I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 137: Chapter 132: The Origin of the ”Curse

Truth be told, aside from his lack of offensive ability, Mr. Ya was an absolute genius.

He had reached the Butterfly Stage in his early thirties, making him much stronger than Zhang Fantie of the Zhao Family, and all his skills were top-tier.

He even possessed a skill that might be on a similar level to the Divine Grace of Evolution.

Mr. Ya’s foundation was by no means weak; in fact, it was quite strong.

Therefore, his absorption of the Tier Four A-rank Abyss Shadow Lord extract went smoothly, without any trouble.

A delighted look appeared on Mr. Ya’s face. ”Brother, I got the Shadow Clone Skill!”

The Abyss Shadow Lord extract contained two life-saving skills: Shadow Clone and Shadow Transformation. However, Shadow Clone was an A-rank skill, while Shadow Transformation was only B-rank.

Mr. Ya had absorbed the stronger of the two, the Shadow Clone Skill. It was unclear whether this was an effect of his ”curse” or just a stroke of good luck.

Su Ze was inclined to believe it was the former.

’Does my Evolution Divine Grace Skill have a ”curse” too?’ Su Ze grew more worried and decided to visit Principal Zhou Wenshan as soon as possible to ask about the Bloodline Crystal.

After seeing Mr. Ya off, Su Ze practiced the Swan Dance in his yard for a while before going to bed.

He had just absorbed the Gravity Demon Extract and needed time to digest it, but he had already run out of the natural medicine that aided the process.

He planned to buy some more the next day.

...

The next morning, Su Ze skipped class again, calling in to take another day off.

He first went to the Li Min Association office, found a staff member, and expressed his determination to contribute to the country.

He then handed over a pile of extracts and materials, which included four vials of Tier Three low-grade extracts and several jars of Tier Two Evolution Honey Water.

With Evolutionary Technology, only Tier Three high-grade extracts could be exchanged for integrals, so it was more practical to sell the low-grade ones to the Dongli Kingdom for contribution points.

The unit price for the Tier One and Tier Two extracts and materials wasn’t high, but thankfully, there was a large quantity. The main value came from the jars of Evolution Honey Water, in addition to the four vials of Tier Three low-grade extracts.

In the end, Su Ze and Mr. Ya each received 70,000 contribution points.

After some thought, Su Ze also ”contributed” the Head of the Wailer. He no longer had a use for the artifact, but he was reluctant to sell it to Evolutionary Technology.

Although the Head of the Wailer was only a Tier Two artifact, it was a rare mental-attack type item with low energy consumption and a low usage threshold. This made it quite valuable and highly sought-after.

If he sold it to Evolutionary Technology, he would likely never be able to get it back.

It was better to turn it in to the Dongli National Treasury. That way, he could borrow it in the future if he needed it.

The Head of the Wailer earned Su Ze another 100,000 contribution points.

Su Ze had already spent his first 10,000 contribution points on a Tier Three poison. He now had 170,000 contribution points left in his account.

Next, Su Ze went to a café outside Dongli University and made a deal with Xu Sheng, who had rushed over to meet him.

Three vials of Tier Three high-grade extracts, one of which was S-rank, plus some miscellaneous materials, sold for a total of 500,000 integrals.

Su Ze and Mr. Ya split the earnings, giving him his share of 250,000 integrals.

Su Ze spent 40,000 integrals to purchase a large quantity of Tomorrow Flower Petals, which he would need later to help digest extracts.

After that, Su Ze had exactly 900,000 integrals left in his Evolutionary Technology account.

”Mr. Su, it’s a pleasure doing business with you,” Xu Sheng said, his face wreathed in smiles as he stood up respectfully to shake Su Ze’s hand goodbye.

This deal had once again brought him a significant amount of business.

In his mind, Su Ze was now a major client whose relationship he had to maintain at all costs.

”If you come across any special, powerful Tier Three S-rank extracts, be sure to keep an eye out for me,” Su Ze said, shaking his hand.

”Rest assured, I’ll search for you through all of our corporation’s channels.”

...

Su Ze returned to the university, originally intending to go to class. But then he thought, ’I’ve already taken the day off, why bother going to class now!’

’Going home to practice my dance and digesting the extract is what’s most important.’

However, he had only taken a few steps before he received a call from Liou Wenxin.

”You and Mr. Ya should come over to my lab. His blood and tissue analysis from yesterday is back, and I’ve made some discoveries.”

”You got it.”

Su Ze was happy to have a legitimate reason to skip class. He immediately called for Mr. Ya, and the two of them headed straight for Liou Wenxin’s laboratory.

In the lab’s break room, Liou Wenxin walked over with a stack of documents. She placed them in front of Mr. Ya and said, ”Your genes have indeed been altered by a high-level Evolutionary Material—what you call your ’curse.’ But this is actually a form of evolution, just a rather unique evolutionary path.”

Su Ze leaned over to look at the documents in Mr. Ya’s hands. The two of them stared blankly at the page, like a pair of hopeless illiterates.

’Forget it, I’ll just ask directly...’

Mr. Ya asked, ”Was it because of that first Dung Eater extract I absorbed back then? Is that what gave me this curse—no, what altered me?”

Liou Wenxin shook her head. ”A Dung Eater extract couldn’t have this effect. There must have been something else in that vial you absorbed. Besides, the ’Void’ skill you possess is clearly beyond the scope of a Tier One skill. You wouldn’t even find a skill with this effect in a Tier Four extract.”

