Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 625 The Origin of the Treasure Chest System

"You want to clone her?"

The terminal's face was displayed on a huge electronic screen, and its distorted proportions made it look somewhat eerie.

"Yes, is it possible?" Li Zheng nodded, but the terminal's attitude made him feel uncertain.

The terminal paused for a moment, and a large amount of data flashed on the screen, seemingly calculating the feasibility of the matter: "There is no successful precedent for cloning a dead person in the outer city, but I can try, as long as I can find some still-active cells and tissues in her body."

Li Zheng's eyes lit up: "So, there's at least a 50% chance it's feasible?"

“Not that high.” The terminal’s face was grim, and it wasn’t optimistic about the future: “Do you know why cloning technology was once prevalent in the outer city, but no one ever successfully cloned a dead person?”
This is because such a thing violates the basic rules: the dead cannot be resurrected by any means unless a contingency plan is left before death, and even then, the contingency plan will become ineffective when life comes to an end.

"Anyway, I'll give it a try first. You put her coffin on that platform over there, and I'll check if there are any active cells left in her body."

To Li Zheng's left, the ground bulged up, forming a platform that was just the right size to place Yan Guang's crystal coffin.

After the coffin was placed back into the capsule and then put back on the platform, the terminal issued a command, and the platform slowly descended and sank into the ground. A floor panel popped up on each side, restoring the ground to its original state.

"Your place has been renovated quite advanced, there are mechanisms everywhere." Li Zheng was extremely envious. The terminal had previously shown a large number of counters displaying dangerous goods, which had also risen from underground, indicating that there was an area of ​​unknown size below the central hub, all under the terminal's jurisdiction.

"It's alright. I need to do a lot of experiments regularly, so the modifications were quite thorough." The terminal glanced at Li Zheng warily. It knew all about the kid's destructive behavior in the Matrix and was worried that Li Zheng would get itchy and tear it down.

Fortunately, Li Zheng didn't have such thoughts. Instead, he skipped the topic and asked, "You just said you've never tried cloning dead people, but you've been a terminal user for who knows how many years, haven't you? Aren't our original bodies still alive?"

“Strictly speaking, from the moment I became the Terminal, our bodies were already dead,” the Terminal explained. “It’s just that I preserved my body using special methods, and there are still traces of its activity remaining. I can’t even say how many years have passed now, and my body is almost at its limit. When it completely loses its activity, I will no longer be able to produce clones.”

"Can't produce anymore?" Li Zheng's eyes lit up. "I'm still here, aren't I? Can we continue to cultivate clones using my cells?"

“I knew you’d ask this kind of question.” The terminal had an expression that said, “I knew it all along.” “The cells in our bodies aren’t eggs, so how could they possibly be chickens that lay eggs and eggs that hatch into chickens, endlessly?”

I conducted related experiments as early as when the first clone was created. Although I can't explain the specific principles to you clearly because it would take too long and involve too much technical jargon, you probably wouldn't understand anyway.

So, to make a long story short...

In short, the cells of a clone, or rather, the DNA strands, have a layer added that even I cannot decipher. As long as this layer is present, no cell taken from the clone can be cloned again.

Li Zheng nodded thoughtfully: "Could it be understood that the will of the universe does not allow life to achieve 'immortality' through such a clever trick, so it has imposed this restriction on life?"

“That’s one way to understand it,” the terminal said. “When a clone is first born, its memory is blank. I have also mastered the means to implant memories into this blank slate. If someone implants memories into a clone by constantly cloning themselves and frequently updating their memories, they can indeed achieve a different kind of immortality.”

Li Zheng thought for a moment, then raised another question: "If... I mean if, someone copies their own memories and pastes them into the head of a newborn baby, could they achieve a similar effect of 'immortality'?"

"Like the 'body snatching' mentioned in novels?"

After a moment of contemplation, the terminal replied, "It's almost impossible. The brains of newborn life forms are very fragile and cannot hold a large amount of memory information."

