Chapter 929: Chapter 929: Clone?
(Well, it seems I missed the mid-month, but… I still need monthly votes!!)
The name of this Fallen Apostle surprised us; it’s incredibly ordinary. Carter Carlow, simply known as Carter, is as straightforward as the most ordinary Imperial Soldier I encountered during my tour of the base, a name so simple that it’s hard to remember. The only noteworthy thing is how fluid these four characters are, which almost made me think he bit his tongue during his self-introduction. The structure of the name is indeed interesting; perhaps it fully reflects Carter’s father’s pursuit of an artistic life attitude, supposing this name was indeed given by his father.
“It’s truly an incredible power, to change the essence of the Abyss. Theoretically, this is impossible; even the Divine Race couldn’t do it,” Carter flexes his arms, numb from long restraints and the recent Void cleansing. Despite having acknowledged me and Sandora as leaders, certain habits left from his Fallen Apostle era keep him indifferent to manners in front of us. This seems to be a universal syndrome among those who’ve been Abyss Infected and then recovered—Bingdisi’s rogue flair became even more pronounced after she emerged from the Abyss State. “Yes, indeed, completely restored. You possess the power to control the Abyss externally, even altering it. Perhaps this is why the Fallen Apostles consider you the greatest threat, yet never dare to act rashly.”
“I’ve known that for a long time,” I ruffle my hair, “Those compatriots of yours must pray three times a day hoping I’ll die in some accident—but we won’t discuss that topic now. I’m more curious about your situation.”
“How to reposition oneself as a Xyrin Apostle with unchanged memory?” Carter starts to ponder, “Perhaps I can’t explain it clearly. The process is incredibly wondrous; my memory hasn’t changed at all. I clearly remember everything from the day I walked out of the rookie training camp until now, remember fighting the Abyss, joining them, and just now recovering… all the memories exist, and even now, I don’t think my previous judgments were wrong. These are complete and clear records, yet they remain distinctly divided into three segments, as if observing another person’s life… I know just over an hour ago, I was a staunch supporter of the Abyss, trying every means to self-destruct to prevent you from getting the information in my head. But now, this memory still exists, yet it’s like a third-person view, completely lacking any immersion… I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t quite explain it; it’s a very complex descriptive issue.”
“Change in worldview?”
Sandora’s eyes slightly brightened, though fleeting, it seemed she’d thought of something, “The same memories can lead to different conclusions and judgments under different worldview influences. However, the worldview here should be a more macro concept—it might include your entire process of handling external information. The Abyss changed this process, like changing an algorithm. The same information inputted results in bizarre conclusions after processing in your thought core. Now, Ah Jun’s power reset the Abyss’s influence, restoring your information processing algorithm to its original state.”
Carter slightly closed his eyes, seemingly searching his thought system, and after a moment, opened his eyes and shook his head, “Perhaps part of what you said is correct. I indeed found traces of algorithm correction in my thought core, but if it’s solely this, it shouldn’t result in the illusion of observing oneself from a third-person perspective, like observing another person’s life. The Abyss altered not only the rules for infected individuals to judge things but changed something deeper.”
What Sandora and Carter said became increasingly high-level; listening to it, I was gradually reaching philosophical territory beyond practicalism. Clearly, if this continued unchecked, I wouldn’t comprehend it at all. Hence, I promptly coughed, “Alright, evidently discussing this singularly won’t deduce results. Carter, you yourself don’t understand why your worldview suddenly changed, Sandora, you haven’t experienced recovering from the Fallen Apostle status; among us, the ones with similar experiences—a crazy one, one with severe brain function deficiency, and one who’s more abnormal in normal circumstances… I think this issue should be left to Taville for research. Hopefully, she can discover why Fallen Apostles and normal Xyrin Apostles have differing thought processes. If so, reversing them en masse might be possible.”
Carter nodded, “The Lord’s reasoning is sound.”
I: “…Who taught you this phrase?”
Carter shrugged, “The prison host here; it’s the most challenging Interrogator I’ve encountered, nearly breached my psychological defenses: That incessant host discussed life with me for twenty-three hours daily and spent the remaining hour urging me to study Earth’s culture.”
At this moment, both Sandora and I were astounded: What the hell was that prison host planning to evolve into?
“In brief, avoid interacting with that gourd as much as possible; it’s absolutely faulty,” I spoke decisively, “In a couple of days, I’ll have someone dismantle it to see which wire is misconnected.”
Carter agreed deeply; he also felt something was off about the gourd-shaped prison host, but more importantly, in the past days, he was utterly drained by a constantly self-evolving and mentally deranged building AI dragging him along. Now he quite feels like a flipped salted fish.
Carter Carlow, or rather, the original prisoner A, has now broken free from the influence of the Abyss. The next step Sandora and I need to consider is how to settle this special Imperial Soldier. First and foremost, prison is definitely unsuitable, as the reverted Fallen Apostles aside from carrying Abyss reactions, don’t differ in any other aspects from normal Imperial Soldiers; perhaps he should return to the army.
