Volume 11: Memetic Crisis Chapter 550: Yinglong Egg
At present, humans have discovered a total of more than 30 super creatures that can be classified as "primordial species" on Alpha Star and its nearby planets and universes. Most of these more than 30 primordial species have died, leaving only their corpses that look like magnificent ruins.
The remaining small number of survivors are basically in a dormant or dormant state and will not pose a threat to the Ark for the time being.
None of these thirty or so prehistoric species have a similar appearance, and each of them is a unique individual. Therefore, it can be said that more than thirty kinds of "prehistoric species" have been discovered so far.
But no matter what their forms are, whether they survive or not, these primitive species all have this one common characteristic.
That's big.
All creatures that can be called primitive species are extremely large...they are so large that they far exceed the size of normal creatures. With the current level of human biology, it is impossible to explain how such huge creatures can survive in this universe.
A whale-like monster like Leviathan, which is 80,000 meters long, can only be ranked in the upper middle among the more than 30 kinds of "primeval species".
It is easy to explain those creatures living in the weightless environment of space, but it is difficult to explain those primitive species living on Alpha Planet - not to mention that the oxygen content in the atmosphere of Alpha Planet is similar to that of the Earth in the Cenozoic era, so even creatures of the size of Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus are difficult to breed. The weight of these primitive species alone is enough to crush their internal organs.
Unless these super creatures can do what the Ark did and install tens of thousands of anti-gravity devices all over the ship, they can barely gain the ability to move on this planet.
Ke Lan searched his memory. As far as he knew about the ancient creatures, it seemed that none of them was less than 10,000 meters long... If a behemoth like this was to be sealed in an ice storage, how big would the "sealed container" that Schroeder mentioned have to be?
"Tell me first, is this primitive creature... dead or alive?" Ke Lan took a deep breath and asked.
"...alive." Schroeder hesitated for half a second and said.
"Fuck!" After hearing the other party's answer, a curse word immediately jumped out of Ke Lan's mouth, "A - living - primitive creature! How did you get this thing on the Ark?!"
"I don't know." Schroeder answered honestly - he really didn't know that the things on the fifth floor of the underground ice storage had been sealed there before he joined the crisis management department. When he learned the news, he was even more shocked than Ke Lan.
"Which prehistoric species is in the freezer? Is it one of the more than 30 that have been made public... or is it some secret species that has not been made public?"
"It's 'Yinglong'."
"'Yinglong'?!"
Yinglong, this name first appeared in a book called "Shan Hai Jing" during the Warring States Period of China. In this book, many bizarre mythological creatures are recorded, and "Yinglong" is one of the more famous ones among these mythological creatures.
The appearance of "Yinglong" in ancient books and oral myths is very similar to the extremely famous fantasy creature "Huaxia Dragon" - deer horns, ox head, snake body and five sharp eagle claws. Every Chinese person is familiar with this fantasy creature. Even today, many companies or organizations founded by descendants of Chinese people on the Ark often use dragon totems as their trademarks or emblems.
Compared with the common Chinese dragon, Yinglong has a pair of huge colorful wings.
As for the ancient species "Yinglong", it was a ancient species discovered deep in the "Polar Sea" at the South Pole of Alpha Star.
It was a snake-like creature with a body length of more than 20,000 meters, lurking in the deepest part of the central trench of the Arctic Ocean, in the "Eye of Hell" abyss.
When this primitive species was just discovered, a Mexican expert suggested naming it "Kukulkan" - the name of the feathered serpent god in Mayan mythology. However, more than half of the experts in the exploration team were Chinese at the time. After several discussions, they finally gave this primitive species "Yinglong", a name that is very similar to Chinese mythology.
This primitive creature is covered with huge scales all over its body, but on its back, about one-third of the way from its head, it has a pair of huge wings. The exploration team once made a rough measurement of the size of the wings, and concluded that if the wings were fully spread out, the area on one side would be as large as three East Nine Districts put together!
At first, the exploration team thought it was just a pair of fins, the external locomotion organs of Yinglong. But when the unmanned submersible carrying a visible light camera approached Yinglong, they found that the wings were covered with things similar to bird feathers. Although each fiber of these feathers is as thick as a person's arms, from a distance, their shape is almost exactly the same as bird feathers.
A prehistoric beast living in the deep sea abyss actually has feathers on its body - if this were told to others, it would be like a joke.
The experts of the exploration team immediately came up with two conclusions: Some people believed that this pair of wings might not be organs of movement, but eating organs, and that what grew on them were not feathers, but organs that could filter seawater like gills. The fish and plankton captured and intercepted by the "feathers" would become Yinglong's food.
Others believe that Yinglong was not a marine creature at all, but its body just happened to sink into the "Eye of Hell" abyss.
That’s right…the Yinglong discovered by the exploration team was actually a corpse.
This corpse has been sunk in the abyss for an estimated tens of thousands of years, but there is no sign of decay... Not only that, Yinglong's corpse has been releasing toxins to the outside world, so that the "Eye of Hell" abyss has become a sea area without any signs of life activity.
This is a true "death place".
"Isn't Yinglong dead? And its corpse should still be in the abyss of the 'Eye of Hell' in the polar sea. How did it end up in the underground ice storage of the research institute?" Ke Lan and Asano Akira asked as they continued on their way.
"I am requesting permission from the crew council...please wait," Schroeder replied.
"Begging for help, if you keep dragging it on, I'll probably see that thing appear in front of me with my own eyes! It's already this time, and you're still hiding it, are you seriously ill?" Ke Lan couldn't help but curse.
"Sorry... because the confidentiality level involved is too high, I can only... uh?" Schroeder was stunned. Before he submitted the application for open access, he suddenly received a message from the Undead Crew.