It's like trying to transfer 10TB of content into a 256GB hard drive.

Forcing it will only create an overwhelming surge of data, potentially rupturing the baby's brain and turning them into an imbecile.

Seeing that Li Zheng still had questions, before he could speak, the terminal said first: "Even if the target of the indoctrination is changed to an adult, it will not work. Even if an adult can withstand the impact of a large number of memories at this time, there are other drawbacks and limitations."

Because an adult already possesses their own independent consciousness, and complete memory is a manifestation of clear consciousness. It's like a computer with an operating system already installed; if you try to install another operating system on it, the end result will either be installation failure or the processor being overworked, ultimately leading to malfunction.

“Hmm…” The terminal paused, then added, “Another possibility is that it will become a dual-system operation, with two consciousnesses taking turns controlling the body, something like…”

Li Zheng added, "Schizophrenia?"

"To be precise, it's multiple personality disorder," the terminal corrected. "Schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder have completely different meanings in their literal sense and cannot be confused."

Schizophrenia can also be understood as the division of mental energy into several parts, and does not necessarily mean the emergence of several different consciousnesses.

"Okay, you're quite serious about this." Li Zheng shrugged indifferently. He was just asking out of curiosity. Anyway, he knew nothing about cloning and would just listen to it as a story.

"It's about rigor!" the terminal corrected again: "Science is rigorous. A single misuse of terminology can lead to vastly different conclusions. Therefore, rigor is essential!"

Li Zheng was speechless and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, alright, you're right."

At this moment, the terminal's expression shifted: "You're lucky. I just found some cells with weak activity in that girl's bones, but the activity is too weak. We need to use other methods to stimulate and enhance the activity of these cells before we can begin the cloning project."

"Really?!" Li Zheng's eyes lit up. "That's great!"

Ignoring his joy, the terminal poured cold water on him: "Don't be too happy yet. In this process, it's hard to guarantee that the extracted cell activity won't completely disappear, and whether the cloning will be successful is still unknown."

Li Zheng's eyes were firm: "At least there's still hope!"

"It's very unlikely..." the terminal muttered. "The next experiment can't be done in a day or two. Even if we confirm that these cells can be used for cloning, it will still take a long time for the clones to mature. You should go back first. I will let you know if there is any news."

Waiting here is not a solution; it's just a waste of time.

"Oh, right!" Just before the terminal was about to send Li Zheng out, he suddenly remembered something, took out the glass longsword, cut his finger, and squeezed out a drop of blood: "You must have a lot of equipment here, could you help me analyze it?"

"Is it necessary?" The terminal glanced at the blood on Li Zheng's finger, and was about to refuse when it suddenly showed a change of heart: "It is necessary!"

The finger that had been cut open just a second ago was now already beginning to heal. This strange regenerative ability was not something the terminal had given Li Zheng.

A piece popped out from the side wall of the computer, extending into a robotic arm. At the end of the robotic arm was a syringe-like tube that reached out and took the blood from Li Zheng's hand.

Looking at it now, the wound has completely healed and returned to normal.

If you hadn't seen Li Zheng cut his finger open with your own eyes, you would never have imagined that there had been a cut there.

"What's with your regenerative abilities?" the terminal asked in astonishment. "Apart from those twisted creatures in the Gluttony Domain, I have never discovered such terrifying natural regenerative abilities in any living being!"

Such a powerful recovery ability is, of course, due to the residual effects of the Marrow Cleansing Pill still remaining in Li Zheng's body.

Previously, his body had been cracked by the mental force, and it was the residual medicinal effects that helped him recover completely. Otherwise, Li Zheng would still be like porcelain, covered in cracks.

Once this residue is completely absorbed, Li Zheng's physical strength will improve further, but he won't be able to heal his wounds as quickly as he does now.

Unless he takes another of the same pill.

