I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 237: Chapter 202: A Big Shot’s Little Gossip

Royal Hunting Ground, surveillance room.

Watching Su Ze put away the Liquid Turbellaria Extract, Miss Lin and the round-faced soldier both fell silent.

After a long moment, the round-faced soldier snapped out of his daze, pulling out his walkie-talkie to report to his superiors. ”The Tier 4 S-rank Liquid Turbellaria has been hunted. The hunter is Su Ze from Dongli Kingdom...”

There were only a few Tier 4 S-rank exotic beasts in the entire Hunting Ground. Every time one was successfully hunted, it was a major event that needed to be reported up the chain as soon as possible.

This was especially true for this Liquid Turbellaria. Because its ”Liquid Life” skill made it extremely difficult to deal with and kill, it was already an ”old-timer” at the Hunting Ground.

While the round-faced soldier was reporting to his superiors, Miss Lin silently pushed open the door to the surveillance room and walked towards the only entrance and exit of the hunting area.

She forced a somewhat friendly smile onto her icy face and waited quietly by the entrance.

...

After obtaining the Liquid Turbellaria Extract, Su Ze finally felt at ease.

At this point, he had basically met the prerequisites for entering the Divine Dice.

Su Ze wasn’t in a hurry to absorb the extract. Absorbing it wouldn’t take much time, but this was someone else’s territory, and he was still under surveillance. There was no need to rush.

Speaking of surveillance, Su Ze recalled that he had just used the wondrous item, the ”Thorn Armor Leaf.” Technically, it was ”stolen goods” he had acquired by killing someone and taking their possessions. He wondered if using it on camera would cause him trouble down the line.

But it didn’t matter. Back at the Lin Hua Noble Academy, when facing the school’s probing, he had no intention of hiding it.

Now, his strength had risen to another level. He was already a Butterfly Stage evolver and had backing. Even if the students he killed had Saint-level overlords behind them, he wasn’t afraid.

After the extract was removed, the Liquid Turbellaria’s corpse turned into a puddle of a jelly-like substance.

According to the rules, for any exotic beast Su Ze hunted in the Hunting Ground, he could only take the extract. The corpse had to be left behind, as it was the property of the Hunting Ground.

However, Su Ze still used his body to block the surveillance camera and nonchalantly collected a portion of the jelly-like substance—about enough to fill a washbasin. Compared to the elephant-sized Liquid Turbellaria, this was nothing. The Hunting Ground staff might not even notice.

Afterward, Su Ze also placed the extract into his Storage Pendant and headed back toward the entrance.

The hunting area had only one open gate that served as both entrance and exit. This time, Su Ze walked out openly and without fear, no longer worried about being entangled by other exotic beasts. As a result, he was much faster, returning to the entrance in about twenty minutes.

He had just come to a stop behind the gate when it opened automatically.

Su Ze immediately saw the two people standing outside the gate. One was the round-faced soldier who had escorted him in, and the other was an unfamiliar woman with a cold temperament.

Su Ze gave the two a polite nod and stepped out of the gate.

The woman with the cold temperament stepped forward to stand before Su Ze and extended her hand. ”Hello. I am Lin Yutong of the Lin Family.”

”Hello.” Su Ze didn’t know Lin Yutong’s intentions, but he still politely reached out and gently shook her slender, fair fingers. ”Is there something I can help you with?”

Lin Yutong forced a slight smile and said, ”It’s nothing important. I’ve heard of you for a while, so I came specifically to introduce myself.”

’Am I famous in Lin Hua Country, too?’

As Su Ze wondered about this, he couldn’t help but think her smile wasn’t very becoming. ’She’s not good at faking a smile; it’s too stiff. She looks better when she’s not smiling.’

”Well, alright, Miss Lin. We’ve met now.” Su Ze wasn’t sure what else to say.

Lin Yutong’s expression stiffened. She wasn’t a very social person either, and Su Ze’s way of speaking left her unsure how to respond.

After a two-second pause, she accepted that she wasn’t skilled at social pleasantries and decided to revert to her usual, more direct style. Her fake smile vanished, and she got straight to the point.

”To be honest, I’m here because I see your potential. On behalf of the Lin Family, I’d like to extend an offer of friendship. If you ever consider developing your career in Lin Hua Country, our family can provide significant assistance to help you establish yourself.”

’So direct? Well, this is better. No beating around the bush...’ Su Ze was a bit surprised by her abrupt shift in tone, but his mind was already processing her words.

’The Lin Family? Her surname is Lin, and Lin Hua’s Legend’s surname is also Lin. This is the Royal Hunting Ground, managed by the Lin Family. Could it be that she’s from the ”royal” Lin Family? She’s a descendant of Lin Hua’s Legend!’

From Chen Xuejiao, Su Ze knew that the Lin Family was still a major family in Lin Hua Country. Lin Yutong was extending an olive branch to him on behalf of the Lin Family.

Chen Xuejiao had previously invited Su Ze to immigrate to Lin Hua Country, but that was an official invitation from the government. It essentially granted him the eligibility to move there one day. However, even if he did immigrate, which faction he would join or align with was still undecided.

Lin Hua Country had many factions, all competing with one another.

If Su Ze were to build a future in Lin Hua Country, finding a powerful backer would be a wise choice, as it would save him a great deal of trouble.

However, for Su Ze, all of this was still too far in the future. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to immigrate to Lin Hua Country at all.

But he couldn’t just directly refuse her kind offer.

