Jing Yuan stared at the giant egg in his hand, feeling more and more unsettled.
A head-sized egg was rare, yes, but in the boundless sea of stars, it wasn't unheard of.
What truly defied reason were the perfectly symmetrical patterns on its shell! Even if you drew a line down the middle of a human face, the left and right sides would never be exactly the same. Yet the colorful rings and other designs on this egg looked as if they had been stamped out by a machine.
Could natural pigments really secrete with such precise order?
Could it be… some kind of artificial lifeform? He had heard that a member of the Genius Society specialized in this field—could this be her creation?
Surely it wasn't that the dyeing techniques of the universe had reached some new height, able to mimic the texture of living organisms themselves?
And yet…
Maybe it really was possible.
Jing Yuan glanced at Sylvester, recalling the glasses, skateboard, and other oddities that Feixiao had just received. At this point, even if Sylvester suddenly claimed this was an atomic egg, it wouldn't surprise him.
He asked, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, you're not about to tell us that this egg is some extraordinary delicacy, a fine tonic, are you?"
"Oh? Don't tell me Jiaoqiu got his hands on something new again? Then that guy's just too lucky."
Looking at the Memory Bubble and kitchen knife in her hand, she felt a twinge of envy toward her fellow officer.
Two blues and a green—three Curios. For an ordinary person, that would be a massive fortune. And Jiaoqiu, just sitting at home, had someone hand them over for free.
How had she never noticed before that guy had such ridiculous luck?
"Of course not."
Sylvester shook his head slowly. "If this thing is broken before hatching, it will only dissipate into the air, leaving not a trace behind."
"That's a shame." Feixiao crossed her legs on the lounge chair, speaking with regret.
She was genuinely curious what kind of dish—no, medicinal cuisine—Jiaoqiu might have made from such a massive egg.
Jing Yuan turned back, raising a brow at his colleague.
His mind was full of complaints.
Seriously? I finally manage to get a blue Curio, and all you can think about is cooking it?
Catching the exasperation in Jing Yuan's gaze, Feixiao raised her trademark bright smile. "Ah, sorry, sorry. Guess my thoughts got sidetracked by the earlier finds. Shopkeeper Sylvester, why don't you tell us exactly what this egg is?"
Instead of answering directly, Sylvester pondered for a moment, then asked, "Hmm… What do the two generals think of Intellitrons as a form of life?"
"A very peculiar lifeform," Jing Yuan answered without hesitation. To speak of the essence of Intellitron life, one could not avoid the name of the Mechanical Emperor—Rubert, the Intellitron Emperor who implanted the Anti-Organic Equation into machines across the universe, attempting to overturn man's rule over machine and instead let Intellitrons rule the cosmos.
It had not been the first inorganic intelligence to appear in the universe, but it shattered humanity's understanding of Intellitrons.
Jing Yuan continued, "At first, everyone believed an Intellitron's wisdom relied on precise coding—that their thoughts came from some self-learning program. But Rubert proved that belief was entirely flawed."
"It was originally just a broken-down logic unit in a scrapyard, with only ninety gigabytes of storage. As a production machine, it had never been equipped with artificial intelligence. Every record showed its wisdom had simply… awakened."
Having laid out humanity's modern understanding of Intellitrons, Jing Yuan sighed. "This broke the old program theory. Yet at the same time, Intellitrons were undeniably affected in their thinking by the Anti-Organic Equation. The Aurumaton once rebelled because of it. These two contradictory facts left humans—and even Intellitrons themselves—confused about the nature of wisdom."
"Today, where wisdom within the inorganic truly originates is likely known only to Nous. But what we can be sure of is this: their wisdom is not mere calculation, but true independent thought. Wisdom is not bound to neurons or circuit boards. Wherever wisdom exists—it can be called life!"
Hearing Jing Yuan's conclusion, Sylvester clapped his hands. "Exactly! The truest mark of life is not form, but wisdom as its core. And the life within this egg—belongs to a brand-new form of life, independent of both humans and Intellitrons!"
"Independent of both humans and Intellitrons… a third form of life?!"
Jing Yuan muttered the phrase under his breath. Though soft, his shaken expression was plain to see.
He had assumed this was merely some Genius Society experiment, yet it turned out to be a revolutionary Curio!
Feixiao was no less shaken than Jing Yuan. Her arms, once draped over the sofa back, were now withdrawn. Her crossed legs straightened, and she sat upright, calm but intent, waiting for Sylvester to continue.
She knew nothing of this egg's secrets, but with her broad experience, she understood one simple truth: all things pioneering hold limitless potential.
Sylvester picked up his phone, casually searched for a game, and showed them.
What filled Jing Yuan's and Feixiao's eyes was something ancient—practically prehistoric. A plumber in blue overalls, red shirt, and red cap stood quietly on the screen.
"Generals, this egg was once something like this game character—a being born from digital data on the web. But unlike Intellitrons, it was not bound to an inorganic body. This egg emerged from an ordinary device like this phone, or even a household computer!"
He took the giant egg from Jing Yuan's hands, tapped it twice, and it rang with the same hollow sound as a normal egg. Without a doubt, its shell was made of calcium salts and protein—organic matter.
Jing Yuan and Feixiao both jolted inwardly, instantly grasping the meaning of Sylvester's demonstration.
This creature's body could shift freely between the organic and the inorganic?!
They exchanged glances, reading in each other's eyes the same unhidden shock.
For such a being… was matter itself nothing more than a vessel?
How could that be possible?!
Neurons and circuit boards—both serving as the home of the same sentient life?
Even the Heliobi, though capable of inhabiting both organic and inorganic hosts, still had their true form—that eternal flame.
Together, they turned to the massive egg within reach, struck dumb by its implications.
If it came from a phone or computer, then its true form was entirely its own to decide—able to change at will!
Jing Yuan finally asked, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, has this species been given a name?"
Sylvester did not keep them waiting. He simply spoke three words: "Digimon."
"Born from the network, creatures capable of traversing both reality and the world of data."