Chapter 456

Chapter 456: New Discovery

Lin Qingliu’s ability to create clones essentially utilizes the [Proliferation] of his own Blood and Flesh pathway, combined with the [Divided Thoughts] of the myriad pathways.

The clones he creates can not only exist for an extended period but also inherit some of his abilities.

However, right now, his actions resemble using a thread of thought to manipulate a puppet; he can only gain normal control over the body in front of him, while using abilities remains temporarily impossible.

As soon as his thought entered the still-warm body, he felt a strong sense of rejection.

Comparing with previous experiments, if Lin Qingliu were to simply retrieve the consciousness from his clone, using [Possession] would pose no issues at all.

The current situation is akin to a hermit crab that has finally found a shell but cannot fit inside.

The reason is simple: there is already a master present.

Yet, Lin Qingliu clearly is not one to fuss over minor details.

He shows little regard for the will that is about to awaken within the body, much like an unwelcome guest wanting to sit down for a while.

The new master of the body has not yet awoken, so after a lot of effort, Lin Qingliu succeeded.

He gained control over the body.

But only half of it.

At that moment, he could still feel the gradually awakening will vying with him for control of this body.

It was a very strange sensation, unlike anything experienced between humans and mycelium.

If the first two existed in the biological field as forms of "light," then this awakened will felt like a shadow—shapeless and formless yet omnipresent.

In the brain of the body, Lin Qingliu sent out friendly signals as best as he could, eager to coexist peacefully with it.

But the shadow offered no response; its aimless attacks were its only reaction.

Perhaps… it still cannot think?

Lin Qingliu suddenly had this thought.

He allowed his thought to actively relinquish some control over the body, enabling the shadow to grasp the entirety of the brain for its thought processes, but unable to take any action.

Soon, the body began to exhibit clear changes.

Once it gained partial control over the nerves, the shadow trembled throughout the body like a vehicle warming up in winter.

This adaptive behavior quickly came to an end, and the body returned to normal, as lifeless as a corpse.

In the perspective of the biological field, this entity was almost indistinguishable from when it was alive, as if it had directly inherited everything from this body.

Lin Qingliu’s consciousness continued to call out, like a messenger awaiting a reply.

This time, he received a weak yet sufficiently real feedback.

It was akin to an unconscious whimper; it held no inherent meaning, but its existence spoke volumes.

Although it mastered the brain, that consciousness did not acquire any knowledge.

Like a beast, it opened its eyes, filled with instinct and confusion, and began looking around.

In the next moment, its gaze locked onto Lin Qingliu.

More precisely, it fixed its sight on the center of Lin Qingliu’s chest.

In that place, there existed something capable of transforming between the virtual and the real.

It was the vessel of Lin Qingliu’s ability, a mysterious USB drive that had accompanied him from another world and had gained a touch of the divine.

Muscles contracted abnormally, causing the limbs to twist in strange and grotesque ways.

The consciousness that had begun to gain preliminary control over the body moved forward in an eerie manner, like a large fish fixating on bait.

Just as it seemed ready to overturn the experimental equipment on the table, Lin Qingliu hurriedly removed the USB drive from around his neck. He gripped the golden cross USB in his hand, feeling for the first time like a priest exorcising a demon.

The contorted body before him indeed resembled those possessed by a demon in legend.

He moved to the side of the laboratory bench, and the unclear consciousness surprisingly followed his direction.

Lin Qingliu waved the USB drive up and down in his hand, tossed it around, and caught it again.

While performing these comical actions, he stared intently into the eyes of the body in front of him, watching as it greedily focused on the USB.

Lin Qingliu felt a mix of emotions:

Good news, it did not desire him.

Bad news, it could see his trump card and seemed very eager for it.

This didn’t seem like a good omen.

This time, the experiment had gathered enough data.

Lin Qingliu, who did not intend to take everything at once, felt satisfied with today’s harvest. With this experience, he could not only reproduce it perfectly next time but also be better prepared.

At least, some simple restraints needed to be prepared in advance.

With this thought, Lin Qingliu slightly shifted his mind, making the USB drive become ethereal again, merging with his body and disappearing from view.

As soon as this action finished, the consciousness within the body seemed to lose all sense of purpose, and then began to move in irregular, aimless ways.

Lin Qingliu waved at the Surveillance Camera, signaling for "Infinite Scroll," who was watching, to stop recording and start backing up.

After a slight vibration from the terminal on his fingers, clusters of flames appeared around Lin Qingliu.

This time, he decided not to recover the experiment’s results to prevent any unexpected occurrences.

An hour after leaving the spire, Lin Qingliu returned to his office.

Just one meeting and one experiment had resulted in a pile of documents stacking up before him.

He casually picked up the topmost one and began to read, yet his mind wandered to other matters.

Zhuang Mian and El.

Amid the reshuffling of the upper echelons in Hope City, the atmosphere in both the inner city and outer city had improved significantly over the past six months.

El’s "Ashen Security Company" had become well-known, especially among those operating in the gray areas, and had earned a good reputation.

After establishing new rules both openly and secretly, Lin Qingliu had new ideas regarding their future arrangements.

After all, he needed his followers to continually grow to enhance himself.

As for El and Zhuang Mian, one could kill without a trace while the other could extract several pages of testimony from a mute. However, there was virtually no room left in Hope City for them to continue developing.

Or rather, superpowered individuals at this level would face experience penalties when tackling quests within the city.

But it was fine, as there remained vast spaces outside of Hope City, and their abilities would be useful in many places.

After securing matters within the city, there was still a place for both of them in the new plan.

With this thought, Lin Qingliu sent a message to the two of them.