Chapter 35
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Chapter 35: Mitochondrial Inheritance
Luo Yu had just greeted Ji Shu when she lifted her gaze and saw another woman behind her, who looked almost exactly like Ji Shu. Upon noticing Luo Yu’s attention, Ji Shu turned around, raised her hand, and smiled, “This is my sister, Ji Qing.”
They were identical twins.
This made Luo Yu think of her own sister, and a wave of sadness washed over her. She forced a nod to greet Ji Qing and the staff behind her, remaining silent as everyone walked toward the Genetic Research Institute.
The helipad where they landed was specially built for the research institute. They passed through a leisure area beside the helipad and directly entered the research facility inside the mountain.
As they walked through the main entrance of the Genetic Research Institute, passing through identity verification gates, they unexpectedly saw a group of young people walking past them. The group included several adults explaining things to them, looking like teachers guiding students on a field trip.
Ji Shu quickly smiled and explained, “Two student groups have recently come here for interest-based research projects.”
Ying Zhao, watching from behind, whispered to Zhu Huai, “How rare! I can see such a large group of kids around my height.” She then asked Ji Shu, “How old are they?”
“This group is all ten-year-old students. The other group upstairs is slightly older, around fifteen or sixteen.”
Zhu Huai patted Ying Zhao’s shoulder with a laugh, “I think you could blend in and listen, your height is a perfect fit.”
Ying Zhao nudged her with her elbow, “Don’t get too smug; you’re not much taller than me.”
Zhu Huai chuckled, rubbing her arm, “At least I could blend into the fifteen or sixteen age group, looking a bit more mature than you.”
Hearing their banter, the others smiled slightly, and once the student group passed, they continued walking inside.
The Genetic Research Institute was spacious. Upon entering the hall, they could see five stories above and an underground level, with the interior maintaining a consistent original technological style. The entire research facility was built using the natural cracks formed in the mountain’s inner wall.
At the end of the hall, they took an elevator to the top floor, and along a semi-open corridor that hugged the mountain, they arrived at a large door.
Just as Ji Shu was about to push the door open, a group of fifteen- to sixteen-year-old students emerged from another nearby door. The leading teacher, spotting them, smiled and greeted them, prompting the group to step aside to let the students pass.
“I’ve noticed that there aren’t many children here,” Ji Shu remarked after the students had gone by, opening the door as she spoke. Zhu Huai walked in while continuing her observation, “We occasionally see a few near the cliff dwellings. I saw some during the summer solstice celebration too, but overall, they seem quite few. I thought having children here would be easy; how come each person doesn’t have three or five?”
They walked into a research room where they found Ao Ci, the head of the Biological Research Station, seated with her back to them. Hearing them enter and Zhu Huai’s comment, Ao Ci turned her chair to face them. Ji Shu and the others looked at Zhu Huai with confusion.
Ao Ci smiled and asked, “Why should having children easily mean having more?”
Zhu Huai was momentarily stunned by the question, quickly realizing her comment reflected a heavily objectifying mindset, and she lowered her head. “I was wrong.”
At that moment, an older expert in the room came over, inviting them to sit on the soft cushions in the center. The robots in the room sprang into action, bringing them drinks and snack menus.
Ao Ci, seated in an armchair beside them, continued the topic, “Since medical advancements have reduced early mortality risks for our infants, most people here only have one child in their lifetime. Some families…” she pointed to Ji Shu and Ji Qing, “like those two, have two children. Of course, there are rare cases of three, but it’s incredibly uncommon.”
“Then there are a few like me…” Ti Ran said as she ordered her drink and settled down on a soft cushion, smiling at them, “who don’t have any.”
Ao Ci picked up a cup beside her and took a slow sip. “Yes, these few groups are roughly equal in number. That’s why our total population remains stable over the years, which is an important reason for maintaining resource abundance.”
Ying Zhao nodded thoughtfully, “That indeed seems to be an optimal population sustainability plan.”
At this point, the robots brought drinks for everyone, and once each person had settled with their beverages, Ao Ci addressed Luo Yu and the others again. “Recently, I’ve conducted further genetic searches with the expert team here at the research institute and made some new discoveries. I initially planned to discuss it upon returning to Di Qiu in two days.” She gestured towards Mo Chuan. “However, she couldn’t wait and invited you all here.”
Mo Chuan smiled, “I’m simply curious about the research of the teachers and experts. Since we’re already here, why don’t you tell us about it?”
Ao Ci smiled slightly in response and introduced the people in the room to Luo Yu and the others. In addition to the already familiar Mo Chuan and Ti Ran, as well as Ji Shu and Ji Qing who had come to greet them, there was also an elderly lady, Ji Shu’s teacher in genetic medicine, and three middle-aged research experts from the facility.
The room they were in was a domed exhibition hall. After Ao Ci introduced everyone, and they exchanged greetings, the lights in the hall began to dim slowly. A green holographic projection appeared in the center of the large circular soft cushions they were sitting on.
“We are curious if there have been any species generations cut off in humans over these thirty thousand years, which is why the research institute extracted your mitochondrial DNA for genetic searching,” Ao Ci explained slowly. “Considering the long span, time and space may have been misaligned due to historical event differences, meaning our two timelines do not strictly develop as one. Therefore, I initially didn’t support personal genetic searches because the calculations were too vast and may not yield results. However, Ji Shu’s unexpected discovery confirmed that there is indeed a kinship connection between our two timelines.”
