Beast Taming, my intelligence updates daily.

Chapter 277 Signaling Hormones

Ye Bai used his Eye of Insight to look at each one one by one.

He eventually discovered a pet that could evolve into a powerful armored ant queen.

This pet is larger than a typical Mighty Ironclad Ant, and its body is white and plump, making it look like a little pig waiting to be slaughtered.

[Evolutionary Route 1: Mighty Armored Queen Ant: Requires ingesting pheromones secreted by the queen ant to be induced into becoming a queen.]

Ye Bai
My goodness, hasn't this turned into a chicken-or-egg problem?

For a giant armored ant to become a queen, it must consume pheromones secreted by the queen ant.

But I don't have a queen ant now, and I don't have any pheromones, so what should I do?

Ye Bai's brain was working at high speed as he pondered how to solve this problem.

Could it be that someone at the research institute in the capital city is specifically studying the signaling hormones of ants?

So Ye Bai borrowed Zhang Lingxue's account and searched carefully in the school's system.

Sure enough, some people are conducting research on ant-like alien beasts.

Moreover, the research focuses on the effects of hormones on ant-like alien beasts.

Ye Bai felt that this guy must have the signal hormones secreted by the queen ant in his hands.

When Ye Bai arrived, the PhD who studied ants warmly welcomed him.

"Hello, I am Wang Bo, and I specialize in researching the effects of signaling hormones on ant-like alien beasts."

Wang Bo showed Ye Bai around his entire laboratory, where there was a small hill hollowed out by ants.

Countless ants, each the size of a thumb, were moving in and out of the small hill.

"I study bullet fire ants."

"This is the world's smallest ant-like creature."

"It can be used as sniper rifle bullets."

"However, it does not belong to the same category as drilling ants and exploding ants."

Wang Bo explained.

"I wonder what brings you to my door?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Wang Bo finally asked the question.

"I need the queen ant's secreted hormones. I wonder if you have any extracted from them, Wang Bo?"

"The price is negotiable."

Ye Bai revealed his purpose.

Wang Bo immediately looked troubled.

Ye Bai's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Wang Bo didn't have it either?
That would be difficult!
Wang Bo seemed to see through Ye Bai's thoughts: "No, I have the queen ant's secretion hormone here, but it may not be of much help to your research."

"Firstly, different ants secrete different signaling hormones, so it's possible that one colony can do it but another colony can't."

"Secondly, my bullet ants are only this big, so the queen ant is only the size of a thumb."

"These signaling hormones might not even be a milliliter, would they be helpful to your pet?"

Wang Bo expressed his doubts about this, since researchers should proceed from reality and not go against the laws of natural growth.

The signaling hormones provided by Wang Bo are, however, insufficient for Ye Bai's research.

But who would have thought that Lanfa, who was standing next to Ye Bai, had an extremely abnormal talent for copying?
It's just a mere signal hormone; as long as you have enough crystal nuclei, blue hair can be replicated.

“Wang Bo, this secretory hormone is very helpful to me, and I hope to use it to do some small research.”

"Of course I will buy it from you at the market price."

Wang Bo shook his head: "No need, I'll just give it to you directly."

He stood up and took a small test tube from a refrigerator.

At the bottom of the test tube, there is a drop of azure liquid.

This is a signaling hormone secreted by the queen ant.

"This signaling hormone must be stored at low temperatures. If the temperature is too high, the active enzymes inside will be damaged."

"If you encounter any problems in your research, you can come and ask me."

"I'm an expert in ant research."

Wang Bo felt a little proud.

He then placed the drop of signaling hormone into a small refrigerator.

"It will probably take about twenty minutes to get from my lab to your lab."

"You can use this cooler to protect signaling hormones."

The sun was shining brightly outside, and Ye Bai was in a very good mood.

Just then, a message came from the school's medical room, asking Ye Bai to go to the Imperial University Medical Center as soon as possible.

Ye Bai hurriedly placed the precious signaling hormone into the refrigerator in his laboratory.

He then instructed Lanfa to replicate the signaling hormone, and then hurriedly left with Xiaohan in his arms.

Teito University Medical Center is a central hospital located beneath Teito University, dedicated to serving the faculty and students of Teito University.

There are five buildings in total, each with more than ten floors.

Ye Bai arrived at the inpatient department.

Here, he saw the chief whose consciousness had returned to normal.

