Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 136 A Unique Idea, Major Development

Is he trying to live off a woman?

Everyone was stunned for a moment before they came to their senses.

It turns out that it was the big sister who lent money, which gave the big shot the research funding.

That's quite an amusing statement.

Everyone wanted to laugh, but they held back, not daring to laugh out loud.

After all, he's a big shot. Isn't it inappropriate to mock him like this?

Buck shrank back.

Oh no, he's messed up again.

The bigwig's inspiring speech, after the final twist, turned out to be neither inspiring nor motivating at all.

The effect achieved was seriously contrary to the original intention of the big boss.

"Laugh if you want to."

Seeing everyone struggling to suppress their laughter, Link took the initiative to express his great generosity.

The reason he suddenly said something so out of character was to make everyone laugh.

Although the tunnel is underground and has abandoned magic stones as a light source, it is not dark.

However, people are unconsciously affected by cramped and low-ceilinged environments, which can easily lead to low moods and amplify negative emotions.

Link realized that his encouraging speech had no effect, so he turned to trying to be funny.

Hopefully, this will help ease the team members' mood.

Sure enough, this time there was good feedback.

Seeing that Link really didn't care, everyone couldn't help but chuckle.

The previously somber atmosphere was completely dispelled.

Everyone felt much more relaxed.

Jasmine couldn't help but glance at Link sideways; she didn't really like that way of putting it.

After waiting a while, until everyone calmed down, Jasmine explained:

"There's no such thing as a soft approach that can be taken by force. I invested 5 magic stones, he only used 2.5, and I ended up getting 30 magic stones back. That's a very high return on investment, isn't it? And that's not all."

As she spoke, Jasmine continued, meeting the curious gazes of the crowd, "In his later research, he included me in everything, whether it was as author of the 'papers' or as a contributor to the 'patents'."

Jasmine slightly raised her fair chin, her tone proud: "Tell me, is this investment of mine worthwhile?"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, unsure how to express their feelings.

you still need to ask?

It's definitely worth it.

It's a super good deal!

The five men had more complicated feelings than the three socially anxious men.

Back then, they went to great lengths to get close to Link.

The boss lady has it all; she doesn't have to put in any effort, yet she gets all the good things.

The differences between people are truly enormous.

woohoo~

At least three of the five men seemed to hear their own cries.

Those were all tears.

The three socially awkward individuals then understood why Link was willing to bring Jasmine along for everything.

So that's how it all started.

Well……

It's not that their ideas are wrong, but rather that they are too one-sided.

After this commotion, everyone's attention was completely diverted, and they were no longer fixated on the setbacks in the research and the difficulties in the experiments.

They started chatting and laughing while drinking, eating, and resting.

Dalton, who had been out of the public eye for a day, took the opportunity to find Link.

He was responsible for monitoring the surrounding area in real time; the job was important, but also very tedious.

"Something's up?"

Upon seeing Dalton approach, Link immediately invited him to sit down beside him, handed him a glass of water, and asked him with concern.

"Um."

Dalton nodded, took the water glass, and first drank a sip of the sweet, clean water that the big boss had personally prepared and handed to him before beginning to speak:

"Lani Taylor appeared a few more times."

First, they tried to replicate our method of crossing the river, but the rope was not long enough, and they didn't have the tools to send the rope across.

Later, she tried to glide over, but was driven back by the ferocious beasts in the water.

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

When Dalton mentioned the ferocious beast in the water, Link suddenly remembered something strange.

Or, to put it more accurately, it is a characteristic of this world.

Herbivores are of relatively normal size, both compared to Link's previous life and to the wizarding world.

Carnivorous animals are getting bigger and bigger.

When they first entered this world and encountered Iris Clark, the pack of beasts, resembling jackals but much larger, were like this; (see Chapter 4 of this volume)

Such were the wild beasts they avoided along the way;

The giant beast resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex was drawn away during the rescue of Dalton, Andrea Norman, Lutz Berry, and Bamir Valvez;

Even the ferocious aquatic beasts in the river that look like crocodiles but are more than twice their size are like this.

This phenomenon is definitely not normal!

Let's put Lanny Taylor aside for now; there are more important things to do.

I have a question for everyone.

Link immediately stood up, clapped his hands to attract attention, and then said loudly, "In your impression, what are the characteristics of the body size of herbivores and carnivores in this world?"

The question that came out of nowhere really stumped everyone.

