Chapter 135: The Final Frenzy

"Very well, you are indeed worthy of being Li Qingshui's clones." Liu Chang kept his eyes closed. "I have a few simple questions; just answer them as you see fit."

"The first question is the most foolish, but I truly don't know: do you clones possess Li Qingshui's memories?"

"We do not. We have independent minds and personalities; we only share his genes. In essence, we are the same person, but because our experiences differ, we develop different personalities," said the eldest of the clones. "It is just like two identical people placed in different environments who grow up to be two different individuals."

"However, our fundamental ways of thinking are very similar, and our physical functions are much the same."

"Oh, I see." Liu Chang feigned sleep while sniffing the air for danger to stay alert. "So, in reality, you three are three separate people, and your relationship with Li Qingshui is simply that you are very much like him!"

"Yes, you could understand it that way," the second clone nodded.

"Then, the second question." Liu Chang took a deep breath. "Since your brain capacity and physical functions are nearly identical to Li Qingshui's, do you also possess his level of strength and ability?"

When Liu Chang asked this, his voice was slightly agitated. After all, he had seen Li Qingshui's power; if these three children shared that same strength, the group's chances of survival would be quite high.

"Yes," the third of the three nodded. "But we are still young, so we cannot fully utilize those functions yet. For instance, if your own clone were only three years old, it might not even be able to defeat two ordinary adults. But once fully grown, you would be far stronger than them."

"When we grow up, we will be as strong as Li Qingshui was four years ago, but we will not be as strong as he is now," the third concluded.

"How so?" Liu Chang asked.

"Because we are the first batch of embryonic clones cultivated by Li Qingshui four years ago, and we were only born after nearly a year as test-tube babies. We are all around three years old, but in reality, we have been in development for about four years," the eldest explained. "Therefore, our genes reflect Li Qingshui during his second brain mutation period four years ago, not his current state. Even when we grow up, we will only possess the capabilities he had back then, and we no longer know how powerful Li Qingshui is today. But one thing is certain: he has gone far beyond just a second brain mutation. That man is a lunatic, a lunatic even crazier than Zhao Zhuo. If any of us clones is closest to him, it is Number Seventeen."

"Number Seventeen was the last one successfully cultivated, the only success from a year ago. The more severe Li Qingshui's brain mutations became, the lower the survival rate of his clones. In the past year, not a single embryo has survived. So, no one knows how powerful he truly is now."

"But I can tell you for certain: on this Earth, there are very few people more powerful than him," the eldest added with a sigh.

"Does that mean there is still hope for Teacher Li to survive if he stays in Zhengzhou?" Liu Chang opened his eyes in surprise.

"No, the probability is zero," the second clone sneered. "No matter how powerful he is, he is as naive as an infant in front of the Great Willow Tree."

"You don't understand the physiological structure of the Great Willow Tree, but we have studied Li Qingshui. The combined power of millions of brain domains is not a simple linear addition of one plus one; quantity leads to a qualitative change. When brain capacity reaches a certain point and the host's total knowledge exceeds the limit, it is no longer just a matter of intelligence," the second said.

"Exactly." As the second clone finished, the third chimed in: "Li Qingshui is no match for the Great Willow. Not even close. There is no possibility of victory. The gap between its intelligence and his is roughly equivalent to the gap in their physical strength."

"Is it that vast?" Liu Chang's eyes widened to their limit. "The Great Willow can destroy a city in an instant; its physical strength must be ten thousand times greater than Li Qingshui's. Is the gap in intelligence just as large?"

"If not more, then it's close enough," the eldest said. "Do not harbor any hope for Li Qingshui's survival. He is a madman attempting to challenge a god with mortal intellect; it is a path to self-destruction."

"Hearing you say that makes me very uncomfortable. Aren't you sad that he might die?" Liu Chang sighed. "After all, he is your kin, isn't he?"

"We are sad, but we don't want to show it," the three clones replied. "Besides, his existence casts a shadow over our lives. No one wants to be someone else's copy. Perhaps his death will be a form of liberation for us."

"Ha, what cold-hearted people," Liu Chang sighed. "That is completely different from Teacher Li."

