Chapter 363: Being Eaten

"Does the sense of danger still linger? Is the Gaia entity feigning stupidity? Is it trying to lull us into a false sense of security, preparing to deliver a fatal blow?"

Jason discussed these critical security concerns with the Senior Scientists aboard the Titan starship.

"Theoretically, this is highly unlikely. Judging by its behavioral patterns, its self-awareness is genuinely in a rudimentary stage. It is constantly absorbing our social conditioning... Could it really fabricate such a convincing facade? The probability is astronomically low."

"Furthermore, it has completely opened the oceans to us, allowing our submarines to explore without interference. If it were plotting something in the deep trenches, our sensors would detect it..."

A military expert shook his head. "Not necessarily. The ocean is vast. There will always be blind spots, making comprehensive monitoring nearly impossible."

They debated for hours but reached no definitive conclusion.

Jason racked his brain. Days had passed, yet the impending crisis his instincts warned him about hadn’t materialized. Was his premonition wrong? Dismissing the endless debate, he waved his hand. "I still believe the true source of danger isn’t the Gaia entity, but something else entirely. Of course, we cannot rule out the risks it poses, and we must maintain absolute vigilance."

Meanwhile, the large-scale educational program was proceeding flawlessly. It had evolved from simple video bombardments to the "beach projection" phase.

Saturated with human social conditioning, the massive algal colony gradually familiarized itself with humanity, even initiating close interactions, something the natives of Planet Dige had never achieved.

To accelerate the learning process, the Federation projected holographic simulations of the Noah’s Gold Coast directly onto the beaches of Planet Dige.

Simulated adults and children played happily in the surf. Though they were merely 3D holographic constructs, they were realistic enough to engage and influence the Gaia entity.

A humanoid drone stood on the beach, actively "playing" with the entity. The drone occasionally swept a high-powered flashlight over the water. Every time the beam hit the ocean, the algae responded by shifting its bioluminescent colors. It seemed entirely engrossed in this simple game.

"The creature has been quietly observing from the shallows, and occasionally it tries to interact with the holographic children. Does it really need to act this convincingly if it were a trap? I agree with the Commander... it is highly unlikely to be a disguise."

Arthur Lambert spoke up. As a key member of the Federation’s strategic think tank, he flipped through a new digital dossier. "I just received some new footage that is quite fascinating. You should all take a look."

There was no artificial gravity generated by rotation aboard the Titan starship. Initially, designers proposed a massive rotating ring to simulate gravity via centrifugal force.

However, such a structure would complicate manufacturing and compromise the warship’s combat integrity, leading the military to scrap the idea. Overly complex systems were prone to failure. The Titan was a dedicated warship, not a luxury cruiser; prioritizing comfort over combat effectiveness was unacceptable.

Therefore, the crew utilized the electromagnetic boots of their power armor to anchor themselves to the deck. Since the ship was pressurized with breathable air, helmets were unnecessary, making the crew look like knights in heavy, metallic armor.

Arthur Lambert opened the file, and a video began playing on the central holographic table. "This is footage of local zooplankton preying on the marine algae."

As the first scene played, Jason rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He wasn’t seeing things, the intelligent algae were actively being eaten by other marine life!

A swarm of various planktonic organisms, covered in strange chitinous exoskeletons, were voraciously feeding on the algal clusters. They were treating the Gaia entity like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Yet, the Gaia entity completely ignored them. It showed absolutely zero signs of resistance. Within minutes, nearly half of that specific algae cluster had been devoured. Satisfied, the microscopic predators scattered.

"Eaten? The intelligent algae just let themselves be eaten?" Austin, the Head of Security, stared at the screen, utterly stunned. "What kind of sentient being just allows other creatures to consume it?"

He suddenly slammed the table, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "Is this... a targeted biological weapon? Did our labs already develop an anti-algae bioweapon?! If we deploy this, the entity’s threat level drops to zero!"

Everyone turned to Arthur Lambert, their eyes wide with a mix of awe and skepticism.

"No, no, you misunderstand," Arthur quickly shook his head, instantly killing the theory. "These are just ordinary, naturally occurring zooplankton. There are trillions of them in these oceans. How could our labs develop a targeted bioweapon that quickly?"

"You have to remember that regardless of its intelligence, this algae is fundamentally a primary producer at the absolute bottom of the local food chain. These plankton are just playing their natural ecological role."

The room fell silent as the Senior Scientists processed this bizarre reality.

Arthur continued, "There are two possible explanations. First, the entity might simply be unaware that it’s being eaten. Think of the microscopic mites living on human skin—they consume our dead cells, but we can’t feel them."

"That makes no sense," Jason argued, frowning deeply. "Its physical manipulation capabilities operate at the atomic and nanometer levels. How could it possibly not notice chunks of its own mass being devoured?"

"Exactly my point," Arthur agreed, spreading his hands. "Which leads us to the second, far more likely possibility: its natural temperament is far more docile than we ever calculated. As a primary producer, it biologically accepts being consumed as a fundamental fact of its existence. It simply doesn’t care."

Jason exhaled a long breath, deep in thought. "I must admit, that mindset is completely alien to human psychology. If an entirely different species started eating us alive, we would have eradicated them instantly!"

"But from a cosmic sociological perspective, it makes sense," Arthur replied. "The innate psychology of a primary producer is fundamentally different from that of an apex predator like humanity. Their ideology is inherently passive. They shouldn’t be aggressive by nature."

Jason nodded slowly. "So... its initial, horrifying aggression was entirely learned behavior. It was mimicking the toxic, violent nature of the Planet Dige natives! Who knows what twisted lessons it absorbed from watching them slaughter each other... It probably thought launching a nuclear strike was just their standard way of saying hello."

The room fell into a heavy silence. The concept was absurd yet logically sound. Allowing oneself to be eaten alive? It was outrageous. The entity possessed an unbelievably massive tolerance.

If it lacked self-awareness, it would be understandable, but as a conscious being? It was baffling to the human mind. Though it constantly replicated new algae cells to replace the lost mass, allowing constant predation was bizarre.

Was this just its version of cellular metabolism? It had to be. If the algae aggressively defended itself and killed off all the ocean’s consumers, the entire marine ecosystem would have collapsed tens of thousands of years ago.