S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 68

Ghost Ship Murderer 32 – Genetics and Taste

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The person who walked into the room was an ordinary looking young man, maybe twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old? It was not quite clear. He was not too tall, not too short, not too good looking, and was dressed in a very ordinary way.

Lin Ruo thought he looked a little familiar, but couldn't really remember where he had seen this man before, but Jiang Nan, who was beside him, was frowning at the man who came in, "Xiao Gu."

Lin Ruo reacted a moment later... Xiao Gu?

Then, Lin Ruo remembered, thanks to his good memory, and asked Jiang Nan, "He's your driver?"

Jiang Nan nodded gently.

Lin Ruo frowned and looked at Jiang Nan, that meant – Could it be that he kidnapped you?

"Young Master, you're awake?"

At this moment, a woman walked in behind Xiao Gu. She was petite, and wore a white dress. She called out to Lin Ruo as Young Master, with a sweet voice and a sweet smile, but her looks could only be described as average.

Lin Ruo naturally recognised her, this girl was a maid in the Lin family residence. He didn't know how long she had been working in the house, he wasn't even quite sure of the maid's name, as he rarely returned home to stay anyway.

"Young Master doesn't know my name, huh?" The maid walked in with a smile on her face and tilted her head to look at him, "My name is Emilia."

Lin Ruo looked her up and down and frowned slightly – This girl looked sixteen or seventeen, and as far as he could remember, she had been working at the old mansion for at least four years. Perhaps it was the clothes and the presentation, which hadn't stood out to him before, but now she seemed too young. Looked youthful? Or not old...

Lin Ruo stared at her in a daze, while his head was considering various possibilities and rationalisations, and gradually, a rough outline was sketched out in his heart... Could it be that there was a deeper reason for all this?

"You're quite clever, how much have you thought through?" The young girl who called herself Emilia walked in and examined Lin Ruo.

Lin Ruo stopped talking and began to rapidly reconnect the whole thing from beginning to end in his head, and the more he thought about it, the weirder it became.

"Hey..." Emilia turned to Jiang Nan, narrowing her eyes, "You're so old, you don't look like me at all!" With that, she reached out to touch Jiang Nan's face.

Lin Ru pulled Jiang Nan behind him, avoiding Emilia's hand.

Emilia narrowed her eyes at him.

Lin Ruo spoke, "You're not Emilia at all."

"Oh?" Emilia's attention returned to him, "So sure?"

"I've seen Emilia, on the ghost ship." Lin Ruo said lightly, "Don't you guys just want me to take you to her."

Xiao Gu looked at the maid who called herself Emilia.

The maid smiled, "You're quite clever."

"Just take me, what's the point of taking Jiang Nan?" Lin Ruo was a little puzzled.

"Because she knows too much." The maid said, glancing back at Xiao Gu.

Xiao Gu seemed a little afraid of her and retreated half a step back.

"She was supposed to die, but I never expected that some irrelevant people would get in the way." The maid said, leaning against the wall and examining Jiang Nan, "I hate her so much!"

Jiang Nan felt baffled, "I don't even know you."

"Shut up!" The maid looked at Jiang Nan with a slightly dangerous look in her eyes, "Do you know what you were brought here for?"

Jiang Nan frowned.

"Later, I'll tie a rope to you, cut off your arms and legs and throw them into the sea to see if I can hook a big fish up, hahaha." It was not clear whether the maid was telling the truth or joking, but her expression was grim as she said to Xiao Gu, whose face was white with fear, "Go, cut off one of her hands and give it to me!"

Xiao Gu was horrified, "I..."

"I'm a little thirsty and want some water."

Without waiting for Xiao Gu to speak, Lin Ruo suddenly spoke and held out two fingers, "It needs two cups of warm water."

The maid looked at him in amusement.

Lin Ruo locked eyes with her, "Young Master wants you to bring a glass of water over, you're a bit slow to react."

Surprisingly, the maid didn't get very angry, instead she hesitated for a moment, staring at Lin Ruo's eyes, then turned back and nodded to Xiao Gu.

