So-called gene insurance is to confine the living environment of mosses within a certain range.
For example, mosses with cold-resistant genes can grow on a large scale in cold regions.
Genes that make these cold-region mosses "intolerant to heat" and "die when it gets slightly warmer" are injected into them, preventing them from expanding into warmer areas.
Similarly, mosses with heat-resistant genes are injected with genes that cause them to "die when the temperature is low," restricting their living environment to hot regions.
The reason for restricting the living environments of different mosses is to prevent them from interbreeding and exchanging genes after reproduction.
This is to nip in the bud the rapid evolution of these organisms, drawing a large prison for them from a genetic perspective.
Two Nebula-class warships worked tirelessly day and night, with thousands of laboratory personnel operating on an assembly line, constantly improving the species samples of Spiral Star according to the requirements of the intelligent fungus.
As the head of the research department, Hua Qing was also transferred to the fleet in orbit around Spiral Star.
Her office was next to Jiang Ye's. On her first day, she had many mechanical soldiers drag cargo carts and deliver wine, box by box, to her office.
As a result, when Jiang Ye went to stretch his body in the corridor after work, he could smell various kinds of wine wafting continuously from Hua Qing's office.
Sometimes, when Hua Qing felt the air conditioning was too hot and the office was stuffy, she would open her office door for ventilation, making the smell of wine even stronger.
When Jiang Ye passed by, he would peek inside and see Hua Qing wearing a cool white tank top and blue shorts, her fair legs dangling back and forth in front of the chair, a dewy sheen of sweat on her skin. The table was littered with empty and full wine bottles. At such times, she would often turn her head to look at Jiang Ye, smiling and greeting him as "Commander."
With Hua Qing in charge, the efficiency of the research team increased significantly, and the speed at which new species were born on Spiral Star also accelerated.
On a Saturday morning, just as Jiang Ye got out of bed and sat at his desk, there was a knock on his office door.
"Come in," Jiang Ye said.
The door opened, and Hua Qing entered, reeking of alcohol, wearing a baggy white pajama set, her hair disheveled, clearly having just woken up not long ago, holding a folder.
"Commander, I spoke with the intelligent fungus for a long time yesterday, and I have some new ideas I'd like to report to you," Hua Qing said, sitting down at the desk.
"Oh?" Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow. "Please, go ahead."
"Please take a look at the new species we plan to create in the coming week first," Hua Qing said, opening the folder and handing a stack of paper documents to Jiang Ye.
The documents contained a lot of information, along with colorful illustrations clearly showing the appearance of the new species. The image quality was like a photograph, likely rendered by a computer program.
As Jiang Ye flipped through a couple of pages, he heard a "pop." Looking up, he saw Hua Qing holding a small can of freshly opened fruit wine and drinking from it, giving an embarrassed smile.
"Let me introduce them to you. The information on these documents is only a part of it," Hua Qing said, changing the subject.
"The first species we plan to deploy on a large scale is the Hive Crab," Hua Qing said. "It's a mini crab about the size of a coin, with no soft shell. Its body structure is actually similar to that of an insect; it's a hybrid bred from several terrestrial insects of Spiral Star and genes from sea crabs."
Jiang Ye found the report. It had several pictures. The juvenile Hive Crabs were almost transparent little beans. As they grew, they became red mini crabs the size of a coin, with two small pincers, but a pinkish lump of flesh at the tail, which was a bit disgusting.
It really looked like an insect with a crab shell added.
"According to its genes, this crab must live in a confined environment and must be in a large group of its own kind, otherwise it will die of fright," Hua Qing said. "We plan to create a crab box similar to a beehive. The box will be about the same size as your office desk, divided into many layers, with many small holes in each layer serving as homes for the Hive Crabs. One crab box can accommodate twenty thousand Hive Crabs."
"The purpose of this thing is..." Jiang Ye looked at the bottom of the report. "Scavenging?"
"Yes, because the seaweed has evolved apoptosis genes, and there is already a lot of dead seaweed in the seas of Spiral Star. However, there is a lack of sufficient fungi to decompose it, so it will continue to accumulate, to the point of becoming a disaster, even squeezing out the living space of the living seaweed," Hua Qing explained. "These Hive Crabs only eat dead seaweed and can effectively clean up dead seaweed."
"As for the crab boxes where these crabs live, they are equipped with electronic components to monitor the situation and transmit data in real-time. This includes the growth, activity, reproduction, mutation, and death of the Hive Crabs," Hua Qing said. "This way, we can ensure that most of the Hive Crabs on Spiral Star are under our surveillance and will not easily get out of control."
Jiang Ye nodded appreciatively. "It sounds like a mature plan."
"The second creature we plan to create is the Coil Worm," Hua Qing said. "Coil Worms also only eat dead moss. After eating it, they calcify and turn into a hard, jade-green little coil."
Jiang Ye looked at the photo printed on the document.
On the fluffy green moss, there was a small worm that resembled a Swiss roll snack. It looked cute, with no legs, nose, or eyes. It seemed to be just a roll of clay, but its surface had a stony luster.
"The reproduction rate of these Coil Worms is not fast, only laying eggs once a month, but we can produce a large number of Coil Worm eggs through laboratory methods," Hua Qing said. "Besides eating dead moss, they can also absorb a lot of toxic gases from the atmosphere, thus purifying the air."
"Its body will calcify?" Jiang Ye noticed a detail. "If it calcifies, it will eventually turn into something like bone, right?"
"Yes, the Coil Worm calcifies as it grows. Initially, its growth speed is faster than its calcification speed, but after it reaches half its size, the calcification speed will surpass its flesh growth speed," Hua Qing said. "So these worms are like slowly turning into stone, gradually growing and hardening from soft eggs, and finally dying rigidly."
"This way..." Jiang Ye counted on his fingers. "The Coil Worms can purify the toxic gases of Spiral Star, clear away dead moss, and finally turn into very unique little stones."
"That's right," Hua Qing nodded. "The concept for this creature was developed by me and the intelligent fungus. We think this design is very exciting. In the future, when Spiral Star is heavily populated, there might be Coil Worm stones everywhere, forming a unique landscape of Spiral Star. Coincidentally, the cross-section of the Coil Worm looks like a spiral. Perhaps the tourism industry of Spiral Star can sell Coil Worm stones as representative souvenirs."
Jiang Ye nodded repeatedly. Judging from the pictures in the document, these Coil Worm stones were quite cute. They didn't have the disgusting characteristics of insects, resembling a children's toy. Their texture reminded him of the shells left by dead shellfish on the beach.
"The previous two were relatively traditional creatures," Hua Qing said, her expression suddenly becoming apprehensive. "The next ones I'm going to introduce to you are electronic creatures, which are a more novel form."