Mysterious creature sightings

Among the mysterious cases encountered by the Special Investigation Division this year, the neurotoxin toad can be said to be at the top level of the year.

The psychosomatic diseases caused by toxins are like a real performance in a fantasy movie. In the first case, Xin Zhi's body was burned to death horribly, and in the second case, wounds appeared out of thin air on the bodies of Lin Zheng and Ling Jiangyue.

If Hua Chunyao really had a psychosomatic disease, the symptoms would be even more terrifying. He would be directly affected by hallucinations and his body would be torn apart by a huge parasite.

Sci-fi movies that are introduced to China generally have to mosaic these kinds of scenes.

Lin Jia didn't really want this guess to come true. She frowned and said, "We have thoroughly searched the mountain behind Cuiyun Corridor. There are only a few neurotoxin toads in the Thief's Cave, and all living bodies are parasitized by chytrid fungus." , died before being brought back to base.”

She glanced at Hua Chunyao's body and said, "If Hua Gong's symptoms are really psychosomatic, it cannot be caused by his own random thoughts. It must be due to the ingestion of toxins, and the amount is not low. Where did the toxins come from? ? Are there such mutant toads elsewhere?"

Lin Zheng pondered: "We previously speculated that Xin Wen and Xinzhi's search for neurotoxin toads was related to Kyle's induction. After their brother and sister died, Kyle and his group were suspected to have been to the mountain behind Cuiyun Corridor. Maybe our guess is right. , they got the toxin in advance.”

Lin Jia: "But Kyle is already dead. According to the information sent back, several people closest to him in the D.M. Institute are also dead. Who would use those toxins to attack Chinese workers? Even if they are not dead, why would they? Choose Chinese workers?”

Lin Zheng: "There may be others who have slipped through the net, or it may be another group of people targeting the Special Investigation Department."

But the question remains, why target Hua Chunyao? He has been retired for many years, what use is he to those people?

Lin Jia pursed her lips and remained silent.

The "threads" became messy again.

When they discovered that Ling Jiangyue was related to several cases, their thoughts were very confused. They couldn't even tell who was behind Ling Jiangyue.

Fortunately, in the end, it was found out that Ling Jiangyue was not a suspect and was a helper given to them by God.

Now they feel that way again.

It seemed that someone was controlling everything that happened somewhere they couldn't notice. Their adventures, narrow escapes, and brief moments of relaxation were all part of that person's plan.

Lin Zheng stood up and looked around with sharp eyes.

——Everything that has happened in the past six months is like a ball of wool rolling randomly on the ground. It looks messy, but there must be a thread.

As long as you find that thread, you can string everything together.

"List all the doubtful points now," he said with an edge in his tone. "We will analyze them one by one. The truth must be hidden in what has happened."

Lin Jia nodded sharply.

She likes to work with such a leader, as if all difficult things must be answered, and she will never have a negative attitude towards her work.

"There are three main points of doubt——"

"First, is it a psychosomatic disease? If so, where did the neurotoxin come from? If not, but a real organism breaks out of the body, could it be a product of bioengineering? What about the laceration on Hua Gong's abdomen? Why does it start from the inside?”      “Second, if it is a psychosomatic disease, why are the hallucinations suspected to be symptoms of man-made Guinea worm infection?”

"Judging from the forensic report, the possibility of Guinea worm may not be high." Lin Zheng said suddenly.

"The most famous parasite that likes to be close to water sources and can control the host's behavior is probably the iron worm."

Lin Jia paused: "Indeed, after being infected by these two parasites, the human body will have symptoms of itchy, red and swollen skin, abdominal pain and nausea, internal organs are damaged for a period of time, and the host can't help but want to get close to the water source."

"However, in order to release the larvae after Guinea worm infection, the host will feel very painful on the skin, and blisters, ulcers, and pustules will appear. The host cannot help but scratch the skin, usually on the wrists, ankles and the like. Hua Gong's wrists and ankles There are no such symptoms.”

"The most famous symptom of ironworm parasitism is that it controls the host's brain and brings the host close to the water source, but when it gets close, the adult worms emerge from the host's body and re-enter the water."

"And the ways of infecting these two parasites are also different. There are many parasitic channels for ironworms. When people swim in the river, the larvae will travel up the urethra into the bladder, parasitize in the urinary system, and become infected by drinking raw water or eating. Ironworm larvae of frogs, fish, and ironworms parasitize the digestive system."

"The infection method of Guinea worm is relatively simple, usually by accidentally eating Daphnia with infective stage larvae."

After sorting out the differences between the two parasites, Lin Jia confirmed again: "Indeed, it is more like a parasite of iron worms. But normally, the only insects that iron worms can control are mantises, and they have little impact on humans."

Lin Zheng: "Then it is more likely to be a product of bioengineering. However, changing the subject of speculation does not delay the sorting out of doubts. Continue to the third point."

Lin Jia took a breath: "The third point, why Professor Hua Chunyao? No matter who is the person who did this, there must be a special reason for choosing an old man who has retired from the 507 Bureau for many years."

Just after the analysis, the tablet she took out of the car beeped a few times.

Lin Jia picked it up and opened it: "It's news from the dry rest center and the Information Integration Department. The Chinese worker recently had a medical visit. The main symptoms were abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and he claimed that he was infected with iron worms."

She looked back with a complicated expression: "He also said that iron worms had penetrated into his eyeballs from his stomach. But after multiple examinations, the doctor found no parasites in his body, whether it was iron worms or other things."

It seems that Hua Chunyao is more likely to have a psychosomatic disease.

Lin Zheng squatted down again and examined Hua Chunyao's eyeballs.

"When Hua Gong served in Bureau 507, his work content was relatively complex. But a few years before his retirement, the Bureau happened to be researching the use of biological materials to transform the human body. The Special Coordination Office cooperated closely with the Department of Human Sciences. He must have had contact with it, and he also He must be very familiar with creatures with special abilities, such as iron worms that can control the behavior of their hosts."

Hua Chunyao's eyeballs were a little deformed. At first glance, it looked like there was really some parasite inside.

After Lin Zheng checked, he paused for a few seconds and then said: "He knows the symptoms of infection with iron worms very well, so he can imagine them concretely. However, there are not many examples of iron worms infecting the human body, and they can travel up from the digestive tract to the eyes. There are almost none.”

He thought carefully: "If it is really a psychosomatic disease, why is he so sure that the iron worms got into his eyes? Is he very familiar with the infection symptoms of some kind of bioengineered mutated iron worms? Or - someone told him ?”

Before Lin Jia had time to express her surprise at this guess, Xu Jiayan's voice sounded behind her.

"Brother Lin, Sister Jia, there's something going on! Another body was found!"