The internal fusion process continued, the bar frozen obstinately at 99%.
Keon, utilizing his neural nexus for atomic-level intervention, subtly shifted the input ratio, adjusting the Gallium-to-Mercury and other components at the primary intake nodes of the Fusion Machine. The changes were infinitesimal... fractions of a milligram... but they were precise.
The progress bar flickered, then instantly snapped to 100% Complete Status. A pressurized hiss preceded the slow, mechanical retraction of the fusion chamber's armored door. Inside the containment vessel, cradled within a heat-stabilized tray, rested the newly synthesized Red Fluid analogue: a brilliant, silver-red, highly reflective liquid, shimmering with an unnatural inner luminescence.
The successful artificial synthesis of the Red Fluid analogue was confirmed. Keon extended his synthetic hand, gripping the container with zero kinetic waste, and smoothly carried it toward the experimental platform situated at the edge of the floor.
The polished black surface of the experiment table responded to his approach, its surface squirming as seven geometrically perfect sections emerged from the chassis below. Six of these sections already cradled the containers of the other specialized, artificially synthesized materials: Common Element One, Two, and Three, the Dark Metal Seven, the Luminous Crystal, and the Bio Magnetic Fluid. He inserted the container of silver-red fluid into the seventh and final section.
Keon watched as the table surface squirmed once more, the nano main frames rearranging and the seven sections receding back into the desk chassis, securely locking the materials into place.
'It's time to synthesize those five special materials using these seven elements,' He thought, the planned thought slowly resonated in his core. His targets were fixed: Adaptive Lattice Alloy, Thermo Regulating Fluid, High Luminous Compression Crystal, Super Magnetic Fluid, and Photon Carbon Crystal.
He activated his Adaptive Synthesis Talent. The seven elemental containers within the table's concealed chamber moved instantly, the materials beginning an atomic-level arrangement dictated entirely by the complex mental blueprint he had created during his simulations. Through his synthesized talent, the separate atomic structures flowed, combined, and reformed. Slowly, the seven initial containers were replaced by five new ones, each holding a distinct, newly created composite material.
The fabrication table surface squirmed again, revealing the five new sections, displaying the results of the final synthesis.
The first container held the Adaptive Lattice Alloy, a light gold metal that looked extremely sturdy, promising absolute resilience.
The second was the Thermo Regulating Fluid, a purplish, metallic fluid that gave off a palpably stable energetic vibe.
Next was the Super Magnetic Fluid, which appeared heavy, dense, and unnervingly attractive to the surrounding ferrous materials.
The fourth section contained the High Luminus Compression Crystals, which were less like naturally grown crystals and more like precisely cut rectangular test slabs, filled with countless, impossibly tiny bubbles as if light itself had been permanently trapped and could be compressed within.
Finally, the Photon Carbon Crystals: dull, long quartz-shaped masses. Despite their lackluster exterior, Keon's high-resolution lenses revealed countless infinitesimal clear veins flickering from edge to edge within them, giving the strange feeling that light was entering from one side, dividing into countless rays, and ejecting from the opposite direction.
After systematically observing the physical properties of each of these five materials, Keon's green optical gaze finally froze on the final Photon Carbon Crystal. A profound, systemic realization settled in his core. This was truly the most precious material among them all... a natural processing chip, one that possessed a thought process millions or even billions of times more complex than the linear processing model of the UMPU2 nano node chips currently in his possession.
The Photon Carbon Crystal (PCC) was not merely an upgrade; it was an evolutionary leap for his entire species. Its inherent capacity for light-based, multi-directional thought processing rendered his UMPU X2 chips... the core of his mechanical intellect... utterly obsolete.
He wouldn't waste time on mere replication; he needed to push the crystal's potential to its engineered limit.
'Next, I will refabricate this photon carbon crystal first with modified veins,' Keon internally commanded, the blueprint for the next generation of processing power already coalescing in his neural nexus. He planned to arrange the crystal's infinitesimal veins into closed-loop nodes, similar in structure to the nanoscale nodes in his UMPU X2 chip, but the functionality would be fundamentally different. Unlike the single-step linear process of the UMPU chips, these nodes would process data in multi-directions with the same parallel processing capacity.
As the conceptual groundwork was complete. Keon immediately activated his Adaptive Synthesis Talent and began modifying one of the dull, quartz-shaped PCC masses according to his plan. The crystal's lackluster exterior remained unchanged, a protective camouflage, but a colossal change began to unfold within its lattice. The infinitesimal crystal veins inside it started to transform, closing in loops and creating the first nodes. The initial design was minimal: two primary veins, with four sub-veins branching from the end of each primary vein, all closed in a perfect loop within each node.
Keon nodded thoughtfully, tracking the successful formation of each loop with his lenses. His thoughts were a flood of accelerated calculations: unlike the single, 'on' or 'off' model of the UMPU chip, which processes data step-by-step, this new multi vein node in the photon crystal would operate countless simultaneous light-state permutations beyond binary limitation. This single architectural change would increase the processing power by millions of times.
As he thought, the slow, systemic transformation accelerated. The whole crystal was soon modified, and Keon picked up the ready crystal in his synthetic hand. A flicker of emerald light flashed through his pupil as he glanced at the processed crystal. The polished black surface of the experiment table squirmed, and a small, segmented section was revealed in front of him, housing only two simple connection pins. Keon smoothly attached the crystal to the pins.
The connection was immediate. In the next moment, countless tiny sparks of lights started flickering within the crystal. Keon zoomed his lenses, and the crystal's interior became a dizzying spectacle: countless sparks of light, like shining stars in a dark sky, flashed in hyper-organized loops inside the nodes.
'It's time to test,' Keon determined. He instantly connected the planetary neural network to the crystal. Simultaneously, he pushed part of his consciousness into the connection.
The resulting sensation was an overwhelming, instantaneous burst of clarity that flashed through his core.
'It feels like I have been set free or my soul has returned to a human body,' Keon thought in huge surprise, the sheer scale of the processing power shocking his integrated intelligence. He raised his synthetic hand, staring at the articulated fingers of his Bio Exoshell. He hadn't felt such a sensation of clarity and processing speed since his previous, human life.
'This was the result of just a dual vein and four sub-vein in each node,' he mused, the potential expanding geometrically in his mind. 'What if I double it? Increase the veins to four and sub-veins to eight in each node. Will the process double again?'.
But the thought was met with a hard systemic limit: 'I have to upgrade my nano fabrication talent for it. Just increasing the veins is not enough, i have to reduce the length of loop at the same time. More veins more lengthy the loops, which will effect the latency.' Keon calculated, his core acknowledging the current bottleneck. His current nano fabrication capacity could only reliably manage to add two primary veins and four sub-veins within a single node.
'Anyway, this is already a huge success and achievement,' he concluded. His processing technology had already reached next level with this new Photon Carbon Crystal.
With the successful test concluded, Keon disconnected his consciousness and neural nexus from the crystal. He glanced down as the crystal, disconnected from the power source, immediately returned to its previous dull appearance.
'If I change this crystal shape into a thin nanoscale layer and attach it to my main materials or structure,' he planned, 'it will free up the space currently occupied by the UMPU X2 chips, as they will become useless after this.'
…