DEG - Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Mortal Enemies (?)
If it were just a matter of the Regent’s identity being exposed, it wouldn’t matter.
Zuo Si knew Luo Nanqiu didn’t care about that.
But unfortunately…
The name “Jiang Xun” was involved.
Because of her strange luck, Luo Nanqiu had lamented about fate and, as if guided by some unseen force, had shown her mercy and not destroyed her.
No wonder that emperor thought there was something special about this “Jiang Xun” and suspected she was some kind of weak spot for Luo Nanqiu.
In truth, Zuo Si also knew that this Jiang Xun was not the Jiang Xun Luo Nanqiu longed for and wanted to see.
Even if they had the same genes, the same appearance, were randomly assigned the same name, and even now, their expressions were nearly a perfect match.
Even Zuo Si, in a daze, felt as if Jiang Xun’s soul had returned to that shell of a body.
But how could that be possible?!
She had followed Luo Nanqiu across the entire galaxy for all these years and knew clearly that there was no resurrection from the dead in this world.
The consciousness that awakened within a clone was a different one.
Digital life was just pathetic data computation.
Not a single one was her.
Not a single one was even like her.
But at this particular time!
In half a month, it would be Luo Nanqiu’s birthday banquet.
Someone who was a perfect likeness of Jiang Xun had appeared.
What was the purpose of the person behind this Jiang Xun?
Did they want to bewitch Luo Nanqiu, or did they want to… kill Luo Nanqiu?
Regardless, the appearance of this fake Jiang Xun was an attack on Luo Nanqiu’s heart.
Zuo Si finished voicing her concerns.
Luo Nanqiu’s raven-black lashes lowered. In the end, she didn’t click on the video.
“Head of the family, should we kill her?” Zuo Si deliberately made a throat-slitting gesture.
Luo Nanqiu sat by the tea table, pulling back her hand to prop up her head. Her gaze, still holding a trace of fondness, rested on the screen.
Her black hair cascaded down like a silk ribbon, her palm cupping her fair cheek. She finally withdrew her reluctant gaze, her lips curved in a half-smile as she uttered words that were inexplicably cruel, “Let her come.”
“Let’s see if the person behind her has the ability to bring her in.”
Into her birthday banquet.
Luo Nanqiu thought to herself.
Her chaotic state of mind was no longer suitable for handling political affairs. Perhaps she should relax a little.
She stood up and walked through a seemingly endless corridor.
Let this Jiang Xun come.
Luo Nanqiu opened a heavy door.
Let her see just how similar she was to her Ah Xun.
Light passed through the blue nutrient fluid, shining on Luo Nanqiu’s face. Hundreds, thousands of nutrient pods were lined up, making Luo Nanqiu seem utterly alone and as small as an ant.
Luo Nanqiu’s fingers unconsciously rested on the glass of a nutrient pod as she stared blankly at the clone inside.
Within the hundreds and thousands of nutrient pods were hundreds and thousands of clones.
They all had a familiar face.
If you are not like her.
Luo Nanqiu caressed the nutrient pods one by one.
Then this place will be your final destination.
If you are really like her…
No.
She clutched the necklace around her neck.
No one could be like her. She would never mistake someone else for her.
Jiang Xun had a rare good night’s sleep.
The sky brightened, and along with it, so did the progress of the quest she had given to the two players.
Although she had set things up last night to guide them to observe the developments with the gang.
She really hadn’t expected the players to completely expose the gang’s secrets overnight.
Even that hidden third organization had revealed its tracks.
The quest she gave to Berry Milkshake had even progressed all the way to “Find the Antidote.”
What was this?
The heavens were helping her! She was about to be cured of the poison and live the life a proper interstellar NPC should live!
Jiang Xun happily nuzzled the crook of Luo Nanqiu’s neck.
The Eldest Miss was doing who-knows-what. She hadn’t returned to the card all of last night and had been staring at her Optical Brain with a grave expression since early this morning.
The Luo Family couldn’t possibly have any influence in the game world, right?
Could it be that she found out about my dirt-poor background and started working hard to earn money?
Jiang Xun couldn’t think of any other reason.
She had planned to report her itinerary for the day and then they would go their separate ways, but for some reason, the Eldest Miss insisted on putting down her work. Even though she was in a bad mood and not suited for going out, she was determined to go out with her.
What could Jiang Xun do about it?
She could only take her along.
It was just that today’s Nanqiu was especially strange. She insisted on holding her hand, insisted on keeping her within her line of sight, as if she wished there was a rope tying their wrists firmly together so neither could leave the other.
What on earth was wrong?
Although they had held hands before, it had never been this strange.
Jiang Xun’s head was full of confusion, but seeing the Eldest Miss checking her Optical Brain even with one hand, looking like she wouldn’t rest until she figured things out, she didn’t dare to ask anything.
She walked along a sparsely populated path, planning to find the players. After all, it was a quest she had issued, and in just one night, they had progressed this far.
Speaking of which, didn’t she, an NPC, have any special functions?
Like a one-click button to find the players who accepted her quest or something.
Unfortunately, Jiang Xun couldn’t find one.
She also noticed the abnormality in the surroundings.
The concentration of Descenders was ridiculously high.
And when she tried to approach them to ask for directions, they acted as if they knew her, their eyes sparkling. They were just short of hugging her thighs.
To be honest, it was a bit strange.
But fortunately, it allowed Jiang Xun to find out where Berry Milkshake was now.
Inside a somewhat dilapidated laboratory.
The research institute staff, unable to bear their colleagues’ instigation any longer, decided to risk cooperating with the Descenders.
