Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 586: Chapter 183: The Insect Queen’s 2nd Cocooning

For the Insect Race, all biological components consumed are preserved within their own genes, specifically those useful to them.

Thus, the Insect Race can evolve these traits.

Of course, these traits can also be selectively evolved or not, according to the will of the Insect Queen controlling the Insect Race colony, or displayed in particular individuals of the race.

The Insect Queen can even retract these evolved traits from the Insect Race.

After all, the Insect Race are exoskeletal organisms.

Suppose a type of bird possesses hollow bones, an innate trait fundamental to bird flight.

If the Insect Race consumed such a bird and evolved those bones, wouldn’t that be detrimental?

However, even if the traits are restricted and retracted by the Insect Queen, the potential within the insect’s genes remains unchanged.

Everything is buried deep in the genes, including the ”hollow bone” genes that Chen Ming hypothesized about.

Yet, as the complexity of the genes increases, these earlier genes become more difficult to excavate.

Additionally, as the Insect Race expands and reproduces, many Insect Queens gradually lose the memory of these genes throughout iterations.

This makes it even more difficult to evolve into the various gene traits that might have been previously omitted due to external environmental factors.

The genes recently consumed can be freely evolved by the Insect Queen, but those embedded deep within the genes.

They can only be awakened through environmental stimuli, enabling the Insect Queen to locate these genes in an individual before expressing them in the entire population.

For example, during combat or under extremely harsh conditions.

For Chen Ming, there is a third method for the Insect Race evolution, which utilizes the genetic traceback effect of his Spiritual Energy, conducted once a month.

However, in practical terms, this is also essentially the second method, extracting existing traits from genes, albeit its efficiency leaves much to be desired.

In any case, once Chen Ming learned about the existence of these large insects on the habitable planet, he proactively dispatched Dusk to capture a bunch.

Chen Ming’s idea is quite simple.

Since the Insect Race gains genes by consumption, and recently acquired genes don’t face issues of entanglement within complex gene chains, the Insect Queen can evolve them at any time.

So, just feed more organisms to the Insect Queen.

For instance, the giant insects from the habitable planet Chen Ming captured the week before.

The unique organisms from the habitable planet found two weeks earlier.

All were fed to the Insect Queen by Chen Ming.

Valuable genes were extracted and evolved; those without value were stored away, regardless of any increase in gene complexity.

Traits evolved during combat are meant to adapt to battle, and those not evolving suitable traits, or evolving ones that hinder combat, deserve to perish.

Moreover, although the Insect Race has survived like this for many years,

the fact that they were once nearly driven to extinction by humans unequivocally demonstrates that their evolutionary capacity is ineffective against dedicated countermeasures.

With prior lessons in mind, Chen Ming believes that employing more scientific methods to evolve the Insect Race is a better approach.

That is, until he gains sufficient capability in biotechnology to analyze and assess the genes of the Insect Race.

Directly extract the genes of the Insect Race using physical methods, analyze the potential within each gene segment, select those of value, and then allow the Insect Queen to extract and evolve from their own genes.

Chen Ming’s current studies represent the Empire’s pinnacle in biotechnology.

Given that the Empire could once specifically target and nearly exterminate the Insect Race,

it follows that they can equally rejuvenate the Insect Race during cultivation.

Although Chen Ming cannot achieve this now, he believes that his increasing knowledge in biotechnology will enable him to do so in the future.

Moreover, he feels that feeding and proximate evolution is more efficient compared to relying solely on innate combat evolution.

And it fulfills his objectives to a certain extent.

After understanding the evolution patterns of the Insect Race from the Insect Queen, Chen Ming had some unique ideas for them.

For instance, feeding several Energy Crystal Crabs to the Insect Queen, given he has a substantial quantity on hand.

Energy Crystal Crabs naturally produce a self-energizing material through secretions on their backs when fed normally.

Simultaneously, this crystalline shell is an exceptionally high-quality energy storage material, even superior to various synthetic materials and devices.

Except that Energy Crystal Crabs are omnivores with a low dietary efficiency, mainly consuming rocks and cave mosses.

Conversely, the Insect Race can consume anything.

And the Insect Race inherently possesses a material akin to the Energy Crystal Crab shell.

Namely the biomass stored by the Insect Queen after digestion and conversion.

If the Insect Race absorbs the genes of the Energy Crystal Crab, the advantages brought by their combination are beyond Chen Ming’s current imagination.

Chen Ming’s other idea revolves around the Altrulan Air Eel, a source of Sky Steel.

Sky Steel is considered the top-tier material necessary for the Superspace Navigation System and spacecraft manufacturing.

Given Chen Ming is currently roaming the Star Realm with a group of Dusk, he is in dire need of such materials.