Chapter 409 - Green-banded Broodsac (1/2)

Chapter 409: green-banded broodsac

Translator: Lonelytree

Inside a square glass box, a snail was crawling slowly It was an Amber Snail, a mollusc found commonly in china Its preferred habitat are the dark and wet places like the drains It also prefers heavy moisture but it can resist moderate heat and cold It can also float on the surface of water It feeds on deco sprouts of plants like lichen, moss, e from many different sizes but they are normally oval in shape They have 3 to 4 whorls and they can be from 5 to 15 millimetres tall and 3 to 8 millimetres wide Their shell is thin and the surface is usually yellow or brown in color Their body is translucent or half-translucent

However, in this case the snail inside the glass box had two particularly swollen antennae Compared to a normal amber snail, this snail was quite different Inside its translucent body, one could see the presence of alien objects They were not the snail’s internal organs Suddenly, the snail started to craith a speed not common for a mollusc Its swollen antennae were like two drills The bands of colors spun and shi+mmered

“Students, this here is a snail infected by a parasite The color and lights that you see are actually a large ay class, the teacher explained carefully The monitor showed a slow-motion video of the snail inside the box with 10 times amplification It was still the sa details The thing was not glowing naturally The snail’s body was stuffed with parasites They wiggled and squeezed against each other

“These are Leucochloridiureen-banded broodsac It is these parasites that cause the genetic mutation to the snail’s body They also control the snail’s e of the parasite under the iant worm Some of the students frohile others looked on with interest

“First, the snail ingested the parasite’s eggs” The ed lecture continued, “And that was how the parasite entered the host’s body Then the eggs will travel to the snail’s digestive systee, the sporocyst At this moment, the snail appears perfectly normal, perhaps even itself has no idea there are parasites in its body The nutrients that it consuain, we aren’t snails so we cannot be sure about this We cannot tell how they feel exactly”

A shter echoed in the classroom but it soon died down The sirowth of the parasite The sporocyst grows into long tubes to form swollen broodsacs filled with hundreds of cercariae These broodsacs invades the snail’s body, specifically its antennae, causing the, colorful displays The growth expanded the antennae in size so much that the snail could not retract theled outside its shell Watching these ies, the students felt sorry for this poor snail

“Once the broodsacs enter the snail’s antennae, they will gain the ability to control their host A taken control, they will becoht is plenty Furthermore, they will now move 3 times faster than usual In a way, the parasite has helped the snail broken through their biological liestured at the lowed like disco sticks “Currently no research kno the broodsacs e to take control over its host but I aure out the mechanism in the future Despite its size, this parasite is incredibly clever They transform the snail’s antennae into a swollen display of colors, i the appearance of a caterpillar The parasite deprives their hosts of its fear and controls them to move under the sun They will also control the snails to her elevation to make themselves as pronounced as possible Why? This is for the birds to see them Once the birds see the shi+ny object shaped like a worm, they’d swoop down to s it However, in this case, the caterpillar is actually the snail’s antennae filled with broodsacs”

The teacher paused and wrote down the following on the blackboard He stressed, “Aggressive mimicry, this is how the broodsacs benefits froical concept, to put it si or food to lure its prey into its trap For exas Consu, this is nature’s brilliance

“The snail is the primary host” The teacher continued to write on the blackboard “The birds are the secondary hosts After the broodsacs are ingested by the birds, they will start to reproduce Then their eggs will be ejected out alongside the bird’s faecal matter The faecal ins another cycle”

The students felt chilled and revolted The broodsacs turned the innocent snails into fake food to prey on the birds These parasites were sineer such malicious and eerie tactics They could even discern the difference between night and day, and difference in elevation They kne to control their hosts to make them as conspicuous as possible Be it brilliance or instinct, this was scarily surprising

“Sir, then can the broodsacs control the birds?” A male student asked

“There is no evidence so far that supports that”

“Then can it enter the hu parasites froames” The teacher chuckled “Our human body is far more co immune system However, we do have other parasites to deal with, for exa to ask next No, there are currently no parasites that can control human mind and action Well, perhaps there is one The name is money” The teacher added, “Latin name Aes”

The students chuckled Indeed humans are not snails, they should not be taken control by parasites so easily

At the salass box, the snail continued to craithout a moment’s respite

…

The call was connected

“hello, is this wang Jia Er’s mother? I am Lee Yuhan’s mother Yes, our sons stay at the same hostel”