554: Chapter 554 Ke Yan

"Lord Arthur, the barrier's activation over the past two days has caused quite a stir."

"Wang Yao and Xiao Sheng have already contacted the local Law Enforcement Team and suppressed the chaos."

"Small-scale conflicts failed to break out."

Arthur paid no mind to Gawain's words.

"It doesn't matter. I never expected those ordinary people to be of any use anyway."

After waiting a moment and seeing that Arthur had nothing more to say, Gawain continued his report.

"Our people also spotted Long Tianxing at the edge of the barrier—the Child of Destiny from Qingxu Grotto-Heaven."

After pouring the wine, Gawain stood to the side, awaiting orders.

Arthur swirled his glass, watching the brown liquid cling to the sides of the glass as it sloshed, and let out a light chuckle.

"I was wondering why that girl Ye Qingjue came here. It turns out she was after him."

"It's a good thing the Child of Destiny is here. His presence means my plan will likely succeed."

Gawain, however, looked a bit worried: "But if that's the case, Ye Qingjue might join the enemy's side."

The corners of Arthur's mouth curled up.

"Their Miechen Sect branched out from the Liyan Holy Land. When it comes to the law of the jungle, they are only more ruthless, not less."

"Even if she dies inside, they won't make a fuss. As for her coming back for an explanation after she's grown stronger, that would be ages from now."

"Not to mention, with her pride, she certainly won't cooperate with an enemy."

After speaking, Arthur took a sip of the brown liquid. His smiling face instantly crumpled into a grimace, and he raised an eyebrow at Gawain.

"What did you pour for me?"

Gawain, who had been looking somber, now wore a confident expression as he said:

"This is a specialty liquor from the Southern Desert called Sauce-Fragrance Wine. I thought it was quite interesting, so I had a bartender prepare a bottle specifically."

"I even specially sourced the sauce. They say it's an heirloom sauce from a hundred and ten years ago. How does Your Lordship find the taste?"

Arthur smacked his lips. His throat felt cloying, as if he had eaten a lump of foul-smelling mud, but he didn't dare say it outright.

The truth was he didn't actually know anything about wine. He usually claimed to be a connoisseur just to appear sophisticated. Now, faced with this Southern Desert flavored liquor, he didn't dare say it tasted bad.

What if there was a specific way to appreciate this liquor, and it was only because he didn't understand it that he couldn't taste its quality?

After all, he had heard of Sauce-Fragrance Wine before, but this was his first time drinking it, and he didn't know the proper way to consume it.

"Ahem, the flavor is mellow and rich. It is indeed a fine wine."

Arthur found an opportunity to smooth things over, then immediately changed the subject before Gawain could ask more.

"However, I don't really feel like drinking today. A celebratory sip is enough."

To prevent exposing his ignorance further, Arthur quickly drained the glass, set it down, and walked to the front to look down.

"Now, let us officially begin the plan."

"And at the same time, let's welcome our new member!"

As Arthur raised both hands, the capsule pods below popped up one by one, each releasing a terrifying aura.

The capsule pod in the center position was the last to open.

Gawain wasn't interested in the other clones. He had already marveled at those when he was putting in the materials.

But this one, hailed by Arthur as the strongest clone in existence, had been personally prepared by Arthur himself.

Gawain's only knowledge of it was some tissue from that headless corpse and a bit of unknown liquid from King Dong's collection.

Everything else had been purchased by Arthur at a high price from the Lianxing Pavilion.

Because of this, Gawain really wanted to know what could possibly earn such a title from Arthur.

"This... this is!"

As the pod door opened, Gawain's breathing grew heavy. The person appearing inside was someone he completely hadn't expected.

"Zhou Yan!"

Arthur seemed very satisfied with Gawain's shock and walked to the edge of the high platform with some excitement.

"Exactly!"

"Antiques are just antiques. How can they compare to the future?"

"Who else could it be but him for the title of the world's strongest clone?"

