Although all the current conclusions are Xiao Lou's speculations, his teammates know that the speculations are highly likely to be true.
The timeline matches perfectly.
The Morse code left by Shao Qingge's father, along with the project proposals for the company's investment projects that Shao Qingge found, clearly indicate that the Noahs Ark Project was launched twice.
The first attempt was in Star Calendar 2975, coinciding with Xiao Lou's birth date, but all the infants died due to issues with the culture medium, forcing the plan to be terminated. The second attempt was in Star Calendar 2980. Although this cloning plan was successful, a serious problem arose midway, leading to the complete extermination of all the Lovers.
In the same year, the captain of the Dark Night Starship was captured and taken back to Capital Star, marking humanity's first discovery of an alien insectoid race.
Despite their seemingly weak nature, the Zerg possess extremely strong evolutionary and reproductive capabilities. The rapid reproduction of creep has given scientists new inspiration. They have fused human-replicated cells with Zerg genes, allowing them to grow rapidly, even reaching the age of five within a year. This also explains why the three Xiao Lou in the palace are the same age.
Ye Qi couldn't believe such a crazy thing. He couldn't help but look at Xiao Lou and said in a trembling voice, "Are they studying humans like plants? They're actually fusing genes from other species into human cells?! Isn't this just like cultivating genetically modified vegetables and hybrid fruits?"
Xiao Lou said with a stern face, "There are many examples of plant hybridization, such as the hybridization of mandarin oranges and wild pomelos to produce oranges, and the hybridization of oranges and citrons to produce lemons... But these plants have no consciousness or thoughts, and studying new species will not harm the original species. However, studying humans is going too far and exceeds the scope of scientific ethics! No one is sure whether the fusion of insect genes and human genes will produce mutations or even lead to incurable hereditary diseases!"
Human natural science has developed for so many years, and gene sequencing has been going on for a long time, but why don't scientists dare to modify and fuse human genes? Is it because they don't have the ability?
No, it's not that they're afraid to be the ones to commit this heinous crime for all time.
Many familial genetic diseases originate from genes. Arbitrarily modifying genes could have unpredictable consequences. What if a person whose genes have been modified mates with another human, and their offspring have serious genetic diseases? If such defective genes were to enter human society, they could potentially have a devastating impact on humanity!
Moreover, it involves fusing genes from a different race into a human body.
Once this precedent is set, will scientists be able to arbitrarily edit the genes of birds and beasts into human cells to "create" all sorts of bizarre clones? What would those "experimental products" really be? Human-bird hybrids? Human-cat hybrids? Or even human-pig hybrids?
The reason nature has "reproductive isolation," preventing different species from reproducing, is to preserve the uniqueness of each species. If this natural law were broken, humanity would cease to be humanity.
The thought that he might also have Zerg genes in his body made Xiao Lou feel a chill run down his spine. He closed his eyes, forced himself to calm down, and turned to look at Yu Hanjiang, saying, "I guess after they captured that captain, they found that the captain's climbing and jumping abilities were excellent, and that he could heal himself after being injured. They thought it would be great if all humans had these abilities, so they took the captain's genes for research."
Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement: "Yes, after all, in their eyes, that captain is similar to'Superman,' and taking his genes for research is in line with the style of those crazy scientists."
Xiao Lou said, "So, it's very likely that I also have Zerg genes in my body?"
Yu Hanjiang gently pressed his shoulder, his voice gentle: "Don't worry about these things. You are you. Your identity, your experiences, and even your genes in this secret room are all set by the Guardian. We will eventually leave this world."
Xiao Lou laughed and said, "I understand. I just want to see if I can inherit some of the Zerg's outstanding abilities if I have Zerg genes." He walked up to Chu Huaying and said, " Huaying, can I borrow your dagger?"
Chu Huaying, unaware of his intentions, handed him the dagger.
Xiao Lou picked up the dagger, aimed it at his left arm, and made a clean and swift cut without hesitation!
Yu Hanjiang's expression changed, and she immediately stepped forward and grabbed his wrist: "What are you doing?"
Xiao Lou examined the bloodstains on his arm. He clearly felt the pain the moment the dagger cut his arm. A line of blood flowed down the wound to the ground, showing no signs of healing.
Yu Hanjiang then realized—he was actually using this method to test whether he had any healing abilities.
Seeing him cut himself, Yu Hanjiang felt a slight pang in his heart and glanced at Shao Qingge: "Help me."
Shao Qingge walked over with a light laugh and said to Xiao Lou, "Obviously, you didn't inherit the Zerg's healing ability, so you still have to rely on me." He gently placed his fingers on Xiao Lou's wound.
Because the wound was shallow, the Bug King Card treated it with ease. The scratch on Xiao Lou's arm healed at a visible speed, and the new skin grew back smooth and delicate, without a single visible scar.
Looking at the healed wound, Xiao Lou pondered, "Could it be because that captain's evolution level wasn't high enough to possess the Zerg's ability to heal wounds? Or did the Zerg genes mutate after fusing with humans, preventing humans from inheriting this ability?"
