This place looked like a vast, elongated factory workshop!
And the glassware appearing all around increased, containing not only fully developed bio-soldiers but also specimens in embryonic or juvenile stages! The sheer number was easily over five thousand! Yet, all these embryos and juveniles had been destroyed.
The entire scene looked as if it had been half-blasted open by high explosives! Wreckage and shattered shards of glass were scattered everywhere!
This sight left Xingchen utterly dumbfounded; these were living beings! And they hadn't even had time to fully mature!
"The entire production line has been annihilated," Niyia’s face was ashen.
The Moranka Bio-Factory belonged to the Shadow Moon Division, and now it was utterly ruined—a crushing blow to them!
Bio-soldiers formed the main combat force of the Wolong World.
The sheer number of bio-soldiers directly dictated the combat strength of the Shadow Moon Division.
And the Moranka production line annually supplied nearly a third of the Shadow Moon Division's needs for bio-soldiers.
In other words, with Moranka gone, the Shadow Moon Division's conventional military strength had instantly dropped by one-third. Even more severe, however, was the loss of talent.
The pair finally reached the end of the workshop floor!
What met their eyes upon pushing open the iron door was another massive shock for Xingchen!
Before him stretched a vast, brightly lit, open expanse. Hanging overhead were numerous light bulbs resembling miniature suns!
What astonished Xingchen was that these light bulbs emitted waves of potent magic fluctuations, specifically the extremely volatile Fire-elemental magic!
In the center of the open space floated massive, luminous orbs resembling eggshells!
Surrounding them were countless threads stretching out in every direction, almost filling the entire volume of space!
This scene involuntarily brought to Xingchen's mind the image of a spider's web!
Indeed, this bizarre sight was like countless colossal webs tightly enveloping the eggshells in the center!
Upon closer inspection, the eggshells appeared translucent, and through the faint layers of light, one could vaguely perceive something alive inside the light-form, vibrating faintly at a specific frequency, much like the beating of a human heart. This bizarre tableau made Xingchen's own heart race and his scalp tingle; clearly, whatever was inside those shells was no human.
"This is...!"
"The Furnace of the Sun!" Niyia pointed to one of the bright spheres. "Those are the juveniles of the Fire Dragon Lizard and the Fire Dragon Moth."
"So, besides producing bio-soldiers, this place is also an incubation center for Fire Dragon creatures?" Xingchen exclaimed in surprise.
"No, the eggs of these Fire Dragon creatures are exclusive to the Soaring Heaven Division." Niyia’s gloomy expression twisted into something more menacing. "That means this facility has been converted into a bio-factory for the Soaring Heaven Division."
Niyia slowly surveyed the surroundings. "Since they converted this place into a Fire Dragon creature hatchery, someone must be left here to guard it." As he spoke, a terrifying murderous intent flickered in Niyia’s cold eyes. "Come out, whoever you are."
Almost simultaneously, Xingchen felt a powerful killing intent rapidly approaching! Someone was indeed present!
At the same instant, a brilliant streak of red light shot out from the side! It was a sword-qi attack!
Xingchen swiftly dodged with a side roll!
"BOOM!!" A colossal sound, followed by billowing dust and smoke, enveloped the three figures in a haze.
The sudden burst of sword qi was easily evaded by the two, but it punched a large hole in the wall behind them!
Both simultaneously located the source of the attack!
Within the dense web of light threads, a pale blue sphere, noticeably smaller than the others, was contracting and expanding rhythmically!
A fissure had opened in the center of this small blue orb, clearly the origin point from which the recent sword qi had erupted!
Looking closer still, one could distinctly see a figure standing within the aperture.
A tall, imposing figure clad in bright cyan armor, the whole body enveloped in a strange cyan luminescence.
It looked like a wavering ball of cyan ghost-fire, inducing a sense of grimness and dread.
"Phoenix Knight Iron Wolf!" Niyia gritted his teeth upon seeing the armored warrior. "It really is you."
"Long time no see!" The cyan-armored warrior within the light mass slowly advanced.
As he drew nearer, Xingchen was astonished to realize that this newly appeared Iron Wolf looked exactly like Niyia!
Could it be that they...?
"You are brothers," Xingchen gasped out loud.
"I have no such brother," Niyia snarled, his expression suggesting he wished to tear the man before him to shreds!
"We are not brothers." Iron Wolf Nikko seemed in no hurry to fight, patiently addressing Xingchen to explain their complex relationship. "Strictly speaking, I am him, and he is me."
"......" Xingchen was utterly bewildered! He couldn't begin to grasp what they were talking about.
"Our bodies originate from the same cloning template," Niyia’s cold gaze fixed fiercely on Nikko. "Not only do we share identical genes and appearance, but we even share a decade's worth of memories. Yet, after creation, we were separated."
Shared memories! My God, what was going on here!
Could it be that this fellow was another Niyia, identical in body, genes, and even possessing the exact same memories!
In an instant, Xingchen was reminded of the protagonist in The Sixth Day, the replicated clone who shared the exact memories and personality of the original!
Although the technology of the Wolong Manor achieving this shouldn't be astonishing, witnessing such a living example before his eyes was something Xingchen found almost impossible to accept!
Imagine the feeling of confronting someone with your exact appearance, personality, and even memories!
At this moment, Xingchen felt like he was genuinely going mad!
The Wolong Manor had actually accomplished something so unbelievable!
"What makes a person human is possessing their own, unique personality! Clones with identical genes are not unheard of in the Wolong Manor, but clones sharing identical genes, identical memories, and even identical personalities—only the two of us! What was originally singular was forcefully cleaved in two! Such a personality is incomplete! I absolutely will not allow another self to exist in the same world! And one that occupies the woman I cherish most!"
At this point, a strange excitement surfaced beneath Nikko’s calm facade. "Lanqi can only belong to me!"
"Stop dreaming," Niyia countered. "When you became Iron Wolf, you should have known that Lanqi would never accept you."
"If you cease to exist, anything is possible," Nikko replied.
It was impossible to fully comprehend the depth of feeling driving him, but Xingchen grasped the terrifying reality: both men deeply loved Lanqi.
He could hardly imagine the sensation if, one day, another version of himself appeared, took his place, usurped his role as the father of Xingye and Xingzhan, and occupied the affection of Yinshuang—he might truly go mad, or he would stop at nothing to eliminate the other.
"Why are you both appearing together?"
"It was an accident," Niyia stated gravely. "And a mistake."
"So that's why you became enemies," Xingchen mused thoughtfully.
"Correct," Nikko affirmed. "What is separated is destined to become whole again, and the singular Lanqi cannot be shared."
"So, orchestrating the attack on Moranka and even sending out the distress signal—that was all a trap you laid?"
"Who would understand myself better than myself?" Nikko said lightly. "Even after ten years of divergent experiences, a person's core character does not change."
"......" Xingchen was utterly stunned into silence!
What kind of world was this!
Niyia’s expression grew grim! He assumed a fighting stance!
Xingchen dared not be careless either, gripping Longying and positioning himself to Niyia's left, the two forming a mutual support structure!
"What a pity," Nikko seemed to express genuine regret. "Although our strengths are equal, as a Phoenix Knight, I possess the more powerful Enhanced Star King and the Aerial Combat Divine Beast, meaning you have no chance of victory. You are doomed this time."