Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 634 Li Xiaoyao
"You even have a daughter now?"

Miriel, of course, didn't take it seriously and chuckled, "Then wouldn't I become her cheap mother-in-law?"

Upon hearing this, Le Jia immediately bowed deeply in the direction of Miriel: "Le Jia greets Mother."

Li Zheng: "..."

Miriel: "..."

It was just a joke, but who knew this optimistic girl would take it seriously? Mirall immediately lost all interest and explained, "You've mistaken him for someone else. He's not the Li Zheng you know."

"Li Zheng?" Le Jia looked momentarily bewildered upon hearing this name: "Isn't Father named Li Xiaoyao?"

"Huh?" Li Zheng was stunned. What kind of strange settings did the terminal give to those previous clones? With such a widely circulated name, aren't they afraid of being sued for copyright infringement?
That's true, anyway, they're not on Earth now, so they can't sue him even if they wanted to.

“Li Xiaoyao?” Miriel pondered for two seconds: “It sounds better than Li Zheng.”

"..." Li Zheng was speechless: "Are you focusing on the wrong thing?"

"But it does sound better than your name."

"That was copied from the terminal!"

"Even the copied version sounds better than yours!"

"..." Li Zheng was convinced and turned to Le Jia, saying, "Get up first. I'm really not the one you know. As for why I look exactly like him, it's because we are clones of the same person."

"A clone?" Le Jia hesitated for a moment, then asked again, "Are you really not Father?"

“I really didn’t…” Li Zheng smiled wryly, “I was cloned just over a month ago, and you’re already so big. When you were born, I was probably still just a concept…”

“But…” Le Jia couldn’t believe it: “But why is your mental strength as strong as your father’s?”

"What?" Li Zheng instantly caught the key word, his eyes narrowing: "You mean the me in the wilderness, whose mental strength is also extremely strong? Strong enough to exceed the initial limit?"

Due to his physical condition, he could not fully unleash his mental power and could only utilize it within a range slightly below his physical strength. As a result, although his mental power appeared to be profound, powerful, and invincible, it was actually only slightly higher than the maximum strength that could be achieved in the outer city.

However, with his unfathomable foundation, he was able to stand out from the crowd in terms of endurance in the outer city. While others were exhausted and had to rest and recover, he was just getting started.

“That’s right. Father’s spiritual power has taken a crucial step forward and surpassed its limits.”

After confirming several times that Li Zheng was not Li Xiaoyao, Le Jia relaxed a little and was no longer constantly tense.

She knew in her heart that the man in front of her, who looked just like her father, also possessed unfathomable spiritual power, and she still maintained a sense of awe.

"How did he do that?" Li Zheng frowned. According to all the information he had so far, there was only one way to break through mental power: to condense a mental power node and make room in the mind.

For example, only after a bottle of carbon dioxide is compressed into a solid state can there be space inside the bottle to hold more carbon dioxide.

The outer city utilizes carbon dioxide by forcibly increasing its amount and compressing it within a limited space, purifying and concentrating it little by little.

This method is lengthy and safe, but its upper limit is very low. This is because the energy intensity in those magic crystals is insufficient to compress mental power to the node; at most, it's equivalent to compressing a bottle of carbon dioxide into a liquid state, after which it's difficult to store any more.

The method developed by the virtual is more radical and more dangerous. It involves compressing mental energy to cause the central singularity to collapse, ultimately condensing a mental energy node.

This method is efficient, practical, and shows significant progress, but its drawbacks are equally fatal.

Without prior guidance, experiencing the process beforehand can easily lead to unexpected events during the collapse, ultimately resulting in mental and physical breakdown and death from mental exhaustion.

It was only through its unique existence that the void was able to try again and again over the long years and finally figure out this path.

If it were residents of the outer city, once the first person tried and failed, almost no one would follow this "doomed to failure" path, and naturally, there would be no way to figure out such a seemingly simple breakthrough method as the condensation node.

But that was an exception, and not everyone can successfully replicate it. So how did the clone named Li Xiaoyao in the wilderness manage to break through the upper limit of mental power?
“I don’t know either.” Le Jia shook his head: “But ever since I can remember, my father has been doing all sorts of research related to mental power. Even I was a test-tube baby created by my father by fusing the genetic information of the Optimist Clan and the Folded Ear Clan. The purpose was to study whether the Optimist Clan’s innate abilities could be passed down through hybrids.”

As he spoke, Le Jia's gaze dimmed slightly, as if he had just thought of something: "There are many mixed-race children of the Optimus Clan, but I am the only one who successfully inherited the Optimus Clan's talents. The brothers and sisters who failed were destroyed by Father because they had no use."

If it weren't for the accident at the research base that led to a breach in its defenses, allowing her to escape and inadvertently enter a strange place where she was discovered by the Optimists and taken back to the outer city, she might still be lying on an operating table or locked in a prison-like cage, living in constant fear.

Or perhaps she will die a violent death because of some research project.

In short, it would be impossible to live as easily and freely as I do now.

Whenever she recalls that dark and hopeless period of her life, she feels uneasy, fearing that one day she will be taken back to continue her fate as an experimental subject.

When she stayed in the research base and had no contact with the outside world, she didn't feel that there was anything wrong with her life.

But ever since she came into contact with the outside world and enjoyed the joy of freedom, she has become anxious and insecure.

If I had never seen the light, I could endure the darkness.

If one has never been free, there is nothing wrong with continuing that kind of life.

But now, she never wants to go back to her old life.

"So, my senior was a cold-hearted and ruthless fellow after all." Li Zheng frowned in disgust. "He really tarnished the name Li Xiaoyao!"

It's an insult to the name Li Xiaoyao to have the name of a great hero of Mount Shu who takes saving the world as his mission.
“Hmm!” Miriel didn’t understand the meaning of the name, but she wholeheartedly agreed with Li Zheng: “I think your name sounds better now!”

Li Zheng berated Li Xiaoyao, and Le Jia, hearing this, dared not utter a word, kneeling there with his head bowed, like a terrified quail.

After cursing a few times, Li Zheng felt bored and turned his attention back to Le Jia: "I called you here this time to find out exactly how the talents of the Optimistic Clan are used."

The optimists' talent is the nemesis and natural enemy of emotional storms. If we can figure out how their talent works and spreads, perhaps completely resolving emotional storms will become effortless!
"I will do whatever you ask me to do, sir!" Le Jia replied in a trembling voice.

She had experienced countless similar things while at the research base, and now that she heard Li Zheng also wanted to study the talents of the Optimist Clan, a flood of unpleasant memories came flooding back.

(End of this chapter)