I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 168: Chapter 155: Foul Heart

The ”heart biopsy” was complete.

Su Ze had been given an anesthetic, so he didn’t feel a thing the entire time.

As Su Ze was an evolver with a powerful physique, Liou Wenxin had to inject him with a massive dose of anesthetic just to make it work—an amount that would have been fatal to any ordinary person.

By the time the anesthetic wore off, the wound had already healed thanks to his Regeneration Body.

He twitched his nose. With his enhanced sense of smell, he already knew the results without having to ask Liou Wenxin.

He caught a faint, familiar, foul stench.

”Looks like Feng Boyi was telling the truth,” Su Ze sighed.

Liou Wenxin handed him his clothes. ”It’s not as serious as you think, but that is indeed not your heart. It’s the heart of a foul creature.”

Su Ze put on his shirt and asked, ”If I cut out my heart and use the energy from my Regeneration Core to grow a new one, can I get rid of this foul stench?”

Liou Wenxin thought for a moment. ”It’s not that simple. I compared the DNA from this heart with the rest of your body. Your Divine Grace of Evolution skill comes from this heart, which has created a certain connection with you. Even if you regenerate a new heart, you’ll most likely only lessen the stench, not eradicate it completely.”

”Then is there any way to eradicate it?”

”There’s hope,” Liou Wenxin said affirmatively. ”The foul stench of a foul creature is a persistent ailment etched into its genes. You are not a foul creature, so the gene groups representing this ’foul stench’ are ’foreign invaders’ to your body. Your body instinctively rejects them, but because the level of these ’foul stench’ gene groups is too high, your body is unable to expel them.”

Su Ze frowned. ”So it’s like I’m at the Cocoon Stage, and a Saint-level powerhouse has broken into my house. I want to kick him out, but I’m not strong enough.”

”That’s one way to look at it.” Liou Wenxin poured Su Ze a glass of water. ”So, for you, as long as you do your best to raise your evolution level, you’ll naturally be able to expel those gene groups once your life-form level surpasses theirs.”

Su Ze felt a sense of relief. As long as the foul stench in his body could be dealt with, that was all that mattered. His biggest fear was it being a hopeless situation.

For some reason, he had a feeling that this so-called ”foul stench” was more than just a bad smell. It might have other effects, which was why he rejected it from the bottom of his heart.

He asked tentatively, ”Once I reach the Saint level, I should be able to expel the foul-stench genes, right?”

Liou Wenxin fell silent.

’Even the Saint level isn’t enough!’ Su Ze understood immediately.

’Looks like the level of those ’foul stench’ gene groups is terrifyingly high.’

Liou Wenxin comforted him, ”Don’t be discouraged. What I can confirm now is that a Saint-level Overlord definitely can’t do it. But whether a five-time evolved Saint-level Sovereign or a six-time evolved Saint-level Legend can, I’m not sure. So there’s still hope.”

Su Ze wasn’t too worried. He was very confident in the speed of his own evolution.

He asked directly, ”You said earlier that if I replace my heart, the stench might fade. Is that true?”

Liou Wenxin nodded. ”I do recommend you use your Regeneration Core to replace this current heart. After all, it doesn’t belong to you. And the heart isn’t like other organs; it’s the body’s core, the source of an evolver’s physical power. Using someone else’s heart is like putting a different engine in a car. The original factory part is always the best fit.”

Su Ze said decisively, ”Let’s do it now, then. The sooner, the better.”

Liou Wenxin’s beautiful eyes blinked behind her gold-rimmed glasses, a hint of stunned disbelief in them. ”So, you’re asking me to dig out your heart for you right now?”

Su Ze asked, puzzled, ”Is that not an option?”

Liou Wenxin took a deep breath, her face grave. ”First, for you to be able to rupture the Regeneration Core at a moment’s notice, you have to remain fully conscious. That means I can’t give you any anesthetic.

”Second, to be as thorough as possible, it would be best to cut out a portion of the blood vessels connected to the heart as well, a process that will take some time.

”So, for that entire time, you would have to endure the agony of being cut open while I watch you scream in pain and continue to cut into you. In your mind, am I that kind of cold, heartless person who could do such a thing?”

”Er...” Thinking fast, Su Ze said, ”It’s mainly because besides you, there’s no one else I can trust.”

Only then did Liou Wenxin’s expression soften slightly. ”I’ll contact a trustworthy surgeon for you.”

Su Ze mulled it over for a moment, then his eyes lit up. ”How about we just chop off my head!”

’Why go through all that trouble? Just one slice to the neck, and I can regenerate my entire body from the neck down.’

Liou Wenxin froze. After thinking it over carefully, she realized... the method might actually work!

Su Ze had the Regeneration Body skill, and an upgraded version at that. Even if his head was chopped off, he definitely wouldn’t die instantly. He’d have more than enough time to detonate his Regeneration Core and regenerate his body.

However... she looked at Su Ze. ”You’re not going to ask me to be the one to chop off your head, are you?”

”Ahem... Of course not! You dote on me so much, there’s no way you could bring yourself to do it.”

Now that Liou Wenxin had asked, Su Ze suddenly realized he really couldn’t think of a suitable person for the job.

’Do it myself?’

’I wouldn’t hesitate to chop off someone else’s head, but my own... that’s another story. What if I don’t use enough force and fail on the first try? That would be hell.’

