Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 569: Oh my god...
Looking at the bright red drop of blood floating in the sea of souls, Zhou Ziwei's clone pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out. So he simply stopped paying attention to it and connected with his main body with a thought.
Although this clone is completely separate from the original body, it is still split from the same soul, and from the original consciousness. It has an unbreakable original connection with the original body, which is much closer than an independent soul body created simply by using soul power on other objects.
Therefore, no matter how far apart they are, they can connect with each other with just a thought, which is something that Zhou Ziwei and the independent souls he created cannot compare to.
Zhou Ziwei's main body was sitting on a high reef, silently absorbing the energy of nature from the howling sea breeze and scorching sun. Sensing the call of his clone, he immediately opened his eyes, smiled and looked at the bearded Dwight's body in front of him, and couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.
If I had known this would create a clone of myself, I would have chosen my appearance more carefully, making sure it was at least a little more handsome... This beard... although he seems to be the youngest of the three male researchers, his appearance is... a bit too unconventional...
However, now that he had unintentionally taken over the bearded man's soul, it was too late to return it. Zhou Ziwei could only comfort himself, thinking that appearance wasn't the problem, and youth was the greatest asset. It would be truly unlucky to have taken over the body of a decrepit old man after all this trouble...
In fact, once Zhou Ziwei grasps the subtle changes in his body's cells, he can reshape his body at any time to make himself look more handsome.
Look at this original form. Even a grown man in his twenties can turn into a lively and cute little baby in the blink of an eye. What is there that I can't do? It's just changing the shape of the face. Zhou Ziwei estimated that he could easily do it now even without the help of the amoeba.
After a moment of random thoughts, Zhou Ziwei remembered that the clone's consciousness was summoning him because it wanted him to unseal the nerves in his brain.
To prevent these guys from waking up and killing anyone they saw, Zhou Ziwei had previously used a hypnotic-like technique to completely seal off some of the important nervous systems in their brains with his soul power.
Unless Zhou Ziwei personally lifts these seals on them, they are practically in a vegetative state and will never wake up.
Even though Zhou Ziwei now has absolute control over the soul sea of Dwight's body, this clone is still very weak and has no ability to break the seals that Zhou Ziwei's main body has set up outside. So he has no choice but to ask the main body for help.
With a thought, Zhou Ziwei sent a wisp of soul power into Dwight's brain, breaking through all the seals that had been placed earlier. This wisp of soul power didn't stop for a moment; instead, it continued to search for the entrance to the Sea of Souls and plunged straight in…
This wisp of soul power naturally also carries a wisp of Zhou Ziwei's original consciousness. However, due to the close connection between the soul power and the main body, this wisp of original consciousness is completely different from the split-off original consciousness. It has no independent consciousness at all, and what it represents can only be Zhou Ziwei's main body soul.
The feeling of the original soul and the clone's soul meeting simultaneously in a sea of souls is quite peculiar, like someone walking down the street and suddenly seeing someone who looks exactly like them walking towards them.
Although a soul is just a strange energy, the fluctuations emitted by each soul are completely different. Zhou Ziwei often encounters all kinds of souls, so he naturally understands this best.
In his view, the fluctuations emitted by the souls of all people in this world are different from each other, just like the differences in fingerprints.
However... the two souls that met in this sea of souls seemed to be exactly the same, but upon closer inspection, there seemed to be some subtle differences.
This is the difference between the clone and the original body. The two have more than 99% similar fluctuations, but they will never be completely identical. If they were completely identical, then these two soul bodies could merge into one at any time and never be separated again.
Even if there are slight differences, Zhou Ziwei is confident that he can merge his two souls together. However... for the time being, it seems completely unnecessary. This clone may also play an unexpected role, so it's better to leave it for now.
Thinking of this... Zhou Ziwei's main body deliberately did not touch the soul of the clone, but instead used his soul power to transform into a huge hand that covered the sky, and placed it against the edge of the small sea of souls, tentatively pushing it a few times... Sure enough, with the help of Zhou Ziwei's main body, the space of the clone's sea of souls expanded rapidly by nearly ten times at a visible speed before finally stopping temporarily.
In this way, Zhou Ziwei's clone was able to rapidly increase his soul power in a very short time, instead of nearly bursting out of his body like the original, who had only absorbed the soul of a hundred-year-old ghost at the beginning.
This is the advantage of having a high-level character to help you level up. Even the basic skills can be built up for the low-level character, so leveling up is just a matter of blinking an eye.
After Zhou Ziwei's main soul finished its expansion project in the clone's sea of souls, it immediately withdrew without hesitation. Originally, he had planned to take the blood droplet formed from fierce and malevolent energy out for further study, but he did not expect that the blood droplet seemed to have an innate resistance to his main soul. As soon as it sensed Zhou Ziwei's main soul approaching, a burst of killing intent, like a sword being drawn from its sheath, immediately emanated from it.
