Chapter 478 - 450: Roland: My Clone?

Chapter 478: Chapter 450: Roland: My Clone?

Knowledge of Dragon Descendants was mysterious and obscure, lost to the annals of time, but Roland’s current understanding was enough for him to draw a firm conclusion.

Dragonification was a unique ability that only creatures with Giant Dragon Bloodline flowing through their veins could possess. It was a symbol of the deep Awakening of that bloodline’s power.

However, since he had arrived in this world, he had never personally seen any other creature capable of Dragonification besides himself.

His own transformation into a Dragon Descendant, mastering the Power of Dragonification, was a miracle born from the convergence of multiple, extremely stringent conditions.

A chance encounter with a Giant Dragon in Wuxi Town that granted him a boon; reliance on his unique Professional Panel for the transformation; and the crucial guidance from the legacy left by his mentor, Graham.

All three were indispensable.

The various coincidences and opportunities involved hardly began to describe the special and precious nature of being a Dragon Descendant.

But...

He recalled the faint yet undeniable familiar scent of Giant Dragon Bloodline from the ordinary Ashen Descendants he had encountered before.

Combining that with the Combat Skills this tall Ashen Descendant before him was displaying, which were similar to A Knight Does Not Die Unarmed...

A horrifying guess exploded in Roland’s mind like a clap of thunder.

’Could it be... that these so-called Ashen Descendants are products ’cloned’ from me, using me as a template, by some kind of Power?’

The thought was so terrifying that it made Roland’s heart skip a beat.

Just as his thoughts raced, the transformation of the Dragonifying Ashen Descendant before him was complete.

But compared to Roland’s, its degree of Dragonification was clumsy and twisted.

Clearly, it had failed to fully control the Giant Dragon Bloodline of unknown origin within its body.

Not only could it not maintain a basic humanoid form, but its body had also swelled into an irregular, brutish mass of flesh.

Its surface was covered with sparse, dull, and seemingly underdeveloped scales. Its left arm had mutated into a massive but structurally deformed bony claw, while its right arm still retained some of its pale, humanoid features.

The wings that spread from its back also looked tattered, like rags forcibly stitched together.

Inharmonious lumps and mutations covered its body, making it look like a failed experiment.

Although the Energy fluctuations it emitted were several times stronger than before its Dragonification, filled with a primal desire for destruction, its chaotic and unstable posture was riddled with openings in Roland’s eyes.

Suppressing the shock and doubt swirling in his heart, Roland’s eyes grew cold. He no longer intended to get entangled with it.

In the blink of an eye, his human pupils transformed into cold, gilded vertical slits, as if an ancient, slumbering Giant Dragon had awakened at this very moment.

HUMMM!

Without a roar, without a warning, an invisible yet vast and majestic pressure erupted with Roland at its center.

Dragon Mighty.

In an instant, the air in the great hall of Sui Cang Hall seemed to solidify, becoming viscous and heavy.

Fine dust and debris on the ground defied logic, levitating into the air before being brutally slammed back down by an unseen Power, some even embedding themselves into the stone slabs.

The already loose, ancient decorations on the walls groaned under the immense pressure, rustling as they fell.

An awe-inspiring majesty that originated from the very pinnacle of life, one that made souls tremble, permeated the air.

And the Ashen Descendant, having just completed its warped Dragonification and about to raise its deformed claw to strike, suddenly froze.

The blazing red light in its empty eye sockets flickered violently like a candle in the wind, dimming and brightening unpredictably, filled with an indescribable Fear.

Its swollen body began to tremble uncontrollably. The mutated giant claw drooped limply, striking the ground with a dull thud.

The threatening growl it tried to issue from its throat turned into an intermittent, mournful whimper.

Under the absolute suppression on a pure bloodline and Spirit level, its seemingly ferocious aura melted away like snow under a blazing sun.

The monster that had been radiating a murderous aura just a second ago was now as if all its Power and aggression had been drained, cowering in place, trembling slightly, and docile as...

...a terrified kitten.

Moreover, under the profound shock of the vast Dragon Mighty that reached the depths of its soul, something even deeper seemed to have been stirred.

Within the eye sockets of the Dragonified Ashen Descendant, which had previously held only hollow red light and rabid killing intent, an extremely faint yet real glimmer bizarrely flashed...

...of lucidity.

The light briefly dispelled the Chaos, revealing a hint of an expression belonging to an intelligent being—one of confusion and pain.

Roland, with his keen perception, caught this fleeting detail.

A thought stirred in his mind. His gilded vertical pupils remained cold, but he slightly retracted his Dragon Mighty.

He sheathed his Moonlight Longsword with a reverse grip, then slowly stepped forward, stopping before the cowering, trembling, deformed body. He spoke in a low voice.

"Can you understand me? Who... are you?"

The Ashen Descendant’s deformed head turned with difficulty, a hoarse, wheezing sound like a broken bellows coming from its throat.

Its words were intermittent and garbled, as if every syllable required immense effort, painfully extracted from fragmented memories mired in Chaos.

"Guard... to guard... under orders... to guard this place... Sui... Cang Hall..."

Its voice was raspy and distorted, but the meaning came through clearly.

"’Guard?’ By whose order? Who created you?"

Roland pressed on, his gaze like a torch, fixed on the flickering light of lucidity in the creature’s eyes.

"Don’t... know... memories... shattered... only... mission..."

The Ashen Descendant’s answer was still fragmented and filled with deep confusion. It seemed to genuinely not know its own origin.

Roland’s brow furrowed as he asked the most critical question.

"Then... do you know me? Do you know who I am?"

An even deeper confusion seemed to appear on the Ashen Descendant’s twisted face. It struggled to ’look’ at Roland.

