The palm-sized, translucent leaf glowed faintly in Professor Zhang's aged hands, its veins pulsing as though it were breathing.
Simply holding it, Professor Zhang felt an indescribably refreshing aura wash over him.
It was as if he were standing in a primeval forest after the rain, and the fatigue of waiting all night vanished at once.
"Amazing, absolutely amazing!" Professor Zhang's hands trembled, his eyes burning with fervor.
He slapped away a hand someone beside him had reached out, bristling with indignation.
"Nobody touch it! If any of you damages even a tiny bit of it, you'll answer to me!"
"Come on! Back to the lab! Put all the other projects on hold. We analyze this first!"
Someone chimed in.
"Yes, yes, enough talking. Let's go! I want to analyze its cellular structure!"
"I want to measure its energy emissions!"
"Out of the way! I'm a physicist. I go first!"
The group left as quickly as they had arrived.
They had hurried in, and now they trailed eagerly behind Professor Zhang, clustering around the leaf as they bustled out.
In the blink of an eye, half the people in the room were gone, leaving only a few psychologists, sociologists, and other such specialists.
Zhao Gang, who was leading them, let out a heavy breath, trying to settle the turbulent emotions inside him.
The way he looked at Lin Mo had changed completely.
Before, there had been scrutiny and suspicion.
Now, there was shock, deep regard, and... hope that bore the weight of an entire civilization.
He managed a somewhat stiff but utterly sincere smile.
"Don't mind them. Those researchers are a bunch of lunatics."
Lin Mo came back to his senses and waved a hand.
"It's fine, it's fine. I understand. I understand."
Rather than immediately asking questions, Zhao Gang raised a hand in a gesture.
Someone quickly brought over several chairs, turning the room from an isolation observation chamber into an impromptu meeting venue of the highest caliber.
The psychologists and sociologists who had remained in the room immediately sat up straight.
They opened their notebooks, pens poised in midair, their intense gazes fixed on Lin Mo.
Zhao Gang sat ramrod straight and looked into Lin Mo's eyes.
"Mr. Lin, could you tell us in detail what information you obtained during this crossing?"
Lin Mo smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Now it was his turn to take the initiative.
He recounted everything he had seen and heard in the camp for wounded soldiers on the Terra Continent, along with his conversation with Fendona, leaving out no detail.
Every race, every battlefront, every detail painted a picture of a real, brutal otherworld teetering on the brink of destruction.
When Lin Mo mentioned the "world tree," Zhao Gang's breath visibly caught.
"You're saying the Elves' city was built on... a giant tree?"
"Yes. It's absolutely enormous. Looking up from the ground, it's about as big as our Bell City. Its canopy can cover an entire city, and it even glows at night."
Lin Mo recalled that breathtaking sight.
"Fendona said the world tree is their home and their companion. That leaf was picked from it."
As his words fell, the entire room sank into stunned silence.
Everyone's attention involuntarily turned to the glowing leaf that Professor Zhang and the others had already taken away.
An entirely new species, a form of life beyond anything they had imagined!
The implications for biology and the study of energy were simply immeasurable!
The experts present began breathing rapidly, itching with curiosity and wishing they could cross over themselves to study it properly.
Over the next hour, the experts began another round of even more detailed questioning.
Their questions no longer focused on whether Lin Mo's experiences were real. Instead, they frantically mined every detail of the intelligence he had provided.
"What is the Elves' social structure like? How much power does their queen hold?"
"How exactly does magic work? Does its energy come from the mind?"
"How is the Demon Clan's hierarchy divided? How intelligent are they?"
Each question was trickier and more probing than the last.
Lin Mo felt as though his brain cells were burning. Fortunately, he had a good memory and had spoken with Fendona long enough to answer some of them, though others were beyond him.
Finally, a senior sociology professor closed his notebook and nodded to Zhao Gang.
Taking the cue, Zhao Gang stepped outside with him and asked in a low voice.
"Well? Are there any holes in his account?"
"The otherworld's social structure, racial conflicts, and logic of warfare as described by the subject are entirely consistent. There are no fundamental logical flaws."
"From a sociological standpoint, the likelihood of someone spontaneously fabricating such an expansive and richly detailed world approaches zero."
Hearing that answer, Zhao Gang relaxed somewhat, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.
He waved a hand, indicating that the experts could leave.
"A whole new world..." he murmured, returning to the room in high spirits.
Only he and Lin Mo remained in the room.
"Thank you for your effort." Zhao Gang looked at Lin Mo, his gaze firm and resolute.
"The intelligence you've provided is invaluable."
"We believe everything you've told us, and we'll report it all to our superiors."
"In the meantime, you can move in here. The accommodations are better. How does that sound?"
Lin Mo nodded immediately.
"No problem, no problem!"
He was inwardly ecstatic.
Wow, free room and board, and no rent to pay. Isn't this exactly the stable life I've always dreamed of?
Meanwhile.
Inside the S-class biology laboratory.
Professor Zhang and a group of leading scientists were gathered around the world tree leaf, their faces filled with fervor and disbelief.
"The energy analysis is complete! This is a highly active form of life energy we've never encountered before! It's actively exchanging energy with its surroundings!"
A young researcher pointed at the image from the microscope, his voice trembling.
On the screen, the tiny puncture made by the sampling needle was slowly healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"My God..."
"The biological activity of this leaf is simply astonishing!"
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