Director Yang is shocked!

After listening to Lin Yuan's explanation, many people suddenly understood, but this did not alleviate their panic.

Fortunately, the Experts told them that the mercury in their blood was not too much and was not fatal for now. They only needed to stop ingesting toxins, and the mercury could be slowly expelled from their bodies through medical means.

However, those with severe symptoms clearly had higher levels of mercury in their bodies than average people.

Connecting this to their particular love for eating fish, everyone's heart sank.

Could it really be that the fish were poisonous?

Just then, Lin Yuan suggested, "I recommend we catch a fish from the Big Lake now. Then we'll know whether the fish are poisonous or if someone is poisoning them."

As soon as he said this, everyone immediately agreed.

Several people immediately ran home to get their tools and went into the water to catch fish.

In less than ten minutes, they excitedly ran back, holding a carp weighing over two jin.

After the Experts' examination, everyone was completely shocked!

The fish were indeed poisonous!

However, the mercury in the fish was minuscule, very little, and much lower than what was in human blood.

Facing such a result, everyone was filled with doubt.

Team Chen's face was grim; the worst outcome had appeared. He already anticipated that West Sea City would soon undergo a significant change.

Right now, he had to solve the case as quickly as possible, otherwise, once the public knew that poisonous fish were circulating on the market, the resulting riot would be unimaginable.

But he couldn't understand why it was like this, so he could only look at Lin Yuan and ask, "Lin Yuan, what's going on? Could it be that the fish aren't the main source, and something else is poisoning the villagers?"

Lin Yuan smiled and shook his head, "No, it's the fish!"

"Originally, I didn't understand why the fish were poisonous but didn't die. Now I finally understand."

"Generally, after mercury is absorbed by humans or animals, it accumulates in the bones and brain, especially in the joints. This is also why body deformities and uncontrollable self-harm occur in the later stages of mercury poisoning."

"The reason the fish didn't die is that the mercury in their bodies was very little, not enough to be fatal."

"But the problem is, one fish has very little mercury, but what about ten, or a hundred? The elderly in the village, not to mention more, must have eaten at least thousands of fish in their lifetime, right?"

"The accumulated mercury will be a terrifying dose."

"Additionally, cats and dogs often eat fish including the bones, which is equivalent to indirectly ingesting mercury, so their poisoning takes effect much faster than in humans."

As soon as he said this, a villager nearby instantly changed his expression.

Everyone around also looked at him.

Seeing Lin Yuan and Team Chen's puzzled expressions, Second Uncle quickly explained, "This is Old Zhang. He especially likes to suck on fish bones, saying there's marrow inside. Now that I think about it, he wasn't sucking marrow at all; he was clearly sucking poison!"

Hearing this answer, Lin Yuan was also speechless for a moment.

Now they finally understood.

The truth is often so unexpected.

What was originally thought to be a collective animal suicide was unexpectedly transformed into a village-wide poisoning!

It was fortunate that Lin Yuan discovered it today.

Otherwise, in a few more years, this village might really have been wiped out!

Thinking of this, everyone's faces tightened, filled with fear.

Their gazes towards Lin Yuan also completely changed, becoming respectful and grateful.

The netizens in the live broadcast witnessed the entire process and were all astonished.

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— [My heavens, this is too ridiculous, isn't it? I also love to eat fish, almost every day, but now you suddenly tell me fish are poisonous? How the hell am I supposed to eat them in the future? Do I have to test them with a silver needle before every meal to see if they're poisonous? I'm just afraid that a trace amount of poison won't be detected by a silver needle.]

— [Lin Yuan truly keeps refreshing my worldview. It was already ridiculous enough that he helped his Client with a funeral, but then, because of a giant rat, he discovered such a terrifying truth. I'm wondering, if this hadn't been discovered today and the situation continued to evolve, what would the consequences be?]

— [Consequences? What else besides a village-wide funeral? Have you heard of Minamata disease? A disease that almost wiped out a town in Japan. Severely poisoned people still have no cure. Do you think this is a joke? I already sense that Lin Yuan's side is about to collapse. If I were from West Sea City and knew this news, I'd probably be scared to death.]

— [Speaking of which, why are the fish poisonous? People in the past were fine. Could it be that someone is poisoning the Big Lake? But the problem is, for such a large Big Lake, how much poison would that require? The cost would be too high.]

Although it was now clear that the fish were the underlying cause of this series of strange events.

The question remained: why were the fish poisonous?

The villagers had mentioned that generations had lived there without issue, which meant that the fish becoming poisonous must have been a recent development.

At this point, Team Chen asked doubtfully, "Could it be that the water quality is polluted?"

As soon as he spoke.

Several villagers replied in unison, "Impossible!"

"The water quality of this Big Lake is famous far and wide. People often see white sturgeon in it, and this fish is a national first-class protected animal, requiring very high water quality."

However, the next second, someone said doubtfully, "But I haven't seen a white sturgeon once in the past six months, and I don't know why."

As soon as this was said, the others all lowered their heads in dejection.

In the past, whenever villagers went out fishing, seeing white sturgeon made them overjoyed, symbolizing that they were about to have good luck.

But in the past six months, white sturgeon had not appeared again.

They originally thought it was just a coincidence, but encountering this matter today, and thinking about it carefully, everyone's hearts trembled involuntarily.

