Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Han Zu carefully observed the cultivation process of the bone beetle: the "hatching chamber" at the top of the hive periodically releases tiny bone and muscle cells. After these cells fall into the honeycomb, they rapidly divide and aggregate under the nourishment of the nutrient solution, first forming the shell framework of the bone beetle, and then gradually growing internal muscle fibers and sensory tentacles. The entire cultivation process takes about an hour. After cultivation is complete, the walls of the honeycomb will automatically crack, and the bone beetle will crawl out along the skeletal track. The bone beetle that crawls out of the honeycomb will first crawl to the "energy charging area" at the bottom of the hive, where there is a row of tiny energy conduits. The bone beetle aligns its abdominal storage sac with the conduit to absorb the energy. After charging, it will travel along the special skeletal track to the production line that needs maintenance.

Han Zu noticed a small tear in the conveyor belt of a production line not far away. The mucous membrane at the tear had split open, exposing the underlying tendon structure. A bony beetle quickly crawled over. It first scanned the tear with its sensory antennae to determine the extent and severity of the damage. Then, its abdominal storage sac began to secrete a viscous liquid. Simultaneously, its four robotic arms worked in tandem: two arms held the edges of the tear to fix its position; one arm dipped into the viscous liquid and evenly applied it to the tear; and the last arm gently pressed the damaged area to allow the liquid to fully integrate with the flesh and blood tissue. The viscous liquid solidified rapidly upon contact with air, forming a repair layer with the same material as the mucous membrane. The bony beetle then used its robotic arms to smooth the repair layer and the surrounding mucous membrane. The entire repair process took less than five minutes, and the damaged conveyor belt was back to normal operation.

Even more astonishing is the ability of the bone beetles to handle complex malfunctions. Han Zu observed another bone beetle repairing a clogged energy pipe. It first inserted its antennae into the pipe opening to locate the blockage, then used a robotic arm to remove a tiny bone needle from its abdomen, carefully prying out the blockage bit by bit. Afterward, it injected a small amount of cleaning fluid into the pipe to remove any remaining impurities from the inner walls. The entire process was methodical and precise, like that of a professional mechanic. Next to the bone beetle production line was a "recycling chamber." Severely damaged or depleted bone beetles were transported here by specialized recycling tentacles. Digestive fluids inside the chamber broke down the beetles' bones and muscle tissue into raw cellular material. This material was then transported back to the hive's incubation chamber to be reused in cultivating new bone beetles, forming a complete "production-use-recycling" cycle.

Further out, Han Zu saw a cluster of production lines dedicated to producing basic materials. This cluster was much larger than the ones he had seen before, occupying thousands of square meters of space. Dozens of production lines operated side-by-side, each manufacturing different types of basic materials, including irregular chunks of flesh, smooth bone plates, elastic tendons, and transparent mucous membranes. These basic materials were the "cornerstone" of the entire bio-engine; they were indispensable for both repairing damaged production lines and constructing new structures.

The production line for producing flesh and blood blocks has a relatively simple structure. Its main component is a huge "aggregation chamber" filled with a base slurry supplied from a furnace. Inside the chamber, the slurry undergoes high-speed rotation and pressurization, gradually coagulating into flesh and blood blocks of varying sizes. These blocks have different densities; some are as soft as sponges, while others are as hard as rocks. Blocks of different densities are conveyed to different storage areas by conveyor belts. Han Zu noticed that the softer flesh and blood blocks have surfaces covered with tiny pores and store large amounts of nutrient solution inside, primarily used to repair the muscle tissue in the production line. The harder flesh and blood blocks, on the other hand, contain a large amount of calcium, are tough, and are often used to fill large damaged gaps.

Adjacent to the flesh and blood production line is the bone plate production line. The core of this line is a "pressing mold," constructed of thick bone with adjustable grooves inside, capable of producing bone plates of different sizes and shapes. During production, molten bone slurry is poured into the mold, which then applies immense pressure through muscle contractions, pressing the slurry into a flat plate. Afterward, it undergoes a cooling process in a "cooling zone," and the bone plate is formed. The surface of the formed bone plate is then smoothed by specialized polishing tentacles, and the edges are blunted to prevent scratching other tissues during transportation and use.

Han Zu observed that these skeletal plates varied greatly in size, the smallest being only the size of a palm, while the largest exceeded ten meters in diameter. The large skeletal plates were mainly used to build supports for the production line, while the smaller ones were used to repair damaged tracks and platforms. In the center of the basic material production line, there was a huge "storage warehouse," composed of multiple layers of fleshy platforms. On each platform, different types of basic materials were neatly stacked. Suspended from the top of the warehouse was a "classification system" made of nerve fibers. This system could quickly identify the type and purpose of materials by sensing their energy fluctuations and guide transport tentacles to deliver the materials to designated locations.

Dozens of transport tracks connect the warehouse to its perimeter. When a region needs basic materials, transport tentacles retrieve the corresponding materials from the warehouse and quickly deliver them to the destination via the tracks. Han Zu noticed that even these seemingly lifeless chunks of flesh and bone plates exhibited subtle pulsations on their surfaces, with dark red liquid slowly flowing through the capillaries on the surface, proving that they still retained their "activity." This activity gives these basic materials strong adaptability; when used for repair, they can quickly integrate with the original tissue, forming an organic whole, rather than simply being pieced together.

But Han Zu knew very well that these things could not be called living beings—they had no autonomous consciousness, no independent life cycle, and all their activities followed a pre-set program, like replaceable parts in a machine. The only difference was that they were made of flesh and bones, not metal and plastic. At the edge of the basic materials production line, Han Zu also discovered a "special materials production line." This production line manufactured a kind of flesh-and-blood cable with energy conduction capabilities. The cable consisted of a central nerve fiber and an outer layer of muscle tissue, which could efficiently transmit energy and signals. This cable was the key to connecting the various production lines and control nodes, equivalent to the "neural network" of the biological engine.

