I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 641, pages 2.3-24: Guess Who I Am

Shui Qi glanced down at the broth in her cup, then looked up at Dao Lin. After a few seconds of silence, she picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and put it in her mouth. Her brows furrowed sharply. "It's so bitter! What is this?!"

“I added some anti-inflammatory herbs, so it’s normal for it to be bitter, since I didn’t add any sugar.” Dao Lin raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “I know you’re afraid of bitterness, so I deliberately doubled the bitterness.”

Shui Qi stared at the broth in her cup with a troubled expression, suddenly losing all appetite. "Shouldn't most people know that I hate bitter things and deliberately avoid them? Why are you doing the opposite? No, how did you know I hate bitter things!"

"It's a very simple deduction. You like sweet chocolate but hate coffee, and you never touch any bitter foods. I put bitter herbs in the soup to reinforce your memory, so that you'll remember that if you dare to act recklessly and disregard your health again, even more bitter foods await you."

Shui Qi: "..." So ruthless.

"Don't spit it out. Drink it all, not a single drop left," Dao Lin frowned and warned.

Shui Qi's body stiffened slightly, and with a blank expression, she drank the broth down in one gulp as it cooled down. After finishing it, she felt nauseous and quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her face extremely pale.

He would never touch such disgusting food again in his life, especially not the kind made by Dao Lin!
Dao Lin finished the soup in his cup without changing his expression, and then said to Shui Qi, "Come to my room after this dungeon is over."

Shui Qi was gagging and feeling nauseous, covering her mouth with one hand, when she heard Dao Lin's inexplicable words. She subconsciously replied, "What?"

“I suspect there’s a defect in your genes,” Dao Lin said, his brows furrowed and his expression grave.

"Why are you suddenly saying that?" Shui Qi asked, slightly taken aback.

"As someone of mixed race, shouldn't you know better than me how weak your immune system is?"

Dao Lin stood up and served Shui Qi another bowl of meat soup, placing it in front of him before beginning to share his insights.

"Previously, there were no outbreaks because the environment was relatively mild, so the stimulation to the body was not significant. But now it's different. Sometimes there are sudden changes in the environment, and the body can't adapt, resulting in physiological reactions like 'acclimatization sickness.' Ultimately, this is because the body's cellular responses can't keep up with the speed of environmental changes."

If you were a pure-blooded carbon-based organism—like a human—this reaction would be understandable. But you are not. You are a semi-silicon-based organism, a combination of a human and some silicon-based organisms. Genetically speaking, you shouldn't have this kind of physiological reaction of 'acclimatization'.

So, fundamentally, it's a problem with your own gene sequence; the lack of a certain gene segment leads to sluggish cellular responses.

"I asked you to come to my room to check which part of your gene sequence is malfunctioning so I can repair it. Otherwise, if this continues, you will die from gene breakdown syndrome. Basically, 65% of gene breakdown syndrome patients are caused by their body cells failing to keep up with environmental changes, which repeatedly leads to cell breakdown."

"Isn't gene collapse disease a terminal illness? And I've never heard of gene sequences being repairable." Although Shui Qi understood that her memories of this world were gradually becoming detached from the outside world, she still hadn't forgotten those so-called common sense facts. Among them was 'gene collapse disease,' a common terminal illness in interstellar space that was incurable no matter what.

"Isn't their inability to do it due to a lack of ability?" Dao Lin glanced at Shui Qi and retorted, "Don't talk to me about biological authorities. Gu Shurong himself stands at the pinnacle of biological authority. He initially rose to fame for creating a racial gene fusion potion, which is why he is also known as the 'Father of Gene Chains.' If it weren't for Gu Shurong's potion, it would be extremely difficult for different races to combine and produce offspring." There would also have been no subsequent establishment of the Federation.

Dao Lin lightly twirled the Black Jade Pendant between his fingertips, his icy blue eyes fixed on the petals. He chuckled softly and said confidently, "Gene sequences can be repaired. In fact, I was originally going to the Imperial Star to present an academic report on 'gene sequence repairability' and tell everyone that gene collapse syndrome is curable. But unfortunately, due to a problem with the spaceship I was on, I ended up here with you all."

"Have you regained your memories?" Shui Qi asked.

"No. It's always been fragmented. I only managed to recall who I was originally thanks to Ming Jin and that potion, but even so, I only remember parts of it. But don't worry, my instincts are still there, and I can recall any biological knowledge I come across. It's just that I probably can't find my original personality again." Dao Lin sighed helplessly, saying, "I was thinking that if I remembered who I was originally, I could reintroduce myself to you as Gu Shurong, but unfortunately, I'm still Dao Lin. Or rather... Gu Shurong is a thing of the past, and I am Dao Lin now. So there's no need to reintroduce myself. I am still the Dao Lin you know, just with some additional memories of the Gu Shurong era."

He looked up and saw Shui Qi staring at him with a complicated expression. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's with that expression?"

"Uh, no, actually I was thinking, it's a good thing you didn't revert to your Gu Shurong persona." According to some rumors, Gu Shurong's personality was a bit strange. It seemed that she had a particular desire to study unknown and difficult-to-understand creatures, and her excessive persistence led to suspicions of sexual harassment.

Fortunately, Dao Lin is still Dao Lin, otherwise he would feel it necessary to distance himself from Gu Shurong.

However, the current situation can be considered a good thing, as some supplies have been secured.

“So…” Shui Qi chuckled at Dao Lin, “I don’t really want to touch the repair tools here when we’ve finished researching that healing potion. I have a feeling that using them too much might lead to something bad happening.”

Dao Lin: "..." So you only want his medicine.

"Almost there. We're just missing one material. Once we find it, we can finish and start mass production," Dao Lin replied with a blank expression.

"That's wonderful! Brother Daolin is truly amazing." Shui Qi smiled at Daolin, a deep glint flashing in her narrow blue eyes, as if she were calculating something.

"Now that we've covered your situation, let's move on to the progress of this dungeon." Dao Lin paused, then continued, "While you were unconscious, this dungeon entered its final stage. Maps two, three, and five successfully eliminated the 'Ghost.' In map four, the 'Ghost' was Ming Jin, who wiped out the entire player team. Therefore, the final battle will take place on the grasslands of map four. Also, the Ghost we need to find is Ming Xi."

The next chapter will review the background.

The information in this chapter is foreshadowing and will be used later.

Furthermore, there's a reason why this version is written this way; an explanation will be provided after it's finished.

To be honest, Gu Shurong's personality is truly extremely flamboyant, even more so than Shui Qi's.

From Daolin's words, we can infer that Gu Shurong was alive before the Federation was established, meaning he was at least four or five digits old. However, Gu Shurong's genes are special, so he isn't considered human, which explains his long lifespan.

Everything is made up; don't take it as reality.

-
Small Theater

Dao Lin: Shui Qi, come to my room after the dungeon is over.

Shui Qi (hugging herself in fear): What do you want to do to me?
Dao Lin: ...

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(End of this chapter)