Xiao Gu went to get two glasses of water. Lin Ruo took them, took a sip himself and felt no strange taste or discomfort, so he gave the one he had taken a sip of to Jiang Nan and drank the other one himself.

Jiang Nan looked at Lin Ruo with the water in her hand, and was really surprised. This young master, who was normally pampered, was actually very good at taking care of people, and... was protecting her.

"Why are you being so nice to her?" The maid had a look of displeasure on her face, "She's so old."

"I can cooperate with you, but only if you don't hurt innocent people again." Lin Ruo said.

"And you know she's innocent?" The maid sneered, "Who in this world is innocent?"

"You just have to do as you are told." Lin Ru replied lightly, "I have the final say."

What Jiang Nan didn't expect was that the maid still silently agreed without any objection.

Jiang Nan was, after all, a few years older, so she subconsciously looked over and saw that there was clearly admiration in the maid's eyes when she looked at Lin Ruo.

Jiang Nan understood in her heart that this maid had a crush on Lin Ruo. And a boy like Lin Ruo, who had been crushed on by countless girls throughout his life, naturally knew his own charm and the influence he had on the women who had a crush on him.

"Are you hungry?" Emilia asked.

Lin Ruo froze for a moment and nodded, "A little."

"I'll get you something to eat." With that, the maid ran out with a smile on her face.

Xiao Gu looked at the two and hurried out, closing the door behind him.

"Hoo..." Lin Ruo breathed a sigh of relief and turned back. Jiang Nan was looking at him and whispered, "Thank you."

Lin Ru was a little embarrassed, scratching his head, "I'm the one who dragged you into this, getting involved in this kind of trouble for no reason."

Jiang Nan laughed and asked him, "Do you believe me?"

Lin Ruo froze and nodded.

"You're not afraid that I'm a bad person?" Jiang Nan asked again.

Lin Ruo thought for a moment, "There is no direct connection between good people and bad people and whether I believe you or not, I believe you because you are smart and have more experience than me."

Jiang Nan laughed, moved over and whispered a few words in Lin Ruo's ear, "I'll give you three pieces of advice..."

Lin Ru looked at Jiang Nan in surprise, "Does that work?"

Jiang Nan nodded, "Although my interpretation of Emilia has not yet been successful... so far, apart from Zhan Zhao, I should be the person who knows Emilia best."

Lin Ruo nodded.

Jiang Nan then went to sit down on the bed at the side of the room and closed her eyes to rest.

Lin Ruo looked down, looked at his wrist that still wore that bracelet, it was light blue, the colour of seawater... Lin Ruo looked at it and was a little lost in thought.

......

"Cat." Bai Yutang finally moved his eyes away from the tablet in his hand and looked at Zhan Zhao who was bobbing around in place, not sure what he was thinking about, "What did you find?"

Zhan Zhao looked a little bit excited at this moment, "I thought of someone."

Bai Yutang stared at him for a while before putting down his computer, "I'd like to know who you're so happy thinking about."

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, "A crucial person!"

"How crucial?" Bai Yutang hooked his finger at him, "Come here, share resources."

Zhan Zhao went to Bai Yutang's side, put his hands behind his back, looked at the tablet on the table, and suddenly asked, "Is Lin Ruo smart?"

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what aspect Zhan Zhao was talking about.

Then they heard a voice from the other end of the walkie-talkie, "Smart."

......

The crowd glanced at each other – It was Bai Jintang's voice.

Everyone remembered that Gongsun had said that Bai Jintang had said that Lin Ruo was smart, and now that they had heard him say it himself, they could see that it was very credible.

"What about Jiang Nan?" Zhan Zhao asked again.

"Smart." Bai Jintang said again, then paused for a moment and said, "The two of them are very smart and complement each other."

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "Do you think that if the two of them join forces, they should be able to survive the difficult times?"

Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin, "Their brain power should be enough, but their strength seems to be a bit low, unless..."

