Chapter 686: The Zerg Should Have Intelligence?
"No wonder you said Hive Bee is suitable for Romantina."
Dugu Bo looked at the swarms of insects outside the cave, which seemed to be non-stop, and speculated, "The ruler of this insect kingdom is also the so-called hive consciousness, or the swarm consciousness, right?"
In the Zerg Kingdom, a single Zerg has no thoughts or consciousness, but when the entire collective works together, it gives them the feeling that there is some existence behind the Zerg that controls their orderly actions.
Isn't that swarm consciousness?
A beehive with a queen.
There are swarms of insects, and there are also queens.
In this comparison, the forms of the swarm and the hive are exactly the same, except that the insects within the swarm have diverse appearances and do not look like the same group.
"Yes."
Zhou Qing nodded with certainty. "At first, I was not sure. After all, the individual bodies in the Zerg Kingdom are too large. No matter how you look at it, it seems that they have a simple independent consciousness. But after communicating with Taros and Taisi, and making preliminary observations while wandering around this area, I found that the Zerg may indeed have a swarm consciousness similar to the hive consciousness of the hive bees."
"Based on the operating model of the Zerg Kingdom, if the entire Zerg Kingdom is a soul beast, then its soul ring is far more suitable for Romantina than the Hive Bee."
Romantina sighed, "Unfortunately not."
"Even if it is, we can't kill all the Zergs in the entire Zerg Kingdom."
Zhou Qing shrugged, but he never imagined that Romantina would regard the entire Zerg Kingdom as the fourth soul ring, that is, using the hive bee as an excuse to describe the concept of "hive consciousness" or "swarm consciousness".
Taros and Tais wanted to control the Zerg, which essentially violated the interests of the Zerg consciousness. However, they did not succeed and did not suffer any backlash from the Zerg consciousness.
This is also a defect of the swarm consciousness. Since individuals do not have any self-awareness, the protection mechanism will only be triggered when they are harmed or invaded, and they are unable to actively judge whether the newcomer is an enemy or a friend.
But Zhou Qing still said: "Didn't we catch a purple slime? I guess Taros and the others cultivated the larvae of the queen insect. After we go out, we can study it and see what the situation is."
Riko, the bunny girl, Timidite, and Atarja who was hanging on Zhou Qing's shoulder didn't quite understand the content about soul beasts and soul rings, but they still had a general concept of the swarm consciousness.
"I understand!" Riko suddenly said, "Just like a person is made up of cells, all unconscious cells together form a conscious person like me, is that right?"
"Uh... almost."
Although Zhou Qing agreed to this, there is actually a big difference between the two. After all, a single cell in the human body cannot be considered an independent individual.
However, by comparing the two, it can be deduced that creatures with swarm consciousness basically have simpler physiological structures. This is also one of the reasons why he could not completely confirm that the swarm kingdom has swarm consciousness at first.
After all, in terms of body size, the larger the body, the more developed the organs in the body must be, otherwise it will not be able to support its life activities.
Even a world with extraordinary powers must follow this basic condition.
Just like the three 90,000-year-old ants hunted by Tang San in the original novel, they were all worker ants and soldier ants, but because they were soul beasts, their body organs were well-developed, and their self-awareness was awakened, they no longer obeyed the orders of the queen ant, and even ate the queen ant.
Can soul beasts like the Qianjun Ant be considered to have swarm consciousness?
Definitely not.
After all, the independent will of the soul beasts was a little too obvious. Logically speaking, even if they had no cultivation, the individuals in the insect swarm were so large that they should have relatively complex independent thinking logic. They might not be intelligent, but they should definitely be more human than ordinary cats and dogs.
Even though the Zerg can only grow to such a large size because of the special environment in the Zerg Kingdom, their size means that the strength of their organs and the development of their nervous systems are definitely better than those of humans.
But the swarm only responds to stimulation from pheromones.
It is quite appropriate to say that they are "organic machines".
Zhou Qing even had no doubt that if humans in the world where he lived in his previous life discovered such a species, many countries would have the same ideas as Taros and Tais, or even be more determined, and would do everything possible to make the swarm serve humans.
Therefore, after answering Rico, Zhou Qing added: "But I have a hunch that the current operation mode of the Zerg, although efficient, is somewhat abnormal. Logically speaking, each individual with such a huge body should have an independent consciousness, rather than being completely stimulated by pheromones and obeying the instinctive reaction of blood."
"What do you mean?" The bunny girl touched the mantis-like insect in the cave, "It should have intelligence?"
"Do not."
Zhou Qing shook his head. "It's too far-fetched to say it's intelligent. But with such a size and such quick movements, it should at least have simple emotional changes like a kitten or puppy, instead of being like a puppet."
"You mean, someone deliberately wiped out the independent consciousness of the Zerg?" Riko waved her fist, indignant at such behavior. "That's really abominable!"
"There is a possibility that the Abyss Ruins cannot have always been ruins. In ancient times, this place might have been a prosperous and developed city, or some special research base."
After saying that, Zhou Qing walked to the bunny girl and knocked on the two pincers of the mantis-like insect, which made a "dong dong" sound, and he guessed how hard this thing was.
Swarm?
It's totally a biological weapon for combat!
As the creator of the Abyss Ruins, he felt that there was a high probability that he could make use of the Zerg. At the very least, he could be in a state of "sharing weal and woe" with the Zerg.
"Are you worrying too much?"
Having just understood what swarm consciousness is, Dugu Bo now hears that each individual in the swarm should have independent consciousness, or at least corresponding emotions. This makes him doubt whether Zhou Qing has made the problem more serious.
"When it comes to exploring the ruins of the abyss, no one can be too rigorous." Before Zhou Qing could answer, the bunny girl made a suggestion first.
"Abo also said something similar." Li Ke also said seriously, "Mr. Dugu, I know you are very powerful, but you must never underestimate the abyss!"
"Hey, I was actually taught a lesson by two little kids!" Dugu Bo put his hands on his chest, his face full of black lines.
"Well, let me remind you——"
Zhou Qing pointed at the bunny girl and said, "Except for Rico, if we really go by age, she is at least 200 years old, older than you."
Dugu Bo: “…”
Is this a joke?!
(End of this chapter)
