How are Zerg made?

Chapter 8: Design · Chapter 8: Design · Kill! Kill them all! Kill them until they are extinct! Only when they are dead can we be safe! · Such violent thoughts occupied Professor Hogu’s mind, transmitted from its consciousness to every single cell. The cells, like soldiers receiving orders, evolved from their initial resistance using enzymes to a proactive struggle; the moment a bacteriophage parasitized them, they would commit suicide to seal off the cell membrane, taking the bacteriophage down with them. · The mutation of the single cells instantly reversed the stalemate. Professor Hogu’s single-cell cluster began to gain the upper hand, pushing forward over the corpses of their fallen comrades. · When the last bacteriophage died from a suicide attack after attempting to parasitize a cell, the desperate battle came to an end. · Corpses were scattered everywhere. Even though the surroundings were engulfed in endless darkness, Professor Hogu could roughly reconstruct the scene. The single-cell cluster had now shrunk to one-twentieth of its original size. · Recovering his composure, Professor Hogu felt a wave of lingering fear. If he still possessed a human body, he would likely be drenched in a cold sweat. · In that last battle, if there had been twice as many bacteriophages, it would have been over... · "No, I must immediately find out the cause of the double-walled cell deaths!" · Professor Hogu’s attention shifted rapidly to the double-walled cells that had completely perished. · "First, eliminate all impossible factors one by one..." · "It cannot be 'antibiotics' or similar substances. While fungi and bacteria might produce them, viruses like bacteriophages cannot. Their structure is too simple. Furthermore, if the cause originated from the single cells themselves, the double-walled cells should have had some degree of resistance..." · "Then what could be the cause?" · Professor Hogu realized he had returned to the starting point—how did the double-walled cells die? · "First, when they were single-walled, they were perfectly fine..." · "Wait, single-walled? That’s right, the single wall!" · Professor Hogu suddenly realized something and focused his attention intensely on the tunnels that slightly intersected each other. · Because of this staggering, the tunnels formed a material exchange passage that was wide at both ends and narrow in the middle. · Originally, this was intended to allow the single cells to exchange materials, energy, and information with the outside world—a prerequisite for all life to maintain its activities. · Now, this tunnel was blocked, and what blocked it were those small and large molecular clusters. · It was akin to plugging a person’s nose and mouth; the death of the double-walled cells was a logical consequence. · "So, this was a design flaw from the beginning. But what can I do? Even if I revise the DNA, the blockage issue remains unresolved. If I abandon the narrowing of the tunnels, I won’t be able to defend against those damned bacteriophages." · His line of thought hit a dead end. After some time, Professor Hogu’s ideas became a jumbled mess, and he could not think of any viable solution. · "Perhaps I should try a different approach..." · Since this path led nowhere, he might as well take another route. Professor Hogu’s mind flashed back to the recent battle against the bacteriophage cluster. · "I am not 'me,' but 'we'..." · "The capabilities of an individual are always limited. Perhaps I should strive in this direction..." · A prototype gradually took shape in Professor Hogu’s mind—a multicellular organism! · "For the skin, the outermost layer of cells would suffice. I can make them into completely closed-off cells; as for life support, that can be left to the inner cells protected by this 'epidermis'." · A long, strip-like organism resembling a bamboo shoot presented itself to Professor Hogu. · "The inner cells will only be responsible for delivering nutrients; defense and attack will be handled by other types of cells." · "It would be best to have an internal space as well, to facilitate targeted strikes." · The long, strip-like organism in his mind became transparent, revealing the structure Professor Hogu had envisioned. The inner walls of the cavity were lined with the same epidermal cells as the outer skin. When those microorganisms entered the cavity, these inner epidermal cells would release large amounts of enzymes to break down the microorganisms into amino acids. · In this way, the cavity would become a completely harmless nutrient solution. Although it would contain a high concentration of enzymes, as long as the cell walls of the inner epidermal cells were maintained to keep a balance on both sides, the 'digestive fluid' within the cavity would be harmless. · "By involving two openings, the entire single-cell cluster could move, and the water flow would naturally bring those microorganisms into the cavity." · At this moment, Professor Hogu’s thoughts suddenly stalled. He realized there was a problem. · How to absorb the amino acids broken down by the enzymes? · This was a critical issue. If he couldn't ingest the amino acids in the cavity, then all the previous designs would be in vain. · Was there really no way? Professor Hogu fell into deep contemplation again, recalling his memories from his time as a human, searching through biological designs recorded in books. · "What about humans?" · "How do humans achieve nutrient absorption after eating?" · Professor Hogu asked himself. · "The gastric mucosa; the gastric mucosa is alkaline, so it can neutralize stomach acid. Therefore, stomach acid poses no threat to the stomach unless the gastric mucosa is damaged..." · "I can try to formulate an inhibitor for the 'digestive fluid' enzymes. This way, I won’t need to worry about the enzymes breaking down the inner cavity walls." · "Therefore, the cell walls of the epidermal cells in the inner cavity wouldn’t necessarily have to..." · Professor Hogu’s thought suddenly stopped, and he immediately dismissed the idea. · "No, they must still have them. What if those microorganisms manage to infect and parasitize the cells in the cavity before they are digested?" · This was a risk he had to account for. Professor Hogu decided to keep the original cell wall design for the inner cavity cells. · Next was the design for 'opening' and 'closing' the mouth. · This difficulty wasn't too high; he could use existing protein structures as 'ropes' to simulate the 'tendons' of a multicellular organism. · Although he lacked muscle fibers to provide assistance, that didn't matter. He could provide the driving force through Cell Division. · The only drawback was that it would not be as rapid as the mouth movement of a multicellular organism equipped with muscle fibers. · However, Professor Hogu was not concerned about this flaw because his opponents were microorganisms; the speed of opening and closing the mouth didn't hold much significance. · It could be said that as long as he wasn't fighting a multicellular organism, this design of Professor Hogu’s would be invincible. Even against that previous group of bacteriophages, he was confident he could crush them. · The situation was no longer like the past, where each fought its own battle, scattered like loose sand. Under this design, the single-cell cluster would be like a clenched fist, capable of destroying any microorganism that dared to swing at it. · In terms of mass, the microorganisms had lost from the very beginning. · [END]