Chapter 206: Chapter 143: Because There Was No Second Seed Before

Song Xiaoxing immediately said, "The seeds were all distributed together. They’re all the same..."

As he said this, he suddenly realized something. But the flash of inspiration in his mind vanished too quickly for him to grasp.

He adopted an extremely serious attitude.

"That’s right, they’re all the same. Setting aside their shape, there’s no difference in their appearance," Shu Yao said, guiding him along. "If this outer layer is a fossil, even if the seeds you received came from the same batch of fossilized seeds, it would be nearly impossible for their texture to be so uniform."

Song Xiaoxing’s face flushed with excitement. "Yes, yes, yes!"

He hurriedly took notes. So did Li Hancheng and the other team members.

Wen Miaomiao sat beside them, listening attentively like an elementary school student.

Shu Yao examined the black seed she had gotten from Li Hancheng.

"The Federation doesn’t have the right conditions for this kind of seed to grow, so it must be from another planet. It’s likely the seed of some kind of tree. The kernel is this large and this hard, so it’s probably a fruit tree.

"The fruits and seeds of a tree like this would typically be food for birds and beasts. To ensure the species doesn’t go extinct, the seed developed this hard protective shell on the outside.

"After an animal eats it, its stomach acid digests this outer shell. Any undigested parts are expelled in its waste, and the nutrients from that waste provide the necessary conditions for this fruit tree to grow and reproduce."

"So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is!" Song Xiaoxing said repeatedly. "Your hypothesis is fascinating!"

"The seeds the Agricultural College gave you were probably produced after naturally ripened fruits fell and their flesh rotted away."

Song Xiaoxing immediately asked, "Why couldn’t they have been extracted from fresh, ripe fruit?"

"That’s not impossible," Shu Yao said. "I’m just making a deduction based on a certain smell on the seed itself, which is very similar to the sour stench of rotting fruit."

Song Xiaoxing fell into a state of frenzy. "This is amazing! If we had thought of this earlier, we would’ve taken the seeds to a zoo to experiment long ago! Even without using animal stomach acid to digest the shell, you have a way to open the seed, don’t you?"

"Simple," Shu Yao said, holding her hand out to Lin Ziyin. "Give me your seed."

Lin Ziyin froze.

Shu Yao asked, "You don’t want to open it anymore?"

Lin Ziyin hesitated.

’To be honest, she still found it a little hard to believe.’

When she placed the seed in Shu Yao’s hand, she said sarcastically, "I begged you for so long before, and you wouldn’t agree to help me open the seed. Why the change of heart now?"

"Because there wasn’t a second seed before."

Shu Yao placed a cloth on her hand to protect her palm, then put the two seeds on it. Then, with the cloth in between, she clasped both seeds in her hand.

CRACK!

With a hard squeeze, as if cracking a walnut, she simply... cracked them open! The very seeds that their two teams had spent over half a year failing to open.

Song Xiaoxing beat his chest and stomped his feet. "AHHH, why didn’t I think of this before!"

Since the texture and density of the seeds were identical, why not try smashing one seed against another identical one!

Unfortunately, they hadn’t thought of it...

Driven by the selfish desire to protect their own team’s research success, it would have been a miracle if they’d thought of making such a sacrifice!

"Li Hancheng, quick, see what’s inside!" urged a team member who wished they could crawl through the internet cable to be there.

Li Hancheng quickly snapped out of his stunned expression, ran over to pick up the cloth that had been in Shu Yao’s hand, and carefully placed it in his team members’ view. Then, with a slightly trembling hand...

Just then, Wen Miaomiao reminded him, "You should probably wear gloves."

"Right, right! Everyone, calm down!" Song Xiaoxing, who was more excited than anyone, reminded Li Hancheng. "Gloves, put on gloves! Don’t damage the seeds!"

Li Hancheng put on the gloves Shu Yao handed him and took out two milky-white, pagoda-shaped kernels from the shattered shell.

"AHHHH, they’re so cute!"

Li Hancheng showed them to his team members from every angle, a full 360-degree view without a single blind spot.

You could tell that being able to observe it on-site and touch the seeds before his other team members had made him a little giddy.

He picked up a piece of the broken shell and sniffed it. "Team Lead, it’s really not a fossil. It smells a bit like wood."

Song Xiaoxing could barely stay in his seat. "Protect the specimens!"

As if afraid they would take both specimens for themselves, Lin Ziyin hurried over to retrieve the one that originally belonged to her.

"This one is mine! I’m taking it!"

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