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There are still too many words, so I won't read it as usual. Just read it if you want to.
"Are there still any of the silkworms you mentioned?"
"That is an ancient creature that has been extinct for hundreds of years. The reason why we mention the Mang silkworm here is because its habits are somewhat similar to those of the creature recorded in ancient books."
An ancient extinct creature? This made Kotaro think of Lingya first.
I don't know where she got all these extinct creatures from. She must know more about them.
Chapter 411: Research Institute Attacked
"Kotaro, I don't think it's polite to bring bugs to someone's house. It's not a welcome souvenir."
Ling doesn't like bugs either. Probably not many girls like bugs.
Seeing this kind of thing as soon as you meet someone, even though the bugs are locked in a special box, it still doesn't make people feel happy.
The huge caterpillar was bigger than the palm of your hand, twisting and turning, and looked very disgusting.
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
Kotaro didn't expect Ling to be so disgusted. But then again, although Ling is Gaia's human body, she is also just an eleven-year-old girl.
It's natural to hate bugs.
This was certainly not his gift.
"There are a lot of these insects near the Daikuma Mountain at the foot of Mount Fuji these days. They have eaten away a lot of watermelons, causing great losses to watermelon farmers."
"After we took the samples back yesterday, we analyzed them and found that this insect has alien elements, but it is also somewhat similar to a creature called python silkworm recorded in ancient books, so I wanted to ask about it."
After listening to Kotaro's explanation, Ling's expression improved a little.
There were always some boys in school who liked to put bugs and frogs into other people's desk holes to play tricks on them. Even Ling had encountered this before. But in the senior grades, there were fewer students like this and this kind of thing never happened again.
Fortunately, Kotaro is not as boring as the lower grade elementary school students.
"I see. Wait a minute. I'll check."
Kotaro didn't know how Ling was going to check. She just disappeared in front of him, and then appeared again without any warning about five minutes later.
"In the past, there was indeed a species of python silkworm, which lived around Mount Fuji. But it became extinct more than 200 years ago."
To be more precise, they became extinct 267 years ago. Lingye could even tell the exact year, month, and day.
The python silkworm is a variant of the tiger silkworm. Because it was too ferocious and liked to bite fruit trees, it was killed by the farmers at that time.
The gradually dwindling population of python silkworms became extinct in the eruption of Mount Fuji in 1707. Then the last one condensed in the amber of time.
"Are you sure it's extinct?"
"Yes. The python silkworm is indeed extinct, so yours is definitely not it."
Kotaro wasn't quite sure how she checked, but since she said so, it certainly couldn't be wrong.
The python silkworms on Earth are indeed extinct, so the last one appeared in the hall of the end of life on Guyana.
This is the covenant between life on Earth and Gaia, made when life first appeared.
"So I wonder if aliens who have been to Earth before may have taken away some life on Earth. They interbred on the alien planet, and this bug appeared."
"Alien hybrid?"
Kotaro had never thought of this possibility, but when he thought about it carefully, it was indeed possible.
Nowadays, a large number of residents of the Galactic Federation come to Earth for refuge, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, they always bring some alien creatures.
Invasive species
These four words flashed through Kotaro's mind. Not a foreign country, but a foreign planet.
The python silkworm that appeared again was much more ferocious than the python silkworm in "Noah's Ark" 200 years ago. They are indeed not the same species.
At least the previous python silkworms only ate fruits, but the ones Kotaro brought ate more than just fruits. The larvae were not obvious, but they became violent and ferocious after becoming adults.
"I think ZAT should pay more attention to the safety of people around them. These insects can bite people. If there are really thousands or tens of thousands of them, many people around will be bitten."
Kotaro was shocked when he heard this.
"Will it bite? Are you sure?"
"Open the cage and put your hand in and you'll know."
Of course Kotaro wouldn't be stupid enough to open the cage.
"It's not that I don't believe it, because I haven't received any reports of people being attacked before."
Of course he believed Lingye, but in this case, the disaster level would not just be the level of invasive species that harmed crops.
The number is incalculable, and they can bite people. Thousands or tens of thousands of these beasts are in the wild, which is a disaster that requires an evacuation order. In some ways, it is even scarier than the appearance of a monster.
Everyone knows how to hide when encountering monsters, but not necessarily when encountering these bugs. They are really more difficult to deal with than big monsters. No one knows how many there are and where they are hiding.
At this time, Kotaro's communicator rang.
"The Okuma Mountain Earthquake Research Institute has issued a distress signal. It may have been attacked. Kotaro, please return to the headquarters immediately!"
It was Moriyama's voice on the communicator.
"The research institute was attacked? Was it the python silkworm?"
