The Record of Unusual Creatures

“Are you really Lorissa the Elven Queen?”

Hao Ren looked into the elven girl’s eyes, his tone of voice solemn.

Lily, who was looking out the window for something delicious on the street, turned her head around. “Didn’t we confirm her identity before, Mr. Landlord?”

“All the confirmations we’ve gotten are based on her claims,” Hao Ren said, leaning back in his seat. “I’ve had this question on my mind for a long time, and I finally decided to ask. Are you really Lorissa?”

The elf knitted her brows together, but apart from that, there were no changes of expression as if the question was not shocking enough to shake her confidence. Since leaving the Gloom Mountains, the ancient empress had been calm. It seemed like the passing of 10,000 years had only shaken her for a while. Lorissa had since returned to the state of being the elven queen.

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?” After a few seconds of silence, Lorissa asked in reply.

Seeing Lorissa’s reaction, Hao Ren became relaxed. “Do you know about the Tree of Life Project?”

“The Tree of Life Project?” Lorissa finally looked confused. Apparently, she was hearing it for the first time. “The legend of the elf has a tree of life—the first tree in the world. All elves were born from the leaves of the tree. But the Tree of Life Project—I’ve never heard of it.”

Vivian seemed to know what was in Hao Ren’s mind. She looked at Lorissa puzzledly.

“The Tree of Life Project, in short, was a plan to use the power of the lifeblood and the secret magic of the Elves to create an artificial plant. It would be infinitely close to the legendary Tree of Life and then merged with the tentacles of the First Born using the Origin Branches simulated by the Tree of Life. But the project failed, because the difference between the artificially simulated the Origin Life and the First Born born out of the Seed of Origin was too big, the counter-energy completely scorched the Tree of Life,” Hao Ren explained while his eyes were still looking at Lorissa. “The initiator of this project was Lorissa.”

The elf blinked, there was neither fear on her face, because her lie was exposed, nor nervousness because she was scrambling to look for excuses. Lorissa just looked at Hao Ren with a smile. She nodded but neither confirmed nor denied. “Oh, I see.”

“So who are you?” Vivian scratched her chin. A faint blanket of bloody runes had appeared around her. “Why do you claim to be the Elven Queen Lorissa?”

“I just said I was Lorissa. It was you guys who said that I am the Elven Queen.” Lorissa said with a calm voice. “I never claimed to be the Elven Queen. And the title Elven Queen is not appropriate. We called the rulers mage emperors.”

“But your name is Lorissa?” Lily had also realized what happened. Staring at the elf in front of her, Lily asked, “What is your relationship with the elven girl… err, I mean the mage empress?”

“Since it has come to this, then let me explain. I am her, but is not her,” Lorissa said. She sorted her laced edge of her dress and sat upright as if she had decided to tell the truth. “From my self-recognition, I’m often confused by my connection with the queen, but from a logical and intellectual point of view, I know that I am not the real mage empress. I don’t know if you can understand this concept, I am a replica of Lorissa.”

“Ahh, I know. You’re a clone, aren’t you?” Hao Ren said. “They even cloned memories?”

“Your emotions were also cloned?” It was Lily’s first time seeing a real clone. Her eyes glinted as if she had found some precious stone. “Why were you guys so careless? Clones are most afraid of inheriting the emotions and memories of the original.”

Vivian glanced at Lorissa, sizing her up. “Well, cloning wasn’t something impossible with the technology at that time.”

At first, Lorissa was thinking to explain to them what cloning meant. But now she was a bit stunned instead. “You all know what it is?”

“We know.” The three of them nodded.

Only Becky remained silent. Her days on Earth were mostly about shopping and low-IQ variety shows. More advanced knowledge was limited to how to use the computer to do online shopping and watch movies. She kind of made all space-time travelers looked bad. At first, Becky was aspired to be a cross-universe trader, but it was Hao Ren who ruined her ambition.

