Chapter 196 The Remote Thought Array

Before returning to their base, the Executors from the moon, led by Hao Ren, visited the construction site of the data processing center and the massive antenna array.

These high-tech facilities, which could only be described as wonders, amazed them.

"We never imagined that we could solve the threat of a planet eater in this way…" An Executor official named 16-C looked up at the tower in front of her, her voice filled with awe, "We always knew it was a living being, but no one dared to imagine how to control a being the size of a planet… In fact, we were never even sure if it had any thought organs."

"Of course, it does, and more than one, but they've all been destroyed," Hao Ren said, also looking up at the tower. Unlike the Executors, he seemed to be inspecting the building. "We decided to solve the problem this way after research. The so-called ‘planet eater’ has completely merged with your home planet and cannot be removed. Killing it would cause devastating damage to the planet itself, so the best solution is to control it. This tower is a remote communication device that can receive vast amounts of data from the other side of the universe without any delay. This information is then sent to the data processing center, the square ‘buildings’ you just saw. After being processed into nerve impulse signals, it is transmitted through artificial nerve lines to the various nodes in the mantle. These nodes are connected to the ‘planet eater’s’ biological nerves, so this giant creature is completely under our control."

16-C—a tall woman with short hair who liked to speak directly—did not hide her worries after hearing Hao Ren’s explanation. "This solution does solve the problem, but many of us are worried because the home planet is still not completely safe. The factor that could completely destroy it has not disappeared, but is only temporarily dormant. I think this is a hidden danger."

Hao Ren knew this was a natural concern. In the minds of these Executors, who had been fighting the First Born for thousands of years, there was no concept of a "gentle First Born." As long as the First Born was on this planet, they would not truly be at ease.

Therefore, he didn't take it to heart and just smiled: "Is this your personal opinion or the opinion of your race?"

16-C nodded frankly: "It's my personal opinion for now."

"Sometimes we have to make compromises," Hao Ren said. "Compared to the complete destruction of the planet, this is the best outcome. And I can assure you that the ‘planet eater’ will be under our control, and long-term control. You don't have to worry about it going out of control."

"...However, this may also become a concern for many people," 16-C said helplessly. "The survival of our home planet will be in your hands. After this facility is completed, you can easily tear this planet apart with just a command."

"I can only say that this concern is completely correct," Hao Ren said bluntly when faced with this somewhat sensitive topic. "No amount of euphemism will change the fact. This planet will be under our control, and we will control it for a long time in the foreseeable future. This is to ensure safety, but it will inevitably cause some psychological pressure on you. Regarding this issue, I can only say that you need to be more open-minded about it, because even if we didn't control your planet by controlling the planet eater, we have countless other ways to determine the life and death of this planet—but I will never mess around, because I also have to abide by certain rules, and these rules dictate that I must protect and help ‘good civilizations’ like yours, and in most cases, I cannot interfere with you."

16-C frowned, thinking about what a "good civilization" was and what the "rules" Hao Ren mentioned specifically referred to. After noticing that the atmosphere was a little awkward, N-6 couldn't help but speak up. She looked at Hao Ren: "I myself am willing to believe you, although I was worried at first…"

"Building trust takes time," Hao Ren smiled. "We don't have to force everyone to give each other a reputation of admiration at the beginning. At least maintain a neutral and friendly relationship. As time goes by, I believe you will realize that in this cruel universe, there are still some friends worth trusting."

16-C didn't say anything more, just nodded thoughtfully, and looked with curiosity at the engineering drones that looked like a combination of insects and machines flying around in the air, busy installing various unknown silver-white equipment on the tower in front of her.

This tower is the antenna system of the "Remote Thought Array." After completion, it will be several kilometers high and can even be clearly seen from space. A large number of gain antennas and the high-strength communication module it possesses will allow this building to easily receive the thought signals forwarded from the drone information station and distribute them to the three data processing centers of the Thought Array. Now the drones are installing the basic framework of the antenna system, and under this framework, a large number of artificial nerve lines extending from the depths of the ground are being connected one by one, executing the initial test procedures.

Before the project started, Hao Ren contacted Zhuom, who was developing new emoticons at the Crystal Nucleus Research Station. When he learned that he might get a real body, Zhuom was of course very happy. Then he learned about the relevant situation of this new body: the original owner of the new body was a First Born who had fallen into madness and almost destroyed the ecosystem and civilization that he was supposed to protect, but Zhuom didn't mind. The only thing he was worried about was whether there would be any pollution left in this new body that had been deeply corrupted, but Hao Ren had already considered this and assured Zhuom that everything was safe. Those mysterious crystals carrying the powerful power of the Goddess of Creation had completely killed the nervous system of this new body, and the toxins produced could never be eliminated. This kind of toxicity was a fatal injury to the original owner of this body, but in Hao Ren's eyes, there was no more thorough and perfect "purification" than this.

