Chapter 008: Life on the Island
Even though Li Heng's current memory capacity exceeds that of an ordinary person by a thousand years, he still cannot delve into the cellular level to grasp the complex information. The smaller the material, the larger the quantity, and the more chaotic and complex the information that can be transmitted.
If he remains in a calm state and does not engage in extensive physical activity, Li Heng's actual energy expenditure is not high, requiring only about three times the energy of an average person. The energy stored in his body is sufficient to sustain him for a month without the need for food to replenish energy
However, the rapid thinking and information obliteration of the brain enable him to immediately crush those feelings upon their arrival, resulting in Li Heng, who would normally suffer more than an average person, becoming completely devoid of pain
The syringe at the front end of the robotic arm extracts blood from Li Heng's body and stores it in a blood bag. This blood is one of the most important research materials, and each sample is sent to various laboratories of Hongmeng for analysis and study. This is also why, even though Li Heng's cells can reproduce indefinitely, blood must still be continuously drawn from him
The human body is a precise whole, where a change in one area can lead to alterations in other areas. Li Heng's body is capable of undergoing reasonable evolution in response to the information he consumes without experiencing genetic collapse
His body was wrapped in numerous small white particles of dry ice, which emitted bursts of white smoke from the surface of Li Heng's body
For example, the most blood extracted, after Li Heng arrived on the island, he had to have several hundred milliliters of blood drawn every day, yet this had no effect on his body
Bacteria have a significant impact on human activities. On one hand, bacteria are the pathogens of many diseases, including tuberculosis, gonorrhea, anthrax, syphilis, plague, and trachoma, all of which are caused by bacteria
No one noticed the abnormalities in Li Heng's brain; it appeared just like any ordinary yet mysterious human brain.
Walking through the winding corridors back to his residence, no one spoke to him along the way. However, the personnel within the base no longer maintained a constant vigilance and kept their distance from him; now he could also stroll around the island.
The chest was opened, and several robotic arms extracted some internal organs from Li Heng's body. The low temperature made them appear somewhat sluggish.
This is also why Li Heng is willing to let the experimenters manipulate him, as he does not feel pain anyway, and the lost internal organs can be replenished in the time it takes to have a meal
Then, these two strands of hair began to engage in a playful struggle, sometimes transforming into rock-paper-scissors, and at other times sparking small electric flashes, as if they possessed life and self-awareness
It resembles a complex ecosystem, a vast society
With the current progress, in less than half a year he will be able to achieve control at the cellular level, at which point he will be able to directly manipulate specific cells, and conventional human weapons will no longer pose a threat to him
Li Heng's body undoubtedly adheres to the law of conservation of energy, and the strength he possesses, which is several times greater than that of an average person, results in a corresponding exponential increase in energy consumption. Fortunately, his brain does not consume any energy at all; otherwise, given his speed of thought, the energy consumed by his brain would surpass that of his body.
Suddenly, he extended his left hand to pick up a small stone from the ground, and with a forceful flick of his wrist, he hurled it. A faint sound of air being sliced through was heard as the stone struck a grouper that was slightly surfacing, its fin protruding from the water, about ten meters away.
Li Heng's bodily mutation has transformed the internal environment of his body significantly compared to the past, yet these small organisms have not demonstrated their tenacious vitality
On the other hand, bacterial communities composed of microbial cells and the genes they contain not only do not pose a threat to human health, but rather are beneficial to the human body, assisting in digestion, growth, and defense
Three months later
In the span of three months, Li Heng's memory capacity expanded several dozen times, which further enhanced his control abilities
Returning to the room, Li Heng still connected to the internet, casually browsing the headlines of external news while also checking the comments from netizens
A strand of hair on his forehead twisted into various shapes, from simple rings to complex towers, dancing and transforming like a living tentacle.
After 200,000 years of evolution, the bacterial communities and immune cells within the human body have achieved a state of peaceful coexistence. The human body is not a self-sufficient island isolated from the world.
Li Heng's cooperative behavior is one aspect; the main reason is that the bacterial mutation issue, which was originally of utmost importance, has not occurred. On the contrary, the bacteria within Li Heng's body are becoming increasingly scarce, as they are being continuously eradicated
However, he was only able to control the macroscopic physical performance of the body; when it came to the microscopic level of cells at the ten-micron scale and genes at the nanoscale, he was completely unable to grasp it. This means that even he himself did not understand why his body was undergoing such changes
A tiny mosquito flew past, and another hair quickly swept across Li Heng's forehead, the subtle electric current singeing it, while the hair flicked, tossing the mosquito's corpse into the trash bin on the ground
However, if one engages in extensive physical activity or undergoes recovery from a severe injury, the energy required will increase exponentially. The average adult consumes approximately 8 megajoules of energy per day, while Li Heng's energy expenditure over a 24-hour period can reach nearly 300 megajoules, which is roughly equivalent to 80 kilowatt-hours, more than thirty times that of an ordinary person
Such a large amount of energy is sufficient for an ordinary electric vehicle to travel several hundred kilometers. If he were to rely solely on consuming rice to replenish energy, Li Heng would need to eat more than 50 kilograms of rice. Even if his digestive system functions well, going to the restroom would be too troublesome
This result has surprised researchers, as it suggests that Li Heng may soon develop a sterile environment within his body, where his immune system will eliminate all foreign organisms that do not belong to this body. His body is transitioning from a symbiotic ecosystem to a truly self-sufficient individual life.