On the contrary, if the clone's soul were to wrap around the drop of blood, there would be no reaction whatsoever.
It seems that this blood drop was painstakingly condensed by the clone's soul using the Six-Syllable Mantra, so the blood drop dared not reject his clone's soul in the slightest.
This shows that no matter how similar the souls of Zhou Ziwei's main body and his clone are, there are still differences. Even the unconscious drop of blood can be distinguished.
After Zhou Ziwei's original soul completely withdrew from Dwight's body, Zhou Ziwei's clone soul was finally able to regain control of Dwight's body through this new sea of souls.
With his eyes open, Zhou Ziwei's clone flipped over and jumped up from the ground. He looked himself up and down, then looked up at his main body sitting not far in front of him, looking at him. The two couldn't help but look at each other and smile bitterly.
This is interesting. I've actually created a clone of a foreigner's body. What if this clone also marries and has children? Would the children be considered Chinese or foreign? If both my original body and the clone have children, would they all be considered my children? If both my original body and the clone marry, could they be interchangeable...?
A jumble of chaotic thoughts flooded the minds of the two souls, yet their fundamental consciousnesses were interconnected. They could clearly generate their own distinct thoughts, but these two thoughts were inexplicably unified… This feeling… it’s fucking weird…
"Ah... Mr. Zhou... you... you succeeded! You finally managed to wake one person up... So the rest of the people should be fine now, right?"
The four agents who had defected from the M army were anxiously waiting for their people back home to come and pick them up when they suddenly saw Zhou Ziwei's clone get up from the ground, which startled them.
You should know that Zhou Ziwei had tested this more than once before. As long as any of these people were awakened, they would immediately pounce on them like madmen, trying to kill anyone they saw. Their ruthlessness was so extreme that they still felt lingering fear when they thought about it.
Therefore, whenever these four agents saw any of the unconscious people regain consciousness, they would immediately and instinctively move far away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
But... this time they found that after the bearded man woke up, he didn't immediately go berserk. Instead, he looked at Zhou Ziwei and smiled. He seemed to be quite normal, without the previous madness. The four of them were overjoyed and tentatively moved closer before asking Zhou Ziwei a question.
Although Zhou Ziwei's true form at this time looked like a five or six-year-old child, after experiencing the life-and-death journey of his escape, the four agents' admiration for Zhou Ziwei was as boundless as a surging river. Especially the last moment... after Zhou Ziwei single-handedly killed seven bio-warriors from the US bio-special forces while riding the bus, he immediately drove the bus into the air and soared away with the wind... the kind of demeanor that still makes people yearn for it now.
In the eyes of the four agents, Zhou Ziwei was practically an unapproachable god. They dared not look down on him in any way, and had to be careful when addressing him as "sir," lest he be displeased.
When Zhou Ziwei heard the four agents ask about it, he was slightly taken aback, and then he could only bite the bullet and say, "Well... I was just lucky just now. Hmm... I need to study them more carefully. These people... are still a bit troublesome."
Zhou Ziwei dared not say that he could save everyone else right now. Although there was a successful precedent, this precedent was very special. Although he had managed to wake the person up, the price was that he destroyed the person's original soul, turning him into one of his own clones.
Although this method works, Zhou Ziwei can't possibly turn all fifteen unconscious people in front of him into his clones! If that were the case, he would have more than a dozen different versions of himself, and just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Moreover, he could act ruthlessly against those American bastards, but he couldn't bring himself to be so cruel to his own compatriots.
Besides... there are quite a few women here... Zhou Ziwei doesn't want to take their bodies. Zhou Ziwei is sometimes a little lecherous, but his tastes aren't too extreme. Playing exciting tricks like transformation isn't really suitable for him.
For now, he could only make excuses. However... although he couldn't simply follow the same method to revive all these people, Zhou Ziwei had finally figured out the reason for their strange changes. As long as he could find a way to deal with the fierce and malevolent energy that filled their souls, he could naturally revive them. Although this was still a bit difficult, it was certainly not as clueless as before.
"Boom..." A series of clear sounds came from above. Zhou Ziwei looked up at the sky and immediately saw a plane flying towards him in the distance. In the distance... Zhou could already see the flag of his country printed on the plane, and his heart warmed instantly.
This area still belongs to the territorial waters and airspace of the United States, but their own country's planes just swaggered over to pick them up. It seems that they had already contacted the United States government beforehand.
The fact that the M country government did not make things difficult for the Chinese government, and even allowed Chinese planes to fly directly into their territorial waters to pick up a few enemies who had just killed countless soldiers on their territory... is quite a strange thing.
