I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Hanging up the phone, Su Ze lit a cigarette rolled from fourth-rank tobacco and leaned against the courtyard wall, remaining silent for a long while.

’What exactly did Zhao Yuanyi discover?’

Su Ze had no way of knowing, but it gave him a lead for his future investigation in Mu Country.

’Maybe I can start with Zhao Yuanyi’s network. People like Qu Jianbai, or others he was in frequent contact with or was close to.’

As for Mr. Wang, both he and Su Ze understood that he would never survive that long. With Zhao Yuanyi dead, there was no way his loyal dog would be allowed to live.

’”Don’t set foot in Mu Country carelessly...” Of course I know that. But can I really afford not to go?’

Su Ze exhaled a puff of smoke, twisting it into a silent curse. There were some things he simply had to do.

’My Divine Grace of Evolution skill is incomplete. Fortunately, it’s still effective at the Butterfly Stage, but what happens after I complete my fourth evolution and become a Saint-rank Overlord?’

’Once the Divine Grace of Evolution skill fails, I’ll have to go to Mu Country to find the missing part of the Bloodline Crystal.’

’But I’ll make sure to be fully prepared before I go. Once I reach Saint-rank, I can upgrade my skills first, then absorb a vial of fifth-rank extract to become as powerful as possible.’

’I’ll also visit the Mother Tree and learn more of the truth from him. That will give me a better chance.’

’In short, everything has to wait until I become Saint-rank.’

...

Su Ze devoted himself to ”secluded cultivation,” never stepping a foot outside his door. But despite his isolation, the outside world was changing rapidly because of him.

First, there was Chen Suifeng. He had told Su Ze he wanted to promote exchange between Lin Hua Continent and the other two major human settlements, and he had done exactly that.

Over the past few days, the news was flooded with reports about evolution experts from the Snowfield Continent and Flame Emperor Continent arriving in Lin Hua Continent for an academic exchange.

It was only from the news that Su Ze learned the names of the other two major human settlements: Snowfield Continent and Flame Emperor Continent.

Basic information about the two continents was quickly updated online, and Su Ze took a look.

Snowfield Continent was named, as one might guess, for its vast, snowy plains.

According to the records, after the Era of Evolution began, a group of people hid themselves in the snowfields. The harsh, icy environment meant that there were relatively few beasts, which allowed them to take root. They developed step by step, prospered over generations, took in refugees, and gradually grew into the Snowfield Continent of today.

The Flame Emperor Continent, on the other hand, was named after its founder, a legendary powerhouse. Because of his mastery over fire, he was known as the ”Flame Emperor.”

The Flame Emperor Continent is known for its many volcanoes. It was established by a group of Black refugees, and the Flame Emperor was their leader. His rise to power was the stuff of legend; it began when he stumbled upon the corpse of a powerful beast in volcanic lava.

As a result, the population of the Flame Emperor Continent is predominantly Black.

Chen Suifeng had actually wanted to host a tournament for Butterfly Stage geniuses from the three continents. Since Lin Hua Continent had Su Ze—an invincible existence at the Butterfly Stage—he wanted to give the other two continents a little ”Lin Hua shock.”

However, the harsh wilderness made transporting Butterfly Stage geniuses from the other two continents far too risky. Evolvers at the Butterfly Stage still lacked the ability to protect themselves in the beast-infested wilds, and an escort of even Venerable Powerhouses might not be enough to prevent accidents.

An escort from a legendary powerhouse would be needed... but it seemed none of them had that kind of time to spare.

So, despite Chen Suifeng offering a considerable prize pool, both the Snowfield and Flame Emperor Continents rejected the proposal for a three-continent Butterfly Stage tournament.

They countered that they would be willing to participate in a tournament for Saint-rank Overlords. After all, Saint-rank Overlords had strong self-preservation abilities, and with a few Saint-rank Venerables as escorts, the journey through the wilds would be much less dangerous.

But Chen Suifeng was no fool. At the Saint-rank Overlord level, Lin Hua Continent had no freak of nature like Su Ze and couldn’t guarantee a win. So, he rejected their counter-proposal.

And so, the proposed tournament became a simple academic conference on evolution.

For the Snowfield and Flame Emperor Continents, sending a few of their non-essential evolution scientists to Lin Hua Continent to learn and exchange research findings was a harmless, potentially beneficial move.

Even if those scientists met with an accident on the way, it wouldn’t be a major loss.

Although it was clear that the visiting evolution scientists weren’t the top talent from the other two continents—and that they certainly wouldn’t be sharing any core research—Lin Hua Continent still took the event seriously, organizing a group of its own outstanding evolution scientists to attend.

Liou Wenxin was among those invited.

Su Ze didn’t go with her, but Chen Suifeng passed a message to Su Ze, asking that Liou Wenxin meet with him once she arrived in Lin Hua.

’Chen Suifeng’s investigation must have made some progress,’ Su Ze guessed. ’But the matter is too sensitive for him to say much over the phone.’

...

Another recent development was the restlessness of Dongli Kingdom’s Guardian Gods, who had been frequently provoking disputes with Luofan Country.