"The remains harvested from Kaifeng, combat residues related to Zhou Yan, and from King Dong's collection, the tears born when Zhou Yan underwent his Heart Demon Tribulation in the Kaifeng Immortal Cave."

"Body, Spirit, and Intent—all three types of materials have been gathered. Thus, he is not just a clone."

"Gawain, come and see. Perhaps a new ultimate Prodigy will be born right here."

Inside the capsule pod, a pair of golden eyes appeared before the group even before the body did.

As the lifeform took its first step out, a majestic and terrifying aura was released. As the aura swept through, no one except Arthur could remain standing.

This state also left Arthur inwardly alarmed.

To be honest, what he just said was mostly boasting.

The materials invested were indeed numerous, and the result of the replication should have been good, but was the one before him perhaps *too* good?

If he didn't know that a clone's upper limit was locked, he might truly have thought this one could surpass the real Zhou Yan.

Unfortunately, it was a replica after all.

"Alright, 001, retract your aura now. You have a mission to execute."

Hearing Arthur's command, he actually reacted, retracting his aura and examining his own state.

Arthur admired him for a while, as if appreciating a work of art.

"This is truly a blessing in disguise."

"Without the burden of Schrödinger, I didn't expect to have such a harvest. If I had known, I should have had the Council send someone else."

"Gawain."

Arthur looked at Gawain and gave him a meaningful glance.

"Take our 001 for some basic testing, then deploy him to where he belongs to give them a surprise."

Gawain bowed in agreement. After Arthur left happily, he looked again at the still-dazed experimental subject.

"Deploying this thing will surely give them a huge surprise."

"Hey, 001."

Below, the clone named 001 slowly raised his head to look at Gawain. Those eyes seemed to see through everything about him, making him instinctively feel uncomfortable and afraid to meet his gaze again.

"001, follow them for testing."

After saying this, Gawain left as if he were fleeing.

For some reason, he just had the feeling that the other party was looking at him like prey.

"Is this the sharpness of the world's number one Prodigy?"

"Even a clone has this kind of presence. If the real one grew to this level, how terrifying would he be?"

Half a day later, a more detailed report was submitted to Arthur's room.

As Arthur read it, he felt something was slightly off.

[Experimental Subject 001]

[Destructive Power: Rank 5+]

[Speed: Rank 5+]

[Endurance: Rank 4]

[Mana Intensity: Rank 5]

[Manifested Abilities: Wind, Lightning, Wood, Spiritual Attack]

[Comprehensive Evaluation: Rank 5+]

[Expected Upper Limit: Rank 6 (Provisional)]

Postscript: Requesting higher-level testing equipment for examination; current data still has room for upward adjustment.

Closing the data, he frowned.

He had seen the data and the experimental videos, but he always felt this body had strength that wasn't being fully exerted.

However, thinking it might be because he was newly born and hadn't fully mastered his abilities, Arthur felt relieved again.

"Since he hasn't been fully developed, let him go and stretch his legs first."

Arthur signed the name for 001 on the experimental report, naming him Ke Yan.

Ke Yan was a homophone for 'Scientific Research,' which both indicated he was the clone of Zhou Yan and carried the beautiful wish that he could counter and surpass Zhou Yan.

As for the higher-intensity equipment, Arthur did not approve it.

Now that the barrier was deployed, it was impossible to bring in equipment from outside. Otherwise, he would have arranged it himself without them even asking.

Arthur directly wrote 'Proceed after combat verification' and handed the document to his subordinates, instructing them to make a copy—the original for the lab and the copy for Gawain.

After doing all this, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, looking forward to what would happen next.

"King Dong, you really did me a huge favor."

"If you had brought this out earlier, maybe you wouldn't have had to die."

Arthur rested his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair, his face filled with an indescribable ease and relaxation.

"But by using your death to let me see how useless Schrödinger is, you could say you died for a worthy cause."