Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 612 Traitor Among the Clones

The image of the ugly farmer is exactly the same as it is now: standing in front of a petri dish, holding a bubbling, viscous black liquid, and dripping it into it.

Inside the petri dish was a plant that Li Zheng recognized very well: snake grass!

This plant, which had given Li Zheng a significant lead over everyone else in the first few days, was one that he could not possibly mistake.

The snake needles that he put in the Qidian Legion a few days ago may still be kept inside.

As the black liquid dripped into the petri dish, the snake grass grew wildly at a visible speed, greedily absorbing the black substance, and its originally slightly dark needle tips turned pitch black.

The leaf, which was only the size of a sewing needle in its normal state, became extremely exaggerated. In just a few breaths, it became longer and thicker than a rolling pin!
Bang!
With a loud bang, the petri dish was burst open by the wildly growing snake grass. The mutated snake grass seemed to have gained biological consciousness, and it slithered around the farmer, writhing like giant pythons covered in sharp spikes.

Despite bursting the petri dish, the snake grass showed no signs of stopping its growth; in fact, it grew even more exaggeratedly.

Before long, the ugly farmer had become extremely insignificant in the face of the snake grass.

"did you see it?"

The scene freezes, and several figures appear behind Chou Nong, whose appearances are not much different from Li Zheng's.

"This is the power of the highest-grade nutrient solution, a dangerous product that breaks the limits of plant production and can maintain growth indefinitely."

"If it hadn't been stopped, the outer city would have been completely destroyed and would no longer exist."

The video started moving again.

The dozen or so 'Li Zheng's' that appeared later were not very strong. They were all carrying a metal can with a flexible tube extending from the can to their hands, which sprayed orange-red flames that burned the expanding snake grass until it withered, curled up, and turned into charcoal.

If Li Zheng remembered correctly, he had seen the jars behind them on a shelf earlier.

The compressed gas inside can produce flames as high as 8,000 degrees Celsius when ignited, which is higher than the temperature of the sun's surface.

According to calculations, this is not even the strongest power.

In theory, as long as the medium can withstand it, the temperature can even be increased to hundreds of thousands of degrees!
It's practically a walking star!
Even with such terrifying props as assistance, Li Zheng still saw casualties on the 'himself' in the scene, with several clones being dragged out of the scene by their ankles wrapped in snake grass.

It's probably more bad than good.

"That plant was so difficult to deal with that we had to completely eradicate it and leave no samples. But what was truly terrifying was not the plant, but the culture medium that caused the mutation."

"Did you see that intelligent humanoid in the picture?"

"The culture medium that exceeded the limit was made by them. At that time, this intelligent humanoid did not resist and was dismantled into pieces."

"However, according to subsequent investigations, the outer city resident who created this model of intelligent humanoid went to the wilderness through a portal and was eventually killed by the Bloodthirsty Ones. It is only recorded that one of this model of intelligent humanoids went missing, and it is unknown where it was hidden."

Li Zheng opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent.

He knew that the missing android was inside his capsule. Ugly Farmer had been working diligently for him since he came here, and hadn't done anything out of line. Instead, he took care of the crops that were being cultivated, saving him a lot of trouble.

Besides, the one that cultivated the super-limit culture medium was another intelligent humanoid of the same model. What does that have to do with Ugly Farmer?
To condemn them all outright is indeed an overreaction.

The terminal seemed oblivious to Li Zheng's unusual behavior and continued, "Of course, if it were just that, it wouldn't be comparable to other things, because it's relatively easy to deal with." "But don't forget, there are many plant-type life forms among the myriad races. If they come into contact with the super-limit culture medium, it will undoubtedly turn into a complete disaster."

At this moment, Li Zheng suddenly had a thought and asked, "Can the culture medium have a effect on plant-type life forms?"

“Yes.” The terminal glanced at him and said, “Are you worried about the Vine Clan grandfather and grandson who bought the culture fluid from you? If so, there’s no need to worry. There are still plenty of culture fluids circulating on the black market. As long as they don’t exceed the limit, they won’t harm them. On the contrary, they can be like ordinary gene potions, bringing them some strength enhancement.”

Hearing what the terminal said, Li Zheng breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just realized that the Wisteria Clan was also a plant-based life form. If the grandfather and grandson secretly absorbed the culture medium and caused unexpected results, he would have to bear a great deal of responsibility.

However, from what the other party had said earlier, Li Zheng could tell that they knew he had a way to obtain rare items, but he didn't know exactly what that way was.

In other words, even though Li Zheng was standing in front of the terminal, the other party did not notice the existence of the treasure chest system.

"Now it's your turn. Is there anything you want to ask?" the terminal said. "I will answer any question that I can answer for you."

Li Zheng looked at the countless shelves around him: "Since there are so many weapons of mass destruction, why not use them in the war against the emotional storm, instead of keeping them here and letting them gather dust?"

"I think they were originally developed to combat emotional storms, right?"

After listening, the terminal said, "As expected, the first question is this... As you can see from the introduction, the things here are designed to maximize damage against targets with physical forms. Emotional storms are essentially a form of nothingness. Taking these things out will only harm the twisted creatures infected by emotional storms, nothing more."

If there are malicious individuals among the masses, they can become a double-edged sword, turning against their own people.

Even if there's only a one in a billion chance that something like this will happen, I can't take the risk.

While the terminal's approach is extreme, it is understandable.

After all, the outer city was the source of the flame of all races that he had worked so hard to preserve for countless years. If it were destroyed because of this, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

He absolutely cannot accept such an ending.

“Alright.” Li Zheng nodded. “Let’s change the subject. Now that I’m a clone you created, what are you going to do with me?”

This problem seemed to be within the terminal's expectations, and his expression remained unchanged: "If I wanted to deal with you, I would have done so the moment you entered the outer city. The genes I gave you originally contained defects, and according to the predetermined fate, you should have died from genetic collapse ten days ago."

But since you have other opportunities to make up for your defects with gene therapy, all those extra lives are things you earned yourself, and I have no right to continue interfering with you.

You are now an independent individual, free, and able to break free from the identity of a clone and live freely.

"You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't do anything to threaten the survivors of all races, I won't lay a hand on you."

"Any question?"

"Yes," Li Zheng continued, "Zhan Zhouzhou once encountered a guy in the wilderness who looked a lot like me. Was he one of the clones? And why did he attack Zhan Zhouzhou?"

Upon hearing this question, the terminal's expression turned somewhat dejected.

"Cloning technology used to be a legal technology in the outer city, until that time when a traitor appeared among the clones I sent out..."

(End of this chapter)