I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 55: Chapter 54: The Lost Person

It was just like when the Transparent Race first discovered the Flesh Race.

Liang Zhi watched as the green liquid dripped onto the ground, where it remained without disappearing.

But unlike the Transparent Race People, he didn’t think it was some kind of ”immortal substance.”

In his world, the development of biology had proceeded without any major deviations, except that the role normally played by regular cells was completely filled by Theseus Cells.

All the necessary theoretical explanations were there; Liang Zhi simply believed he had discovered a new form of life.

He checked the database and found no records of any creature that secreted a long-lasting green fluid after death.

He was thrilled. This strange creature had never been discovered, which meant he could earn a lot of points by uploading a biological sample.

And as he slowly explored the area, he encountered more and more creatures that had never been discovered.

After carefully searching the database again, he discovered that these creatures had already been documented. It was just their post-mortem characteristics that were completely different.

At the same time, Liang Zhi also discovered that the one thing these creatures had in common was that their bodies didn’t turn transparent after death.

His interest piqued, he ventured deeper and deeper until he reached the habitat of the Tree Transformations.

Following a group of simple-minded Tree Transformations, he evaded many terrifying creatures and arrived at the Big Tree Cave.

Then, he passed through the Big Tree Cave and arrived in this world.

Hearing this, Mo Ling’s heart suddenly went cold.

’So he’s from the Anti-Cell World?’

Mo Ling had a sudden realization. He should have thought of it sooner: if he could travel to that world through the Big Tree Cave, then someone could also travel from there to here.

When Captain Su and the others learned of this, the atmosphere grew even more tense.

Liang Zhi quickly told the surrounding soldiers to relax, assuring them he meant no harm.

Once he saw everyone relax a little, he continued his story.

When he first came through the Big Tree Cave, he didn’t realize he had arrived in another world.

Everything looked exactly the same.

Even the path back to the monitoring station was identical.

After coming out of the Big Tree Cave, Liang Zhi rushed back to the monitoring station and submitted his sample.

As a result, he was thoroughly chewed out by the staff at the research institute.

”Why would you bring back a common insect? You’re wasting our time,” the researcher said angrily, holding the sample he had submitted.

He quickly explained, ”But after this insect dies, it secretes a green liquid that doesn’t disappear! Look at the color in this sample—it’s completely opaque, as if it’s still alive.”

”I suspect this is a regenerative type of organism. It uses some special method to preserve the shape of its corpse, and after life has ceased, it uses another method to reanimate the body.”

Liang Zhi explained his theory with great earnestness, but all he received in return was a strange look from the researcher.

The researcher touched his forehead. ”Are you talking about zombies? I’m starting to suspect *you’re* a zombie and your brain’s already been eaten. You should go see a doctor.”

The argument went nowhere and only made the researcher laugh in exasperation. He started to joke with him, ”I’ll tell you what, it’s not just this insect. After humans die, they also become another type of life-form.”

”This life-form is called a ’Jiang.’ It might be from an infection of hostile energy, or maybe it absorbed the essence of the heavens and earth, like yin energy from the moonlight. The corpse doesn’t decay, and after a certain amount of time, it can start moving again.”

”Depending on how long they’ve been reanimated, their appearance, and how they move, they’re divided into six levels: White Zombie, Black Zombie, Jumping Zombie, Flying Zombie, Ba, and Mo. Your little insect has already reached the Ba level! So I’ll name it the Insect Plague. How does that sound?”

Having never heard such stories in his own world, Liang Zhi was completely dumbfounded. He almost believed him, thinking this was some kind of secret knowledge of the Abyss.

A short while later, Liang Zhi returned to the Hunter’s rest area with his sample, completely bewildered.

He was still convinced there was nothing wrong with his sample, so he used the equipment at the rest area to continue his search for information.

And that was when he discovered something was wrong.

’I’ve crossed over to another world?’

Liang Zhi discovered that this world’s entire concept of biology was different.

’There’s more than one type of cell?’

He flipped through the data in disbelief for two straight days. It wasn’t until he was faint with hunger that he cautiously made his way to the monitoring station’s cafeteria.

He found another rookie Hunter and struck up a conversation.

”Are you hurt?” he asked, pointing to the Hunter’s arm. It was wrapped in a bandage, and traces of dark red scabs were visible.

”Yeah, got ambushed by an aberration. The first layer of the Abyss is no joke... my whole team was wiped out.” The Hunter looked utterly dejected.

But Liang Zhi wasn’t concerned with his mood; while making small talk, he was carefully observing the Hunter’s wound.

After eating, he returned to the Hunter’s rest area again and, as an experiment, made a cut on his own arm.

Blood flowed out and slowly dried into a dark red scab. Then, the color gradually faded until it eventually became a transparent, solidified substance, like dried glue.

Liang Zhi was finally certain. He had truly arrived in a world where the laws of biology were completely overturned.

He was the sole anomaly in this world.

Liang Zhi felt no fear or discomfort. Instead, he began to constantly absorb this world’s knowledge.

From the classification of cells, to division and differentiation, to single-celled and multicellular organisms, all the way to biological taxonomy—kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

It felt like he was getting to know the world all over again.

To that end, he even joined this world’s research institute, becoming a member of the Seventh Monitoring Station’s institute, which gave him access to its valuable equipment.

At the same time, he also used the institute’s equipment to study himself.

He would also occasionally return to the area around the Big Tree Cave to study the Theseus Cell Life forms.

Before humanity discovered Theseus Cell Life, Liang Zhi was the person who understood it best.

He began studying the differences between the two biological systems, integrating the knowledge from both worlds.

This led to frequent research breakthroughs, allowing him to thrive in the Seventh Monitoring Station’s research institute and steadily rise through the ranks.

Liang Zhi didn’t view the relationship between the two types of cells as competitive. He could accept the principles of both worlds.

He never looked at the problem from the perspective of a single world.

Through his continuous research, he developed a peculiar theory:

The relationship between the two types of cells was like that of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

The only difference was that their evolutionary divergence occurred far, far earlier.

This divergence might even predate the emergence of cells themselves.

The two cell types might simply represent different evolutionary paths taken by a single primordial life-form: one chose to continue differentiating, while the other chose to fix its form.

Liang Zhi believed that these two similar biological building blocks had undergone convergent evolution, independently giving rise to two strikingly similar civilizations.

From the very beginning, there was no ”normal” or ”anti.”