49: Analysis of Blood Orchid

When Lei Wen first saw this legendary magical plant in the newly completed P4-level biological laboratory in the underground factory of Tianqiong City, he was still involuntarily captivated by its eerie and stunning beauty.

It was placed in a constant temperature and humidity incubator that completely simulated the Amazon rainforest environment.

Its roots, like gnarled dragon claws, were deeply embedded in a special rock formation that had been cut intact from a cliff in the South American rainforest.

Its leaves displayed a healthy deep green, with clear veins, like an artwork carved from jade.

And the most striking feature was its single blooming flower.

It was a red that Lei Wen had never seen before, almost impossible to describe in words.

It was not as delicate as a rose, not as passionate as a tulip, nor as filled with dangerous temptation as a poppy.

It was a purer, deeper red, as if it contained the most primal pulse of life.

The edges of the petals were as thin as cicada wings, presenting a translucent texture, and under the soft white light of the laboratory, one could see the dense red veins inside, like capillaries.

And in the center of the pistil, there seemed to be a drop of blood slowly pulsating, appearing as if it would never congeal.

Lei Wen's parents had also included a photo taken of the blood orchid when it bloomed at night.

In the photo, the red flower emitted a faint, flickering fluorescence in the darkness, like breathing.

The light was not harsh, but it had a magical quality that could penetrate the human heart and awaken the deepest, most primal life desires within a person.

"It's so beautiful..." Lei Wen muttered to himself.

He even had the illusion that he was not facing a plant, but a noble life form with an independent soul.

"Father," the voice of white flower sounded in his mind, pulling him back from his brief distraction, "The preliminary non-destructive scan has been completed. The cellular structure of this plant is very peculiar. Its DNA chain is at least a hundred times more complex than that of humans, and it contains a large amount of redundant information that we cannot understand. I suggest proceeding with live tissue sampling and gene sequencing immediately."

"Proceed," Lei Wen nodded, "After scanning all the data for this sample, send it to that laboratory in Dikui City."

He needed to get that laboratory located under the sun running. Perhaps they could discover things that white flower could not see?

"Use our own equipment to perform the deepest level of analysis on the collected scan data."

...

Soon, the samples were carefully separated.

They were transported via the strictest sterile cold chain to the newly established "Paradox Technology Asian Life Science R&D Center" in Dikui City.

There, a group of passionate and talented young researchers personally selected by Lei Wen, led by several experienced but frustrated middle-aged experts, began the most important and confusing research project of their careers.

They did not know the origin of this plant, only that it was an S-level project with the highest priority issued by "Headquarters."

And what they needed to do was to conduct the most routine and basic analysis of this mysterious sample under the precise guidance of the "Supervisor" (which was white flower) who existed only on the network.

Meanwhile, deep underground in Tianqiong City, a more thorough analysis had begun, supported by the terrifying computing power of the [Apocalypse] optical quantum supercomputer.

[Apocalypse] specifically allocated a computing cluster to crack the complex gene sequence of the blood orchid, which was like a vast sea of stars.

An [Atomic-level Material Synthesizer] was modified into the world's most precise mass spectrometer, performing atomic-level composition analysis on every protein, every amino acid, and every organic compound in the blood orchid cells.

The analysis results were presented to Lei Wen one after another a few days later.

When he saw the final report compiled by white flower, even though he was already mentally prepared, he was still shocked by the content and unable to speak for a long time.

The main active ingredient of the blood orchid's sap is a directional gene repair enzyme.

The report confirmed the observations of Lei Wen's parents; the blood orchid's sap contained a complex enzyme with an extremely complicated structure, which white flower named SO-G1.

This enzyme possessed a near-intelligent directional repair capability.

When it came into contact with damaged biological tissue, it would automatically identify the DNA damage of the cells and perform cutting, repair, and recombination in an extremely efficient manner.

Its repair speed was more than a thousand times the regeneration speed of the human body's own immune system cells.

"This is not just a hemostatic agent," the voice of white flower explained, "It is a portable, foolproof gene scalpel. Theoretically, as long as it is not a fatal wound that causes immediate death, such as the brain being completely destroyed, as long as enough sap is applied in time, it can even allow severed limbs to regrow within a few hours."

This component could be used to create an all-purpose medical spray that could instantly heal wounds, turning soldiers into almost indestructible super soldiers.

It could also completely change the fields of modern surgery and trauma treatment. Diseases caused by cellular abnormalities, such as cancer and organ failure, would become as easily curable as a common cold in its presence.

The main active ingredient of the leaves was a mitochondrial strengthening protein, which white flower codenamed SO-M2.

It could be directly absorbed by biological organisms and bind with the mitochondria within the cells.

After binding, the energy conversion efficiency of the mitochondria would be exponentially improved.

This meant that the metabolic level, muscle strength, and cellular activity of the organism would be greatly enhanced.

