Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 306 - 230 Comparing with Ancestors_1

Chapter 306: Chapter 230 Comparing with Ancestors_1

Due to the incident with Professor Shen, the topic of broad-spectrum antivenom was extremely hot, and the "Ancestor Y" series of active substances also became known to more people.

"Ancestor Y" officially began to sell, bringing in a lot of money for Feng Yi and the Ancestral Factory every day.

Because the production was limited, the number of people queuing for pre-orders was very high; whenever Feng Yi returned to the monitoring station from the sea, he could hear discussions about "who managed to buy some," "forming a buying group or not," and "what’s your pre-order number?"

As the beneficiary, Feng Yi really didn’t lack money now. The new sum of money he had was not only used to purchase the medical experiment equipment needed but also on a museum.

The location of the museum had been chosen; it was in Yang City, not far from Xiao Feng Mountain. Recently, Yi had someone produce a design diagram.

The model was also in production. Guan Lin’s side was easy to handle; from time to time, he would send Feng Yi updates on the progress of the silver ring snake model, from the materials to the layout, all of which showed great care and attention to detail.

What Feng Yi was curious about was the butler’s side. He asked Bing, and Bing said the butler had recently cleared out a room to use as a studio and didn’t allow him to enter, so he didn’t know what the butler was pondering over in there. He would stay in there for a long time, appearing very devoted, and his spirits seemed quite good.

As long as the butler’s health was fine, Feng Yi left him to it; as long as the old man was happy, that was enough.

Another day of snake catching at sea had passed.

Feng Yi had a good catch today, with two more sea snakes caught.

For the other members of the task force, it might take two days to find even one, but this guy could catch two in a day! At the very least, he would catch one, never returning empty-handed!

This was still Feng Yi making adjustments based on the others’ situation and restraining himself; if he went all out, he could fish this area to extinction.

After Feng Yi suppressed his own presence, the nearby waters gradually saw more sea snake activity.

Over the past couple of days, more warning signs had been added to the shore. They featured pictures of sea snakes, informing everyone that sea snakes were found in this area.

The weather was getting hotter, and it was inevitable that some people would sneak off to the seaside to swim. They were urged to stay alert, to avoid getting bitten without realizing it until it was too late, and it would be too late by the time they reached the hospital.

Even with a godly-level broad-spectrum antivenom, if treatment wasn’t timely, it would be a tragedy.

For safety’s sake, it’s better to go to a swimming pool if you want to swim.

At the same time, the public was warned not to be overly curious. If non-professionals saw a sea snake in the ocean, they should not play with it.

Oh, even professionals might not be able to handle it.

If it weren’t for the broad-spectrum antivenom, the number of professionals would have already been "-1".

On his way back, Feng Yi saw Professor Shen.

Professor Shen had been discharged from the hospital, but he was still mobility impaired and needed a wheelchair when going out.

On the concrete path, there was a viewing platform next to it. Professor Shen controlled his wheelchair, sitting there quietly, enjoying the sea breeze, and looking at the distant sea, seemingly lost in thought.

Upon seeing Feng Yi approach, Professor Shen smiled.

In the task force, 90% of the sea snakes were caught by Feng Yi. The data collected this year were especially abundant, and the team leader was quite satisfied. Every time Feng Yi was mentioned, a smile would bloom on his face.

No wonder then that the United Insurance Bureau promoted him exceptionally.

"You had another good catch today, right? You’ve worked hard!" said Professor Shen.

"Not hard at all," replied Feng Yi.

Although he answered this way every time someone asked, not many people believed him.

Professor Shen belonged to the "unbelieving" camp. Finding sea snakes was not an easy job, and moreover, the weather had been hot these past days with strong sunlight. They weren’t using luxury yachts either; it was tough spending long hours at sea. And it’s not like you can stay underwater all day, right?

He was about to say "you’ve gotten quite a tan," but as he was about to speak, Professor Shen’s gaze paused.

This kid Feng Yi... was still so pale.

There was no sign on his face of having been in the sun for long periods of time.

Perhaps he paid more attention to sun protection?

Feng Yi looked around and asked, "Did you come out here by yourself?"

Not dwelling any longer on sun protection, Professor Shen heard this and replied, "Yes, I’ve spent too much time writing papers, so I came out for some relaxation."

Remembering that others said Feng Yi had read his paper, Professor Shen’s gaze toward Feng Yi softened even more.

"I heard that it’s almost confirmed that the sea snake is a new species?" asked Feng Yi.

"Hmm, some of the data are still being organized,".

With various task groups conducting missions in different areas, new species of snakes are discovered every year, sometimes several in one year.

However, Professor Shen had never imagined that he would encounter a new species of sea snake in such a manner.

"One of the formidable abilities of snakes is their incredible adaptability, allowing them to survive in most ecosystems. It’s not surprising to find new species. Moreover, I believe that there are still many snakes that have not been discovered by humans. This is the case on land, and even more so in the ocean."

