"Is this... a planet-level superorganism? Planet-level?"

"Yes, after our assessment, we believe that most of the life forms on this planet, including microorganisms and most plants, likely form a single self-awareness."

"However, this consciousness is still in its early, ignorant stage and needs some degree of education to form complete intelligence."

"...Are you serious?" Li Yueyue wrinkled her nose in disbelief.

The personified artificial intelligence nodded and said with a smile, "There are similar tales in the mythology of former Earth, where it's referred to as Gaia Life."

"In ancient times, people suggested that all life on Earth could form an organic whole, which is why Earth's ecosystem has some self-regulating ability. But here, we see a true cosmic marvel - this planet indeed has a collective self-awareness."

All of the members of Lin Yueyue's squad were curiously gazing at the planet beneath them, its surface covered by a thick atmosphere, and the entire ocean appearing milky white.

The ocean was filled with large quantities of plants, microorganisms, and some peculiar structural formations. These structures relied on other microorganisms for sustenance.

Most of the organisms were able to coexist harmoniously, with competition being mild and harmonious coexistence more common.

"Look, if we analyze from the microscopic level, the microorganisms in the ocean are like the various cells in the human body, each with clear roles. Some are responsible for producing nutrients, others for providing energy, and there's a distributed neural network structure that can relay information and connect the entire ocean, which is a truly rare evolutionary model."

A girl couldn't help but ask, "So how did this planet form? A traditional ecosystem wouldn't create such a life form, would it?"

Special life forms naturally emerge from special environments.

This planet is designated as KIC00***91234, a peculiar planet that rotates rapidly and has intermittent magnetic fields. It's estimated that in the early stages of this planet's formation, it had extremely abundant organic oceans.

The organic richness was at least thousands of times greater than Earth's!

This phenomenon isn't rare. For example, Saturn's moon Titan in the Solar System is also rich in organics on its surface, with organic lakes containing Methane, Ethane, and others. These naturally occurring organics provide ample nourishment for the emergence of life.

But what's rare is the planet's unique environment, where its magnetic field sometimes weakens significantly. Without magnetic defense, solar wind and cosmic rays can sweep across the planet unimpeded, killing off primitive lifeforms; other times, the magnetic field strengthens significantly, even affecting the growth of life.

According to the superhuman analysis, these periodic magnetic field changes are likely one of the main reasons why all life forms on this planet developed self-awareness.

The artificial intelligence explained to the students, "In ancient times, the organic environment on this planet was overly abundant, but the ecological setting was harsh, so primitive life had little competition in its early stages. Instead, cooperation was more common among microorganisms."

"Think about it, the surrounding environment was teeming with organic matter, there was no lack of energy, yet the harsh conditions meant that only through cooperation could they survive better. Over lengthy periods, this gradually evolved into a collective consciousness. This consciousness can self-regulate most life forms in the organic ocean, leading to a phenomenon of symbiosis among microorganisms."

"It then gradually evolved a nervous structure."

"Due to the formation of the planetary life form, other singular consciousness life forms couldn't evolve."

"Of course, this is just a preliminary guess, and the specific reasons still require investigation."

The students were in awe of this incredible notion.

This peculiar planet is considered the most astonishing discovery by new humans in the Large Magellanic Cloud in so many years!

A large number of research forces were gathered near the planet, not only traditional humans coming for sightseeing but also prominent superhuman scientists, along with scientists from the allied Half-sphere Civilization, and even a War Star was moved here.

"Can we land on this white planet now?" Lin Yueyue asked.

"Of course, but some reporting is needed. To avoid disturbing this unique life form, the number of tourists allowed to land daily is limited. You can register first and wait a few days; there will be a notification for the tour."

Seeing her companions showing interest, Lin Yueyue called out, "Let's go register first and then head to the planet's museum to see how the research is going..."

"Let's go, let's go."

They all boarded an anti-gravity spaceship.

Sitting beside her, a girl curiously commented, "Sister Yueyue, you've been quite emotional these days, are you in love?"

"Huh? How could that be? Who told you that?"

"You're so outstanding and adorable, are there no guys pursuing you?" The girl was slightly gossiping.

Lin Yueyue teased back for a while. Sure, there were many pursuing her, but she rejected them all. How could a woman of the new era indulge in romance?

"I'm an advocate of classical human thought... Those guys whose minds are controlled by hormones are so dull."

"Classical human? You mean Platonic love? Oh wow! Seriously! So traditional!"

"It's like you're meeting me for the first time. Those who are obsessed with their desires are left by the superhumans to fend for themselves in the Virtual World!"

