The Imperial Gene Bank's security firewall was set with an extremely complex password. Tang Ci spent a considerable amount of time hacking into the gene bank, and there was also the risk of being discovered and tracked at any time. After obtaining the genetic data copied by Xiao Lou, Tang Ci quickly searched and compared it in the gene bank.
The first to be identified were Major General Lin Zecheng and his biological daughter Lin Yan.
Looking at the comparison results, Xiao Lou said, "The genetic sequences of Lin Zecheng and Lin Yan are 100% similar to the data in the Imperial Gene Bank, with no difference whatsoever. These two must be the real people."
Tang Ci continued, " Ye Bowen's genes are also normal."
Xiao Lou said, "Let's look for Ye Qi's information in the gene bank and see if he is Xiao Ye's biological father."
Tang Ci nodded, quickly typed in the keys, and retrieved Ye Qi's information: "Here."
After carefully comparing the two, Xiao Lou, sitting next to him, said definitively, "They are definitely father and son. Ye Qi grew up in an orphanage. Could it be that his mother sent him there?"
Yu Hanjiang crossed his arms and analyzed, " Ye Bowen died 20 years ago, but Ye Qi is only 19 years old now, which means that Ye Qi wasn't even born when Ye Bowen died. At that time, Madam Ye was pregnant, and after giving birth, for Ye Qi's safety, she simply sent him to an orphanage secretly... What happened to Madam Ye?"
Xiao Lou pondered, "Maybe she's already been killed to silence her, or she's gone into hiding under an assumed name?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, we'll check again later. If she's still alive, she'll be another important witness."
Tang Ci continued searching for information on the remaining seven individuals. As his slender fingers rapidly tapped the keys, gradually, a series of genetic data comparison results appeared on the LCD screen in front of everyone.
Yu Hanjiang glanced at the listed names and whispered, " Qin Rong, Zhu Xingchen, and Palmer were all around 40 years old when they died. These three were all genetic experts who signed the Noah's Ark project proposal. The information we found earlier showed that they died from various accidents, namely car accidents, laboratory infections, and falls."
Tang Ci said, "Isn't this so-called accident just a pretext to cover things up?"
Yu Hanjiang agreed: "Twenty years have passed, and we still haven't been able to find the bodies of those people who were ruled to have died 'accidentally' back then. Ye Qi's parents were said to have sacrificed themselves on the front lines, but in fact, his father died at sea and his mother's whereabouts are unknown. This shows that the official reports of the causes of death of the people who escaped in the project proposal were all false."
Xiao Lou continued, "The oldest of the ten dead was Zhou Yusheng, 56 years old. He had served as a starship pilot for the Imperial Army and disappeared after retirement. He should be an old comrade-in-arms whom General Lin invited to restart the ' Egret ' starship."
Tang Ci said, "The remaining Kennedys, Kenneth and Kennedy, were twin brothers who had served in Egret." He served in Starship, a soldier in the vanguard battalion of General Lin's legion, and was one of the best pilots of combat mechs. During my time at Ninth Military Academy, my teachers often mentioned these twin seniors; they had rendered outstanding service to the military.
Nine people have been identified, leaving only one adult woman on the sunken ship.
Tang Ci pressed the key and said, "The last one is..."
Everyone stared in astonishment at the comparison results displayed on the screen.
Xiao Lou asked in disbelief, " Zhang Shaohua?"
Tang Ci explained, "The genes of this 30-year-old woman are 99.5% similar to those of Ms. Zhang Shaohua in the gene bank. No genes with such a high degree of similarity can be found in the gene bank."
Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly: "99.5% similarity, does that mean there's still 0.5% difference?"
Tang Ci marked the difference in the gene segment in red and said, "Although I'm not a genetics expert, the difference in this nucleotide sequence is quite obvious. What do you think, Professor Xiao?"
Xiao Lou said, "These are genetically modified fragments."
Yu Hanjiang pondered: "So it seems that Zhang Shaohua, who escaped with Lin Zecheng and Lin Yan, was actually a clone, while the one who stayed at Capital Star was the real person. She's been pretending to be crazy all these years?"
Tang Ci wondered, "Why did she stay behind when her husband and daughter chose to run away?"
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and speculated, "I'm afraid this was her own idea. She quickly created a clone of herself in the lab, had her husband take the clone and their daughter away, and then pretended to be the clone and lay down in the lab. Perhaps she chose to stay in Capital Star pretending to be the clone to see what His Majesty was up to?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "It's possible that she knows too many secrets. Staying as a clone is actually the safest option, since His Majesty wouldn't be wary of a clone with the intelligence of an infant."
This Ms. Zhang Shaohua is quite bold. If her husband and daughter successfully escape, and she stays by His Majesty's side to uncover the conspiracy behind the Noahs Ark Project, it would be a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, Egret's husband led a group in their escape. The starship, attracted by the music of Merfolk Clan, crashed into a whirlpool at sea.
