I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate-Chapter 42: An Olive Branch

Luofan Country and the Dongli Kingdom had territorial disputes stretching back years, and their relationship wasn’t good. If the Dongli Kingdom wanted to send experts to retrieve Liou Wenxin, just getting the entry visas approved would likely take some time.

Until then, they could only wait for Mrs. Yun to recover her combat strength before continuing their journey.

Otherwise, relying on just Su Ze and Liou Wenxin—two people at the Pupa Stage—would offer no guarantee of safety.

That was why Su Ze fully agreed with Liou Wenxin’s plan.

"Could you contact your people in the Dongli Kingdom and arrange a new identity for me?" Su Ze asked. "I can’t use my old one. The Zhao Family has probably made me a wanted man by now."

"That’s easy enough, but you need to think this through. I can only get you a Dongli Kingdom identification. From that point on, you’ll be a citizen of Dongli."

Liou Wenxin’s words carried a hidden meaning, which Su Ze picked up on.

He smiled. "I’m an orphan, without a father or mother. It makes no difference to me which country I belong to."

Hearing this, the gazes of both Mrs. Yun and Liou Wenxin softened.

"Besides, you two are the only family I have now. You’re both citizens of Dongli, so of course, I should be one, too."

Su Ze recognized the probing and recruitment in Liou Wenxin’s words, and he responded to her offer in a half-joking manner.

’As a clone and a transmigrator, I have no sense of belonging to any country in this world. I just want a legal identity. It makes no difference which country I choose.’

’I’ve made a powerful enemy. And while the Dongli Kingdom might be weaker, it’s still one of the six major nations and has a Sovereign Country watching over it. I understand the wisdom of seeking shelter under a large tree.’

’And with my connection to Liou Wenxin and Mrs. Yun, joining the Dongli Kingdom would give me a great head start.’

And so, Su Ze solidified the next stage of his plan: follow Liou Wenxin back to the Dongli Kingdom.

Seeing Su Ze agree to take up citizenship in the Dongli Kingdom, a smile touched Liou Wenxin’s lips. "In that case, you can accompany me to look for a house tomorrow," she said. "Mrs. Yun will likely need another half a month to fully recover her strength. Staying in a hotel all that time won’t be convenient, so we should rent a place first."

"Okay."

...

After watching Su Ze leave the room, Mrs. Yun, who was lying in bed, looked at Liou Wenxin. "Dr. Liou, do you believe what he said?"

"I believe him, but I still need to verify it."

Liou Wenxin picked up her phone, opened a messaging app, found a contact, and sent a message: "Help me find information on Zhao Lingxiao, son of Mu Country’s Finance Minister Zhao Yuanyi, as well as the full story behind the rape and murder of Princess Zhuzhi."

Princess Zhuzhi’s death had caused a huge uproar a while back, so finding information on it wasn’t difficult.

Before long, Liou Wenxin’s phone was flooded with images and text messages.

Looking at the handsome, bright-faced young man on her screen, she saw that his image matched her memory of Su Ze perfectly—identical down to the last detail. Liou Wenxin couldn’t help but frown.

She didn’t believe two people could look so similar; not even identical twins were ever completely alike.

Her first instinct was that Su Ze had lied to her—that he was Zhao Lingxiao.

But when she saw the long list of Zhao Lingxiao’s transgressions, she couldn’t reconcile the image of this vicious, wealthy scion with Su Ze. The impression Su Ze gave her was of a completely different person.

"’It could also be some kind of disguise ability...’" Liou Wenxin muttered to herself. From what she knew, there were at least a dozen skills that could make a person look exactly like someone else.

Liou Wenxin continued to scroll through the information, carefully examining the details of the Princess Zhuzhi case. She soon realized something was amiss.

The case was riddled with inconsistencies.

First, the motive didn’t hold up under scrutiny. Furthermore, Zhao Lingxiao had supposedly escaped after committing the crime and wasn’t captured by Zhao Yuanyi until half a month later, which left a lot of room for manipulation.

