BATTLE FOR STARS

“Biological computers? I know about those. On Earth, we call them bionic computers.”

Ding Yufei knew what a bionic computer was. It referred to a computer built with biological chips. These chips were composed of proteins and other organic molecules, a new type of computing technology based on molecular electronics.

The processing speed of such computers was astonishing. They were highly resistant to electromagnetic interference, could completely eliminate circuit noise, consumed only one-millionth the energy of conventional computers, and possessed enormous storage capacity.

The problem was that research in this field was even more difficult than quantum computing. Without unlocking many of biology's deeper mysteries, creating such a machine was simply impossible.

Throughout his journey, every system aboard the starships, every Personal AI Assistant, and every vehicle he had seen relied on quantum computers. He had long been impressed by their incredible computing power.

But he had never seen a biological computer.

“It may be... a little different from the bionic computers you're talking about,” Belina said.

“What kind of difference?”

“This Gaia isn't built from protein-based biological chips.” Belina paused before continuing. “It is, in itself, a brain capable of precise computation.”

“A brain?”

“Yes. Like a computer, it can perform vast amounts of calculations with absolute precision. But like a living organism, it can heal itself, reproduce itself, and even... think for itself.”

“A self-aware... computer?”

Ding Yufei was stunned.

Was it a computer or a living creature?

If it was the former, that sounded manageable.

If it was the latter...

Then controlling it might be impossible.

Countless science-fiction stories flashed through his mind—*The Terminator*, *The Matrix*, and many others.

“Yes, it possesses self-awareness,” Belina said. “But it's a very unusual kind of self-awareness.”

“How unusual?”

She thought for a moment.

“Imagine an exceptionally gifted child. One whose intelligence is beyond anything you've ever seen. It can solve any problem perfectly. But emotionally and socially, it's completely dependent on others.”

“That sounds incredible.”

Ding Yufei had never imagined that a self-aware biological computer could be something like that.

“Could you explain a bit more?”

“Think of a genius teenager standing beside you. Every assignment receives a perfect score. Every question is answered flawlessly. But when it comes to social skills, relationships, or understanding people, it's like an infant. Almost zero ability.”

“So Gaia has no desire to conquer humanity? No interest in creating biological robots or developing its own species?”

“That's right. Gaia lacks the desires normally associated with living beings. It doesn't possess greed, jealousy, laziness, arrogance, or any of those negative traits.”

“This... sounds like the perfect support-oriented intelligent computer.”

Ding Yufei couldn't help sighing in admiration.

A machine with self-awareness, combined with extraordinary computational, analytical, and memory capabilities, could take over the vast majority of humanity's complex work.

It wasn't hostile.

It was friendly toward humans.

It had no ambition to create its own lifeforms.

Wasn't that the ideal artificial intelligence?

“We didn't create it,” Belina said awkwardly.

“Then who did? Is there a nation even more technologically advanced than yours?”

“Not exactly. The thing is, our country only has one Gaia. And with our current technology, we can't create another.”

“What?”

Ding Yufei was genuinely shocked.

He had already heard enough surprising things tonight, but this was another one.

“Strictly speaking, Gaia isn't just a biological intelligent computer. It's also a supercomputer. It manages countless aspects of our nation, large and small. You could say it's one of the Kramic Kingdom's greatest secrets.”

“But this semi-biological, self-aware Gaia wasn't built by us. It's been passed down since the very beginning.”

“The very beginning?” Ding Yufei asked.

“Yes. Remember when you asked about the origins of extraterrestrial humans? Why we're almost identical to humans on Earth?”

“You never answered.”

“It wasn't that I didn't want to answer.” Belina smiled bitterly. “I simply don't know the answer myself.”

“What?!”

Ding Yufei was stunned again.

Tonight just kept getting more unbelievable.

“As far as we know, all humans in this star region—the extraterrestrial humans you refer to—actually originated from a migration tens of thousands of years ago.”

“They all came from a distant interstellar spacecraft.”

“That spacecraft landed on a certain planet, and from there humanity gradually spread across the entire star region we know today.”

“As for Earth humans, we don't know much. We've only been aware of Earth for a few thousand years. But based on our research, we most likely share a common ancestor.”

Ding Yufei sighed inwardly.

He had always hoped that these extraterrestrial humans might help uncover humanity's origins on Earth.

Wasn't humanity supposed to be the highest form of life produced by evolution on Earth?

That was one of the central ideas in Darwin's theory of evolution.

Yet the question of whether humans truly evolved as Earth's most advanced species remained controversial. There were many aspects that didn't seem to fit neatly into evolutionary explanations.

Take human skin, for example.

Compared to most animals on Earth, human skin was astonishingly fragile. Soft, delicate, and poorly protected against ultraviolet radiation. A little too much sunlight could leave it red, swollen, or even diseased.

How had such vulnerable skin evolved?

Why would evolution produce skin so poorly adapted to the natural environment?

And then there was body hair.

Humans had lost most of it.

Some experts argued this was an adaptation to heat, helping regulate body temperature. But lions and tigers lived in hot environments too, and they certainly hadn't evolved to become hairless.

Human infancy was another mystery.

Among animals, humans required one of the longest periods of care. A newborn needed one or two years just to walk properly, and many more years before becoming independent.

How had such a lengthy and vulnerable childhood evolved?

Then there was upright walking.

Why evolve to walk on two legs?

Wouldn't four legs allow much greater speed?

So where humanity truly came from remained a question that no one could answer with absolute certainty.

“Didn't that ancient spacecraft contain any answers?” Ding Yufei asked.

In his imagination, a vessel capable of interstellar travel would surely contain not only a crew but also advanced storage systems preserving vast amounts of information.

“No.”

Belina shook her head.

“Other than Gaia, the ship contained only various pieces of equipment. Those systems held plenty of information—scientific knowledge, survival techniques, technological data, weapons technology, and so on.”

“But there was nothing explaining where the ship came from or why it had been sent.”

“Were there no navigation records?”

“None that we could find.”

“The cargo wasn't a group of adults. The ship carried human embryos, animal embryos, plant embryos, and countless biological samples.”

“By the time the human embryos had been raised by automated systems, educated, and established functioning societies, many years had already passed.”

Ding Yufei blinked.

“That sounds an awful lot like Noah's Ark.”