Two Anomalies

Liu Chengchao looked at the thick stack of documents, his brow tightly furrowed.

He was thinking.

Liu Chengchao read them carefully.

The dozen or so people in the room said nothing.

The room was deathly quiet, with only the sound of Liu Chengchao turning pages.

About twenty minutes later, Liu Chengchao finished reading the documents.

Of course, he had not read them in detail, only given them a rough look.

Otherwise, everyone here would have had to wait a long time.

Yet even so, the documents left a trace of shock in his heart.

"Chengchao, you have also studied biological science, so you should know why our team came to Cangxi," Qin Jiawei said calmly.

Not only had most of the members of his team come, they had also brought some of their basic equipment.

"The Wolf Clan bones in the Great Wilderness Mountain Range have remained for over a thousand years without decaying.

"With bones on such a massive scale, no one could possibly have had the time or energy to give them special treatment.

"Our people have also gone to the Great Wilderness Mountain Range to conduct tests and inspections.

"The environment there is quite ordinary. If bones were left there, they would probably completely decay in four or five years."

Qin Jiawei kept his eyes on Liu Chengchao.

Liu Chengchao nodded. "Old Qin, you're right."

The matter of the bones had always been a mystery.

However, it seemed the higher-ups had deliberately suppressed the matter, and with a whole host of experts debunking rumors, it had not caused too great a stir.

Liu Chengchao knew that what many people cared about was the fact that the bones had been left out in the open for a thousand years without decaying.

"Mm." Qin Jiawei turned on the projector. "We conducted detailed tests and comparisons on these bones."

Liu Chengchao saw densely packed data and special symbols on the projector screen.

"We discovered something interesting."

As Qin Jiawei spoke, everyone present remained quiet and watched the projected image.

"On the genetic fragments of these bones, one sequence has vanished.

"We have named this sequence the Decay Sequence.

"Our team has done considerable research on genes.

"But genetic sequences are extraordinarily complex. Humanity's research into them can only be called the tip of the iceberg.

"We do not know the function of this Decay Sequence fragment."

Qin Jiawei's eyes gleamed.

This discovery could be called immensely important.

It would be of great help to both biology and medicine.

If the Decay Sequence was responsible for decay and the like, then when conducting gene editing, would deleting this genetic sequence mean achieving immortality?

Of course, that was only speculation.

"Time was pressing, so we performed a small experiment.

"We removed the Decay Sequence gene from one cell of a White Mouse, and we discovered a problem.

"The White Mouse was still perfectly normal, lively and energetic, but there was still a subtle difference.

"Its weight had dropped. It had inexplicably lost 0.2 grams!"

Qin Jiawei's tone had already grown somewhat excited.

This no longer seemed to be a biological problem, but a matter of mysticism.

"We had merely removed a genetic sequence from one of its cells, yet its weight decreased out of thin air. The mass it lost was far greater than the mass removed!

"It was not because the air inside its body had decreased, nor was it caused by any other external conditions.

"This is bizarre. It does not conform to the law of conservation of energy!"

Liu Chengchao listened intently throughout.

He had also done considerable research in biology.

Specific genetic sequence fragments had different functions.

Yet removing a genetic sequence from one cell had no effect whatsoever on the organism.

In a short span of time, however, its weight had dropped by a noticeable amount.

"We monitored that White Mouse from every angle.

"Everything in its body, including metabolism and cell division, remained normal.

"Yet its weight vanished in that instant.

"In the end, we discovered that 0.2 grams of blood had disappeared!

"Such a large amount of blood vanished, yet we did not notice it immediately. Only after meticulous testing did we learn that the White Mouse's lost mass had come from its blood.

"It was as though a god had reached out from the void and taken back those 0.2 grams of blood.

"Of course, that only happened the first time!"

The more Qin Jiawei spoke, the more excited he became.

Liu Chengchao was also deeply shocked.

If he remembered correctly, laboratory White Mice generally weighed around twenty grams.

The mass of circulating blood accounted for roughly six percent of their body weight, which meant about 1.2 grams.

Losing 0.2 grams of blood was equivalent to losing roughly one-sixth of it.

After losing that much blood, the White Mouse would certainly have shown other reactions.

There was something strange about this matter.

Liu Chengchao frowned, deeply puzzled.

What had those Wolf Guards experienced? Why had their Decay Sequences disappeared?

Qin Jiawei looked at Liu Chengchao. "Besides that, we made another special discovery."

"Oh?" Liu Chengchao looked at Qin Jiawei and listened attentively.

Judging by Qin Jiawei's tone, this special discovery might not be any less significant than the missing Decay Sequence.

"We found the Tai Liang Element in these bones."

"What?" Liu Chengchao was utterly shaken.

Liu Chengchao had always kept in touch with Qin Jiawei. Qin Jiawei had once consulted him about a certain area of expertise, and only then had Liu Chengchao learned of the Tai Liang Element.

He had also always known that Qin Jiawei's research focus over the years had been the Tai Liang Element.

It originated from the excavation of a great tomb three years ago.

That tomb was more than two thousand years old and belonged to a ruler named King Tai Liang.

When King Tai Liang's coffin had been opened, it had caused a sensation.

The corpse appeared to have received no special treatment, yet it was lifelike, its body remaining undecomposed even after two thousand years.

Qin Jiawei noticed this, and the higher-ups assigned him a secret task.

It was to research the secret behind King Tai Liang's undecomposed body.

Qin Jiawei had researched it for years and eventually discovered the difference between King Tai Liang's body and an ordinary person's.

It was that it contained one additional element.

Qin Jiawei named this element the Tai Liang Element.

This element was extraordinarily peculiar.

It could not be extracted, nor could it be directly observed.

Qin Jiawei had only discovered its existence after thousands of comparisons.

To give a simple analogy for those comparisons—

Two portions of water had the same volume, yet their masses were different.

That meant one of them definitely was not pure water.

"It was actually the Tai Liang Element." Liu Chengchao was stunned.

He knew Qin Jiawei had researched it extensively.

The Tai Liang Element was far from simple.

It seemed to involve many secrets.

A mysterious expression remained on Qin Jiawei's aged face. "Now, we will not discuss that. Let us talk about the Great Wilderness Mountain Range, about Heize."

Liu Chengchao nodded.

"How exactly did these Wolf Guards die? Who killed them?

"Why did their bodies remain undecomposed after death? Why did these two anomalies appear in their bones?" Qin Jiawei asked, looking at Liu Chengchao.

Liu Chengchao pondered.

He knew.

If these questions were answered, it might be a shocking discovery for the entire world.

P.S. Everything above was made up. Just enjoy it for the fun of it!

P.S. Thanks to the big boss Hate Yi for the 500-point donation!