My health recovery is incredibly fast.

The alchemical school has always advocated prioritizing interest over in-depth study, and conducting research activities primarily driven by personal interest.

This approach of not mandating specific research directions maximized the alchemists' enthusiasm for research, and as long as their actions did not violate the temple's laws, they would not face any obstacles.

The moment the host announced the free team formation, Xia Zuo's colleagues stood up and walked towards their mentors or friends.

The once orderly meeting room instantly became bustling with activity. Groups of alchemists gathered together, walked to deserted corners, and discussed their group's research strategy while referring to the giant human model in the sky.

Shazo sat in his seat for a short while, scratched his head, and walked towards Adanavados, but was quickly stopped by the surging crowd...

Adanavardos was so popular that he had more than twenty students. If you included other alchemists who came because of his reputation, nearly one-fifth of the alchemists in the venue gathered around him.

If Xia Zuo didn't reveal his identity as a pure-blooded mage... he wouldn't actually stand out much in this venue full of alchemy masters...

He scratched his head again, looking at Hillenburg, who was surrounded by a large group of people, all of whom looked excited, as if they had met an idol…

Ah ~

Alchemy, ah~

It's not gold that's being refined, but rather the ways of the world.

Xia Zuo chuckled self-deprecatingly, booing at his own reclusive nature.

He wasn't worried about no one coming up to talk to him; he estimated that in about half an hour, a group lacking a poison alchemist would come to him to join them.

After all, only a few people in the conference room could do something like developing bait.

Xia Zuo simply returned to his seat, bent his arms as a cushion, lay back in the chair, stared at the human model in the sky, and tried to memorize all the annotations.

Since we're all bored anyway, we have to find something to do, right?

Xia Zuo's gaze began at the mannequin's head and slowly moved down, pausing at the groin...

When Xia Zuo saw the note requiring that a certain rod-shaped object must enter an upright state within 10 seconds after receiving a valid external stimulus, he couldn't help but laugh.

What is Nyxat trying to do? Is he trying to rediscover what it means to be a man?

Xia Zuo looked at the next line of the annotation and froze.

The rod-shaped object must be able to inject the body's life force into a designated container at a specific time.

Wait, wait, wait...

Xia Zuo touched his forehead.

If I understand correctly, does Nyxat want to have another child?

Because if one simply wants to pursue a momentary thrill, there is no need to launch a physical object, let alone involve the [life force of the body's owner].

The point is that Nyxat wanted a child.

The key question is, where does Naxxramas, who underwent multiple rounds of physical transformation and ultimately became a female deep-sea turtle, go to find his own life force?

Xia Zuo frowned, lost in thought, and suddenly realized that he seemed to have discovered a part of the secrets of this world.

This secret was so deeply hidden that it would have been impossible to know without a certain level of expertise in alchemy.

As someone who has received nine years of compulsory education, Xia Zuo clearly knows that heredity is related to genes.

According to the logic of the previous life.

If Nyxath ​​wants to use an alchemical body to have a child through normal human reproduction, he must ensure that the essence in the designated container contains only his own genes.

but…

Genes are bound to the body.

Nerxes was originally human, but in order to prolong his life, he merged with a tree-like creature, becoming a half-human, half-tree monster. At this point, he had at most half human genes left in his body.

Later, he died, or more precisely, his half-human, half-tree-like body perished because it could not withstand the passage of time.

Prior to this, he had created a clone using Devantana's shrine.

This clone could not possibly be in a completely human form.

Because Nyxath's second clone was created using the first clone.

The second clone is a female deep-sea turtle with tree-like roots and thighs, not a deep-sea turtle with human limbs. From this, we can deduce that Ner'xath's first clone must have used tree-like material.

After taking everything into consideration, once Nexus returned to the temple, apart from his consciousness, which was still human, his body would almost completely lack human genes.

In this situation, how do the Nyxaths reproduce?

There are essentially two interpretations.

The first explanation is that shamans possess a highly secret method for preserving their human genes, a method that has never been revealed.

The second explanation.

The bond that allows people in this world to reproduce is not genes.

Xia Zuo lowered his arms from behind his head, placed his hands on either side of the chair, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

To fully understand what the reproductive bond in this world is, we must first know what "life force" is.

These four words have appeared many times in bioalchemy, but there has never been a detailed explanation. Xia Zuo always thought that they were the alchemical interpretation of the word "gene".

Now it seems that the breath of life refers to something else entirely.

"Xia Zuo." The person who spoke patted Xia Zuo on the shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, team leader." Xia Zuo snapped out of his daze and stood up.

“I need your help. Would you like to join me?” Hillenburg knew the other man had a close relationship with Adanavanados, and continued:

"The masters of the outer hall have just spoken. Because the amount of compensation this time is huge, it would be unfair for them to participate in the research and development themselves. Therefore, they will not lead the research and development team, but will participate in the research and development of each group as consultants and charge a certain percentage of consulting fees."

