Chapter 290 - Mystery of the Nerves (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Meng Chao nodded. “I know that insects and annelids have the most primitive nervous systems. Their transfer of neural information is incredibly slow. It might only travel a meter per second, while the neural information transfer in humans can reach one hundred meters per second. It’s one hundred times that of lower life-forms. It’s no wonder then why we can give birth to the sparks of intelligence while our neural information clashes against each other.”

“That’s right. The reason why higher life-forms like humans can transmit neural information so quickly is because our axons have a layer called myelin sheath. The myelin sheath acts as an insulator and prevents nervous impulses from moving from one axon to another. Aside from this, it also uses the principles of saltatory conduction to increase the speed at which action potential is transferred.”

Gao Ye thought about it and gave an example. “Let’s say that the nerves of lower life-forms are bumpy village roads. If you’re careless, your car will end up outside the road. But the nerves of humans and other higher vertebrates have myelin sheaths around them. It’s as if you lifted the road from the surface and sealed it, turning it into an information highway. The speed at which information is transmitted will naturally increase by a hundred times.

“As for superhumans, through absorbing spirit energy and using spirit gas to continuously refine their nervous system, their bodies gradually activate their spirit meridians, and they even gain crystal meridians. It’s the same as upgrading the highways to high speed metal roads. The transmission speed of neural information in high-grade superhumans reaches even a terrifying 1,000m per second. Regardless if it’s their logical deduction skills, calculation abilities, or comprehension, they’re all ten times better than those of a normal person.

“But having a myelin sheath isn’t the only way to get intelligence.

“Many animals choose another path of evolution, and that is to continuously increase the diameter of their nerve fibers.

“Science has proven that the diameter of nerve fibers has a direct correlation to neural information transmission speed.

“The best examples for this are octopi and cuttlefish.

“The diameter of the thickest axon in humans is less than 20 microns. 50 of them are required to form a bundle before they can reach 1mm and be seen with the naked eye.

“And some of the huge axons in squids have a diameter of 1mm, which means that they’re fifty times the size of a human axon.

“They don’t have a myelin sheath, but this thick axon gives squids and octopi high intelligence.

“They are the most cunning creatures in the sea. They even know how to use all sorts of tools. While on Earth, the marine biologists discovered through their research that some octopi will use their soft tentacles to pick up stones by the shore when they hunt their favorite food—oysters. When the oysters open their mouths, they will toss the stones inside and jam the shells. Then, they will eat the oysters’ soft bodies in a relaxed manner.

“This is intelligence that many vertebrates do not possess.

“It’s no wonder then why so many people say that octopi are like aliens on Earth. Without the interference from humans, they might actually evolve to the point that they possess intelligence equivalent to humans.

“When we transmigrated to the Other World, we saw pests with bodies longer than one meter. We were puzzled when we saw large insects, arthropods, and molluscs.

“Because based on research from Earth, the organs and body structure of insects can’t possibly allow them to grow larger than 1m. Even if they are not squashed by their own weight, their fatal weakness of their neural information transmission speed would make their reaction speed incredibly slow.

“But once we captured and dissected some of the insect-type monsters, we noticed that their nerve fibers are the same as those of the octopi and cuttlefish on Earth. The diameter of their nerves had swelled up a hundred times, and that’s why they can move with such agility even though they have huge bodies.”

Meng Chao nodded with a contemplative expression. “So, when you modified Giant Sandworms, you implanted the genetic segments of octopi and cuttlefish into them, so their nerve fibers swelled up to their maximum possible extent, which in turn increased their intelligence?”

“Yes. The Giant Sandworms modified by Spirit Creation Creatures have nerve fibers with diameters that are more than 3mm. It’s enough for them to understand all sorts of complex commands.”

Gao Ye paused for a moment before he said, “If we add myelin sheaths outside the Giant Sandworms’ fibers, their intelligence will increase further, and they will even gain the intelligence of cats and dogs.”

Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath. “What?!”

“There are only two ways of increasing intelligence. You either increase the diameter of the nerve fibers, like octopi had done, or get myelin sheaths around the nerve fibers, like vertebrates do. If you combine both ways by wrapping a myelin sheath around an incredibly thick nerve fiber, the neural information transmission speed will reach terrifying levels. Aren’t you curious as to how terrifying it could be?”

Meng Chao gulped. “Is your company conducting this sort of research?”

“No.” Gao Ye looked regretful. “I do want to modify and create a Giant Sandworm with super-high intelligence, but Xie Xiaolei did not think that it was necessary, because there would be no buyers in the commercial market.

“At the end of the day, he’s a businessman. Whenever he does something, he thinks in terms of profit, so I can only respect his wishes.”

“I think… it’s better if you don’t conduct this sort of research. Otherwise, if you end up creating a Giant Sandworm that is even more intelligent than humans, it’ll be really dangerous.”

“I don’t know what is more dangerous, an intelligent monster or a monster who has no intelligence at all and is only driven by murderous intent,” Gao Ye said. “Have you seen an insect horde before? It’s a wave of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. They form an aggressive black tidal wave and charge continuously at human defenses. No matter how many of their kind are torn to shreds, burnt to a crisp, or electrocuted to the point that sparks fly out of their bodies, the ones at the back will continue charging forward.

“In the end, thousands of vermin will be burnt to ashes, but humans will also be terribly injured. This is what you call both sides losing .

“Why is that so?