The Anaerobic Survival Experiment
As time passed, the number of intelligent individuals in the Swarm Network increased. Under Rowan's deliberate selection, most of them were researchers.
Some of them were reassigned and reinstated to Research Institute to continue the projects they had previously led. Others joined Starry Sky Company to head its private laboratories.
On this day, in a Starry Sky Company laboratory somewhere, the main research project here is the outer space environment.
The Rat-folk currently lack any means of exploring outer space, so they don't know about the environment there. However, Rowan is educated, and although his understanding is only superficial, he is aware of basic facts such as the low temperature, lack of oxygen, zero gravity, and abundance of space radiation.
However, because the purpose of such experiments could not be explained, they could not be approved for funding by the official Aerospace Research Institute of the Rat-folk. In the end, they could only be conducted in private laboratories, where researchers were recruited to conduct the research themselves.
With unlimited funding and resources, this laboratory has still achieved some results. They have independently developed instruments that can simulate a vacuum environment and can also simulate various types of space radiation.
Space radiation is a special mixture of gamma rays, high-energy protons, and cosmic rays, which is extremely harmful to living organisms.
The laboratory's publicly advertised research project is dedicated to developing protective clothing that can provide the wearer with the necessary oxygen while also blocking radiation from harming the body.
Starry Sky Company needs these protective suits to help their staff go deeper underground while exploring for minerals, and to protect them from radiation emitted by some of the minerals.
Of course, this explanation is just a reasonable cover-up for both internal and external purposes. After all, no matter how much money you have, it would still raise suspicion if you rashly researched some unrelated things.
While wiping out the Rat-folk was simple, for Rowan, utilizing Rat-folk intelligence to develop technology was the most important thing. Therefore, most of the time, he chose to deceive them as much as possible.
That day, a rare crustacean, measuring thirty centimeters in length, was sent to the laboratory.
It is said to have been fished out of the sea by a fishing boat. It can swim in the ocean, but it has wings. Although it is a beetle, it has Pincer Limb and eight spider-like Walking Leg. Its shell is made of a special material that can withstand the immense pressure of the deep sea.
This is a peculiar organism that has never been discovered before; the lab owner obtained it through powerful connections. The lab also employs biological researchers who routinely observe various biological materials and their behavior under space radiation, hoping to find materials from nature's bounty to combat space radiation.
When they saw the beetle, they were all amazed; the creature challenged their understanding simply by its appearance. Dissecting the beetle might yield some astonishing discoveries, or at least enough to produce a few academic papers.
Dissection is out of the question. Starry Sky Company went to great lengths to acquire this beetle to test its performance in extreme environments; it's extremely valuable.
Rowan was also somewhat helpless. Unless absolutely necessary, he couldn't disguise his true form as an experimental subject for others to study. However, he had achieved too little through other means, making it impossible to fly off the planet in the short term. Currently, the most reliable option was to use the Rat-folk to create a flight instrument to reach outer space.
However, he wasn't going to outer space for tourism; he needed to survive there for an extended period. But the environment in outer space was harsh, and going there rashly would be tantamount to suicide.
Over the years, he has accumulated a great many gene fragments, but they were all collected in the environment of the planet. Whether they will still be effective in the environment of outer space is another matter.
Therefore, he needs a simulated outer space environment, where the oxygen-free vacuum and various forms of radiation can stimulate his talents and potential, allowing him to find useful gene combinations and continue to evolve and develop them.
In this experimental base, there are only a few "own people". It's not that he doesn't want to use all "own people", but that a certain function of the Swarm Network was discovered too recently, and the number of intelligent individuals in the network is too small.
If he could wait a few more decades, the Swarm would surely be able to build a laboratory entirely composed of "their own people." But Rowan has already waited far too long, and evolving new abilities in a simulated environment is not something that can be accomplished in a short time. If he wants to complete this task in a laboratory of "their own people," it might have to wait a hundred years.
Therefore, this pointless waiting is unacceptable to Rowan. He wants to minimize this time. Although there are many outsiders in the laboratory now, making it very unsafe, fortunately, the "main body" is not something Rowan can afford to lose, provided that the Mother Nest is protected.
Moreover, in addition to being closely monitored to prevent leaks, a parasite has infiltrated the bodies of the researchers here without their knowledge.
This parasite uses genes from a horsehair worm found in mantises. When necessary, it can secrete a special substance that can infiltrate the host's nervous system, communicate with it, disrupt the original protein synthesis order, and even mimic nerve signals to send incorrect instructions to the host's body.
If someone wants to leak secrets, they will find that their vocal system is malfunctioning and they are unable to speak. If they do not stop and try to continue leaking secrets through other methods, they are likely to engage in uncontrolled self-destructive behavior.
In that case, they could be considered half "one of us," right?
The test site was quickly prepared, and Rowan stepped inside without hesitation.
This is a sealed space of a few square meters, with 99% of the air extracted. His first task is to adapt to surviving in this oxygen-free environment.
The initial test results were much better than he had expected; he had only slept in the room, and many subtle changes had occurred in the internal structure of his body.
Firstly, when he was first gutted by Earth-Yellow Ant, his body evolved a fibrous structure that could quickly close the wound, which then underwent some changes, forming a flap-like structure.
This petal-like structure divides the body's interior into small spaces, normally acting like a sieve and not affecting the body's systems. In critical situations, it can seal off all external passages, creating a sealed space inside the body.
Meanwhile, the energy stored in the Tail Fat Organ can continuously supply nutrients to the body. This energy can be recycled and utilized in the body for a long time until almost no waste is produced. The small amount of waste gas will be concentrated in an isolation chamber in the body and then discharged in a centralized manner.
Moreover, this isolation chamber can be sealed in any part of the body using its petal-like structure. When exhaust gases are released, the reaction force can even be used to change the flight direction.
By adding or modifying strong sphincter muscles in specific areas, it might even be possible to use these exhaust gases to accelerate flight. However, the upper limit of this acceleration is currently quite low, but don't forget that there is no air in outer space. At that point, wings will become useless, and this method of flight might play a very significant role in space.
Having easily solved the problems of body sealing and internal circulation, if he could also solve the problem of energy acquisition, he would be able to survive for a long time in an anaerobic environment.
However, outer space is not simply an oxygen-free environment; oxygen deprivation is merely the easiest problem to solve.