Chu Huaying frowned and said, "Judging from what Uncle Qin said, the former captain was able to evolve into a Zerg and negotiate with the Zerg Queen, so his level must have been quite high... perhaps even the second..."
In this situation, humans cannot inherit this ability.
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "There's another possibility."
Xiao Lou turned to look at the other person.
Yu Hanjiang's gaze was gentle as he said, word by word, "You are not a clone."
Xiao Lou: "..."
This statement stunned his teammates, because the conclusion that Xiao Lou was a clone had just been deduced not long ago, but now Yu Hanjiang was denying this deduction.
Of course, there have been many instances of deduction going astray in the previous locked-room scenarios.
They speculated that Xiao Lou was the key reason for the clone: Xiao Lou did not attend the prince's engagement banquet or the crucial birthday banquet, but was instead kept hidden by His Majesty in the Gemini Palace...
But none of these are truly based on actual achievements. Only His Majesty knows whether Xiao Lou is a clone.
Perhaps Princess Xiao Rou knows something too?
Thinking about this, Xiao Lou said, "Let's think about the next plan. Should we go back to Azure Planet to find my sister?"
They temporarily boarded Chu Huaying's starship to come to Hilt No Mans Land, firstly to help Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci recall their lost memories, and secondly to try and find the whereabouts of Liu Qiao and the others along the way.
The first objective has now been achieved, but Liu Qiao and his group are still missing.
Yu Hanjiang said, " Azure Planet is a human-inhabited planet. Since your sister married and moved there, maybe Liu Qiao and the others are on that planet too... Anyway, we don't have anywhere else to go right now, so let's go back to Azure Planet."
Everyone agreed on this decision.
However, Chu Huaying is on the wanted blacklist of all countries in the Federation, has no ID card, and cannot directly enter the Azure Planet space station; while Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan, and Tang Ci all secretly escaped from Capital Star, did not apply for a pass, and could not enter the planet openly.
Fortunately, there are no card restrictions here, so there are plenty of ways to play.
Xiao Lou suggested, " CEO Shao and Ye Qi should go to Azure Planet, and then use Peach Blossom Spring Teleportation for us."
Chu Huaying said, "I'll use Starship to send you to the space station. I won't go with you all. It's better to stay on Starship. That way, I can provide you with transportation wherever you want to go, and it will be more convenient for everyone to move around."
She's now the leader of Space Pirates, so going to Azure Planet is really inconvenient. It would be even more dangerous if she got caught. It's better for her to stay on the starship and continue being a Space Pirate.
Xiao Lou agreed with her suggestion: "Okay, be careful."
Chu Huaying nodded, walked to the control panel, pressed a few buttons, and the Dark Night Starship streaked across the night sky like a shooting star, quickly leaving Hilt No Mans Land and taking a shortcut to Azure Planet.
**
After several hours of travel, a light blue planet came into view.
Xiao Lou turned on the navigation and pointed to the blue planet, saying, "This is the human settlement of the Aquarius Star Region. There is only one country on this planet called the Azure Empire, which has always had a good relationship with the Luoke Empire. Twenty years ago, my sister married the prince of this country, and now she is a queen."
Ye Qi suddenly asked curiously, "How much older is your sister than you?"
Xiao Lou's impression of this older sister was very vague. After thinking for a moment, he said, "When I was 5 years old, she should have been 20 years old when she got married. She was 15 years older than me."
Ye Qi scratched his head: "Strange, Your Majesty and the Queen had Princess Xiao Rou, but they didn't have any more children for the next 15 years?"
Xiao Lou paused slightly upon hearing this, then continued, "I also had an elder brother, who was one year older than me, but unfortunately he died young. His Majesty said that this elder brother was poisoned."
Ye Qi murmured, "So, after His Majesty and the Queen gave birth to Princess Xiao Rou, it was almost 13 years before they had your elder brother, the Crown Prince. Then, this eldest prince was poisoned by an assassin, and you were born within a year of that?"
The more his teammates listened, the stranger it seemed.
Normally, if a couple has a harmonious relationship, the interval between having children is mostly controlled at 2 to 3 years. If the woman has a vaginal delivery, it is also common for the two children to be one year apart. Modern reproductive technology should be far more advanced than in the past, and the risks of childbirth are very small. How could His Majesty and the Queen have gone 13 years without having any children?
How could the princess be 14 or 15 years older than her younger brother?
Xiao Lou hadn't considered this detail before, but now that Ye Qi had pointed it out, he also felt that something was amiss. Perhaps His Majesty's initiation of the clone plan was related to this? Could it be that His Majesty or the Queen had a genetic defect, causing their children to die young? And his elder brother, who was a year older than him, didn't die from an assassination attempt, but from a hereditary disease?
Perhaps His Majesty wants to clone the prince in order to modify the genes of future generations?
Xiao Lou gently pressed his temples. He couldn't figure out why His Majesty did this yet, but Xiao Rou must know something. Perhaps many mysteries could only be truly solved after meeting this older sister.
******