With the alien assistants who were jointly operating the "Discoverer" in their respective positions, Todd himself took on the role of "Inheritor of the Reconnaissance System".
After being stained, the spring water sample was placed in the observation chamber. After being subjected to 'wind pressure' vacuum treatment, under Todd's instructions, Rachel fine-tuned the position of 'Tesla' and slowly increased the voltage intensity. The 'focusing' variant collected and amplified the photons emitted by the electron beam and burned them onto the white paper.
Todd looked at the final image on the white paper. He could barely make out the general situation within the sample, but it was still too blurry.
After trying more than ten times, Todd chose the one that looked the clearest.
The paper showed a strange object attached to the surface of a giant bacterium. It looked somewhat like the cratered surface of the moon, with a 'lunar module' placed on it.
Looking at this thing with four legs and a spherical body, Todd felt more and more familiar with it. This thing seemed to be the most common virus in his previous life - the 'bacteriophage'.
Bacteriophages are the most common and diverse viruses in the microscopic world of our past lives. It's no exaggeration to say that a single liter of water may contain trillions of different bacteriophages—more than all the stars in the universe combined. No wonder some biologists say that compared to the world of viruses, the universe is but a speck of dust.
The principle of bacteriophage lysis of bacteria can be summarized in a few simple sentences. First, "landing on bacteria": the bacteriophage's tail attaches to the bacterial cell wall. Second, "spawning": the bacteriophage inserts its tail shaft into the cell wall, like a syringe, injecting its DNA into the bacteria. Third, "hatching": the bacteriophage uses the "nutrients" within the bacterial cell to massively replicate the DNA and proteins of its progeny bacteriophages. Finally, much like an alien erupting from the host, the progeny phages consume all the bacteria and then swarm out to find their next victim.
However, generally speaking, bacteriophages, as viruses, are different from broad-spectrum antibiotics like penicillin. A single bacteriophage can only lyse one type of bacteria, which may sound useless, but compared to antibiotics, they have many advantages.
for example:
1. Low harm. Most bacteriophages only attack specific bacteria and do not harm normal cells and beneficial bacteria in the human body.
Second, fewer antibodies. Bacteria have difficulty developing antibodies against bacteriophages, but they have a high chance of developing immunity to antibiotics and may even transform into superbugs.
Third, no residue. Bacteriophages are host-dependent and die as the bacterial host disappears, leaving no residue in the human body to trigger a series of toxic reactions.
Fourth, it is easy to use. Bacteriophages have a short development cycle and low cost. Bacterial fragments can be purified and separated through simple centrifugation. They can be stored at room temperature for a long time and are easy to transport and apply.
Of course, bacteriophages have many other uses besides these, which will not be detailed here. (They play a very important role with heterologous bacteria, which will be mentioned later.)
After figuring out the truth about how the spring water could "cure" the alien species, Todd began to study these bacteriophages further and discovered two interesting things: most of the bacteriophages in the spring water only targeted alien bacteria and had no effect on other bacteria; almost every alien bacteria in the West Coast Ability Reserve could find a specific bacteriophage predator in the spring water.
There is one more crucial thing.
The bacteriophages in the spring water were ineffective against the 'Sutherland archaea'.
Todd initially found this incredible, but after repeated experiments, he verified the result. When bacteriophages landed on the Sutherland archaea, they would lose their vitality after a period of time and eventually decay. The specific reason for this was impossible to determine with this primitive electron microscope.
In summary, bacteriophages can "cure" alien species, but are ineffective against "inheritors".
Todd finally breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving this result.
Next, toxicological tests will be conducted on the spring water.
Todd took five mice as a group and fed them spring water according to their tolerance levels. After a week of observation, he found that the five mice had different degrees of high fever, erythema and dehydration, the same symptoms as the dead children in the Valkyrie Village.
After further dissection and testing, Todd finally found the crux of the problem.
This spring water, containing a high density of bacteriophage viruses, while mostly composed of harmless bacteriophages, still contains a small portion that is toxic. The toxic portion damages the immune systems of the test subjects, causing secondary infections due to weakened immune function. This is especially problematic for infants, whose bodies are not yet fully developed and whose immune systems are already compromised. Coupled with villages lacking food and water, feeding them this spring water is tantamount to administering a slow-acting poison to the infants every day.
As for those Valkyries, why didn't they show any symptoms of infection?
According to Todd's speculation, they must have obtained a large number of "Sutherland archaea" through some means and stored them in their bodies. When bacteriophages invaded, the archaea became a barrier to their bodies and saved their lives.
Upon learning of this, Todd immediately summoned Huggins and instructed him to send his subordinates to Claw Island as quickly as possible to find the Valkyrie and tell them to immediately stop using the village's spring water and switch to other fresh water sources.
No sooner had Huggins left than Cumberland showed up at the door.
The old knight, dressed in full armor, asked Todd as soon as he saw him, "Commander, do you have time?"
The latter, thinking that the experiment on the spring water had just come to an end, decided to listen to what Cumberland had to say.
The two arrived at the Grand Master's office at the Knights' headquarters. Cumberland didn't even bother to sit down and went straight to the point: "Grand Master, the army that will be sent to the North Stone Mine is scheduled to depart in three days. I would like you to be the commander."
Todd asked in surprise, "What? You have other things to do? You can't participate in this battle?"
The old knight shook his head: "I will participate in this expedition..."
"Then why should I be appointed as the commander?"
Cumberland's brow furrowed with anger: "Commander-in-Chief, forgive this old man for speaking out of turn, but you've been spending far too much time in the lab!"
Todd was completely bewildered by Cumberland's sudden, nonsensical remark.
Cumberland looked at the 'Umbrella' flag in the Grand Master's office and said in as calm a tone as possible, "In the past, you were the Grand Master of the Twilight Knights, the spiritual leader of the entire order. It was true that you could entrust the war to the High Priest and the Legion Commander. But from now on, everything will be different. If we successfully occupy the North Stone Mine this time, it will mean that the 'Twilight Knights Kingdom' will be officially established, and you will bear the dual responsibility of being both the leader of the Knights and the secular king."
Cumberland paused, then turned his gaze to Todd: "A lamb that grazes in the pen with its head down can never lead a pack of wolves! Lord Todd, believe me, as a king, you need to step out of that damned 'Tower of Babel' and let your people, your soldiers, see your victorious figure on the battlefield!"
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