Could it be... that the water quality of the Big Lake really had a problem?

To clarify this issue.

Team Chen had the villagers lead the way, asking the accompanying police and Experts to go to the Big Lake to collect water for testing.

All the villagers anxiously awaited the results.

The fish had already been confirmed to be poisonous.

If the Big Lake water was also confirmed to be poisonous, it would be a catastrophic consequence for them.

Their generations-old fishing livelihood would be cut off here; what difference was that from severing their roots?

At that time, young people would no longer fish and would leave the village, and eventually, this village would inevitably disappear into the river of history.

However, no matter how unwilling they were.

The result would not change!

After more than twenty minutes of detailed testing.

The conclusion was that the mercury levels in the Big Lake water exceeded the standard!

Hearing this answer, some older villagers fainted on the spot. The villagers' faces were ashen, and many lost control of their emotions, some crying bitterly, others shouting loudly.

Lin Yuan looked at the chaotic scene, lost in thought, his brows tightly furrowed.

He couldn't understand why the Big Lake water contained mercury.

For such a large Big Lake, to have both fish and Big Lake water exceed the standard, how much mercury would that require?

This was absolutely an astronomical figure!

Even if someone wanted to poison the Big Lake, the cost would be far too high.

But then again, mercury couldn't just appear out of thin air, could it?

Unless!

Unless there was a cinnabar mine at the bottom of the Big Lake!

After many years of crustal movement, it gradually rose to the surface, and under a series of specific conditions, reacted with water to form mercury?

However, this answer was also far-fetched.

Previous tests, whether on villagers, fish, or water, all showed mercury elements, not mercury.

If it were a chemical reaction accidentally produced by a cinnabar mine, it should appear in the form of mercury.

And mercury does not dissolve in water; it only sinks to the bottom and would not be eaten by those fish.

Therefore, the possibility of a mineral vein at the bottom of the Big Lake was also rejected by Lin Yuan.

Besides this, another problem bothered him.

Generally, mercury exists in two forms: organic mercury and inorganic mercury.

Inorganic mercury is difficult to pass through the human blood-brain barrier to enter the brain and affect the human nervous system.

Given the current condition of the villagers and the abnormalities of the animals, Lin Yuan could be certain that this was definitely organic mercury poisoning.

But the problem was, whether mercury used in chemical industries or in daily life, although toxic, all belonged to inorganic mercury.

Where did the organic mercury that could pollute an entire Big Lake come from? Did it just appear out of nowhere?

Unfortunately, the Experts had not yet analyzed the results, otherwise, they might have found some clues.

Just as he was lost in thought, Team Chen came up to him and said with a wry smile, "Lin Yuan, if this news gets out, West Sea City is going to have a major earthquake."

"I've heard about this Big Lake since I was a child, and the fish from it are very popular in the market. Almost all West Sea City residents have eaten them."

"Once they know the fish here are poisonous, the consequences..."

"Sigh~~"

At this point, Team Chen didn't know how to continue.

He was very clear about the severity of this matter.

Just like the previous funeral home incident, the impact was very widespread, even more so.

His top priority was not to investigate why the Big Lake was poisonous, but to quickly call Director Yang to report the situation.

Lest the news get out and the higher-ups demand answers, while he was still in the dark.

A moment later, Director Yang answered the phone, and the moment he heard the news, he was completely stunned!

"What? Poisoned by eating fish? An entire village poisoned? Everyone in West Sea City might be poisoned?"

Team Chen nodded wryly, "Yes, it has now been confirmed that the mercury levels in the Big Lake water exceed the standard, but the source has not yet been found. This matter has too great an impact, Director Yang, what do we do now?"

On the other end of the phone, Director Yang's eyes widened, his face grim.

Originally, hearing about fish poisoning was surprising enough, but who would have thought that the entire Big Lake was poisonous, even implicating all of West Sea City!

At this moment, Director Yang felt the sky was falling!

He had, of course, heard of that Big Lake, and had even personally seen the white sturgeon in it.

The Big Lake, passed down through generations, had a history of at least several hundred years, and the quantity of fish it produced was astonishing!

Although some were consumed by the villagers themselves.

They relied on this for their livelihood, and most of it was sold on the market.

In other words, the number of people who had eaten fish from the Big Lake was unimaginably large, and he himself was one of the victims!

And Team Chen just said that this was mercury, which, once it enters the human body, simply cannot be expelled.

It might seem like one fish wouldn't be a big deal.

But... that was mercury!

Even a fool knows it's highly poisonous, yet now, by some twist of fate, it had been eaten.

With such a highly toxic substance lurking inside one's body, who wouldn't be afraid?

Especially the residents living in the nearby market, whose families hadn't eaten dozens of fish?

If they continued to eat them, they might not even know how they died on the day they passed away!

As the saying goes, there are no walls that don't leak wind. This news would surely spread by tonight at the latest.

At that time, would those innocent victims sit idly by?

How should the Government face these people?

If they gathered to cause trouble, as a police officer, should he maintain order or help them seek justice?

It was a difficult choice!

Thinking of this, cold sweat incessantly dripped down Director Yang's forehead.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, he quickly asked over the phone, "How many of you are there? Have you brought in Experts to help?"

Hearing this, Team Chen's expression was strange. He glanced at Lin Yuan and nodded, "Lin Yuan is also here!"