"So, come and join me. I need a reliable poison alchemist."

“Uh…” Xia Zuo glanced in the direction of his mentor.

There was indeed no one around Adanavanados and the other outer temple masters, so it seems Hillenburg was right.

Xia Zuo was so engrossed in his daydream that he didn't hear the words of the master in the outer hall.

"Team leader, are there only two of us in our team?" Xia Zuo asked.

“That’s right, I turned down the other people’s requests.” Hillenburg seemed to sigh, then paused before saying:

"The rewards for this research and development are amazing. If we can win one or two bids, it will be enough to make up for the expenses of researching marine alchemy."

"But I plan to bring out some of my best stuff to have any chance of winning the bid."

Xia Zuo nodded, understanding the deeper meaning behind the other party's words, "Okay, team leader, count me in, it's my honor."

Hillenburg sat down in the chair next to Shazo. "What do you think of our research on bionic lungs?"

Xia Zuo sat down in the chair and quickly glanced at the requirements for the bionic lungs.

With an energy transfer rate of 0%, the bionic lung must be able to store about 1.5 times the lung capacity of a normal person, and its pumping efficiency must be higher than that of a normal person. It must be able to pump in enough air within 3 seconds and be able to seal tightly to prevent air from escaping.

The bionic lungs must be able to withstand heavy pressure and blunt force trauma, and still maintain the alchemical body's respiratory function after being punctured.

After meeting a series of material performance requirements, the evaluation criteria for bionic lungs will involve both the degree of damage and the integrity of respiratory function.

In cases of severe damage, the more intact the respiratory function, the higher the assessment score.

If several research projects receive the same score during the assessment, the additional features of these projects will be compared, and the most practical one will be selected.

After winning the bid for the bionic lung, the research team will receive a 2.25% contribution, totaling 360 million federal citizen points.

Xia Zuo pondered for a minute and said:

"Team leader, we have a great advantage in the research and development of bionic lungs. The lightless environment is a natural experimental site, which can save unnecessary expenses on magic arrays."

"Moreover, organisms without light bands have a special lung structure that can serve as a reference for us."

Xia Zuo glanced at the human model in the sky again. If they really wanted to refer to the physiological structure of organisms in the lightless zone to develop bionic organs or body parts, he and Hillenburg had a lot of projects to study.

For example, the bionic vertebrae contribute as much as 3.8%.

As the most important skeleton in the human body, the bionic vertebra also has requirements for resistance to pressure and impact.

In an alchemical bionic body, the main trunk of the alchemical nervous system must be housed inside the bionic spine. This involves developing the main trunk of the supporting alchemical system, increasing the workload and the risk of failure and loss.

Similar drawbacks exist in other parts as well.

Overall, only the bionic lung is relatively independent and does not involve too many other parts.

Xia Zuo looked enlightened. "Team leader, it seems you've already made up your mind. I've thought about it, and bionic lungs are probably the most suitable research project for us. I have no objections."

Hillenburg patted the other person on the shoulder and said with a good smile:

“I am very satisfied with your reaction, Xia Zuo. You were able to sort out your thoughts on your own without me having to explain further. I must say, this is the foundation for building a cooperative relationship.”

Xia Zuo scratched the back of his head sheepishly and asked:

"Team leader, with only the two of us, won't we be short-handed? I'm only proficient in poison alchemy and biological materials science, and my knowledge of bio-alchemy for creating biomimetic alchemical systems, as well as oils, potions, and rare item alchemy, is insufficient..."

Hillenburg waved his hand. "Don't worry, Shazo. We two will handle the design and experimentation; the manufacturing will be outsourced to the other members of the marine research group."

“Outsourcing…” Xia Zuo pondered for a moment.

Since it's outsourcing, there must be a commission involved.

"Team leader, what percentage of the R&D expenses will I be responsible for?"

"Hmm..." Hillenburg said, arms crossed, as he pondered.

"I have two options for joining, see which one you prefer."

"You can join us as a labor partner. I will hire you to develop and refine the raw materials for the bait and alchemical bionic system. I will pay you a commission higher than the market price in exchange for the bait and raw materials you develop."

"I will cover all your expenses during this process."

"If our research results are successful, 10% of the research compensation will be your bonus."

Xia Zuo rubbed his chin and nodded.

Hillenburg continued:

"The second option is for you to join based on your actual investment amount, which is what I will do as well. After winning the bid, we will divide the research compensation according to our investment ratio."

"I've made a simple estimate that to fully develop the envisioned bionic lung, it would require an advance of 12 research and development points."

"This does not include my contribution of marine alchemy knowledge, samples, and other experimental materials, which I provided free of charge."

12…