553: Chapter 553 The Strongest Clone in the World

Shi Suiyan was directing the people in the research institute to establish connections; everyone was clearly very busy.

At that moment, a voice called out.

“Junior Sister Shi, how is it going?”

Shi Suiyan turned around and saw it was Zhou Yan, so she trotted over to his side.

“Senior Brother, everything is fine.”

“After various attempts, we have used space-system technology to establish contact with the city.”

“Currently, we are stabilizing the communication channels and reducing latency.”

“This thing next to you... is Yuan Chenling? I thought it was a giant mop from somewhere.”

“You're the mop!”

Yuan Chenling let out a roar of indignation.

He had been quite proud of his physical evolution after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.

But when he heard Shi Suiyan say he looked like a mop, his fur bristled all over.

The current Yuan Chenling had evolved once more, growing from a young Lion into a majestic adult male Lion.

His previous size was just enough to be ridden, but now, even with two people sitting on him, there was room to spare.

His multicolored fur, which used to look like scattered ink splotches, had become much more orderly due to the Breakthrough.

Yuan Chenling now appeared golden overall, but from different angles, other colors would shimmer through the gold, looking quite magnificent.

However, he really did look like a giant mop.

Zhou Yan held Yuan Chenling down, stopping his suicidal urge to provoke Shi Suiyan, and then got straight to the point.

“Junior Sister Shi, how is the set construction I needed coming along?”

Zhou Yan had spent a total of two days inside Yuan Chenling's Heart Demon; including the first day, there were only four days left until Li Heng's deadline.

He had finished his preparations, and although he was a day early because he'd had to kill Yuan Chenling once, he had used the suihua heavenly record to control things as much as possible.

Shi Suiyan, who still didn't know about Zhou Yan's crazy plan, asked with a frown.

“If I may be blunt, that ice field set and that strange chair shouldn't be of any use, right?”

“Ice field, chair... Boss, are you going to have an ice field barbecue? That's my specialty! My hometown is all ice fields, and I'm super good at barbecuing!”

“Gurgle, gurgle.”

As his stomach growled, Yuan Chenling's face twisted in disgust.

“Oh heavens, I almost forgot, I won't be eating anything for a while—just like after I ate those eggs last time.”

“If you guys are going to barbecue, please stay away from me. Don't hurt poor little me anymore.”

Zhou Yan punched Yuan Chenling on the head, interrupting his clowning around.

“That's enough. You've been yapping since the moment you woke up. It seems you've got too much energy from being full.”

“No, no, no, Boss, don't mention being full again. I really want to throw up right now.”

Looking at Yuan Chenling's pathetic state, both Shi Suiyan and Zhou Yan showed expressions of disdain.

“Anyway, enough of that.”

“There's a reason I need the set. In my predictions for the upcoming plan, that guy Ma Hao will definitely come for us.”

“First me, then you. He will follow that order.”

“Ma Hao holds every advantage—the right time, place, and people—so as long as we are here, there is almost no escape.”

“Ma Hao...” Shi Suiyan murmured softly.

She didn't quite know how to describe this person.

She and Ma Hao hadn't actually met many times.

Ma Hao's consciousness had even given her an item that could change her fate, allowing her to stop falling into the endless Reincarnation.

Ignoring the Reincarnation and speaking only of reality, Ma Hao had actually done Shi Suiyan a favor.

Just as Yuan Chenling might have been a bastard in the Reincarnation, in reality, he was just a useless house cat.

If conditions allowed, she even wanted to sit down and talk with Ma Hao to see if he, like Yuan Chenling, was just a product of a twisted ending born from an incomplete simulation.

But Ma Hao had truly hurt Zhou Yan, and more than once.

For that reason alone, Shi Suiyan would not forgive him.

The two of them could only be enemies.

Yet, if possible, she really didn't want to be Ma Hao's enemy.

It wasn't out of fear; the suffering of Reincarnation had left her with nothing to be afraid of. Even if it meant the end of everything, even if her soul couldn't be preserved, she wouldn't bat an eye.

