Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 342 Crimson Spores
"This attempt..." Yuri gave a wry smile, "In fact, we have already done it."

"Oh? What's the result?"

"The strains don't kill each other, but merge and evolve together, eventually becoming a completely new strain adapted to the 'new seedbed'," said Yuri.

"In this respect, they are better than humans," Sun Hang commented.

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

"I think it's probably because the 'new seedbed' provides too much nutrients." Sun Hang added, "If nutrients are seriously insufficient, will they fight each other for limited nutrients? For example, let a strain weighing several kilograms parasitize a little finger?"

"We have done similar experiments before, and the results show that the weaker strains will sacrifice themselves to allow the strongest strains to occupy the living space." Yuri said, "Even strains with extremely different morphologies will follow this rule... They give people the feeling of being a whole, and a whole that determines individual actions based on the hive consciousness."

"To put it bluntly, it's just instinct?" Sun Hang said.

"Yes."

"It seems that it doesn't matter which strain we devour... Then let's go with number seventeen."

……

……

The containment chamber prepared for devouring the scarlet spores is much simpler than that for devouring the previous two monsters - although the scarlet spores are deadly, the way they spread is similar to that of ordinary viruses. It only requires that the containment chamber be completely sealed, and it does not even need to be kept at a low temperature.

The metal cylinder storing seedbed No. 17 was brought to Sun Hang. When the lid was opened, a chill immediately gushed out from inside the barrel.

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

-70, -60, -50...

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

When the temperature rose to minus fifteen degrees, an extremely low and slow heartbeat suddenly came from inside the chest cavity of the seedling bed - although the heartbeat was very slow and the pulsation was very weak... but the heart that had been silent for many years in the low temperature did begin to beat slowly.

Sun Hang glanced at the electrocardiogram next to him out of the corner of his eye - there were two devices for monitoring vital signs next to it, one was connected to Sun Hang, and the other was connected to seedbed No. 17.

At this time, 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 increase in amplitude.

"It shouldn't be that easy to revive a frozen person's heart, right?" Sun Hang asked.

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

"It's still a paradoxical weirdness." Sun Hang muttered, "The purpose of saving him is to kill him... This is not pure taking off pants to fart."

The vital signs of Seedbed No. 17 just rose to the level of a normal person, and then began to plummet - Seedbed No. 17's body began to twitch violently, the skin on the surface of the body began to dissolve, large chunks of muscle fell off the bones, and a large amount of foul-smelling white foam began to flow out of his mouth.

Just as if it had been scalded, many blood bubbles appeared on the body of seedbed No. 17. These blood bubbles stacked on top of each other and soon formed something similar to foam, wrapping up the entire seedbed.

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

"Then have I won the jackpot?" Sun Hang said with a smile.

"Not sure... The form of the strain is not directly linked to the ability of the monster... From the meme fragment, there is no significant mutation between the No. 17 strain and the original strain." Yuri suddenly sped up his speech, "The No. 17 seedling bed will soon be scrapped... The strain has entered the mature stage, and soon these blood bubbles will burst and spread the spores into the air. If you plan to devour it, now is the best time."

Needless to say, hundreds of hyphae had already stretched out from Sun Hang's body. After a brief pause, these hyphae shot out at the same time, piercing through the layer of blood-red foam and into the body of "Seedbed No. 17".

The next second, the dense blood bubbles shrank quickly... Before the group of researchers outside could react, only a light red human skeleton was left in the entire seedbed No. 17.

"Burp." Sun Hang burped, took back the hyphae that were also dyed blood, and stood up.

"Swallow...swallowing completed?" Yuri was stunned for a moment and asked subconsciously.

"The memetic reaction of strain number 17 has disappeared!" The researcher at the side said as if waking up from a dream, "As for the memetic reaction of VIP...there is no change?"

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

"Failure of devouring? That shouldn't be the case, right?" Sun Hang raised his right hand, and several bundles of slender hyphae emerged from his fingertips. Unlike the pale mycelium of Tai Sui, these bundles of hyphae were all crimson in color. As they moved slowly, some powdery spores floated down from the mycelium.

"Is that... Crimson Spores?" Yuri's eyes widened. "But why hasn't the meme changed at all? Logically speaking, if you devour other monsters... the meme fragments of the devoured creatures should be embedded in yours..."

