Chapter 471: Fighter Clone Project, Preliminary Launch
Cheng Tian hadn't even had a chance to step out of the arena before he was stopped by the organizers.
And it was almost simultaneously, with people sent by both the Kagura Conglomerate and Kaiba Entertainment.
Kagura Chizuru had woken up early, endured her injuries to watch the rest of the matches, and was now resting in a hospital gown. However, judging by her expression, she was clearly suppressing some emotion.
The main reason for inviting Cheng Tian was to personally express sincere gratitude for his help in guarding the Yata Mirror and returning it without any hesitation... and more importantly, the fact that her elder sister, Kagura Maki's soul was still intact, as revealed by Iori Yagami.
Kagura Maki had instructed Iori Yagami not to reveal her existence, and Iori Yagami had indeed complied. Although they had no friendship, he was a man who kept his promises, and he didn't need to explain his actions to anyone.
But Chizuru, immediately after waking up, learned what had happened at the scene by re-projecting the images previously reflected in the Yata Mirror, thus discovering the fact that her elder sister's soul was still present.
This discovery made Chizuru extremely excited, but when she tried to resonate with the Yata Mirror again, she couldn't make her sister's soul reappear.
Therefore, Chizuru chose to seek out the World Master, Cheng Tian, who seemed to have communicated with her sister's soul in the images.
As for Kaiba's reason for inviting Cheng Tian, it was even simpler and more direct.
Since Cheng Tian could instantly identify the evil spell that turned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon into a maiden as 'Midnight Blessing,' he must have a deep understanding of this spell.
Kaiba wanted to confirm whether this form was permanent or temporary. If it was permanent, how to undo it; if it was temporary... how to prolong it.
Ahem, Kaiba himself definitely wanted the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to return to its majestic form, but as someone who plans ahead, since he had been attacked by Midnight Blessing once, it meant there could be a second or third time. If someone else used the same method against him, he needed a corresponding countermeasure.
It was a duelist's instinct; countermeasures and anti-countermeasures were written into their DNA.
As for whether to turn the Blue-Eyes White Dragon back after getting the method... that's another story~
Of course, the invitations were not without compensation. There were rewards.
Cheng Tian was not their subordinate; even from the dungeon's perspective, he held the equal status of 'Actual Controller of Hammond Labs.' Moreover, the news of the Shadowloo Leader's demise at Cheng Tian's hands had reached the Rage Team, so there was no reason why they wouldn't know.
To ask for help from such a person naturally required sincerity, with a basic reward regardless of success or failure. As for further rewards after the task was completed, that was a separate matter.
Just like being tasked to be a host in a pinch, as long as there was a reward, Cheng Tian would eagerly take action.
Clearing side quests in the gaps between main quests was also an instinctive behavior for a significant number of players, ideally completing several side quests along one path for maximum satisfaction.
Cheng Tian chose to go to Kagura Chizuru first, as her problem was easier to solve.
"I leave everything to you."
Even from her sickbed, Kagura Chizuru bowed deeply to Cheng Tian, her voice filled with pleading.
And just as Kagura Chizuru bent down, Fina, who was always by his side, covered Cheng Tian's eyes with her hands.
Without the binding control of a chest binder, the peaks and valleys beneath Kagura Chizuru's hospital gown were too dramatic, making Fina stare wide-eyed.
This was too much freedom! Freedom without order was unacceptable!
According to official data, Kagura Chizuru's bust seemed to be only 1 point larger than Fina's, but due to the artist's portrayal, the visual difference was truly... "Your sister's soul awakening is most likely due to the Yata Mirror triggering its self-defense function upon detecting Orochi's power. However, a soul without a physical body is extremely fragile, and more importantly, it is theoretically in a state of constant depletion.
Sleep is the most direct way to preserve soul power. Once awake, soul power depletion accelerates, and further use of power on top of that will hasten the soul's dissipation."
With each word Cheng Tian spoke, Chizuru's already pale face grew a few shades whiter.
But Cheng Tian wasn't spouting nonsense; it was based on experience.
After rescuing Kagura Maki with the World, he had been using innocent souls to substitute for Kagura Maki's soul consumption, and he could clearly feel the soul power depletion. This phenomenon generally existed in 'innocent souls' or 'good spirits.'
Evil spirits would replenish their losses by devouring other souls, but good spirits would not.
"Is there really no way at all?"
Kagura Chizuru bit her lower lip, burying her head in her knees and muttering to herself.
She wanted to see her sister again, but she didn't want to accelerate the depletion of her sister's soul power. The severe impact of losing someone you've regained had already been demonstrated once with Terry and Geese...
"Not necessarily."
Cheng Tian's words made Kagura Chizuru look up sharply.
"A healthy soul needs to reside in a healthy body; this is an unchangeable rule. Only then will the soul not experience additional depletion. You see, even someone as powerful as M. Bison, the Shadowloo Leader, had to constantly invade other people's bodies to complete his reincarnation, rather than existing solely as a spirit.
In other words, if you truly want Kagura Maki to return to the world and reunite with you, at least two key conditions are required."
Cheng Tian held up two fingers.
"First, a highly compatible body is needed, preferably one highly related to her original body.
Second, a technique for soul-body adaptation."
"Anyway, you should know that I took down Shadowloo, so I'll just say it directly. Theoretically, the most compatible body for Kagura Maki would be a clone of her original body. I have the technology for that, but as far as I know, her body was annihilated by that guy Goenitz. So, as a fallback—"
"A clone of me... as an identical twin?"
Kagura Chizuru was calmer than expected; she seemed to be genuinely considering the feasibility.
"Exactly. This is theoretically the option with the lowest rejection rate after successful adaptation."
Cheng Tian nodded, adding:
"Cloning takes time. If you really want to do it, the sooner the better. Every day you delay, a little more soul power will be depleted."
"As for the second point, the soul-body adaptation technique, I truly don't understand that—"
Chizuru's eyes widened, but she held back the words on her tongue.
"But Bison's soul is imprisoned by me. That guy is a master of soul invasion. He's just very stubborn and still won't surrender, so it might take some more time."
Suddenly hearing Cheng Tian reveal something even more shocking than having killed Bison, Kagura Chizuru's heart tightened.
Even if Cheng Tian didn't show any evidence to prove Bison's soul was still alive, she had to re-evaluate Cheng Tian's danger level.
Kagura Chizuru couldn't immediately determine whether someone who could smile while talking about imprisoning another person's soul was good or bad, but he was definitely a ruthless individual!