Mysterious creature sightings

In the case of the neurotoxin toad, they investigated the hallucinogenic fungus, but it turned out not to be the case. I didn't think about fungi now, but I encountered a really tough problem.

This is one of the creatures that the Special Investigation Department least wants to encounter.

Fortunately, they had experience and had protective clothing ready at all times. The spore powder just now did not come into direct contact with the body.

Ling Jiangyue's heart was beating fast as Lin Zheng protected him behind him.

——The elderly neighbor was a little excited, as if he had met a relative.

No wonder she couldn't tell at a glance that it turned out to be the most mysterious fungus. But she had already figured out a lot in the moment she touched it.

Lin Zheng turned around and asked her if she was okay. She shook her head and said excitedly, "I saw a lot of things in his body."

"A lot?" Isn't that just like what the forensic doctor described, that the corpse became a ball of nutritious soil for cultivating mushrooms?
  Just thinking about it makes me sick.

Lin Zheng and Lin Jia cautiously approached the corpse and carefully observed the fruiting bodies that emerged from the "earth".

Lin Jia: "It really looks like peanut buds, green and shiny. If it wasn't for the sudden dusting of powder, I definitely wouldn't have been able to recognize them right away."

"You can't recognize it, and ordinary people can't recognize it." Lin Zheng turned the body over slightly and pointed to the eye sockets.

"The fruiting body of this strain has grown out, indicating that spores have been erupted. The person who found this body is very likely to have been infected."

Lin Jia frowned fiercely: "If they are infected and injured, then where will they go?"

"It's not clear, but the origin of this corpse must be wrong. He didn't die here naturally. He became a breeding ground for spores. Just when the fungus was about to sprout, he met a group of familiar people who appeared here. They also happened to be infected and disappeared. What a coincidence."

"Also, there is a layer of 'ash' on the surrounding ground. If it is all spore powder, where do so many fruiting bodies emit so much powder?"

Lin Jia: "You're saying - maybe it was artificially sprayed, or there may be other fruiting bodies growing here."

"Yes. Isn't the ultimate goal of fungi parasitizing other organisms to borrow their mobility to sow their offspring to farther and more places?"

The forensic doctor joined the conversation: "Then it can't be parasitic like this. Apart from mushroom lungs, isn't athlete's foot the most likely thing to cause a reaction in humans? What kind of fungus can parasitize people like this?"

Lin Jia: "Then what do you think it means for us to come?"

Forensic doctor: "...I'd better hand in the autopsy report."

The fewer secrets you know, the safer the rate of return from the five insurances and one fund.

Lin Zheng and Lin Jia continued to chat in a low voice, while Ling Jiangyue stood on the stone slope at a safe distance, constantly scanning the body.

"If the fruiting body were bigger, wouldn't it look like a cordyceps?" she said abruptly.

Lin Zheng was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head to look at the peanut buds protruding from the flesh on the back of the corpse's head, and thought of a creature:
  "Ophiocordyceps hemiformis?"

Lin Jia hesitated and said: "It's somewhat similar. But Ophiocordyceps hemiformis only attacks flexorback ants. Their abilities are limited. They can't even parasitize other types of ants, let alone cross-species parasites. What's more, , human body temperature is not suitable for them to survive, and normally they will not appear in places other than tropical rainforests."

After giving all the reasons to refute, Lin Jia retorted to herself: "But what we encountered is abnormal. It may indeed be a mutated Ophiocordyceps hemiformis, or a mutated species that specializes in using humans as nutritional soil. "

She closed her eyes and sighed.

Ling Jiangyue didn't quite understand that a fungus whose mechanism of action had been almost understood by scientists was not worth being so afraid of. Even the mutant form of Ophiocordyceps hemiformis cannot escape some of the characteristics of its original ancestor, so it is not difficult to study it.

The truly unknown is the reason to panic. Oh, I almost forgot, people just like to boldly offend the unknown and be cautious about hurting the known. After all, all experience comes from the lessons of blood and tears...

and many more.

"All experience comes from lessons of blood and tears" - she did not forget to praise her ability to speak famous words in her heart - and then thought about this sentence carefully.

If this matter is related to illegal organizations, what do they want to do?
  Infect more people, have more experimental subjects, involve the Special Investigation Department, and use the Special Investigation Department to obtain results that they failed to understand?

She jumped down the slope and walked behind Lin Zheng: "I know Ophiocordyceps hemiformis. It is said that it can continuously replicate in the body of the ants, cut off the control of the ants' brains over the body, and directly control the ants' muscles to make them Leave the nest and go to a place suitable for fungi to live, and then wait for death in a conscious mind. Like a conscious zombie."

Lin Zheng: "Well, so Ophiocordyceps hemiformis is also called a zombie fungus. But not many people know about it, because they can only turn flexorback ants into zombie ants and have no effect on humans."

"What if it works? Just like this corpse, if his limbs are controlled like zombie ants, and he clearly watches himself crawling to a place suitable for fungi to survive, waiting for death in pain, then Zheng Linlin and others will also appear like this Symptoms?"

Lin Zheng looked at her steadily and quickly contacted Jiang Yuxing.

"When looking for someone, measure the ambient temperature and humidity, and give priority to warm and humid environments suitable for fungi."

Jiang Yuxing shouted on the phone: "What?! Fungus!?"

Although they had clues, the mountains surrounding Daheishan, including the Hengduan Mountains that topped the daimyo, were too large. Even when the sun went down and the temperature dropped sharply, they still couldn't find anyone.

When Jiang Yuxing came back to talk, he said: "I now suspect that someone took them away. They are injured and they can't walk. The police dog ran and stuck out its tongue and couldn't find the specific route."

Lin Jia: "The places under the mountain that may be used as exits are being guarded. Unless some mysterious person takes away the program crew members as soon as they are infected, they will either be discovered by the police or infected." possibility."

Jiang Yuxing and Xu Jiayan didn't know much about it. They listened carefully to her words about the suspected mutated Ophiocordyceps hemiformis and felt goosebumps all over their bodies.

Jiang Yuxing: "Manipulating the muscles of people's limbs? A real-life version of the walking dead?"

Xu Jiayan: "Don't use The Walking Dead. Wasn't there a movie called "The Last of Us" before? The prototype of the deadly fungus in it is Ophiocordyceps hemiformis. But it is artistically processed. Even if it is a mutation, it should not be so targeted. Sex can directly parasitize people."

Lin Zheng: "Do you suspect it is an artificial creature?"

Xu Jiayan: "I suspect it is artificial cultivation."

Ling Jiangyue thought about it for a moment, then opened her mouth and moaned.

"It's disgusting. Why are they studying growing mushrooms on people? I mean, they have to have a purpose in doing this, right?"

Jiang Yuxing rubbed his chin and thought: "It's known that the purpose is to capture you, but they didn't plan to get you infected. Could it be that they want those infected people to capture you? It just so happens that we can't get close to the infected people. I'm sure I can’t save you.”

"...I think he is also infected." She turned to complain to Lin Zheng.

Lin Zheng touched her long hair but did not speak to her. After thinking clearly, he immediately asked the police to seal the mountain and perform tests, and the people from the special coordination department brought equipment.

"We searched all night. Prepare for the worst and follow the direction of the buried bug. Bring a gun and a lighter."

The gun is responsible for fighting, and the lighter is responsible for cremating those who have suffered.