Especially the jasmine, which has never left the sandbar in the middle of the river.

A moment later, Lynn, who was the most perceptive, was the first to react.

He stood up in shock, asking in surprise, "Boss, do you think carnivorous animals are all too large and abnormally so?"

This is a point that most people easily overlook.

After all, every world is different.

Animals may be larger due to abundant food and nutrition, or it may be their natural size.

This contrast is difficult to detect if animals are not subdivided and herbivores and carnivores are studied separately.

It's like breaking through a layer of window paper.

The rest of the people also understood what Link was trying to convey.

People started discussing it.

Why is this happening?

"There must be something wrong here, it's worth investigating."

"Understanding the reasons might be extremely helpful to our plans."

"So how should we begin? Hunt down one or two giant beasts, dissect them, and slice them open?"

"It's not impossible, it's just a bit of a hassle."

"Aren't there big, fierce fish in the river? Let's catch a few and study them."

Mead Valente remained silent throughout the discussion, frowning in deep thought until the murmurs subsided.

He slowly stood up and said in a deep voice, "Boss, I have a guess, but I don't know if I should say it."

"It should be said, of course it should be said."

Link gestured for Mead Valente to speak boldly, while also further stating his position.

"I want to emphasize again, we are a team. During internal discussions and brainstorming sessions, anyone, any idea, any opinion can be expressed. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely don't be afraid of making mistakes."

"Thank you, boss."

Mead raised his large, calloused hand to scratch the back of his head, smiled shyly, and then revealed his guess.

"I've actually been wondering, if the contents of the murals in the secret passage are real, then where did the corpses of those dead gods go? When I heard the question from the expert just now, a guess suddenly popped into my head: could they have been scattered all over the world and eaten by carnivorous animals?"

hiss……

A collective gasp filled the air.

This guess is bold and the idea is quite unique.

However, it must be said that there is a very high possibility that this could be true.

As is widely known, the full name of the college is the Rivosos Institute of Biology and Medicine.

One of the college's strengths is to cultivate and utilize organisms in a better, more comprehensive, and more efficient way.

Even if the relevant subjects haven't been covered in the first grade, I've still heard about them.

For example, the bodies of Storm Sea's new blood who died in the black area of ​​West City would be recycled by the academy, dissected, dismembered, and cut up to make up for the losses and recover the investment.

Therefore, everyone present quickly accepted and acknowledged Mead's guess.

As higher beings, it's quite simple for gods to have their corpses eaten by carnivorous animals, thus increasing their size.

Jasmine exclaimed, "No wonder I couldn't do anything to those ferocious beasts in the water. They were all so tough and thick-skinned that no attack magic could break through their defenses except for self-destructing fire bombs. They must have eaten something delicious!"

This remark immediately stirred up painful memories for Dalton.

He, along with Andrea, Lutz Berry, and Bamir Valvez, were forced to flee in panic because they couldn't break through the defenses of the six giant beasts, and were eventually trapped in the valley.

There was no way to go to heaven, and no way to go to hell.

If Link hadn't come to the rescue, they would have been eliminated.

Link couldn't help but recall the time when he and Iris teamed up to lure away the six giant beasts.

Iris threw so many different types of self-destructing fire bombs, but they didn't even manage to puncture the giant beast's skin.

That level of firepower was almost comparable to the firepower Trish Lucia used to bombard the mountain pass.

Even with the "Defender 3202" armor set, Link couldn't withstand the Water Shield spell even when he used "Double Casting," "Continuous Casting," and "Parallel Casting."

They wouldn't die on the spot, but they would definitely be seriously injured.

Considering all the signs, Link also tends to agree with Mead Valente's conjecture.

So, another question arises.

Link pressed his hands down slightly, signaling everyone to stop whispering.

After things calmed down, Link asked, "Assuming Mead's guess is correct, the reason why carnivorous animals are generally huge is that they ate the corpses of the dead gods of this world."

So, is this phenomenon, this cause, related to the fact that this world is on the verge of destruction?

Does this offer any help or inspiration for reconstructing a sustainable ecological cycle system?

These two questions sparked another round of hushed discussion among the crowd.

Lynn, quick-witted and thoughtful, was the first to respond once again: "Boss, I think we can temporarily set aside our connection with the world on the verge of collapse and focus on helping and inspiring us."

"Okay. That works."

Link had other ideas in mind, but he didn't refute Lynn's statement.

