Fangs

Vernon's thoughts remained inscrutable to those around him. Dudley, standing on the sidelines, let out a silent sigh as he and his parents briefly discussed their plans for the day. Then, he turned and left the house.

Stepping outside, Dudley took in a breath of fresh air from the world beyond, and his attention was drawn to a white owl not far away. The sight of an owl in the daylight puzzled him. Normally, owls were creatures of the night.

Checking his wristwatch, Dudley noted that it was past 8 in the morning. Owls were typically not active during the day. The owl's intense gaze, with its eagle-like claws gripping a nearby fence, struck Dudley as curious.

However, he quickly brushed off the thought, realizing he needed to focus on observing his pet chinchilla closely today. The circumstances surrounding the chinchilla's presence had been rather peculiar.

Just as Dudley contemplated this, the white owl appeared to be staring at him, the chinchilla perched atop his head. He wondered if the owl had any interest in his pet.

Before he could react, the owl seemed to be startled by something and let out a series of calls before fluttering away. It left a feather behind, but the chinchilla on his head remained unfazed, continuing to rest peacefully.

Dudley cautiously plucked the chinchilla from his head, gazing at it as it lay coiled in his palm, still napping. He couldn't be sure if the owl's actions were connected to the chinchilla. With a gentle poke to the chinchilla's furry face, he received no response, so he decided to put the incident aside and headed to class.

.....

At Morrison Hill, Institute of Biology,Dudley endured a full day of monotonous basic biology classes. As the day progressed, he made an excuse to leave.

Dudley went to the utility room, where he had concealed his "Totoro" cultivation laboratory. This was his secret haven, a substantial biological laboratory that only he knew about.

Compared to his recent work on the "Observation Record of Wizard Cells," Dudley was currently focusing on "Genetic Inheritance of New Species." This research was a direct result of the strange occurrences surrounding his pet chinchilla, Totoro.

The plaque on the door, which read: "Morrison Biological Laboratory - Utility Room." He didn't hesitate to close the door behind him and switch on the lights, revealing rows of glassware.

Among the glassware, "No. 1" and "No. 2" containers had been meticulously cleaned, with no remnants left. Dudley casually placed Totoro on top of one of the glass lids and reached into his pocket to retrieve a piece of "cheese."

Totoro, who had been half-asleep, appeared to awaken, showing signs of alertness. The furry creature stood up, its nose sniffing the air, and its half-closed eyes showing signs of life.

There was a noticeable change in Totoro's demeanor. The chinchilla stretched its small paws forward, grasping a piece of cheese and promptly devouring it.

The fluffy ears atop its head rhythmically swayed back and forth as Totoro enjoyed its snack.

.....

As Dudley observed the chinchilla munching away, he casually retrieved a record book from his pocket. The book chronicled his observations of the chinchilla over the past four months.

Amidst the numerous entries, Dudley noticed several intriguing phenomena. Within this four-month span, most of the chinchilla's existence had been characterized by a state of seeming "lethargy," awakening only when food was placed in its mouth. This could be likened to an infantile state. Even during its few moments of wakefulness, Totoro's eyes remained half-squinted, as if it could never fully wake up.

Dudley, through a series of intriguing experiments, had noted two distinctive features that stood out in Totoro.

Firstly, the chinchilla's eyes exhibited a partial presentation with vertical, snake-like pupils. This phenomenon was understandable, as the chinchilla had been injected with python genes during its embryonic stage, thereby modifying its eye cells. This alteration successfully replaced the original chinchilla eye genes, giving rise to these peculiar eyes that resembled a snake's.

The second peculiar occurrence had left Dudley stunned about a month ago. Totoro had started to shed its teeth. The original incisors in the upper and lower jaws resembled typical rodent teeth. If not worn down, they would continuously grow and wouldn't fall out naturally. However, Dudley's chinchilla had begun to develop replacement teeth resembling fangs, specifically from the upper jaw.

Drawing upon his years of biological knowledge, Dudley recognized these teeth as prototypes of "snake fangs." It was indeed extraordinary and left him baffled. It seemed that this chinchilla not only possessed snake-like eyes but was also growing snake fangs.

Dudley was well aware that in the cells of a python, the smallest structural unit was a biochemical molecule formed from amino acids. These amino acids freely combined to create specific structures, eventually producing proteins. Given the conducive growth environment, these proteins transformed into cells, which continually divided according to specific rules, culminating in the formation of "python" eyes.

The biology he had learned indicated a consistent and unified state of cellular division. The concept was reminiscent of plant grafting, such as cultivating watermelons with yellow flesh. Dudley could draw parallels, as it seemed that the "snake" eyes of Totoro were related to logical gene fragments between the two species.

However, the mysterious development of python-like fangs during the molting of Totoro's teeth left Dudley without a definitive answer. His best guess was that the python cells injected into the chinchilla might also contain some gene fragments related to python teeth, resulting in this intriguing phenomenon.

While Dudley was engrossed in organizing his notes, Totoro, who had been half-awake, underwent yet another transformation. Its gaze fixated on the Petri dish on the other side of the room, where Dudley was conducting a new round of covert magical experiments.

.....

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