The stonefish pierced its fin, and the grouper, missing part of its body, struggled and rolled on the water's surface. Li Heng picked up the fishing rod beside him and cast it out, the hook at the end accurately embedding itself into its body
The diameter of human hair is less than 100 micrometers. The hair of an average person is composed of keratinized epithelial cells, which are dead cells. In contrast, Li Heng's hair consists of living cells, which now resemble slender, flexible optical fibers capable of transmitting and receiving signals
Fortunately, since the mutation, his brain has not felt fatigue again. Although he can still choose to sleep, his multi-threaded thinking allows him to maintain his attack on those small insects while most of his cognitive processes come to a halt
After finishing the fried rice in the lunch box, Li Heng stood up, leisurely carrying his fishing rod and bucket as he walked towards the base. If it weren't for the nearby automatic machine guns, an uninformed observer might have thought he was here on vacation
Since delving further into the microscopic realm, the tiny mites invisible to the naked eye of ordinary humans have become distinctly perceptible. At that moment, feeling the multitude of insects on his body, Li Heng directly increased the electric current on the surface of his skin, incinerating and killing all those small creatures
Just like the countless animals in nature, as well as ancient humans. They did not know that the body is composed of countless cells, nor did they understand the principles of the nervous system's operation, yet they were inherently able to control their bodies freely
As the amount of information in the brain increases, Li Heng's perception of various parts of his body becomes clearer compared to that of an ordinary person, which means that his pain sensitivity is several times sharper than that of others
In the quiet room, only the two rebellious strands of hair on Li Heng's forehead made a faint popping sound like a lighter. Suddenly, a voice announced: "Notice: Please prepare in advance to go to the laboratory for research collaboration in one hour"
Later, they discovered that Li Heng's body repaired itself at an astonishing speed; as long as there were sufficient nutrients and energy supplements, the removed bodily tissues would regenerate in a very short period of time
Conventional chemical anesthetics are almost ineffective on Li Heng's body, as they are recognized by the immune system as harmful substances and subsequently have their molecular structure destroyed. Researchers can only influence his body's repair through external physical methods
He lay on his side on the bed, inserting the wire directly into his left side at the waist, allowing it to connect directly to the kidney. His extreme control over the skin and muscles of his body enabled him to easily endure this injury, with blood vessels constricting and rapidly regenerating cells ensuring that not a trace of blood was left at the wound site
At this moment, he was squatting on a raised coral reef, wearing beach shorts and flip-flops, holding an oval-shaped iron lunchbox in his hands, and stuffing fried rice into his mouth
Over the past three months, each experiment has required Li Heng to expend a significant amount of energy, and he has also lost a considerable amount of bodily tissue, with a weight loss of several kilograms during a single experiment being quite normal
So he had the staff help him connect this wire, and every night when he returned to sleep, he would continue charging.
Apart from his hair, certain areas of his skin all over his body were also slightly trembling, as the electric currents within his body passed through those locations, stimulating the skin to quiver
When the day comes that he can easily control the one hundred thousand strands of hair on his head to perform different actions, perhaps he will be able to delve into the realm of cells
The South China Sea in September remains warm and humid, as the sea breeze tousles Li Heng's significantly lengthened messy hair. He has gradually become accustomed to the taste of this salty and humid sea breeze
Bacteria account for 90% of all living cells in the human body, with approximately 500 to 1,000 different species of bacteria present in each individual's body. They can reproduce approximately 100 trillion individual cells in an adult's body, which is about 10 times the total number of somatic cells in a person
At the very beginning, the researchers were still somewhat restrained, after all, there was only this one individual of immortality
At the front of the wire is a sharp, needle-like metal tip, which was made for Li Heng by the personnel at the base
Reeling in the fishing line, Li Heng placed the grouper into a nearby bucket, where several other fish were still thrashing about. This was the harvest he had gathered in the time it took to have a meal, providing for himself through his own efforts, and he would have them for dinner.
Within his body, the variety of bacteria has decreased to fewer than one hundred species. Aside from common bacteria such as Bacteroides, many microorganisms have vanished from his system, and now bacteria account for less than half of all the cells in his body
Currently, Li Heng is capable of achieving precise control at this scale. According to his calculations, his memory capacity increases by approximately 4% each day. As long as there is a sufficient source of organized information, his memory will expand more than a thousand times every six months.
Two strands of hair, lifeless and soft, fell down, sticking to Li Heng's forehead. He went to the second floor, opened a small door on the left wall, and pulled out a specially made black wire from inside.
One hour later, all robotic arms will retract, and the cells suppressed by low temperatures will begin to repair the body
On this island, he can only receive unencrypted external signals within this room, as all other areas are subject to signal jamming
Low temperatures can inhibit the autonomous division rate of Li Heng's body cells, while also reducing the sensation of pain
Unfortunately, they are like the wild grass on the prairie, impossible to eradicate completely. Therefore, Li Heng is constantly maintaining the current intensity in certain areas.
One hour later, in the laboratory
Li Heng's multitasking ability has matured, and operations that require focusing on multiple tasks simultaneously have become effortless for him. A few days ago, he began to delve into body control at levels below 100 micrometers, and now he is accustomed to this sensation through the method of hair interaction.
The brain of a living organism receives countless complex signals from all over the body, and then transforms this complex information, which surpasses the computational capacity of supercomputers, into simple information such as pain and hunger that can be understood by human surface self-awareness
The sensation of pain serves as an automatic warning when the body is injured, with these electrical signals rushing from the injured area to the brain, and at present, Li Heng does not possess the ability to actively control it
Li Heng controlled the internal organs, slowing their movement, suppressing blood flow, while directly extinguishing the pain signals transmitted to the brain from the body
The energy stored within the body is utilized, and the nutrients flowing from the infusion bottle into the bloodstream are rapidly converted. The cells at the wound site undergo rapid division, while the blood that surges from the internal organs transforms into fine threads of coagulation that bind them together. Before long, the body will return to its original intact state
He is now capable of decrypting some simple signal encryptions and even transmitting a small amount of information externally. However, he is still powerless against military encryption signals