The chief's name was Jiang Dongsheng, and he looked quite well at the moment.

He was holding a cup of tea, sipping it slowly.

"Ye Bai, may I call you that?"

"My name is Jiang Dongsheng, a sixth-tier pet master."

"He is the top student in his senior year at Imperial University."

"I want to ask you something."

"The spores that parasitize my body also appear in my pet's body."

"Ye Bai, I hope you can help me."

"This is my payment to you."

Jiang Dongsheng handed a small box to Ye Bai.

Ye Bai quietly opened the app and peeked inside.

A beautiful orchid was blooming in the small box.

Golden petals formed a dragon with a full beard and tail.

The white leaves of the orchid resemble auspicious clouds.

He recognized it at a glance—it was a very expensive orchid, the Dragon God Orchid.

Each petal of the Dragon Orchid can enhance the soul; for example, if one is cursed by a soul-type beast, the petals of the Dragon Orchid can easily dispel it.

"How can this be so embarrassing?"

Ye Bai directly stuffed the Dragon God Orchid into his pet space.

Jiang Dongsheng was speechless.

"What's the condition of your pet? Is it as serious as yours?"

Jiang Dongsheng was parasitized by spores at that time and almost became a 'vegetative state'.

The fact that it has recovered now is all thanks to Ye Bai.

"Some pets are in better condition, but others are not, especially earth-type and water-type beasts, which are completely countered by the spores."

"I hope you can help me deal with this as soon as possible, Ye Bai."

Jiang Dongsheng said to Ye Bai.

"it is good."

"However, I need some time to prepare. How about this, you have the doctor at the medical center give your pet a full check-up first."

"Then I'll prepare the corresponding treatment plan based on these reports, shall we?"

Jiang Dongsheng nodded: "Okay, please do it as soon as possible. I feel that the pet beast won't last much longer."

Ye Bai had a vague premonition that the summer grass ant and the spores had formed a symbiotic relationship.

This proves that summer grass ants must have a way to control spores.

Therefore, as long as we can conduct in-depth research on summer grass ants, we should be able to find the key to breaking the deadlock. Ye Bai has not forgotten that these spores are highly infectious.

Ordinary pets are easily infected by the spores and turn into zombies controlled by the spores.

"Then I'll take my leave first."

Ye Bai was pressed for time, and he hurriedly returned to the laboratory.

At this point, Lanfa had already replicated a large number of signaling hormones.

"Ye Bai, replicating these signaling hormones didn't cost many crystal cores at all."

Lanfa gave him a look that said, "You're praising me."

"Cattle."

Ye Bai gave a thumbs up.

At this point, Lanfa had already divided the lab into twenty transparent experimental cabinets.

Inside, ten Mighty Ironclad Ants and ten Summer Grass Ants were placed.

"Ye Bai, I think these experiments can be carried out simultaneously."

"I possess the Mirror Man, which can replicate several people to observe the experiments."

Ye Bai shook his head: "Not for now."

"More experiments are not necessarily better; we must proceed step by step."

"Otherwise, you might easily miss that fleeting crucial point."

Ye Bai did not criticize Lan Fa too much.

He knew that Lanfa meant well.

Moreover, research on summer grass ants is indeed quite crucial.

This relates to what solutions are available after spores spread on a large scale.

The Mighty Ironclad Ant and Summer Grass Ant that Ye Bai selected this time both have a certain probability of evolving into queen ant pets.

However, Ye Bai would have to patiently search for the evolution materials needed for the evolution.

Ye Bai didn't know why the Eye of Insight only showed the evolution path this time, but not the evolution materials.

Is there no suitable material for evolution?

Ye Bai seemed to have guessed the reason.

He and the blue-haired man put on gloves, white coats, and goggles, and then began injecting signaling hormones into the ant larvae.

When the ants saw the dripping syringe, they were terrified and scurried around in all directions.

Ye Bai also went to great lengths to inject the signal hormones into each of the larvae.

Some ant larvae turn red all over after being injected with hormones, just like cooked shrimp.

Just when Ye Bai thought the larvae were beyond saving, they stood up again, the red light disappeared, and Ye Bai noticed that the larvae seemed to have grown a bit.

Ye Bai then discovered that the outer skin of these larvae was falling off like scraps of paper, and they seemed to have grown quite a bit.

"Sunflower Queen, you are in charge of feeding the larvae with sunflower nectar."