"Does Han Wei have a lot of strength?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao then raised an eyebrow, "With Emilia, there should be enough."

Zhan Zhao finally smiled, pinching both of Bai Yutang's cheeks, "You're smart and have great strength!

Zhao Hu looked at Ma Han.

Luo Tian looked at Qin Ou.

All of them shook their heads and didn't bother to ask, they would just do whatever Bai Yutang told them to do when the time came anyway.

"Hey."

At this time, Zhao Jue suddenly said to the young girl who was concentrating on go, "Let me give you a name!"

The young girl immediately lifted her head and stared at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue stretched out his hand and gently stroked the top of her head, "You'll be called... Smurfette... aiya." (Angel: Zhao Jue called her 蓝妹妹, or blue younger sister, which is the Mandarin name for Smurfette.)

As soon as the words left his mouth, behind him, Zhan Zhao unmercifully swung a punch at his head.

Zhao Jue covered his head and turned back to glare at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao glared back at him, "Are you lacking ethics?!"

Zhao Jue came up behind the girl and narrowed his eyes, "What's your name?"

"Smurfette!" The young girl immediately said.

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly and rubbed his chin, pondering.

"I'm just teasing you." Zhao Jue helped her fix her hair, then thought for a moment and said, "How about calling her Lan Mi? Xiao Mi."

The young girl looked up at him with a happy face and nodded.

Zhan Zhao squinted at Zhao Jue.

"What's your name?" Zhao Jue asked again.

"Xiao Mi." The young girl did not resist at all, as if she was willing to accept whatever Zhao Jue said.

"What small rice big rice ah?" Zhao Hu found it hard to hear and went over to ask, "Ai, what name do you like?" (Angel: Mi, or 米, is the word for rice, 小米 is millet, the smallest of the five grains, and 大米 is rice.) 

"Xiao Mi!"

Everyone looked at each other in dismay – This girl was very talkative!

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "What's the principle of this?"

"Hmm… the tattoo effect." Zhan Zhao mumbled to himself to come up with a sentence.

The crowd subconsciously looked at Bai Yutang – What does that mean?

"It is often said that tattoos can be addictive, in fact, all humans have a certain degree of masochistic tendencies." Zhan Zhao frowned and asked Zhao Jue, "Blue Doll itself is extremely submissive, right? There seems to be some sort of key to this in there..."

"Love." Bai Yutang suddenly said.

"Huh?" Everyone turned around, and Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang in surprise, "Love?"

Bai Yutang smiled, "She likes Zhao Jue."

When Zhan Zhao looked closely, he saw Xiao Mi tilting her face up to look at Zhao Jue with focused eyes, and Zhao Jue's palm gently stroking the black hair on top of her head. Xiao Mi was like a cat receiving petting, her eyes full of fascination.

"Ah!"

Zhan Zhao suddenly let out another long, loud "ah", causing everyone to stare at him, stunned.

"That's the key, it's love!" Zhan Zhao was a little surprised, "Bruce is really a genius!"

Zhao Jue laughed, "So you understand why Lin Ruo is the key, right?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "How interesting."

"Cat." Bai Yutang reminded him, "Human words!"

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment, seeming to organise his language, then said, "Do you remember what was said before, Bruce's research direction is the opposite of all the previous ones, the others are cutting off emotions, while he is doubling them, such as fear, and also love. After all, human emotions are controlled by many factors and you cannot refine a particular emotion in isolation. If we talk about irritability, and the absence of joy, this adjustment actually undermines the function of the human brain itself, do you understand?"

Everyone nodded, it was understandable so far. Indeed, different parts of the human brain controlled different emotions, and damage or absence of certain parts could lead to a drastic change in temperament.

"This kind of emotion is meant to destroy the integrity of the human body. Bruce didn't use a partial change, he changed the entire body, that is, he made a person sentimental, if they are prone to anger, they must be prone to joy, if they can fear and hate, they can equally love and be obsessed! Blue Doll's sense of fear and self-defence gives them an endless fighting power, and deep love gives them an unshakable obedience!"