"We are not cold-hearted," the third said. "The deepest feelings cannot be expressed through words or actions."

"Fine." Liu Chang let out a long sigh and closed his eyes again. "According to you, Teacher Li is truly doomed this time."

"Yes, he is doomed."

"If even he doesn't compare to a fraction of the Willow Tree, then who in this world can stop that monster?" Liu Chang suddenly felt a wave of despair.

"We don't know, but looking at it this way, humanity is truly vulnerable in front of it," one of the little ones said. "But you don't need to despair. The human population base is massive—nearly six billion—so there will always be capable individuals who emerge."

"Yes, humanity is fragile, but our foundation and numbers remain. We are not so weak that we can be wiped out so easily," the three little ones took a more positive view. "With so many people, a full six billion, if other species can give birth to super-beings, why can't humanity? There will always be pioneers."

"Heh, and although we are still weak now, the seventeen of us will be enough to change things in a few years. We will grow, and once the Willow Tree reaches a certain scale, its path to enveloping the globe will surely be hindered by other species. No species would want to see such a thing exist; it is too aggressive, more aggressive than humanity. It can absorb everything. Any intelligent species that knows of its existence will become its enemy."

"We are not fighting alone," the two little Li Qingshuis laughed. "Just like that amphibian—didn't it eventually cooperate with us? Number Seventeen was taken away by that creature. Who knows what kind of chemical reaction that pairing will produce in a few years?"

"Ha, interesting, interesting." After the last clone said "interesting" twice, the three of them simultaneously fell silent.

Seeing this, Liu Chang lost interest in questioning them further. Immersed in his final thoughts of Li Qingshui, he drifted off to sleep.

The next day, at dawn, the team set off again. They extinguished the fire, picked up their iron pot, and the group trekked toward Xinxiang City once more.

Meanwhile, in Zhengzhou, a great storm was brewing—Li Qingshui had finally used the military's channels to spread the truth about the Great Willow Tree throughout the city.

In an instant, those who heard the news descended into a frenzy, fueled by the existing unrest.

For weeks, people's emotions had been unstable. The madness caused by food shortages had already brought the city to a boil, and Li Qingshui's news was like pouring a pot of hot oil onto a pile of firewood—the entire city of Zhengzhou erupted.

Even the rank-and-file soldiers went into a state of panic upon hearing the news.

No one listened to their officers anymore. All forms of authority crumbled in the face of death, reduced to a single sentiment: "To hell with it."

People scrambled to pack their belongings while attacking everything in their path. Some lost their sanity entirely, attacking anyone they saw in a desperate attempt to seize food for the long journey ahead.

The entire city of Zhengzhou instantly turned into a boiling cauldron. Rioters even swarmed the research institute, seeking revenge on the culprit who had released this maddening news and cut off their food supply: Li Qingshui.

But this frantic retaliation lasted only a few minutes before it was abruptly halted.

Every rioter who rushed within three hundred meters of the institute died the moment they stepped into the perimeter—no exceptions.

The death of over a thousand people formed a strange "wall" around the three-hundred-meter radius of the institute. Everyone died along the same circular line, their corpses arranged in the same place, seemingly warning those who came after: cross this line, and you die.

Thus, no matter how crazed people were, once they truly realized the existence of this death line, they were forced to swallow their madness and vent it elsewhere.

After the troops inside the institute were driven out, this place, which had controlled Zhengzhou for four years, became a dead zone, with only one powerful being remaining behind.

In the quiet laboratory, Li Qingshui opened a bottle of red wine, poured a glass, and took a small sip. He pursed his lips, held the glass for a long time, and remained motionless, seemingly lost in thought.

"There should be two days left, right?" Li Qingshui's gaze drifted toward the north. "Willow-kun, in two days, we shall meet again."

After speaking to himself, Li Qingshui drained the wine, opened the door to the most secret room in the laboratory, walked into the isolated underground chamber, lay down on the experimental bed, and pressed a button on the machine.

As he cut the power, the robotic arm above the bed twitched, and dozens of needles pierced into Li Qingshui's body.