Trickster Hunter

Chapter 342 Crimson Spores

"This attempt..." Yuri showed a wry smile, "Actually, we have already done it."

"Oh? What's the result?"

"The strains will not fight each other, but will merge with each other, evolve together, and eventually become a brand new strain that adapts to the 'new seedbed'," Yuri said.

"At this point, they are better than humans." Sun Hang commented.

"According to our observations over the years, crimson spores do not have self-awareness. The reason why they do this may be out of survival instinct..." Yuri said.

"On the contrary, I think the 'new seedbed' may have provided too much nutrients." Sun Hang added, "If there is a serious shortage of nutrients, will they fight each other and compete for limited nutrients? For example, let How many kilograms of bacteria are needed to infect a little finger?”

"We have done similar experiments, and the result is that the weaker strains will actively sacrifice themselves to allow the strongest strains to occupy the living space." Yuri said, "Even several strains with extremely different morphologies will follow this The laws... they feel like a whole, and they are the kind of whole that determines individual actions based on the hive consciousness.”

"To put it bluntly, is it instinct?" Sun Hang said.

"Yes."

"It seems that it doesn't matter which strain is swallowed... then let's go with No. 17."

…

…

The containment room prepared to swallow the crimson spores is much simpler than the previous two monsters - although the crimson spores are deadly, their transmission method is similar to that of ordinary viruses, and the containment room only needs to be completely sealed. , it doesn’t even need to be kept cold.

The metal cylinder storing the No. 17 seedbed was transported to Sun Hang. The lid of the bucket was opened, and a chill suddenly spewed out from the inside of the cylinder.

"The container is being rewarmed. During this process, the dormant crimson spores may wake up at any time." Yuri, standing on the other side of the observation window, reminded.

Seventy below zero, sixty below zero, fifty below zero...

The reading of the thermometer on the side was constantly beating, and Sun Hang was staring at the seedbed No. 17, carefully observing its changes.

When the temperature rose to minus fifteen degrees, an extremely low and slow heartbeat suddenly came from inside the chest of the seedbed - although the heartbeat was very slow and the beating intensity was very small... But the heart had been silent for many years under the low temperature. His heart was indeed beating slowly.

Sun Hang glanced at the electrocardiogram nearby with the corner of his eye - there were two devices used to monitor vital signs, one was connected to Sun Hang, and the other was connected to Seedbed No. 17.

At this time, on the device connected to Seedbed No. 17, the originally straight electrocardiogram on the screen suddenly trembled, and then the straight line began to turn into a jagged curve, and then the ups and downs began to become larger and larger.

"It shouldn't be that simple to resuscitate the heart of a frozen person, right?" Sun Hang asked.

"It's the function of crimson spores. Although it will kill the host in a very short period of time, in order to draw enough nutrients from the host's body to strengthen itself, it will also activate the host's life potential to the greatest extent."

"It's still a contradictory thing." Sun Hang muttered, "The purpose of reviving him is to kill him... This is not just taking off his pants and farting."

The vital sign data of Seedbed No. 17 had just risen to the level of normal people, and then began to plummet - the body of Seedbed No. 17 began to twitch violently, the skin on the body began to dissolve, and large chunks of muscles fell from the bones. It fell off, and a large amount of foul-smelling foam began to pour out of the mouth.

As if being scalded, many blood bubbles bulged on the body of Seedbed No. 17. These blood bubbles stacked on top of each other and soon formed something like foam, wrapping the entire Seedbed.

"That's not a blood bubble." Yuri reminded, "That's the strain itself of the crimson spore... To be honest, this is the first time that a bubble-shaped strain has been observed, and it has never appeared before."

"Then I won the big prize?" Sun Hang said with a smile.

"Not sure... The shape of the strain is not directly linked to the ability of the monster... Judging from the meme fragments, there is no major mutation between the No. 17 strain and the original strain." Yuri suddenly sped up. Speaking quickly, "Seedbed No. 17 will be scrapped soon... The strain has entered the mature stage, and soon these blood bubbles will explode, spreading the spores into the air. If you plan to devour it, now is the best time." Good timing.”