"You should ask old man Pei about this." Sun Hang said, "I am just responsible for fighting. Research is not within my job scope. If you ask me, I can't tell you one or two or three..."

"No, that's not right..." Yuri shook his head repeatedly, "This doesn't match the known information. If there's nothing wrong with the equipment, then I'm afraid a large part of our understanding of weird things will have to be rewritten..."

Yuri seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly turned back to look at his subordinates and asked, "Did you compare the meme changes of Sun Hang before and after he devoured the Kui Niu bone marrow and Yi 423?"

When it was devouring the Kuiniu bone marrow, the entire containment room was blown up, and all the monitoring equipment was destroyed; and when it was devouring B423, everyone's attention was focused on the materialized vitality, but no one noticed the meme changes of Sun Hang himself... Until this time, after intuitively comparing the memes of Sun Hang before and after devouring the scarlet spores, Yuri realized this abnormal phenomenon.

“It’s out,” the researcher replied. “Same, no changes.”

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

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

"A simple comparison won't reveal the key to the problem. If possible, I hope you can stay for a few more days. I want to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Taotie meme..." Before Yuri finished speaking, his phone suddenly rang. "It is forbidden to conduct an in-depth analysis of Sun Hang's meme."

Sender: Pei Zongjun.

“This…” Yuri stood there in a daze.

Why...why would Mr. Pei forbid himself from conducting an in-depth analysis of Taotie's memes?
Is there any taboo in this?
But...if it's just an analysis, it won't have any adverse effects on Sun Hang himself, so why would Mr. Pei stop me?
Or is it that I am not qualified to know the secret?
If I am not qualified... then how many people in the entire Tianshu Tower, or in the entire Xiazhou Federation... are qualified?
Yuri counted on his fingers and estimated that there would be no more than twenty people.

……

……

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

A light grey streamlined high-speed transport plane had been fixed at the end of the runway. In addition to Ling Xiao, who had just obtained the dual certificates of registered psychic and qualified holder of strange equipment, the people who boarded the plane with Sun Hang were a young girl wearing a pilot jacket and a baseball cap with the brim pulled down low.

"'Tang Jing'? A second-level mechanic working in the logistics department of the Chunming City Abnormal Investigation Bureau? Volunteering to go to Shuzhou to support the Tianfu City Abnormal Investigation Bureau?" Sun Hang glanced at her, "I think I'm 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 at Ling Xiao who was sitting next to him, "Isn't he a human?"

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

"So he is your confidant?" Fukada Miki looked Ling Xiao up and down, "He is the one who solved the problem of the monster that invaded Building No. 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 so many flaws..."

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

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

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

"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.

"A lot less..." Fukada Miki was slightly stunned and said truthfully.

"It seems that the seat belt restricts 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."

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

"You knew him before?" Fukada Miki frowned.

"No, I've only known him for a little over a month."

"Then why do you trust him so much?" Fukada Miki frowned even deeper. "You Xiazhou people have a saying, 'You can know a person's face but not his heart'. Many people have been together for a lifetime and still cannot see each other clearly. You have only known him for more than a month, how come you..."

"Can I take it that you are trying to sow discord?" Sun Hang asked in a half-joking tone.

"It's up to you. I just feel that you ask me to strictly conceal my identity and restrict my freedom of movement... but on the other hand you so casually expose my identity to a rookie who has just joined the company for more than a month... Isn't this a bit of double standards?" Fukada Miki said somewhat unconvinced.

"If you think so, then so be it." Sun Hang shrugged indifferently. "Humans are inherently hypocritical 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 the infected or the monsters, can you see the flaws in me?" Sun Hang asked.

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

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

"I can't see any flaws in you. I don't know if there really are none or if my ability doesn't work on you." Fukada Miki said, "This situation has only happened to a special monster before."

"A special weirdo? Which one?"

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

"But obviously, I am 'observable'...you can all see me." Sun Hang laughed, "So I really have no flaws? I am perfect? ​​I am impeccable? I am invincible? Can I understand it this way?"

"Flaws only refer to individual strength... If the difference in strength is big enough, flaws are meaningless." Fukada Miki said, "If the strength of the eggshell of an egg is the same everywhere, then in my eyes, it also has no flaws... But when facing 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, "You can use it to fry poached eggs, or make egg fried rice!"

(End of this chapter)