In the side hall of Muxi Town, Todd first picked up the report sent by Rachel and read it again and again. It recorded the lives of 12 alien refugees who concealed their identities and entered the homes of ordinary residents.
Generally speaking, the lives of these alien species were relatively stable at the beginning. The members of these families have been repeatedly screened and compared by Todd and Rachel to ensure that they have no prejudice or ill feelings towards the alien species. But even if
In this way, the two of them still agreed that the aliens should keep a low profile and not reveal their abilities prematurely. After all, things like "Ye Gong loves dragons" are not uncommon in real life.
The second report he picked up came from Huggins, which mainly recorded the movements and actions of the Cumberland Army. Todd was initially very wary of this military force that "forcibly" joined Duxi Town.
and worry. Judging from his past life experience, the principle that "political power comes from the barrel of a gun" is an eternal truth no matter in time or space.
Todd was a little unsure whether the introduction of such a powerful army to the weakly armed Muxi Town would be a blessing or a curse. As the direct commander of the 200-man army, Cumberland, if he intended to seize the town, would only
Even if you raise your arms, there is no guarantee that any accidents will not happen.
However, the reason why Todd accepted this team was that in addition to the fact that Cumberland and Queen Mary needed to rely on themselves to tide over the difficulties, there was another reason - the mismatch between the development speed of Duxi Town and its defensive strength.
On the one hand, in the past, most of the residents of Muxi Town were poor people with little wealth, and they used the guise of the church to suppress surrounding forces, so they naturally did not attract the attention of others. But with the development of the town and the "escape incident",
The town is becoming more and more likely to be attacked.
On the other hand, it is different from the diplomacy and wars between countries in the modern and modern times. This world similar to the Middle Ages is often just because of a border dispute, a personal attack, an unintentional remark, a failed marriage proposal, and sometimes even
Just one gesture, one expression, one gesture can trigger a war, let alone a place like Muxi Town, which is described as a "miracle place" blessed by Heavenly Father.
Therefore, leaving aside the last trump card of "alien" in Todd's hand, the town does need a permanent force to deal with various threats that may come.
Todd returned his attention to Huggins' report. He was a little surprised, or it could be said to be reassuring. Cumberland took the initiative to hand over military power, collected all weapons and armor into the holy treasury, and returned
It is recommended that the troops be stationed throughout the city to assist the town guard and the "Holy Order Law Enforcement Corps" in the defense and security affairs of Muxi Town. The old knight himself recommended himself as an instructor, responsible for the daily training of the town troops.
Work.
The last report came from Friar Joe, which was also the longest of the three reports. At the beginning of the entire page of the report, the monk only did one thing - pour out his misery.
There are too many things to do, too few people, and not enough money. I really want to sleep...
Todd raised his eyebrows and turned directly to the second page of the report. Friar Joe put forward his suggestions regarding the current heavy and harsh working environment: the "Bible" sent to the monastery in the early stage was unanimously agreed by the old monks.
So respected that they even put it on a display case in the library
I took down the manuscripts in the book and put these new "Bibles" with impeccable packaging and fonts. If possible, in Friar Joe's original words, "Can you consider sending more beautiful Bibles to the monastery?"
Book to recruit more monks to enter Muxi Town?』
Seeing this sentence, Todd could almost see the monk sitting in front of the table with red eyes, struggling painfully between "death from overwork" and "trading friends for glory", and finally chose the latter.
.
With a stroke of his pen, Todd wrote the word "agree" on the page.
Turning to the third page of the report, Qiao finally started to talk about the serious affairs of Muxi Town.
The adjustment of the core area of Muxi Town has been basically completed. According to the block distribution of the ancient Tailuo City, the building clusters in the residential area, commercial area, and public building area have been mainly re-planned. As for the planning of the external areas, there is only a rough plan
The plan is planned to start next month
Demolition and design were carried out: the industrial area was relocated to the mountains in the north, the livestock area was relocated to the hills in the south, and the agricultural area was relocated to the plains in the east. At the same time, manpower was gathered to build the Knights headquarters, military camps, training grounds, stables, and a large market.