Needless to say, Yuri said that hundreds of hyphae had already stretched out from Sun Hang's body. After a brief stagnation, these hyphae shot out at the same time, penetrating the blood-red foam and piercing the "Seventeen" No. Seedbed" inside the body.

The next second, the dense blood bubbles quickly dried up... Before the group of researchers surrounding the outside could react, only one human skeleton with a light red color remained in the entire Seedbed No. 17.

"Hiccup." Sun Hang burped, took back the hyphae that were also stained with blood, and stood up.

"Swallow...is the swallowing complete?" Yuri was stunned for a moment and asked subconsciously.

"The memetic reaction of strain No. 17 has disappeared!" The researcher on the side said as if he had just woken up from a dream. "As for VIP's meme... there has been no change?"

"No changes?" Yuri looked at Sun Hang, "Did the swallowing fail?"

"Failed to swallow? It shouldn't be right?" Sun Hang raised his right hand, and several slender bundles of mycelium emerged from his fingertips - unlike the pale Taisui mycelium, these bundles of mycelium were all crimson. , during the slow rhythm, some powdery spores floated down from the hyphae.

"That's... the crimson spore?" Yuri couldn't help but his eyes widened, "But why hasn't the meme changed at all? Logically speaking, since other monsters have been devoured... the meme fragments of the devoured person should have Embed into your…”

"You have to ask Old Man Pei about this." Sun Hang said, "I am just a person responsible for fighting. Research is not part of my job. If you ask me, I can't tell you..."

"No, that's not right..." Yuri shook his head repeatedly, "This does not conform to the known information. If there is no problem with the equipment, then a large part of our understanding of strange objects may have to be rewritten... "

As if he remembered something, Yuri suddenly turned back to look at his subordinates and asked, "Have you compared Sun Hang's memetic changes before and after he swallowed Kui Niu bone marrow and Yi 4, 2, and 3?"

When Kui Niu's bone marrow was devoured, the entire containment room was blown up, and none of the monitoring equipment was spared; while when Yi 423 was devoured, everyone's focus was on the substantial life force, but Sun No one noticed the changes in Hang's own memes... It was not until this time, after visually comparing Sun Hang's memes before and after he swallowed the crimson spores, that Yuri realized this abnormal phenomenon.

"It's out." The researcher replied, "It's the same, nothing has changed."

"Is this also part of Taotie's characteristics?" Yuri fell into deep self-doubt.

"I think the probability of equipment failure is higher." As he spoke, Sun Hang had already walked out of the containment room. Several logistics personnel wearing Michelin tires immediately came forward, holding a bunch of beeping beeps. The instrument scanned him from head to toe.

"Simple comparison cannot reveal the key to the problem. If possible, I hope you can stay a few more days. I want to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Taotie meme..." Before Yuri could finish speaking, his cell phone suddenly It rang.

“In-depth analysis of Sun Hang’s memes is prohibited.”

Sender: Pei Zongjun.

"This..." Yuri froze on the spot.

Why...why would Mr. Pei prohibit himself from conducting an in-depth analysis of Taotie's memes?

Are there any taboos in this?

But... if it is just an analysis, it will not have any adverse impact on Sun Hang himself. Why would Mr. Pei stop him?

Or is it that I am not qualified enough to know the secret?

If you are not qualified... then how many people in the entire Tianshu Tower, or in other words, the entire Xiazhou Federation... are qualified?

Yuri counted on his fingers and found that there would probably be no more than twenty people.

…

…

Chunming City, Taiweiyuan, Tianshu Tower dedicated airport, No. 1 lifting platform.

A light gray streamlined high-speed transport plane has been fixed at the end of the runway. Among the people boarding the plane with Sun Hang, in addition to Ling Xiao, who had just obtained the dual certificates of registered superpower user and equipment qualified person, there was another A girl wearing a bomber jacket and a peaked cap with a low brim.