Having received agreement, Lynn continued, "Carnivorous animals are huge, so their daily energy consumption naturally increases, and the quantity and quality of food they need to eat also increase."

This disrupts the original ecological cycle.

The number of herbivores will definitely experience a sharp decline.

In order to survive longer, the surviving herbivores were forced to evolve.

This also requires energy and nutrients, so you need to eat more grass.

The vicious cycle of the ecosystem has been further deepened.

Furthermore, if the reason why carnivorous animals are so large is that they eat the corpses of the gods of this world, then what about plants?

Don't plants absorb blood and flesh?

I think there should be.

At least partially.

After hearing this, Ezio immediately retorted in a low voice, "Then how do you explain that the body size of herbivores has not generally changed drastically?"

Lynn answered calmly:

"Plants that absorbed the blood and flesh of the gods evolved. For example, those that originally had no thorns grew thorns, those that were short grew tall, and those that were not aggressive became aggressive, and so on."

Numerous changes have made it impossible for herbivores to eat them.

This is also the plant's natural instinct for survival.

Herbivores, lacking high-quality food sources, evolved much more slowly than carnivores and plants that directly absorbed the blood and flesh of the gods.

"You're right."

Ezio, being stubborn, was persuaded and immediately agreed.

Others also felt that Lynn's statement had a certain logic to it.

Buck, who was usually very talkative but hadn't gotten a chance to speak until now, then stood up and spoke:

"I believe we can try to restructure the ecosystem by addressing two aspects simultaneously."

One is to breed herbivorous animals, enabling them to gnaw on most plants, especially those that have absorbed the blood and flesh of the gods and become special.

This also gives them a certain ability to escape from predators.

Secondly, we can cultivate basic, unchanging plants. I remember a paper by a senior researcher mentioned a hybridization breeding method that might be useful.

This fundamentally changed the quality of food for herbivores, allowing them to evolve at a rate that caught up with carnivores.

This is to restore a balanced ecological cycle.

Whether it's feasible or not is another matter and needs further verification, but at least there's some substance to the argument.

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap...

Everyone else, including Link, spontaneously applauded, giving Buck a thumbs up for his rare brilliance in a serious matter.

Buck grinned, a hint of smugness in his eyes, and sat back down.

Seeing that no one had any other thoughts or opinions to express, Link began to summarize and make work arrangements.

"I've compiled everyone's thoughts, opinions, and guesses."

Based on the comprehensive conclusions, the following arrangements are made.

If there are any omissions or errors, please feel free to point them out so we can correct them together.

First, we need to expedite the analysis and testing of existing water, soil, and biological samples to identify materials that have undergone unusual changes, analyze the reasons for these changes, and verify Mead's hypothesis.

If the corpses of the gods truly caused the enlargement of carnivorous animals, there would be no way that there would be no trace of them in water samples, soil, plant specimens, or animal specimens.

this point is very important.

Then, various methods are used to cultivate common plants in order to meet the feeding needs of most herbivores and provide sufficient energy and nutrition.

Finally, the ecosystem will be restructured from three different directions.

First, it's based on the improvement of plant genes; second, it's based on the improvement of herbivorous animal genes; and third, it's based on the devastating impact on carnivorous animals.

As he spoke, Link looked at Jasmine and said, "You'll have to work hard again tomorrow to build another large laboratory."

"no problem."

Jasmine readily agreed.

"Buck, Lynn, tomorrow you take Mead and Terry and catch two big fish, one dead and one alive."

"Okay, boss."

"Ezio, Dijon, you two continue today's experiment with Betty. Be patient, take it slow, we have plenty of time."

"Yes, boss. We'll be careful to adjust our mindset in time."

"Dalton, continue your reconnaissance and remain vigilant and attentive to Lanny Taylor. Notify me immediately if she reappears by the river."

"We guarantee the mission will be completed."

Jasmine noticed that Link had talked about everyone but left out himself, so she asked, "What about you? What are you doing tomorrow?"

Link replied, "I'm about to go out to find someone and do something for them."

"Go find the crazy woman?"

Jasmine's expression became slightly unnatural, and she bit her lower lip slightly.

Link frankly stated, "I am indeed preparing to go see Iris. Some things require cooperation with the people in the North District to proceed more effectively."

"Is it really that important? Do we really have to go find it?"

Jasmine couldn't help but ask another question.

"Go ahead, be careful."

As soon as she said it, she regretted it and added:

"Remember to come back soon."

(End of this chapter)