Wandering Meteor-Chapter 341 - 340: Disaster Effect

Besides their form, the Metal people also have many unconventional attributes.

For example, Metal people did not evolve to have noses because they do not need to breathe air, which is essential for humans but is actually toxic to them.

Because inhaling oxygen oxidizes the Metal Elements in their bodies, leading to deterioration of metal molecules, and thus affecting their health, Metal people have evolved a thin layer of Platinum Rhodium Alloy Skin on their surfaces during evolution to avoid the effects of oxygen or other gases. This Alloy Skin possesses superior anti-oxidation and acid corrosion resistance, which is one of the key factors enabling Metal people to survive.

Since Metal people are made up entirely of Metal Elements, their food primarily consists of metals.

However, their method of feeding differs from humans. They first put metal blocks into their mouths, decompose the metals using the Active Metallic Bonds in their mouths, blow out some of the gaseous impurities, and finally swallow the pure Metal Elements, completing the feeding process.

It is worth noting that Metal people do not need to eat as frequently as humans. Their eating is not for pleasure, but purely for growth. Once Metal people grow to their adult size, approximately a diameter of one meter, they can no longer grow and thus, no longer need to eat.

In this respect, unlike humans who need to eat daily, both species eat for the same purpose of growth.

It can be said that Metal people eat solely for growth. They can go a long time without eating. In their physiological structure, there is no concept of hunger similar to that in human ideas, meaning that Metal people will not starve if they do not eat; the lack of food only affects the speed of their growth.

However, although Metal people will not die from not eating, they are not immortal.

Despite achieving Eternal Life through biotechnology after becoming a third-level civilization, this is not the same concept as natural immortality.

Metal people can still die under normal circumstances; their process of dying differs from humans. When atmospheric oxygen or other gases erode into their bodies, it marks the time of their death.

The Platinum Rhodium Alloy Skin they evolved to possess has high antioxidant capabilities, but this is not eternal. With continuous exposure to the air, the antioxidant capability of the Alloy Skin gradually weakens. When it completely loses its antioxidant capability, oxygen penetrates through the metal beneath the skin, invading the body and disrupting the physiological structure of the Metal people.

However, this process is very lengthy, so the lifespan of Metal people is exceptionally long, usually around five thousand years.

Near the end of their lives, Metal people’s originally Silver skin slowly turns black until they eventually become a pile of rust, returning to the earth.

Regarding the previously mentioned Active Metallic Bonds, these are a type of chemical bond and also one of the main reasons why Metal people can freely contract their limbs. Fundamentally, Metallic Bonds are somewhat similar to the Covalent Bonds mentioned earlier, except the sharing degree of outer electrons in Metallic Bonds is far greater than in Covalent Bonds. However, although Metal people have Active Metallic Bonds, they cannot use Active Covalent Bonds like Wandering to alter the structure of external metals. Due to limitations imposed by their biological structures, they can only alter some metal structures within their bodies.

In this sense, the inherent Active Metallic Bonds in Metal people are substantially different from the Active Covalent Bonds developed by the Iron Base people.

After understanding all this, Wandering finally realized why the Metal Civilization was so eager to acquire it.

It turns out, in the long history of Metal Civilization, apart from a few Metal Planets within the Metal Civilization itself, Wandering was the only Metal Planet they encountered in the external world, and also a Celestial Civilization. Although the Universe is vast, pure metal planets are extremely rare, so the Metal Civilization was eager to understand why no pure metallic biological life like themselves was born on Wandering.

Although Metal people and robots are both primarily made of metal, their internal physiological structures are completely different; one uses a physical model and the other a biological model, hence robots are Mechanical Life or Manufactured Life, while metal can be classified under Biological Life.

Also, due to the highly unique physiological structure and evolutionary environment of the Metal Civilization, as well as their state of life, which is drastically different from most life forms in the Universe, the Metal Civilization has always been full of various speculations about their origins. Just like some theories on Earth speculate that humans were cultivated by an Advanced Civilization, some scientists within the Metal Civilization suspect that they were experimental products created by an Advanced Civilization.

And, this speculation is the mainstream idea within the Metal Civilization.

Because as the Metal Civilization has more and more contact with Alien Civilizations, they increasingly feel their exceptionalism and uniqueness, thus such speculations have become more ingrained.

This is also why they are so keen on exploring their origins.

Regarding this, Wandering helplessly explained: "It might disappoint you, but my birth is clear, it was due to Lu Chen’s Intention, then evolved from a detector to a Planet-level Celestial Civilization. As for why life did not evolve on my planet, I think it should be due to the instability of the environment, since I have continually absorbed Metal Elements from the Universe, and my planet’s structure also contains some special substances (Active Covalent Bonds). Moreover, I periodically change the composition of the metal materials on my planet, and I change the shape of the entire planet when need to fight, all of which are factors that make evolving life impossible."

"Your explanation does have some merit. Material and environment are very critical conditions for the evolution of life. But the birth of life is not as simple as it may seem on the surface. We have encountered many similar planets in the Universe; some have evolved life, but others have not. There must be key factors involved, much more significant than surface factors we can see, and these will be the keys to exploring the mysteries of life. We aim to clarify these mysteries. It is too early to draw conclusions now; after detailed research, the truth will naturally be revealed," said the Metal Civilization.

...

The expansion of the Universe has stopped.

The speed of the backflow of expansion booms formed by the cessation of expansion is also faster than the speed of light.

Under the extreme speed of faster-than-light, the expansion boom sweeps away from the edges of the universe toward the Cosmic Center in a three-dimensional circular motion. After traveling a long distance causing destructive effects, the backflow gradually forms a disaster effect in the Universe, similar to how a sea breeze finally generates the first wave on the sea!

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