”Miss Lin, what makes you so sure I’ll come to Lin Hua Country in the future?” Su Ze asked.

”For a genius like you, the Six Kingdoms are too small—like a little pond. While you’re still a small snake, you can swim in it freely. But once you begin to truly stand out, to transform into a flood dragon and then a true dragon, you will inevitably require a much vaster sky to soar through,” Lin Yutong said with conviction.

Su Ze considered this for a moment before replying, ”My strength is still limited for now. But if and when I do come to Lin Hua Country, the Lin Family will certainly be my first consideration.”

Lin Yutong hadn’t expected Su Ze to agree on the spot. Her goal was to make initial contact with Su Ze, leave an impression, and maintain contact in the days to come.

That way, when Su Ze arrived in Lin Hua Country in the future—a stranger in a strange land—he would naturally give first consideration to the Lin Family, the only faction he’d had prior contact with.

The two exchanged contact information, and Lin Yutong said, ”Where are you staying tonight? Do you want me to arrange accommodations for you?”

”Thank you, Miss Lin, but that won’t be necessary. My friends are waiting for me outside.”

”Alright. If you need help with anything, you can contact me anytime.”

Su Ze waved goodbye, and the round-faced soldier escorted him out of the Hunting Ground’s main gate, his gaze toward Su Ze a complex mixture of emotions.

This genius from the Six Kingdoms... he hadn’t taken him too seriously at first. After all, every two years, a so-called genius who won the Six Kingdoms’ top academy exchange tournament would come to the Royal Hunting Ground to hunt, but most of them would return in failure.

But not only had Su Ze succeeded in his hunt, he had hunted the most troublesome Liquid Turbellaria. And just now, his direct superior had asked him for the surveillance footage of Su Ze killing the Liquid Turbellaria.

It wasn’t hard to guess that the footage would soon be on the desks of various powerful figures throughout Lin Hua Country.

And Su Ze would become a hot commodity.

The major families of Lin Hua Country always paid extra attention to top-tier geniuses from the Six Kingdoms like him.

Su Ze walked out of the Hunting Ground’s main gate and met the questioning gazes of Mr. Ya and Chen Xuejiao. He smiled, nodded, and said, ”It went smoothly.”

”That’s good.”

Chen Xuejiao drove Su Ze and Mr. Ya back to the hotel, asking about his experiences in the Hunting Ground along the way.

Su Ze said, ”I’ll keep it short. I successfully hunted a Tier 4 S-rank exotic beast in the Hunting Ground, the Liquid Turbellaria.”

Chen Xuejiao rolled her eyes. ”That’s a little too short! Wait, did you say you hunted a Tier 4 S-rank exotic beast?”

Chen Xuejiao was so shocked that she slammed on the brakes, giving Su Ze and Mr. Ya a scare. Thankfully, they were both good, law-abiding citizens who had remembered to buckle their seatbelts.

Although Su Ze had always said his target was a Tier 4 S-rank exotic beast, Chen Xuejiao figured it would be an incredible feat if he even managed to hunt a Tier 4 A-rank. She knew he had only just completed his third evolution and didn’t have a single Tier 4 skill. ’How could he possibly hunt a Tier 4 S-rank beast?’

She remained pulled over on the side of the road for five minutes before she could digest the news, then started driving toward the hotel again.

As they neared the hotel, Chen Xuejiao said, ”I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning. Remember to dress a little more formally.”

Su Ze knew he was going to meet the ”big shot” tomorrow, so he asked curiously, ”Xuejiao, since I’m meeting him tomorrow morning, you can finally tell me who he is, right? I’d like to be at least a little prepared.”

Chen Xuejiao considered it for a moment, then decided not to hide it any longer. ”Tomorrow, I’m taking you to meet the Minister of Education for Lin Hua Country. He’s also a Venerable Powerhouse who has evolved five times, Mr. Chen Suifeng.”

”Chen Suifeng?” Su Ze thought the name had the feel of a male protagonist from an old-fashioned novel.

It didn’t quite match the style of name he imagined for a big shot.

Chen Xuejiao noticed Su Ze’s expression in the rearview mirror and smilingly shared a little piece of gossip with him:

”Minister Chen Suifeng has two older brothers; he’s the third. The original names their parents gave them were ’Chen Qianglong,’ ’Chen Qianghu,’ and ’Chen Qiangbao.’”

”Later, during his teenage years, Mr. Chen felt his name was old-fashioned and carried unfortunate implications, so he went and changed it to ’Chen Suifeng.’ When his two older brothers saw that their little brother had changed his name, they followed his example and chose new names for themselves as well.”

’So he changed it during his edgy teenage phase.’ That explained everything, Su Ze thought. He couldn’t help but ask curiously, ”What names did Mr. Chen’s two brothers change to?”

”The second brother changed his name to ’Chen Wudao,’ and the eldest is called ’Chen Beixuan.’”

Su Ze: ...

’Come to think of it, Chen Suifeng is still the most normal name of the three.’

There was another part that Chen Xuejiao didn’t mention. It was said that after their parents found out the three brothers had changed their names, they beat them for a whole week straight, but they still refused to change their names back.

But strangely enough, ever since the three brothers changed their names, it seemed as if they had borrowed luck from the unseen world. The originally unremarkable trio all began to distinguish themselves in their respective fields and achieved great things.

The superstitious said it was because they had chosen good names, that a good name is the key to good fortune.

Because of this, their parents never asked them to change their names back. Even later, after all three had become successful and famous and were long past their edgy teenage years, they never changed their names again.