Speaking of the red egg, Zhou Jianmin seemed somewhat undecided as well. After a brief hesitation, he pressed,
"Comrade Lin Yi, are you certain this red egg interferes with signals?"
"Positive," Lin Yi replied with a nod, glancing down at the red egg beside his feet. "I ran several follow-up experiments and can confirm it possesses signal-jamming properties.
"Except, of course, for our cross-world communication. That has remained rock solid from start to finish."
Just as Lin Yi said, he had conducted simple verifications both on his way back to the sect and after returning.
For instance, he had placed the red egg on the ground and flown thirty meters away, or attempted to stream video between his phone and tablet...
After several trials, it turned out that apart from cross-world communication, it could block everything—even the h11 and the drone's T03 tactical data link.
Inside the Think Tank base, Zhou Jianmin rubbed the stubble on his chin upon hearing the confirmation.
From Lin Yi's description, the red egg appeared to have some kind of highly selective jamming capability.
He just didn't know how broad its interference spectrum was...
"What about its origin?"
Waiting until the nearby recording clerk completed both written and video backups of their exchange, Zhou Jianmin quickly asked, "Can you identify or guess what kind of demon beast egg it is? Even an uncertain guess will do."
"Uh..."
Lin Yi scratched his head, straining his memory with all the exertion of a constipated man trying to pass stubborn waste, but in the end let out a regretful sigh. "Sorry, Director Zhou, I really can't imagine what kind of demon beast lays an egg like this..."
In Lin Yi's understanding, oviparous demon beasts were basically either birds or snakes, or perhaps their upgraded kin, the flood dragons.
Adding the condition of being crimson...
All Lin Yi could think of was the Red Luan bird.
Yet Red Luan birds were super-massive demon beasts whose eggs were usually about the size of a person like Ryoko, a world apart from the red egg he had retrieved.
Even if there happened to be the kind of lolicon in the Red Luan flock deserving of an immediate 7.62 mm intravenous lead injection, they still couldn't possibly lay an egg this tiny.
"Don't worry about it, Comrade Lin Yi."
Zhou Jianmin wasn't surprised by the answer. After pondering for a moment, he told him, "How about this: later on, the transmigration point will transmit several pieces of equipment to you.
"Use them first to measure the red egg's interference spectrum and other parameters, to see if we can analyze anything from a technological angle.
"If there really is no other way, store it safely for now, and see if there's an opportunity to transmit it back in a while."
"Sure, uh—wait!" Lin Yi reflexively agreed, but in the middle of speaking he jolted, his voice warbling with rising and falling tones: "Director Zhou, what did you just say? In a while... transmit the red egg back??!!"
One had to understand: while the red egg's origin and characteristics were unknown, it was definitely not an inanimate object.
Lin Yi had previously tried storing it in his Storage Pouch, only to have the pouch reject it on the spot.
In theory, there were only two reasons an item could not be stored in a Storage Pouch:
First, its volume was too large, exceeding the pouch's internal capacity.
Second...
It was a living organism with macroscopic signs of life—with spiritual plants being a special exception.
A figure of Zhou Jianmin's stature obviously wouldn't make a careless verbal slip...
At this thought, Lin Yi's aging heart suddenly began racing. He asked tentatively, "Director Zhou, could you mean that living beings can also..."
"Comrade Lin Yi, let me state this in advance."
Before Lin Yi could finish, Zhou Jianmin cut him off with a chuckle. "I only said there might be an opportunity down the line. Nothing is finalized yet.
"What I can tell you right now is that the expert team has achieved a milestone breakthrough in spiritual energy excitation and spatial transmission. The relevant theories are currently undergoing accelerated optimization and refinement.
"At our current pace, we may attempt experimental transmissions of small living organisms in a while. In short, just keep it in mind."
Zhou Jianmin spoke rather conservatively, hedging his words with maybes and non-finalized plans.
Yet the thumping of Lin Yi's heart showed no sign of slowing down.
He knew the rabbits' habits all too well.
If they didn't have absolute confidence in something, they would never disclose it ahead of time.
Just like the "North and South Little Six" that had stunned the entire world back then—they were officially revealed to the public only after their test flights.
So the only question remaining was what "in a while" actually meant.
A couple of days?
A couple of weeks?
Or two months?
In any case, from Zhou Jianmin's tone, it certainly wouldn't take until after he had passed away in meditation.
As for the "small living organisms," Lin Yi had a general expectation.
Unless dwarfs had been discovered in the home world during the time he had been transmigrated, they could only be creatures outside the genus Homo.
But that didn't matter.
As long as small living organisms could cross between the two worlds, items like spiritual plants from the Tianling Realm could likewise be sent back to the home world.
With the home world's technological reserves in microscopic fields, the research value of spiritual plants would most likely be on par with spirit stones.
In terms of short-term scientific output, research into spiritual plants might even surpass spirit stones.
In his soaring mood, Lin Yi almost felt like shouting, *The advantage is mine!*
Of course, before the words left his mouth, he swallowed them back down.
Popping the champagne early was never wise. Just look at the certain someone who had said those very words back then—he had ended up entrenched all the way over on the Treasure Island...
Lin Yi threw a couple of punches in the air to blow off steam, then gradually calmed down. "Understood, Director Zhou. I'll await the good news. Whenever you need my cooperation, just say the word."
"Of course, of course," Zhou Jianmin gave a hearty laugh before adding, "Still, transmitting living beings is a matter for the future. Let's focus on the present first.
"If you have no other questions, I'll switch the signal over to Comrade Yongnian so the two of you can coordinate this round of supply transmissions."
Lin Yi naturally had no objection. "No problem."
The signal source switched swiftly.
A moment later, Pan Yongnian—who had returned to the transmigration point yesterday on standby—joined the line and greeted Lin Yi warmly: "Good morning, Comrade Lin Yi. This is Pan Yongnian."
Lin Yi glanced up at the moon in the sky, deciding against being pedantic. "Good morning, Academician Pan."
"Comrade Lin Yi," after exchanging pleasantries, Pan Yongnian got straight down to business, "as per standard procedure, let me briefly synchronize you on the contents of this supply batch.
"About half of the materials transmitted from the home world this time are still ordnance supplies. Factoring in the previous military equipment, the Guihua Sect's air-defense firepower can essentially be considered preliminarily established.
"The other half consists of precision surveying and sampling instruments. They're essentially dummy-proof, automated systems that begin working with a single button press. You just need to transmit the data drives back at regular intervals. I'm sorry to trouble you so much with this..."
As Pan Yongnian spoke, a faint note of apology crept into his voice.
After all, as of now, the state could not yet truly support the Guihua Sect in return. On paper, it was a two-way transmission, but in practice, Lin Yi had been providing almost all the blood in a one-way transfusion.
Hopefully, after this transmission, things would begin to change...
Chapter 47