A binary merger product as the direct progenitor of a Type II-P supernova - Zexi Niu; Ning-Chen Sun; Emmanouil Zapartas; Dimitris Souropanis; Yingzhen Cui; Justyn R. Maund; Jeff J. Andrews; Max M. Briel; Morgan Fraser; Seth Gossage; Matthias U. Kruckow; Camille Liotine; et al. (Science Bulletin, 2026)