Chapter 46: Successful Research and Development (Collecting)

  Although it has entered autumn, the small-leaved phoenix trees planted by the pond are still thriving under the nourishment of nutrient solution, adding a few points of vitality to this desolate place. Fortunately, there are very few people who will come over to this side of the pond with leisure, so the huge changes that have taken place here have not attracted the attention of the villagers in Cai Village.

  Duan Yue's experiment was aimed at finding a balance among various factors, allowing the small leaf to absorb pollutants without being too sensational, and everything was within the reasonable category of Earth civilization. After all, Duan Yue didn't have much power now, if he came up with too advanced technology, it would be hard to keep it safe.

  This is just a beginning, and when he has enough strength in the future, Duan Lei will no longer need to look back.

  All the small leaves were watered with nutrient solution, which made them grow at an astonishing speed. In just five days, these small leaves grew from the size of a corn stalk to as thick as an arm, and the huge change can be seen with the naked eye.

  To say the least, the nutrient solution used by Duan Yue and the carnivorous calabaza is also a crystallization of Maca civilization. It can promote plant growth and increase plant vitality in a short period of time. Such a high-quality product, Duan Yue temporarily does not have the time and energy to find a suitable market for it, so he can only use it to cultivate pollution-resistant plants and carnivorous calabaza for now. In Duan Yue's mind, such an against-the-sky nutrient solution should have broad prospects, who knows when it will become a small gold mine in the future.

  Under the nourishment of nutrient solution, the small leaf is growing particularly fast. Duan Lei clearly saw countless root systems bursting out and extending into the pond.

  Plants have several properties, such as phototropism, geotropism, hydrotropism, etc., which are all controlled by the plant's genes to control their growth and development, allowing them to adapt to their surroundings and survive. After being watered with nutrient solution containing sewage, Duanglei's small-leafed plants have developed a new property - pollution tropism!

  The opening of these gene switches allows the roots of Elodea to grow actively in environments with high concentrations of pollutants, creating the scene before Duan Lei's eyes. Countless large and small root systems are like water pipes, probing into the pond, as if they want to absorb all the pollutants inside.

  This pond, due to the heavy rain afterwards, the nearby river poured in a large amount of polluted water, looking dark and emitting a foul odor that is hard to bear. Generally, the banks of ordinary ponds will grow a lot of aquatic plants, reeds or shrubs, but here there is not even half a point, a desolate scene.

  At first, Duan Lei chose this place because the stinky pond was an ideal experimental site. Now it's time to see if the improved version of the swallowing grass can produce good results?

  Since the roots of the small leaf began to explore the pond, Duan Lei has been divided into six periods every day to take water samples from the pond and then measure them one by one to observe the changes in heavy metals and organic compounds. Only when the quality of the water body is improved can it be judged that these small leaves have the ability to purify pollution, and the experiment will continue to have value.

  According to the data from the detection, the content of pollutants in the pond is declining sharply, which shows that the transformation of these small-leafed plants is quite successful and has a strong ability to control pollution. However, this is not the end, Duan Lei still needs to find the best model from these small-leafed plants as a template for cultivation and then promote it to the market.

  Among these small-leafed elms, the part with higher nutrient solution concentration had strong pollution control capabilities, but the tumors on the tree contained purified metal elements, which was too advanced and was quickly rejected by Duan Lei. As for those small-leafed elms with lower concentrations, although they also had pollution control capabilities, their root systems were not well-developed and were also excluded by Duan Lei.

  Only those small-leafed rhododendrons watered with 50% nutrient solution met Duan Lei's requirements and were designated as the direction for further development.

  These small-leafed figs not only have a well-developed root system and strong ability to absorb pollutants, but more importantly, they can transform the highly toxic heavy metals and organic compounds in their bodies into non-toxic substances, which are evenly distributed throughout the tree trunk. As a result, the wood quality of these small-leafed figs has been greatly improved, becoming solid, dense, corrosion-resistant, and the best choice for timber.

  In this way, the small leaf privet can not only be used as a pollution-tolerant plant, but also be cut down and used as timber after it has completed its predetermined goal, which is a win-win situation.

  In this way, the small-leafed fig named 'Zhi Wu Rong' by Duan Yue became the outstanding variety in this experiment and entered the next stage of experimentation.

  The banyan tree is a plant that can be easily propagated, whether it's seed germination, branch cutting, or even aerial roots, all of which can cultivate a complete banyan tree.

  The 'pollution-fighting banyan' cultivated by Duan Lei has strong pollution-fighting capabilities, but it is still a banyan tree at its core, and many of its life characteristics will not change as a result. In the future, Duan Lei will need to make money from these 'pollution-fighting banyans', so before pushing them into the market, he needs to find a way to cut off their reproductive ability.

  In Duan Lei's plan, others can only buy cultivated 'pollution-absorbing' seedlings from him. These seedlings are capable of absorbing pollutants individually, but branches, aerial roots, and seeds cannot be used to cultivate new 'pollution-absorbing' seedlings, thereby maximizing the protection of Duan Lei's interests.

  In fact, such technology has been widely used on Earth for a long time. Many seed companies, in order to maintain their high profits, have consciously cut off the reproductive ability of subsequent generations during breeding, cultivating what are commonly known as "terminator seeds".

  Duan Yue's idea was also inspired by this, and the Maya civilization had similar technology, so Duan Yue didn't have to worry too much.

  There was a ding at the side, and Duan Lei quickly used the prepared medicine to make all the small leaf elms by the pond become infertile individuals, eliminating the possibility of 'pollution elm' being secretly cultivated.

  Up to now, the development process of 'Zhi Wu Gan' can be said to have come to an end. Duan Lei has memorized all the materials and destroyed them, so now only he knows the formula for the culture medium and the configuration procedure.

  Next, Duan Yue needs to find a suitable opportunity to bring this amazing 'pollution-fighting fungus' to the market and start his entrepreneurial career on a good note!

  But then, where exactly should I start? That's a problem!