As for everyone else, he either didn’t trust them, or they were too close to him to go through with it.

Besides, asking someone else meant he’d have to explain why. Su Ze didn’t want too many people to know he had a foul-smelling heart.

And if he listened to Liou Wenxin and found a surgeon, that would also expose the fact that his heart had a foul stench.

Su Ze frowned and said hesitantly, ”Maybe I should ask Mrs. Yun to do it? If she found out I secretly filmed her doing the Swan Dance, she’d definitely be able to go through with it!”

Seeing Su Ze’s dilemma, Liou Wenxin grit her teeth. ”How about... I give it a try?”

If Liou Wenxin was willing to ”righteously sacrifice her kin,” that was for the best. Su Ze, of course, was all for it.

However, Liou Wenxin then asked, ”Have you finished digesting the extract in your body?”

Su Ze paused. It had only been about a week since he’d absorbed the Mutated Electric Eel Extract, and he hadn’t fully digested it yet.

Liou Wenxin shook her head. ”You never learn, do you? Zhao Lingxiao had his heart transplanted before he’d fully digested his extract, which is how some of his Evolutionary Material ended up inside you. If you get rid of your body now, all the undigested Evolutionary Material inside you will be wasted.”

Evolutionary Material is mainly used to strengthen genes after digestion. If you get rid of the body, it’s lost completely, unlike evolutionary power, which can be regenerated.

”So you’re saying I have to wait until I’ve digested the extract before I can switch hearts? In that case, I’ll go back and work hard to digest it as quickly as possible.”

Su Ze left the lab and returned to the villa.

He popped a Future Flower Petal and began to dance gracefully with Mrs. Yun.

He planned to get back into his previous rhythm and grind through the night to digest the Mutated Electric Eel Extract as fast as he could.

He danced until evening, then went back to his room to take a shower. Afterward, he sent Ye Jin a message with the theory he and Liou Wenxin had come up with about the Sacculina parasite.

Ye Jin replied instantly.

[Ye Jin: It fits perfectly! I’m taking it to my grandmother to see right now!]

About half an hour later, Ye Jin sent another message.

[Ye Jin: Thank you so much, junior. And please thank Professor Liou Wenxin for me. My grandmother has decided to follow these leads tomorrow and pursue the investigation from a new angle.]

[Su Ze: No problem. You could check for women who were spotted near the crime scenes. The killer destroys the bodies every time, maybe not just to hide traces of the parasite, but also to conceal the fact that the victims’ gender had changed.]

Once again using the excuse that he was going to sleep, Su Ze ended the chat with his senior, Ye Jin, and got up to continue practicing the Swan Dance in his room.

’I have to work hard where no one can see me!’

’I’ll out-grind everyone!’

...

For the next few days, Su Ze almost never left the villa, holing up at home to dance.

The moment he thought about the other person’s heart beating in his chest, he was filled with motivation, wishing he could spend twenty-four hours a day practicing his dance.

Su Ze’s diligence was so intense that he ”out-grinded” Mrs. Yun, who also started skipping sleep to dance with him.

”You punk, did someone wind you up these past few days? You’re going all out!” Mrs. Yun grumbled.

’If Su Ze is this diligent, what right do I, a person on the verge of death, have to not work hard?’

Su Ze chuckled. ”Mrs. Yun, let’s have a competition. We’ll see if you finish digesting the Wind Tiger extract first, or if I complete my third evolution first.”

”I can’t be bothered to compete with you.”

Mrs. Yun looked disdainful and paid him no mind, mostly because she was afraid of the embarrassment of losing.

Su Ze smiled and didn’t call her out on it. Just then, Liou Wenxin came home from work, so he stopped dancing and went back inside.

After grinding day and night for this period, he figured he could completely digest the Mutated Electric Eel Extract in just a few more days.

Su Ze had to start thinking about his next vial of extract. He needed to plan ahead; a seamless transition would be best.

So, he decided to ask for Liou Wenxin’s advice.

”Wenxin, have some milk tea. I just had it delivered, and it’s still warm.” As was his custom, Su Ze first presented the milk tea.

Liou Wenxin smiled at Su Ze, took the milk tea, and said, ”Alright, out with it. What is it?”

Su Ze then asked his question.

Liou Wenxin sipped her milk tea and fell into thought.

Previously, she hadn’t known Su Ze possessed the Divine Grace of Evolution skill, which gave him an extra skill slot at every stage compared to others. Therefore, she hadn’t taken that into account when advising him.

But now, she had to factor it in. Su Ze had more skill slots to ”splurge” with than others, so he could equip some skills that other melee evolvers didn’t have the slots for.

After a long moment, she put down her milk tea and said, ”You currently have Thunder God Body, and your Needle Strike was just upgraded, so you’re not lacking in damage output at all. If you equip another attack skill, your damage will be excessive. So, I think for the rest of the Cocoon Stage, you shouldn’t use your remaining two skill slots on any more attack-type skills. It would be better to wait until you reach the Butterfly Stage and directly equip a powerful fourth-tier attack skill. That would be more cost-effective.

”For your two remaining skill slots in the Cocoon Stage, you could equip some support or defense-type skills, like that Spirit Defense Skill you’ve always wanted.

”There’s another category of skills I’d also highly recommend: Pupil Technique skills!”