Chapter 345: (EDT) Second Part - Farming
Zhang Qin Feng kept himself quiet instead of answering Hoya-2231's final question. But out of respect towards this individual who caught his interest, Zhang Qin Feng smiled.
The discussion ended here. And not long after Zhang Qin Feng left the island, another group of Wind Base Group members came as his representatives. In their hand was a batch of serums that caught the shelter residents' attention.
And to bring the friendship between them faster, one of the three Genetic Modifier Units was installed in the meeting room for the residents to witness the miraculous effect from the Grade-H Serum.
Although they could go straight to using Grade-G Serum, it was not advisable for now, at least not until the residents were used to the Grade-H Serums. The last thing they wanted was a sudden mutation that turned a resident into a highly infectious zombie.
While in exchange, the team of representatives was given a quick tour around Shelter No: 213's facilities.
It seems that the facilities they had matched the older records within Stein's internal database. This shelter was about half of the Turbine Town's Repopulation Shelter and came with a limited-service Cloning Facility.
This facility is what ensured the population in this shelter maintains harmony so far. With only three hundred sets of DNA structures here, this facility could have 150 male and 150 female residents during their maximum capacity.
And since they're clones, their reproductive organ was not developed enough for natural childbirth. The lacking in this part was why their population remained the same after so long. But at the same time, this control of population allowed the base to function accurately until now.
The other facilities include a Greenhouse, Food Production Chamber, Power Station, Service Station, Engineering Bay, Research Facility, etc.
It seems that part of the reason this shelter failing was caused by the restriction from accessing the outside world. Because there's only one way for them to exit the facility, this place ended up as their grave when the entrance was buried under the pile of remains and other possible build-ups.
Was it not because of Zhang Qin Feng's suspicion, they'd die in this facility in the next two to five years or so.
The two sides quickly build a friendship from their exchange. And two days later, an entirely new team consisted of sixteen researchers was created. They will focus only on one priority objective: developing a safer variant of the Seed Crystal Virus.
Out of the sixteen researchers here, ten came from Wind Base Group, led by Valerian, and the remaining six were the original residents from the shelter. They will be working under the leadership of Lucian-2416, a well-known researcher since the first version before the apocalypse.
This is undoubtedly a research topic that would definitely cost Zhang Qin Feng an enormous sum of Duranium Shards. But he believed that all the investment today would return him in thousandfold in the future.
The discussion to seek a host for this modified Seed Crystal Virus came in before the research began. At first, a few animals were chosen from the catalog of zygotes and eggs available in their freezer collection.
But none of them was a good choice due to the risk of cross-infection in the future.
Then, the selection moves towards the plants as the host. But considering the time it would take to develop them, this option was scrapped as well.
It was until Liam suddenly came up with a suggestion that sounded probable.
"Why don't we make both of them at the same time? An animal that could host the virus and let them breed and mature, along with the plants, which have a safer variant of the virus?" Liam said. The idea was stupid, but that was not the case when the possibility of cross-infection was considered.
Even the researcher themselves felt a hint of shame for not coming up with a stupid but brilliant idea like this.
After pondering on all their available options, the researchers came up with a route they would take to achieve this aim. But before they start, they'll have to obtain Zhang Qin Feng's approval first.
This was something compulsory since Zhang Qin Feng would be the one to sponsor them with all the material they would need.
"Boss, would you like to take a look at the research map we've planned out?" Lucian-2416 asked. It seems he still preserved the same working habit before the apocalypse. As for Valerian, she decided to not interrupt them unless needed.
This was also something planned by Zhang Qin Feng and herself while they were cuddling in the bed the night before. Although Zhang Qin Feng already knew what they would do in the research, listening to the summary is still compulsory before approving them and funding this project.
"A summary would be good. You may start when you're ready." Zhang Qin Feng said.
"In that case, I will be presenting the summary of our research proposal. Professor Valerian, please correct me if I make a mistake in between." Lucian-2416 nodded and plugged a device into the image projector.
After it was connected securely with the Luna Device on his wrist, it allowed him to control the presentation flow according to his requirement.
"In this research to create a safer variant of Seed Crystal Virus, our team will be proposing a host and feed method. Thanks to Chef Liam's suggestion, everyone in the research team believes that this method would be cost-effective and easier to control in case of accidents."
"Our choice of host would be a type of leech known for their powerful food storage capacity. And since their structure is more straightforward than other hosts, we can modify them as required to prevent a major disaster."
"As for their feed, we believe that the present Blood Plant would be the best choice. This choice was made after we factored in the Seed Crystal Virus' preferred reproduction environment and how closely can we monitor their mutation." said Lucian-2416.
"The research will be focusing on how long it will take the Seed Crystal Virus to develop and mutate into Duranium Shard. After this phase is complete, we'll begin with the next stage," he added.
"What will the next phase be?" Zhang Qin Feng curiously asked.
"Reducing mortality rate, improving production rate, engineering their structure, and forth." Lucian-2416 confidently answered.
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