Chapter 277: Signal Hormone

Ye Bai looked through them one by one using his Insight Eye.

Finally, he discovered a Pet Beast capable of evolving into a Mighty Iron Armor Queen Ant.

This Pet Beast was slightly larger than a regular Mighty Iron Armor Ant, its whole body plump and white, looking like a little piglet waiting to be slaughtered.

【Evolution Route 1: Mighty Iron Armor Queen Ant: Requires consuming the Signal Hormone secreted by a queen ant to be induced into becoming a queen ant.】

Ye Bai: Oh my god, hasn't this become a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg?

For a Mighty Iron Armor Ant to become a queen ant, it must consume the Signal Hormone secreted by a queen ant.

But I don't have a queen ant right now, and I don't have the Signal Hormone, so what should I do?

Ye Bai's brain was running at high speed; he was thinking about how to solve this problem.

Could it be that someone at the Imperial Capital Research Institute specializes in researching the Signal Hormone of ants?

So, Ye Bai borrowed Zhang Lingxue's account and searched the school's system thoroughly.

Sure enough, there were people conducting research on ant-type Exotic Beasts.

And they were even researching the influence of hormones on ant-type Exotic Beasts.

Ye Bai felt that this person must have the Signal Hormone secreted by a queen ant in their possession.

When Ye Bai arrived, this Doctor who researched ants entertained Ye Bai enthusiastically.

"Hello, I am Wang Bo, specifically responsible for researching the influence of Signal Hormone on ant-type Exotic Beasts."

Wang Bo took Ye Bai to tour his entire Laboratory, where a small hill had been hollowed out by ants.

Countless thumb-sized ants were moving in and out of the small hill.

"I am researching Bullet Fire-Red Ants."

"This is the smallest ant-type Exotic Beast in the world."

"They can be used as bullets for sniper rifles."

"However, they do not belong to the same category as Drill Armor Ants and Explosion Ants."

Wang Bo introduced.

"I wonder what the purpose of your visit is?"

After some pleasantries, Wang Bo finally asked this question.

"I need the hormone secreted by a queen ant; I wonder if you have any extracted here, Wang Bo."

"The price is negotiable."

Ye Bai stated his purpose.

Wang Bo immediately looked troubled.

Ye Bai's heart sank; could it be that even Wang Bo didn't have it? That would be difficult! Wang Bo seemed to see through Ye Bai's inner thoughts: "It's not that, I do have the queen ant's secreted hormone here, but it might not be of much help to your research."

"For one, the Signal Hormone secreted by different ants is different; it's possible that this colony works, but another colony won't."

"Second, my Bullet Ants are only this big, so the queen ant is only the size of a thumb."

"This Signal Hormone might not even be one milliliter; will it be of any help to your Pet Beast?"

Wang Bo was skeptical about this; after all, scientific researchers must start from reality and cannot violate the natural laws of growth.

The Signal Hormone provided by Wang Bo was, for Ye Bai's research, no less than a drop in the bucket.

But who would have thought that Lan Fa, by Ye Bai's side, had a very abnormal replication talent? It was merely Signal Hormone; as long as there were enough crystal cores, Lan Fa could replicate it.

"Wang Bo, this secreted hormone is very helpful to me; I hope to use it to do a little research."

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

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

He stood up and took a small test tube out of a refrigerated box.

At the bottom of the test tube was a drop of azure liquid.

This was the Signal Hormone secreted by the queen ant.

"This Signal Hormone must be stored at a low temperature; once the temperature gets high, the Active Enzyme Substance inside will have problems."

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

"I am an expert in the field of myrmecology."

Wang Bo felt a little proud.

He then placed this drop of Signal Hormone into a small refrigerated box.

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

"You can use this refrigerated box to protect the Signal Hormone."

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and at this moment, Ye Bai was in a very good mood.

Just at this time, news came from the school's medical room, asking Ye Bai to go to the Imperial Capital University Medical Center as soon as possible.

Ye Bai hurriedly placed the precious Signal Hormone into the refrigerated box in his own Laboratory.

He instructed Lan Fa to replicate the Signal Hormone, then picked up Xiao Han and left in a hurry.

The Imperial Capital University Medical Center was a central hospital set up beneath Imperial Capital University, specifically serving the teachers and students of Imperial Capital University.

There were a total of five buildings, each with over a dozen 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 his complexion looked quite good at this moment.

He was currently holding a cup of clear tea, sipping it in small mouthfuls.

"Ye Bai, I can call you that, right."

"My name is Jiang Dongsheng, a Sixth-Order Pet Beast Master."