"So what should I do if a guy pursues me?"

"We should see if he's interesting as a whole, has ambitions, otherwise, if he's just lusting after your body, forget it, tell him to find a robot."

Amid this chat, they reached their destination.

In the New Human Civilization, the largest museum above each War Star is called the "Wonder Museum."

These museums are tourist attractions within the New Human Civilization trade market. Almost every alien civilization that comes to the trade market visits here for sightseeing.

The entrance fee is free, which broadens the horizons of low-level civilizations and spreads the popular culture of the New Human Civilization, making it a form of cultural export.

As expected, a new section was opened in the "Wonder Museum," specifically for introducing this newly discovered planet-level organism—"Beta."

The central screen displays picture after picture, with videos available on demand, the superhuman community has been educating this creature for many decades and has made some progress.

Several half-sphere people lingered in the museum, with "clap clap clap" sounds of applause heard everywhere. They haven't kicked their clapping habit.

"Hello, I'm Artificial Intelligence number 091, at your service." The AI in the museum can automatically interpret the information for the visitors.

This planet-level organism is currently named "Beta." Due to its previous environment having only one consciousness and no complex society, its intelligence had long been unable to evolve. Only after its discovery by humans, through a series of educations, did it acquire the most basic intelligence.

Li Yueyue remarked, "Yes, society is an important factor in the formation of wisdom. If a baby is born into a blank environment, their mind will also be blank, with no concepts of language, text, etc."

"How should Beta's education be conducted?"

091 said, "According to current research, the formation of intelligence in organisms is divided into three stages."

"The first is the most basic stage of 'out of sight, out of mind.'

Before Beta participated in the 'out of sight, out of mind' experiment, aside from what it could see, hear, and touch at the time, nothing else actually existed in its mind.

In other words, what it perceives is everything it considers real.

"What does that mean?" A male student showed a curious expression.

Artificial Intelligence 091 explained, "For humans, a 4-month-old baby is in the 'out of sight, out of mind' stage. Robot parents can play 'peekaboo' with the baby during this period. The mother covers her face with her hands, then suddenly reveals it, and the baby will laugh heartily."

"Because in this stage, when the child can't see the mother, they think the mother no longer exists. In their cognitive world, the mother disappears and is then forgotten."

"Then suddenly, the mother reappears in front of them, past memories return, and they are pleasantly surprised and laugh heartily."

"So naive... but it seems that's how it is," a male student remarked.

"Weren't we that naive before? Haven't you ever volunteered in kindergarten? Playing peekaboo makes kids laugh, and it's always successful."

"Turns out Beta is just as naive. I thought it was incredibly intelligent, capable of learning everything in a day."

The female students collectively felt a strong sense of maternal love, even though their object of affection was a massive planet.

091 continued, "As one can imagine, intelligent life indeed needs to cross a threshold of self-awareness to understand that even if something is out of sight, it still exists."

"We term this mindset 'naive materialist matter conservation cognition theory.'

"Many animals cannot develop this recognition; having it marks a leap in intelligent form. Beta is currently in this stage of education."

"...We've known about this planet for decades, haven't we?" Lin Yueyue was slightly puzzled.

The artificial intelligence replied, "It's not that its intelligence is very low, but cultivating it is very complex. For Beta, its own perceptual ability is too strong, capable of perceiving almost the entire planet. For it, everything is visible, so forming the concept of 'invisible' is challenging."

"It doesn't even understand what so-called invisibility is."

"Only after numerous mysterious appearances by superhumans did it slowly begin to understand that there are things in the world beyond its perception."

On the large screen in the museum, a video of experts educating this massive organism was displayed: people built a colossal glass ship over the planet's ocean, equipping it with colorful sensory bulbs.

When this ship was vigorously rocked, the bulbs would light up, and when the rocking stopped, the colorful lights would cease.

This gigantic planet-level organism "Beta" could easily generate force through the coordinated movement of microorganisms to create waves. During one of its actions, it discovered the glowing ship and started rocking it repeatedly, enjoying itself immensely.

"Can this method enhance intelligence?" Lin Yueyue asked.

"Yes!"

"In this way, Beta's activities are no longer confined to its core but begin to involve influencing objects. The objects affected, in turn, lead the core to interact further with them. This cycle of actions and their results fosters a continuous connection between the core and objects, eventually differentiating actions (means) from action results (ends), resulting in actions performed to achieve specific objectives."

"From haphazard, purposeless rocking of toys to purposive, repetitive rocking, the germination of intelligent actions begins."

"But at this stage, the differentiation between purpose and means is still incomplete. In other words, we don't know why Beta would develop a so-called 'purpose'."

