The fame was a double-edged sword. In the days following the championship, Lin Ke found his quiet life turned upside down. Aspiring young tamers would wait outside his welfare district apartment, hoping for a glimpse of the "Tactical God." Media outlets offered him lucrative interview deals. Various guilds and factions sent him invitations, promising resources and status.
Lin Ke ignored them all. The attention was a distraction from his true purpose. He had the capital, the license, and the knowledge he needed. It was time to disappear from the public eye and begin the real work.
With his 500,000 credits, he didn't waste time on luxuries. He spent two days methodically searching the Guild's real estate network, his criteria clear and practical. He bypassed the lavish penthouses and opulent villas, focusing instead on properties zoned for research and training. He found the perfect place on the outskirts of the city, near the academic district: a modest, two-story house that had once belonged to a retired botanist. Its key selling point was not its size or beauty, but its two crucial features: a reinforced, high-walled backyard perfect for a private training ground, and a basement that had already been converted into a small, professional-grade laboratory.
He bought it without hesitation.
Moving out of the cramped welfare apartment he had lived in his entire life was a quiet, profound moment. It was more than a change of address; it was shedding his old identity as a struggling orphan and stepping into his new role as a self-sufficient researcher and professional Beast Tamer.
His new home was clean, spacious, and filled with the quiet promise of potential. The Rock Vole, ecstatic with the open space, happily skittered around the private training ground, practicing its footing on the soft grass and hard-packed earth.
But Lin Ke was drawn to the basement. He spent the majority of his remaining funds outfitting the small laboratory. He purchased a high-powered digital microscope, a genetic centrifuge, reagent synthesizers, and several secure, temperature-controlled containment units. The room, once empty, now hummed with the low thrum of scientific equipment. This was his sanctuary. His forge.
Finally, everything was in place. He brought the mottled grey, stone-like egg down into his new lab and placed it carefully in a specialized incubation chamber.
"Alright," Lin Ke said to the empty room, his voice echoing slightly. "Let's begin."
He sat at his new terminal, the cool glow of the monitor reflecting in his focused eyes. He activated the Gene Editor, its familiar blue interface appearing in his vision. He pulled up two key sets of data: the knowledge he had painstakingly transcribed from the Archive of Forgotten Species [cite: 840-843], and the analysis of the Raw Corrupted Gene Essence he had acquired from the sewer [cite: 778-780].
"Editor," he commanded in his mind, "cross-reference data sets. Integrate the theory of 'Parasitic Anti-Energy' with the repair protocol for the A-01 'Astral Energy Absorption' gene. Formulate a new, viable incubation plan based on the refinement of Corrupted Gene Essence."
The Gene Editor's interface flashed, processing the new, revolutionary data. The old, impossible list of materials vanished, replaced by a new, bold, and incredibly dangerous plan.
[New Incubation Protocol: 'Corruption Inversion Catalyst'] [Objective: Repair A-01 gene and initiate hatching.] [Step 1: Refine Raw Corrupted Gene Essence. Required purity level: 95%. This will create a 'Purified Life Essence' that can substitute for the 'Living Soulstone'. Estimated raw essence required: 1,500 units.] [Step 2: Synthesize 'Purified Life Essence' with 'Nebula Sap' under controlled astral radiation. This will create a 'Proto-Stardust Catalyst'.] [Step 3: Introduce the catalyst to the dormant egg. This will reactivate the core life matrix and repair the fractured gene.] [Warning: The refinement process is volatile. Failure could result in a catastrophic energy release. A high-grade containment lab is essential.]
Lin Ke stared at the new plan, his heart pounding with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. The path was no longer blocked by millions of credits and impossible-to-find auction items. The path was now paved with danger, skill, and his own two hands. He could create the materials he needed by hunting the world's greatest poison.
His primary objective was now crystal clear, no longer a distant dream but a tangible, multi-step project. He needed to venture into the wilderness, hunt corrupted creatures, gather enough raw essence, and then use his new lab to perform the delicate, dangerous refinement process.
He looked at the stone-like egg resting peacefully in the incubator. The journey would be perilous. But for the first time, the sleeping god within it felt truly within his reach.