"He is the senior student representative of Imperial Capital University."

"I would like to ask a favor of you."

"The Spore that is parasitizing my body has also appeared inside my Pet Beast."

"Ye Bai, I hope you can step in and help me."

"This is the reward I am giving you."

Jiang Dongsheng stuffed a small box into Ye Bai's hands.

Ye Bai calmly opened it and took a peek.

Inside the small box bloomed a beautiful orchid.

The golden petals formed a dragon with its full tail and whiskers intact.

The white leaves of the orchid looked just like auspicious clouds.

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

Every petal of the Dragon God Orchid can strengthen the Soul; even if cursed by a Soul-type Exotic Beast, the petals of the Dragon God Orchid can easily dispel it.

"How could I possibly accept this?"

Ye Bai directly stuffed the Dragon God Orchid into his Pet Space.

This left Jiang Dongsheng completely speechless.

"What is the current situation with your Pet Beast? Is it as serious as yours?"

When Jiang Dongsheng was parasitized by the Spore back then, he had nearly become a 'vegetable'.

That he is able to recover now is entirely thanks to Ye Bai.

"Some of the Pet Beasts are in better condition, but others are not doing well, especially the Earth Type and Water Type Exotic Beasts, which are completely countered by the Spore."

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

Jiang Dongsheng said to Ye Bai.

"Alright."

"However, I need time to prepare. How about this: first, have the doctors at the medical center give your Pet Beasts a full-body examination."

"Then I will prepare the corresponding treatment plan based on those reports, how does that sound?"

Jiang Dongsheng nodded: "Okay, please be quick; I feel like my Pet Beasts cannot hold on for much longer."

Ye Bai had a faint premonition that since the Summer Grass Ant had formed a symbiotic relationship with the Spore.

This proved that the Summer Grass Ant must have a way to counter the Spore.

Therefore, as long as he could study the Summer Grass Ant in depth, he should be able to find the key to breaking the situation. Ye Bai had not forgotten that these Spores were highly contagious.

Ordinary Pet Beasts are easily infected by the Spore and turn into walking corpses controlled by the Spore.

"Then I shall take my leave first."

Ye Bai's time was tight, and he hurried back to the Laboratory.

By this time, Lan Fa had already replicated a pile of Signal Hormone.

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

Lan Fa wore an expression that said, "Praise me."

"Awesome."

Ye Bai gave a thumbs up.

By this time, Lan Fa had already divided them into twenty transparent experimental cabinets.

Inside, ten Iron Armor Ants and ten Summer Grass Ants had been placed.

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

"I possess the Mirror Person and can replicate several people to watch the experiments."

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

"More experiments aren't necessarily better; one must proceed step by step."

"Otherwise, you will easily miss that fleeting key point."

Ye Bai did not overly criticize Lan Fa.

He knew that Lan Fa also had good intentions.

Moreover, the research regarding the Summer Grass Ant was indeed quite critical.

This concerned what solutions there might be after the large-scale spread of the Spore.

The Iron Armor Ants and Summer Grass Ants that Ye Bai had selected this time were all Pet Beasts that had a certain probability of evolving into an Ant Queen.

It was just that Ye Bai would need to search patiently for the evolution materials required for the evolution.

Ye Bai did not know why the Insight Eye only displayed the evolution route this time, but not the evolution materials.

Could it be that there were no suitable evolution materials?

Ye Bai seemed to have guessed the reason.

He and Lan Fa put on gloves, wore lab coats and goggles, and then began to inject the Signal Hormone into the bodies of the ant larvae.

Upon seeing the dripping syringe, the ant larvae were immediately frightened and scurried everywhere.

It took Ye Bai a great deal of effort to inject the Signal Hormone into the ant larvae one by one.

After some ant larvae were injected with the hormone, their whole bodies turned red, as if they were cooked shrimp.

Just when Ye Bai thought these ant larvae were beyond saving, they stood up again, the red glow vanished, and Ye Bai discovered that their size seemed to have grown a bit.

Subsequently, Ye Bai discovered that the outer skin of these ant larvae fell off like paper scraps, and they seemed to have grown quite a bit more.

"Sun Flower Emperor, you are responsible for feeding the Sun Flower Nectar to the ant larvae."

Ye Bai secretly made a gesture, and the Sun Flower Emperor understood Ye Bai's meaning.

Sun Flower Nectar must be mixed with Heavenly Dew.

The energy contained within Heavenly Dew can promote the rapid growth of the ant larvae and shorten the research time.