"Alright..."

Li Yueyue always revered the superhumans who ponder the so-called Philosophy Tree.

However, for things she couldn't comprehend, she chose not to think about them, otherwise it would just be useless worry.

In the following video, scientists could be seen sending spaceships into the sky from time to time and adopting a series of optical stealth methods.

These spaceships appeared and disappeared intermittently, leaving Beta baffled.

But he became fond of the "hide and seek" game, with his understanding of object permanence beginning to grow more complex, searching everywhere once things went missing.

"This is the second stage of Intelligence development. For specific discussions, you can refer to the book 'Biology and Cognition'."

The entire museum tour left the group feeling eye-opened, repeatedly exclaiming that this trip was immensely worthwhile. Even though the New Human Civilization was already a Level 5 Civilization, there were still many mysteries left unexplored.

...

"To what extent can its ultimate intelligence develop? Can it evolve into what level of civilization?"

"This question... But I don't think it will be too smart."

On the 6th day, Li Yueyue's small team finally received the opportunity to closely observe "Beta."

Amidst an excited discussion, everyone boarded the shuttle. Li Yueyue felt her heart pumping rapidly. Girls of this era generally chose not to give birth, often having an excess of maternal love. They simply adored innocent and naive beings, especially those less intelligent than themselves.

In just ten minutes, the shuttle pierced the atmosphere, leaving a long white trail.

At this moment, a white line also appeared on the ocean surface, likely Beta imitating the shuttle's mark.

"Has it already learned to imitate? The progress is really quick!" A girl waved continuously at the glass window, even if such behavior might not have much significance.

"Quick? No, no, no, humans learn this process within months, yet it took it so many years! This speed definitely can't be considered fast."

"Down there, this calm ocean has developed self-awareness—just thinking about it is quite bizarre."

"Will it imitate humans, such as Power Armor or the action of an excavator?"

"It will imitate large objects; if Power Armor is made as big as a house, perhaps an image will appear on the ocean surface to simulate."

"We should show it educational videos of human babies!" Li Yueyue suddenly proposed a suggestion.

The Artificial Intelligence inside the spaceship replied: "Playing educational videos of human babies has already been suggested by some educational experts. However, more experts believe this educational method is not very good, because it will instill human ideological consciousness in it. It is unique and should not become human. Its body structure also cannot become human."

"Alright..." Li Yueyue pursed her lips, disagreeing internally.

She believed that becoming human was the best.

It was only a single being, incapable of forming a society, and naturally wouldn't develop a so-called culture.

Before encountering humans, Beta was merely a clueless lifeform.

In such circumstances, it could only passively accept the culture of other races. Since it could only accept the culture of other civilizations, of course, human culture was the best. Choosing instead the Half-sphere Civilization or Green Leaf Alliance doesn't seem logical, right?

Thinking of this, Li Yueyue turned around and glanced at the Half-sphere Civilization tour group sitting behind. One of the Half-sphere people seemed to notice Li Yueyue's gaze, quickly raising his head, clapping softly a few times, and exchanged greetings.

She responded with a smile, murmuring inwardly, "Compared to the Half-sphere people, human culture is indeed quite excellent..."

With these thoughts, the spaceship safely reached the ocean surface.

Outside the glass window, scientists were using various luminous toys to educate it, with waves splashing continuously and showing that this lifeform was quite interested in these toys.

It played joyfully.

"Students, if you wish to go down and experience it firsthand, you can take the motorboat. It will use wave power to propel the motorboat."

"I'll go, I'll go!"

A considerable number of people jumped into the motorboat and played with the occasionally rising waves.

Li Yueyue did not go down to play; she stayed inside the large transport ship, resting her chin on her hands, watching her companions, beginning to daydream...

She pondered whether this Gaia lifeform had any peers in the vast Universe. If it had no peers, it would indeed be too lonely, only accompanied when humans arrived here... how have countless millions of years been survived?

Maybe in its mind, there is no concept of loneliness at all. Photosynthesizing alone, growing alone, if humans didn't arrive, it would quietly remain until the end of the world.

Or perhaps a sudden meteor would smash the ecosystem to bits, and then it would follow and perish.

But humans, aren't they the same? Eating hot pot alone, watching movies alone, from day to night alone, it's often like this.

Thinking of this, she felt a mysterious sense of isolation, as if she had fallen into the cosmic void, with a black hole named "loneliness" pulling at her thoughts.

