d as energy reagents. That is the only plausible explanation to why those 4 spots could reach such a high temperature. Those are energy reactors of some sort. Therefore, this is a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p we’re looking at."

Right then, another scientist pressed the speech b.u.t.ton, asking, "But Professor Peter, why couldn’t this be an animal organism? It looks just like one!"

Peter retorted, "Then where could such an organism come from? The fact that there is only 1 such creature on this moon and it has no compet.i.tion means that it probably didn’t originate on this moon. Furthermore, from a biological perspective, an organism with this ma.s.s and size can’t logically exist!"

Yao Yuan halted the argument by asking, "Sorry to interrupt, but could everyone slow down for a minute? Can someone explain to me what is this origin planet and illogicality that Professor Peter spoke of?"

Ivan stepped forth to answer. "Captain, let me explain. First, venturing in s.p.a.ce has broken many of biology’s accepted rules. For example, silicon-based and nitrogen-based organisms are no longer stuff of science fiction. However, one biological truth has remained uncontested, and that is the biological need for reproduction.

"Be it through s.e.xual reproduction, as.e.xual reproduction, mitosis, or even other methods that we’ve not seen before, the aim of reproduction is to ensure an organism’s continuity. For continuity to occur, the offspring can’t be biologically different from its parent. Such is the iron rule of biology. We see this replicated in every organism that we know; microbes breed microbes and rabbits breed rabbits. It is impossible for microbes to breed rabbits, as that is just preposterous. Even if there’s evolution, it occurs across a long time with the bad genes gradually eliminated by natural selection. Organism A couldn’t just become organism B across 1 generation. This should be true for all s.p.a.ce organisms, or else there wouldn’t be any civilizations or races."

Ivan paused to point at the 3-D landma.s.s. "So if we a.s.sume that that thing is a living organism… this means that its previous generation would also be about the same size and ma.s.s. Could you envision a planet big enough to support such a group of living organisms? Think about it, the planet would have to be at least 10,000,000 times bigger than this planet! For a planet that size, its gravity would simply doom its inhabitants. Furthermore, the planet would implode upon its gravitational pressure, so logically speaking, such a giant organism is impossible."

Another scientist piped up. "Then couldn’t the organism have mutated? Even though I’m not a biologist, I understand mutation can bring some drastic changes."

Ivan replied firmly, "You’re right. Under the influence of radiation or other odd circ.u.mstances, an organism can undergo dramatic evolutionary changes. That was why Professor Peter has asked for a heat distribution schematics of this thing… My fellow colleague, do you think it is possible for an organism to even evolve to a stage where it can innately learn how to fuse hydrogen to create atomic energy? This is beyond pure biological knowledge, for it involves familiarity with the fields of electromagnetism, atomic energy, and metallurgy to name a few. These are all 4th revolution technologies, but this ‘organism’ is using them!"

The scientist contemplated for a long time before conceding. "You’re right. If that’s the case, this ‘organism’ has to be a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. Perhaps instead of focusing on mechanics and robotics, this alien race has ventured deep into the studies of biology and genetics…"

Yao Yuan waited for them to finish before adding, "So this thing could be an organic s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p… This means that its owner has crossed into 4th or even 5th revolution by now. We can’t eclipse any possibilities at this point. However, the bigger question is, will they cross over to this planet?"

Everyone started arguing amongst themselves again, but no one dared to speak their mind. Regardless of its ident.i.ty, since it had shown the intention to drain the moon of its resources, then it would be illogical to expect it to leave the other similar planet alone… It would descend upon the planet they were on sooner or later.

"…Since no one can be sure, let’s find out more first."

Yao Yuan sighed as he spoke into the communicator. "Fire 10 remote controlled S grade mini AI probes, the ones we salvaged from the junkyard… I want a close-up of this organism within the next 10 minutes!"