CHAPTER 200: BACK-UP, REBIRTH

Unbeknownst to anyone, this clone had already been Parasitic Disaster.

Although his appearance showed no change, his core had been completely altered.

Tom thought rapidly and made a decisive choice.

Under his control, the clones in the isolation spaceship seemed to "come alive" in that instant, as if they had their own consciousness.

"Old Walker, let’s go, time for a drink."

"Hey, you Old Sullivan, wait for me."

Tom played tens of thousands of roles by himself, assigning different personalities and identities to each of these clones.

Thus, in that instant, the isolation spaceship became like a normal society.

The clone who had completely lost contact with Tom, and could no longer be linked by Tom’s consciousness, quietly observed the world before him.

Another clone, under Tom’s manipulation, walked over and said in a very familiar tone, "Old Lewis, what are you spacing out for? Let’s go, didn’t we say we were going to play ball?"

"Oh, right, let’s go, let’s go."

The clone acted as if he really had this plan and quickly followed.

Tom sneered inwardly.

Tom confirmed that although this clone had been Parasitic Disaster, the situation was still completely under his control.

Since that was the case, he might as well take this opportunity to observe the invasion mode of this Parasitic Disaster and the parasite, and accumulate some experience.

A group of clones headed to the court in high spirits, like friends gathering in their leisure time; everything seemed normal.

In the shadows, Tom subjected the parasite to the most stringent surveillance.

After a few days, the parasite seemed to have become familiar with this society and gradually began to take action.

This time, after finishing a gathering with friends, the parasite said, "Come to my place for drinks tonight, and I’ll show you some good stuff."

Tom’s heart stirred, and he immediately manipulated the clone to agree, "You old Lewis, still being so mysterious, alright."

In the evening, some clones came to the parasite’s home.

While the clones were "drunk," the parasite somewhat mysteriously took out a projector.

"Old Lewis, what exactly do you want us to see?"

"A projector? What is this? Is there some exciting new movie?"

"Hehe."

The clones all started to tease him.

The parasite smiled without a word, only operating the projector, and projected an image of the Evil Eye Galaxy onto the huge screen.

"What is this... uh... it’s really beautiful."

At first, the clones were a bit restless.

But in a moment, they all quieted down, staring intently at the image of the Evil Eye Galaxy.

Quietly, some "desires" emerged from the minds of these clones, who had no self-awareness, and Tom clearly perceived them.

"Sure enough, this Parasitic Disaster, known as the Evil Eye Civilization, parasitizes other life forms by having them view images of the Evil Eye Galaxy."

Tom felt a slight chill in his heart.

Tom had not yet discovered the specific parasitic principle.

But through speculation, Tom could know that it must be related to the organ responsible for thought in living organisms.

Take humans, for example.

The basic mechanism by which humans process external information is the synapses and connections of neurons.

Any information that humans see or feel, when mapped to the brain, consists entirely of different neuronal activities.

And it is very clear that the image of the Evil Eye Galaxy is highly likely to trigger special neuronal synapses and connections, creating a certain virus-like, self-replicating structure.

Thus, once an image of the Evil Eye Galaxy of sufficient clarity is seen, and the corresponding neuronal synapses and connections are generated in the brain, this structure will begin to self-replicate within the brain.

In the early stages of replication, this change will manifest as an abnormal desire to view images of the Evil Eye Galaxy.

Tom had reason to believe that the longer one looked, and the higher the clarity of what was seen, the faster this replication would be.

Up until this point, this virus-mode structure had completed its occupation of the organism’s brain, and thus, this organism was "possessed."

Although it still had the appearance of its corresponding species, its core had completely changed, becoming an alien life form.

It could then, under the guise of an appearance indistinguishable from the intelligent life of the invaded civilization, secretly continue to spread images of the Evil Eye Galaxy, secretly spreading this parasitism, until the entire civilization was completely taken over.

The true Evil Eye Galaxy possesses certain peculiarities.

And for technological civilizations, understanding such anomalies usually means progress.

Almost every civilization that pursues technological progress will not let go of these anomalies.

This is the bait.

Once the bait is taken, some individuals within the civilization will become Parasitic Disaster.

If it is not discovered and eliminated in advance, the entire civilization could be infected.

Tom was almost certain that the Evil Eye Galaxy must have been intentionally modified into its current appearance by a super parasitic civilization, with the purpose of broadcasting this "signal" to the entire universe and cultivating "parasites" throughout the universe!

Modifying an entire galaxy to be the source of parasitism—what an immense undertaking!

Just thinking about it filled Tom with awe.

This was something that could not even be understood, let alone resisted.

As for what they wanted to do by cultivating so many parasites, Tom did not know.

It might be to create a backup for themselves, preparing for "rebirth" after the civilization’s demise, as the light emitted by a galaxy can almost be considered to exist eternally in the universe.

Even if they perish, perhaps countless years later, a distant, low-level civilization will receive this light, then be Parasitic Disaster, and be transformed into the Evil Eye Civilization, this Parasitic Disaster, thereby allowing themselves to be reborn.

It could also be to sow their own "seeds," waiting for these seeds to slowly grow until they possess the ability to return to the parent body, then embark on intergalactic voyages back to the parent body, bringing back all the technological data they developed, promoting the further development of the parent civilization.

Tom did not know which possibility it was.

Perhaps... both?

For now, there was no need to worry about the exact situation; at least for now, having confirmed the method by which the Evil Eye Civilization parasitizes lower civilizations, Tom knew that the experiment in the isolation spaceship could end.

Tom’s heart stirred, and the clone who had been acting as a normal life form for more than ten days instantly stiffened, forcefully controlling the several fully Parasitic Disaster clones and pulling them into the

laboratory.

All clones who had developed "desires" but were not yet fully infected also came to the laboratory on their own.