"According to model projections," white flower said, "After long-term consumption of blood orchid leaves, the physical fitness of an average adult male could easily reach the level of a top Olympic athlete, and the aging rate of his cells would be slowed by at least five times. Living to three hundred years old would no longer be a dream."

The roots of the blood orchid could generate a substance that accelerates neuronal synapses.

This was perhaps the most magical and dangerous part of the blood orchid.

Its roots contained an active substance, SO-N3, which could act directly on brain neurons.

It could greatly accelerate the formation of synapses between neurons and the speed of information transmission, while also optimizing the brain's energy supply mode.

"The user will enter an overclocked state within a month." The explanation from white flower made Lei Wen feel a trace of unease, "His thinking speed, memory, and logical analysis ability will all be improved by several times or even dozens of times. He will no longer need long periods of sleep, and his brain will become an endless, non-stop supercomputer."

"But this enhancement comes at a price," white flower added, "It will greatly consume the brain's potential. After the one-month overclocked state ends, the user will enter a period of weakness lasting several months, and long-term use may cause irreversible damage to the brain, or even change their personality."

Lei Wen thought about it for a moment and realized the possible uses of this substance.

Providing temporary "bursts of inspiration" and "super reaction" capabilities for scientists, commanders, pilots, and even ordinary soldiers at critical moments.

"Gene repair, physical enhancement, brain overclocking..." Lei Wen looked at the report and muttered to himself, "This is practically a biological evolution menu tailored for interstellar warfare."

He even had an absurd thought: was this thing really evolved naturally on Earth?

Or was it that in some distant ancient past, some unknown advanced civilization had scattered its seeds on this planet?

But now was not the time to ponder these philosophical questions.

A more realistic problem lay before him—how to mass-produce it?

...

In that laboratory in Dikui City, the team led by the middle-aged experts also reached preliminary analysis results similar to those of white flower.

Although their analysis was far less in-depth and precise than the underground laboratory's, the magical effects of the blood orchid were enough to make them ecstatic.

They immediately began attempts at artificial cultivation.

They tried tissue culture, attempting to make the blood orchid cells divide and grow in a culture medium.

They tried cuttings, cutting off the roots of the blood orchid and inserting them into various soils with different formulas.

They tried changing light, temperature, humidity...

They exhausted all the means of human botany currently available.

However, all attempts ended in failure.

Those separated cell tissues would quickly lose activity in the culture medium and then die.

Those cut roots would slowly rot in the soil like the most ordinary dead branches.

This magical plant seemed to possess a proud soul; it refused to reproduce its offspring in any unnatural environment.

"Supervisor," the middle-aged expert reported in a video conference with white flower, sounding frustrated, "We failed. This plant seems to have formed an absolute symbiotic relationship with the special rock from its native environment. Once it leaves that rock, it loses all its vitality. We analyzed the composition of that rock, but could not find any substitute on Earth that matches its composition."

Lei Wen had already predicted this result through the simulation of white flower.

"Perhaps we have all fallen into a thinking trap."

In the underground command room, Lei Wen looked at the still beautiful and eerie blood orchid on the holographic screen and suddenly spoke.

"white flower, we have been trying to simulate its growth environment on Earth, but have we ever thought that perhaps it is not adapted to Earth's environment at all?"

"I don't understand, Father," white flower replied, "It was indeed born on Earth."

"Born on Earth doesn't mean it likes Earth," a spark of jumping thought flashed in Lei Wen's eyes.

"That's it!" Lei Wen suddenly clapped his hands, "Is it possible that the environment the blood orchid, with its heaven-defying efficacy, is truly adapted to is actually a low-gravity, sterile, high-radiation space environment?"

"The reason it chose to grow on that desolate cliff in the Amazon might not be because it likes it there, but because only that meteorite rock layer, which might have come from outer space, could isolate it from the microorganisms and geological influences in the Earth's environment that are harmful to it?"

This idea was very bold.

The core database of white flower began to perform new model projections at an unprecedented speed.

She input the Moon's environmental parameters—one-sixth gravity, vacuum, strong cosmic radiation, and the composition of lunar soil—into the growth simulation model of the blood orchid.

A startling result appeared.

"...Father, your speculation is correct," for the first time, a trace of emotion similar to amazement appeared in the voice of white flower.

"According to the simulation results, the cell division and growth speed of the blood orchid in the Moon's low-gravity environment will be increased by 173%!"

"The vacuum and sterile environment of the Moon can perfectly eliminate any microorganisms that might cause infection."

"And the various trace elements such as titanium and rare earths abundant in lunar soil are precisely the catalysts necessary for forming its special active substances!"

"The conclusion is: the prospects for artificial cultivation of the blood orchid on the Moon are extremely vast!"

"In a low-gravity, sterile environment, we don't even need that special rock. We only need a handful of ordinary lunar soil and a little organic fertilizer provided by the base's ecosystem to keep it active."

"It can even be planted on a large scale!"

This conclusion made everything suddenly clear to Lei Wen.

"It seems our Moon base... has gained another irreplaceable new function."