But what she feared was that no matter how she used her Divine Ability to deduce the future in this short time, she would die in the shortest possible interval, unable to see any path forward at all.

Shi Suiyan couldn't be sure what would happen to Zhou Yan, who was also being targeted, in such a desperate future.

In Shi Suiyan's view, everything in the past had a safety net; when Zhou Yan threw himself into a fight, she knew the Sect would be there to back him up.

But this time, she was truly uncertain.

The image of Zhou Yan disappearing before her eyes last time echoed in her mind after every simulation she performed.

“Senior Brother, is it absolutely impossible to stop?”

Shi Suiyan swallowed hard, her brow furrowed. Her hands clenched and relaxed; the atmosphere became so oppressive that even Yuan Chenling didn't dare to speak.

Zhou Yan nodded.

“The advantage the opponent holds is too great. As long as we are within it, it's almost impossible to break free.”

Hearing this, Shi Suiyan finally exhaled the suppressed tension and said,

“Senior Brother, if I am willing to sacrifice myself, could you guarantee your safety through a peace talk?”

After saying this, Shi Suiyan feared Zhou Yan would misunderstand, so she quickly waved her hands and explained.

“Of course, I don't mean I'm planning to surrender. I'm just thinking that this is at least a way out, isn't it?”

“If we use my importance to the era as leverage, it might actually have some effect.”

“And I believe that with your ability, Senior Brother, even if something really happens to me, as long as you are still here, you will definitely be able to find me. I...”

“Enough.”

Zhou Yan interrupted Shi Suiyan's nonsense.

Through the Law of the Heart, Zhou Yan could sense that she seemed to have done something while he was busy.

She had probably used her Divine Ability to make more predictions. And looking at her like this, none of them had a good ending.

Zhou Yan put his hands on his hips and stood tall with his chest out.

“That Divine Ability of yours is hit-or-miss. Didn't you say it becomes useless once you reach a certain level of cultivation?”

“How do you know your prediction is right? After all, every time you predicted something bad, wasn't it your Senior Brother who turned the tide?”

“Who is your Senior Brother? I am... how is my reputation in the outside world now? Has my ranking gone up or down?”

Zhou Yan had wanted to announce his title to boost his Aura, but then he realized he hadn't looked at news about himself for a long time. He didn't know if his reputation had changed; what if he claimed to be the number one in the Northern Realm, but because he hadn't shown his face for so long, his reputation had been trashed?

Wouldn't he then become the guy who still thinks he's the 'world's number one Prodigy'? That would be too embarrassing.

After thinking it over, Zhou Yan decided not to add that line and simply coughed twice to change the subject.

“Ahem, anyway, with my skills, never mind him having the advantage of time, place, and people—he could have anything and it still wouldn't stop my brilliant plan.”

“Don't worry, I will solve everything. No one needs to be sacrificed to save my life.”

“I am the strongest, after all!”

After saying that, Zhou Yan grabbed Shi Suiyan's wrist and had her lead him to find that ice field.

Only Yuan Chenling was left standing there, staring blankly.

“How nice. The love of young people really makes a great Nascent Soul Cultivator like me feel sentimental.”

“Even though I don't understand what they were talking about—it was a bit of a non-sequitur—at least the atmosphere was good.”

“Eh? Wait, I haven't caught up yet!”

“Slow down, you two! Wait for me! Holy crap!”

“You left the Lion behind!”

Yuan Chenling spent a moment being sentimental only to find that both of them had vanished. He wasn't familiar with this place and didn't even know what was happening.

If they didn't come back, how awkward would it be for a Lion to just sit here alone!

Southern Desert, Truth Cult Clone Laboratory.

Arthur held up a glass, while Gawain poured a brown liquid into it from the side.

“The world's strongest clone is about to be born.”

Arthur and Gawain were standing on a high platform. Below them were rows upon rows of capsule pods, with various researchers walking through the aisles making final adjustments.

Arthur's gaze was locked onto one specific capsule pod that was clearly on a different level from the others.

“This time, whether he succeeds or I succeed, the future will be a smooth path straight toward the Truth.”