“Oh, ahh. Then things will become easy.” Lorissa finally came out of her daze. “I am the clone of Elven Mage Empress Lorissa. I have some of her memories and ways of thinking. But at the end of the day, a clone is still a clone. I only know what happened before the accident in the lab. But after that, just like the Tree of Life Project you have mentioned, I know nothing of it.”

“A clone with only partial memories and emotion.” Hao Ren looked at the ancient clone in surprise. “And a clone of the mage empress. You guys were truly daring; first, mage emperors cloned themselves, then use the clones in the biochemical experiment! Did you guys create a lot of clones?”

“No. It’s difficult to clone a mage emperor.” Lorissa shook her head. “I’m the only successful clone. Ahh, almost successful. My memories and emotions are something unexpected to them. But in any case, one success worths more than all the failures.”

“Why did they have to clone a mage emperor? Is it safer and more controllable to clone an ordinary person?” Hao Ren frowned. He is confused. “And it sounds like they didn’t expect you to inherit part of the memories and personality of the original. How did they still dare to let an uncontrollable factor like you participate in the experiment?”

“It was because other than the mage emperor, no other persons could inherit the grace of God. They have tried with ordinary people before, but without fail, they all failed.” Lorissa then pointed at herself. “I fact, I had also failed in the end: I came into contact with the deep-level knowledge of divine decree, and then my mind collapsed. You knew what happened after that. As for why they allowed me to participate in the experiment; it was a simple reason—because they didn’t have a choice. It was the crucial moment of the experiment, they had no time to create a new clone, and I had always been cooperative.”

“What is the divine decree all about? Did the goddess of creation really order you guys to create a divine life? What is the so-called ‘inheriting the grace of God?’ What did you guys do in the lab?” Hao Ren had too many questions to ask.

Lorissa smiled. “You have a lot of questions. Well, it seems that we still have a little time, I can tell you what happened right from the beginning. You have said that you have been investigating the deicidal event of 10,000 years ago; then did you know how we thought at the beginning?”

“You guys?”

“The mage emperors, and people like me who participated in the experiment,” Lorissa said with a self-deprecating smile. “We didn’t know from the beginning to the end that someone was plotting to seize the power of God. The mage emperors on this planet had no idea what was happening in the ‘Heavenly Kingdom’ in the distant universe. All of our sources of information were only the divine decrees that we heard through our worship and prayer. This tenuous connection made it difficult for us to grasp the truth. I am even sure when the problem started, because my memory in this respect is passed down from Lorissa, and this inheritance is not complete. All I can remember was only one fragment: one day, at the grandest ceremony, four mage emperors were present. The goddess’ consciousness came to the world, and she said that the new world of the mortals was coming. According to the initial plan, when the mortal’s mind grew to a certain extent, we would be qualified to share the secrets of life creation with God.”

“That is to allow you to study the demon hunter… I mean the super life you guys have created?” Hao Ren’s eyebrows arched. He sensed that he was close to the truth. “You believed it? The consciousness that came was really from the goddess?”

“Of course we believed. The goddess of creation is supreme, and her mighty power is impossible to fake. We are all people of the goddess. So when she came, everyone who stood in front of her could feel the excitement deep in the soul. It is a natural phenomenon that arises spontaneously. You don’t belong to this world so you won’t understand it.”

“That’s to say, the one who came was indeed the goddess of creation?” Lily was wide-eyed. “Then why did you say that ‘the divine decree is fake’? What’s going on?”

“I have no idea,” Lorissa said. She appeared confused for the first time. “From the inherited memories of the original, I was sure that it was the power of the goddess. But when I was injected with the divine power, I found that there was a shadow of madness and darkness hidden deep inside the divine power, a trojan horse of sorts. But it was too late to warn the others because my perception of the outside world was cut off the moment the power came into my body. I tried to break away from its control of my soul, but this resistance led to me losing control of my energy. You know the story after that.”