"Oh..."

Everyone understood – So that's what it was all about.

"Indeed, if you love someone to death, you will be absolutely obedient and loyal to them, but how do you control who they love?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Through genetics!" Zhan Zhao became excited, "Human genetics is the most amazing, ten months in the mother's womb can turn some habits into genes, and children will usually share the same tastes as one of their parents."

"Yes, tastes and preferences are genetic." Zhao Hu nodded, "My father likes spicy food, I also like spicy food, and my mother hates cilantro massively, I also hate cilantro massively!"

Luo Tian and Ma Han hurriedly nodded – Zhao Hu's human language and human food were much easier to understand once substituted.

Bai Yutang thought about it and seemed to understand, "But acquired experiences change a person's habits and tastes… That's why she seems so innocent, because a certain amount of isolation must be ensured. In other words, this kind of experimental product's love for a certain type is innate, just like an innate taste that originates in the genes. After falling in love, they will remain faithful until death and will also be unusually crazy, because of the doubling of emotions... hiss."

Before Bai Yutang could finish his sentence, he was pinched by Zhan Zhao.

Bai Yutang was slightly stunned.

Zhan Zhao shook his head at him and pointed to the headphones he was still wearing on his ears.

Bai Yutang opened his mouth and suddenly remembered, looking at Zhan Zhao awkwardly and scratching his head.

Zhao Jue smiled and the others looked at each other with blank faces – What's going on?!

At the other end of the call, Bao Zheng wasn't paying much attention to the conversations of Zhan Zhao and the others on this side, as they largely didn't speak in human terms when they analysed the case anyway, they just had to catch the murderer when the ending came out, so Bao Zheng and Jiang Ping were busy contacting the people from the marine police.

However, a few others were listening. Bai Ye was listening, Ma Xin was listening, Zhao Zhen was listening… and Gongsun was also listening.

After listening, Gongsun suddenly looked at Bai Jintang who was on the side.

Bai Jintang opened his mouth... and didn't know what to say.

Gongsun turned around and went out of the cabin.

Bai Chi had brought over some late-night snacks for the crowd from the kitchen, and had just entered the door when he ran into Gongsun walking out with a sullen face, bumping into him.

Bai Chi was startled and just as he was steadying his tray, Bai Jintang beside him also walked past, seemingly chasing Gongsun out.

"What's wrong?" Bai Chi asked Zhao Zhen as he walked into the room with the tray in his hand.

Bai Ye was still staring expressionlessly at the dark sea ahead.

Zhao Zhen helplessly spread his hands, "Emotional problems."

Bai Chi was even more puzzled.

"Ai..." Da Ding tapped the microphone used for the call, "White Mouse, you're in trouble!"

Xiao Ding crossed his arms, "Actually, it makes sense. Big Brother fell in love with Gongsun at first sight, as if he had been in love for a thousand years and found him again after reincarnating, is it also related to genetics?"

"What?!" Bai Chi was shocked, "What does this have to do with genetics?"

"It's like saying that Big Brother Bai's father liked Gongsun's type, so Big Brother Bai inherited a fascination for that type, and this fascination carries a certain amount of obedience within it. Gongsun is a very strong person, so..." Zhao Zhen slowly analysed, "In other words, if Big Brother Bai had met another equally strong person of this type back then, he would have fallen in love at first sight and loved them to death, as if everything had nothing to do with Gongsun and was about genetics."

At this time, Bao Zheng put down the information he was holding and suddenly turned around and yelled into the microphone, "Who told you to discuss your feelings, you idiots have no sense of priorities! Find Lin Ruo or else your unit will be cleaning toilets!"

Bai Yutang took off his headset and plucked out his ears.

Zhan Zhao squinted at him, "You're finished, you've stirred up a hornet's nest! Brother is probably going to die this time!"

Bai Yutang also knew that he was in trouble, but he hadn't really considered this aspect of his older brother.

"Do you have a solution?" Zhan Zhao poked Zhao Jue.

