276. Kiana—The Perfect Clone
"Thank you, Dr. Ling." Dr. Mei bowed slightly to Ling in gratitude.
"No need to thank me. I only did what I thought was right. Instead of wasting time thanking me, you should think of a way to ensure Kevin survives the next Herrscher appearance." Ling shook his head to Dr. Mei gratitude.
"Yes, that is indeed the biggest problem I'm facing right now." A worried look appeared on Dr. Mei's face.
Although Ling's suggestion saved Kevin's life, it was only a temporary solution.
Given Kevin's personality, he would most likely not drag others down with him, so the worst-case scenario is that Kevin will have to shoulder the responsibility of the Vanguard Squad alone.
"Have you found suitable candidates?" Ling asked.
"Several of Kevin's friends heard about it and chose to join the Vanguard Squad. There's Captain Ato from Squad 7, and Kosma from Squad 3. Although Destobia from Squad 3 also wanted to join, Kevin refused her." Dr. Mei casually mentioned a few names.
"Let me recommend someone to you. She's a friend of mine, quite capable, but she hasn't joined the Fire Moth yet," Ling suggested.
"The person Dr. Ling recommends must be extraordinary," Dr. Mei praised with a faint smile.
"Perhaps, but you can trust her completely. I'll have her report to the Fire Moth tomorrow; Kevin can pick her up then." Ling said, then left.
Dr. Mei fell into deep thought. Who could Dr. Ling recommend…?
The next day, Kevin arrived at the designated location. Even from a distance, he felt a bone-chilling cold.
She seemed to have noticed Kevin's presence, walking towards him step by step.
Her entire body was shrouded in a large black robe, but her graceful figure was undeniable.
Because the black robe obscured her face, Kevin couldn't see her features at all; even her face was covered by a special mask.
This instantly reminded Kevin of the clone he had fought not long ago.
But the intimidating aura emanating from this person far surpassed that of the other man; the sheer chill emanating from her was enough to make even an ordinary soldier shiver.
"You are Kevin?"
A cold voice rang out, and Kevin finally snapped out of his daze.
"Yes." Kevin nodded.
"I was sent here by Dr. Ling. You can call me Kiana." Kiana said calmly.
Kevin was now almost certain that the person before him was his clone!
But why was she a woman?!
Looking at the person before him, Kevin swallowed hard.
Was Dr. Ling directly confronting him?
Although inwardly he was filled with rage, Kevin remained outwardly calm and nodded in response.
"Hello."
K-423, the most perfect individual that Ling had researched so far.
She perfectly adapted to the Herrscher blood, even displaying the authority of 'Ice'!
To strengthen the Ice Authority within her, Ling also injected the Emperor-class Honkai Beast 'Parvati ICHOR' into her body.
Although she nearly died during this process, she thankfully survived.
Her Ice Authority has even surpassed that of the original Herrscher of Ice, reaching an extremely terrifying level.
And she is the only one to receive a name personally bestowed by Ling: Kiana.
Kiana's growth potential still has room for further improvement.
This is far from her limit.
This is why Ling assigned her to the Vanguard Squad, where she can gain more experience.
As for unleashing her ultimate skill at close range, it's nothing; he trusts Dr. Mei to handle everything.
What puzzled Ling was that, apart from this Kiana, he couldn't create a second individual with such strength. After numerous experiments, he could only attribute it to a miracle or a coincidence.
"I really want to see Kevin's expression now," Ling thought with a touch of mischievousness.
'It's a female version of Kevin! How interesting! His expression would be priceless if he could see this!'
A strange voice rang out.
Ling frowned. He was certain there was no one around, yet he could hear this strange, almost communicative voice.
This wasn't the first time. Although several years had passed, he still remembered this strange phenomenon very clearly.
Ling got up and went to Mobius's laboratory.
"Mobius, could you please give me a full-body checkup?"
"Sure, share the Herrscher blood data with me." Mobius unceremoniously demanded the culmination of Ling's years of hard work.
"Okay."
Ling tapped his watch a few times, and a folder was transferred to Klein's computer.
Mobius's cherry lips parted slightly. She had only said it casually, but she hadn't expected Ling to actually give it to her!
She immediately pushed aside Klein beside her and began browsing the computer.
"Doctor, it's not safe yet... never mind."
Seeing that Mobius had already closed her document, Klein could only sigh helplessly.
It contained not only a large amount of experimental data, but also all the information about the K-series clones, even including data on Honkai serum test subjects and clones of various other diseases.
Even the Fifth and Sixth Herrschers were created by Ling!
After eliminating some failed attempts, all things considered, Ling had cloned at least over 300,000 test subjects.
If this data were leaked, even if Ling didn't die, he would definitely be imprisoned in the Deepest Abyss.
"You've really been up to a lot of trouble behind my back..." Mobius glared at him hatefully.
She was furious that he'd let her draw the fire while he secretly conducted human experiments.
"Didn't I give you everything?" Ling shrugged, his greatest strength being his utter lack of self-awareness and wickedness.
"So it's time to close the net?" Mobius stared coldly at him, seemingly contemplating where to take a bite out of him to vent his anger.
"Not yet, but it seems there's no need to hide anymore. Those conservatives have been dealt with, and Dr. Mei's rise to power is a foregone conclusion."
As long as Ling releases the data to Dr. Mei, she'll be more than happy to let Ling continue his experiments.
An Artificial Herrscher... truly a terrifying madman.
"...Does Dr. Mei know?" Mobius suddenly asked.
"She probably only guessed some things about clones. Currently, K-423 is the most perfect clone I've ever created. She's practically an enhanced version of the Herrscher of Ice. If I could obtain the Herrscher of Ice's core, I have no doubt she would surpass the Herrscher of Ice," Ling said confidently.
"I don't care about that," Mobius turned her head and walked inside.
After a few steps, she suddenly turned back and called out to Ling.
"Weren't you going to have a physical examination? Hurry up and finish, don't disturb my experiments."
"Okay, okay."
Ling softly echoed, following her.
…