As she spoke, the projection in the center began to demonstrate the principle of genetic searching through mitochondrial DNA, showcasing the reverse matching passed from mother to child.
“Can we really trace back thirty thousand years?” Zhu Huai asked, looking at the projection.
“Mitochondrial inheritance is extremely stable. It’s not just thirty thousand years; even a hundred thousand years isn’t difficult.”
“So… does this mean we’ve found our ancestors in this timeline?” Ying Zhao asked.
Ao Ci smiled and nodded, “Yes, one of you here is quite lucky; a person with a kinship connection is sitting right in this hall.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the projection changed again, showing that Luo Yu’s genetic information matched the mitochondrial DNA traced back to Ji Shu.
Luo Yu had been lost in memories of her sister as she saw Ji Shu and Ji Qing when she got off the aircraft. Now, witnessing this scene, she straightened up suddenly, feeling a bit flustered by the unexpected revelation of her ancestor.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Ji Shu exchanged a glance with her sister Ji Qing and then smiled, waving her hand, “Don’t be nervous; we’re not going to have a dramatic reunion with tears. If we have time later, I’ll invite you over to my house, just like friends.”
Hearing this, Luo Yu relaxed a bit and carefully examined their faces, nodding with a smile, “Okay.”
Next, Ao Ci switched the projection to Ying Zhao, showing that her ancestry traced back to a family that moved to another continent’s rainforest ten years ago and had not been in contact since.
Ying Zhao sighed in relief, “That’s good. I’m not very good at dealing with these situations. It seems I have shallow ties with relatives.”
“The last one is also a coincidence.” Ao Ci changed the projection to Zhu Huai, showing that her ancestral relatives now also lived on another continent, “But her child is currently with the student group visiting the Genetic Research Institute.”
Zhu Huai blinked, her curiosity piqued, “Is there a child among those little ones that’s my ancestor? Which one?”
Ao Ci laughed lightly, “We’ll invite her over in a bit so you can meet her.” She then mentioned the two test subjects from the Biological Research Station, “I’ve also brought the genetic information of Test Subjects 014 and 015. Their genes do not match our world at all. Combined with previous research findings, we can basically conclude that they are a new type of genome born after us, not resurrected from the v chromosome of our world. To determine their exact origin, we still need to analyze further using the decay data of the v chromosome.”
Once Ao Ci finished briefing everyone on the current findings, a robot approached the old expert standing beside Ao Ci, quietly reporting something. After listening, she looked up and told Mo Chuan, “The student group is heading back to the campsite. The little one Ao Ci just mentioned has been kept by our researchers, so you should go fetch her.”
Mo Chuan stood up after hearing this, and Luo Yu and the others followed suit, nodding to the people in the hall as they left the demonstration room together.
Zhu Huai, who had been curious, suddenly felt nervous as they walked, “What should I say when I see that child?”
“Just introduce yourself,” Luo Yu replied, sipping her drink alongside Ying Zhao.
“How do I introduce myself? ‘Hello little one, I’m your descendant from thirty thousand years later’? Does that make sense?!” Zhu Huai rubbed her buzz cut, looking troubled. “If it were an old lady, it’d be fine, but why does it have to be a child?!”
Mo Chuan, listening nearby, smirked and said, “Don’t worry, she probably already knows the background. You don’t need to make such a self-introduction.”
As they chatted, they reached the elevator in the middle of the corridor, taking it down to the first-floor hall. After walking a while, they arrived at a west side room where a researcher was waiting with a young boy. He waved as they approached.
The researcher had indeed briefed the boy on the background of the events, and as they got closer, he asked, “Which one of you is my descendant?”
“I am,” Zhu Huai puffed out her chest.
The boy looked her up and down with his hands on his hips, “An adult? Why are you so short?”
Caught off guard by his comment, Zhu Huai responded, “You’re not tall either…”
The boy huffed, “But I’m only eight years old! I’m still a child; I haven’t even started growing yet!”
Ying Zhao, standing before the boy and feeling struck by his remark, thought she felt like a passerby kicked by a random dog. She noticed Mo Chuan still talking quietly with the researcher, so she decided to chat with the boy about their plans to change the subject from height, “Hey kid…”
Zhu Huai nudged her from behind, “Who are you calling ‘kid’? That’s my ancestor!”
“Oh, we’re from different generations; my bad,” Ying Zhao scratched her head and then turned back to the boy, beaming, “Little kid….”
Luo Yu, sipping her drink and watching the amusement unfold, nearly choked at Ying Zhao’s words, coughing gently.
The boy frowned, tilting his head up, “My name is Wanhua. Just call me Wanhua. No nicknames like ‘sister’ or ‘ancestor’; we aren’t familiar yet.”
At this moment, Mo Chuan finished speaking with the researcher and turned to Wanhua to explain about touring the upper floors.
“Alright, let’s go!” Wanhua replied, asking Mo Chuan to lead the way as he walked toward the elevator in the hall.
Luo Yu and the others watched from behind, and Ying Zhao gently patted Zhu Huai on the shoulder, “Sister Huai, your little ancestor is quite something!”
