Three-body: The Most Competent Wallfacer in History

Guided by the principle that it is better to believe in something than to dismiss it, Science Space City did not immediately lift the quarantine, even after a round of the special medication had been injected.

In this space station, all sorts of equipment were fully available, and once the "Pei Nanometer Smart Robots" from Blue Maiden Star arrived, they promptly began a new round of treatment for the patients.

The Pei Nanometer robots soon found many No. 7 Bacteria within the patients' bodies, and the experts on the medical team quickly confirmed that these No. 7 Bacteria had indeed only entered a dormant state!

The special medication should have killed some of the No. 7 Bacteria, but its effect was nowhere as good as imagined! At best, it could only act as a suppressant.

Hence, a new round of treatment started, which involved multiple treatments by the Pei Nanometer Smart Robots and effective sterilization of the air to prevent the No. 7 Bacteria from surviving in the atmospheric conditions.

This microbial warfare lasted for more than three months. After numerous checks, it was confirmed that the No. 7 Bacteria had indeed been "brought to justice".

However, for the sake of caution, all infected individuals were quarantined for an additional three months. Only after the special medication lost its effectiveness and no new infections by the No. 7 Bacteria occurred did they finally return to their normal lives.

But the incident with the No. 7 Bacteria was far from over. Wallfacer Yun Tony held a series of meetings to devise future strategies against microbes.

At one meeting, Yun Tony said, "The survival abilities of microbes are well known to us all; we know that there are microbes on Earth that have a lifespan exceeding four billion years.

"Compared to them, the human body is really too fragile!

"Historically, more people have been killed by microbes than have died in wars.

"But humanity today is not up for slaughter; we can create high-tech products to fight against them.

"We need to fully leverage our strengths to win this protracted battle."

Meanwhile, microscopic analysis of the No. 7 Bacterium also began.

The diameter of the No. 7 Bacterium is about 6 micrometers, that is, 0.006 millimeters, roughly 12 times the size of ordinary bacteria.

Yet even so, a 6-millimeter organism should not possess the intelligence to communicate with humans!

How could such a tiny space contain a biological logic response system? And how does it control the human nervous system?

Or is the No. 7 Bacterium composed in a special way?

There were many speculations, but when a No. 7 Bacterium was dissected, everyone was stunned to find that it was completely empty inside!

Yes! Its cell wall was hollow!

Perhaps it was because this particular No. 7 Bacterium had already died?

So, the researchers first activated a No. 7 Bacterium, and after verifying it was active, they dissected it.

Still, there was nothing!

Suddenly, a researcher inadvertently discovered that, although the No. 7 Bacterium was an "empty shell", it weighed a shocking 0.6 grams.

No one would usually weigh a biological entity measured in micrometers because the weight is too minuscule; hence this astonishing phenomenon was not discovered until the 69th Year of the Galaxy.

Even though the diameter of the No. 7 Bacterium is 12 times that of an ordinary bacterium, billions of bacteria combined might possibly weight one gram.

To reach that weight inside the cell wall of the No. 7 Bacterium, you would have to pack in two or three hundred million bacteria, which is clearly impossible!

It can be said that the No. 7 Bacterium's minuscule shell could not possibly have such weight.

Yet the observation results definitely presented themselves before everyone's eyes. How should such a paradox be explained?

Just when the biological community was at a loss, Number Three heard that Jiang Shiliu had awoken from hibernation.

So Number Three recounted the incident with the No. 7 Bacterium, along with the subsequent baffling investigation reports, to Jiang Shiliu, and sought her logical explanation.

Jiang Shiliu had meticulously reviewed various reports and, after several days of contemplation, contacted Number Three.

Right off the bat, Jiang Shiliu asked, "Are you certain that the infection of the No. 7 Bacterium proceeds step by step? It's not that it takes control of the human body all at once?"

"I'm certain," Number Three replied.

Jiang Shiliu then asked, "Are you certain a 6-micrometer No. 7 Bacterium weighs 0.6 grams?"

"I've confirmed it several times," was the response.

Jiang Shiliu smiled and said, "If my guess is correct, this tiny bacterium has been of great help to me."

He cleared his throat and continued, "My conjecture is as follows: the initial impact and infection of the No. 7 Bacterium on the human body are relatively weak because their numbers are so meager.

"In such a favorable environment as the human body, they multiply rapidly and methodically, soon reaching a stage where traces of the No. 7 Bacterium are found throughout the body.

"In fact, their numbers don't need to be very high. For example, on the arm, with just a few No. 7 Bacteria occupying key positions, they could influence the movement of the arm.

"Regarding this, you can examine the location and quantity of No. 7 Bacteria in individuals with minor infections and those with severe infections."

Number Three immediately began to search; Pei Nanometer Smart Robots had marked the locations where No. 7 Bacteria were detected after entering a patient's body.

After reviewing several cases, it was as Jiang Shiliu had surmised: patients with mild infections had fewer bacteria, and the distribution was very uneven.

Patients with severe infections had more No. 7 Bacteria, and the distribution was more uniform.

This indicated that the distribution of No. 7 Bacteria indeed followed some pattern, and the larger their number, the more comprehensive was their control over the human body.

Jiang Shiliu went on, "My second guess can be confirmed with a small gravitational-wave imaging device."

He said, "No. 7 Bacterium is not hollow inside, and its internal structure isn't three-dimensional."

Number Three was stunned for a moment before understanding, "You mean to say: the No. 7 Bacterium does have an internal structure, but it's in a higher dimension? We just can't observe these structures?"

"Right, this could also explain why such a small bacterium is so heavy," Jiang Shiliu said. "Because it truly could fold its complex biological structure into higher-dimensional space.

"Moreover, each No. 7 Bacterium probably weighs more than 0.6 grams, having additional weight in higher dimensions.

"There's another key guess: the majority of No. 7 Bacteria inside a patient's body are likely a single entity.

"Don't forget, Bo Xiangdong gained significant inspiration from No. 7 Bacterium, which led him to discover the cooperative method of using bioelectricity in biological cells.

"Theoretically, there should be very close cooperation among No. 7 Bacteria!

"But looking at the treatments since the incident, there hasn't been evidence of very close collaboration among the No. 7 Bacteria!

"Even if there is cooperation, considering the distance between them as microbes, how do they accomplish this cooperation?"

Then Jiang Shiliu answered his own question, "They must be communicating with each other in higher dimensions.

"I feel we shouldn't treat the No. 7 Bacteria inside a patient separately; we should consider it as a whole, or rather as a single life form.

"This could also explain why they possess such high intelligence because they might have evolved into life forms in the microscopic high-dimensional space.

"Their higher-dimensional parts are probably a whole, which has spread out evenly just to take control of a three-dimensional human body.

"One piece of evidence for this speculation is that they have mentioned being able to observe humans behind an iron wall during their evolutionary process, and they could even see the internal structure of humans!

"Another piece of evidence you need to look for is that gravity is a force that works across dimensions; even if No. 7 Bacterium appears hollow, using gravity for microscopic exploration should still reveal some traces."