Xiao Lou was puzzled: "If she was a clone, why did she die on the starship? Aren't Zerg immune to water?"
Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "It's very likely that Zhang Shaohua tampered with his clone when creating it, causing the clone to lose its Zerg abilities?"
Without other cloned genes for comparison, it is too early to draw conclusions.
Argument.
However, based on the current clues, Zhang Shaohua's clone did indeed die in the sea, while the clones of the three children, Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, and Ye Qi, survived despite the deep-sea environment. The fact that adult clones of these three children appeared in Merfolk Clan is evidence of this.
All the other experts and guards on the starship perished, and the Noahs Ark Project's data was inadvertently stolen by the Merfolk Clan. Fortunately, the identities of the 10 victims on the sunken ship were confirmed, connecting all the events.
Liu Qiao looked bewildered and said, " Professor Xiao, I don't understand a lot of what you're saying. What exactly is this clone project?"
Xiao Lou looked at her gently and said, "The three of you have been staying in the deep sea, so you may not be clear about what happened before. Why don't I tell you the whole story?"
Gui Yuanzhang and Lao Mo nodded and said, " Professor Xiao, please speak."
Xiao Lou cleared his throat and said, "In the year I was born, which was Star Calendar 2975, His Majesty had just lost a prince and was worried about suffering the pain of losing a child again. In addition, the Queen's body was damaged and it was difficult for her to have children again. Therefore, he proposed the ' Noahs Ark Project ' to clone several princes as backups. Many experts, professors, military generals, and the owner of Noahs Medical Technology Company, Shao Qingge's father, participated in this project."
"When the plan was halfway through, Old Mr. Shao accidentally entered the laboratory and saw hundreds of babies who looked exactly like his son. Terrified, he secretly destroyed Shao Qingge's specimen. Later, the cloned cells turned into babies, but due to a problem with the culture medium, none of these babies survived for more than six months, and the plan was forced to stop. Old Mr. Shao left Shao Qingge a safe with a combination lock and told him about this in Morse code."
"In the year 2980 of the Star Calendar, when I was five years old, the Space Pirates, who were roaming the universe, were selling precious minerals from Zerg Planet. The Imperial Ministry of Resources discovered this and sent General Lin Zecheng to Zerg Planet with troops, intending to wipe out the Zerg and take over the resource planet. However, due to the Zerg's powerful evolutionary ability, they were almost completely wiped out. Several surviving generals accidentally captured the Space Pirate leader, who had fused with Zerg genes, and discovered Zerg creep that could accelerate growth."
"In July 1980, the Noahs Ark Project was restarted. Scientists fused Zerg genes into human cells and added Zerg creep extract to the culture medium. They not only successfully turned the replicated cells into infants, but also mastered the advanced technology of catalyzing cells and allowing them to develop into adults in a short period of time. They replicated hundreds of Xiao Lou. His Majesty held a 'natural selection' competition, letting all Xiao Lou kill each other to select the best successor. In the end, there were four Xiao Lou who survived, including myself."
" General Lin Zecheng, realizing His Majesty's madness, fled Capital Star with Xiao Lou No. 4. The starship crashed in the Merfolk Clan waters, and Merfolk Clan obtained data from the Noahs Ark Project. They modified these cloned children, creating a 2.0 version clone with a mermaid tail and the ability to move freely in the deep sea. Xiao Lou No. 5, an improvement on Xiao Lou No. 4, is the mermaid prince you see."
"..." Upon hearing this, Liu Qiao, Gui Yuanzhang, and Mo Xuemin all showed expressions of shock. They hadn't expected the plot on the Empire's side to be so complicated, and that Xiao Lou had even experienced a brutal natural selection competition when he was only 5 years old.
"That emperor is insane, letting so many children kill each other," Old Mo couldn't help but complain.
" Professor Xiao, you said there were four Xiao Lou survivors. Besides you and number 4 who escaped, were number 2 and number 3 also alive? Where are they now?" Liu Qiao asked.
"They all stayed by His Majesty's side. Among them, Number 2 is the most like a prince. He replaced me after I left Capital Star. In addition, he is engaged to the clone Lin Yan and they are developing feelings for each other," Xiao Lou said calmly.
"...So, our mission is to eliminate all the clones?" Liu Qiao asked.
"So far, yes," Xiao Lou said. "We'll deal with the royal palace later. Let's solve the Merfolk Clan problem in the deep sea first. The plan remains the same. After midnight tonight, the three of you mermaids will dive into the deep sea and locate the clone lab as soon as possible. Then, use Li Qingzhao's marking teleportation skill to pull us there directly."
"Okay." Liu Qiao nodded seriously.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance, confirming each other's understanding. Yu Hanjiang stood up and said, "Let's go, let's meet up with CEO Shao and the others. It's getting dark, let's get back to the deserted island as soon as possible."
***