Upon hearing my suggestion, Carter was not at all surprised and naturally nodded, “I am a soldier and can only be a soldier; any arrangement of yours is fine, I’m suited for high-speed assault combat; placement on the frontline is perfect.”
“But that seems like a bit of a waste,” Sandora blinked; she was pondering how to maximize each soldier’s value, “Your identity is special, although now your service experience in the Fallen Apostle camp can’t provide any intelligence value, but surely this special identity should have some special value… Ah Jun, what’s your opinion?”
Sandora threw the question to me; indeed, I wasn’t entirely devoid of thoughts on this matter.
Carter is a former Fallen Apostle. Initially, the biggest significance of this special identity to us was that he might know who was behind the ambush battle in the Ruins World, and the value of those battleship wreckages. But now that intelligence is useless; Bellavilla has provided us with much more detailed information. However, just because of this, incorporating Carter, a former Fallen Apostle, into regular troops, becoming a regular junior officer on the frontline…
“Perhaps we should establish a specialized military unit for Fallen Apostles.”
After pondering for a while, I tried to venture my opinion, “Carter, though you might not possess abundant intelligence on military secrets, you’re certainly familiar with the Fallen Apostles’ combat methods and various characteristics of their armies, especially regarding their weaponry altered using Abyss Power.”
The counterpart nodded rationally.
“Bellavilla was once a leader-level figure among the Fallen Apostles. She might know what the Fallen Apostles are doing in general, but in terms of basic soldier combat, she probably understands less about the Fallen Apostles than a regular squad leader,” I gazed into Sandora’s eyes, “The Command Center has always had a group analyzing Fallen Apostle actions, but this group is always comprised of normal Xyrin Apostles; they lack a real expert or core—I think Carter is suitable for this role.”
“Absolutely a brilliant idea,” Sandora revealed a faint smile, “Carter, would you consider taking up a position in the Command Center first?”
“I’m just a frontline officer, with mid-level permissions,” Carter neither accepted nor declined but objectively informed us of his situation, “Do I qualify to enter the Command Center?”
“You can regard it as a special appointment,” Sandora stated calmly, “At least initially, you will hold no actual military position in the Command Center, nor have any official rank, merely existing as an external expert within a certain military group.”
Once Sandora told the counterpart it was an appointment, Carter no longer had any objections and immediately saluted, “Command accepted!”
Suddenly, I felt a huge sense of inconsistency; the tall, lean man in front of me was our adversary a few hours ago, standing firmly on the Abyss Camp side, relentlessly scheming to thwart Sandora’s and my plans. Yet a brief period has passed, and he has freed himself from Abyss influence, even becoming a member of the Imperial Army. Such a distinct contrast and massive change inevitably causes an odd sensation.
Fallen Apostles and normal Xyrin Apostles… identical memories, clear minds; fundamentally, what’s the difference between them?
I suppose this question might remain unresolved until I completely defeat the opponent.
With absolute control through the spiritual link, Carter’s loyalty shouldn’t be in doubt. However, considering that he was once an enemy of the Imperial Army and this is our first time using “Void Reversal” (let’s forget the awkward name someone gave it, “Emperor’s Bro♥therly Love”) to purify an Abyss Infected, its effectiveness remains to be seen. Therefore, Sandora didn’t recklessly give Carter complete freedom. He remains under strict surveillance, with the spiritual connection open to us 24 hours a day. Apart from having the right to move within the command center, he doesn’t have any permissions of an Imperial Soldier, is forbidden from using weapons, and cannot leave the command center at will. You could say he’s a free prisoner, under house arrest, and this state shouldn’t last long. After a series of strict assessments, he should be able to resume his status as a normal middle-level commander. However, until then, it’s hard to say Carter has been completely accepted as one of us.
I thought this kind of treatment might be a bit frustrating, yet unexpectedly, Carter accepted it with a face full of calmness, gladly accepting the order to continue being “detained” as if it were the most natural thing.
“One must always be cautious of the Abyss; they infiltrate everywhere.”
Carter said himself, “After all, I still have Abyss reactions in me, and it’s been only a few hours since the reversal was completed.”
“It’s best that you understand; also, there’s no need to worry, it’s just partial restrictions on your freedom. I hope you get used to it,” I contacted the Prison Director on standby in external space through the spiritual connection, asking him to cancel Carter’s prisoner number, while also instructing Sivis to prepare a non-authorized sequence code to be bound to Carter within the command center. “Now you can leave prison; Sandora and I will personally take you to the command center.”
“Wait, there’s one more thing!”
The other party suddenly seemed to remember something and shouted, “I just remembered… There’s a piece of intelligence you absolutely don’t know!”
Sandora’s gaze instantly focused on Carter, her expression serious: “What intelligence?”
Carter also appeared unusually serious: “I don’t have the authority to know the details, but because Lord Harlan once participated in this plan, I came across some related information, and this plan concerns you.”