When night came, the ant larvae shed a layer of skin one after another, and their bodies grew quite a bit.

"Lan Fa, are there any abnormalities in the body data of these ant larvae?"

In every glass display case, five or six cameras were installed to monitor every move of the ant larvae throughout the process.

"There are no abnormalities; the cells within their bodies have become very active."

"The cells are dividing rapidly."

Lan Fa said to Ye Bai while recording detailed research data.

"Besides feeding them Sun Flower Emperor's Flower Nectar, I also added a large amount of wood-attribute crystal cores."

"To accelerate their growth."

"Ye Bai, it's already very late. I'll watch over things here; you go back and rest first."

Lan Fa let out a yawn and said to Ye Bai.

"Alright, then you should also watch the time and get some rest yourself."

Just as Ye Bai returned to his Breeding House, the bell for midnight rang.

His Breeding House had only just finished renovations; once the smell dissipated, he could start business.

Ye Bai had also specifically purchased many high-precision, cutting-edge pieces of equipment.

This way, even without going to the university's Laboratory, he could carry out some research.

Xiao Han hung around Ye Bai's neck and fell asleep.

Ye Bai gently placed Xiao Han on the sofa.

Ever since he had Xiao Han, Ye Bai had not turned on the air conditioning even once.

Not even in the sweltering summer was an exception.

Wherever Xiao Han was, the surrounding temperature was maintained at eighteen or nineteen degrees.

Daily intelligence refresh.

【1. The Global Youth Research Competition is about to begin. To ensure fairness and justice, Imperial Capital University has begun selecting personnel. The selection requirement is to be under 20 years old and to have previously won the Young Qilin Cup championship.】

【2. Dragon God Orchid, Life Essence, Heavenly Dew, and Divine Turtle Longevity Fruit can be used to formulate a Soul-Calming Potion that preserves the Soul. The formula for the Soul-Calming Potion is as follows: 25 Dragon God Orchid, 6 Life Essence, 22 Heavenly Dew, 27 Divine Turtle Longevity Fruit.】

【3. The freshman military training at Imperial Capital University is about to begin. The location for this military training is in Panyang County, Gannan Province, where a Tier 3 Beast Tide has broken out. Due to a severe shortage of manpower, freshmen from Imperial Capital University are being temporarily dispatched to participate in the defense.】

【4. A Heart Gem can only appear through flawless love. A Heart Gem possesses the effect of enhancing mental power, and wearing it for a long time can improve intelligence levels.】

【5. A young auspicious beast has appeared in the Sea God Secret Realm. Killing it or forming a contract with it can increase one's fortune.】

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

Who on earth is playing these tricks? Clearly, the champion of every Young Qilin Cup could participate in the Youth Research Competition without any threshold, yet this year, one has to go through a selection process to get in.

Ye Bai rolled his eyes; he was truly speechless.

And to be dispatched to intercept a Beast Tide—isn't this clearly not wanting him to participate in the Global Youth Research Competition? This award is very valuable.

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

The points he has on hand are enough; he could completely exchange them directly to reach Research Student Year 3, or even Doctor is possible.

But this competition is only open to those below the level of a graduate student.

However, the last item revealed the location of the auspicious Exotic Beast that Ye Bai is currently looking for.

"If only that auspicious Exotic Beast were a water-attribute Pet Beast."

Currently, in Ye Bai's team, they are just missing a water-attribute Exotic Beast.

Ye Bai leaned on the sofa thinking about things; as he thought, sleepiness came, so he leaned against the sofa wanting to take a short nap.

As a result, he accidentally fell asleep.

Dahui tiptoed over and covered Ye Bai with a thin blanket.

It let out a yawn and ran back to the bed to continue sleeping.

In the Laboratory, the Giant Iron Armor Ants and Summer Grass Ants, which had been gnawing on wood-attribute crystal cores in large mouthfuls, suddenly stopped moving.

They stood quietly in place like statues.

After a while, they directly pupated.

Lan Fa's Clone!!! What is going on? The Clone felt that something was very wrong and directly woke up the soundly sleeping Lan Fa.

Lan Fa stood up from the bed in a daze, but after walking only a few steps, fell face-first onto the bed again.

"Hey, hey, those Giant Iron Armor Ants and Summer Grass Ants, they all have problems."

"They have spun cocoons and pupated."

Lan Fa's Clone shouted directly.

It made Lan Fa's eardrums buzz, but this also completely woke Lan Fa up.

Lan Fa looked up and was immediately startled; the Giant Iron Armor Ants and Summer Grass Ants were all motionless.

(End of this chapter)