Ye Bai made a gesture, and Sunflower Queen understood what Ye Bai meant.

Sunflower nectar must be mixed with dew.

The energy contained in the dew can promote the rapid growth of ant larvae and shorten the research time.

By nightfall, the larvae had shed their skins and their bodies had grown considerably.

"Lanfa, are there any abnormalities in the physical data of these ant larvae?"

Each glass display case is equipped with five or six cameras to monitor the ant larvae's every move.

"There's nothing unusual; their cells have become very active."

"The cells are dividing rapidly."

Lanfa recorded detailed research data while speaking to Ye Bai.

"In addition to distributing the nectar of the Sunflower King, I also added a large amount of wood-attribute crystal cores."

"Accelerate their growth."

"Ye Bai, it's getting late. I'll keep an eye on things here. You should go back and rest."

Lanfa yawned and said to Ye Bai.

"Okay, then you can keep track of the time and get some rest."

Ye Bai had just returned to his incubation room when the midnight bell rang.

His incubation facility was recently renovated; once it airs out, it will be ready to open for business.

Ye Bai also specially purchased a lot of high-precision equipment.

This way, even without going to the school's laboratory, one can still conduct some research.

Xiao Han fell asleep hanging on Ye Bai's neck.

Ye Bai gently placed Xiao Han on the sofa.

Since Xiaohan arrived, Ye Bai has never turned on the air conditioner.

Even in the sweltering summer, it is no exception.

In places where the Lesser Cold solar term is present, the surrounding temperature remains at around 18 or 19 degrees Celsius.

Daily intelligence refresh.

[1. The Global Youth Research Competition is about to begin. To ensure fairness and impartiality, Imperial University has started the selection process. Candidates must be under 20 years old and have previously won the Young Lin Cup.]

【2.龙神兰、生命源质、天露、神龟虽寿果，可以配置出保住灵魂的安魂药剂，安魂药剂的配方如下：龙神兰25、生命源质6、天露22、神龟虽寿果27。】

[3. The freshman military training at Imperial Capital University is about to begin. This training will be held in Poyang County, Gannan Province, where a third-tier beast tide has broken out. Due to a severe shortage of manpower, freshmen from Imperial Capital University have been temporarily deployed to participate in the defense.]

4. The Heart Gem can only appear from flawless love. It enhances mental strength, and long-term wear can improve intelligence.

[5. A young auspicious creature has appeared in the Mystic Realm of the Sea. Killing it or forming a sworn brotherhood with it will improve your luck.]

Ye Bai looked at the first one, his emotions unable to calm down for a long time.

Who's behind this? Every year, the champion of the Young Lin Cup can participate in the Youth Research Competition without any requirements, but this year there's a selection process for entry.

Ye Bai flipped two mothballs; he was truly speechless.

Moreover, he was even asked to be transferred to snipe the beast tide. Isn't that clearly a way of preventing him from participating in the Global Youth Research Competition?
This award is very prestigious.

This year also marks Ye Bai's last chance to participate in the Youth Research Competition.

He has enough points to directly redeem for a master's degree, or even a doctorate.

This competition is only open to people with postgraduate degrees or below.

However, the last piece of information reveals the location of the auspicious beast that Ye Bai is currently looking for.

"If only that auspicious beast were a water-type pet."

Ye Bai's team is now only missing a water-attribute beast.

Ye Bai leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought. As he thought, he became sleepy and tried to take a nap.

He accidentally fell asleep.

Big Grey tiptoed and covered Ye Bai with a thin blanket.

It yawned once and then ran back to bed to sleep.

In the laboratory, the Mighty Ironclad Ant and Summer Grass Ant, which were originally devouring the wood-attribute crystal core, suddenly stopped moving.

They stood silently in place, like statues.

A short while later, they pupated.

Lanfa's clone!!! What's going on?!
The clone sensed something was wrong and immediately woke up the sleeping Lanfa.

Lanfa stood up from the bed in a daze, but after taking only a few steps, he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Hey, hey, those Mighty Ironclad Ants and Summer Grass Ants are having problems."

"They spun cocoons and pupated."

Lanfa's clone shouted loudly.

The noise made Lanfa's eardrums buzz, but it also completely woke him up.

Lanfa looked up and was immediately startled to see that both the Mighty Ironclad Ant and the Summer Grass Ant were completely still.

(End of this chapter)