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Chapter 158: 158

Chen Chen waited for a moment after the crystalline regained its blue luster .

After ten minutes, Chen Chen tested with the radiation detector again and noticed that the radiation level had reverted to normal levels .

Upon noting this, Chen Chen took the cage out of the quarantine zone . He collected blood samples from the four mice and also chipped off a small piece of the crystalline and had it sealed .

Chen Chen then took out a marker to label the irradiated mice . They were labeled A1, A2, A3, and A4 respectively . The cage was labeled as Cage A .

The other cage was labeled as Cage B afterward . Three mice were taken out of Cage B and settled into Cage A . The final mouse in Cage B was taken into the quarantine zone .

Chen Chen repeated the same set of procedures as before, extracting the same piece of crystalline from the computer and placing it into the cage .

The crystalline released its radiation again and the lone mouse was thus irradiated .

Fortunately, the lone mouse which was exposed to the radiation all by itself did not display any signs of vital instability .

Following this, Chen Chen left the room again and moved the healthy mice previously moved to the other cage back to its original cage . He also labeled the lone mouse which had been irradiated as B1 and collected blood samples .

Chen Chen left the laboratory with the collected blood samples and the remnant of the crystalline .

The devices from Switzerland were not imported into the underground base yet so the blood tests would still have to be conducted in the research center for now .

Chen Chen took off the protective suit and returned to the research center with the blood samples and both the A and B cages in tow .

Chen Chen was worried about the off chance that these irradiated mice would somehow manage to escape while he was gone . Despite the small chance of it happening, it was better to be cautious since they were mice exposed to the crystalline radiation .

When Chen Chen returned to the research center, he passed the blood samples to the relevant department to have them produce a report on the complete blood count and microRNA of the mice soonest possible .

Next, Chen Chen found a vacant small laboratory where he locked the door and began to observe the state of the mice in the cages .

The first thing he did was place the mice in the two cages into two larger steel cages . Next, he placed several melon seeds in both cages A and B to get them to fight for it .

Throughout the entire sequence, there were no signs that may resemble the usage of superpowers .

Chen Chen thought about it and decided to get two scoops of melon seeds and place them outside both cages A and B respectively . This way, the mice could see them but could not access them .

As expected, the group of mice was starting to get anxious . Two of them constantly tried to poke their heads through the gap of the steel cage . However, due to the compact netting of the steel cage, they only managed to stick out the tips of their noses .

Chen Chen observed silently with an experiment recorder set up to film the experiment .

After two to three hours, the pile of melon seeds remained outside the cage completely untouched .

At the same time, the results for the complete blood count were out . Chen Chen looked at the blood count reading and noticed that the irradiated mice seemed to display signs of leukopenia, albeit not very severe .

Of course, these were just the initial symptoms .

Even for regular people exposed to radiation, the potentially harmful effects may only surface after several weeks or months .

It was the same for mice . Experiments had been performed by testing two groups of mice, one exposed to a lethal amount of radiation and the other a non-lethal amount . It took three to four weeks before any vivid observation could be noted .

This meant that the microRNA tests should be essential .

A microRNA was a small non-coding RNA molecule involved in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation found in plants and animals . There were speculations that RNA regulated one-third of human gene expression .

After yet another hour, the microRNA results were released . From group A, 13% to 15% of microRNA in all four mice were exposed to radiation changes . This reading increased to 19% for group B .

Chen Chen allowed himself a sigh of relief upon noting these results, all his worries were gone .

Due to time concerns, there was no way to investigate the later effects for now . Still, he was at least able to confirm that this radiation did not cause any life-threatening issue .

There was no longer any need for concern at this point .

Upon returning to the cages, Chen Chen raised his eyebrows in wonder when he saw what was on the table .

While he was looking at the laboratory report, the irradiated mouse in Cage B was gnawing away at a large melon seed .

The pile of melon seeds outside the cage seemed to have been moved as well . It was as if an invisible hand had nudged them toward the direction of the cage .

The mouse labeled B1 had undoubtedly begun practicing the use of its superpowers .

Upon noting this fact, Chen Chen waited for it to finish the seed before capturing it from the cage . With his right hand holding its head, he pulled its tail with his left hand!

“Crack!”

The little mouse which had just learned to use its superpower and had a bright future ahead of it left the world without so much as a whimper .

After that, Chen Chen executed all of the mice in the two cages one by one . He found a bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid and poured it into a large beaker, and then threw the carcasses of all the mice in it .

It did occur to Chen Chen to keep these mice alive for long term observation, but he ultimately gave up on the idea .

After all, the items instantiated from the USB drive were still more reliable . The same logic applied from the earliest NZT-48 to the immunity shot, even to the more recent AD-001 . Keeping this group of mice alive may cause him problems in the future .

Next, Chen Chen returned to the underground laboratory . This time, he did not put on a protective suit . Instead, he entered the quarantine zone and turned on the computer to make a copy of Chronicle 2: Darkness Rises and inserted it into the USB drive .

Chen Chen, who was well familiar with the routine, straight away dragged the movie to the part with the cut crystal .

Chen Chen took a deep breath before reaching into the computer screen…

When he pulled his hand back out, the crystalline with its faint blue glow appeared in his palm .

The moment it came out, the crystalline sensed the biological force field and immediately emitted a piercing screech . The blue glow was slowly replaced with a red tint!

It was releasing radiation .

Chen Chen remained holding the crystalline this way . He felt the crystal slowly heating up before subsequently cooling down .

Five minutes later, the crystalline had reverted to its original form .

That was it?

Chen Chen put down the crystalline and tried to feel some changes in his body to no avail .

Next, he turned to the marker pen beside him and began to imagine the pen being lifted by an invisible hand . No matter how hard he tried to visualize it, nothing came out of it .

Was it because the dosage was too small?

Chen Chen shook his head . There was a scene in the movie that mentioned that a lot of users who had been exposed to the crystalline radiation hoped to get more crystalline . This meant that the radiation effect was additive .

Arriving at this thought, Chen Chen instantiated yet another crystalline and absorbed it as he did previously .

This time, Chen Chen felt something in his head that he could not put into words…

Chen Chen frowned . There was a hot sensation in his nose which made him rub his nose instinctively .

A small puddle of blood appeared before him .

Was this an indication of the beginning stages of acquiring the superpower?

Chen Chen wondered silently .