Volume 10: Ancient Battleship Chapter 532 Experimental Accident
"Slow down, keep a constant speed, and always observe the status of the puncture point..."
Those who are selected into the research institute are all a combination of genius and elite. Any one of these people is an academic giant, and in other colleges they would at least have the title of full professor... Despite this, the "professor" still guided the young researcher's operations as if he were a student who had just started.
In the old era, this scene would be as ridiculous as an academician of the Academy of Sciences instructing a mathematics professor from a top university on how to solve a quadratic equation.
But at this moment, the young researcher's fingers were shaking constantly.
He had conducted no more than 1,000 or 800 similar "inoculation" experiments. Among researchers of the same period, he was famous for his three virtues: boldness, carefulness, and steady hands. Otherwise, he would not have been asked by the "professor" to serve as an assistant in this experiment.
But for some reason, those hands, which usually seemed as steady as precision machinery, couldn't stop shaking uncontrollably.
He didn't dare to say it to the professor behind him... Fortunately, the robotic arm of the experimental box was controlled by a CNC system instead of a highly sensitive sensor handle, otherwise, the robotic arm in the box would probably be shaking like a sieve.
The young researcher didn't even dare to breathe. His eyes were fixed on the experimental box and the control panel of the CNC system. His ten fingers were typing rapidly on the keyboard, modifying the various parameters of the robotic arm according to the feedback from the sensors.
Half of the serum-like substance in the syringe has been injected into the piece of meat, and the frequency of the meat's peristalsis has gradually slowed down.
"What's going on? Did you inject muscle relaxants into the 'specimen'?" Seeing the reaction of the piece of meat, the professor was stunned and asked immediately.
"No, no!" the young researcher replied quickly, "According to what you said, I didn't inject any auxiliary drugs into it except the LCL liquid and the living cells of the Seed of Erosion."
"Then what's going on? The activity of the 'specimen' seems to be rapidly weakening..." The professor glanced at the timer note he had just torn off the table, and then looked up at the timer hanging on the wall. "This is impossible. The nutrient supply has been cut off for less than ten minutes. According to the data we got before, the physiological function of the 'specimen' will begin to fail in at least fifteen minutes!"
"I don't know either..." The young researcher shook his head, "Could it be that the 'specimen' has reacted to the cells of the Seed of Erosion?"
"That's impossible! The shortest incubation period of the Seed of Corrosion cells is several hours. How could it be possible during the inoculation process..."
Before he could finish his words, a not-so-loud but extremely piercing scream came from the experimental box - not only were the two of them startled, but even the "security guard" standing behind them trembled subconsciously.
"Don't move!" The professor stretched out a hand, signaling the two "security personnel" to put down their guns, and then focused all his attention on the piece of meat in the experimental box.
The contents of the syringe had been pushed into the piece of meat, the needle was pulled out, and a drop of bright red blood was squeezed out from the eye of the needle.
"The sound just now... was it made by 'it'?" The professor pushed the lower frame of his goggles with the heel of his palm and asked in a deep voice.
"Should... should be, right?" the young researcher said tremblingly, "But, but... Professor... this 'specimen'... this... it... it shouldn't have differentiated vocal organs... How could it scream?"
"Perhaps it is the muscle cavity inside the 'specimen' that makes the sound when the muscle contracts and sucks air into it..." the professor murmured, but even he himself found this explanation unacceptable.
This "specimen" had undergone a comprehensive examination before being sent into the experimental box, including tomography and B-ultrasound. If there really was a muscle cavity inside, it should have been discovered long ago, instead of scaring everyone in the laboratory now.
Could it be an acute mutation? This thought flashed through the professor's mind, and his breathing became rapid. If it was really an acute mutation, it would mean that there was a chimera between the genes of this "specimen" and the genes of the Seed of Erosion, so it would directly skip the "latent period" after the Seed of Erosion cells infect other organisms!
Regardless of whether this mutation is good or bad, it is an unprecedented major breakthrough!
The professor clenched his fists excitedly - but he didn't expect that even more drastic changes were yet to come.
Fifteen seconds after the erosion seed cells were injected into the piece of meat, the movement of the piece of meat had almost completely stopped. Just when the young researcher thought that the physiological functions of the piece of meat had been completely exhausted and was about to ask the professor for permission to use electric current to stimulate the "specimen", a large number of blood bubbles suddenly appeared on the surface of the piece of meat!
These blood bubbles expanded rapidly and then burst, but what flowed out of them was not bright red blood, but a grayish-white thick liquid that contained a lot of broken cotton-like rotten tissue.
"Failed?" The young researcher's heart skipped a beat - but for some reason, he did not feel too depressed. Instead, he felt a sense of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him.
"No, it didn't fail!" The professor's excited voice came from behind, "It's still alive! It's not dead! These corrupt tissues are just impurities that it 'excreted'! It's purifying itself... It's evolving!"
"…T-Professor?"
The young researcher couldn't help but turn around and look at the professor behind him, but was almost frightened by the professor's crazy expression.
"Why are you looking at me? Quick, clean the surface of the 'specimen' and remove the dirt!"
"Oh... OK."
The researcher nodded mechanically, operated the robotic arm to pick up an alcohol cotton ball, and gently wiped the surface of the meat.
Blood bubbles were still forming, and the overflowing thick liquid and flocculent tissue had already covered the bottom of the culture dish and were about to overflow from the edge.
The young researcher quickly used another robotic arm to pick up the gauze and suck it, but at this moment, the piece of meat that had stopped moving suddenly twitched!
