“What do you want me to do?” Xu Qian asked.
“It’s very simple. Just pretend that nothing happened. Forget about tonight. I can even help you continue to find the stalker. All I need is nine days. After nine days, you can contact G7Z. Report what happened to me. Tell them that I found out that I am a clone, and I killed more than 30 people at the lowest level of this city. You can tell them whatever you want. Just make sure that they don’t suspect you. After that, you can continue to be with your rich boyfriend, get engaged, and even marry him. After that, you can move to the fourth level and live your life as a rich wife.”
“This is impossible. As long as you are captured, they will know that I am lying. Didn’t you listen to what I said? You can’t hide it from them,” Xu Qian desperately pleaded.
“Yes, but only if I am caught.” Zhang Heng said calmly.
“No rogue human clone can escape the authorities. I told you that almost all defective clones are captured within 24 hours.”
“Not everyone. I know that a clone is still alive, and no one could capture him so far,” Zhang Heng said.
“How’s that possible?” Xu Qian looked at Zhang Heng in disbelief, “The longest a defective clone lasted before being captured was three days. The only exception is a female clone named Tang.”
“Tang?”
“Of course, this isn’t her real name. It’s just her online handle that she uses on the internet. She and I belong to the same entertainment company, and she could be considered a senior of mine. Even when I was at my peak, I couldn’t catch up with her. After that incident, the company deleted all the information related to her. However, I still managed to find her photos on the internet.
“It was said that when the company created her, they looked the hundred most beautiful actresses in the entire Federation. They then selected the most beautiful parts of each of them, singled out the corresponding genes for those parts, and merged them together. Finally, Tang was born. Some say she was the epitome of perfection. Every inch of her skin and expression is flawless. With only one look, even the man with the hardest heart will fall for her. On the first day of her livestream, her viewer numbers set a historical record. And the number of her fans increased every single day. Until now, no one can surpass her.”
“What happened to her afterward?” Zhang Heng asked.
“Some powerful people from the fifth level were involved in this matter. The official report says that she was invited to a manor on the fifth level to attend a private dinner one night. Suddenly she lost control and killed the host of the banquet and two guests. Another guest was seriously injured. The latter also cut off one of her arms when he fought against her. However, there have been lots of rumors about this matter circling around the internet. Although Tang hasn’t been a streamer for a long time, she still has formidable numbers of diehard fans who think the guests attending the banquet that night covered up the truth. Until now, no one knows what happened in that manor that night.”
“What happened to Tang after that?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
“She suffered from serious injuries that night, but she still managed to escape from the manor. And she didn’t get caught by the bodyguards.”
“Where did she escape to?”
“She… chose to burn herself alive and stream the whole thing online,” Xu Qian said. “Although the authorities cut the stream shortly after she lit herself, the police managed to locate her with the tracker she had in her body. You see, the only way to escape all this is death.”
“Thank you for your suggestion, but I am alive and well. And I plan to continue to stay alive.” Zhang Heng grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the coffee table and fed it to the hamster in the cage.
“In short, this matter did not end with her death. A series of conflicts broke out after that. Her fans even attacked our entertainment company and the related departments. But at that time, I had not come to New Shanghai 0297. So I am not sure what actually happened. This matter has become taboo, one that cannot be mentioned within the company. All the information that people received came from the internet. Ever since that incident, our company has stopped hiring cloned streamers.”
Xu Qian looked at Zhang Heng after she was done talking, “Do you now know why I told you that it’s impossible for you to escape?”
“I can understand what you are trying to express, but I am not Tang,” Zhang Heng calmly responded. “It’s your choice. If you report the abnormality to G7Z now, there is no doubt that you will also face a big problem. You will need to take part of the responsibility for my murder spree, and our conversation tonight will be discovered too. According to what you told me, you will lose your boyfriend, cause him a lot of trouble, or…”
“Or what?”
“Or you can take a leap of faith and do what I say. We have ten days left in our service contract. After nine days, you can contact the security company. As long as you follow what I teach you, you will be able to blame everything on me. They will believe that I learned about my identity through other channels but not from you. After that, I make my escape. As a law-abiding citizen, you immediately report it to my company. So as long as I’m not caught, you won’t have any trouble. And if you’re lucky, you can even get married.”
Xu Qian looked like she was deep in thought after hearing this.
Zhang Heng was not in a hurry. So, he continued to talk slowly, “I know you don’t think I can escape, but with the second option, at least you’ll have high hopes of going to the fourth level, right?”
“If they know I worked with you to help you escape, there will be more troubles waiting for me,” Xu Qian smiled bitterly.
“Benefits are always accompanied by risks. I believe no one knows that better than you. You said that what you are best at is to seize the opportunities at the right time. This is how you could climb from the lowest level to the third level. And now, there is no doubt that a good opportunity has presented itself in front of you,” Zhang Heng said.
Xu Qian closed her eyes, seemingly thinking through Zhang Heng’s proposal. After a while, she opened her eyes again. “You are lying to me, right? Although you keep saying that I have a choice, I, in fact, don’t have any. Who is the person that sent you those photos and video? A clone should have no friends or relatives.”
“Oh, she is a friend I just made tonight. You are right. If you choose the first or the second option, but you suddenly regret it halfway, no matter which level you are at, she will find you,” Zhang Heng said.