The first part of his words was directed at Sandora, but later he shifted his gaze to me. Confused, I pointed at my nose: “Concerned with me? Can’t you just say everything straightaway instead of like a train, one car at a time…”
Carter showed no reaction to the mockery, instead, he articulated slowly: “They might be trying to clone you.”
“…”
A moment of silence, the surrounding fell to immediate quiet, even my own breathing skipped a few beats.
“Cloning me?” After a long pause, I chuckled, glancing at Sandora while shrugging, “How can they clone me? Is it that simple? Do they know my true situation?”
This chuckle is warranted; I don’t quite believe such a thing is possible. Despite Carter sharing some shocking intelligence, the sensationalism of this information clearly far exceeds its actual possibility. The Fallen Apostles attempting to clone me? Is that likely?
If cloning the Xyrin Emperor were this easy, they’d be invincible long ago, no need to be so low-key now.
With millions of Imperial Emperors rolling over them, I believe any fleet would be burst open, knowing that during the Empire’s peak, there were only one hundred and thirty-five Emperors. This is the number developed over millions of years. You can see how difficult it is for an Emperor to be born, requiring not merely brute strength but extraordinary fortune, and now the Fallen Apostles think about mass-producing Emperors?
That’s just part of it; more importantly — can Void Creatures be cloned?
Throughout the Void, there are only three Void Creatures! We can’t even talk about finding a partner within the race; Father God’s wife was raised following the Minamoto no Yoshiie plan. Are the Fallen Apostles planning to manufacture a Void Creature themselves?
This is almost as mad as the Void Manufacturing Plan from the Old Empire Era.
“I know this sounds incredibly unbelievable; I myself can hardly believe this hypothesis true,” Carter sighed at my reaction, “But I’m a hundred percent sure they’ve found something in some place that can be used to clone part of your power, an ‘original body.’ I once accessed an independent database where a footnote mentioned your name, alongside something referred to as a ‘blank container.’ Moreover, as far as I know, long ago, they successfully collected your energy samples: This is easy, as long as you hit the battlefield, your energy sample is completely public. Now with all these factors in place, it’s hard to say whether they plan to clone your energy samples and infuse them into a blank body to create a clone similar to you…”
“If what he says is true, it’s a severe situation,” Sandora murmured after a few seconds of silence, “They absolutely can’t replicate an Emperor-level Apostle exactly like you, nor manufacture a Void Creature, but if they find a shell that can contain Void Power, then using your energy samples to mass-produce imitations of you…”
“That would indeed be a disaster,” I knew all too well what my power represented and couldn’t help but furrow my brows, “As soon as they discover the secrets of the Void Domain, they could easily turn all our supreme combat power into ordinary people, even the Divine Race would be affected by such power.”
“It’s just the worst-case scenario,” Sandora finally shook her head, “I don’t believe the Fallen Apostles can achieve results in such a short time. With Taville having studied your power from the beginning, until now, her only mature outcome is something as superficial as the Energy Raider, and this is achieved while she has direct access to you as the ‘original body.’ The Fallen Apostles only have your energy sample at most. Even if they find a shell that can contain Void Power, they shouldn’t be able to master the method to proliferate your energy samples.”
Sandora’s analysis makes sense. Although Carter’s intelligence is sensational, perhaps there’s no need to worry prematurely about the Fallen Apostles’ plans: in fact, those madmen have many deranged plans, none of which are easy to handle, so worrying is pointless. Even if they do succeed— who would worry? Merely counterfeit items, are they going to render me, the genuine article, helpless?
But…
“For some unknown reason, I suddenly thought of Sicaro.” I grimly looked at Sandora, who was also taken aback, displaying a peculiar expression, “Funny thing, I thought of him too.”
Quickly, Sandora and I temporarily set aside the Fallen Apostles’ “clone plan,” not because this plan doesn’t require concern, but under the current circumstances, we can hardly effectively hinder any research conducted in the Fallen Apostles’ lair. So since worrying is useless, it’s better to focus on how to rapidly enhance our strength. Absolute brute strength is always the most effective means of defense and counterattack. Even if the enemy does replicate hundreds of “Substandard Void Lords,” I firmly believe that if the Imperial Army has tens of thousands of Planet Battleships, those copies would kneel. Quite simply, with tens of thousands of Planet Battleships, even I’d be first to yield…
“This is the new Empire’s capital… truly a place completely different from what I imagined.” Carter, now a half-free person, followed behind me and Sandora out of the prison. We didn’t choose the teleportation gate but walked to the command center. Along the way, the former Fallen Apostle, who was seeing Shadow City’s scenery for the first time, exclaimed aloud. Then his gaze fell on a holo-promotion wall not far away, letting out a strange cry and jumping back a full ten meters, “Wow! Such a dangerous ring, you actually placed it in the plaza?!”
I quickly stepped forward to comfort him, “Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous, it’s the London Olympics…” (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian () and vote for recommendations, monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)