There was silence in the virtual conference room. Faced with this result, several people were silent.

After a long time, He Wei sighed softly.

"Also, this conjecture seems logical, but it is too whimsical."

This is indeed the case. If we use a computer analogy to a human being, this mechanism that causes the human body to go crazy is similar to the computer camera that captures a specific picture and then crashes due to a computer virus.

When the human eye sees a specific picture, a specific pathogenic agent is generated in the brain, and a computer camera captures a specific picture, and it is also possible to generate a virus program on the hard drive.

It is well known that the latter is almost unlikely, and so is the former.

Lu Ming's brows furrowed deeply, and he was also silent for a long time before he said, "We have another way to verify the existence of this pathogenic factor. ”

After the meeting, Zhang Dingshan contacted a local biological laboratory through the Nancheng City Public Security Bureau. After that, a total of seven animals, ten of each species, were transported directly to the biological laboratory. In addition to this, twice as many healthy animals were brought in from the rest of the country.

At this moment, a total of seventy animals were locked alone in cages, and the animals that had already become crazy roared and roared, and frantically pounded against the iron railing. Next to Lu Ming, Zhang Dingshan, and He Wei, a researcher in a white coat frowned and watched all this.

"Suspected of an infectious disease?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we can do some experiments in the lab."

The accompanying vigilantes took out their tranquilizer guns, and with precise shots, they knocked down all the animals that had gone berserk. The lab staff opened the cages and secured them one by one to the operating table.

Lu Ming and the three of them disinfected their bodies three or four times, and put on a special isolation gown - this isolation gown also carries an oxygen cylinder on the back, so that people can breathe the oxygen in the oxygen cylinder, without having to breathe the air inside the laboratory, and can completely eliminate the possibility of a certain microorganism infecting the human body through the air, and then enter the negative pressure operating room.

In the negative pressure operating room, the air can only circulate from the outside to the operating room, but cannot spread from the operating room to the outside. There is an exhaust machine to extract the air in the operating room at all times, and it will be discharged to the outside world after a very strict disinfection procedure.

Here, a total of seventy mad animals have fallen into a complete coma. Experimenters, who were also heavily armed, used a variety of delicate tools to punch holes in their heads, exposing their brain tissue.

Next to them, another one hundred and forty normal healthy animals were similarly anesthetized, and then the same holes were punched to expose brain tissue.

The experimenters took some brain tissue fluid directly from the brains of the crazy animals, and then injected them directly into the brains of the corresponding two healthy animals without any sterilization. The hole in the skull is then filled, fixed, sutured, and supplemented with anti-inflammatory and analgesic medications.

It took a day for this large-scale animal collective operation to be completed under the witness of Lu Ming and the three of them.

After that, it's time to wait for the results.

In the break room, several people recalled the transmission path of the prion, and each had a lot on their minds.

The most important route of transmission of prions is cannibalism. This thing has an extremely strong "vitality", and ordinary means cannot be eliminated at all. In the beginning, some cattle farms ground some dead cattle into powder and fed the rest of the cattle, which caused a major outbreak of mad cow disease.

Some primitive cannibal tribes had the custom of eating deceased relatives and friends, which caused a major outbreak of Kuru disease.

The root cause of this cannibalism is that the prion is a misfolded protein that spreads from the stomach to the brain after being eaten.

Some iatrogenic prions are transmitted because surgical instruments are not completely sterilized, and the infection is caused by contact with the brain tissue of a prion patient and then with the brain tissue of a healthy person.

At this moment, Lu Ming is following this line of thought.

For the time being, regardless of whether the presumed subviral factor can be directly found through research methods, only its infectivity will be tested. If it does exist, then it is very likely that it will also cause the madness of healthy animals by taking tissue directly from the brain tissue of the mad animals and injecting them into the brain tissue of healthy animals.

In this way, it is confirmed that it is infectious. And since it is infectious, the existence of this pathogen can of course be confirmed.

Zhang Dingshan said in a low voice: "We can assume that this pathogen does exist. But what if the pathogen is not contagious? ”

If it is not infectious, for example, if it is inactivated immediately after changing to a new environment, then this measure is not effective at all.

Lu Ming said: "I think so. If it is proved that the pathology of 'madness' is indeed contagious, then it can be proved that this pathogenic microorganism must be present. ”

He Wei said: "But if this disease is not contagious, we cannot prove that this pathogenic microorganism must not exist. ”

"That's true." "But we can at least take our suspicions a step further: either the microorganism does not exist, or it exists, but it is not infectious," Lu admitted. ”

He Wei thought about it for a while, and said stupidly: "Barely can be regarded as a harvest." ”

Zhang Dingshan nodded and said, "It's better to wait for the results to come out." ”

The craniotomy was completed, and the animals woke up the next day.

Just like humans, the animals that have just woken up after this major operation are weak. Animal experts have prepared a special nutritional solution and raised them carefully.

Thanks to these special methods, the animals are recovering faster than humans. By the third day, although it had not yet returned to normal, it had regained its ability to move normally.

From this point on, it is already possible to observe whether there are any anomalies in their behavior.

If the pathogenic microorganisms that cannot be discovered by human technology at this stage really exist, and they are really infectious, then at this moment, in the heads of these animals, they should be taking root and expanding their territory, slowly eroding the spirit and will of the animals, and gradually manifesting themselves from the external aspect.

Lu Ming and the three of them have been waiting patiently for five days, from the full expectation at the beginning to the complete disappointment at this moment.

Although the three of them are not animal experts and cannot interpret the behavior and language of the animals in more subtle ways, even from the perspective of ordinary people, these animals really have nothing to do with the so-called madness.

