Upon hearing this, Long Gan's tone instantly became much more serious.
"Comrade Xu Lai, after a week of research by relevant experts on the mutated ants I captured and the blood of the victims who were poisoned by the mutated red ants, it was discovered that these mutated red ants were infected by a virus!"
"The virus they contain overlaps with an ancient virus recorded in scientists' databases!"
Long Gan patiently added another explanation.
"What? An ancient virus? Where did this virus originate? Could it be from...?"
Xu Lai was also frightened and at a loss by her own guess.
"Yes, it comes from melting polar ice caps!"
The effects of this ancient virus are very likely to be difficult to control in a short period of time and will eventually be known to the public. Therefore, Long Gan does not intend to hide it from the girl he has dealt with several times.
Upon hearing the deep, magnetic voice on the phone, filled with unwavering certainty, Xu Lai's mind went blank for a moment, as if she were starving.
"The ancient glacial virus—the reason these poisonous red ants mutated was actually due to the influence of the ancient glacial virus!"
Xu Lai herself found it somewhat unbelievable.
When it comes to understanding ancient glacial viruses, what impressed her most was a scientific report she had once read about them.
The content is that in 2009, Russian scientists discovered a complete mammoth carcass in the Siberian permafrost.
Then, a live bacterium, Bacillus F, which is very similar to Bacillus, was detected in the mammoth carcass.
Further research revealed that these Bacillus F bacteria had survived in the permafrost for as long as 3.5 million years.
In an effort to unlock the secret to the longevity of this ancient bacterium, the scientist eventually injected it into several common plants.
The final experimental results showed that the plants injected with this ancient bacteria not only grew well, but also grew much taller than the plants that were not injected with this ancient bacteria.
Since the outbreak of the global extreme heat disaster, the highest temperature of over 50 degrees Celsius per day, which is the limit of human endurance, has lasted for almost half a year.
Extreme global heatwaves have caused permanent glaciers at the poles to melt, and these glaciers can induce mutations in the bodies of insects and animals within a short period of time.
That's why red ants can mutate to enormous sizes and have more potent toxins in a short period of time.
"Then why haven't humans been affected by this ancient virus?"
"Also, Captain Long, this prolonged period of extreme heat has caused the ground to crack and become barren. How could poisonous insects like red ants survive?"
Xu Lai continued to voice her doubts.
"Comrade Xu Lai, do you know how deep the nest of these mutated red ants has been dug?"
Using specialized equipment, we discovered that their nests were dug to depths of ten to twenty meters underground!
On the other end of the phone, Long Gan first answered Xu Lai's second question, and when he presented the data, he still had an incredulous look on his face.
"Survival of the fittest" applies to all living things. Under these extreme conditions, not only humans but also insects instinctively seek out places suitable for their survival.
After thanking the man repeatedly and hanging up the phone, Xu Lai fell into her own thoughts again.
Since these red ants survived deep underground in this extremely hot and harsh weather, could there be other creatures surviving in large numbers deep underground?
If there are indeed stronger animals surviving deep underground, and they are also infected by this ancient glacial virus, their size will mutate to dozens of times larger, which would be a catastrophic disaster for humanity.
Thinking of this, even Xu Lai, who possessed a spatial ability, suddenly felt a sense of fear.
No, taking advantage of the time before the potentially large-sized mutated toxins appeared, Xu Lai quickly contacted the Xiao and Lu families to hold an emergency meeting at her home.
In order to survive well in this harsh environment in the future, they need to make more preparations.
They've used up all the steel protective netting they searched for last time, so they need to search for some more to replace it.
A year and a half after the apocalyptic disaster, everything good in the commercial streets, shopping malls, and office buildings outside was washed away and destroyed by the flood.
The surviving people had taken most of the items from the upper floors of the building, but the steel safety netting left on the windows, which had been left unused before, was still there.
"Great! I didn't expect to find so much steel protective netting in the remaining houses on this commercial street!"
After a busy day, Grandpa Xiao, Li Qingya, Grandpa Lu, and his daughter-in-law Leng Jiajia couldn't stop smiling when they saw the steel protective netting they had dismantled and piled up like a small mountain.
"We'll each keep one set at home to replace them, and we can sell the extras at the secondhand market!"
Among them, Grandpa Lu and his daughter-in-law were the happiest.
They used to sell ice bricks with an ice maker. Not long after they paid back the work points they owed the Xu family, the water supply to the neighborhood was cut off.
During this period, their drinking water was initially delivered daily by the military using water tankers.
Since last week, after the well-drilling team arranged by the government conducted exploration and investigation in the community, they finally drilled wells more than 200 meters deep in two locations and finally found water.
The daily water output from these two deep wells is just enough for each household in the community to barely draw two buckets of water a day.
The ice cream business eventually had to shut down due to a water shortage.
If we can bring back some high-quality steel protective netting to sell every day, our family will have some extra income, right?
"Since it's getting dark, we'll take back the steel protective netting we've reserved for our own use. As for the rest, I'll ask Brother Chen, with whom I often do business, for advice!"
Xu Lai made the final decision and revealed Chen Cheng's identity as a middleman to everyone.
Xu Lai originally intended to sell the remaining steel protective netting at a street stall near the community.
Just thinking about the attack by the mutated red ant swarm, coupled with the government's extensive publicity about the mutated ants to protect people's lives, now everyone closes their doors and windows tightly as soon as it gets dark, and only comes out to move around when it gets light.
It was just a little cold in the early morning, so they had to take advantage of that time to go out and search for steel protective netting.
So they simply don't have time to set up street stalls.
Moreover, her middleman brother Chen Cheng has many wealthy customers, so the price of this steel protective netting might be even higher.
The Xiao and Lu families nodded in support of her decision.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com