In truth, the M country government was never willing. If possible, they would have preferred to keep Zhou Ziwei and his group intact on M country territory forever. However, unfortunately... after the previous interceptions and direct battles, the result was that the M army suffered heavy and unimaginable losses. Subsequently, the president, the minister of defense, and other top leaders of the M country held more than one emergency meeting. The discussions at these meetings naturally revolved around how to deal with Zhou Ziwei and his group, or rather, how to confront Zhou Ziwei and his entourage...
During the meeting, they repeatedly watched photos of Zhou Ziwei fighting against the millions of M troops, especially the scene of Zhou Ziwei's battle against the bio-special forces. Unfortunately, even after these people and many military experts they invited conducted a study, no one could figure out how Zhou Ziwei killed the seven bio-special forces soldiers.
The only thing visible in the video is the wind cone that Zhou Ziwei used first. However, the wind cone is just a tangible but intangible thing. Although some parts of it can be seen in the video, no one can analyze what it is.
As for the Black Iron Leaf that Zhou Ziwei used... it's because the speed of that weapon when it flies is already infinitely close to the speed of light. With the current photography technology, it's impossible to capture the specific appearance of the Black Iron Leaf. At most, you can only see a faint ray of light flashing by in the video.
No matter how they restore this set of shots, it will be of no use.
As for what happened later... Zhou Ziwei's image of riding the bus into the air and disappearing into the distance in an instant shocked the leaders of the United States. From the footage, it was clear that the bus was not being lifted by some high-tech anti-gravity technology, but was clearly being lifted by a powerful hurricane... When the bus was only half a foot above the ground, it wasn't noticeable, but when Zhou Ziwei propelled the bus at full speed into the air, the scene of the gathering wind and clouds became all too obvious.
After this analysis, aside from a few individuals still resentful of the humiliation of that war and insisting on sending more and more elite troops to forcibly suppress the rebellion, the top leaders of the US were eager to send these scourges away as quickly as possible, the farther the better. They didn't want these scourges to become enraged and actually attack Washington again, in which case... they might really be killed by that demon-like figure. Even if he attacked openly, what if he... concealed his tracks and carried out an assassination...? Such a godlike figure, who could stop him? Could they rely on their few meager martial arts bodyguards? Those men might seem impressive to ordinary people, but... compared to this demon god, what were they?
So, with no other choice, most of the high-ranking officials in the United States agreed to at least temporarily not pursue the matter of the dock incident, and to ignore the defecting soldiers and Zhou Ziwei and others, letting them go their own way!
However, satellite photos show that the group stopped searching when they reached a point more than 300 kilometers from the coast of the United States. Instead, they set up camp there, which made the high-ranking officials of the United States very uneasy. They wondered what Zhou Ziwei and his group were planning. Could it be that they wanted to launch a surprise attack and cause trouble in the United States again?
At that very moment, the Chinese Embassy sent a request, saying that... several Chinese tourists had accidentally fallen into the water in the waters of the United States and had survived, temporarily stranded on an uninhabited island. They now wanted to send their country's aircraft into the territorial waters and airspace of the United States to bring their compatriots home, and hoped that the government of the United States could make way for them...
In the past, such an event would naturally have been met with strong opposition; no one could allow Chinese planes to enter their airspace so easily. However, this time… the M country government has shown unprecedented magnanimity… Excellent! Hurry up and take that demon away! Oh my god…
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 570: Crystallization of Vicious Energy
Zhou Ziwei and his clone Dwight sat together, looking at each other, both feeling a little strange.
Looking at yourself... it's not like you're looking in a mirror, and besides... these two versions of yourself don't look alike at all, yet you somehow know that the person sitting opposite you is yourself. It would be a miracle if this feeling wasn't weird...
"Cough..." The two coughed at the same time, the sound was so synchronized that it seemed to come from the same person's throat.
Then the two of them scratched their heads at the same time, showing the same embarrassed expression, and then shook their heads at the same time.
All of their movements were so synchronized, as if they had been rehearsed countless times beforehand, leaving the four agents beside them dumbfounded. What were these two up to? Were they putting on a show?
The plane would take another ten hours or so to fly back to China. Zhou Ziwei decided that no matter what, he had to train his main body and clone to be less in sync before returning home.
Otherwise... if his two bodies appeared in the same place at the same time, and every movement was so synchronized, then... anyone who saw it would probably have some doubts.
Even the most perfectly telepathic twins couldn't possibly achieve this...
Of course, even if someone saw it, they might not be able to think of it as a clone or a main body. After all, this matter is too fantastical. If he hadn't experienced it himself, even Zhou Ziwei himself probably wouldn't believe that such a wonderful thing really exists in this world.
So... no one would think of it that way right away, especially since his main body looks like a five or six-year-old Chinese child, while his clone is a tall and strong foreign man who is at least thirty years old. The difference between the two is too great. Who could possibly associate these two seemingly unrelated people with the same person?
