Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 201: Success and Infection

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After the baby super species was brought back to the Hope, it was immediately taken over by the biology committee led by Saburo. Yao Yuan reminded them to be cautious, to not expose the creature to the Hope’s air, because it might get infected by Earth’s germs. The danger of infection went both ways; the germs on this planet could be fatal to mankind and germs from Earth could be the same for this super species.

Yao Yuan’s heart shook when he thought of the two super species’ shrieks when they absconded via the shuttle. Regardless, they needed to do what needed to be done. At the very least, they needed to ensure the baby super species stayed alive.

However, the little thing that was only the size of half a palm presented Yao Yuan and the gang with a huge problem.

Its appetite was absurd.

In just half an hour, it consumed about 30 kilograms of fish. These were fish with legs that the Hope had caught in the sea and river for the purpose of scientific experiment. They were kept in isolated tanks, so they were free from the Hope’s germs and were perfect to be used as feed for the juvenile super species.

The fish from the river were smaller in size. There were 3 in total, each about 3 to 5 kilograms. Other than the fish from the river, there was only one fish from the sea, and it alone was about 15 kilograms in weight.

When the fish were fed to the super species, it stopped its panicky squeaking and quieted down immediately. It started munching on the offered fish…

The little creature was only 300 grams, so initially the scientists stopped after feeding it 300 grams of fish. Who knew that after about 10 seconds or so, the creature would start squealing again, nodding its small head at the opening the fish would slide through. Its action was extremely endearing. Obviously, it was still not full.

Therefore, the scientists fed it another 50 grams of fish and stopped no matter how much noise the creature made afterwards. After it realized it was not getting any more food, it laid down its head and started sleeping. Before that though, it did something that surprised the scientists. It pooped out ball after ball of extremely dry excrement.

The scientists collected the excrement and analyzed it. They discovered that there were no nutrients at all in them, they had only a small amount of water, fiber, and waste product. They weighed about 300 grams. In other words, the creature fully digested the 350 grams of fish it consumed in a matter of minutes. Its metabolism was unbelievable.

Then, the little creature woke up from its slumber and excreted a pool of liquid at a spot far away from the location where it laid down to sleep. After that, it dragged its body back to its rudimentary nest to continue sleeping. The observing scientists were pleasantly surprised.

Impressed by its metabolism, the scientists would toss it fish every time after it passed its bowels. The thing’s appetite appeared to be bottomless, it just kept on eating. Of course, the scientists weren’t just playing with the creature, In the meantime, all kinds of analyses had started. The baby super species that was fed showcased incredibly high intelligence; it even cooperated with the analyses. This improved the analysis progress tremendously. Of course, this was traded for the Hope’s stock of fish.

When Yao Yuan heard the news, it was the time when the baby super species threw its tantrum, halting the analysis progress.

The creature was too clever. It understood that if it allowed the scientist to poke or study its body, it would get fish as reward. Therefore, it came to understand the contractual relationship it was in: if there was no fish, then it would not allow the analytical machines anywhere near it.

Even though it only weighedseveral hundred grams, when it wanted to, even a room of adults wouldn’t be able to catch up to it. Thankfully, its appendages were still not fully formed. However, its mouthful of sharp teeth was something else. It took a small bite out of a metallic table and immediately it missed a corner.

It was a warning for the scientists to back off. After it realized that no fish was coming, it ignored the gauntlet of eyes that stared at it and started to sleep right on top of the table of the germ-free room.

Yao Yuan saw the whole struggle and shook his head helplessly. He ordered some men to catch more fish from the sea, preferably those bigger than 10 kilograms.

Just like that, the baby super species started its pampered life on the Hope. The study on the super species also continued without a hitch. A report was given to Yao Yuan the very next day.

According to the report, the super species’ musculature was completely different from all the other animals mankind had seen. Its muscles were like high-density iron fibers, tough and strong. In just a day, the creature had grown 300 grams in weight, but there was no difference in its size. Obviously, that had to do with its unique musculature.

Other than that, its bone structure was also incredibly unique. Even though they couldn’t cut the beast open to study it, the 4th revolution technology allowed mankind to obtain a lot of information without the need for autopsy. For example, other than the common calcium and other components normally found in bones, the super species’ bone structure contained traces of various metallic substances. So in a way, their bones were not bones but half-metals.

The creature’s blood contained a special type of enzyme. It was responsible for the creature’s high metabolism. Under the careful experiment of the Academy, they found out the enzyme could even digest the flesh alien cells. Of course, the amount of alien cells had to be controlled; too much of them and it would be the super species that was infected and consumed.

This meant that the super species’ digestive system depended on its blood instead of specific organs, like stomach or intestines. This was proven to be true after more analysis. The super species had a sac-like organ in its blood circulatory system. It would pump out the unique enzyme whenever it detected the presence of food in the body. This allowed it to digest the food in a short amount of time.

Simultaneously, the enzyme in the creature’s blood was not only good for digestion, it was also a type of bacterial disinfectant. In other words, its circulatory system acted as its immune system as well! The enzyme was able to break down all sorts of virus, bacteria, and microbes, but of course only up to a certain amount.

This was the thing Saburo needed. This enzyme could replace the Component X in the Ultimate Vaccine! By fixing the formula, the vaccine could be used by normal civilians!

Several days passed and the baby super species had visibly grown in size. It had inhaled about 400 kilograms of food, and its weight had increased to about 2,000 grams, but it still kept that endearing cuteness. As the amount of feeding instances increased, it could even differentiate between mankind and food. One time an intern weighed it without giving feeding it first, and it opened its mouth to envelop the intern’s finger. When everyone thought it was going to break the intern’s finger, it merely squealed and shook the finger, asking for food.

At the same time, the two grown super species were spotted around the edge of the forest, about 20 kilometers from the new capital. The surveillance unit immediately gave out a warning. Black Star Trooper Unit 2, who was nearby, instantly went into action, but when they arrived, they were greeted with animal carcasses of differing sizes.

The super species appeared daily, but whenever the troopers arrived, they would be gone, only leaving behind the carcasses. In a fit of inspiration, Yao Yuan ordered the men to weigh the carcass. They realized they weighed the same as the amount of food the baby super species was ingesting.

The parents’ instinct was definitely something impressive.

However, did this mean that it was possible to communicate with the super species?

At the end of the day, Yao Yuan really didn’t want to kill these super species, because they weren’t aliens, they were native animals on this new planet. Mankind was no different from those aliens that wanted to take over Earth by wiping out humanity. Furthermore, wiping them out would be difficult, as there were 5 of them in this patch of forest alone. Who knew how many there were in total across the entire planet?

If communication was possible, could they be tamed like their young ones? With such a powerful companion at mankind’s side, it would be a lot safer when humanity wanted to venture into the jungle. After all, the planet had scary creatures, like dinosaurs, traipsing all over it.

When such thoughts cropped into Yao Yuan’s mind, news came from the surveillance shuttle.

On the sixth day after the baby super species was brought the Hope, the two grown super species appeared at the fringe of the jungle again. However, the surveillance footage showed the larger of the two limping while it walked. The wound on its leg that was cut open by sawblade was festering and postulating…

Obviously, it was infected by Earth’s germs, viruses, or microbes!