Huo Xianfeng playing online games

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At the same time, in the core laboratory on the upper levels of the Holy Relic White Tower:

A naked young man strode out of the incubation pod. He tore off the tubes connected to his body in disgust, as fresh blood streamed down from the puncture wounds and covered his entire frame.

He glanced at a security camera in the corner, then picked up a shard of broken glass and casually threw it, shattering the camera instantly.

“Help! Help!!!”
“We… we’re still trapped in here!!!”

One of the researchers was kneeling on the floor, frantically pounding on the walls, completely unaware of the danger creeping up behind him.

Snap!

A powerful hand grasped the back of the man’s neck. The sheer force of the grip made him hear the crunch of his own bones being compressed. Huo Xianfeng turned the man’s face toward him and coldly looked down from above, his dark eyes chilling.

“What are you doing with the clone?”

He avoided specifying it was Huo Chao’s clone; doing so would reveal that he wasn’t Huo Chao. The connection between Huo Xianfeng and Huo Chao was a secret known only to them.

“You…!”

The researcher’s pupils dilated in terror as if he had seen something impossible.
“How can you be conscious?! That’s… that’s not supposed to happen—”

Huo Xianfeng frowned, quickly catching on to the inadvertent slip of information.

So, they wanted a Huo Chao without self-awareness.

The young man was about to press further when the researcher’s eyes darted to the shards of glass on the floor. Suddenly, he snatched up a piece and lunged at the young man’s throat.

Snap!

The hand holding the shard was abruptly stopped in midair. Huo Xianfeng, expressionless, glanced at the shard before twisting the man’s wrist into an unnatural angle with ease.

“AAAAHHHH!!!”

The man’s screams made Huo Xianfeng frown. He glanced at another researcher trembling in a corner, utterly paralyzed with fear. A moment later, the screaming stopped abruptly.

Crunch!

The sound of a trachea being crushed echoed in the lab.

“Annoying.”

Huo Xianfeng tossed the lifeless body aside with disdain. After a moment’s thought, he stripped the believer of its white lab coat and hurriedly put it on to cover himself.

Even though it was a clone, it still looked like Huo Chao. For his foolish friend’s sake, it was better to show some decency. As he dressed, he looked down inadvertently.

Tch. Small.

This body appeared to be no older than thirteen or fourteen. Its strength was pitiful too—no wonder he’d struggled to break anything earlier.

Huo Xianfeng turned to the other researcher, who was still cowering in the corner, and strode toward him. He asked,
“Do you want to live?”

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According to scientific theory, it should have been nothing more than a mindless, genetically identical body. Even though this clone hadn’t fully matured and appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen years old, it had just snapped someone’s spine with one hand as if it were nothing.

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Fearing he might be silenced, the man frantically tried to explain.
“It’s true! It’s true! We… we only create new clones using Huo Chao’s genes, but as for the specific plans, I don’t know—I really don’t!”

Don't scrape

Don't copy

He remembered that Huo Chao’s had been black and gold.

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“Growth process?”

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Huo Xianfeng’s brows furrowed, and he immediately held his breath. However, the feeble researcher in front of him, panicked and breathing heavily, inhaled a significant amount almost instantly and collapsed unconscious within seconds.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

He hadn’t expected to enter the Holy Relic White Tower in this manner, but since he was here, he might as well gather some information—like what the clone of Huo Chao was intended for—or, at the very least, obtain some intelligence.

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Even the defensive wall before him was just a basic measure of laboratory security.

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Huo Xianfeng narrowed his eyes.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

But what purpose would a fake Huo Chao serve?

As a political weapon against Pei Changyun?
If that were the case, why hadn’t they created it when the Empire was first established? Why wait until now?

Countless questions flooded his mind, but before Huo Xianfeng could find an answer, the sound of footsteps closing in from all directions reached his ears.

At the same time, piercing alarms blared throughout the upper laboratory of the Holy Relic White Tower.

“Warning! Warning! An experimental subject has escaped! Researchers, do not panic—relevant departments are conducting a capture operation.”
“Warning! Warning! An experimental subject has escaped! Researchers, do not panic—relevant departments are conducting a capture operation.”

He frowned and clenched his fists. Adapting to this frail body was proving difficult even for Huo Xianfeng.

The clone wasn’t fully matured yet, and even with the boost from the Holy Stigmata, being in the stronghold of the Illusory God Church, vastly outnumbered, meant he’d soon be recaptured if he didn’t act cautiously. He couldn’t handle this situation head-on like he could in his original body.

At that moment, Huo Xianfeng lowered his gaze to the floor, following the pipes connected to the incubation pod. It seemed those pipes led below, indicating a weaker spot in the structure.

The young man stared at that spot for a few seconds, raising an eyebrow slightly.

A breakthrough point. Found it.

Meanwhile, all laboratories were immediately locked down, and all researchers were ordered to stay in place, confined to monitored areas. A large number of fully armed believers surrounded the experimental zone, conducting a thorough search.

He Zhun stood silently at his workstation, his cold and calm demeanor making him stand out among the panicked and frustrated researchers.

“I heard the commotion came from up there. Could it be Bernard’s core lab?”
“Impossible. That’s the core lab.”
“What kind of experimental subject could cause such a huge uproar? Even Lady Cecilia rushed here overnight!”
“Who knows…”
“…”

He Zhun quietly listened, committing the conversations around him to memory. Without drawing attention, he also tracked the hurried footsteps outside, confirming that they were indeed headed for the upper levels.

What’s more, Cecilia had been alerted.

That woman was responsible for Huo Chao’s genetic material. If the escaped subject was what He Zhun suspected, he already had a rough idea. While considering how he might leverage this sudden incident, a loud rumble came from above.

The next second, the ceiling burst open with a thunderous crash. A red-and-white figure plummeted down amidst the debris.

Boom!

Amidst the shower of rubble and broken concrete, Huo Xianfeng landed gracefully. He casually brushed the dust off his clothes and shook out his hair. When he looked up, his gaze met those of the stunned researchers, frozen in fear and confusion.

“…”

Silence.

The entire laboratory fell into a dead stillness.

Everyone stood dumbfounded, staring at the bloodied, youthful young man who had just crashed through the ceiling. None of them knew how to react.

Standing at the center of everyone’s attention, Huo Xianfeng didn’t feel awkward at all. He did, however, spot a familiar figure, even though the person was wearing an antiseptic mask and glasses. Huo Xianfeng recognized him instantly.

At the same time, He Zhun noticed the young man staring straight at him.

Huo Xianfeng frowned and his expression filled was with unconcealed disdain.
“Tch—!”

He Zhun froze. “…?”

What?

Had he done something to offend this guy?