Chapter 350: Clones
It seems that a professor did once suggest that Earth might have had two moons long ago.
Actually, Zane didn't realize that even in his original world, this rumor had circulated.
This made Zane believe the armored man's words somewhat, and he curiously listened as the man continued.
"During the long years of being sealed away, I came up with a method to strengthen the resilience of these fragile lifeforms in the universe."
"I passed the blueprint of this plan, in my own way, to a group of young folks within the Celestial Gods."
"Later, they implemented my plan and conducted experiments on the planet closest to me."
"That planet was Earth, where at the time, intelligent life had only just begun to evolve. Under the influence of my plan, a group of strange beings gradually emerged."
"I heard that later on, these strange beings split into what you know on Earth as mutants and inhumans."
"And after my seal was lifted, I stepped down from the Celestial Gods' frontlines, becoming more interested in creating super-powered weapons and all sorts of peculiar ideas."
"Most of my team members, to support my personal creations, withdrew from the Fourth Squad and joined other departments within the Celestial Gods that could provide a wealth of cosmic data..."
"In the end... my worthless brother died, and that was that…"
"But, I never expected that they too, without exception, would fall at your hands."
"Because of the former merits of the Fourth Squad, all its members are not restricted by the power of the main universe and have full access to their powers at any time."
"That's also why my brother was so eager to join my squad."
"Oh well, I won't say any more unnecessary words..."
"Fight, Earthling!"
With that, the armored man in orange-red, who had been calm and carefree before, suddenly exuded a sharp, intense aura.
Jets of steam poured out around him, forming an orange-red shield over his armor.
"So, that shield earlier was your doing."
Zane looked at the man, recalling the orange shield that had suddenly appeared when he killed the Celestial brothers.
"If you were already here at that time, then that means you saw these eyes of mine!"
As soon as he said this, Zane's eyes flashed with the blood-red Mangekyo Sharingan, staring at the armored man across from him.
However, after a moment, he realized it had no effect.
Within the fierce aura emanating from the orange-red armored man, a faint smile appeared as he looked at Zane.
Due to the armor, all original Celestial Gods members had a stiff expression, appearing less human.
But now, this orange-armored man's faint smile made Zane feel a strange sense of warmth, even a certain inexplicable familiarity.
"Those eyes of yours certainly have a mesmerizing, destructive effect on the Celestials, or at least the earliest members."
"Because we are the purest forms of energy in the universe."
"Sometimes, pure energy can be somewhat simple, and without a soul, we're actually more susceptible to being mesmerized."
"To give an imperfect example, it's like a child on Earth who has only ever tasted one kind of milk candy; if someone offers him a box of chocolates, it's easy to lead him away."
"However, your red eyes have no effect on me at all..."
"But now, I find them very interesting."
"So, let me keep them safe for you!"
Rumble!!!
In an instant, the entire Mirror World world was filled with a violent energy.
The violent energy swept through the once-cramped space, completely flattening the chaotic streams of time and space around it.
Seeing this, Zane quickly raised the Dimensional Barrier, which had now been upgraded in his hands to a seventh-dimensional level.
He had to admit, although Eson's combat skills were indeed lacking, his spatial defense capabilities were impressive.
Compared to the boundary of Arishem's Mirror World world, it was far stronger.
This made Zane curious about what Lorna would become after absorbing Eson's divinity.
Soon, the violent energy destroyed every part of the Mirror World world—except for the small patch of ground Zane was standing on.
Then, as if time had reversed, the explosion's energy waves began to retract rapidly, condensing into a sphere of light.
It floated above the palm of the orange-red armored man, who remained at the center of the explosion.
Due to the energy sweep, the armored man now floated in the vast darkness of space, while Zane stood on the transparent edge of the Mirror World world.
"Still not enough?"
The armored man raised his eyelids slightly, glancing at the sphere of light in his hand as it emitted rays, and said calmly:
"Then let them keep this Earthling company!"
Boom!
In an instant, an endless swarm of orange-red armored figures, each about ten meters tall and identical to the original, surrounded Zane.
"Clones?"
Zane activated his blood-red, triangular Mangekyo Sharingan, scanning the armored figures around him. He realized they were all energy beings, but with varying levels of energy.
"More accurately, they are 'selves' from different points in my past timeline, so 'they' are also me."
The armored man stood behind a wall of identical figures, with the glowing sphere still floating in his hand.
"Since the past is fixed, summoning past 'projections of myself' is easier than summoning from the future."
"Of course, even so, it requires an enormous amount of energy."
"But as I mentioned, our Fourth Squad isn't restricted by the power of the main universe."
"And in my current state, taking on even more energy hardly affects me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zane transformed into a laser beam with the Glint-Glint Fruit power and shot toward him.
Even though there were so many identical orange-red armored figures around, he only needed to target the one holding the sphere.
And that guy didn't seem to mind this.
Zip!
Zane's laser shot straight through the armored man standing still, causing a faint ripple across his armor.
But he remained unscathed, and the light sphere in his hand continued condensing rays of energy.
"Hm? This ripple? Let's try that again."
Zane turned into a laser beam once more, shooting toward the armored man's body.
Again, the armored man remained unscathed.
"Earthling, no matter how many times you try, it's useless. Like I said, if you want to play, start with 'them'!"
The only orange-red armored man with a light sphere floating in his hand gave a faint smile as he looked at Zane.
At that instant, all the armored men in front of him, lined up like a wall, surged toward Zane from every direction.
In the blink of an eye, Zane was surrounded in a 360-degree ring of dense orange-red armored figures.
Then, each of them unleashed a burst of violent energy from their hands, all aimed at Zane trapped in the center.
*************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is Lord_Immortal_0170