Initially, Zhang Heng and Bai Qing thought that the radio emission would yield a trove of information. Little did they expect that the only thing they would get was a word. It looked like Lin Sisi had deleted all the other pointless parts, leaving only the part that represented the final answer.
[Blue-green algae.]
“This is… cyanobacteria?” Bai Qing rummaged through the vocabulary in her head and found the right word for it.
“I know why the three children went to the river that night.” Zhang Heng sighed, “They were collecting blue-green algae from the river.”
Blue-green algae was a common occurrence. Found everywhere, one could spot them growing in all kinds of places with water. Some blue-green algae could cause red tides in the sea and algal bloom in the lake after being polluted by nitrogen and phosphorus, causing serious losses to fisheries and aquaculture. However, few people knew that blue-green algae had a history of 3.5 billion years, making it the oldest living creature on earth.
“Didn’t you say that even an ICBM can’t kill the thing beneath Warehouse No.3? How can blue-green algae destroy it?”
“I don’t know either,” Zhang Heng said. Pausing to think, he said, “Based on my preliminary guess, I think the blue-green algae harms the alien tree’s cloning function. We now know that the tree breeds two different kinds of cicada pupae. The small cicada pupae produce the shadows latched to the fourth ventricle, and the large ones produce the human bodies. I don’t think the tree can come up with them whenever it wants. The aliens have first to collect some of their target’s samples. It can clone a dinosaur during the Cretaceous period and humans in the present time… but what about ancient prokaryotes like cyanobacteria? Unfortunately, we don’t have time to verify this conjecture.”
“Give it a try since those things have started to attack us. They will not stop until they eliminate us because we are a great threat. And this may also be our only chance to eradicate them.”
“Huh?” Bai Qing wondered what opportunity Zhang Heng was talking about.
“They seemed to be fond of taking our place, pretending to be us and blending into human society. Maybe it’s our turn to switch roles this time,” adeed Zhang Heng.
Initially, Bai Qing did not understand Zhang Heng’s last sentence’s meaning, standing there stunned for half a second. Then, she had an epiphany, and her mouth dropped open.
“You… You want to venture into their nest by pretending that you are your own clone?”
“Why not?” Zhang Heng said. “I eliminated the four men in the Academic Affairs Office, found one of their mobile phones, called their superior, and told him that the task was completed. And now the guy who pretended to be me is in the trunk. Besides, you are with me now. Before they can find out, I can continue pretending to be my clone.”
Bai Qing blushed when she heard him say she was with him. After a while, she quickly added, “This is too risky. What if those things use a secret code like us to identify each other?”
“It will be risky, but this is our final fight. We ‘llhave to go all out. It’ll be an inevitable battle. Fortunately, we have the advantage of bringing the battle to them. Besides, we still have a trump card in hand.”
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Two minutes later, Zhang Heng walked out of the internet cafe with Bai Qing. She had been crying while the fat boss looked at them suspiciously.
The thug named Xiao Fei outside the internet cafe could not help but spit on the ground when he saw them. “What a waste,” he cursed.
Zhang Heng took Bai Qing away from the group, went to the van, opened the door, and got together.
When the car door closed behind Zhang Heng, Bai Qing immediately stopped crying, and then asked in a low voice, “How was my acting?”
“Not bad, it should be wondering what happened to us. And it will notify the others soon,” Zhang Heng replied quietly. Earlier, he actually thought about taking down the internet cafe owner but remembered the group of teenagers sitting outside. If he attacked the fat boss, they would surely come in to help him.
Zhang Heng was not afraid of those brats, not wanting to make the situation worse lest it could negatively impact future plans.
He then lifted the blanket in the trunk to reveal his clone.
Although Bai Qing was mentally prepared, she was still freaked out by what she saw, stumbling two steps backward. Seeing two Zhang Heng in front of her was a horrifying scene that she would never forget.
Zhang Heng’s clone was tightly bounded in the trunk, and his mouth was sealed. He could only move his eyes.
“Let’s discuss a deal between you and me.” Zhang Heng sat down in front of it, and at the same time, ungagged the clone.
“Unbelievable, you are safe and sound. According to the comparison of human strength, four adults should be able to subdue a minor like you easily in a small room,” the clone replied. Instead of showing fear, it showed a hint of curiosity.
Instead of entertaining the clone, Zhang Heng pointed at Bai Qing. “Let me guess. You should be the one who pretended to be her mother, right? I know you have powerful learning abilities, but it doesn’t make sense that you could understand the human society in one night and learn all kinds of human expressions. Unless you have lived in human society before.”
“You are brilliant.” A smile formed across the clone’s face. “The way you act and think don’t match your age. None of your peers behave like you. This doesn’t make sense at all. We checked your background and found out that you are just an ordinary high-school student. Your parents are working abroad, leaving you and your grandfather here. How did you possess such strong fighting skills and investigative abilities? More importantly, most would start doubting themselves when they encountered another life form like us. You, however, seemed to recognize our existence from the beginning. I don’t remember coming into contact with you before.”
This question aroused the curiosity of Bai Qing as well. She noticed that Zhang Heng seemed to be a little different from what she remembered. However, she could not tell the differences in details.
Zhang Heng did not answer. He then said, “I’m the one asking you a question. You don’t get to ask me anything.”
“What difference does it make?” sneered the clone. “You two can’t run forever. You killed two teachers and two staff members in your school. Even if we don’t replace you, the police will find you. As for you, my daughter…” The clone’s gaze fell on Bai Qing. “You know that you alone are not strong enough to go against us. If you don’t want to live in fear, better just obey us.”
“We don’t need you to worry about our future.” Zhang Heng was unusually calm. “Let’s talk about you and your tribe first.”