The most suspicious part was that on the day before the execution, two inmates at Pan Shi Prison had supposedly attempted a breakout and killed Zhao Lingxiao in the process.

And although a DNA comparison had confirmed the deceased was indeed Zhao Lingxiao, Liou Wenxin still felt there was a hidden conspiracy at play.

Liou Wenxin’s brow furrowed. She lacked key information and couldn’t deduce the truth, but the more bizarre the entire affair seemed, the more she was inclined to believe Su Ze was telling the truth.

Finally, Liou Wenxin asked her contact about the Zhao Family’s recent activities. She learned that they had recently launched a massive crackdown on vice and illegal activities in Heiyan City, conducting a thorough, block-by-block search of the entire area. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’That matches what he said,’ she thought. ’It seems the Zhao Family really is hunting him. In that case, he probably isn’t Zhao Lingxiao.’

Mrs. Yun sounded a little puzzled. "Dr. Liou, you’ve seen your fair share of geniuses, especially at Ancient University. There’s no shortage of prodigies there. Why are you so invested in this boy?"

"Among all the geniuses I’ve met, I’m afraid none can compare to him."

"What makes you say that?" Mrs. Yun hadn’t expected Liou Wenxin to rate Su Ze so highly.

Liou Wenxin explained, "First, he possesses a skill that even the Filth Earth Organization values highly, and their standards are anything but low."

"Furthermore, you’ll recall he just entered the Pupa Stage. The Undying Salamander extract was the first one he absorbed in this stage. But when he defeated Li Gaojie, if I saw correctly, he used the Rock Scorpion’s ’Needle Strike’ ability. And the Rock Scorpion is a Tier-2 mutated beast."

Mrs. Yun was taken aback. Many skills looked similar in execution, so she hadn’t been able to identify which ones Su Ze had used. But she trusted that Dr. Liou, as an expert, wouldn’t have been mistaken.

"So the boy hasn’t just entered the Pupa Stage? He absorbed a Rock Scorpion extract before this?" Mrs. Yun asked.

"No, he really has just entered the Pupa Stage. My Eye of Evolution is never wrong," Liou Wenxin said. "He absorbed the Rock Scorpion extract while he was still at the Mortal Level, skipping a rank!"

"Absorbing an extract a rank above his own? No, that’s impossible!" Mrs. Yun said, incredulous. "As far as I know, there’s no precedent for that in all of history!"

Liou Wenxin said, "There have been a few rare, top-tier geniuses in history who’ve managed to absorb extracts beyond their rank, but they were typically at the Pupa Stage or Cocoon Stage. To absorb a Tier-2 extract at the Mortal Level... he is truly the first."

Mrs. Yun’s face was still a mask of shock. "A Mortal-level Life Form that hasn’t undergone evolution has a fragile constitution. It can’t possibly withstand the pressure of absorbing an extract so far above its rank. How did he do it?"

Liou Wenxin chuckled and shook her head. "That’s why I said that among all the geniuses I’ve met, none can likely compare to him."

"Then again, it’s only been a thousand years since our Blue Star entered the Era of Evolution. It’s only natural for things to happen that we can’t yet understand or explain."

Mrs. Yun fell silent for a moment before nodding in agreement. "If that’s the case, then Su Ze is indeed worth recruiting."

"Come to think of it, our Dongli hasn’t produced a new Saint-level expert in seventy years. We’ve been relying on the older generation to prop things up, and the new generation hasn’t been able to fill their shoes."

At this, Mrs. Yun sighed before continuing, "The younger generation in Dongli doesn’t lack diligent, hardworking people, and there are plenty of so-called geniuses. But they all play it too safe. They follow the experience of their predecessors, obey the instructions of their teachers, and train by the book to get stronger. It always feels like they’re missing a certain spark and drive, which is why most of them, like me, hit their limit once they reach the Butterfly Stage.

What Dongli truly lacks is a peerless prodigy who can define an entire era!"

"Let’s hope Su Ze’s arrival can stir some waves in these stagnant waters," Liou Wenxin said.