Seeing her peers playing noisily outside the window, Lin Yueyue sighed, feeling out of place with those around her since childhood, never changing. In this era, there seem to be few people who love to think; many feel that the problems they've pondered for a lifetime are solved by superhumans in a second, so why bother thinking? But Lin Yueyue believes that others are others, and she is herself; no matter how strong others are, they cannot be compared.

"Have you encountered any difficulties?" A voice came through the headphones—it was the artificial intelligence specifically responsible for Lin Yueyue's life and growth. Currently, all traditional humans have their own personal artificial intelligence, and seeking help from AI is quite common, especially given how advanced and smarter AIs are becoming now.

Lin Yueyue expressed her troubles.

The other side replied, "Your problem has been pondered by many people, and here I provide an answer from a renowned scholar."

"It seems lively between people, playful and joyous, but true confidant friends are very few. This type of companionship cannot withstand too much adversity; go uncontacted for some time, and it might disperse."

"If you don't want to participate in such activities, don't force yourself, as the liveliness is ultimately temporary, prolonged only by pleasure, like a fire without roots, unable to last long term. True friends should be sought in suffering."

"But even with confidants, you must understand, in this world there's no such thing as shared feelings; whatever you experience, even the best friend cannot truly understand the meaning, and that's why you feel lonely."

"To solve this problem, either keep yourself busy doing something meaningful, as there are always like-minded people; or find life's purpose and meaning... truly good friends don't need to be numerous, one or two are enough."

"Certainly, for superhumans, this issue is not an issue—loneliness, to put it simply, is a kind of insecurity. For superhumans, they can create their own sense of security; there's no need to care too much. In a way, loneliness is eternal and long-standing."

"Thank you for your explanation, much appreciated."

"Oh, by the way, regarding loneliness, there's actually another saying."

"What is it?"

"Due to affluent lives and peaceful environments, traditional humans in our civilization capable of feeling such emotions have greatly decreased. Actually, those who deeply experience various emotions can better understand themselves."

"Better understand oneself..." Lin Yueyue shook her head.

"There is also a section in 'The Universe's Most Astonishing Incidents' regarding loneliness as a rare event; you may want to learn what true loneliness means by understanding superhumans."

Lin Yueyue felt a bit interested and checked this information. As she was about to read, suddenly a wave crashed against the glass window—Beta was greeting her.

This vast yet simple life form seems to have sensed that Lin Yueyue, hiding in the spaceship, wasn't in a good mood, and greeted her in its own way.

"Hello!" Lin Yueyue raised her head and greeted the sea.

Another wave crashed against the glass window.

Beta was inviting her out to play; this was its newly learned method, almost always effective.

"Haha, I'm about to read, but..."

Lin Yueyue just glanced at the first page of 'The Universe's Most Astonishing Incidents' and shivered; the content was beyond her imagination.

Lin Yueyue felt her scalp tingle as she sat up from her seat, bewilderedly scratching her head.

She felt as if she just experienced a bout of literary sickness, pondering some inexplicable things, appearing somewhat pretentious.

No, far too pretentious—compared to true loneliness, her mentality was merely a small bourgeois complaint. Compared to those ultimate lonelinesses, what she lamented was nothing, akin to whining without a cause.

Lin Yueyue pulled a camera from her backpack, doing something she liked, appreciating the beauty of the universe—wasn't this something she enjoyed doing?

"Let's go out and play, stay full of vitality!"

After Lin Yueyue left, the screen still displayed 'The Universe's Most Astonishing Incidents: Loneliness Edition,' with the following written:

[Cosmic-level loneliness incident... An extreme athlete was severely injured in an accident and diagnosed by doctors as a vegetable. He lost all abilities to move, couldn't speak, couldn't move, not even blink. Family members inserted feeding tubes into him, hoping for the day he'd wake up.]

[Fifteen years later, by chance, a doctor discovered that he had only lost all physical functions, but his brain remained as normal as any other person, lying there for 15 years... no one knew he still had awareness, nor did anyone know he still longed to communicate.]

[But in fact, he was conscious. He was left alone on a hospital bed.]

[Note: This incident is not a rare phenomenon, and the tragedies that happen are not isolated cases. In many civilizations with underdeveloped medical conditions, patients with remaining awareness are misdiagnosed as vegetative. A similar incident has even occurred within Earth Civilization.]

[Example: In the 21st century, Belgian man Rom Uban became a vegetative due to a car accident. 23 years later, he told the world through special equipment that his consciousness remained clear all those years.]

[This prevalent state is a huge tragedy, and we can hardly imagine the feelings of victims in such an extreme situation. Therefore, even if it is not a rare event, we still identify this phenomenon as one of the most extreme forms of loneliness.]

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