Because he had just heard Lingye say that python silkworms would bite people, and immediately received the news that the Okuma Mountain was hit by the earthquake, so Kotaro subconsciously connected the two together.
"I don't know. It could be due to the earthquake. We have lost contact with the earthquake institute and don't know the situation on the scene yet."
After Moriyama finished speaking, Araki's voice took over.
"Kotaro, are you at Okuma Mountain now?"
Kotaro was about to say that he wasn't there, but when he saw Ling next to him give him a look, he changed his words.
"Yes, I'm nearby."
"Well, then don't waste time coming back, and go straight to the Earthquake Research Institute. You know the address, right? If you don't know, use your phone's navigation."
"Roger, understood."
After turning off the communication, Kotaro was about to ask Ling why she said she was near Mount Okuma, but he saw the girl stand up and walk to his side.
"Let's go."
As soon as he finished speaking, the next moment, Kotaro found himself in a wild sweet potato field.
Looking up, it is Daxiong Mountain.
Isn't this too convenient? Why didn't Taro give himself such an ability?
Kotaro had the same feeling as Beidou did back then. They were both human bodies, but why was there such a huge difference in treatment?
However, is this girl in front of him really a human body? Kotaro is a little unsure, or is she like her brother Seven, who usually maintains her true body on Earth?
If it is the real one, then it is true that Tsuna Moroboshi can use Ultraman's power normally, because he is Seven. He can also use Ultraman's power in human form.
But because of this, without a human body to host him, he could not get rest after fighting, so Brother Seven became wounded by then and finally had to leave the Earth early.
So what about Lingye?
Kotaro shook his head and put these irrelevant things out of his mind. What was important now was the monster.
The Earthquake Research Institute was not far away, and the collapsed buildings were visible. Half of the institute had collapsed, which didn't seem like something a palm-sized bug could do, not even a large group of them.
The only thing that can do this is a monster or a natural disaster, such as a volcanic eruption. Half an hour ago, the ZAT team did record a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Big Bear Mountain. It could potentially destroy buildings.
Kotaro and his friends were not the first to arrive at the scene.
Before ZAT was notified, the Nagano Fire Department and ambulances from the prefectural hospital had already arrived, and rescue work was underway.
Someone was put on a stretcher and appeared to have lost consciousness. Fortunately, it was not a body bag, so the person should still be saved.
"What are the casualties?" Kotaro asked a man in work clothes from the fire department.
Seeing Kotaro's ZAT uniform, the staff saluted without hiding anything.
"So far, we have rescued one seriously injured person and he has been taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. We have not yet completed the search of the ruins and have not found anyone else."
Of course, the Earthquake Research Institute cannot have only one person.
Kotaro looked at Reiya and saw the girl shook her head at him.
There was no sign of life among the ruins.
She must have said so. More reliable than an infrared detector.
The rest of the people in the institute might have died, or they might have escaped. I hope it's the latter.
But no matter what, the seriously injured people are unable to speak, and no one who can speak can be found for the time being, so no witnesses can provide definite information about the situation at that time.
The Earthquake Research Institute was built in a desolate mountain, and there was no human habitation in the surrounding forests. No one knew what had just happened here.
Ten minutes later, the Sky Whale landed nearby, and Araki got off the plane with Kitajima and Ueno.
"Hey, Kotaro, you're really nearby. You got here really quickly. Did you find anything?"
"A lot of the buildings collapsed. It doesn't look like an earthquake. Judging from the scene, they were probably crushed by something heavy. It's very likely that a monster attacked."
During these ten minutes, Kotaro had done some preliminary investigation, and this was his conclusion.
"It is still a monster after all." Araki sighed, "There is good news. An insecticide has been developed for the python silkworm... well, I don't know what it is called, so let's call it the python silkworm."
"So fast!"
"Hey, don't underestimate humans. Our logistics department can build a star destroyer in a week."
Araki was not referring to ZAT's logistics department. ZAT does not have a clear logistics department except for the maintenance personnel in the hangar who are responsible for the daily maintenance of various weapons.
He was talking about the organization responsible for developing the Meteor Project, which is now closely connected with ZAT and often provides some interesting things.
Compared to those weapons that only existed in science fiction movies in the past, it’s just an insecticide. It only takes the time to make a cup of coffee and it’s not difficult at all.
Insecticides have been installed on the Tianjing.
"Will the common creatures here suffer if the pesticide is sprayed?"
"No, the pesticide targets the silkworm's genes. It's a genetic drug. To other organisms, it's just an ordinary protein."
"That's great."
The team members investigated for a long time near the research institute and did extract some biological samples at the scene, which seemed to belong to a monster.