The message was brief, consisting of just two words: "Approved."
Beads of sweat broke out on Schroeder's forehead. He subconsciously looked up at the surveillance camera in the corner of the ceiling - it seemed that at least half of the members of the Undead Crew were watching everything that happened here, and his every move was probably seen by them.
Schroeder knew clearly that if he failed to handle this matter well, not only would he be unable to continue to hold the position of Chief of the Crisis Management Section, but even his life would be uncertain.
Although he was not afraid of death, when he thought that those "big guys" who controlled the fate of the Ark and all mankind were staring at him, an inexplicable sense of tension surged from the bottom of his heart.
Even when he faced the SP mutant that slaughtered half of the team, he had never been so nervous.
"The application has been approved." Schroeder said. He couldn't help but turn his head and glance at the others who were still standing not far away.
Although the experts in the countermeasures team were still pale, their emotions had eased a little - most of them knew the secret of the underground ice storage. Only the students from the new research institutes and affiliated colleges were still confused and afraid, but due to the issue of authority, they did not dare to ask questions to their teachers. (Here, teachers refer to "teachers and elders", not military teachers, for this purpose.)
As for the God Hunter Group, except for the middle-aged leader called "Hound" who was leaning back in his chair with a serious expression in thought, the other people were discussing something in a low voice - the main thing they were discussing was the name of the "Undead Crew Society".
The name "Undead Crew Council" has appeared twice in the conversation between Ke Lan and Schroeder. Even though they knew nothing about it before, they have now sensed the unusual meaning behind this name: when it comes to the top secrets of the prehistoric species, he did not even mention the United Parliament Group, the "open" highest authority, but instead said that the approval of the "Undead Crew Council" was needed. This is very telling.
Judging from the attitude displayed by the undead crew, it is obvious that they have no intention of avoiding this group of "civilians". They don't mind at all that their existence and the secret of the underground ice storage are heard by these "irrelevant people".
Perhaps, the crew would intend to use these people to contain the important figure Ke Lan. After all, based on the intelligence collected, Ke Lan seemed to attach great importance to these companions who had been through life and death with him... Schroeder thought so.
Not only Schroeder was thinking about this problem, Hound was also having a headache because of it - he knew very well that if the people in the God Hunter Group knew about the existence of the "Undead Crew Association", they would inevitably be involved in a series of troublesome events in the future. The reason why Ke Lan had concealed this matter from them before was also due to this consideration, but now, this group of mysterious guys obviously planned to show their cards to them...
No, this cannot be considered a showdown. To be precise, it is like tying the entire God Hunting Group to a chariot that will never turn around.
This is a life-threatening job, and a life-threatening job.
In fact, the Hound knew in his heart that as long as Ke Lan was still a member of the God Hunting Group, this day would come sooner or later. It was just that neither he nor Ke Lan had expected that it would come so quickly and so unexpectedly.
A few hours ago, he had just promised Ke Lan to keep the secrets related to it. But now, the core members of the entire hunting group have already known the existence of the "Undead Crew Association".
"That's fucking... funny." The Hound stuck his little finger into his nostril, dug it hard, and then flicked what he dug out towards Schroeder's back.
"Damn it... Is this guy named Schroeder trying to drag us down on purpose?" He thought to himself, "Is he trying to use us to tie Ke Lan down?"
Just as he was thinking this, Ivan and Leighton had already found Lin Qiming, and the latter explained to them in a low voice.
Lin Qiming didn't reveal much to them, but it was enough for Ivan and the others to digest for a while. They first looked at each other with complicated eyes, and then fell into silence at the same time.
"Any ordinary person living on the Ark who knew this news would probably have a similar reaction." Hound curled his lips. "After all, no one would have thought that the person who truly holds the highest authority on the Ark is not the United Council... but a group of people who have lived for hundreds of years and can't even be determined whether they are 'human' or not."
Of course, he didn't say this out loud, but just stared at Schroeder without saying a word.
Schroeder was leaning forward at this moment, putting all his weight on his hands that were resting on the edge of the console. His brain was working rapidly, thinking about how to convey the information to Ke Lan in the most concise way possible.
"What's sealed on the fifth is not actually Yinglong, but a living Yinglong egg."
"Yinglong's eggs?" Ke Lan paused for a moment. "Didn't they say that no reproduction behavior of prehistoric species has ever been discovered?"
"So this is top secret... If people knew that the prehistoric species can reproduce, do you know how much panic it would cause?" Schroeder said.
"I don't think so. For creatures like the Honghuang species, the incubation period alone is probably longer than a human's lifetime, right? I even doubt whether human civilization can survive until the day this 'egg' successfully hatches." Ke Lan's tone calmed down a little, "Go on, how did this thing come about?"
"The exploration team that discovered Yinglong unexpectedly discovered signs of life during their fifth deep dive into the 'Eye of Hell' abyss. That time, the unmanned submersible approached an unprecedented 200 meters. The dark green venom secreted by Yinglong's corpse almost blocked the entire field of view of the visible light camera...but the submersible's sonar heard a faint, but very stable heartbeat."
“Is this the egg?”
"Yes... When this egg was discovered, it was attached to a scale on Yinglong's tail, wrapped in white fascia. At the bottom of the fascia, there were three tough fleshy umbilical cords connecting it to Yinglong's body."
"This doesn't mean that this egg was definitely laid by Yinglong, right? It could also be some kind of parasite, right? As for the three flesh tubes, they may not be umbilical cords. They may be the feeding organs used by this parasite to absorb nutrients from the host."
"But radiological images revealed embryonic larvae inside the eggs that are extremely ." Schroeder made the final decision.
