism and a 'body tempering' mechanism. We have fully read and analyzed them. Furthermore, the 'Basic Meditation' idle software is now freely available for humans to download and integrate into their brain programming. Just like the magical beasts, we won't need to practice; we can grow stronger simply by sleeping... However, advanced idle software such as 'Advanced Meditation' and 'Fire Spell Cultivation' will require payment!” The entire human society was abuzz with excitement. However, meditation required the injection of a 'meditation gene' serum, which was another considerable expense.

The following year, Caroline revealed the cultivation methods for beastly body tempering. However, the crude, bulky physiques of the magical beasts were quickly abandoned by the beauty-conscious Ishdalians. Being tall and prioritizing aesthetics, they chose to cultivate only mental power. By then, only a few years had passed since the Pineal Gland Project was announced. This race of scientists, whose wisdom neared that of gods, had experienced countless technological explosions, reaching an unimaginable and terrifying peak.

A new study revealed that humans had integrated the magical beasts' unique 'meditation' mechanism into their systems. Without needing to exercise, their bodies would automatically activate a 'computer idle cultivation' program during sleep, functioning like an auto-leveling cheat script in a game. Consequently, the lifespan of Ishdalians would rapidly increase, much like that of the magical beasts. From then on, Ishdalians' lifespans would increase by over five times, reaching an average of 150 years per person. They would, on average, be Fifth-tier humans, with adulthood beginning at eighty years old, at which point they would naturally possess Fourth-tier strength. Every Ishdalian possessed a handsome appearance, a graceful physique, and an unparalleled celebrity aura. Every Ishdalian communicated via brainwaves, their consciousness directly connected to the network, making them profoundly knowledgeable, storing memories equivalent to an entire Baidu Baike (Chinese Wikipedia). Every Ishdalian enjoyed a long lifespan of 150 years. Upon reaching adulthood, they possessed formidable Fifth-tier strength and terrifying psychic magic, capable of manipulating fire, lightning, water currents, and storms... What could such a perfect human race be called? “We are gods!” “There were no gods in this world originally, but now there are!” “Gods are merely supernatural powers that emerge when a civilization develops to a certain level…” The Ishdalians proclaimed with pride. As a race that held technology as its supreme glory, embracing the romance of machinery and lava, their honor was perfectly encapsulated in Mr. Levis' words: “To this day, I still believe in science as firmly as I believe in the dawn of humanity’s future!”

Witnessing this scene in the magical-tech city, Xu Zhi couldn't help but marvel, “The Ishdalians are a cheat-enabled technological race! In every sense of the word, the game they play is called 'life,' and they've programmed 'idle cultivation and leveling' cheat scripts directly into their brains. It's truly ruthless!” It was simply outrageous! Moreover, in their world, there were no GMs or game operators to combat cheats and maintain game balance.

Xu Zhi walked along the street. He was surrounded by the fantastical, mechanical cyberpunk cityscape. Beautiful young women in provocative attire sped past on mechanical motorcycles. Even with civilization reaching such heights, the affinity for machinery and lava remained deeply ingrained. Nearby, mechanical armor shops showcased sleek, black, imposing mechs under transparent glass domes, attracting many gazes. On the streets, many handsome, tall young men and women, with flawless fair skin and the looks of superstars, seemed to communicate silently, exchanging smiles as their minds connected. Some even appeared to be walking purposefully down the street, yet they were actually using a 'navigation pathfinding' system. They set a 'coffee shop' destination on a vast, intricate map in their minds, automatically initiating movement like in an online game, taking step after step… while their consciousness was logged into the network, playing games or chatting. They were akin to Earth’s 'head-down' generation, walking with their faces glued to their phones.

“Auto-pathing… this race has truly turned life into an online game! No pay-to-win, yet the streets are filled with script-using cheaters…” Standing at the bustling intersection, Xu Zhi couldn't help but exclaim, finding it almost unimaginable, “They not only got a character customization opportunity when they entered this 'game,' but now they even have a physical data panel where strength, mental power, skills, daily physical characteristics, and even disease probabilities… have all been digitized!” “Their civilization and technology are terrifying!… Perhaps this is the inevitable progression of technological civilization.” Xu Zhi sighed, never having imagined that the Ishdalians would evolve into such a technological society. “When technology reaches a certain height, the mysteries of the human body's DNA and life itself will naturally be unraveled. This is an inevitable historical process… Future technological development on Earth will surely follow suit, perhaps becoming similar to the current Ishdalians.” Xu Zhi's eyes seemed a little unfocused. Through this technological civilization, he felt as if he was seeing the shadow of Earth's future technological society. He suddenly recalled the ancient civilization of Atlantis on Earth. Coincidentally or not, it bore an extreme resemblance to the Ishdalians in their current state of development. “Legend says the Atlanteans, known as the Civilization of Light, possessed inconceivably advanced technology. Every member of their race was extraordinarily beautiful, both male and female, and they also had the technology for conscious communication. They were incredibly powerful, with incredibly rapid thought processes…”

Xu Zhi looked at this formidable civilization with a faint smile. “If they had been my first or second civilization sandbox, I would certainly have been wary of their future and potential. I would have unleashed a great flood of lava to destroy the Ishdalian civilization, submerging them in an ocean of molten rock.” But now, Xu Zhi stood at a higher vantage point, able to accommodate the birth of many things, even if they claimed to be gods, a technological and supernatural civilization with infinite potential. “Did you envision such a future?” He suddenly looked up at the mechanical spacecraft speeding across the sky, recalling the day Mr. Levis departed, and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. “I wonder how the evolution in the evolution sandbox is progressing? It's time to let the new beta testers in. However, by the time those guys arrive, another hundred years will probably have passed. I wonder what this technological race will have become by then.”