According to Dr. Genus’s theory—
Biological cells could function as computational units.
Together, they could form a computer capable of inputting, storing, processing, and outputting information.
The nucleus was where genetic information was stored, replicated, and transcribed.
In many ways, it was the most important component of the cell.
The Gene Lock project’s core objective—
Was controlled interference with the nucleus.
The nucleus possessed transcription functions.
Simply speaking, genetic information flowed from DNA to RNA and eventually expressed itself in the form of proteins.
Proteins formed the basic foundation of human cells and tissue.
You could reasonably call protein the foundation of life.
If transcription became controllable, then heritable self-modification would become achievable.
The overall objective could therefore be simplified:
Install a miniature biological computer into every cell of Lu Yao’s body.
No. Calling each one a BC Unit would be more precise.
A BC Unit didn’t require full computational independence.
It only needed baseline information processing and auxiliary calculation capacity—
Enough to support targeted control over nuclear functions.
Simple in theory.
But BC Units in different organ systems and tissues would require subtle variations.
The human body contained tens of trillions of cells.
Trying to consciously control all gene expression with a human brain would be suicide.
Even with a biological computer, performing tens of trillions of simultaneous precision calculations and command inputs was extremely difficult.
Looks like the Gene Lock needs to be developed in stages.
Ever since Dark Matter awakened, its blood-cell-like form had traveled through circulation and entered various body cells.
But the concentration probably remained low.
Lu Yao thought.
First, I need complete bodily control.
That means allowing Dark Matter to fuse systematically with body cells.
More importantly, there must be stable replenishment so that when cells divide, Dark Matter remains integrated.
That means targeted modification of the nervous system.
The nervous system regulated bodily physiology.
It was one of the human body’s most complicated and precise systems.
Fundamentally, it received external and internal information, stored and processed it, then produced outputs.
It was divided into the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system.
The central nervous system consisted of the brain and spinal cord.
The spinal cord sat inside the vertebral canal.
And bones were where Dark Matter concentration was highest.
In other words—
The spinal cord was probably one of the earliest regions to fuse with Dark Matter.
The spinal cord handled reflexes and signal transmission.
It formed the bridge between the brain and the rest of the nervous system.
Sensory information from the limbs and trunk traveled through it before reaching the brain.
Commands from the brain likewise passed through the spinal cord before reaching the body.
If the brain was an emperor—
The spinal cord was the central bureaucracy.
The central nervous system was the capital.
“Anyway…”
Lu Yao exhaled.
“Let’s try.”
Practice was the sole criterion for testing truth.
Genus’s research reports were presumably built on countless experiments, studies, and simulations.
Reading them was equivalent to absorbing an enormous experience package.
Biological computer…
I’ve already created an early version.
But that model focused on expanding brain function.
This time I need to extend the architecture into the spinal cord.
I also need a complete upgrade.
My existing biological computer barely counts as part of my body.
It’s closer to an external add-on.
After deciding, Lu Yao called Yumemi.
“Why are you dressed like that?”
Yumemi entered while yawning.
Lu Yao blinked and asked the least romantic question imaginable.
At the moment, Yumemi looked extremely casual.
And sloppy.
Her long red hair hung freely.
She wore shorts and an oversized T-shirt.
Her long pale legs were completely exposed.
The thin fabric even revealed hints of her undergarments and curving figure.
She looked sleepy.
Yumemi didn’t care in the slightest.
“I’m at home.”
She yawned again.
“It’s not like I’m one of those research-obsessed science women who wear lab coats to bed.”
“Anyway, who cares?”
“You said there’s an interesting experiment?”
“Yeah.”
Lu Yao immediately abandoned the topic.
“Monitor my physical changes. If anything abnormal happens, wake me.”
“Sure, sure.”
Yumemi leaned closer.
“But honestly, I think using your ability for manufacturing is already enough.”
“I don’t think something like a dimensional foil is inferior to this so-called Gene Lock.”
“Using a dimensional foil against a person would be bizarre.”
Lu Yao stared at her.
“And deploying something like that on Earth is basically equivalent to releasing an environmental doomsday weapon.”
“I don’t want to destroy the universe.”
“If you ruin this world, just move to another one.”
Yumemi shrugged.
“Unfortunately, my probability-space traveling ship still isn’t repaired.”
Then she narrowed her eyes.
“Yao, don’t forget my payment for this experiment.”
“Yes, yes.”
Lu Yao lay inside the medical chamber.
Then he focused inward.
Light.
Pain.
Vibration.
Human sensory organs detected physical stimuli from the outside world.
Vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch received stimulation and transmitted information into the brain.
As long as you possessed scout-like sensory neurons, you could perceive things.
By the same logic—
Dark Matter inside Lu Yao’s body could function as his eyes and ears.
Through Dark Matter—
He could achieve internal vision.
It’s almost like entering Cells at Work.
Anyway.
First, let’s see whether Dark Matter can increase its own internal complexity and become BC Units.
The most advanced technology of the Trisolarans involved unfolding a proton into two dimensions, etching circuits onto it, and constructing an intelligent microscopic particle known as a sophon.
Theoretically, Lu Yao could eventually do something similar.
Unfortunately, two-dimensional unfolding was far beyond his current understanding.
Even Yumemi didn’t seem to fully understand it.
So he abandoned that path for now.
But he didn’t need to convert a single Dark Matter particle into a sophon.
Lu Yao wasn’t a single-celled organism.
As multicellular life, his strength lay in cooperation.
BC Units inside his cells only needed to function as terminals—
Communication nodes possessing information exchange, storage, and auxiliary computation.
First—
Upgrade the biological computer.
More Dark Matter gathered inside his nervous system.
Then the central nervous system began changing.
Because the work required extreme precision, Lu Yao’s biological computer operated at maximum capacity.
“Oh…”
Yumemi watched the real-time data.
“Neurons—normally permanent cells—are actually proliferating abnormally?”
Her eyes brightened.
“Not only that. Brain structure is undergoing beneficial reconstruction.”
“With this kind of capacity… calling you a next-generation primate wouldn’t even be unreasonable.”
At the species level, Lu Yao was genuinely evolving.
Once completed—
Perhaps the difference between him and a modern human would resemble the difference between modern humans and ancestral apes.
Something like gaining the Eyes of Replication.
With autonomous selective evolution and a biological computer—
Almost any biological ability, as well as knowledge, language, or technology created by another species, could theoretically be learned immediately.
There were still limits.
Abilities belonging to truly alien life outside the genetic framework available to him might not be reproducible.
But calling the result an “ultimate life-form” probably wouldn’t be too inaccurate.
Yumemi’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.
“Once your evolution is complete, Yao…”
“What will you become?”
“And what will you choose to do?”
“That’s something worth looking forward to.”
At least he probably wouldn’t choose to stop thinking.