How easy is it to obtain another Marrow Cleansing Pill?
A super god-level treasure chest only gives one pill. Li Zheng has only opened two super god-level treasure chests so far, one of which was upgraded using the delayed extraction function.

Who knows when the next god-tier treasure chest will be, or what it might contain?

That's why Li Zheng took advantage of the fact that the medicine hadn't been fully absorbed by his body to give a little blood for the terminal to analyze. As long as the ingredients of the Marrow Cleansing Pill were known, it might be possible to replicate it.

"Don't you know everything I do?" Li Zheng looked at the terminal with a meaningful gaze, a strange smile curving his lips.

Everything that happens in the matrix cannot escape the terminal's surveillance, and Li Zheng did not believe that the noise he made when opening the treasure chest could be hidden from it.

Sure enough, after he said that, the terminal's expression calmed down: "I was going to pretend I didn't know and tell you not to overthink it, but you still found out." "Zhan Zhouzhou said I used to be a bit stupid, and I don't deny it, because I think back on some of my past actions and they seem childish." Li Zheng shrugged and said, "But even though I'm a clone, I still grow, don't I? It's just a small detail, how could I not notice it?"

After a few seconds of silence, the terminal asked, "Aren't you curious where that thing came from?"

Li Zheng stared at the large face on the screen: "Will you tell me?"

"why not?"

The terminal said quietly, "Why should I hide what I gave you?"

"So that's how it was!" Li Zheng's expression changed drastically. "So everything that came out of the box was something you gave me?"

"No!"

The terminal shook its head: "I'm just transferring the system to you. The things inside... actually came from the system."

"What do you mean?" Li Zheng was a little confused. Could it be that the treasure chest system wasn't the 'golden finger' that the terminal forced on him when it cloned him, but rather a real golden finger that he obtained after the terminal was still human when it transmigrated?
"Looks like you still haven't figured it out..." The terminal seemed to have thought of something, then gave a strange look before bursting into laughter. The smile on the screen stretched out, looking extremely eerie: "Don't you feel a sense of incongruity with the Matrix? What kind of technology could create a miniature world capable of altering the rules?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng's mind went blank, filled with disbelief: "Could it be that the original blueprints of the Matrix world were actually something you found in a treasure chest?"

"Otherwise what?" The terminal finished laughing and regained its composure: "I've had that system for countless years, you'd never guess what I've gotten from those boxes!"

At this point, Terminal gritted his teeth: "Maybe I used up all my luck during my time travel. From when I was still human until I entered the Matrix Terminal and became data, I only got two truly good things from the boxes."

One is the matrix blueprint we are currently based on, and the other is…”

The terminal suddenly stopped and did not continue speaking.

Li Zheng pressed further: "What's the other one?"

He already had some guesses in his mind.

The terminal said dejectedly, "The other one was also a blueprint, but unfortunately I underestimated its power back then, and in the end I single-handedly created an emotional storm."

"!!!"

With his suspicions confirmed, Li Zheng was at a loss for words.

It turns out that the culprit who ravaged the universe for countless years and destroyed countless civilizations was the same person as the great benefactor who sheltered the survivors of all races.

"I also tried to find a way to resolve the emotional storm once and for all by opening treasure chests, but my luck was really bad!" A shadow seemed to be overshadowed on the terminal's face: "Besides a huge amount of daily necessities, there were only some blueprints that were not presentable and did not help resolve the emotional storm at all. I threw them all into the matrix."

You should notice that there are two types of blueprints in the matrix: learnable and reusable blueprints, and non-learnable, one-time-use blueprints. The latter is the 'junk' I've slowly unearthed from treasure chests over the years.

Li Zheng suddenly realized: "I was wondering before why the items made from disposable blueprints were more useful than those made from other blueprints of the same type. Turns out they're all high-quality items given to me by our treasure chest daddy!"

“Not entirely…” Terminal looked embarrassed: “Actually, I also followed the example of the treasure chest and made some consumable blueprints myself, throwing them into the matrix to make up the numbers, but you didn’t encounter them.”