However, this situation has been going on for too long, which is not a good thing. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei has to get used to making his main body and his clone act a little less in sync.
This is something that can be very difficult, but it can also be very simple.
Originally, although this clone of his originated from the same primordial consciousness as the main body, it absorbed a complete soul memory in another sea of souls and possessed its own independent sea of souls. Therefore, it was essentially a relatively independent soul, and thus could effectively think and do different things simultaneously with the main body.
After practicing consciously for less than half an hour, Zhou Ziwei gradually figured out some tricks. Finally, when one person was doing a certain movement, the other person was able to forcibly resist and not follow suit.
Zhou Ziwei finally breathed a sigh of relief; having a clone was really troublesome.
Moreover... the current clone's strength is really trash, and it's completely useless.
Unfortunately... they are about to return to China, and once they are back, Zhou Ziwei will not have many opportunities to kill. Currently, his clone clearly only has the lowest level of ability, and it is estimated that he will not only be unable to absorb souls that are too far away, but he will also be unable to absorb the souls of ordinary animals. In this way... he will be subject to too many restrictions.
We'll have to wait until we get back to China first. Hmm... Once we've sent these Dragon Group members and the three water sprite seeds back to China and settled them in, I might have to come back to M country again. Or I could ask the old chief for some adventure missions in M country. That way, I can serve my country and also find an opportunity to go on a killing spree, quickly increasing the strength of this clone in the shortest amount of time.
While on the island, the four agents cautiously mentioned to Zhou Ziwei some things about their families. They said that after their defection, although their families might not be executed by the military, losing their freedom was a certainty. Even if the four of them returned to China, they would not be able to live in peace. So... they said that after completing this mission, they hoped that Zhou Ziwei could help them put in a good word so that they could return to the United States and find an opportunity to rescue their loved ones.
Although they knew that the chances of rescuing someone from a heavily guarded, possibly even locked, prison with only a few people were extremely slim, they still had to take the risk for their loved ones.
However, they also knew that, given their circumstances, the organization would absolutely not allow them to do so.
Because the US country can easily control their families, it's simply to lure them or their comrades to the rescue, so they can capture them and extract the information they want from them.
This is clearly a trap. If these four agents turn back and go back to the United States to rescue people, they will be like lambs to the slaughter. Not only will they fail to rescue the people, but they will also lose their lives.
However, by getting involved with them, one is more likely to leak some important secrets.
This isn't to say that the organization doubts their loyalty, but... the methods of interrogation nowadays aren't as simple as torture as before. There are high-tech lie detectors, potent hallucinogens—the Americans are quite adept at this. Of course, these things are very expensive. If it's just some ordinary nobody, the Americans wouldn't be willing to use those high-end things. But once they're determined to get something out of someone, probably no one can keep their secret.
Therefore, intelligence agents nowadays usually carry deadly poisons that can kill in a second. As soon as they are in danger of being arrested, they will immediately commit suicide without hesitation. Only the dead can truly keep secrets forever.
Zhou Ziwei sighed softly upon hearing this. He knew what these people were feeling and understood that they really hoped he could help them rescue their families.
However, they couldn't bring themselves to speak, nor did they dare to. So they asked Zhou Ziwei to help them report to their superiors and ask for their release to plead with their families.
Because they also knew that with Zhou Ziwei's abilities, which were like those of a god in mythology, he must be a very important figure in the country, perhaps even someone that the national leaders could not easily order around.
They were just a few minor figures; what right or ability did they have to ask Zhou Ziwei to step in and save their loved ones?
Zhou Ziwei had fought alongside these agents and could be considered a partner who had gone through thick and thin with them. He certainly didn't want to ignore his partners' difficulties, and besides... he also had something to do and needed to return to the United States.
The last time he saw his brother-in-law from his previous life, Gao Jianjun, digging into the bank's vault, he was almost tricked. Although he escaped with Zhou Ziwei's help, he didn't know what happened to him afterward. Zhou Ziwei felt that he had to investigate carefully before he could feel at ease.
Zhou Ziwei didn't really care whether Gao Jianjun lived or died, but he couldn't ignore his sister from his previous life.
Zhou Ziwei is a very sentimental person, and he values family ties even more. He can naturally understand the feelings of the four agents at this moment, and since he is going the same way anyway, he might as well spend a little more time to help them with this small favor.
Of course... this might be a trivial matter for Zhou Ziwei, but for those four agents, it was a huge deal.
What's giving Zhou Ziwei the biggest headache right now is how to fully restore those Dragon Group members. Zhou Ziwei doesn't want to have a second clone for the time being, so... the method he used to awaken Dwight is no longer viable. It seems that he can only split off a wisp of his soul power and inject it into the soul power of these people to launch a strong attack, using his own soul power to gradually consume all that fierce and malevolent energy.