"'Tang Jing'? A second-level mechanic working in the logistics department of the Chunming City Anomaly Investigation Bureau? Volunteered to go to Shuzhou to support the Tianfu City Anomaly Investigation Bureau?" Sun Hang glanced at her, "I should be right."

"I don't like this fake name." "Tang Jing" said, "You should know my real name, right?"

"I know, Fukada Miki." Sun Hang nodded, "But you can't use this real name, and you can't let anyone except me know your true identity... As for the reason, Sun Qiong should have told you. "

"What about him?" Fukada Miki pointed to Ling Xiao sitting beside him, "Is he not a human?"

"He won't leak secrets." Sun Hang said, "I feel more confident about him than myself."

"Then he is your confidant?" Fukada Miki looked Ling Xiao up and down, "He is the one who solved the mystery that invaded Building 3 that day?"

"Yes." Sun Hang nodded.

"It doesn't look like there's anything special about it." Fukada Miki raised her eyebrows slightly, "There are a lot of flaws..."

In order to prevent her identity from being revealed, she did not wear her usual eyepatch, but instead wore a pair of special contact lenses to cover up her distinctive "eye of death" - only when she used her ability Sometimes, the right eye under the contact lens will still emit a faint blue light.

"Oh? What are the flaws?" Sun Hang put one arm on the back of the seat, turned sideways, and asked with interest.

"Head, spine, right arm..." Fukada Miki said.

"What now?" Sun Hang pressed the seat belt buckle on Ling Xiao's seat, and the originally fastened seat belt immediately retracted into the seat.

"It's a lot less..." Miki Fukada was slightly startled and said truthfully.

"It seems that the seat belt restricted his ability to move." Sun Hang said with a smile.

"But even so, he still has many more flaws than the hunters I've seen." Fukada Miki said, "He should be about the same age as me, right? If someone like him goes to the battlefield, he will die. of."

"But the difference between him and him is that he has only been a field operator for more than a month." Sun Hang said, "As far as I know, you have been working for Tianshu Tower for many years."

"Have you known him before?" Fukada Miki frowned.

"No, I have only known him for more than a month."

"Then you believe him so much?" Fukada Miki's brows furrowed even deeper, "You Xiazhou people have a saying, it's called 'Knowing people, knowing faces, but not knowing hearts'. Many people have been together for a lifetime and still can't see each other clearly. You I've only known him for more than a month, how could you..."

"Can I think that you are sowing discord?" Sun Hang asked in a half-joking tone.

"Whatever you want, I just feel that while you want me to strictly conceal my identity and restrict my freedom of movement... you are so casually exposing my identity to a rookie who has just been employed for more than a month... This Is it a bit of a double standard?" Fukada Miki said somewhat unconvinced.

"If you think so, then it is." Sun Hang shrugged indifferently, "Human beings are inherently double-standard animals."

"I like this sentence." Fukada Miki did not refute, which surprised Sun Hang a little.

"By the way, since you can see the flaws in infected people or monsters, can you see the flaws in me?" Sun Hang asked.

"I can't tell." Fukada Miki said.

"Can't see it or don't want to see it?"

"I can't see any flaw in you. I don't know if it's really not there, or if my ability can't work on you." Fukada Miki said, "This kind of situation has only appeared in a special monster before. Pass."

"Special monster? Which one?"

"I don't know its serial number or code name. I only know one of its characteristics." Miki Fukada put her hands in her pockets and crossed her legs. "It's 'unobservable.'"

"But obviously, I am 'observable'... you can all see me." Sun Hang laughed, "So I really have no flaws? Am I flawless? Am I invulnerable? I'm strong Invincible? Can I understand that?"

"Flaws are only for individual strength...if the gap between strengths is large enough, flaws are meaningless." Fukada Miki said, "If an egg has the same strength in every eggshell on its body, then In my eyes, it also has no flaws...but when faced with a hydraulic press with tens of thousands of tons of pressure, what use is an egg without flaws?"

"Of course it's useful." Sun Hang said immediately, "It can be used to fry poached eggs, or make egg fried rice, which is also good!"