172: Diagnosis and discovery

“Phew, I’m exhausted!”

After showering, Lu Chuan flopped onto the sofa with a thud.

The new sofa was so soft and springy that it almost bounced him back onto the floor.

He Jingrui, who happened to be passing by with a mop, quickly grabbed Lu Chuan and pulled him back onto the sofa, then went into the bathroom to take clothes from the washing machine to dry in the yard.

Watching He Jingrui’s busy figure, Lu Chuan smiled, then closed his eyes and called out to the system in his mind:

“System, issue the mission and extract the reward.”

【Host, if you claim…】

The system’s words were cut short, then it seemed to crash, but quickly pretended nothing happened and continued speaking.

【Last week’s mission reward, the “Gourmet Cell Diagnosis” ability, has been issued. Now, releasing next week’s mission.】

【Mission updated (claimed)】

【Requirement: 5 days a week, daily from 23:00 to 4:00 the next day, open a Midnight Diner in Modu, selling random gourmet dishes.】

【Menu: Provide corresponding recipes and high-quality ingredients based on customer orders (ingredient costs are automatically deducted from revenue).】

【Equipment: First-class air ticket to Modu for Monday, temporary shop, and all necessary operating documents have been prepared.】

【Mission Reward: A complete set of mystic crystal kitchen knife, with an included knife storage space.】

“Modu? Opening a shop? mystic crystal kitchen knife?”

Lu Chuan was stunned when he saw the description of next week’s mission.

This mission felt off no matter how he looked at it.

The system seemed to be playing new tricks again.

This situation had already begun to show its signs with last week’s beggar’s chicken ring toss stall.

Having been continuously tormented by the system, Lu Chuan, who was already showing symptoms of PTSD, couldn’t help but surprisingly miss the very first street stall mission.

Ah, how good it was back then!

There weren’t so many messy things; it was just like most small vendors, normally preparing ingredients, normally setting up the stall, normally attracting customers.

There simply weren’t so many messy things.

The only price to pay was just a tiny bit of awkwardness.

“Sigh!”

Lu Chuan sighed, snapping out of his nostalgic thoughts.

“Never mind, never mind. One must learn to look forward. The most urgent task now is to first help He Jingrui diagnose his physical condition.”

Previously, the system had given an opinion, and he remembered the original words were like this:

【The “Gourmet Cell Diagnosis” ability is a gourmet medical technology that diagnoses, classifies, and evaluates the prognosis of gourmet diseases by analyzing the morphology, structure, molecular characteristics, and functional state of Gourmet Cellss, combined with clinical information.】

After hearing it at the time, Lu Chuan only felt that it sounded profound but he didn't quite understand it.

But now that he had acquired this ability, he realized that in practical application, it didn't require complex or expensive high-tech equipment; instead, it was similar to the “inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation” of traditional Chinese medicine.

It only required the physician to have solid theoretical knowledge, practical experience, observation skills, and communication skills, and for the patient to cooperate, and the environment to be suitable.

That’s right, the conditions were that simple, not complicated, and easily achievable.

“It doesn’t look grand at all…”

Lu Chuan mumbled.

Sensing Lu Chuan’s disdain, the system immediately popped out from some corner again.

【System products are always premium! The “Gourmet Cell Diagnosis” ability granted to the Host by the system has extremely high accuracy and is highly versatile! Once the Host masters it, he will be no less than any gourmet doctor who has made a name for himself in another world…】

The system’s voice stopped abruptly, then it quickly cleared its throat and continued speaking without changing its expression.

【Ahem, in short, the Host must not underestimate this ability!】

Lu Chuan blinked, watching the system scurry away in a panic, and a smile involuntarily curved at the corner of his mouth.

Interesting~

One day, he would know everything he wanted to know.

He stopped thinking further, got up, dragged a chair over, and then called He Jingrui, who had finished his chores.

“Come, come, sit on this chair.”

He Jingrui didn’t understand why, but he obediently complied.

Then, he saw Lu Chuan also sit directly opposite him, and then his hands began to move over his body.

“Hey, hey, hey, A Chuan, what are you doing?”

This startled He Jingrui, and he was about to get up and jump away.

But then he heard Lu Chuan shout loudly.

“Don’t move!”

He Jingrui immediately sat back down obediently, but goosebumps appeared all over his body, and he couldn’t help but start muttering.

“Are you done yet?”

“If there’s something, just say it. Do you have to use your hands?”

“A Chuan, what exactly do you want to do?”

“…”

Lu Chuan was fully focused on the body examination, but He Jingrui kept chattering, repeatedly interrupting his rhythm.

Slowly, veins popped up on his forehead.

“If you don’t shut up, you won’t have dinner tonight!”

Seeing Lu Chuan angry and threatening him with dinner, He Jingrui could only respond aggrievedly.

“Oh…”

The “patient” finally quieted down, and Lu Chuan’s examination work went much smoother.

Not long after, he felt the palm of his hand resting on He Jingrui’s skin warm slightly, and then he noticed something “jump” out from the location of his pineal gland on his forehead, which was “breathing” with an expansion and contraction.

Before he could react, his vision went black.

The next moment, Lu Chuan’s vision brightened again, but the scene before him had become “mystical.”

In a blood-red world, irregular spheres flickering with strange light flowed continuously, like breathing stars rapidly traversing the sky.

At this moment, Lu Chuan merely had a thought, and the next moment, his entire being rapidly approached one of the “stars,” maintaining a relative static state with the rapidly rotating “star.”

From a distance before, nothing was discernible.

But now, being so close, Lu Chuan immediately noticed something unusual.

The “star” before him was an irregular disc shape, glowing with three colors: cyan, red, and gold.

The proportions of the three colors were different, with red being the highest, followed by gold, and cyan being the lowest.

The red light echoed the blood-red world, and Lu Chuan guessed it should be the “star’s” intrinsic color.

As for the golden light… “Based on the medical knowledge granted by the ‘Gourmet Cell Diagnosis’ ability, this star before me is undoubtedly a Gourmet Cells, and this golden color should be the extra color that appears when normal cells transform into Gourmet Cellss, representing the awakening level of the Gourmet Cells.”

“Then this cyan…”

Lu Chuan squinted, his expression grave as he looked at the floating cyan light on the Gourmet Cells.

“A very eerie cyan light, sometimes spreading like a wave, sometimes contracting into the shape of a swimming fish, with a layer of misty moisture floating on its surface, but it’s not pure.”

Lu Chuan closed his eyes, concentrating to feel it, and faintly heard roars and curses emanating from beneath the cyan light.

For some reason, as soon as he saw this cyan light, he thought of the merman monster he had encountered earlier at the bottom of the Nameless Lake.