The glimmer of lucidity flickered violently, as if searching through memories that didn’t exist, and could ultimately only produce a weaker whisper.

"Familiar... scent... but... don’t... know... you... who... are... you..."

Its answer did not solve the mystery in Roland’s heart; instead, it made the ’clone’ theory even more baffling.

Just as Roland was about to press for more answers, trying to dig up more clues about its creator or its connection to him, the situation suddenly changed.

ARGHHH!

The Ashen Descendant suddenly let out a shrill, inhuman scream. The wisp of lucidity that had been so hard to gather was instantly devoured by a thicker Chaos and pain, like a candle flame torn apart by a gale.

Its already unstable Dragonified body began to convulse and expand violently and uncontrollably. The scales and keratin on its surface made a sickening CRACKLING sound as they shattered.

"Can’t... suppress... bloodline... going to..."

It uttered its last few garbled syllables.

Then, under Roland’s solemn gaze, the deformed body began to shrink and collapse at a visible rate, like a punctured balloon.

Its flesh and blood seemed to lose all support, and the dull sound of bones snapping echoed from within. The features of its Dragonification rapidly receded, and finally...

The massive body completely disintegrated, melting into a thick, dark-red puddle of flesh that bubbled continuously, emitting the faint smell of sulfur and burnt matter. It lay silently on the ground, devoid of any trace of life.

All the questions were once again buried as the puddle of flesh solidified.

Tch!

Roland clicked his tongue in displeasure and shook his head with some irritation, as if to shake off both the unsettling stench and the mystery brought by the bizarre creature.

He then stepped around the ominous puddle of thick flesh on the floor and walked straight toward the crooked doors behind it.

Pushing open the heavy doors, the scene behind them largely confirmed Roland’s earlier suspicions.

This was clearly a large-scale storage area, far more expansive than he had imagined.

As far as he could see, the area near the entrance was cluttered with huge piles of dark gray Rock Core Blocks, like small hills. The quantity was far greater than what the survivors in Hom possessed.

Deeper inside, rows of long-decayed wooden crates and shelves were arranged.

Most of the crates were broken, and their original contents had long since mutated and rotted. Only by examining some shriveled, twisted, strangely colored residue could he barely identify what might have once been vegetables, grains, or processed meats.

Roland searched the area carefully and confirmed that aside from the terrible-tasting but life-sustaining Rock Core Blocks, there was nothing else edible. Without lingering, he continued deeper into the warehouse.

There stood a set of double doors made of a special metal.

CREAK!

After he pushed them open with effort, the view before him opened up, a stark contrast to the dilapidated storage area outside.

The room wasn’t large, but its internal structure and style instantly reminded Roland of the Seventh Observation Station.

The room was sparsely furnished. The most eye-catching things were two peculiar, sleekly designed machines placed side-by-side.

They were made of some unknown metal and Crystal materials, their surfaces covered with fine networks of Runes. Though coated in a thick layer of dust, their overall structure seemed much more intact than the shelves outside.

Even more noticeable were the special plaques embedded next to the control panels of both machines.

Perhaps because of the special material, or perhaps because the engravings were deep enough, the writing on them was still barely legible despite the long passage of time.

’Are these... operating instructions?’

A flicker of curiosity rose in Roland’s heart. He leaned in closer to read them carefully.

’Matter Reorganization and Food... Synthesis Unit? Hmm... capable of deep-processing basic organic matter, converting it into standardized nutrients that are easier to absorb and store...’

’But there’s no ready-made food right now. I’ll explore the spaces behind the other doors later...’

Thinking this, Roland averted his gaze and looked at the other machine.

’High-Efficiency Water Collection and Purification Unit. Able to extract and purify drinkable water from the air or deep soil... This one is pretty good!’

’If this machine can be started, at least I won’t have to worry about drinking water.’

Roland nodded lightly, his gaze moving down to read the operating steps.

It seemed the manufacturer had considered ease of use, as the startup procedure was described as extremely simple: just press the conspicuous main control button.

Seeing this, Roland tried pressing the conspicuous button on the water purification unit.

There was no response.

He frowned and circled the machine, inspecting it carefully. Finally, at the rear of the machine, near the base, he found a circular socket inlaid with complex energy-conducting patterns.

Seeing this, an idea sparked in Roland’s mind.

After finding that strange suit of Armor at the Seventh Observation Station, he had asked Bronson for help. They had tried to install one of the Energy Cores scavenged from the broken weapons of the Rusted Knight Order into a similar socket on the Armor’s belt, hoping to power it.

But the result had been disappointing.

The core fit, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea—there was no reaction at all.

In the end, he could only conclude that the Armor probably required a more specialized or a High Tier power source.

But these two machines were different.

Judging from the information he had looked up at the Imperial College Library and the foolproof operating instructions for these two machines, as a piece of civilian infrastructure, the equipment in Sui Cang Hall should be more common and standardized.

In that case, those relatively common Energy Cores taken from the weapons of the Rusted Knight Order might just...

’be able to power them?’

The thought invigorated Roland.

Just as he was about to turn and leave immediately to retrieve the Energy Cores from the Shell Ship for an experiment, his footsteps stopped abruptly the moment he was about to exit the room.

His gaze was drawn to a spot on the wall a few steps away, where the plaster was peeling badly due to the erosion of time.

On that mottled wall, there were several lines of engravings that were completely out of place with the surroundings.

The engravings seemed to have been casually scratched with some sharp tool. The handwriting was a bit messy, yet it had cut through time with exceptional clarity.

"’Holland was here! Checked out the food situation while I was at it. Tsk, tsk, plenty of room for improvement!’"