175: Anomalies and inferences

“I can’t take it anymore!”

He Jingrui swallowed the entire baby-fist-sized fried fish whole. As his teeth chewed, the crispy skin made an even crunchier sound when it broke.

Then, he reached the tender, juicy fish meat beneath the skin, filling his mouth with fragrance.

The tiny bones hidden within the fish meat, having been repeatedly deep-fried at high temperatures, also became crispy and edible, much like the texture of a crunchy shark snack.

Crunch, crunch!

“Wuwuwu… So, so delicious!”

He Jingrui was moved to tears, his entire body trembling slightly.

Lu Chuan glanced at He Jingrui, smiled, pointed at the sashimi next to the fried fish, and said, “Try this sashimi?”

He Jingrui quickly nodded.

He skillfully took a bowl and filled it with seasoning, then added taro shreds, sour orange slices, mint leaves, peanuts, pickled shallots, and pickled chili peppers, among other ingredients. Finally, he mixed them all with the fish meat and shoved a mouthful into his mouth.

The rich ingredients provided complex flavors and textures, elevating the fish meat’s crisp, firm texture to another level.

With the deliciousness in his mouth, He Jingrui was too moved to speak.

After a long while, he finally sighed.

“Such delicious sashimi, paired with the beautiful scenery here, is simply the ultimate enjoyment!”

Lu Chuan heard this, also looked up, gazing at the surging purple nebula and the silver sky on the horizon.

He then looked down at the flowing White River nearby and the vibrant, colorful flower banks swaying freely.

Feeling the gentle breeze blowing, he couldn't help but smile and nod.

Although he hadn't found any ingredients that could quickly increase cell awakening rates or lift the Merman’s Curse on this trip, taking a break from the busy schedule to enjoy such delicious food and beautiful scenery made the journey worthwhile.

Lu Chuan retracted his thoughts and looked at He Jingrui, who was happily eating fried fish in one hand and sashimi in the other, and couldn't help but tease, “Eat slower, no one is fighting you for it. If it’s not enough, we can go catch more fish!”

Hearing this, He Jingrui’s movements of shoveling food paused, then he excitedly looked at Lu Chuan, nodding frantically and saying, “Okay, okay, okay, as soon as I finish eating, I’ll go down to the river to catch some!”

Slap.

“…”

Lu Chuan couldn't help but smack his own forehead, clearly speechless.

“Catch your ghost! It’s almost dark! It’s not safe here at night, finish eating quickly and let’s go back!”

He Jingrui immediately let out a disappointed “Oh” and buried his head back in his food… Ye Yi shivered involuntarily upon hearing the cold voice from outside the door.

But he quickly reacted, realizing that the newcomer was not Ye Chen, but Ye Er, who was also a clone like him.

“Phew! Scaring myself.”

Ye Er walked into the lab, looking at Ye Yi curiously.

“Why are you so nervous?”

Ye Yi gave him an annoyed look.

“It’s rare to see you here. What’s up?”

Seeing that Ye Yi was not in high spirits, Ye Er did not continue the topic. Instead, he handed the document in his hand to Ye Yi and said, “This is Hu Xuan’s body report after entering the experimental cabin, before activating the hongjun particles. I found some data that doesn’t seem right, but cytology is not my specialty, and you are an expert in this field, so you should be able to see something.”

Hearing this, Ye Yi’s eyebrows couldn't help but rise.

He didn't say any more nonsense, took the document, opened it, plugged the USB drive inside into the computer, and then began to examine it carefully, comparing it with the paper documents.

Ye Er had already highlighted some key content with red lines, so Ye Yi quickly found the important parts.

And just as Ye Er said, Ye Yi was indeed an expert in cytology, and he quickly discovered something was wrong.

“What’s going on with this cell activity?”

He pointed at several indicators, muttering to himself, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

“Even for a newborn infant, this would be considered off the charts, let alone Hu Xuan, who is already quite old.”

Ye Er shook his head, indicating he didn't know either, but then he motioned for Ye Yi to continue reading, suggesting there was something even more astonishing further on.

Ye Yi quickly turned the page and continued to read, his eyes widening with each line.

“Hmm, the length of these mitochondria also seems off, and doesn’t match Hu Xuan’s age! Could the data be wrong, is his real age younger?”

“Hmm, the morphology of these red blood cells?”

“Wait, what’s the situation with the nuclei of these myocardial cells?”

“…”

A series of exclamations and shouts continuously echoed in the laboratory.

Ye Er looked at Ye Yi, who was so excited he was speechless, and understood even more how important the document he had brought was.

But before he could speak, Ye Yi had already asked urgently, “Hu Xuan must be hiding a big secret. How exactly did you conduct the checks before the experiment? Couldn’t you see even a tiny problem?”

Ye Er heard this and shook his head with a bitter smile.

“If there were any problems, they would have been pointed out long ago. I specifically went through Hu Xuan’s medical examination report before the experiment, and found that everything was normal; every single indicator was consistent with his age.”

When Ye Yi heard this, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he couldn't help but think of a certain possibility, his pupils trembling slightly.

“Hu Xuan’s body cells underwent this change after entering the experimental cabin… So, does this mean Hu Xuan can freely control his body’s cells…?”

“Wait, no, that’s too exaggerated. If he could really do that, maintaining mitochondria at a certain length, wouldn’t he be immortal?”

Ye Er also felt confused, but seeing Ye Yi deep in thought, he didn't interrupt him.

“So, there are two other possibilities…”

Ye Yi stroked his chin, a hint of awe in his eyes.

Hearing this, Ye Er’s spirits lifted, and he quickly perked up his ears to listen.

Ye Yi didn't keep him in suspense and said directly, “One, Hu Xuan had already activated the hongjun particles, and his cell awakening rate is very high.”

“Two, Hu Xuan possesses a method that allows him to greatly strengthen his body for a short period.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Er pondered for a while, and his expression gradually became more astonished.

He then immediately snatched the data from Ye Yi’s hand, turned, and hurried out of the office.

“I’m going to tell the original body now; he’ll definitely be interested. Maybe if he’s happy, he’ll even give us both a long vacation!”

Ye Yi couldn’t stop him; Ye Er had already disappeared.

He could only sullenly drop his outstretched hand and muttered, “Does the original body still need you to tell him? He probably already knew about Hu Xuan’s special nature… Hmm, perhaps at that time, when only fifteen experimenters were left, he still stubbornly continued the experiment just to cover for Hu Xuan, or to achieve some other purpose…”

“Want a long vacation? You’re dreaming…”

As he spoke, Ye Yi couldn't help but sigh.