With careful food feeding, they are recovering well, and the impact of the craniotomy on them is no longer visible. They are full of energy, full of energy, and even gained some weight. They eat leisurely, rest comfortably, and occasionally play for a while, without worry.

Even if an old farmer who specializes in raising such animals sees it, I'm afraid he has to praise it for raising it well.

"It seems that there are only two possibilities. Either this subviral agent does not exist at all, or they are not contagious. ”

It's been five days, and according to the usual onset time, the incubation period of the subviral factor that exists in speculation is likely not to be so long. If there is no onset for five days, the likelihood of subsequent recurrence is getting lower and lower.

Lu Ming was also a little disappointed: "Of the two possibilities, it is more likely that this subviral factor does not exist at all." ”

Although he was unwilling to accept this reality, reason told him that it was.

The contagious test failed, and the previous examination did not find an unknown subviral agent, if you still stick to your original point of view at this moment, it is inevitably a little too anachronistic.

It seems that he has to give up working hard in this direction.

Zhang Dingshan said in a deep voice: "Let's wait for the animal expert to finish the cognitive test." ”

At this moment, of course, there is still a very small probability, that is, these animals have actually gone berserk, but they cannot be seen on the surface, and can only be seen through rigorous behavioral cognitive tests. But this is too unlikely to be considered.

Lu Ming was a little interested and other animal experts did a behavioral cognitive test, and as expected, they saw a completely normal conclusion. So the last possibility was ruled out.

"Continue to observe the animals and notify us immediately of any anomalies."

After giving this order, the three of them left the biological laboratory.

At this moment, after several busy days, the investigation of the second operation team has once again returned to the original point.

I don't know where to start, and I don't know where to go.

It seems that the vast majority of cases involving supernatural elements will exhibit such characteristics that people don't know where to start investigating. It's like the eucalyptus that the second team has experienced before, it's all like this.

But those eucalyptus seeds were still cracked by their own side in the end, and the truth was finally found out. Even if the truth is not thoroughly investigated, the incident can be regarded as being resolved and a logical explanation has been found.

This time, Lu Ming believes that as long as he does not give up and persists in the investigation, he will definitely be able to usher in such a result. It's just that I don't know when I will be able to find a breakthrough.

It was getting dark. At the end of today's regular meeting, the three of them went back to rest. Lu Ming tossed and turned as always and couldn't sleep, and it wasn't until after 12 o'clock that he fell asleep.

At this moment, the moon and stars are scarce, and the whole city seems to fall asleep. Not far from the hotel where Zhang Dingshan and the three of them were, it was also quiet in the Nancheng Mental Hospital.

Since being designated to treat victims of the "magic eye" incident, the security level of the psychiatric hospital has been greatly improved. Not only are there security guards outside the hospital, but documents are required to enter and exit, and the fifth floor of the psychiatric hospital, which is specially used to treat these patients, is also manned by armed security officers 24 hours a day.

It's three o'clock in the morning. For the average person, this time is often the time when sleep is the deepest. For those who have to watch the night, this time is also the time when it is most likely to feel sleepy and tired.

The nurse stood there, and the nurse on the night shift had completed her last round, and was sitting in a chair at the moment, her head napping little by little. Although the security guards on duty at night still had cold faces and wide open eyes, their eyes were already bloodshot, and their bodies sitting in their chairs were not as straight as they were when they first arrived.

The night was quiet.

Although the patients still maintain the slightly strange situation in the past, such as constantly muttering to themselves, constantly trying to get up and being pressed down by the restraint belt, constantly crying and laughing, etc., but this situation can no longer arouse people's vigilance.

When this group of patients first arrived, the nurses, doctors, and security officers were really nervous for a long time. Even if it's late at night, I'm still nervous.

It can't be helped, it's a little too weird, and no one can relax in this environment.

But now, this group of patients has been admitted for almost half a month.

For half a month, every night has been like this, and there is nothing else to do, no matter how timid a person is, his tense spirit will slowly relax.

Isn't it just a bit of self-talk? Isn't it just a little crying and a strange laugh? Everyone who listens is annoyed, who will be afraid.

Just when everyone was surrounded by tiredness, no one noticed that the strange sound that had been going on all day quietly disappeared at this moment.

The entire brightly lit fifth floor fell into silence at this moment. There was no sound other than the faint sound of the wind outside the window, and the occasional whistle from the street.

No one noticed this change. Even in the monitoring room, the personnel on duty have fallen into a half-asleep and half-awake state.

In a certain ward, Professor Zhou Tianyang still had his eyes wide open, looking at the ceiling fixedly. Gradually, his eyes were no longer as dull as before, but a touch of human emotion appeared.

With the appearance of this human emotion, his eyes gradually moistened, and tears flowed down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes.

The tears were clear at first, but as time passed, they gradually became more colorful, and then they became dark red, like blood.

Source change app】

At the same time, Wang Yue, who was constantly smiling strangely in the past, twitched his facial muscles at the moment and cried silently. Tears began to flow from the corners of his eyes, and they slowly turned the color of blood.

One by one, a total of twenty-eight members of Zhou Tianyang's team, began to cry silently at the same time.

It took a long time for the tears to stop flowing, and the last trace of human emotion that remained in the eyes of these people disappeared at this moment.

Only Luo Yang, who was "infected" later than these people, has not changed in the slightest at the moment.

He was still lying stiff on the hospital bed, still looking stiffly at the ceiling.

For a long time, it had been more than 20 minutes since he last said the words "I know", and he finally repeated this sentence again.

"I see."