Chapter 135 (1/2)
Chapter 135: Last Bout of Mania
”Just as I expected you guys would be, you deserve to be Qing Shui's clones.” Chang kept his eyes closed. ”I just have few questions; you don't need to answer if you don't want to.
”The first question is dumb, but this is what I'm most curious too. Do you, as clones, possess Qing Shui's memories?”
”No, we don't. We are independent of him and each other. We have different thought processes and personalities. The only thing that we have in common is the genes, which are identical to Qing Shui's. But keep this in mind, we are different because we encountered different things and that shaped us as humans,” Qing, the oldest said. ”Just like how twins can have opposite personalities.
”One thing that surprised us is that the way of thinking among us is similar, so are our abilities.”
”I understand that.” Though Chang seemed asleep, his olfactory system was functioning at its peak to detect what was lurking in their surroundings. ”Essentially, you aren't Qing Shui at all but someone else. It's just that you guys are similar to him in appearance and mind.”
”Basically.” Shui, the second oldest nodded.
”Then, here comes my second question.” Chang took a deep breath through his nose. ”Since you share the same genome as him, do you guys have the same abilities and capabilities as him?”
Chang almost lost his control when asking this question. After all, if all the clones were similar to Qing Shui, the survival chance of their group would be almost 100%.
”Yes we are, but at the same time, no,” Shui Qing, the youngest of the clones said. ”We are still little; we simply can't fully utilize his abilities, it takes time.”
”We inherited his abilities, but the limitation is that we will only be as powerful as he was four years ago,” Shui Qing summarized.
”Wait, can you explain?” Chang asked.
”We were the first batch of clones that he made four years ago, and it took a year for us to be born. The age among us three isn't distinct, but in fact, we are four years old already, if you count the year spent growing,” Qing said. ”That also means, the genome in us is fairly old. We are replications of the Qing Shui from four years ago, before he underwent the second encephalon mutation.
”Even though we grew up and became stronger, the limitation is there, and this is something that we probably can't break through. We don't know how far Qing Shui has went with his own evolution, but what we are sure of is that he must have gone through multiple encephalon mutations already. He is crazy and maniacal, but he hid that well. Zhuo is no longer comparable to him. If we were to name someone who has similar abilities to him, that it would be XVII.
”XVII is the latest success from a year ago. The more powerful Qing Shui became, the lower the success rate. I'm pretty sure he didn't produce any clones successfully in this recent year. Therefore, no one actually knows how powerful he is now.
”Though what I can tell you is that, there aren't many that are more powerful than him.”
”Wait, does that mean there is hope for Qing Shui to stay alive?” Chang's eyes went wide in surprise.
”No, the chance of survival is zero,” Shui responded with a sneer. ”No matter how capable he is now, he is still a baby to the Willow.
”You don't understand the Willow's physiological structure, but we studied it. The willow encompa.s.sed over millions of brains, can you imagine how much it knows? Although the acc.u.mulation isn't linear, the quant.i.tative acc.u.mulation eventually leads to qualitative transformation. I doubt the Willow is still a being that we used to know. We just simply can't imagine what it can do,” Shui said.
”Exactly.” Shui Qing picked up the topic just right after Shui's statement. ”Qing Shui is nowhere comparable to the Willow; I can a.s.sure you that it is impossible for him to win. The gap between how intelligent they are is probably similar to the gap in their physic
al capabilities.”
”Is the difference really that high?” As if Chang was riding a roller coaster, his heart now fell from the very peak to the bottom. ”The Willow can destroy a city in a blink of an eye; it is at least a hundred thousand times stronger than Qing Shui in raw power. But really? Based on intelligence as well?”
”Well, Qing Shui could be a little smarter than we imagine, but I won't say he is anywhere close compared to the Willow,” Qing said. ”Don't have false hope for him. He is crazy; he is trying to challenge a G.o.d with his ordinary human brain. And the only result possible is vanis.h.i.+ng without knowing why.”
”What you've said makes me very uncomfortable... Won't you guys be sad if he dies?” The eyes under Chang's eyelids were rolling. ”After all, he is your family.”
”Of course, we'll feel sorrow at his death, but we don't want to let you guys know about it explicitly,” one of the clones said. ”Plus, his existence puzzles us, none of us wanted to be a replication of someone else. Perhaps his death can solve our struggle.”
”Ha! How cold-hearted you are.” Chang tilted his head. ”You guys are nothing like Qing Shui regarding this.”
”We aren't indifferent,” Shui Qing said. ”We just don't express our deepest feelings with words and gestures.”
”All right.” Chang took a deep breath. ”According to what you know, Qing Shui is doomed to die.”