As time passed, the area Qinglin Laboratory had selected turned completely black, then curled into clumps.
The sight drew everyone's attention, and they wondered what was happening.
The plants looked as though they had died, but that didn't seem to be what plant death normally looked like.
At Qinglin Laboratory, Shen Li received a report, too.
He learned that the duckweed had curled up completely into black balls, and immediately led a team to the coast.
When Shen Li reached the area Qinglin Laboratory had selected, he saw that it was surrounded by people.
He knew the reason, of course.
They had clearly been stunned by the duckweed's effects!
This was exactly what they had expected.
After Shen Li led his team onto the floating platform, he immediately ordered, "Fish out all this duckweed, then put in fresh duckweed."
The Qinglin Laboratory staff began working at once.
The special duckweed Qinglin Laboratory had brought this time wasn't limited to what they had already put in. They had enough to replace it several times.
Before long, all the duckweed that had curled into black clumps on the water had been hauled out.
Fresh duckweed was poured into the sea.
By now, no one looked down on the duckweed anymore. Instead, they were all astonished and curious.
After all, the duckweed had proved its worth and demonstrated its effectiveness.
Everyone now wanted to know how it had been developed, and what kind of researchers could create something so miraculous.
People from many of the laboratories began discussing it in amazement:
"Maybe we were wrong before. Abandoning research into using plants to purify water may not have been the right call."
"Exactly. Before this, we'd never have imagined plants could purify water so effectively."
"None of today's high-tech methods can match what these