I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate-Chapter 71: The Special Extract

Su Ze didn’t have to wait long before he received a reply from Xu Sheng.

"Headquarters is quite interested, but as for the specific price, they’ll probably have to inspect the goods in person before they can give you an offer."

Su Ze feigned impatience. "Then at least give me a ballpark figure. If I think it’s reasonable, you can send your people over. If the price is too low, I won’t waste your time making you come all the way out here for nothing."

Mr. Ya chimed in from the side, "Mr. Su, that’s not very fair of you! We were clearly here first, so how can you be asking someone else?"

On the other end of the line, Xu Sheng gave a wry laugh. He knew Su Ze and his friend were putting on an act, but after a moment’s thought, he still said, "Headquarters’ offer is around twenty million."

Su Ze said flatly, "Tell them not to bother coming if it’s less than thirty million. For a mutated beast this big, I could sell it by the pound at the market and still make a decent amount."

Xu Sheng said, "Let me request approval from my superiors again... By the way, headquarters also wanted me to ask if you would consider selling the beast’s extract. We can offer a high..."

Su Ze cut him off. "I’ve already absorbed it."

"Alright, then please wait for my update. And by the way, thanks to you, I’ve been transferred to the Dongli Kingdom and promoted to regional manager. If you ever have time to visit Dongli, don’t forget to let me know."

"Dongli? Alright, I’ll be sure to go."

Not long after hanging up, Su Ze received a message from Xu Sheng asking for his specific address.

Su Ze knew the deal was set, so he sent the address over.

Xu Sheng replied, "Please wait a moment. Our staff from a nearby station will head over immediately."

While waiting for the people from Evolutionary Technology to arrive, Mr. Ya started up his livestream again. He did a full 360-degree, no-blind-spot-style shoot of the Mutated Giant Crocodile’s corpse, all while boasting about his own glorious and heroic deeds.

Mr. Ya had actually started the stream before they attacked the Mutated Giant Crocodile, but it cut out midway through, so the latter half of the battle wasn’t recorded.

The viewers in his stream were itching with curiosity, waiting to see what happened next.

Now, he was reporting the results to his audience.

Su Ze, on the other hand, was considering whether to absorb the Mutated Giant Crocodile Extract now.

’The people from Evolutionary Technology could show up at any moment. It’s better to wait until I’m back on the ship to absorb it.’

...

A little over an hour later, the people from Evolutionary Technology arrived.

About a dozen people showed up, all of them very respectful toward Su Ze and his companion. After examining the Mutated Giant Crocodile’s corpse, they reported their findings truthfully to their superiors.

A moment later, the man in charge said with a wry smile, "Sir, the damage to this mutated beast’s corpse is truly severe. It’s been corroded and damaged by toxins inside and out. We’ve detected over ten different types of poison in it. For that reason, headquarters is hoping you might be willing to compromise on the price..."

However, Su Ze stuck firmly to his price of thirty million.

After a brief negotiation, they chose to pay the price and take the corpse.

Su Ze knew that the corpse’s actual value wasn’t even three million, let alone thirty. But for research purposes, well, that was a different story. As long as those evolutionary scientists in their research department were interested enough, even a pile of crap could be worth thirty million to them.

Once the money was received, Su Ze and Mr. Ya immediately returned to their ship.

The two of them split the newly acquired thirty million. Mr. Ya received another eighteen million, and his grin was so wide it couldn’t be contained.

In the two days he’d been following Su Ze, his income had skyrocketed. Today especially—he’d earned over a hundred million in a single day!

He would never have even dared to dream of something like this before.

’How many years would I have to stream to make this much money?’

Mr. Ya suddenly felt he had thrown in his lot with the right person. Su Ze might just be the benefactor he was fated to meet.

After returning to the ship, Su Ze ordered the crew to press on. With the Mutated Giant Crocodile gone from Hundred Crocodile Bay, they no longer had to worry about the ship’s safety.

"Mr. Ya, guard the door for me. I’m going to absorb the extract," Su Ze said.

"Don’t worry, you can count on me," Mr. Ya said, patting his chest.

He then added a reminder, "Big bro, you should prepare yourself. I’ve heard the extracts from mutated beasts in the Brahma River don’t smell very good."

Su Ze said dismissively, "What’s this? To evolve, some people would even drink... even the extract of a dung-eater. Compared to them, this is nothing."

Hearing this, Mr. Ya’s expression suddenly became unnatural, but Su Ze didn’t notice.

Su Ze locked the door from the inside, sat on his bed, and took out the Mutated Giant Crocodile Extract.

Exactly half a month had passed since he last absorbed the Undying Salamander Extract. It was an undeniably fast pace.

Taking a deep breath, he tilted his head back and poured the entire extract into his mouth.

It was both salty and astringent, like drinking seawater. The key thing was the hint of a foul smell, much like Luofan’s street food.

It really did not smell good.

Su Ze had heard that some extracts actually tasted decent, but he had yet to try one.

Swallowing it all in one gulp, Su Ze lay down and quietly felt his body’s reaction.

About a minute later, Su Ze’s entire body suddenly tensed up. A tyrannical torrent of heat flooded his limbs and torso. His body seemed unable to bear this power and began to swell.

Su Ze knew his own physical constitution was top-notch among evolvers of the same rank. Absorbing a normal Tier 2 S-rank extract shouldn’t have been a problem at all.

Just like when he had absorbed the Undying Salamander Extract, it had been a smooth and natural process with no difficulty whatsoever.

But this time, his body was feeling the pressure.

Su Ze understood it was because the Mutated Giant Crocodile Extract was simply too special.

As a mutated variant, the Mutated Giant Crocodile’s power far exceeded that of a typical Tier 2 S-rank mutated beast, so the quality of its extract was also terrifyingly high.

S-rank was the highest quality classification humans had for extracts, but it wasn’t the limit of an extract’s potential.

It was like how some top students always scored a perfect 100; that was the test’s limit, not the student’s.

Some extracts were a cut above the rest, even within the S-rank category.

Soon, Su Ze had swollen up like a fat man, unable to even get up from the bed.

But every one of his cells was being continuously strengthened, his genes rewritten.

Su Ze assessed his condition. Although there was pressure, it hadn’t reached an unbearable point.

Moreover, his Regeneration Skill was now rapidly helping him "reduce the swelling." The life energy emanating from his Regeneration Core was actually helping his body absorb the extract’s energy.

’It should be almost over...’

Su Ze could feel that his body had stopped swelling. Although he was currently bloated like a ball, all that was left was to let time do its work.

Once his body absorbed all the Evolutionary Material and evolutionary power, the swelling would naturally subside.

One hour, two hours...

This was the longest Su Ze had ever spent absorbing an extract.

Three hours later, Su Ze’s body had deflated considerably, though he still looked rather chubby.

And just then, Su Ze’s consciousness once again entered a blank, white world.

Su Ze’s spirits lifted. He knew it was time to choose a skill again.

Reaching this stage meant he had successfully absorbed the extract.

This time, only a single cloud of orange mist floated in the white void!

Su Ze was stunned for a moment. As far as he knew, even an extract from a regular Brahma River Crocodile offered three or four skills to choose from. How could this Mutated Giant Crocodile only offer one?

’Is this the price of mutation?’