Buildings such as the central square and bathing grounds.
Friar Joe also made a rough financial calculation specifically for the above-mentioned town facilities and functional buildings. Todd looked at the long list of funding requirements, carefully counted the digits, and finally took a breath of disbelief.
gas.
In his report, the monk especially questioned the necessity of building a "bathing place" proposed by Todd. In his opinion, bathing is not only useless, but will alienate the distance between the Holy Spirit and the mortal world.
Seeing this, Todd suddenly remembered that he hadn't showered in a week, and unconsciously scratched his back.
In the Middle Ages, according to the view of the Church of Heavenly Father, a dirty body was seen as being closer to God, and not bathing became a symbol of holiness. Those who were brave enough not to bathe for many years were even canonized as saints.
Just like the chastity memorial arch in ancient times that commended virgins and martyrs in previous lives. Many devout clergy began to practice hard and filthy practices - in the Bible, there was even a character who insisted on not washing his face or feet for 50 years, and was finally canonized successfully.
!
Todd wanted to change this situation, but considering the current financial situation of the residents, he could only push forward the idea of a bathing place. The note at the end of the report indicated that priority was given to building the Knights Headquarters and the Grand Market, and other buildings could be
Suspended.
After reviewing and annotating these reports, Todd handed over the church's official duties to the deacons and catechumens, and then went into his experimental building.
The breeding of "keel" parasites has achieved a series of breakthroughs.
After repeated experiments, Todd finally obtained information such as the optimal culture carcass, temperature and humidity for the growth of "Keel". But even so, the growth of this parasite is still quite slow.
As the primary generation of male and female worms, they have laid eggs seven times since the beginning of cultivation, and a total of forty-seven larvae have been obtained. The first six eggs were produced due to Todd's unfamiliarity with the cultivation environment.
Two died and only four survived.
After these four eggs emerged from their cocoons, they were cultivated for several months. The fastest growing parasite has reached a length of 27 centimeters. In about a month, it should reach the standard size of an adult.
long, and officially enters the maturity stage.
As early as half a month ago, Todd selected four white mice and selected a suitable "keel" to conduct a parasite attachment experiment.
First, fix the limbs of the mouse; then put the female insect close to the back, so that the sharp hooks in the insect's body that penetrate into the host body and absorb nutrients can penetrate into the mouse's spine; after the female insect is fixed, the male insect is attached
In the abdomen of the mice, it is connected to the female insect, and finally these mice are put on pieces of "mini armor".
After a period of observation, Todd obtained a large amount of experimental data, but also paid a heavy price.
These white mice that had obtained the "Dragon Bone" parasite gained a large amount of strength and agility bonuses. When the experimenter was not paying attention, they kicked the reinforced glass to pieces, scratched open the wooden cage with their claws, and removed the experimental mice.
The building was in turmoil. Todd spent a lot of time
After a lot of effort and using his "Speed", "Weakness" and "Perspective" powers, he finally caught these "Super Rats" one by one. Later, Todd had to customize one from the blacksmith.
Build an iron cage to hold these troublesome little guys.
The real breakthrough in the study of "Dragon Bone" came from Todd's sudden inspiration, which also allowed him to discover the real secret of this special parasite.
One morning like any other, Todd got up and started cleaning the laboratory as usual. After cleaning, when he opened the bathtub containing the "protozoal" parasites and touched the limbs of the "keel" with a brush,
When the parasite caused the body to vibrate, he seemed to remember something, but after thinking hard, he found nothing. It was not until noon, when he was dining at the "Sisters Hotel" and saw the fish wrapped in fried twists, that he finally realized
to realize what I missed.
Halfway through the meal, Todd dropped the spoon in his hand, and under Karin's surprised gaze, Todd ran all the way back to the laboratory.