The little mouse's curiosity grew stronger. It slowly climbed down Han Zu's arm and squatted on his wrist, leaning slightly forward. Its bright black eyes were fixed on the busy bone beetles, and its little tail swayed excitedly. When it saw a bone beetle dragging a chunk of flesh several times its own size, it couldn't help but wave its little paws, as if trying to imitate the beetle's carrying motion, and made soft "squeak" sounds, as if cheering the bone beetle on.

Han Zu gently touched its back with his finger, feeling the soft, furry texture on his fingertip, simultaneously signaling, "Don't leave rashly." The little mouse immediately turned around, rubbing its head against Han Zu's finger as if responding to his warning. It then squeaked twice at Han Zu, as if assuring him it wouldn't wander off, before turning back to continue observing the bone beetle's movements. Just then, a bone beetle that had just completed its repair task crawled back onto the track, passing right in front of Han Zu and the little mouse. The little mouse's eyes lit up instantly. It brought its nose to the edge of the track, gently sniffing the scent left by the bone beetle. Then, it stretched out its little paw, wanting to touch the sticky liquid remaining on the track. Seeing this, Han Zu gently pressed its paw down with his finger and shook his head.

Although the little mouse was somewhat unwilling, it knew that Han Zu was protecting it, so it had no choice but to retract its paws and instead looked curiously at the piles of flesh and blood on the basic materials production line in the distance, seemingly pondering their purpose. Han Zu didn't pay much attention to the little mouse's little movements; his attention was already drawn to another peculiar production line not far away. It was a production line specifically for manufacturing "transport servants." Unlike the humanoid creatures and bone beetles he had produced before, the servants manufactured here were enormous, resembling giant snails. Their bodies were composed of thick shells and soft muscles. The shells were covered with anti-slip patterns, and their abdomens had strong suction capabilities, allowing them to move freely on smooth surfaces. Their backs had a recessed "cargo bay" used for loading and transporting basic materials. Han Zu decided to approach and observe. He held the little mouse and slowly moved along the passage between the two production lines. The muscular tissue on the passage floor was very elastic underfoot, and with each step, he could feel the slight wriggling of the tissue beneath. On the fleshy walls on both sides of the passage, tiny blood vessels would occasionally rupture, and the dark red liquid that seeped out would fall to the ground and be quickly absorbed by the tissue, leaving no trace.

Han Zu's gaze swept between the production lines and processing plants, his mind rapidly processing the information while comparing the scene before him with the other two creation engines he remembered. He clearly remembered the fate of those two engines—unexplained "pathological changes" caused them to lose a significant amount of functionality. This engine, however, was completely different. Everything here revolved around "manufacturing" and "repair," with no superfluous ecological behaviors. Every structure and every link had a clear function, working in perfect harmony to form an efficient and stable production system, like a factory that never stopped, where all "life activities" served the engine's operation.

He noticed that this engine's "intelligence" far surpassed the previous two. For example, the control nodes could adjust parameters in real time according to the state of the creation, the diversion nodes could precisely control the delivery of the slurry, and the recovery chamber could realize the recycling of materials. All of these demonstrated a high degree of order and planning, while the previous two engines, due to their respective "ailments," had long lost this precise coordination ability. Han Zu's gaze lingered on the transport servant production line, watching as those giant snail-shaped servants, after being manufactured, immediately went to the basic material warehouse to load flesh and blood blocks, and then transported them along fixed tracks to various areas in need. The entire process was seamless, as if a pre-programmed sequence was running precisely.

He also discovered that there were no "waste products" in this engine. All failed creations or damaged servants were promptly recycled and decomposed into raw materials for reuse. This avoided resource waste and kept the engine environment relatively "clean," unlike the discarded flesh and bones found everywhere in the previous two engines. Next to the servant transport production line, Han Zu discovered an "energy supply production line." This production line manufactured "energy cores" that could autonomously emit light and heat. The cores were composed of concentrated energy crystals and special flesh tissue, spherical in shape, about one meter in diameter, with energy patterns covering their surface, and could continuously release stable energy. After these cores were manufactured, they were transported by servants to energy nodes throughout the space, providing power to the production line, furnace, control nodes, etc., essentially acting as the "batteries" of the entire bio-engine. Han Zu could sense that the energy density of these cores was very high, and the release process was extremely stable, with no signs of energy leakage. This was one of the key factors that allowed the engine to operate stably for a long time.

"Creation Engine".

Han Zu made his judgment in his mind, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation and a touch of amazement. This creation engine before him was completely different from the two he had seen before. Every production line here was operating stably, producing products that were extremely regular in both form and function, without any signs of chaos. More importantly, the energy flow here was exceptionally stable. The pulsating frequency of those giant pillars of flesh remained consistently around thirty times per minute, and the intensity of the silvery-white light showed no fluctuation whatsoever. Energy was transferred smoothly and unimpeded between all nodes, without any blockages or leaks—this was a creation engine in normal working order, and the first one he had encountered.

He further speculated that this might be a "model" fundamentally different from the creation engines he had seen before. The creation engines he had seen before, regardless of their specific structure, all had one characteristic: they gradually merged with their surrounding environment. Han Zu believed that contact with other materials not created by the creation engines might be the reason, or at least one of the reasons, for the "pathological changes" of those two creation engines.

Based on these clues, Han Zu became even more certain of his judgment, and most importantly, this creation engine possessed an ability that the other two creation engines did not have. Under the influence of the creations produced by the engine and the engine itself, this complete creation engine here possessed the ability to self-repair.