Chapter 441: Auditions Conclude
There's a movie called "The Island," where a vast number of clones, cultivated from the DNA of wealthy individuals, live in an underground facility disguised as a "post-apocalyptic bunker."
The purpose of these clones is to serve as replacement parts when the wealthy suffer from organ failure, allowing them to directly use the expensive clones they cultivated.
Because they are their own clones, there will be no rejection reactions during organ transplants.
However, just as the wealthy want to eat beef but don't want to see the cattle slaughtered, these clones are kept in the dark from beginning to end.
What "The Island" could do, the current Hammond Innovation Lab can theoretically also achieve, and Cheng in Heaven's Chosen Space is even less constrained by moral scruples!
Upon hearing Cheng Tian's suggestion, the first reaction of the three members of the Ikari Warriors Team was, of course, to refuse. Knowing that the other party had definitely inherited the Shadaloo cloning technology, no one wanted to suddenly see their own clone appear in the opponent's organization one day.
However, as a mercenary organization that lives by the blade, they also had to consider how to handle and remedy a situation where their bodies suffered permanent damage during a mission.
Cheng Tian provided a suggestion that severely tested normal human ethics but was theoretically very feasible.
Just as Ralf was about to speak with difficulty to decline on behalf of his teammates, Cheng Tian spoke again.
"I remember Colonel Heidern lost an eye, didn't he? I can directly cultivate new eyeballs using the Colonel's DNA, and we also have relatively extensive experience in eye transplant surgeries. If we use non-rejecting, original cultivated eyes, the success rate of the surgery should be 100%."
"Hiss—"
Ralf gasped, and the words of refusal that had reached his lips were swallowed back down.
Clark's arm trembled slightly, indicating he was not calm either.
Leona, as Heidern's adopted daughter, had a troubled and slightly flushed expression.
At this moment, she also re-realized that when her own interests were truly at stake, she couldn't uphold her previous thoughts. This realization instantly made her blush, feeling a bit ashamed of her earlier arrogance and current deference.
Alas, it's human nature.
"Oh, and there's also—"
"Also?" * 3
Fearing that Cheng Tian would utter another shocking statement, the Ikari Warriors Team completed their triple unison.
"You, Leona."
Cheng Tian's Great Desolate Prisoner's Finger pointed at Leona, causing her body to subconsciously tense and straighten, making her chest even more prominent.
"There's a problem with your blood."
As Cheng Tian spoke, Leona's complexion instantly darkened by several shades, and her two 'big brothers' almost without hesitation shielded Leona behind them, looking at Cheng Tian with vigilance and surprise.
"I presume you also know that what's inside Leona is actually the Blood of Orochi, a cursed bloodline inherited from her ancestors. Once it goes berserk, her power will surge, but she will lose all self-control.
If you can't imagine it, you can refer to the previous Iori Team. Iori's two teammates were slaughtered when he went berserk and lost control."
At this point, the Ikari Warriors Team could no longer remain calm, because Cheng Tian had precisely hit upon a bigger problem than Heidern's eye, one with higher priority.
The Ikari Warriors Team's appearance in the KOF97 tournament was actually because Leona went berserk and lost consciousness during a mission. Heidern then used "punishment" as an excuse, ordering them to temporarily stop missions and rest. Unable to stay idle, a few of them decided to participate in the tournament.
Leona herself had no true memory of that minor berserker incident, but her two 'big brothers,' who were responsible for restraining her at the time, remembered it vividly.
Because Goenitz, the leader of the Orochi Eight Heavenly Kings, had appeared before the world in the previous tournament, and the fact that Iori was initially guided and went berserk, some fighters had begun to understand what Orochi and the Blood of Orochi truly were.
And Leona, who was deliberately guided to go berserk by Goenitz in her childhood and killed her own parents, how could she ever forget that painful past?
Now, with Cheng Tian tearing open that scab on the spot, Leona's emotions visibly became unstable.
"But though it's called a curse, in essence, it should be a bloodline inheritance with psychic factors. Since it can go berserk, it can naturally also be appeased. Of course, the prerequisite is that you are willing to provide blood for research.
Of course, this is essentially your own problem and has nothing to do with me. Although the Blood of Orochi in your body is relatively rare, it's not unique.
Whether you want to research it is up to you. Given that we've both worked for the government military, I can give you an eight… uh, seven-fold discount. If you're not interested, then please feel free to leave."
Completely ignoring the emotional fluctuations of the other side, Cheng directly made a gesture to see them out.
The three members of the Ikari Warriors Team looked at each other... With one side prepared and the other unprepared, the Ikari Warriors Team, led by Cheng through information asymmetry, found themselves, upon realizing what had happened, all with their left arm bent and their right hand pressing on the needle mark area of their elbow pit.
They had all been bled dry, with the puppet assistants responsible for the extraction.
It seemed they had inexplicably reached this point with no turning back. They were even troubled about how to explain this to Heidern.
However, perhaps Cheng Tian's legendary status was particularly effective with the Ikari Warriors Team. Although the thought of "Was I perhaps tricked?" vaguely surfaced, there was more significantly a considerable degree of anticipation, hoping that Cheng Tian could truly solve the problem of the Orochi bloodline going berserk.
Cheng Tian wasn't entirely deceiving them. The Blood of Orochi, simply put, was a kind of psychic bloodline, a field the lab specialized in. It just depended on what results Utan could research.
Furthermore, the berserker state of the Blood of Orochi ultimately stemmed from the bloodline holder not being strong enough, or rather, not having enough faith in Orochi.
Those strong enough could break and re-utilize this bloodline, while fervent believers would have complete control, like Goenitz.
In any case, psychic bloodline material + 1, Cheng Tian wouldn't lose out.
Before leaving, the Ikari Warriors Team also stated that the demise of the Shadaloo's origin had rapidly spread within their circles. More crucially, there were suspicions of NESTS organization fanning the flames, attempting to portray the Hammond Lab as having plundered Shadaloo, completed its initial accumulation, but was now in a weakened state due to infighting.
However, not everyone was so easily fooled, especially upon seeing Cheng Tian, the main person in charge, appear ostentatiously on the live broadcast channel, which only made them more wary of the lab.
Fighting others would at most lead to a hospital bed, but engaging with Cheng Tian's even more dangerous organization, which had annihilated Shadaloo, could easily lead to being preserved in formaldehyde... In this inexplicably eerie atmosphere, time quickly reached 12:00 PM on the fourth day of the auditions.
The bell signifying the end of the auditions officially began to ring in the center of the tournament venue.