The autopsies of more than ten Proxima Centauri corpses have been completed.

Lu Yongchang wiped the bluish-black blood off his gloves and gently pounded his aching lower back through his protective suit.

"Finally finished..."

As he spoke, he yawned.

Dissecting more than ten corpses in succession is indeed an exaggerated workload.

In particular, the dissection was of a completely unfamiliar body belonging to another race.

Compared to dissecting Earth's organisms, the two are on completely different levels of difficulty.

However, there are definitely benefits.

One of the advantages is the giant holographic image in front of the three people.

In the projection, the body structure models of Proxima Centauri and Mars have been completely constructed.

In addition to the digestive system, circulatory system, and other systems that humans also possess, Lü Yongchang also discovered an organ that is independent of these major systems and has a strange shape.

This organ is located in the very center of the Proxima Centauri's body, encased in a hard, shell-like substance, and connected to blood vessels from all directions around the body.

It connects to every corner of the Proxima Centauri's body through blood vessels.

At first, Lü Yongchang subconsciously thought it was similar to the human heart, mainly functioning to transport blood and being part of the circulatory system.

But soon, Lü Yongchang discovered another "core" in the body of the Proxima Centauri.

Whether from the perspective of muscle composition or structure, the second discovered "core" is more like the heart of Proxima Centauri.

The reason is simple: the second discovered "core" can beat like a human heart!

The first "core" discovered had a surface as hard as a rock!

This is a serious problem.

Could it be that the Proxima Centauri had two hearts with completely different structures?

This doesn't make sense from either a logical or emotional standpoint.

In an effort to decipher the function of this unique organ, the three engaged in a heated debate.

Finally, Lü Yongchang made the final decision:

"Get the chainsaw!"

With a piercing cutting sound, the hard, stone-like organ was sliced ​​in two.

"A filter?" Lu Yongchang muttered to himself as he saw the internal structure of the organ.

“It does look a bit like layers of filters,” Fang Xu confirmed Lü Yongchang’s question. “So, it must be the blood purification organ of the Proxima Centauri people?”

"No, no, no, it's not that simple." Mao Zhengzhi shook his head repeatedly.

He reached out and picked up a pair of tweezers, peeling away the layers of tissue that resembled a filter.

Inside, there was a large amount of flocculent material.

"Could there really be so many impurities in the blood of Proxima Centauri?" Mao Zhengzhi's face was full of doubt. "Are you kidding me!"

Lu Yongchang frowned and took out some of the flocculent substance, spreading it out on the table next to him.

"It looks a bit like dead skin."

“No, to be precise, it looks like dandruff.” He suddenly looked up at Mao Zhengzhi beside him: “Did you bring the microscope? Take it and see what it is.”

Mao Zhengzhi nodded solemnly, took the sample, and left the dissection table.

...

Half an hour later.

Mao Zhengzhi strode back to the dissection table: "The test results are in."

Seeing that the two were looking at him, he said in a deep voice, "It's various cellular debris."

"Moreover, they are not ordinary cells."

"What do you mean?" Lü Yongchang was puzzled by Mao Zhengzhi's statement.

Mao Zhengzhi made a gesture to activate the holographic projection.

The image from the microscope was clearly displayed on the projector screen.

"Look at you." Mao Zhengzhi's expression was somewhat excited.

Even with cellular debris, we can still identify some of its features.

“I just had Zero do an analysis, comparing these cell debris with cells from the various areas we sampled.”

"Guess what the result was?"

Lü Yongchang, Fang Xu: "..."

“I bet you…” Lu Yongchang swallowed the curse that was about to escape his lips and said with a forced smile, “Academician Mao, I advise you to be careful with your words.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Fang Xu beside him.

Fang Xu: "???"

Mao Zhengzhi: "..."

"Ahem!" Mao Zhengzhi coughed lightly, straightening his expression.

“At first, Zero couldn’t find any similar cells until I changed my approach.”

"I had zero perform a fuzzy comparison, and through some subtle features, I finally found the prototype cell that corresponds to it."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang's eyes flickered slightly.

You mean... the prototype?

Beneath the mask, Mao Zhengzhi's eyes gleamed with an unusual light: "Not bad! The original!"

"According to the comparison results of Zero, these cellular debris come from cells whose structures have become distorted, and the prototypes of these cells come from various parts of the Proxima Centauri's body!"

"Hiss..." Lu Yongchang gasped sharply, muttering to himself, "Cancer cells?"

"Yes! It's cancer cells!" Mao Zhengzhi's voice suddenly became much louder!

"What appeared in my brain at that time was also cancer!"

"These cellular debris are dead cancer cells from the Proxima Centauri human body!"

"And this special organ should be a detoxification and purification device."

"We all know that the human body has many detoxification organs, such as the skin, lymphatic system, lungs, kidneys, and liver."

"Clearly, this organ of the Proxima Centauri is different from the human detoxification organ; it is more targeted—it only works on cancer cells!"

Lu Yongchang stared blankly at the holographic image in front of him.

Cancer cells are the product of normal cells being affected by carcinogenic factors during their division and differentiation.

Besides telomere issues, this is also a major reason for the short lifespan of humans.

As people age, they are exposed to more and more carcinogenic factors, and the probability of cancer developing during cell division and differentiation increases.

This has impacted human lifespan.

"So... this is the secret to the Proxima Centauri's longevity?"

Mao Zhengzhi nodded, then shook his head.

"That should be part of the reason."

"Proxima Centauri b is so close to its host star that even with a thick atmosphere, its surface still receives a very high dose of high-energy radiation."

"Under the influence of these high-energy rays, the probability of cell carcinogenesis in Proxima Centauri people has greatly increased."

"And this unique organ is their secret to dealing with high-energy rays."

"Theoretically speaking, it can only allow the Proxima Centauri inhabitants to live a little longer within their lifespan limit." Mao Zhengzhi shrugged as he spoke. "Simply put, it's about getting as close to the limit as possible, but not exceeding it."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang suddenly realized something.

"So, what should be the theoretical upper limit of lifespan for the Proxima Centauri people?"

Mao Zhengzhi's face stiffened.

"We currently lack the equipment to test their chromosomes."

"This is a big project, and it may take some time to get results."