As for the fact that he needed to connect remotely to take over the new body, Zhuom was a little surprised when he first heard it, but this gentle and honest First Born didn't raise any objections—he was already very satisfied to have a new body. Anyway, as long as the internet speed kept up, it didn't matter whether his brain was on his body or not.

From now on, wifi is the basis of survival for Zhuom (no mistake).

Of course, Hao Ren also mentioned Lily's vision of the "cloud brain" to Zhuom, but he concealed the terrible name that made people not even want to complain. Zhuom also showed great interest in this idea and said that he was super good at multitasking and could handle it completely.

Hao Ren envisioned Zhuom's future lifestyle—the main body would stay in the cabin of the Crystal Nucleus Research Station all day long, then connect to wifi and open a bunch of small accounts outside to play the real-life version of *Stellaris* all over the universe. When he had nothing to do, he would use emoticons to fight with the drone swarm or the space station mainframe. Once the wifi was disconnected, he would be as useless as trash…

He would definitely become good friends with Bai Huo, without a doubt.

Although they wanted to stay on the home planet for a few more days, the moon base, which was waiting to be rebuilt, was now in dire need of manpower. N-4 and N-6 still took the Petrified Tortoise back to the moon that evening (ordinary Executor vehicles have a strong provocative effect on the First Born's tentacles, so they should be avoided as much as possible for the time being). The action team members who had been doing nothing for days also left with them.

The departure of a large group of Executors did not make the outpost seem deserted, because more and more drones were coming from space and participating in the construction of new projects. The simultaneous start of multiple projects made the entire base and a considerable area around the base present a lively scene. Even when night fell, those tireless machine workers were still busy.

Prefabricated modules constantly transmitted from outer space to the ground were assembled by engineering drones with extremely high efficiency. Almost every hour, a new facility or large piece of equipment was connected online. Before the sun rose tomorrow, this area would probably have a completely new look.

After dinner, Hao Ren and his gang all gathered in the lounge to drink, play cards, and chat—the more spacious lounge in the outpost, not the somewhat cramped little bar on the Petrified Tortoise.

Thanks to the arrival of the drone swarm, everyone could have a comfortable and spacious resting environment in this foreign land. After the outpost was built, everyone rarely stayed on the ship.

This initially made Nolan a little resentful, but soon, the ship spirit found a way to relieve her boredom: she grabbed an autonomous machine and sent it to the laboratory for modification, installed a bunch of holographic projection devices and sensory simulation plug-ins on the thing, and then used this autonomous machine as a carrier to move freely in the base.

Now this modified autonomous machine was staying in the base's lounge. On its round head was a holographic projection of Nolan's bust, and its tentacles were holding a large pile of playing cards, playing *Dou Dizhu* with the Nangong siblings with great enthusiasm.

Vivian squinted her eyes while holding a teacup: "To be honest, if we weren't trapped on an alien planet, life would be pretty comfortable."

Lily hugged her big tail a little sadly and sat not far away, muttering when she heard this: "That's because you don't have to worry about losing money here… I'm so worried, I still owe a magazine two manuscripts."

"There's internet here, why don't you just write them and send them over?" Vivian looked at her a little strangely. "It's not like the internet was cut off like last time with Koro. Actually, I've been curious about this for a long time, but I haven't remembered to ask."

Lily, who was halfway through hugging her tail in sorrow, suddenly froze: "...Huh? So it can be operated like this!?"

Then she hugged her tail and continued to be sad: "Ah… so worried… I've been stranded in another world and I still have to write and submit manuscripts, is there no end to this..."

Vivian gave the husky girl a disdainful look: "Dramatic."

Hao Ren and Doudou played a game of *Gomoku*, and after finally winning, he stood up to stretch his body. He heard Vivian and Lily's conversation and couldn't help but shake his head and smile, remembering the words Vivian used to enlighten him when he came out to blow the wind a few nights ago because of boredom.

At this moment, the autonomous machine controlled by Nolan suddenly threw the playing cards on its tentacles and floated straight towards Hao Ren: "Boss! The drone swarm sent to the deep space has just sent back information. There's progress on what you asked them to investigate!"

Vivian raised her head curiously: "What thing? What thing?"

Hao Ren smiled slightly: "The divine energy map of the X Star Cluster blockade!"