Card Room (Rebirth)

The clone version 2.0 was upgraded on the basis of 1.0 and integrated the genes of the merpeople. They could sing the songs of the merpeople and grow a fishtail?

Yu Hanjiang said calmly, “Suppose the merpeople had a crazy mastermind like Xiao Lou’s father. 20 years ago, the starship of the Locke Empire crashed into the deep sea. This merperson found the three surviving clone children and all the data of the Noah’s Ark plan. Thus, he brought the three clones back to the merpeople and upgraded them to version 2.0 using the existing data. Then they killed the real prince of the merpeople and let Xiao Lou version 2.0 become the successor of the merpeople.”

Xiao Lou’s head felt like it was going to explode. “So the Xiao Lou that Liu Qiao and the others saw wasn’t number 4 that escaped the empire but the upgraded number 5? The 5th Xiao Lou combines the human, bug and merpeople genes. He isn’t afraid of the deep sea and also has a tail. He can move quickly through the sea at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour?”

Everyone, “……”

Lu Jiuchuan complained, “The clones can be upgraded. Just like a mobile phone, it released version 1.0 and 2.0? Will there be 3.0 in the future? Are the keeper’s brains a bottomless pit?”

Tang Ci said calmly, “It doesn’t matter how many versions there are. At present, Senior Gui and the others are definitely dealing with the high level clones who have the combined genes of three species. In order to solve these 2.0 versions, we must first go down to the deep sea.”

Xiao Lou opened his mouth. “We are ordinary human beings and can only survive in the water for five minutes. If we want to go to the deep sea, we can only rely on Liu Qiao’s Mermaid Princess skill. However, now Liu Qiao is controlled. Let’s see if Senior Gui can think of a way.”

Shao Qingge nodded and conveyed Xiao Lou’s meaning to Senior Gui.

Gui Yuanzhang replied, “Yes, I will go find Liu Qiao right away.”

Xiao Lou and the others had relied on various card skills to escape from the whirlpool at sea. They had found a broken, wooden ship floating nearby.

At this time, the six people were standing on the ship and shivering in the night wind.

This wooden boat was obviously the boat of a local fisherman. It was very simple and empty – all the people onboard must’ve died. Ye Qi had been soaked in the sea and blown by the wind. It felt like he was walking on the streets in short sleeves in the cold winter. He couldn’t help wrinkling his nose and sneezing.

Xiao Lou was also very cold. He simply summoned Bai Juyi and quickly made temporary hand warmers using the compass.

Lu Jiuchuan took the hand warmer and sighed. “The cards can still be used like this…”

Ye Qi smiled. “Brother Jiu, you should get used to it soon. Professor Xiao uses Bai Juyi every time to make fire and warm us up. He even used the white silk to make a parasol!”

Lu Jiuchuan gave Xiao Lou a thumbs up.

Each person held a hand warmer and felt much more comfortable. Like this they could endure being at sea.

Xiao Lou opened his mouth. “Chief Shao, make sure to keep in touch with Senior Gui.”

Shao Qingge’s expression sank. “Senior Gui said that the 5th one is coming.”

Xiao Lou’s back became tense. “Have Senior Gui be careful. Don’t be controlled like Liu Qiao!”

At this time, the merpeople’s palace.

There was a knock on the door. Gui Yuanzhang didn’t respond. He quickly drew a painting with a brush and threw it on the bed. Then he put on the invisibility cloak and watched the change.

The door was gently pushed open and Xiao Lou came in.

The arched palace was surrounded by sea water and there were many colorful fish swimming outside. It was like the Atlantis Underwater Hotel.

Gui Yuanzhang held his breath and saw Xiao Lou walking to the bed where ‘he’ was sleeping. There was a silver glow from his fingertips and the ‘dummy’ on the bed was immediately immobilized.

Gui Yuanzhang’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

His strongest cards were the brush, ink, paper and inkstone cards that could be used in combination. For example, the brush and paper could be used together. What he drew on the paper with a brush could quickly become real objects. It was just like the legend of the ‘magic pen Ma Liang’. The things he drew could only last two hours and it was enough to confuse the false with the true.

Gui Yuanzhang had studied art and calligraphy since primary school. He had just drawn a picture of himself at tremendous speed. Therefore, what was currently lying on the bed was actually a drawing of himself.

It wasn’t known how Xiao Lou knocked out the man on the bed. Gui Yuanzhang saw him pick up the old man and quickly walk out. The usually kind and gentle Xiao Lou had hard eyes and looked frighteningly cold. If he smiled it would make people shudder.

It was hard to imagine such a terrible expression on Xiao Lou’s face.