But Zhao Jue was grumbling and crossing his arms in anger.

"What are you doing?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"Dare to call me an idiot." Zhao Jue muttered, "That dark lowlife with an IQ of only a hundred!"

The corners of the crowd's mouths twitched subconsciously… An IQ of a hundred is a lowlife?

"Bai Chi said that Lin Ruo is very similar to Zhao Zhen, and also very similar to Zhao Jue, he is the kind of genius who can do well in whatever he wants to do." Ma Han, who was still more concerned about the case, pulled the topic back, anyway, Gongsun's matter would be solved by Bai Jintang, and the priority now was to solve the case.

"That's why Blue Doll was unconsciously drawn to Lin Ruo, he's the one who got involved in the whole thing and became the centre of it." Zhao Hu nodded, "So that's what happened."

"The fascination with a genius... love and obedience." Zhan Zhao laughed, "Emilia is a love lunatic, when her love is trampled on mercilessly, she will take revenge on everyone, especially the ones she loves the most."

"But apart from Lin Ruo's friend who died, Emilia didn't hurt Lin Ruo's loved ones." Bai Yutang said, "That means that Blue Doll still loves Lin Ruo deeply."

"As long as Lin Ruo knows how to use this, he can control that seemingly most dangerous person... Love is something like that, when hidden in the eyes, Lin Ruo can detect. And the one hidden in the heart, Jiang Nan should be able to teach Lin Ruo how to take advantage of it... This is called being smart and complementary." Zhan Zhao crossed his arms and smiled, "In fact, Brother's preferences are not influenced by genetics at all."

This sentence, Zhan Zhao shouted it into Bai Yutang's earpiece. On the other end, Gongsun, who was taken back to the cabin by Bai Jintang, happened to hear it and turned to the side to listen.

"Why are you so sure?" Bai Yutang wondered.

"Because he treats Zhao Jue like a fart."

.....

As soon as Zhan Zhao's words left his mouth, Zhao Jue, who had been shot while lying down, pounced on him to teach him a lesson, and Bai Yutang helplessly parted the two sides to discourage the fight.

Gongsun seemed to feel slightly better, and turning his head, he saw Bai Jintang looking at him very aggrieved, his expression resembling that of Lu Ban who had been thrown off the couch by Lilia.

"Do you really think he's a fart?" Gongsun muttered, "You've spent a lot of money on him."

"You two finish him off for me!" Bai Jintang immediately instructed the twins, without hesitation.

The twins pointed to Bai Ye at the front of the cabin, meaning – The guardian is here.

Bai Ye was indifferent, "I also agree that he should be tied up and locked away, leaving him outside will ultimately lead to disaster."

Bai Jintang pulled Gongsun closer and whispered, "Zhao is wrong, I treat everyone in the world as a fart, but not you."

Gongsun felt a little better, but his heart was still clogged, what a damn blue doll you are.

Xiao Ding winked at Da Ding – There's a lump, there's still a lump!

Da Ding was helpless – An air of resentment, as if the main wife has discovered the mistress...

Bao Zheng sighed – These people are really, there is no end to it!

......

Lin Ruo saw the food placed in front of him and the maid crouching on the floor looking up at him, and remembered the first piece of advice Jiang Nan had given him – You're feeling it right! She likes you, you have to be strong.

Lin Ru stared at her for a moment, then suddenly reached out and cupped her chin, and asked in a deep voice, "What's your name?"

Looking at the maid again, a hint of delight flowed out of her eyes and she whispered, "They all said my name is Emilia."

"Aria..." Lin Ru's very good memory allowed him to finally remember that he had heard the butler call her by that name once, "Your name is Aria"

Aria obediently squatted beside Lin Ruo and nodded obediently, "Yes, my name is Aria, Young Master."

Lin Ruo smiled, remembering the second piece of advice Jiang Nan had given him – Don't take too many risks, this girl, she isn't normal.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 2, 2023 by Angel

Edited: July 7, 2023 by Angel