Li Zheng stroked his chin: "So, I guess I'm really lucky."

Terminal's face darkened: "I accidentally spilled some blood just now, squeeze out a little more for me."

Li Zheng asked suspiciously, "You would be so careless?"

The terminal grinned and said, "It was just that careless!"

As he spoke, the avatar disappeared, and a scene appeared on the screen: a drop of bright red blood on the ground next to a testing instrument.

Li Zheng: "..."

Damn it, you actually spilled it on purpose?!

Helpless, he could only grit his teeth and make another cut, letting out some blood, which the terminal then extended with a robotic arm to take away.

"This time it won't spill again, right?" Li Zheng glanced sideways at the terminal.

The terminal said, "Whether I spill it or not depends on your performance."

"..." Li Zheng suddenly recalled the scene of his persecution of Fengshan in the past. How similar was this moment to that time?

The terminal put away its playful mood and said seriously, "I transferred the system to you back then only because your lifespan was short. When you die, the system will return to me."

But now that you've likely used the gene serum you obtained from the treasure chest to correct your deficiencies, extending your lifespan to the level of a normal person, I can't forcibly take back the treasure chest system."

"But there is one piece of advice you must always remember. The origin of the treasure chest system is unknown. Even after I became a Matrix Terminal, I was unable to decipher its nature. You must be careful in your daily life. If you get something with unclear effects from a treasure chest, do not use it rashly, otherwise you may repeat my mistake and cause a great disaster!"

Li Zheng nodded: "I've got it."

He thought to himself, "The original body probably didn't develop any auxiliary tools like Old Pu, so it was like the blind men and the elephant, causing the things it created to go out of control and leading to disaster."

Unlike him, I have Old Pu's help. Whatever I get from the treasure chest, its use and purpose are immediately clear, so I definitely won't follow his old path.

With the assurance in hand, the terminal nodded in satisfaction: "If there's nothing else, I'll send you back. I'll create a dedicated communication channel on your inscription card so you can contact me, but it's best not to contact me unless absolutely necessary, as I'm usually very busy."

Li Zheng pondered carefully, and having no further questions for the time being, he instructed the terminal to send him back the way he came.

The scene before him flickered, and he and Miriel were sent back into the Matrix. At this point, his player privileges had been locked by the terminal, making it impossible for him to use most functions. His permission to teleport at will had also been revoked. Unless he had a special item, he would be unable to move an inch in the Matrix.

With nothing else to do, Li Zheng decided to give up the rest of his time and return to the outer city, appearing at the reception desk in Block 7.

It was getting dark outside the city, and more than ten hours had passed since they left to carry out their mission. There were only a few people at the reception area.

Instead of staying near the portal to prevent others from using it, Li Zheng pulled Miriel back to the blacksmith shop.

Only Zi Yuan was there to greet customers at the blacksmith shop; the blacksmith's apprentices were nowhere to be seen. Li Zheng guessed that they had decided on their research topics and gone out to collect materials.

"You actually came back alive?" Zi Yuan saw Li Zheng sitting behind the counter and sighed with regret.

Li Zheng never took the translator off his ear: "You really want me dead that badly?"

“You can’t say that.” Zi Yuan looked innocent. “I just don’t want you to harm my sister.”

"..." Li Zheng was silent for a few seconds, then reached out and took off the mask from Miriel's face, saying to Zi Yuan, "You can rest assured, someone like this is more in line with my aesthetic standards. Your sister... she's not my type!"

Li Zheng had thought that Miriel's looks would be a killer for any race, but he miscalculated this time. Zi Yuan not only stared at Miriel's devastatingly beautiful face for a long time, but her expression also became increasingly strange. In the end, she even blurted out: "So you like this type!"

"???" Li Zheng couldn't figure out what Zi Yuan meant by those words for a moment.

(End of this chapter)