Without even having time to change his clothes, Todd found four white mice that were parasitized by "Dragon Bones".
After anesthetizing the hosts in batches, Todd found a huge glass jar containing the "Hive" parasite (which can control the offspring through the sound waves emitted by vibrations). He carefully removed part of the mother body (similar to a jellyfish's hive).
) and its daughter (black nematode).
Then, the mother and daughter bodies of the "Hive" parasite were surgically implanted into the "Keel" parasites of four mice. A method was created to allow one parasite to parasitize another parasite.
in the state.
What followed was a week of observation, and Todd discovered two extremely interesting things.
The first thing is that the growth of the "honeycomb" mother body buried in the "keel" parasite has completely stopped, without any signs of budding and reproduction; the growth of the "honeycomb" daughter body buried in the "keel" parasite has also completely stopped.
, its host (white mouse) did not have nerve poisoning, and all actions were no different from usual.
The second thing is that the mice buried in the mother body of the "honeycomb" seem to be able to communicate with other mice buried in the daughter bodies across a long distance during their daily actions.
In order to verify the second thing, Todd conducted an experiment.
Divide a large iron box into four equal-sized areas with glass, and stick a black cloth on the surface of the glass to ensure that the two adjacent areas cannot see each other's movements; then, in the middle of the large iron box
Place a "匚"-shaped open iron can. The five sides of the cube iron can are closed. Only the open side faces one area, and the other five walls of the can face respectively.
Next, put a piece of cheese into the iron can, place an iron block weighing fifteen kilograms at the opening, use the latter to block the opening and leave a long gap at the bottom.
A small gap; finally, place the white mouse buried in the mother body of the "honeycomb" in the area facing the opening of the iron can, and place the other three white mice in the area facing the wall of the iron can.
The experiment begins.
The four white mice were in their respective areas at first, unable to see each other. They turned around here and sniffed there. A minute later, the white mouse buried in the mother body of the "honeycomb" suddenly discovered it through the gap under the iron block.
The cheese was hidden in the iron can. It first tried to push the iron block, but relying only on its own strength, it was unable to move the fifteen-kilogram guy. What happened next surprised Todd.
I saw this little white mouse buried in the mother body of the "honeycomb" standing upright, and the "keel" parasite on its back emitted some dull vibrations like a "rattlesnake's tail wagging". Then, it was accompanied by a crackling sound.
, the glass wall in the iron box was broken by three other mice almost at the same time. The four mice worked together to push away the heavy iron block and shared the cheese inside.
After the experiment, Todd dissected and studied four mice and the "keel" parasites on their bodies, and determined the following conclusions.
1. The "honeycomb" parasite embedded in the "keel" parasite. Due to the limitations of the former's physiological environment, the latter can only obtain the most basic nutrients for its own survival. The mother body cannot bud out and reproduce, and the offspring cannot
The secretion of toxins and the growth of the parasites ensured the life safety and stable consciousness of the four mice.
Second, the basic characteristics and functions of the "honeycomb" parasite embedded in the "keel" parasite are retained. The mother host can communicate with the daughter host and convey messages through sound wave vibration. This situation
, as if the mother host had a radio on its body that could contact the daughter host anytime and anywhere. Todd suspected that this was related to the neural network in the "Dragon Bone" parasite that spread throughout the insect body.
Third, what is certain is that the "Dragon Bone" parasite should be an extremely special parasite that can allow other parasites to live in its body, reducing its activity while retaining its basic functions.
In a word, the "hive" parasite can parasitize in the "keel" parasite. Due to the special physiological environment of the latter, the activity of the former is greatly reduced, and it will not poison the host and cause death; at the same time, it also retains
The basic parasite function of the former is just to reduce this function from controlling a puppet to transmitting messages.
In terms of microbiology in the past life, if the host parasitized by a parasite is another parasite, this parasitism is called superparasitism, and the "keel" is the parasitic carrier of this special phenomenon -