Let the alien assistants who jointly operate the "Discoverer" take their positions, and Todd himself assumes the role of the "successor of the investigation system".
After the samples of spring water were dyed, they were put into the observation chamber. After vacuum treatment with "wind pressure", Rachel, under Todd's instructions, fine-tuned the position of "Tesla" and slowly increased the voltage.
With high intensity, the "condensed light" variant collected the photons emitted by the electron beam, amplified it, and burned it on the white paper.
Todd looked at the white paper that was finally imaged. He could barely see the general situation inside the sample, but it was still too blurry.
After trying a dozen more times, Todd picked the one that looked the clearest.
The paper showed that there was a strange thing attached to the surface of the giant bacteria. It looked a bit like the bumpy surface of the moon, with a "space lunar module" placed on it.
Looking at this thing with four legs and a spherical body, the more Todd looked at it, the more familiar it became. This thing seemed to be the most common virus in his previous life - "bacteriophage".
Speaking of phages, they are the most common and most diverse viruses in the microscopic world of previous generations. It is no exaggeration to say that one liter of water may contain trillions of phages, more than all the stars in the universe combined.
No wonder some biologists say that compared with the world of viruses, the universe is just a speck of dust.
The principle of phage lysing bacteria can be summarized in a few simple sentences. In the first step, "landing on the bacteria", the tail of the phage is attached to the cell wall of the bacteria; in the second step, "laying eggs", the phage pierces the tail shaft into the cell wall.
Inside, like a syringe, DNA is injected into the bacteria; in the third step, "incubation", the phage will use the "nutrients" in the bacterial cells to copy a large amount of the DNA and proteins of the progeny phage, and finally burst out from the host body like an alien.
Typically, the offspring eat up the bacteria and burrow out in large numbers in search of their next victim.
But generally speaking, as viral phages, unlike broad-spectrum antibiotics such as penicillin, a single phage can only lyse one type of bacteria. This may sound a bit useless, but compared with antibiotics, they have many benefits.
for example:
1. Low harm. Most phages will only attack specific bacteria and will not harm normal cells and beneficial bacteria in the human body.
Second, there are few antibodies. It is difficult for bacteria to produce antibodies against phages, but they have a high chance of becoming immune to antibiotics and may transform into superbugs.
Third, no residue. Bacteriophages are host-dependent and will die with the disappearance of the bacterial host and will not remain in the human body to trigger a series of toxic reactions.
Fourth, easy to use. The development cycle of phage is short and the cost is low. Bacterial fragments can be purified and separated by simple centrifugation. They can be stored at room temperature for a long time and are easy to transport and apply.
Of course, in addition to this, phages have many other uses, so I won’t introduce them one by one here.
After figuring out the truth about the ability of spring water to "cure" heterogeneous bacteria, Todd began to further study these phages and discovered two interesting things: Most of the phages in the spring water only targeted heterogeneous bacteria and had no effect on other bacteria;
Every heterogeneous bacterium in the Xizhen Superpower Library can find its specific phage natural enemy in the spring water.
There is one more important thing.
The phages in the spring water are not effective against "Sutherland Archaea".
Todd found this inconceivable at first, but after repeated experiments, he verified this result. When the phage lands on the "Sutherland Archaea", after a period of time, it will lose its vitality and eventually fail. Specifically,
What is the reason, it is impossible to find out with this primitive electron microscope.
In short, phages can "cure" alien species, but are ineffective against "successors".
After getting this result, Todd finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The next step is to conduct a toxicity test on the spring water.
Todd took five experimental mice as a group and fed spring water according to the tolerance ratio. After a week of observation, he found that the five mice had varying degrees of high fever, erythema, and dehydration, which were similar to those of the dead children in the Valkyrie Village.
Exactly the same symptoms.
After further dissection and testing, Todd finally found the crux of the problem.
Although most of this spring water containing high-density phage viruses are harmless phages, there are still a small number of toxic phages that destroy the immune system of the experimental subjects and cause concurrent infections caused by low immune function.
Especially for those babies, their bodies are not yet fully developed and their immune functions are not complete. In addition, in villages that lack food and water sources, feeding them with this spring water is tantamount to giving the babies chronic poison every day.
.
As for those Valkyries, why didn't they show symptoms of infection?
According to Todd's speculation, they should have obtained a large amount of "Sutherland Archaea" from some source and stored it in their bodies. When the phage invaded, the Archaea became a barrier to their bodies and saved their lives.
After learning of this result, Todd immediately called Huggins and asked him to immediately send his subordinates to Claw Island as quickly as possible to find the Valkyrie, and told them to immediately stop using the village's spring water and switch to other fresh water.
source.
As soon as Huggins left, Cumberland came to look for him.
The old knight was dressed in military uniform, and the first thing he said when he saw Todd was: "General Commander, do you have time?"
The latter thought that the experiment on spring water had come to an end, so he planned to listen to what Cumberland had to say.
The two came to the general commander's room at the Knights' headquarters. Cumberland had no intention of taking a seat and said straight to the point: "General Commander, this expedition to the North Quarry is scheduled to depart in three days. I hope
You are the commander."
Todd said in surprise: "What? Do you have other things to do? Can't participate in this battle?"
The old knight shook his head: "I will participate in this expedition..."
"Then why should I assume the position of commander?"
Cumberland's eyebrows looked a little angry: "General Commander, please forgive me for being an old man, but you spend too much time in the laboratory!"
Todd was completely confused when he heard Cumberland's sudden words.
Cumberland looked at the "Umbrella" flag in the chief's room and said in as calm a tone as possible: "In the past, you were the chief of the Muxi Knights and the spiritual leader of the entire knights.
The war matters will be left to the chief priest and legion commander. But in the future, everything will be different. If we successfully occupy the North Quarry this time, it means that the "Knights of the Muxi Kingdom" will be officially established. You
His shoulders will bear the dual responsibilities of the leader of the Knights and the secular king at the same time."
Cumberland paused and turned his attention to Todd: "A lamb grazing in the sheepfold will never be able to lead a group of hungry wolves! Lord Todd, believe me, as a king, you
You need to get out of that damn "Tower of Babel" and let your people and your soldiers see your majestic victory on the battlefield!"