As the two walked in, a similar sight to what Quinn had seen before was in view. There were a number of large glass containers identical to those in the lab where the Dalki were created. Only they weren't creating Dalki here; they were creating humans. Floating in the glass tube were lifeless bodies. Multiple tubes were inserted into different parts, drawing blood out and sending it to another place.
This was the lab where they created their blood substitute, and there was a reason why Quinn wanted to see this place.
'The Dalki actually show variation from each other. I guess Jim was trying to create a new species or new life using the beast's energy, but these clones are all exactly the same.' Quinn thought.
Seeing that Quinn's instant reaction wasn't one of anger, Muka still decided that it would be best for him to explain a few details.
"It's not as inhuman as it looks," Muka explained, worried that Quinn's former race might influence his choice. "Although we have the ability to create human clones that are fully functional and walking, they wouldn't last long, and it would be against some of the vampire's consciousness if that was the case.
"Here, we simply clone their bodies, the bones, the insides, create the marrow, and so on. We create everything necessary for the creation of blood. Essentially we only create the parts that we need. There is no brain, so the person isn't conscious, nor do they experience any pain. The brain is an important part of keeping the body functioning, so they have to be kept in the glass tubes as a replacement. If they left the tubes, they wouldn't last long outside."
Looking at the floating bodies that were said to be lifeless, Quinn felt sorry. Each one of them had the same face of the same man. This man had gone on to become the Vampires' food source, but it was because of what they were doing down here that they no longer had any need to rely on feasting on humans.
'You know why I wanted to come down here, although I was somewhat interested in what they were doing, there is another reason.' Quinn asked, speaking in his head.
Of course, Vincent knew, and it was all about the question Quinn had asked before.
'Honestly, as I told you, I had parted ways with the vampire world and accepted my death. I waited for death, but I feel partial blame for all of this. The book was my fault. Even if Richard was the mastermind behind it, I took part in it.
'Jim…I also feel like I could have stopped him. Which is why, if it is to help you, I do not mind taking the role of the tenth leader again, and with you as King now, there shouldn't be many problems with you doing that.'
The answer was what Quinn was hoping for, it had been a long time, but it looked like he would finally see the person who had helped him from the beginning right in front of his eyes.
'It looks like they can create a body for you? You wouldn't mind being human, would you?' Quinn joked. Still thinking about the answer Vincent had given him earlier.
'I don't think being human would be beneficial to you.' Vincent replied. 'If they are able to clone a human and have the same type of process with the Dalki, then surely they would be able to clone vampires as well. Logan now has the knowledge left behind by Richard, and he and Jim could create vampires. With him and me working side by side, I'm sure we can create something, maybe even a clone that can last a bit longer.'
According to Richard, a clone's lifespan was short, and it didn't seem like they had the ability to learn abilities. However, Quinn always thought that they could just create another clone if need be for Vincent to go in.
Although they were technically getting rid of a life, since they needed a fully functional clone, this was just a copy of Vincent's own life which felt less bad in a way, especially if the clone was happy to give his life for the real one in the first place.
The other worry they had was if removing Vincent from the system would affect the system in some way. Currently, he had powers beyond the system's understanding. When using the blood control or the shadow, he no longer used the system.
Now, the system was just showing him a bunch of numbers to indicate how powerful he had gotten. Worst case, they would just use Shiro's ability to try and place Vincent back in the system.
'I also don't think it will be a problem anyway, ever since using the Demon tier amulet. The system and Vincent are less linked than I Originally thought.'
"Do the bodies deteriorate?" Quinn asked.
"Yes," Muka replied. "We keep them alive as long as possible, but cloning for some reason causes the cells to produce more rapidly than a regular person. I'll be honest with you, Quinn, although these clones can last a few years, we decided to end their life quicker than that.
"I think you might already know, but we have other uses for a human body other than just their blood. Since we can create more, and we don't see this as doing harm, we use their body parts to feed some of the subclasses."
That certainly explained the bodies Quinn had seen when he arrived at Richard's suspected lab. He remembered seeing limb after limb and countless dead bodies. Either Eno was doing the same thing, or it was easy for him to take bodies from the lab.
The two continued looking around, and it really did remind Quinn of the Dalki lab. Once again, Vincent was more interested in the technology used. This was originally his job. To find a blood substitute, but he had never succeeded.
So he was interested in knowing how they had managed to succeed. Which was why Quinn started to follow the tubes coming out from the containers. They were not only draining blood, but energy was being supplied from somewhere and something.
Following along it eventually led them to the back of the lab. The tubes were all leading to a single source of energy that was kept more secure. There was a glass wall that was placed in between the room they were in and the item. So one couldn't just walk over and disturb or grab what was in front of them.
A podium could be seen, and on the very top, there was a single crystal, but it was one like they had never seen before.
'What…is that?' Quinn thought.
"That is what allowed us to create all of these, the source of their energy," Muka said, not having heard Quinn's thoughts but thinking he could guess what he was thinking.
'I think Logan briefly mentioned a different type of Crystal, but I left in a hurry to come here, so I didn't have time to speak to him about it. Is this the crystal he was on about?'
Looking through the crystal, it looked like he was looking at a small universe inside of it. The energy was drawing him in, and it was constantly shifting. The insides were moving, and Quinn wanted to reach out and touch it.
"If you remove the crystal, then unfortunately, all of these clones in here would be the last. We would have no way to create more." Muka said.
Although Quinn was sure if he ordered for them to give the crystal, they might comply, he wasn't going to do anything as drastic as that, but his interest had reached a peak, so Quinn did the one thing he could do without touching it.
[Inspect]
[Nest crystal]
'It is the crystal that Logan talked about, the nest crystal. The crystal beasts obtain their power from.'
There was no other information from the nest crystal. Still, it did trigger something in Quinn's system after using his inspect skill on it.
[Optional quest received]
[You are now able to consume the Nest crystal in order to upgrade the system!]
'Upgrade, you can be upgraded? Vincent, what is this?'
*******
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