When he first thought about the issue of 'field source', Huo Gu first thought of the trace amounts of iron tetraoxide contained in cells.

The common name of iron ferric oxide is "magnet", and it emits a magnetic field all the time. In addition, the content of this substance in the original cells is very small, which is consistent with the previous inference that "the life field is susceptible to external interference."

But the results of the experiment told Huo Gu that he was wrong!

The true identity of the field source - ‘beryllium-aluminum silicate mineral’.

Just hearing this name, many people will find it unfamiliar, but if it is a common name, it is definitely familiar - 'emerald', those gemstones that were once used as jewelry by princes and nobles.

"Why is it this kind of substance? Can this kind of substance also form a 'field'?"

The result suddenly turned into a situation that Huogu couldn't understand. In his impression, apart from its ornamental value, things like emeralds seemed to have no use, let alone that they could emit a certain kind of field.

At this time, Huogu had realized one thing: its knowledge was no longer enough to help it solve the current problem.

After all, human energy is limited, and every subject is broad and profound. Although he is a professor, his focus on research areas is archeology, physics and chemistry, which is only the general knowledge he knows when he dabbles in archeology.

"Okay, I'll put this 'Emerald Mystery' aside for now and solve the easier-to-solve problems first."

Huogu originally hoped to find the thing that allowed him to maintain his thinking, and then understand the principle and realize cross-cluster networking. In this way, he only needed to spread countless cell clusters to every corner of the planet, and it would no longer have to worry about sudden appearances.

geological activities, killing it and the host cell clusters together.

"But it's not bad. Although I haven't found the reason why that thing generates a 'field', I can still accept it after thinking about it. At least I have found what is the medium through which the cell clusters communicate with each other."

"In this way, we only need to increase the output power of the 'field' to cover up the interference and issue instructions to distant cells... eh?"

Just as Huogu was planning his follow-up actions, a crisis affecting the entire cell cluster suddenly occurred.

The first thing to happen was the lining cells in the digestive cavity and the inner cells near the lining cells, which entered a state of death one after another.

Attacking microorganisms?

Huo Gu subconsciously thought of this.

There is no other reason. It has absolute confidence that those microorganisms will never be able to break through the completely closed cell wall of the parietal cells. The parietal cells rely on the protein channels of adjacent inner cells to ensure cell activity.

This can also explain why the cells lining the digestive cavity and the inner cells connected to them die first.

The only place where the entire cell cluster communicates with the outside world is the digestive cavity. The inner cells use the large gaps between the cells in the inner wall to absorb the amino acids in the digestive cavity and provide nutrients to the entire cell cluster.

But then, Huo Gu immediately threw away this conjecture.

All microorganisms rely on proteins and amino acids as the basic units to build themselves. Considering the possible existence of extreme acidophilic bacteria, the digestive juice Huogu initially chose was enzymes, which are a great killer of microorganisms that use proteins as the basis of life.

.

The intercellular spaces on the inner wall are absolutely inaccessible. They are both the entry point for the inner cells to absorb proteins and the outlet for the release of digestive enzymes. The enzyme concentration there is the highest in the entire digestive cavity.

Except for completely specialized and enclosed cells like parietal cells, no microorganisms can resist breakdown by digestive enzymes for long periods of time.

But since the cause is not microorganisms, what is it that causes the death of inner cells and adjacent inner cells?

Since he had been focusing on studying the origin of the cell cluster network, Hogu did not notice the abnormality of the cells until the cells died. The specific process was not clear to him.

Hogu briefly observed the inner cells around the inner wall, but could not find out the reason.

The interaction between the digestive cavity and external substances must never stop. Just like a person needs to breathe, all the cells in the cell cluster also rely on the digestive cavity to collect and integrate the 'supplies' to maintain their own cell activity.

Immediately, Hogu issued new instructions to the cell cluster.

"Cells divide, repair the inner wall of the cavity, and replace dead cells."

After consuming a certain amount of protein reserves, the inner wall cells and inner cells replace the dead cells, complete the repair of the digestive cavity, and continue the operation of resource collection.

However, the same thing happened again soon. The inner cells, which were engaged in collecting amino acids and proteins through the cracks in the parietal cells, quickly began to lose activity in their cell membranes, repeating the mistakes of the previous cells. After a while, the inner cells again

After death, the parietal cells connected to it also lose their supplies and cannot follow suit.

Huo Gu watched the whole process with cold eyes. The death of cells did not make him panic. Rather, it would be better to say that everything that happened was done deliberately in order to understand the reasons why the cells died.

"External factors lead to the 'denaturation' of the cell membrane...well, it's a water problem."

Cell clusters originally live in the waters near submarine volcanoes. The waters are high-temperature and acidic. They are a paradise for acidophilic bacteria and a hell for non-acidophilic bacteria.

But now, Hogu led the cell cluster to leave the water and came to a neutral water. As a cell cluster of acidophilic bacteria, it was natural that it could not accept this environment. The cell membranes of the inner cells were exposed to the neutral aqueous solution.

It becomes natural for proteins to 'denature' and lose their original activity.

The method to solve this problem is also very simple. It only requires making some subtle adjustments to the properties of the cell membrane. Whether it is acidophilic bacteria or alkaline bacteria, their internal cytoplasmic solutions are neutral and rely on the cell membrane for liquid adjustment.

Only then can we survive in that extreme environment.

The transformation process was not cumbersome. Thanks to the self-replication of the cells themselves, Hogu quickly obtained a batch of inner cells that could survive in neutral waters.

However, the result of the implementation was not as simple as Huogu thought. Under its stunned gaze, the newly built inner wall still fell apart as before.

"Why is this happening?"

"I have obviously adjusted the mechanism of the cell wall, but why do proteins still undergo 'denaturation'?"

Suddenly, Huo Gu noticed the tiny crystal particles floating in the solution in the digestive cavity.

"Salt...wait, did you say that!?"
Chapter completed!