It's reasonable for me to have a two-way foil for a second-level civilization, right?

Life in the Ammonia Oceans of Ice Giants?

In the next second, he shook his head and put the thought that flashed through his mind behind him.

Are you kidding me?

Not to mention the possibility of life in the liquid ammonia, the environment around the exploration ship at this moment is hell-like for normal creatures.

Because the possibility of life in ice giants has never been considered, among all the people present, there are no researchers who specialize in biology.

So, just to be on the safe side, Lu Yongchang pondered for a moment and said.

"Zero, let Mao Zhengzhi come over."

……

After ten minutes.

Academician Mao Zhengzhi rushed to the gate of the command center with a look of haste.

Looking at the busy scene in the command center, a trace of doubt flashed in Mao Zhengzhi's eyes.

If he remembered correctly, isn't he here to direct the mineral exploration mission of the ice giant?

Why did Professor Lu call him over?

Full of doubts, he stepped into the gate of the command center.

Mao Zhengzhi, who had just entered the door, saw Lu Yongchang standing in front of a holographic projection, frowning, as if he had encountered some difficulty.

Mao Zhengzhi was slightly startled.

It seemed that he hadn't seen Lu Yongchang like this for a long time.

He immediately straightened his expression and walked forward.

"Professor?" He called out in a low voice after approaching.

"Here? Come and have a look."

Lu Yongchang didn't turn his head, still staring at the holographic projection in front of him.

Mao Zhengzhi's eyes became even more perplexed.

But looking at Lu Yongchang's appearance, he didn't want to ask more questions, so he could only quickly move to Lu Yongchang's side.

When he saw the various data in the holographic projection, like Lu Yongchang, his brows were also tightly frowned.

"hiss……"

"This is... protein?"

As the top biology academician of the People's Federation, Mao Zhengzhi noticed the problem at first sight.

"This, isn't this right?"

"What about carbon?"

"Where did the carbon element go?!"

"Wait, that's not carboxy either!"

"Professor, what the hell is this?!"

Faced with this never-before-seen magical substance, he initiated a series of inquiries to Lu Yongchang.

only……

At this time, Lu Yongchang was obviously still in deep thought.

Faced with Mao Zhengzhi's continuous inquiries, Lv Yongchang's eyes moved slightly, and he answered the wrong question: "Do you also think this looks like protein?"

Without getting an accurate answer, Mao Zhengzhi couldn't help showing a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

He hastily stepped forward, reached out and swiped quickly on the holographic projection: "Of course!"

"If we ignore the problem of the carbon atom..."

"Look, these should be polypeptide chains, they are intertwined, folded, and helical, forming a complex three-dimensional structure!"

Mao Zhengzhi kept waving his hands, marking one area after another in the holographic projection.

"This is a secondary structure..."

"This is level three! This should be a level three structure!"

"These are substances found in the liquid ammonia ocean of ice giants." Lu Yongchang said softly.

"This..." The movements of Mao Zhengzhi's hands suddenly stopped, and he widened his eyes, "A sea of ​​liquid ammonia?!"

"That's right." Lu Yongchang stretched his hand across the air, and the holographic projection in front of him switched accordingly. "Unlike the proteins we are familiar with, the main component of this substance is amides."

"Amide...it's actually an amide..." Mao Zhengzhi's eyes lighted up slightly, he clasped his hands together, and paced back and forth on the spot.

At the same time, his lips quivered rapidly, as if he was muttering something silently.

Lu Yongchang didn't interrupt his movements, but just stood quietly and waited.

"So it is, so it is!"

"Professor, I understand!"

Chapter 474 Amino Life

"Amino life, right?"

Lu Yongchang said softly.

The excited expression on Mao Zhengzhi's face gradually stiffened, and he swallowed the words that came to his lips.

"Teach, professor...you have already thought of it?"

Lu Yongchang was still staring at the holographic projection in front of him, waved his hand casually and said, "Just like you, I just thought of it."

Mao Zhengzhi heaved a sigh of relief, and the stiff expression on his face eased a little.

"Amide, a compound with an acyl group connected to a nitrogen atom, an organic compound formed by replacing the hydroxyl group in a carboxylic acid with an amino group." Lu Yongchang's eyes were full of surprise, "I didn't expect it to be able to replace the basic amino acid to form a polypeptide chain..."

Unlike Lu Yongchang, Mao Zhengzhi's eyes were full of excitement at this time.