She paused for a moment before continuing, ”I have a theory about this. Your skill might have come from a ’Bloodline Crystal’!”

”A Bloodline Crystal?”

Hearing this unfamiliar term, Mr. Ya looked completely bewildered.

Su Ze, however, had already suspected something along these lines, so he wasn’t too surprised.

Liou Wenxin nodded. ”I don’t know much about Bloodline Crystals, but a few years ago when I was in the Ancient An Country, I read a document that recorded the genetic information of a powerful evolved individual who had absorbed one. Their data had many similarities to Mr. Ya’s.”

Su Ze thought to himself, ’Probably has many similarities to mine, too.’

Seeing Mr. Ya’s continued confusion, Su Ze explained based on his own limited understanding, ”Just think of it as a super high-level, incredibly powerful extract.”

Mr. Ya only grew more confused. ”But what I absorbed was clearly a Tier One Dung Eater extract! How could it possibly be some Bloodline Crystal!”

Su Ze offered a bold hypothesis, ”Is it possible that a Dung Eater consumed a Bloodline Crystal, and then you absorbed the extract made from it?”

A skill from a Bloodline Crystal has a trait that guarantees its absorption. So, even if the Dung Eater extract contained ten thousand other skills, Mr. Ya would have inevitably absorbed the ”Void” skill.

Thinking about it this way, Su Ze felt his theory was quite reasonable.

”It can work like that?” Mr. Ya was skeptical.

Liou Wenxin pondered this seriously for a moment, then slowly nodded. ”With any other aberrant beast, that would be impossible. But Dung Eaters... they are very special aberrant beasts. Their bodies are like natural gene banks. It’s possible for one to store the skill from a Bloodline Crystal within itself.”

Mr. Ya was dumbfounded. He hesitated for a moment before asking, ”So... is it a good thing that I absorbed the skill from that Bloodline Crystal thing?”

”To a certain extent, yes!” Liou Wenxin said. ”Not only did it give you a powerful life-saving skill, but it also increased your potential and gave you a natural affinity for high-quality, life-saving skills.”

”Also, based on my observations, your genes now seem to reject offensive-oriented skills. If you tried to force an absorption, it would most likely fail.”

Liou Wenxin’s final sentence struck Mr. Ya’s heart like a heavy hammer, shattering his last glimmer of hope for learning an offensive skill.

He had been thinking about finding an extract full of offensive skills to absorb in the future, but now he wouldn’t dare.

Su Ze patted his shoulder comfortingly. ”It’s okay, Mr. Ya. You’re great just the way you are. From now on, just focus on being support. Leave the offense to me.”

The strange phenomenon with Mr. Ya sparked a great interest in Bloodline Crystals for Liou Wenxin. However, these items were of too high a level for her to have had any chance to encounter them, so her knowledge was quite limited.

Su Ze had already been planning to visit Principal Zhou Wenshan to ask about Bloodline Crystals, but he had been lacking a good reason.

For the time being, Su Ze had no intention of revealing his Evolution Divine Grace Skill. The Divine Grace of Evolution was different from ”Void.” At the end of the day, Void was still a life-saving skill with obvious side effects. But as for the Divine Grace of Evolution, Su Ze hadn’t found any side effects yet, and it was clearly more powerful than Void.

If he showed interest in Bloodline Crystals for no apparent reason, it would arouse suspicion. But it would be a different story if he could go along with Liou Wenxin.

For an evolutionary scientist like Liou Wenxin, it was perfectly normal to be interested in Bloodline Crystals; she didn’t need a reason at all. So, Su Ze quickly persuaded her to visit Zhou Wenshan with him to inquire about the specifics of Bloodline Crystals.

Liou Wenxin had known all along that Su Ze was very interested in Bloodline Crystals, but she didn’t call him out on it. Instead, she agreed, saying, ”Alright, I’ll ask if Principal Zhou is free right now.”

”Mr. Ya, want to come with us?” Su Ze asked.

”No, I want to be alone for a bit,” Mr. Ya said, dejected, his face a mask of misery.

”Cheer up!” Su Ze encouraged him. ”Have you forgotten what you said the first time we met? You said you wanted to become the first Saint-level survival specialist in the six nations!”

A glimmer of light returned to Mr. Ya’s lifeless eyes. He imagined himself becoming Saint-level, showing up Luofan Country and Luofan Academy, and avenging his parents...

Su Ze continued, ”Have you forgotten the ambition you had when you decided to follow me to Dongli? Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west—never underestimate a man in his prime!”

The fighting spirit gradually rekindled in Mr. Ya’s eyes. ”I’m going to go digest my extract!”

With that, he vanished in a flash.

Su Ze laughed. ”He really falls for that every time.”

Liou Wenxin rolled her eyes at him, amused. ”Principal Zhou is waiting for us in his office now.”

”Then let’s go,” Su Ze said, getting up. ”By the way, Liou Wenxin, remember to keep this a secret for Mr. Ya. Don’t tell anyone he absorbed a Bloodline Crystal.”

He and Liou Wenxin were trustworthy, but the same couldn’t be said for others. Until he understood the true value of a Bloodline Crystal, Su Ze didn’t want anyone else knowing about this, including the several overlords of the Dongli Kingdom.

”I’m not an idiot, you know.”