Dongli Kingdom and Luofan Country had a long history of territorial disputes, an issue that predated the founding of Lin Hua Country. Back then, the two nations were constantly at war.

Luofan Country was now vast, boasting the largest territory of the six kingdoms. At least a quarter of that land had been seized from what was once Dongli’s territory.

After Lin Hua Country unified the six kingdoms, Dongli and Luofan could no longer wage large-scale war. Instead, whenever their territorial conflicts escalated to the Saint-rank level, Lin Hua Country would intervene and force them to settle the matter with a ”Sanctioned Battle.”

And in these Sanctioned Battles against Luofan, Dongli had usually lost far more often than it won.

But now, Dongli had Su Ze. That changed everything.

The Guardian Gods of Dongli had struck a deal with Su Ze: whenever a Sanctioned Battle was initiated at the Butterfly Stage, he would be their champion.

Su Ze, of course, had no reason to refuse. Winning a Sanctioned Battle meant a handsome sum of contribution points would be deposited into his account.

He was so poor he only had a little over two billion left, so he was desperate to earn some cash.

Thus, the Guardian Gods of Dongli began frequently instigating conflicts with Luofan Country at the border, deliberately escalating the situation until Saint-rank powerhouses from both sides were forced to appear. This, in turn, would summon the Holy Envoy to initiate a Sanctioned Battle.

Luofan Country guessed what Dongli was up to, so whenever it was their turn to decide the participant level for a Sanctioned Battle, they always avoided the Butterfly Stage.

However, the rules stipulated that the two sides would take turns deciding the level for the battle.

Whenever it was Dongli Kingdom’s turn, they would invariably choose to hold a Butterfly Stage Sanctioned Battle.

This guaranteed Dongli at least a 50% win rate. Luofan Country could only choose to hold battles at the Pupa Stage or Cocoon Stage, but Dongli wasn’t without a chance of winning at those levels either.

Dongli had a particularly deep pool of talent at the Cocoon Stage.

In contrast, Luofan Country’s top geniuses at both the Pupa and Cocoon stages had already been ”schooled” by Su Ze. Many had been crippled or had their spirits broken by him.

In just over a month, Dongli initiated 12 Sanctioned Battles. They won nine and lost only three.

Su Ze himself won six of those matches.

Whenever it was Su Ze’s turn to fight, Luofan would surrender the moment he stepped onto the stage.

They had no choice. If anyone dared to face him, Su Ze would genuinely try to beat them to death.

After twelve Sanctioned Battles, Dongli Kingdom had reclaimed a large swath of territory, and Su Ze had earned 12 million contribution points.

But even after paying Su Ze his handsome fee, Dongli still came out far ahead. In the current global environment, with most of Blue Star occupied by beasts, territory was the most precious resource of all.

Luofan Country couldn’t withstand Dongli’s constant provocations and had no choice but to appeal to the Sovereign Country for help.

The Sovereign Country knew that if this continued, Luofan Country would eventually retaliate, sparking a full-blown crisis. So, it issued a timely warning to Dongli’s Overlords.

The Dongli Overlords knew, of course, that they couldn’t reclaim all their territory this way. They were simply letting off steam after being suppressed for so long. Upon receiving the warning from the Sovereign Country, they knew to back down.

After the farcical chain of conflicts, Dongli had reclaimed territory, Su Ze had earned his contribution points, and Luofan was the only one left feeling the pain.

Thanks to these Sanctioned Battles, Su Ze’s prestige within Dongli Kingdom had soared to terrifying heights. He was now arguably more popular than even some of the Guardian Gods.

In the eyes of Dongli’s citizens, Su Ze was already the nation’s ”Reserve Guardian God.”

After more than a month, Su Ze finally finished digesting the Firemane Lion extract in his body.

Over that month, even while participating in six Sanctioned Battles, Su Ze never once slowed his progress in digesting the extract.

He worked even harder than usual, and with over ten million more contribution points in his account, he was popping enhancement items like never before.

High-grade evolution drugs, Acceleration Fruits—he consumed them like candy. He even burned Yellow Millet Fragrance while eating Acceleration Fruits.

Yellow Millet Fragrance was a wondrous natural medicine. When burned, it released a unique, peculiar scent. Inhaling it gave Su Ze the sensation of ”a thousand years passing in a dream.” He would feel as though he’d spent a long time digesting the extract—with gratifying results—but in reality, very little time had passed, just like in a dream.

Despite this extravagant, no-expense-spared consumption, it still took Su Ze until the end of July to completely digest the Firemane Lion extract.

He didn’t immediately rush to absorb the extract from the Fifth-rank River Dolphin Beast. Instead, he planned to rest for a few days and get his body back in top condition.

Just then, Liou Wenxin finally returned from the academic conference in Lin Hua Country.

...

”That conference lasted a while. Did those outlanders from the ice plains and volcanoes actually have any amazing breakthroughs to share?” Su Ze asked curiously.

Liou Wenxin had been gone for a full half-month for the conference.

Liou Wenxin nodded. ”We did make some progress, but we can talk about that later. First, let’s discuss the results of Minister Chen Suifeng’s investigation...”