How the Zergs were Made

Chapter 17 Emerald

When he first thought about the issue of 'field source', Huo Gu first thought of the trace amount of ferric oxide contained in the cells.

The common name of ferric iron tetroxide is called 'magnet', which emits a magnetic field all the time. In addition, the content of this substance in the original cells is very small, which can also be in line with the previous inference that 'the life field is easily disturbed by the outside world'.

But the result of the experiment told Huogu that it was wrong!

The true face of the field source - 'beryllium-aluminosilicate mineral'.

Just hearing this name, many people will find it unfamiliar, but if it is a common name, it is definitely familiar to everyone - 'Emerald', those gems that were once used as ornaments by princes and nobles.

"Why is it this kind of substance? Can this kind of substance also form a 'field'?"

As a result, it suddenly turned into a situation that Huogu couldn't understand. In its impression, things like emeralds seemed to be useless except for their ornamental value, let alone heard of them, which could emit a certain kind of field.

At this time, Huogu had already realized one thing, its knowledge was no longer enough to help it solve the current problem.

The energy of human beings is limited after all, and every subject is broad and profound. Although it is a professor, it can focus on archaeology, physics and chemistry after all.

"Okay, I'll put this 'Emerald Mystery' aside, and solve the easier problems first."

Huo Guben hoped to find out the thing that allowed him to maintain his thinking, and then understand the principle to realize cross-cluster networking. In this way, it only needs to spread countless cell clusters in every corner of the planet, and it no longer needs to worry about sudden appearance. The geological activity will kill it together with the host cell cluster.

"But it's not bad. Although I haven't found the reason for the 'field' generated by that thing, but in terms of the result, it is still acceptable. At least I have found out what the medium for the cell clusters to communicate with each other."

"In this way, we only need to increase the output power of the 'field' to cover up the interference and issue instructions to distant cells... eh?"

Just as Huogu was planning the follow-up actions, a crisis that affected the entire cell cluster happened so suddenly.

The first thing that happened was the inner wall cells in the digestive cavity and the inner cells near the inner wall cells, which entered a state of death successively.

Attacking microbes?

Huo Gu thought of this subconsciously.

There is no other reason, it has absolute confidence, those microorganisms are absolutely unable to break through the completely closed cell wall of the parietal cell, and the parietal cell relies on the protein channel of the adjacent inner cell to ensure cell activity.

This can also explain why the first to die is the inner wall cells of the digestive cavity and the inner cells connected to it.

The digestive cavity is the only place where the entire cell cluster communicates with the outside world. The inner cells use the larger gaps between the inner wall cells to absorb amino acids in the digestive cavity and provide nutrients for the entire cell cluster.

But then, Huogu immediately discarded this conjecture.

All microorganisms rely on proteins and amino acids as their basic units to build themselves. Considering the possible existence of extreme acidophilic bacteria, the digestive juice Huogu chose at the beginning is enzymes, which are a big killer for microorganisms that use protein as the basis of life .

The space between the cells of the inner wall is also absolutely impenetrable. There is not only the entrance for the inner cells to absorb protein, but also the outlet for the release of digestive enzymes. In the entire digestive cavity, there is the highest concentration of enzymes.

With the exception of completely specialized enclosed cells such as parietal cells, there are no micro-organisms that can resist breakdown by digestive enzymes for long.

But since the cause is not microorganisms, what is it that causes the death of the inner wall cells and adjacent inner cells?

Since he had been focusing on the source of the cell cluster network before, Huogu didn't notice the abnormality of the cells until the cells died, and he didn't know the specific process.

Huogu roughly observed the inner cells around the inner wall as a whole, but did not find out the reason.

The material interaction between the digestive cavity and the outside world cannot be stopped, just like a person needs to breathe, all the cells in the cell cluster also rely on the 'supply' collected and integrated by the digestive cavity to maintain their own cell activity.

Immediately, Huogu gave new instructions to the cell cluster.

"The cell divides, repairs the inner walls of the cavity, and replaces the dead cells."

After consuming a certain amount of protein reserves, the inner wall cells and inner cells replaced the dead cells, completed the repair of the digestive cavity, and continued the operation of resource collection.

However, the same thing happened again very quickly. The inner cells that were engaged in the work of collecting amino acids and proteins through the cracks of the parietal cells, the cell membranes quickly began to lose their activity, repeating the mistakes of the previous cells. After a while, the inner cells once again After death, the parietal cells connected with it also lost their supplies, and they did not follow suit.

Huogu watched the whole process with cold eyes. The death of the cells did not make him panic. Rather, everything that happened was deliberately done by him in order to understand the reason for the death of the cells.

"External factors have caused the 'denaturation' of the cell membrane...well, it's a water problem."

The cells of the cell clusters originally lived in the waters near the submarine volcano. The waters are high temperature and acidic. It is a paradise for acidophilic bacteria and a hell for non-acidophilic bacteria.

But now, Huo Gu led the cell cluster to leave that piece of water and came to a neutral water. As a cell cluster of acidophilic bacteria, it naturally couldn't accept this environment. Protein 'denaturation' occurs and loses its original activity, which becomes a matter of course.

The solution to this problem is also very simple. It only needs to make some minor adjustments to the properties of the cell membrane. Whether it is acidophilic bacteria or alkalophilic bacteria, the cytoplasmic solution inside them is neutral, and the liquid adjustment depends on the cell membrane. To be able to survive in that extreme environment.

The transformation process is not cumbersome. Thanks to the self-replication of the cells themselves, Huo Gu quickly obtained a batch of inner cells that can survive in neutral waters.

However, the result of the implementation was not as simple as Huogu thought. Under his astonished gaze, the newly built inner wall still fell apart as before.

"Why is this happening?"

"I have obviously adjusted the mechanism of the cell wall, why is the protein still 'denatured'?"

Suddenly, Huogu noticed the tiny crystal particles floating in the solution of the digestive cavity.

"Salt... wait, did you say that!?"

The all-round viewing angle of the cell cluster covering 360 degrees begins to mobilize.