"Stop! Don't touch it!" the professor shouted. "Is it recording?"
"Always recording!" the young researcher nodded.
I saw a large number of spherical protrusions suddenly appear on the surface of the meat - they were not the blood blisters just now, but it was as if there was some hard object underneath that pushed up the fascia on the surface of the meat.
"Could it be... the 'core' of the Seed of Erosion?" The professor quickly glanced at the timer screen out of the corner of his eye. "Seventy-six seconds... No 'core' of the Seed of Erosion has ever been formed in such a short time. This is a new record..."
"Professor?" The young researcher's voice was a little difficult.
"There has never been any species of erosion...even the mutant species...that can have so many 'cores'...never." At this time, the number of spherical protrusions on the surface of the meat has exceeded thirty, and is still increasing. In some places, the protrusions have even gathered together, forming a pile of growths that look like squeezed grapes.
"Professor... are you sure these protrusions... are the 'core' of the Seed of Erosion?" the young researcher couldn't help but ask.
"Not sure, but there's a high probability," the professor said. "Look, through the transparent membrane on the surface, you can see that the object inside has a transparent hard shell on the surface. Apart from the 'core' of the Seed of Erosion, what else would have such a structure?"
As if to answer his question, as soon as the professor finished speaking, a crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the largest spherical protrusion.
It was as if a reptile suddenly opened its eyes, and what appeared before the professor and researcher was...
It was actually a bloodshot eyeball!
The young researcher's hand shook involuntarily, and the mobile phone on the table suddenly fell to the ground with a slight "pa" sound.
The sound was very abrupt, and the eyeball seemed to be startled by the sound. It turned around and focused its sight on the professor's face, looking into his eyes.
The other spherical protrusions on the surface of the meat also cracked open at this time, and thirty or forty eyeballs looked at the professor at the same time.
The professor subconsciously took a step back. Being stared at by so many eyes, even he couldn't help but feel a little scared.
But what was more exciting was that although the things under these spherical protrusions were not the "nucleus" of the seed of erosion, at least this tumor-like mass of flesh had successfully differentiated into a complete eyeball. Moreover, by observing the behavior of these eyeballs, there should be a visual signal processing center inside the flesh, which was connected to these eyeballs through an organ similar to the "optic nerve".
Not only that, this processing center can also control the muscles around the eyeballs, allowing the eyeballs to rotate, search and lock onto targets...
This is a fully functional visual system!
The idea of the experiment was right! The active cells of the Seed of Erosion could completely act as a catalyst for the "specimen", allowing these cloned cells that would have only continued to divide and proliferate like malignant tumors to differentiate and form functional organs!
Following this line of thought, perhaps the source of the "specimen"... the object that is not allowed to be studied... can be completely cloned!
They will change history! Humanity's technological level will reach a peak never before reached... and his name will be engraved on the monument of that peak!
In the old days, this was a power only possessed by "Gods"...but now, they can do it too!
The professor was so happy and excited that he could not express it in words. However, he did not notice that the researcher sitting at the table did not utter a word when he saw this scene. He just sat there calmly on his chair.
"Hmm... This young man has a good psychological quality. He calmed down so quickly... Maybe he is a seedling worth cultivating." The professor thought to himself, "I should also sign his name at the end of this research report... Or simply transfer his file to me and let him be my exclusive assistant."
"Now, try to use light to induce the 'specimen', observe its reaction and record it." The professor calmed down and spoke to the assistant researcher in the calmest voice possible.
But the former turned a deaf ear to his instructions and sat in the chair without moving.
"Hello? What's wrong with you—"
The professor reached out and patted the young researcher on the shoulder. The latter slowly turned his head, causing the professor's remaining half sentence to get stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter it.
The young researcher's face was covered with numerous cracks...under each crack was a bloodshot eyeball.
Dozens of eyeballs turned to stare at the professor , except for the eyes that originally belonged to the researcher, which were lifeless and blank.
“This…this…”
The professor pushed the researcher to the ground and stumbled back several steps.
The researcher's body was frozen. He did not get up from the ground. Instead, he turned his head with some difficulty and continued to stare at the professor with his dozens of eyeballs.
"You, both of you, seal off this lab immediately! Don't get close to him and the specimens!" the professor said to the two bewildered security guards, "I'm going to call someone to deal with the scene. Don't let anyone enter this lab before I come back! Do you understand?"
"Understood..." the two security guards replied, their bodies trembling with fear. Although they didn't know what had happened in the experiment, they could still see the densely packed eyes on the face of the researcher lying on the ground. That terrifying face, after just one look, could never be erased from their memory...
But even if they turned their heads and no longer looked at the researchers on the ground and the specimens on the table, they could still feel those gazes, as if they were entities, resting on them.
The professor quickly walked through the disinfection room, took off his goggles and protective clothing, stuffed them into the trash can marked with a biohazard label, then took the disinfectant from the shelf and poured half a bottle into the trash can.
"It shouldn't be like this... This is impossible... There was no contact at all, how could it be contaminated... This is impossible! There must be something wrong with the experimental procedure! Damn it!"
The professor walked out while talking to himself, but at this moment, he suddenly felt an unbearable itch on the inside of his arm.
He stopped and the expression on his face changed drastically. He hesitated for several seconds before slowly rolling up his sleeves.
On the inside of his arm, from the wrist to the elbow, there were a dozen or so round bulges that inexplicably appeared... The largest ones looked like they were about to break apart...
