Clone Ascension

The man standing before Evan didn’t look like someone capable of reshaping destinies or committing atrocities.

Dr. Boyi Feng appeared to be in his early sixties—balding, round‑bellied, his shirt slightly wrinkled from long hours of work. But his eyes were sharp, calculating, and disturbingly calm. His smile was polite, but hollow, like a mask stretched over still water.

“You brought me here on purpose?” Evan asked.

“I simply offered you a chance to talk,” Dr. Feng replied. “Better than having you sneak into my room again.”

He lifted a pack of cigarettes and gestured toward the smoking room across from the restroom. “Let’s chat somewhere private.”

The smoking room was empty, its glass walls reflecting the dim hallway lights. Evan followed him inside and closed the door.

“Cigarette?” Dr. Feng offered.

Evan accepted. Dr. Feng lit it for him, then lit his own. He inhaled deeply, letting the smoke settle in his lungs before exhaling a slow stream.

“Relax,” he said. “No poison.”

Evan leaned against the glass wall, taking a drag. “You already know why I’m here.”

Dr. Feng nodded. “You want to know how I copied Liam Zhao’s abilities for you. More precisely, how I copied the ability inside that bloodline crystal.”

Evan’s gaze sharpened. “So you really do know.”

“I know far more than you think,” Dr. Feng said, settling onto the sofa. “Don’t underestimate an old man who’s spent decades in evolutionary science. I even know that Arden—the Shepherd King—obtained that bloodline crystal over twenty years ago. He tried countless candidates. All failed—until Princess Seraphine absorbed it.”

Evan stiffened.

Princess Seraphine.

The prodigy whose death shook a nation.

The girl whose extract changed everything.

“Bloodline crystals choose their hosts?” he asked.

“Normal ones don’t,” Dr. Feng said. “But that one was… special. Otherwise a mortal‑tier girl wouldn’t have absorbed it.”

Evan had suspected as much. Hearing it confirmed made his chest tighten.

“But once it was absorbed and later extracted,” Dr. Feng continued, “the restriction vanished. That’s why Liam Zhao could absorb it.”

Evan exhaled slowly. “Even if the crystal was special, the ability inside shouldn’t be something you can just copy. How did you do it?”

Dr. Feng smirked. “Why should I tell you?”

Evan sat across from him. “Because I know your secrets. The ones you don’t want exposed.”

Dr. Feng shrugged. “And I know yours. You wouldn’t want the world to learn you’re a clone, would you?”

Evan’s jaw tightened.

He had expected that.

“Professor Feng,” he said calmly, “since we both know each other’s secrets, shouldn’t we help each other?”

“That’s exactly my thought.” Dr. Feng crushed his cigarette. “I’ll answer your question—if you answer mine.”

“What do you want to know?”

“In your heart,” Dr. Feng said, “do you think you’re Liam Zhao or Evan Cole?”

Evan didn’t blink. “That’s not relevant.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It is to me.” Dr. Feng leaned forward. “And I want to know what that bloodline crystal ability actually does.”

“You want two answers for one question?” Evan scoffed. “Not fair.”

“Young people are so stingy,” Dr. Feng sighed. “Fine. Forget the first question. Just tell me the second.”

Evan didn’t respond.

He needed time to think.

Lying to Dr. Feng wouldn’t be easy.

“You answer first,” he said. “Then I’ll answer.”

Dr. Feng chuckled. “You already answered my first question. Liam Zhao felt like a wolf. You feel like a hyena. I can tell the difference.”

Evan didn’t react. “Then answer my question.”

Dr. Feng leaned back. “When I tried copying Liam Zhao’s abilities, the first two—though high‑grade—were doable. Difficult, costly, but possible. The third one… was beyond comprehension. Humans cannot perform actions outside their cognitive limits. I knew I could never copy it. So I didn’t.”

Evan frowned. “Then how—”

“I had to fool the Zhao family somehow,” Dr. Feng said. “So I chose another method. Transplantation.”

The word hit Evan like a hammer.

“What did you transplant?” he demanded, crushing the burning cigarette between his fingers without noticing the heat.

Dr. Feng’s smile twisted. “Whatever I wanted. You two are identical. I could replace any part of you with his, and your bodies wouldn’t reject each other.”

He paused, eyes gleaming with clinical madness.

“I even tested the limits once. But the fused tissue smelled wrong on one side, so I abandoned the idea.”

Evan’s stomach churned.

This man was a monster wearing a lab coat.

“Just tell me,” Evan said through clenched teeth. “What did you transplant?”

Dr. Feng didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he asked, “Do you know that some evolvers can regenerate their entire bodies from just a head? Their abilities remain intact.”

“Of course,” Evan said. “Abilities are encoded in genes.”

“Exactly.” Dr. Feng pointed at him. “Your genes weren’t identical to Liam’s. His contained the bloodline crystal ability. Yours didn’t. His genes also carried the stench of the Stenchmarked. Yours didn’t.”

Evan’s breath hitched.

The Stenchmarked.

The foul‑smelling organization Wendy and Yvonne had warned him about.

People who had absorbed human extracts.

People whose bodies carried a rot that no perfume could mask.

Dr. Feng continued, “Organ transplants between evolvers normally fail. But since you’re his clone, you wouldn’t reject his organs. Still, transplanting organs wouldn’t give you his third ability. Genes can’t be changed that way.”

He lit another cigarette, eyes gleaming.

“Then I discovered something. Liam Zhao still had undigested extract inside him. After absorbing Princess Seraphine’s extract, he hadn’t fully processed it.”

Evan froze.

“Organ transplants can’t change genes,” Dr. Feng said, “but the evolutionary material inside an extract can. So… I transplanted his heart into you. The one containing the remaining undigested extract.”

He grinned.

“If you don’t believe me, cut open your chest and smell your heart. It should stink.”

Evan felt the world tilt.

His heart—

Liam Zhao’s heart—

The heart of someone tainted by the Stenchmarked.

His pulse thundered in his ears.

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

Dr. Feng savored his shock. “Now tell me—what does that ability do?”

Evan forced his voice steady. “I named it Evolution’s Grace. It lets me choose which ability I gain when absorbing extracts.”

“A powerful effect,” Dr. Feng said. “But how do I know you’re not lying?”

“I obtained flight on my first attempt. Easy to verify.”

Dr. Feng nodded, satisfied. “A true proto‑form of a divine bloodline ability.”

“Now tell me,” Evan said. “How is my ability incomplete?”

Dr. Feng exhaled smoke. “Bloodline crystals have unique traits. First, their abilities always take priority. Second, they cannot be destroyed. Not by fire, lightning, or any Saint‑tier evolver.”

Evan asked, “If the host dies without being extracted, does the crystal decay with the body?”

“No. It re‑forms outside the corpse. Even if the body is cremated, the crystal reconstructs itself.”

Evan’s eyes widened. “So Liam Zhao’s corpse will produce a bloodline crystal?”

“A damaged one,” Dr. Feng corrected. “Because part of it is inside you.”

He leaned forward.

“That’s why your ability is incomplete. Only someone who absorbs an entire, intact bloodline crystal gains the full ability. As you grow stronger—Cocoon‑tier, Saint‑tier, who knows—you may one day discover that your bloodline ability… stops working.”