As a biology academician, this brand new life form firmly attracted his attention like a magnet!

Although up to now, only peptide-like chains and protein-like proteins have been discovered, the appearance of this organic matter directly proves the possibility of the existence of amino life!

"Professor, where were these substances found?"

Mao Zhengzhi asked, "I mean, in what area of ​​the liquid ammonia ocean was it discovered?"

Lu Yongchang pointed to the huge holographic projection in the distance: "263.1km below the sea surface, about 23344 standard atmospheric pressure."

"Damn it?" Mao Zhengzhi was stunned for a moment when he heard this.

This data is too terrifying for human beings or carbon-based life on earth!

But soon, Mao Zhengzhi came back to his senses and began to think.

"If there really is amino life in ice giants..."

"In such an environment, their physical strength should be very exaggerated?"

he muttered to himself.

The speaker does not intend, the listener intends.

Lu Yongchang's face changed suddenly, and he suddenly turned his head to look at the huge holographic image in the distance.

"Floating!"

"Zero! Control [Poseidon] and go up immediately!!!"

But apparently, it was too late.

"[Poseidon] call the command center!" Hope's voice came out from the speaker at the same time, "We have encountered an unknown situation!!!"

……

Ice giants, liquid ammonia oceans.

ten minutes ago.

Hope and Hansen silently looked at the deep ocean outside the porthole, and sighed in unison.

The two who noticed this looked at each other with wry smiles on their faces.

"I don't know when we will be able to go back..." Hansen stretched vigorously, "This exploration mission is really not done by humans."

Hope nodded with deep understanding.

Thinking of the 263km of liquid ammonia covering his head, he felt his scalp go numb.

He turned his head to look at the playing cards on the side, and smacked his lips lightly: "Wait a little longer."

"We can relax a bit when the research results from Dawn Star come out and we continue the dive mission."

Hansen nodded noncommittally, and once again turned his gaze to the holographic projection ahead.

In holographic projection, it is the external image sent back by each camera.

Looking at the dark, borderless picture, Hansen shivered slightly.

"It always feels like something is staring at us... Do you have this feeling?"

Hope was stunned for a moment, and after realizing it, he couldn't help but swear.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Perhaps because he was taken aback by Hansen's words, Hope stretched out his hand and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms vigorously, and said angrily: "This tmd, what can there be in the liquid ammonia ocean at a depth of 263km? Aliens?"

Hansen also felt that his words were a bit outrageous, he scratched his head with a smirk, and apologized repeatedly: "My mine."

"It's just... I really feel that way."

"Maybe I stayed in this small space for a long time. When the mission is over, I have to go back and take care of myself..."

As he spoke, Hansen's voice became smaller and smaller until it stopped.

"Huh?" At this time, Hope hadn't noticed the problem, and asked subconsciously, "What are you going to do when you go back?"

"It's not like staying at home again..."

"Shh!" Hansent hissed hard, interrupting Hope's words, "Hope, you, look carefully at this camera screen, I seem to see a little light..."

"Bright light?" Hope frowned, turned his head to look in the direction of Hansent's finger, and said suspiciously, "I said, don't you have hallucinations due to too much pressure?"

"I remember there is medicine in the warehouse, wait for me to give it to you..."

Hope's voice paused suddenly, then he raised his hand and rubbed his eyes vigorously.

That's right.

In the image sent back by the camera, there is a flickering orange-red light flickering in the endless darkness.

"It seems... there is really light?" He said with some uncertainty.

The next moment, he came back to his senses, his face changed slightly, and he shouted to Hansen who was beside him in a daze: "What are you doing in a daze?!"

"Turn on the sonar and see what it is!"

While talking, he pressed a few buttons on the holographic projection.

"[Poseidon] call the command center!"

"We have encountered the unknown! Repeat! We have encountered the unknown!"

There was hardly any waiting, Lu Yongchang's serious voice came from the speaker.

"what happened?"

Hansent on the side was turning on the sonar system that had just been shut down for active detection.

"We, we found a light source." Hope swallowed, staring at the camera image in the holographic projection, and whispered.

"light source?"

"Yes, what the camera on [Poseidon]'s abdomen sees is orange-red flashing light. The flashing interval is about ten seconds. The position of the light source... should be below our side." Hope reported in a hurry.

The moment the voice fell, Zero had already called up all the camera images on the exploration ship.

Lu Yongchang frowned slightly.