This smile was different from the fake smiles he had been wearing recently. It wasn't the faint smile he had shown at the Special Affairs Office a few times, but a full-blown laugh.
Even though it was only a short moment, it came from the heart.
Others can't tell the difference, but Jin Sichen can't hide it.
Wu Yi's shout drew everyone's attention to Lin Fan's face.
Lin Fan was stunned. Did she laugh just now?
"Lin Fan, do you think that was funny?" Xia Jing recalled the scene just now. It was indeed a bit funny to see everyone stopping Zhang Zhaojie from naming.
"Was there anything funny just now?" Zhang Zhaojie looked at Lin Fan and then at the others, confused.
"Did you feel happy just now?" Jin Sichen asked.
Lin Fan thought about it and finally shook his head. "I don't know. I really didn't care. I didn't even realize I was laughing. Maybe I subconsciously thought it was funny."
"This is a good sign," Dr. Xiao said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Li Chunhua didn't understand.
"Didn't you say before that Lin Fan was always in a low mood, always feeling unhappy and unable to have fun?" Wu Yi was also very happy. "Then she can laugh now, which means she feels fun and can experience happy emotions! Isn't that right, Doctor Jin?"
"That's right," Jin Sichen said with a rare heartfelt laugh. "Subconsciousness is subjective approval of behavior, which means Lin Fan's mood is improving."
Wow... everyone exclaimed.
"Didn't she say yesterday that she'd been feeling down for a long time?" Yu Guangli was puzzled. When he'd gone to the activity room to look for Lin Fan, she'd been clearly gloomy. How could her mood suddenly change 180 degrees after just one transformation?
"How do you still feel about John Woo's departure?" Jin Sichen could already see that the emotion had passed, but still asked to confirm.
"No." Lin Fan shook his head. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it."
The transformation had also had an impact on her. A sleepy spell seemed to have reset everything, and her emotions had returned to the state they were before John Woo arrived, perhaps even better.
"Then... is this change caused by transformation or sleepiness?" Ke Wenbin asked. If so, then if she transforms a few more times, will she become more and more cheerful and get rid of depression soon?
Jin Sichen thought about it carefully and said, "I didn't notice this happening the first few times. I'm more inclined to believe that her treatment has worked. As for the depression caused by Wu Yusen's departure, it was like a small, faulty program. When this program was forcibly terminated by transformation or sleepiness, everything returned to normal."
"That means Lin Fan will get better and better, right?" Li Chunhua asked.
"Yes, but don't let any unexpected error programs appear again. I originally thought that she should be able to recover to a near-normal and stable state in less than half a year, but it seems that it may be faster." Jin Sichen also smiled happily, and this time it was not a fake smile.
Everyone expressed joy, except Lin Fan.
She seemed to have some different emotions in her heart. She felt it, but she just couldn't understand it. She looked at everyone smiling and also showed a fake smile like Jin Sichen.
Jin Sichen's eyebrows jumped, and he quickly turned his eyes away and introduced the topic: "Where were we talking about just now?"
"Speaking of 818, it might be the key to Lin Fan's transformation, but whether it's related to the needle-like objects in his brain is currently unknown," Xia Jing said. "Also, from the comparison pictures, we can see that during this transformation, there was a noticeable stream of light on the mecha's shell, which wasn't there last time."
"We previously speculated that Lin Fan absorbed a part of 818, which led to his evolution. These streams of light are most likely the external manifestation of 818 when it transformed into a mecha." The more Xia Jing thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
"If evolution occurs, then the next time Lin Fan transforms, he may appear in a different mecha state!" Kuang Li said calmly.
"Don't think of letting her try it right away. You have to wait a few days and let her take it easy!" Doctor Xiao saw that many people were eager to try it, so he hurried to dissuade them.
Lin Fan didn't appear particularly weak this time, and he was able to get down to the ground in a short time, but that didn't mean he could transform continuously. After all, according to their speculation, each transformation would drain the body.
How can you just wake up after being drained and then continue draining? Even the strongest person can't handle it! Don't you need to rest for a while?!
"I know, I know! We won't be that anxious!" What Yu Guangli said was completely different from the expression on his face. No wonder Dr. Xiao was nervous.
"This time, Lin Fan felt both sight and hearing while transforming, unlike before when he had no memory at all. I think this is a significant change," Jin Sichen said slowly. "So, can we speculate that the next time he transforms, his subjective consciousness will be synchronized?"
"It has been speculated before that the mecha is activated in a subconscious state. If Lin Fan's subjective consciousness awakens, will he be able to control the mecha?" Xia Jing also had his own speculation.
If that were the case, it would be great.
Once Lin Fan can control the mecha, they will not be as helpless as before when studying it, and everything will depend on guesswork.
There were many differences between this transformation and the previous ones. Moreover, all of this could only be fully confirmed after Lin Fan's next transformation.
The participants wrote down all these speculations and prepared to verify them one by one during the next transformation.
"Regarding 818, what progress have you made now?" Xia Jing asked the scientific trio.
"As everyone knows, we've tried every possible method to obtain a sample, but haven't been able to do so. It was only when Lin Fan transformed that he brought down a few small pieces of material, allowing us to proceed," Yu Guangli said solemnly. "We numbered the six small samples and subjected them to various hardness tests."
