A snail was wriggling slowly inside a transparent square glass box.
It was an amber snail, a species of snail that was found all over the country.
It usually lived in dark and humid places like bushes and ditches. It not only liked heat and humidity, but could also withstand drought and cold. It could also float on water plants and the surface of the water. It fed on humus, lichens, fungi, moss, algae, young leaves of plants, and so on.
The size of the Amber Snail's shell varies greatly. It is usually long and oval, with three to four spiral layers. The shell is five to fifteen millimeters tall and three to eight millimeters wide. The shell is thin, and the shell surface is pale yellow or tan. The body is transparent or translucent and full of luster.
However, the snail inside the glass box had two especially swollen antennae. Compared to a normal amber snail, they looked like two blobs of disgusting growths.
Moreover, in its transparent body, one could clearly see that there were some things inside, but they were not its internal organs.
Suddenly, the snail's wriggling speed increased. It wriggled at a speed that a snail could not normally achieve.
Its two swollen antennae reflected a bright light, as if they had turned into two drills that were constantly rotating and flickering.
"Students, this is a snail that has been infected with parasites. The color and light that you see is actually a large number of parasites wriggling inside its body. "
In this university's biology class, following the teacher's words, the teaching screen played a slow-motion video that had been magnified ten times. It was still the same amber snail, but the students all saw the hair-raising details. It was indeed not a natural luster.
The snail's body was filled with parasites. They kept pushing and pushing against each other.
"Those are the parasites. They caused the snail's body to change and even controlled the snail's brain."
The image on the screen changed. The Double Discoid Fluke was a huge parasite in front of the camera.
Some of the biology students frowned, some were curious and some already knew what was going on.
"First, the snail eats the eggs of the parasites." The middle-aged man's teacher said, "Then the parasites enter the host's body."
"After that, the eggs will develop into sporangia and they will mainly reside in the snail's liver. At this moment, the snail still did not show any signs of abnormality. Perhaps it didn't even know that there were worms in its body, and the nutrients it had painstakingly ingested were constantly being stolen by the parasites. We're not snails, so we're not sure about this, and we don't know how they feel. "
The classroom was filled with laughter, but the students quickly quieted down.
They looked at the simulation on the screen, demonstrating how the parasite grew cercariae, how it grew, and then branched out from the body of the snail, entering the two antennae, and forming a complete sporangium, which was filled with larvae.
It was they that caused the snail's antennae to swell so much that they could not retract normally and could only dangle outside.
Looking at this scene, some of the students really felt that the snails that were infected by the parasites were too pitiful.
"Once it enters the eyestalk of the snail, the Double Disk Fluke will be able to control its host. Snails usually like to be active at night, but after being controlled, they will become active during the day where there is plenty of light, and their movement speed is three times that of a normal snail. This might already be the physiological limit of a snail. "
The teacher pointed at the mutated snail inside the glass case on the podium. Its antennae glowed like neon lights.
"The method that the Double Disk Fluke uses to control the snail has not been discovered yet. Students, it's all up to you now.
However, this parasite is very clever. It will make the snail colorful so that it will lose its sense of fear and walk freely under the sun. It will even control the snail to climb up the taller leaves, the more eye-catching spots. Why? It's for the birds to see. When the birds see something shiny, it looks like a bug, they fly over and eat it. That's actually the antennae of the snail, filled with Double Disk Fluke. "
The teacher paused before picking up a piece of chalk to write on the blackboard. He emphasized, "Aggressive mimicry, in this case, is what the parasite benefits from."
Aggressive mimicry was a biological concept. To put it simply, a creature would use the promise of mating or fake food to trick its prey.
For example, Nepenthes mimics flowers to trap insects that come to collect nectar. Feeding, survival, reproduction, that was the wisdom of nature.
