And just like that, imperceptibly, this Clone had been parasitized. While its exterior showed no change, its very core had been completely transformed.
Li Qingsong's mind raced. He made a decisive choice.
Under his control, the Clones inside the quarantine vessel seemed to "come alive" in an instant, as if they each possessed their own consciousness.
"Old Wang, let's go! Time for a drink."
"Hey, Old Sun, wait up for me."
Li Qingsong single-handedly played tens of thousands of roles, bestowing each Clone with a unique personality and identity. In that instant, the quarantine vessel took on the appearance of a normal society.
The Clone that had completely lost its connection to Li Qingsong, no longer linked to his consciousness, quietly observed the world before it.
Another Clone, manipulated by Li Qingsong, walked over and spoke in a familiar tone, "Old Li, what are you spacing out for? Let's go. Didn't we say we were going to play ball?"
"Oh, right. Let's go."
The parasitized Clone acted as if it truly remembered the plan and hurried to follow.
Li Qingsong sneered inwardly.
'I can confirm that even though this Clone has been parasitized, the situation is still completely under my control. In that case, I might as well use this opportunity to observe this parasitic Celestial Calamity and its method of invasion. It'll be good to gain some experience.'
A group of Clones headed noisily to the sports court, just like friends enjoying a casual get-together. Everything seemed perfectly normal.
In the background, Li Qingsong kept the host under his most stringent surveillance.
After a few days, the host seemed to have familiarized itself with this society and slowly began to make its move.
This time, after a get-together with its "friends," the host said, "Come to my place for drinks tonight. I've got something cool to show you."
An idea sparked in Li Qingsong's mind. He immediately had one of the Clones agree, "You're being awfully mysterious, Old Li. Alright, we're in."
That evening, several Clones arrived at the host's home. While the Clones were "drunkenly" merry, the host mysteriously produced a projector.
"Old Li, what are you showing us, anyway?"
"A projector? What's this thing for? Got a hot new movie for us?"
"Heh heh."
The Clones all began to joke around. The host simply smiled, saying nothing, and turned on the projector. An image of the Demon Eye Star System appeared on the large screen.
"What is this...? Whoa... It's beautiful."
At first, the Clones were a little restless. But within moments, they all fell silent, staring transfixed at the image of the Demon Eye Star System.
Imperceptibly, a "desire" began to form in the minds of these Clones, which otherwise had no consciousness of their own. Li Qingsong sensed it clearly.
'So that's it. The method this parasitic Celestial Calamity, the Demon Eye, uses to infect other lifeforms is through viewing images of the Demon Eye Star System.'
A chill ran through Li Qingsong.
'I haven't figured out the exact parasitic mechanism yet. But I can guess it must be related to an organism's organ of thought.'
'Take humans, for example.'
'The basic mechanism for processing external information in humans involves neuronal synapses and connections. Everything a person sees or feels corresponds to distinct patterns of neural activity in the brain.'
'Clearly, the image of the Demon Eye Star System must trigger a specific set of neuronal synapses and connections, creating a kind of virus-like, self-replicating structure.'
'Thus, once someone views an image of the Demon Eye Star System with sufficient clarity, the corresponding neural structure is formed in their brain, and it begins to self-replicate.'
'In the initial stages, this change manifests as an abnormal desire to keep looking at the image.'
'I have reason to believe that the longer one looks, and the higher the image's resolution, the faster the replication.'
'Eventually, this viral structure completely takes over the organism's brain. At that point, the organism has been "body-snatched."'
'Though it retains the outward appearance of its original species, its core has been completely replaced. It has become an alien lifeform.'
'It can then operate under a guise identical to the intelligent life of the invaded civilization, secretly spreading images of the Demon Eye Star System and propagating the infection until the entire civilization's nest has been stolen.'
'The actual Demon Eye Star System possesses certain unique properties. For a technological civilization, investigating such anomalies usually leads to progress.'
'Nearly every civilization striving for technological advancement would refuse to ignore such an anomaly.'
'And that is the bait.'
'Once they take the bait, someone in their civilization will be parasitized. If the infection isn't discovered and purged early on, the entire civilization could fall.'
'I'm almost certain of it. The Demon Eye Star System must have been deliberately engineered into its current form by some super-parasitic civilization. The goal: to broadcast this "signal" across the entire Cosmos, cultivating "parasitic entities" everywhere!'
'To transform an entire galaxy into a source of parasitic infection... what an immense undertaking! Just the thought of it filled Li Qingsong with a sense of dread-filled awe.'
'It wasn't just beyond my current comprehension. Even in the foreseeable future, even if my own civilization ascends to a higher level, I still wouldn't be able to comprehend such a powerful existence.'
'It's incomprehensible, let alone something that could be fought against.'
'As for what they intend to do with all these cultivated parasitic entities, I have no idea.'
'Perhaps it's a backup, a way to ensure their "rebirth" after the destruction of their own civilization. After all, the light from a galaxy can be considered almost eternal as it travels through the Cosmos.'
'Even if their home civilization perishes, perhaps countless years from now, a distant, primitive civilization will receive that light. They will be parasitized, transformed into the Demon Eye Civilization, this Celestial Calamity, and thus grant their creators a rebirth.'
'Or maybe it's about sowing their "seeds." They wait for these seeds to grow until they're capable of returning to their origin, then have them embark on an inter-galactic voyage home, bringing back all the technological data they've acquired to further advance the parent civilization.'
'I don't know which possibility is the truth. Perhaps... it's both?'
'For now, it doesn't matter which it is. At the very least, I've confirmed the method the Demon Eye Civilization uses to parasitize developing civilizations. The experiment in the quarantine vessel can now end.'
With a single thought from Li Qingsong, the expressions of the Clones who had been acting like normal people for over ten days instantly went rigid. They forcibly restrained the few fully parasitized Clones and dragged them into a laboratory.
All the Clones in whom "desire" had sparked but who were not yet fully infected also proceeded to the laboratory of their own accord.