Chapter 166 The Information Structure of a Nuling

Prompted by the data terminal, Hao Ren activated the bizarre-looking machine. A wonderful, wind-chime-like sound came from inside the device. The blue lines and holographic fixtures on its surface lit up one by one, allowing the entire device to slowly become radiant, like a crescent moon awakening from slumber. This wasn't a cold, purely mechanical device. To communicate with a nuling, it had been designed with many functions that were almost supernatural, setting it apart from other technological devices.

But what pleased Hao Ren the most was that this thing at least didn't look like a coffin...

He took out the small box sealing the nuling from his dimensional pocket. The instant the box's opening faced the device's groove, he saw a vague ball of light rush out of the box, then disappear into the bowl-shaped depression.

"Is that it?" Lily bounced excitedly behind Hao Ren, her ears twitching. "What's next? What's next?"

"Seems like something's happening." Hao Ren pointed to the device's depression, where the luminous "probes" were blinking rhythmically. With each change in those lights, the hazy light and shadow in the depression (the working core) became more solid. At first, there was only a thin mist, like an illusion, but soon the mist turned into an almost substantial ball of light, floating in mid-air like a jellyfish.

"That's the captured nuling," the data terminal hovered above the device, indicating the "light jellyfish" with a beam of light. "The first step is to charge it up. This guy's been sealed for a while and is too weak right now. We can't read it without strengthening it."

Vivian was the first to worry. "Won't it run away?"

As the first person to fight a nuling, she knew how troublesome these monsters could be.

"No, it will be safely bound in an energy field," the data terminal landed back on Hao Ren's shoulder. "Unless the equipment here goes offline—but that's impossible."

As it spoke, the nuling had been strengthened—or rather, awakened to a certain extent. After receiving external power, it quickly became active, but the powerful energy field confined it to a semi-spherical area only a few dozen centimeters wide. It became more and more solid, looking increasingly like a gelatinous light body. The nuling seemed to realize it was trapped. It began to emit a low, strange howl, then violently vibrated and lunged around in the confinement field. But it was useless. The reading device didn't even give a prompt tone.

"Let's see the information structure of this thing..." The data terminal muttered as it wedged itself into a small console next to the device. There was a small crack that fit it perfectly. "Look at its frequency and wavelength..."

Hao Ren stroked his chin, watching the data terminal busy itself with interest. "You always find a suitable socket."

"Nonsense, this unit is the most adaptable model. Any hole on these devices is enough for this unit to poke itself into," the data terminal said proudly. "Don't make trouble now. This unit is starting to analyze the data!"

Hao Ren immediately became serious, letting the data terminal show its power. But he had barely been serious for a few seconds when he heard the laboratory's analysis mainframe broadcast in a monotonous voice: "Second analysis machine beginning calculation."

Hao Ren looked at the data terminal suspiciously. "Are you sure you're the one analyzing the data?"

"...This unit is starting to command the analysis of the data!"

Everyone: "..."

No matter how unreliable the data terminal was, the device was running well. Its surface was radiant, and the melodious, wind-chime-like sound completely suppressed the nuling's meaningless howling. Beams of light streamed through the working core, disassembling and reading the information inside the nuling. The electromagnetic wave, which stored a large amount of data and whose form was constantly changing, gradually revealed its secrets. The reading process was long and felt like groping in the dark. The device would sometimes suddenly extract a few meaningful bytes, but the analysis mainframe would quickly discard them because the subsequent data didn't match its format. The nuling's form of existence was so peculiar that its memory method and information expression were completely different from common language structures—even from any biological thinking structure. The analysis mainframe had to build a set of formulas from scratch that could be used for expression.

"It possesses rudimentary, emotion-like reactions, such as anger and impatience, as well as resistance and adaptability, but these reactions are more akin to instinct than the result of thought," the data terminal reported honestly. "It doesn't possess thinking ability. It's just that under the guidance of a pile of strange calculation rules, this electromagnetic wave presents quasi-biological activity. It seems that the Tanarians wanted to permanently preserve their thinking through coding, but the Firstborn washed away their thinking part, leaving only these coding rules still running."

Hao Ren thought for a moment, pretending to have understood. "I see. Then what about the nuling's memory part?"

"Some fragmented snippets. The analysis mainframe is trying to reassemble them," the data terminal released a pile of projections. "Look at these. They are twisted and unrecognizable. This is what the world looks like from the nuling's perspective, completely different from the perspective of ordinary creatures. If it's not translated, I'm afraid no one will understand it."

Nangong Wuyue asked nervously, "Can it be translated? Can we find news about my parents?"

The data terminal could also comfort people. "Don't worry, the information itself won't be destroyed. If one translation doesn't work, we can try a second time. As long as this nuling has been in contact with your parents, and it doesn't have a memory-erasing mechanism, we'll definitely be able to find it. And theoretically, a ball of electromagnetic waves won't automatically clean its memory unless it is disturbed by external forces—so you can put your brother down now."

Nangong Wuyue reacted again and quickly released her tail. Hao Ren stepped forward and pulled Nangong Sanba up. "You've had it pretty rough, haven't you?"

Nangong Sanba clasped his fist in his palm again. "Thank you, Brother Ren..."

Hao Ren suddenly felt that this half-baked demon hunter's constant roaming around the world wasn't entirely for the sake of finding his parents and supporting himself. Perhaps another reason was to avoid his sister's tail... This siren girl's habit of grabbing someone nearby with her tail whenever she got nervous was deadly!

Of course, some might ask, what if there was no one nearby or she couldn't grab anyone? That's simple—she would curl herself up into a snake ball. Otherwise, how would her usual Orochimaru mode come about...

The device had completed the scanning of the nuling's surface information. The strange "creature's" incredible information storage method puzzled the analysis mainframe. The system's broadcast sounded in the laboratory: "Initial scan complete. No usable interpretation rules found. The mainframe needs to rebuild the calculation formula to complete subsequent work."

Hao Ren casually asked, "How long will it take?"

The analysis mainframe was silent for a moment. "...Unknown."

"Don't worry, it won't take too long. The analysis mainframe's logic is relatively rigid. It can't give you an approximate number, but this unit thinks it should only take two or three days," the data terminal detached from the device's slot and flew back to Hao Ren's shoulder. "You can go back and feed the fish, mess with the cat, walk the dog, and there will be results here in a couple of days. You can also take the opportunity to discuss the big project with the Irim elves."

Hao Ren turned to look at the Nangong siblings. They were obviously a little disappointed, but knowing that there was still hope, they were no longer as nervous, anxious, and apprehensive as they had been at first. Nangong Wuyue nodded. "Okay, we can wait."

Before leaving, Hao Ren gave new instructions to the Petrified Tortoise Rock Terrace. First, to continue analyzing the nuling, and second, to start mass-producing interfering pheromones targeting the Firstborn—he was starting to prepare for the upcoming big project.

The group returned home, and the first thing Hao Ren did was to check on "Gun's" situation. The cat girl had only recently become a demon, and she was completely ignorant of human affairs. He was afraid that the idiot would run out while the bearded man wasn't paying attention. Fortunately, this time the silly cat finally listened. Hao Ren found the girl squatting in the corner of the wall on the second floor, playing.

"I'm back," Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief and went up to greet his cat. "What are you doing?"

The cat girl turned her head cleverly, meowing lazily first, then smiling and approaching. "Shoveler... Big, big cat, you're very nice to me, right~~"

Hao Ren didn't know what this guy was up to and nodded inexplicably. "Yeah... Why are your hands behind your back? What are you hiding?"

The cat girl smiled happily. "Mouse, for you to eat."

Hao Ren: "... What the f***?!"