DSAW Ch.342

Chapter 342 – Genetically Modified Humans

 

Huo led Tu Ran out of the ground.

Both of them were covered in dirt. Without a word, they patted their shoulders to shake off the clumps of soil.

Xi Chunzhi walked over, circled around them, and confirmed that they were both unharmed. Then, she grabbed one of their arms with a single hand. “Let’s go quickly. The noise here is too loud, and the security guards from the Executive Department will be arriving soon.”

Tu Ran indeed spotted the bodies of the bodyguards nearby.

She picked up a laser gun from the ground, which had used up all its energy, and recharged it one by one before storing it in her space.

“Tu Ran, I’ve heard you’re quite formidable.”

Tu Ran paused for a moment while reloading the gun and looked directly at the source of the voice.

A silvery, light-shining hovering car flew from behind her, passed over her head, and steadily hovered in front of her, so she had to look up to see it.

The car began to change shape. The roof opened to both sides, and the windows slowly descended, revealing the interior.

Two people were inside: one driving, the other in the passenger seat.

The person in the passenger seat faced her. As the window descended, he turned his face toward her, lowering his gaze to meet Tu Ran’s eyes.

The moment she saw his face, Tu Ran’s pupils constricted sharply, and the laser gun she was holding dropped to the ground.

Xie Zhao?

!!!

Hadn’t he died? She had personally checked for his breath and even dug out his inner cores.

Thinking of the inner cores, Tu Ran quickly looked at the top of his head, where there was no sign of any ability or reminder panel.

He had no abilities.

What shocked Xi Chunzhi just as much was that she had indirectly witnessed Tu Ran killing Xie Zhao, and now, seeing him alive and well before her eyes, she quickly looked at Tu Ran, hoping to read her expression for some explanation.

Unfortunately, she saw nothing on her face as Tu Ran had already composed herself and calmly bent down to pick up the laser gun from the ground.

Huo showed no reaction. She was just an ordinary bounty hunter from Tuya State, with her activities limited to Tuya State and the surrounding states. She didn’t know the commander of the Pioneer Team.

Picking up the laser gun, Tu Ran calmly recharged it and looked up, gazing at the person hovering in mid-air. “Where is the real Xie Zhao?”

“You know? Did Xie Xu tell you? He’s known all along? Did he plant spies around Xie Zhao?”

Tu Ran and Xi Chunzhi exchanged a look. Now they were certain that the person before them wasn’t Xie Zhao, at least not the Xie Zhao who had once been the commander of the Pioneer Team.

Not to mention anything else, just the way this person couldn’t stay calm was enough to prove he wasn’t Xie Zhao.

Tu Ran also recalled Xie Xu’s inexplicable indifference toward Xie Zhao, his unchanged emotions after she killed Xie Zhao.

He knew she hadn’t killed the real Xie Zhao.

Tu Ran was now completely certain that the person she killed outside the bar hadn’t disguised his appearance. There were three different Xie Zhaos, and she thought of a possibility—perhaps something like the [Shadow Warrior] ability.

The real Xie Zhao might have split into these two (or more) clones.

These clones weren’t under Xie Zhao’s control. Xie Xu wanted to kill them on behalf of his brother.

But where was the real Xie Zhao?

The fake Xie Zhao, clearly irritated by her silence, growled darkly, “I’m asking you a question!”

Tu Ran looked at him and concluded that he was an impatient, hot-tempered clone.

The security guards from the Executive Department hadn’t arrived yet. He and his driver had come first, both of them still without any ability panels above their heads.

Tu Ran had no idea where his confidence was coming from.

Once Tu Ran realized that the person before her was just a clone, she lost any desire to kill him.

“We’re leaving,” Tu Ran said as she grabbed Xi Chunzhi and Huo, preparing to depart. But suddenly, a loud explosion shook the ground, and a flash of light lit up the sky. The ground trembled, and a bolt of lightning shot straight down from above, aimed directly at the three of them.

The trio quickly retreated, and the ground beneath them was split open, leaving a deep chasm. The surrounding land was scorched black.

Tu Ran looked up. Behind the hovering car, dark, irregular clouds had gathered into massive, ominous shapes, pressing down so low that they nearly touched the car.

The lightning didn’t strike the hovering car, which was in the high-risk zone, but instead struck the three of them on the ground.

This wasn’t normal.

Tu Ran turned her gaze to the fake Xie Zhao, who sat comfortably in the car, looking at ease and unfazed.

Just as she hesitated, wondering if this was truly the work of the fake Xie Zhao, his long fingers casually lifted from the edge of the car, as if playing with a pet. The dark clouds behind him flickered in black and white, and a deformed lightning bolt surged toward them.

He was summoning the lightning!

The three of them, still on the ground, saw the bolt coming and quickly scattered to avoid being struck and turned to charcoal.

He had no ability panel, yet he summoned an ability. Tu Ran thought of a possibility that she had forgotten about until now.

Genetically modified humans.

Erika Eiffel, the first successful genetically modified human of the Federation, was capable of freely changing her appearance without losing any human traits, while also possessing abilities that humans longed for.

While Tu Ran was lost in thought, a blazing fireball, burning fiercely, shot toward the hovering car.

It pierced through the gloomy sky, illuminating the fake Xie Zhao’s face inside the car.

Xi Chunzhi, always quick-tempered and unwilling to back down, especially when dealing with arrogant men, was already seething.

A transparent film stretched out from Xie Zhao’s palm, enveloping the entire hovering car. The fireball crashed into it but was bounced back along the same path.

Through her helmet, Tu Ran could feel the scorching heat from the fireball as it rebounded. She quickly pulled Huo out of the way.

Xi Chunzhi also stepped back a few paces to avoid the blast. Before she could stabilize herself, another fireball shot out.

“Move away from the battlefield,” Tu Ran said as she pulled Huo farther back. “You go first.”

Huo knew staying would be of no help, so he nodded. “I’ll wait for you at the base of the mountain. Contact me if you need anything. I can dig tunnels to help you.”

Tu Ran nodded in understanding and quickly returned to the battlefield.

The defensive film created by the fake Xie Zhao reminded her of Xiang Sheng’s barrier ability.

Creating such a thin membrane consumed a lot of energy, and the stronger the attack, the faster the energy drained.

Xiang Sheng had barely held on through the first bullet due to her lack of foundation.

Tu Ran was curious how long the fake Xie Zhao could maintain it.

From her space, she retrieved a machine gun and enough ammunition, aiming at the fake Xie Zhao before pulling the trigger.

The film endured both the fireball and the barrage of bullets. Though it bounced them back, Tu Ran and Xi Chunzhi worked in perfect sync, circling around the hovering car. Neither the bullets nor the fireballs came close to touching them.

The fake Xie Zhao’s expression was darker than the clouds behind him. He summoned lightning again, striking at Tu Ran and Xi Chunzhi twice, but failed to hit either of them.

If his abilities were limited to creating a protective barrier and summoning lightning, he would have no chance against Tu Ran and Xi Chunzhi.

But as a member of the Xie family, Tu Ran couldn’t shake the feeling that he wouldn’t be foolish enough to charge into battle with just those two abilities.

She remained on high alert.

It wasn’t until the fake Xie Zhao leaped down from the hovering car that the transparent barrier descended with him.

He didn’t fall directly to the ground but stopped a few meters above it, floating in mid-air.

Fly.

The ability that Tu Ran had longed for.