Song He was stunned. "Who? Who's talking?"
Xiang Xiaotong and Zhao Yiyi stared in shock at Durian, who wore an innocent expression.
"Did I imagine that?" Song He asked, his eyes wide.
"I think I imagined it too," Xiang Xiaotong said uncertainly.
Zhao Yiyi gently rocked Durian in her arms. "Durian, what did you just say? Hello?"
"Hello," Durian said.
The sudden hello left all three of them utterly dumbfounded, and the corridor fell deathly silent.
To be fair, Durian's pronunciation was actually very indistinct—short and fast, sounding more like "urine." But they could still make out that it had said hello! Its accent was even more standard than that of many foreigners who had just started learning Mandarin!
"Hello?" Song He tried greeting it.
"Hello," Durian said.
"Holy crap, I've been proven wrong!" Song He's brain crashed. "Wait, wait, give me a moment to process this..."
He had just spent ages explaining with absolute conviction the scientific reasons why a red-haired gorilla couldn't possibly speak. The very next second, Durian had started talking. Song He's CPU was practically burning out, and he suddenly began to doubt every established conclusion in academia.
Zhao Yiyi was thrilled. "I told you Durian could do it!"
"But... this isn't scientific, is it?" Song He said, bewildered and shocked.
"Let's sort this out—the vocal-cord camp and the brain camp." Xiang Xiaotong held her head. "We can disregard the vocal-cord camp for now. First, detailed anatomical studies on red-haired gorillas are lacking, so we don't know whether their vocal systems are adequate. Besides, even if their vocal systems are similar to chimpanzees', that only means speaking is difficult, not impossible."
"As for the brain camp... could it be the brain-enhancing component?" Xiang Xiaotong asked.
"The brain-enhancing component shaped Durian's vocal system?" Song He leaned back,