After Mu Lin and Xiao Laipi got out of the car, Mu Lin released his psychic energy. During the day, he had already read the reports on the museum artifact case from various mainstream media outlets around the world, so he had a firm grasp on the general response.
Due to the lies told by the Y government regarding its own affairs, their credibility had greatly diminished. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that such a shocking case had caused little stir in Y country. Normally, following standard procedures and the unspoken rules of the underworld, Mu Lin shouldn’t have come back. After all, the first successful heist had already alerted the owners. Attempting another theft would likely end in failure.
However, the sinister energy he had encountered the previous day had sparked his curiosity. He was worried that if he didn’t act quickly, he might never get another chance to study such a phenomenon. The evil energy he had encountered yesterday had been destroyed by his true fire, and it was uncertain whether he would ever encounter such energy again.
About a kilometer away from the farm, Mu Lin stopped in his tracks. He had already spotted the three hidden sentry posts set up by the opposing side. From the insignias and credentials on the individuals, he identified them as officers from the London Metropolitan Police—the headquarters of which was famously known as Scotland Yard, from the Sherlock Holmes novels.
These officers clearly hadn’t expected anyone to attempt another break-in, so they weren’t particularly vigilant and were mostly dozing off. After figuring out the positions of the hidden sentries, Mu Lin quietly concealed his presence and maneuvered around them, slipping into the farm undetected. This time, he refrained from knocking out the officers, as he considered the possibility that someone might come by to check on the patrols at regular intervals.
Once inside the farm, the security was much looser than outside. Mu Lin found a spot and began searching for the location where the artifacts were stored. Based on his earlier observations of the sentry posts, he deduced that the police were conducting a broad area surveillance, a method that wasted a lot of manpower. This was a last-resort tactic used only when no better options were available, and not specifically targeted at this particular farm.
Carefully observing the surroundings, Mu Lin finally noticed that the basement of the main building housed some mummies and jars containing internal organs. From the basement, a strange energy was seeping out—one very similar to the sinister energy he had encountered the previous day.
After further observation of the basement’s security, Mu Lin noticed only an infrared alarm system, with no other advanced equipment. It seemed his assumption was correct.
Upon entering the basement, Mu Lin sent Xiao Laipi to guard outside the room while he prepared to go deeper inside to study the bacteria more closely and discover what surprises this 5,000-year-old organism might bring.
Facing the jars containing the organs once again, Mu Lin retracted his spiritual awareness and psychic energy, relying only on his true energy to protect his body. This was a conclusion he had reached after careful thought during the day. In his opinion, many archaeologists and scientists must have already studied these organs. If the bacteria had been active and freely spreading, it would have caused a catastrophe in the academic world long ago. Yet so far, he had heard of no such incidents.
When Mu Lin carefully opened one of the jars containing the organs, he retrieved several bacterial vials from his ring, intending to transfer portions of the organs into them. To his surprise, someone had already taken a third of the contents. However, this wasn’t the time to look for clues about the missing portion. He had no intention of wasting this precious night, because once signs of his intrusion were discovered, the site would be placed under strict surveillance, and the artifacts might be relocated.
Quickly, Mu Lin cut off half of the organ and placed it into the bacterial vial, then stored it in his ring. He then pulled out a portable biological analyzer from the ring, ready to conduct on-site research.
Before arriving, Mu Lin had located the site using a map and noticed it was already in a remote suburban area with almost no people nearby. Therefore, he had decided to conduct his research here at night, where he could handle any unexpected situations that might arise.
Swiftly setting up a formation around himself, Mu Lin extended a small thread of spiritual awareness into the jar, and then immediately severed it. As expected, the energy was instantly activated.
Mu Lin quickly stepped back a few paces and carefully observed the bacteria’s behavior using his true energy. This time, unlike the previous day, the bacteria did not immediately attack him along the spiritual thread. With the connection cut, the bacteria had no clear direction. At first, they scattered like people waking from sleep, then seemed to notice Mu Lin—the nearest living being—and spread out like bees, targeting his head.
Clearly, this bacteria used air as a medium to attack directly. As long as there was air, the bacteria could not be stopped from spreading. Without hesitation, Mu Lin immediately used his true fire to destroy the bacteria. Now he was certain—it was a harmful bacteria, essentially a biological weapon.
Since most of the active bacteria had already been destroyed, the remaining ones in the organs were likely to be weaker. Mu Lin took out a petri dish, placed a piece of the organ inside, and after a period of cultivation, began using the biological analyzer to determine the type of bacteria.
After the analysis, Mu Lin confirmed it was a virus—a type of extremely small organism. Viruses lacked cellular structure and were composed simply of a protein shell and a nucleic acid core. The nucleic acid played a key role in the virus’s heredity, while the protein shell merely protected the nucleic acid and had no hereditary properties itself. This was the basic understanding of viruses. However, as scientists delved deeper into various diseases, they discovered another type of organism unlike typical viruses—one that consisted only of protein without nucleic acid, yet still exhibited both infectivity and heredity, possessing unique properties unlike any known pathogens.
Mu Lin himself had extensive knowledge of pathology and immediately recognized it—it was the notorious prion.
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