Mainly because their former boss had already been taken down by the Regent, and even their laboratories couldn’t escape the disaster, with several being destroyed by the Regent.
The loss of important experimental materials and data had already greatly increased the difficulty of their research.
On top of that, they had no money now.
Forget about paying salaries, they could barely afford to eat.
The prospect of mass-producing powerful ability users to form an invincible army of them was certainly attractive, but for them right now, it was just a pie in the sky they could only smell.
So, for the sake of research, teaming up with Descenders to do quests should be fine… right?
Just a few low-level Descenders.
Could they really publicize the lab’s affairs to the point where the entire galaxy would know?
They agreed to cooperate with Breaking Waves Riding Wind. So, Breaking Waves Riding Wind, staying true to her character of loving drama and stories, asked, “So you haven’t even met the Little Emperor. How do you know he’ll be happy if you present him with Jiang Xun’s head?”
Based on the clues Breaking Waves Riding Wind had, Jiang Xun and the Regent had an ambiguous relationship. If they really gave Jiang Xun’s head to the Little Emperor, wouldn’t the Little Emperor be targeted to death by the Regent?
Hmm?
You say he’s already being targeted to death?
Right. Breaking Waves Riding Wind felt that the Little Emperor had failed too many times, fried his brain from hard labor, and started to give up on himself, courting death and begging the Regent to kill him.
But that wasn’t what these researchers knew.
“You don’t know shit. That Jiang Xun is a clone of the gene-01 provider.”
“The original body of the gene-01 and the Regent have some kind of grudge. The Regent truly wishes she could grind her bones to dust, not giving her any chance to start over.”
Breaking Waves Riding Wind: ??
“Details.”
She had her melon seeds and tea ready.
The viewers in the livestream chat started hawking melon seeds.
Perhaps it was because Breaking Waves Riding Wind’s posture for listening to gossip was so familiar and at ease, or perhaps it was because they felt a bright future awaited them after these few days, so the researcher simply opened up.
“Let me first declare, I heard this from someone else, so I can’t say for sure.”
“I heard they were mortal enemies, holding a grudge since childhood. But the Regent’s family was too powerful, and 01 foresaw that she wouldn’t be able to defeat the Regent in the future, so she took the initiative to join the military.”
“Her Ability was too domineering, practically born for the battlefield, so her promotion speed was exceptionally fast, which aroused the Regent’s dissatisfaction.”
“Then the Regent plotted for her to die in a high-difficulty mission. She didn’t even let her relatives claim the body.”
“At that time, when the Regent took over this project, clones from other people’s genes could be taken out alive, but 01’s were directly destroyed.”
“Only this one had ridiculously good luck and managed to mix into the incorporated team.”
Breaking Waves Riding Wind crunched on her melon seeds. “But I’ve never heard that the Regent had a mortal enemy before.”
“Why else would I say the Regent hated her to death? As soon as she died, all her merits, all traces of her were wiped completely clean.”
“Later, anyone who even talked about 01 was warned by the Regent across the interstellar network.”
Livestream Audience:
【This tea isn’t just different from the previous plot, it’s the complete opposite.】
【If you say it’s love, there’s no need to erase her achievements. If you say it’s hate, then the logic of all this seems to fit…】
【Damn, is the plot about to have a major twist?】
【Wait! Erasing her achievements, I think I heard an NPC mention that… let me look through the story logs.】
【Waiting】
…
【Found it. It was a physical document. I posted a screenshot of the details on the forums, but to summarize: Jiang Xun was the youngest colonel in the galaxy, predicted to be the youngest general. But she died young on a mission, wasn’t recognized as a martyr, and her file was sealed instead. The reason her file was sealed was--Treason.】
【Hiss--how is this tea getting juicier and juicier?】
The forums and the livestream were buzzing with activity. Eavesdropping from the roof, Jiang Xun could feel more and more eyes on her.
Luo Nanqiu’s mood soured again. She even put down her Optical Brain, her gaze fixed darkly on the researcher.
Jiang Xun forced herself to keep watching and saw Berry Milkshake negotiating with the researcher.
“Since you’re going to deliver a head anyway, why don’t you give me the antidote to the poison? That way I can complete a quest too.”
“That’s easy!” the researcher readily agreed. He really did want to get on good terms with these troublesome Descenders.
Otherwise, he’d suffer for the rest of his life.
He started searching for the antidote’s formula.
But after searching for a while, the researcher broke out in a cold sweat. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to do this quest.”
“The antidote formula, the Regent took it with her three years ago.”
Berry Milkshake: Huh?
The Regent again.
A word appeared in everyone’s mind.
Such an obvious pointer made I Heal Your Whole Family subconsciously look at Breaking Waves Riding Wind.
Berry Milkshake and Breaking Waves Riding Wind whispered to each other, “Looks like we have to get Jiang Xun to stand before the Regent alive.”
Breaking Waves Riding Wind wasn’t a bloodthirsty person to begin with. Although it was just a game, the quest-giving NPCs in this game were all very precious.
Besides, she was indeed a shipper.
“That’s easy enough.”
Breaking Waves Riding Wind tilted her head and looked at the researcher. “Why don’t we just take Jiang Xun directly to the Little Emperor?”
“If the Regent really hates her, I think she’d prefer to kill her herself rather than receive a head.”
“Besides, a bloody mess isn’t suitable for transport.”
The researcher was stunned for a moment. “That’s a good idea, too.”
“But you have to take us to see the Little Emperor with you.” The credit for finding Jiang Xun couldn’t be monopolized by Breaking Waves Riding Wind.
Breaking Waves Riding Wind nodded. All that was left was to take Jiang Xun away.
She didn’t think that would be difficult at all.
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