"Yes, I think so too," said Feng Yi.

Snake species were able to survive the last mass extinction and thrive, hiding their presence profoundly. It’s just that humans haven’t found them yet.

Professor Shen said, "I am fortunate to have encountered a new species of sea snake, but I do not know whether it usually lives in these waters. The rest of the mission team has not found a second one like it. What do you think?"

After some thought, Feng Yi, who had not detected the scent of that kind of sea snake recently while capturing them, replied, "I think they do not live in this area normally. It could be changes in ocean currents, with warm currents bringing them from one place to another, and eventually here. Or it could be for other reasons."

Professor Shen looked at Feng Yi approvingly, "We discussed this possibility as well, but ocean current monitoring data is limited and we cannot yet confirm this speculation."

Professor Shen glanced at his finger that had been bitten and then gazed out to sea, "Do you know where sea snakes come from?"

Feng Yi was puzzled, "?? What do you mean ’where do they come from’?"

Professor Shen said, "The sea snake that bit me, while considered a new species, is actually closely related to the common Blue-banded Sea Snake, the Flat-headed Sea Snake, as well as terrestrial cobras."

Feng Yi understood, "I’ve read a paper before that said sea snakes evolved from land snakes."

Professor Shen nodded, "If you look at their classification, you will find that many sea snakes are placed under the family Elapidae. Currently, the general view is that they evolved from ancient cobras. About twenty million years ago, true sea snakes evolved from terrestrial cobras, and an independent species like the Blue-banded Sea Snake has probably existed for nearly ten million years."

Feng Yi asked, "Will they return to land?"

Professor Shen replied, "Who knows? Maybe. Twenty million years ago, they went from land to sea; twenty million years later, whether they will return to land, or expand their habitat in the ocean, nobody knows. The data collected over the years show that sea snakes are indeed expanding their range."

Thinking of some legends about sea snakes, Professor Shen laughed, "There are some unreliable records that say fishermen in ancient times saw large sea snakes at sea. If it was an early stage of evolution, the appearance of large-sized sea snakes would be believable, but to ancient fishermen... It’s very likely that they were mistaken, mistaking other creatures for sea snakes, or they exaggerated the descriptions, which is how many ancient myths and legends came to be."

Feng Yi scratched his chin. He couldn’t help but think, what if the fisherman wasn’t mistaken?

Maybe he just mistook it, not a sea snake, but the tail of some... unknown creature.

Professor Shen said, "Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter, I’m more interested in the genes of existing sea snakes. Take the common Blue-banded Sea Snake for example; in their genome, more than nine hundred gene families have expanded and over one thousand five hundred gene families have contracted. Due to such changes, functions in smell, hearing, vision, oxygen sensation, energy metabolism, immune response, and so on, have all altered, leading to their present forms."

"Natural selection, survival of the fittest. I like to decrypt and search for their past forms through genes."

Hearing Professor Shen say this, Feng Yi became curious himself:

Compared to my ancestors, which genes have contracted? Which have expanded, and which are under positive selection?

But it seems that each generation of his species is different.

His venom is complex within complexity, and his fangs are large and tubular.

His grandmother’s venom is blood-circulating dominant, yet she has small-grooved fangs.

The generation before that seemed to lack potent toxins and probably had no fangs at all.

What exactly is the standard for "natural selection"?

In times of peace, is such a strong mixed venom and such large teeth reasonable?

Without dwelling too much on the issue, Professor Shen sneezed from the sea breeze, and Feng Yi pushed him back to the monitoring station.

Besides the injured Professor Shen, the rest of the mission team would soon leave Li City, heading south along the coast to the next observation station to continue collecting sea snake data.

The different observation stations vary in size; there are large and small ones, some far from urban areas, some near.

Even if the living conditions aren’t great, they won’t be too poor either; after all, these are financially supported.

There are three mission teams collecting data within the country, with their team responsible for one-third of the region, updating the sea snake database and the toxin database through these missions.

Such databases aren’t of much use to Feng Yi, but they can provide data support for many researchers.

——

Sunlight shone through the window onto the dining table.

Feng Yi held his Fahai bowl, sipping the noodle soup. He had no missions today and was taking a day off.

A call came from Steve.

"Feng Yi, when are you coming back to Yang City? I’ll be staying in Yang City for a while. If you have a vacation during the mission, let’s get together when you return to Yang City. I just met two very, very, very cute and shy girls, let me introduce you to them!"

Feng Yi pondered over Steve’s words.

The emphasis wasn’t on "girls" but rather the description "very cute."

Knowing Steve, anything that could be considered cute in his eyes, Feng Yi felt, was more likely to be non-human.

But...

What if?

"I’m free today, I’ll drive back to Yang City later. This observation station isn’t too far from Yang City, just a two-hour drive."

"Great! I’ll be waiting for you~"