"We eventually discovered that 818 has an extremely high hardness, and there is no comparable metal or mineral among known metals or minerals. Also because of its high hardness, when we used a press to test the pressure-bearing value, the sample was directly embedded in the surface of the instrument, and no valid value was obtained." Yu Guangli shook his head regretfully.
"Okay, I get it. The press is broken. So what's next?" Everyone sighed.
"Didn't you say it was a new species before? Can you be sure it is a new species?" Li Chunhua asked.
"It's most likely an unknown element," Ke Wenbin replied. "Obviously characteristic objects and known elements have been ruled out, including, but not limited to, Earth species. However, because 818 cannot be microscopically detected or smelted into other forms, we can't exclude the sequence for now."
It is not limited to Earth species, but also includes comparisons of some alien materials brought back from outer space.
"Is it possible that 818 is something from outer space that fell to Earth like a meteorite?" Wu Yi speculated.
"It's not certain yet, but there is a possibility." Ke Wenbin replied. He felt that the possibility was very high.
"But if a meteorite falls, it will make quite a noise, right? Like a meteor or something? Has there been any news of a meteorite falling in Lin Fan's area?" asked Dr. Xiao.
"I checked the news over the past 35 years and found no relevant reports." Xia Jing was commissioned by the scientific trio to look up information.
"But that doesn't prove anything," Zhang Zhaojie said. "818 was fished out of the river and has been semi-floating the entire time. It's also lightweight, so it's very likely it drifted down the river from somewhere else. By the way, don't you think Ex Zero sounds better?"
No one paid any attention to him.
Lin Fan's hometown boasts a world-renowned water conservancy project, capable of irrigation, drainage, power generation, and shipping. It handles approximately 500 tons of river water per second. If all this water were pumped in 24 hours into a canal one meter wide and one meter deep, its length would be enough to circle the Earth.
Surrounded by water, the area is connected by locks and has a vast and complex waterway system, like a giant dragon in the water. It's hard to say where 818 came from.
"If 818 is really an alien product, then Lin Fan..." Wu Yi couldn't continue.
Lin Fan's mecha has clearly surpassed the scope of Earth's technology, and everyone has actually accepted this fact in their hearts.
"Could it be that alien colonists are invading the earth?" Zhang Zhaojie's middle school syndrome came back, and he remembered the plot of the previous cartoon.
"Why don't you just say that Lin Fan was captured by aliens and had his genes modified?" Ke Wenbin complained. While he believed 818 was highly likely not a product of Earth, he wouldn't make too many connections to the plot of the cartoon. "Cartoons are just fiction, and you're taking it seriously?"
"You can't underestimate those who create art. They have very powerful imaginations. You don't know that a lot of scientific research will be inspired by their ideas." Zhang Zhaojie was not convinced and cited several high-tech machines in the base that were built under the influence of film and television works and novels.
"Maybe the author of that cartoon was once captured by aliens. He saw someone genetically modified to transform into a mecha, and he came back and made this cartoon." Zhang Zhaojie became more and more excited as he spoke. "Maybe it's his own story! That's why Lin Fan's mecha looks so similar to the one in the cartoon!"
"Come on, you're getting more and more ridiculous!" Xia Jing interrupted. "Instead of speculating about the alien theory, which is unclear whether it's true or not, why don't we discuss whether the loss of control and weakness in the cartoon will appear in Lin Fan himself."
Wu Yi thought Xia Jing was a sober person, but after hearing the second half he realized that he was also influenced by Zhang Zhaojie.
"He's weak, right?" Zhang Zhaojie said proudly. "Lin Fan will fall asleep due to weakness after transforming. Doesn't that make sense?"
Wu Yi thought about it and it seemed to be true: "What about losing control?"
"Lin Fan's transformation is not controlled by his own consciousness, which in itself can be considered a loss of control, right?" Ke Wenbin said in a proper manner.
If you put it that way...there's nothing wrong with it.
"So don't underestimate any form of creation!" Zhang Zhaojie was very happy.
"Okay, even if you are right, will Lin Fan end up like in the animation?" Wu Yi realized something was wrong after he said that, and quickly covered his mouth and shrank back.
The final ending of the mecha man in the cartoon is a tragedy.
"It may not be like that. I just think that we can put forward these possibilities first. If there really is such a trend, it is better to have a plan than to be in a panic when the time comes." Xia Jing believes that it is better to be prepared than not, even if it may not be used.
"Frequent physical weakness can be detected during weekly physical examinations. There are no obvious problems with the data in the past few weeks. On the contrary, physical fitness has been steadily improving." Since Dr. Xiao missed the brain film last time, he carefully checked all the reports and confirmed that they were correct.
"I have been paying attention to his mental state. Everyone can see Lin Fan's recent condition, which is much better than when he first arrived. He even smiled today. I feel that everything is developing in a good direction." Jin Sichen also did not dare to ignore various possibilities and made a cooperative statement.
"It doesn't hold true now. It may be because she has transformed less frequently and any problems are not obvious." Kuang Li spoke the truth again, earning a lot of eye rolls.
"Okay, let's take all necessary precautions, even if it's too early to think about it now," Yu Guangli concluded. "Anything else you'd like to say? If not, let's move on to the next topic."
Everyone looked at Yu Guangli, waiting for him to speak.
"Preparations for Lin Fan's next transformation!"