"The snail is the first intermediate host." The teacher continued as he wrote on the blackboard. "The bird is the second intermediate host. After the Double Disk Fluke enters the bird's body, it will reproduce there. Then the eggs will be excreted with the bird's feces, and the feces will be eaten by other snails … This cycle repeats itself. "
The students had goosebumps. The Double Disk Fluke used the snail as its fake food while its prey was the bird.
This small parasite was only centimeters long but it had such a strange and sinister trick.
It could even differentiate between day and night, high and low, conspicuous and hidden.
Regardless of whether this was intelligence or instinct, it was amazing.
"Teacher, can the Double Disk Fluke control birds?" A male student asked.
"There is no evidence to prove that."
"Then can it enter the human body?"
"This is not a human parasite." The teacher smiled. "Our human body is more complex than snails and birds. We have a stronger defense system that can stop the Double Disk Fluke. However, we have many other parasites to deal with, like the iron nematode worm. I know what you want to ask. No, there is no parasite that can control human thoughts and actions. "
"Perhaps there is one, its name is Money." The teacher continued, "Its English name is Money, its Latin name is Aes."
The students in the classroom chuckled again.
Indeed, humans were not snails. Parasites were not that easy to control.
At the same time, in the transparent glass box, the snail was squirming crazily without moving for even a second.
…
Du du, du du. The call connected.
"Hello, is this Wong Ka Wai's mother? I am Lee Woo Ho's mother. Yes, we share the same dormitory. "
"Hello, Woo Ho's mother. How can I help you?"
"It's like this. Last night, Woo Ho told us that he and a few of his classmates were having a party at your place. I called him this morning but there was no answer. It's almost noon now and he still hasn't come home. I have Ka Wai's number and a few other classmates' numbers with me. I called them but no one answered … "
"Is that so … Woo Ho's mother, Ka Wai's father and I are out of town for the next few days. Don't worry, young people will party until late. There's no school today, so it's not unusual for them to stay up all night. Maybe they are still sleeping, so no one answered. "
"I think so too, but it's a little strange … These kids didn't post anything on their social media. Which party did they not post a few times before?"
"Hmm … How about this, I'll ask the property management to send someone to my house to check on them. Maybe they are drunk?"
"Okay, Ka Wai's mother, thank you."
"Ah, don't be so polite. This is Ka Wai's party after all."
The call ended.
Less than half an hour later, the call was connected again.
"Hello, Woo Ho's mother? The security guard went to check just now. No one is home. He also found my garage open. I looked at the picture and saw an MPV driven away. I asked the security guard to check the surveillance. The car was driven out last night. Ka Wai drove it. Woo Ho and the others were in the car … "
"What … Ka Wai can drive? Then, where did they go? "
"I'm not sure yet, Woo Ho's mother. It should be fine. Young people just went out to have some fun. Let's not panic."
"Stop talking, call the police. Let's call the police."
"Wait, it's not that serious yet. Don't make a big deal out of it … Woo Ho's mother, don't think I'm only thinking about my son just because it was Ka Wai who drove. What if it was all of them who did it? We don't know. I mean if, if they touched marijuana, ecstasy, or something like that, calling the police will ruin them. We have to think about the children. "
"Ah! You … Isn't it our first priority to consider whether they're safe or not? Our Woo Ho is not the type to touch drugs. "
"I'm just giving an example. Wait, Woo Ho's mother, look at your social media! I saw Ka Wai's post on his social media. See if Woo Ho posted anything? "
"Ah, let me see. Ah, yes, yes, yes! Woo Ho also posted something. The kid is here. Why didn't he pick up? He didn't even call back to tell me. I was scared to death. Ah, really. What does this mean … 'I saw God, I am its incarnation in the human world'. "
"… Ka Wai also posted something like that. Did they go to a concert to see their idol?"
"Maybe, this kid … Ka Wai's mother, I'll call Woo Ho again. When he gets home, I'll give him a good beating."
"Young people don't need to be scolded or beaten if they go crazy. But this Ka Wai, I'll have to teach him a lesson when I get home."
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