Gui Yuanzhang held his breath. Once Xiao Lou left, Gui Yuanzhang drew a series of wind-like trajectories with his brush. He quickly left the room and took several consecutive turns to reach Old Mo’s room.

Liu Qiao was controlled, the second one was him and the third would definitely be Old Mo!

Currently, it was already 2 o’clock in the morning. Mo Xuemin was sleeping soundly. Suddenly, the door was quietly pushed open. His alertness from experiencing several secret rooms meant Old Mo immediately woke up. The moment he was about to take out his weapon, he heard the voice of his senior. “Go quickly, it is dangerous!”

Mo Xuemin didn’t have time to ask anything. Gui Yuanzhang dragged him and used the brush to draw a curved track under their feet with the brush. They flew out of the room like the wind.

As an elder of the merpeople, Gui Yuanzhang knew a secret section of the sea where few merpeople went. They left the palace and a long tail appeared behind both of them. They swam behind a remote reef in the deep sea at a very fast speed.

The surroundings were full of colorful coral but Old Mo had no intention of enjoying the beautiful scenery of the deep sea. He was frightened and asked, “Senior Gui, what is the situation? You suddenly pulled me out.”

Gui Yuanzhang asked, “I remember that you have a daughter?”

Mo Xuemin had doubts but he still replied, “My daughter is only in middle school. This is why I must find a way to go back. Her mother died very early and I am her only relative.”

Gui Yuanzhang asked again, “Do you have all your cards?”

“I have all of them… what is going on?”

Gui Yuanzhang confirmed that the Mo Xuemin in front of him was real. Then he summarized Shao Qingge’s story at a very fast speed.

Mo Xuemin’s expression was ugly. “What? Clone?!”

Gui Yuanzhang said, “The theme of this secret room isn’t investigating the shipwreck that Xiao Lou told us but gene replication. The Xiao Lou, Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci that we previously saw are all fake. Our real teammates are currently together. They have found out about the merpeople but they can’t swim or go into the sea.”

Old Mo’s face was puzzled. “Clones? Then how do you know they are real?”

Gui Yuanzhang explained, “I mentioned some things to Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci about my childhood. Only the three of us know about it. Just now, we talked about this. In addition, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang are with them. Shao Qingge connected to me using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and Xiao Lou has been communicating with him. They have confirmed each other’s identity.”

Mo Xuemin remembered how he recently got along with Xiao Lou and a chill went down his spine. “No wonder! Professor Xiao said at the beginning that his card pack was lost and Chief Shao and Ye Qi also didn’t have their cards with them. I wondered why my card pack wasn’t missing. Did the keepers pick certain people to arrange the plot? Now it seems like all three of them are fake and don’t have the cards in their hands, so they made up this excuse!”

Gui Yuanzhang said, “The fake Xiao Lou sneaked into my bedroom and knocked unconscious the dummy I made. He would definitely go to your bedroom later. I also placed a dummy in your bed but my brush’s magic pen effect only lasts two hours. Time is tight. We must find Liu Qiao within two hours.”

Mo Xuemin’s heart was filled with shock. “What happened to Liu Qiao?”

“Xiao Lou initially used Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to connect to Liu Qiao. He was found out by the fake Xiao Lou and the fake immediately controlled Liu Qiao. Now Liu Qiao is unconscious. Professor Xiao asked us to find her as soon as possible and get her to activate her Daughter of the Sea card. It is only when all of them can become merpeople that they can go to the sea to investigate.”

Mo Xuemin realized the seriousness of the matter and his expression became solemn. “The palace is too big. Liu Qiao definitely isn’t in her own room. We have to hurry and find her!”

Gui Yuanzhang nodded. “Yes, this palace is actually a labyrinth. We have discovered this in the past few days. After a few days of investigating, have you figured out the route of the labyrinth?”

Mo Xuemin smiled bitterly. “Senior is thinking too highly of me. The palace is the largest labyrinth I have ever encountered. It is about five times larger than the headless general’s tomb of the last World Weekly. I have only figured out half of it. Fortunately, this labyrinth isn’t a three-dimensional multi-layer structure. It will be more convenient to find the path than in a 3D labyrinth.”

Gui Yuanzhang nodded. “It isn’t too late. Find the path while looking for Liu Qiao. In two hours, the dummies I made will vanish. Not only will Xiao Liu be in danger but the two of us won’t be able to escape either!”

TL: For those who also read on my website and can’t access it, I had to temporarily region block a few countries for various reasons. You can join my discord and read the full announcement for the list of countries blocked and any updates I have.

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7th anniversary celebration event

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality