Bai Qi knew the difficulty involved. He patted Octavian's shoulder and said, "I know this is extremely difficult, but I believe you can accomplish it. And remember this: the time taken matters less, but the quality must be perfect. If I discover even the slightest flaw in any of the clones, you know the consequences."
Seeing Bai Qi's scarlet gaze, Octavian swallowed and nodded, "Gr-great Lord, rest assured, it will be the most, the most perfect."
No sooner had Octavian finished speaking than trouble erupted. A failed specimen had broken through its cryogenic tank and escaped.
It was a massive, fleshy orb over two meters tall, covered in countless eyes and mouths, with a dozen tentacles flailing wildly around it.
If this thing had been docile, it would have been fine. But this ball of flesh had no reason whatsoever. The moment it emerged, it began smashing and destroying everything with its tentacles. If left unchecked, it was likely to damage more cryogenic tanks and release more failed specimens.
This was the first time such a failed specimen had broken free and gotten out of control. However, Octavian did not panic. He rationally reached for the alarm button on the wall, but Bai Qi stopped him.
This was a perfect opportunity to test the strength of this failed specimen and get a rough estimate of the future clones' capabilities.
Bai Qi raised his hands, and immense psionic energy compressed the failed specimen's body from all sides.
"Oh? Interesting."
Bai Qi raised an eyebrow. While he hadn't used his full strength, he had certainly exerted at least thirty percent of his psionic power. Even a tank could be easily crushed into a pancake by this force, yet this failed specimen wasn't entirely unaffected, but merely had its movement restricted, let alone being killed.
Bai Qi increased the pressure, using fifty percent of his psionic power to fully restrain the failed specimen. Even so, driven by primal instinct, the creature resisted furiously.
It was only when Bai Qi used seventy percent of his psionic power that it completely lost the ability to resist.
Now, Bai Qi could crush it with ease if he wished, but that would be a waste.
Bai Qi beckoned, and his psionic energy pulled the failed specimen towards him.
Bai Qi was still in his human form. The failed specimen, now before him, loomed like a small mountain.
Bai Qi wasn't foolish enough to experiment here. If he were to cause too much disruption and damage the surrounding cryogenic tanks, releasing all the dormant failed specimens, the consequences would be dire.
He moved to a testing ground the size of a football field.
Located at the very bottom of the laboratory, this area was designed for all sorts of experiments. The entire testing ground was constructed from the hardest alloy, further reinforced with a layer of protective magic.
Bai Qi brought the failed specimen here and nodded with satisfaction, looking at the surrounding metal walls.
"Finally, I can loosen up a bit."
With a surge of psionic energy, he slammed the failed specimen against the wall.
*Bang!*
The failed specimen hit the wall and oozed down like a pile of rotten flesh.
Bai Qi paid it no mind and looked up at Octavian and the others in the observation room, saying, "Don't forget to collect the data."
Octavian nodded and quickly operated the instruments in front of him.
Bai Qi's gaze returned to the failed specimen.
At this moment, the failed specimen had peeled itself off the wall, reforming into a fleshy mass. Its tentacles danced in the air, and its many mouths let out angry growls.
Perhaps it was because a third of its genes came from Bai Qi, but even after being pummeled by Bai Qi, it now only emitted growls directed at him. Despite lacking intelligence, fear was ingrained in its genes.
Bai Qi paid no heed. He casually hurled two psionic orbs and then unleashed a stream of dragon's breath.
The searing dragon's breath scorched the failed specimen's body, emitting crackling sounds and a burnt odor.
Facing a failed specimen, Bai Qi still hadn't used his full power. After all, if Bai Qi went all out, the entire laboratory might cease to exist.
Thus, for this dragon's breath attack, Bai Qi only used thirty percent of his strength.
Fifteen seconds later, the dragon's breath dissipated. Bai Qi looked at the failed specimen's state and a slight smile curved his lips.
The failed specimen was now entirely black. Two-thirds of its tentacles had been burned off, and only a few eyes and mouths were still active.
Looking at the charred creature, Bai Qi's smile widened.
This thing not only possessed considerable resilience but also good physical tenacity and fire resistance. If translated, its strength already surpassed the third-rate tier of this world. Had it possessed intelligence, it would have easily entered the second-rate tier.
More importantly, Octavian had a vast warehouse filled with such failed specimens.
If Bai Qi wished, he could slaughter a small nation with just a few of them. Deployed in large numbers, even the Justice League would find them a significant headache.
Of course, the only practical use for these failed specimens was to cause trouble and create difficulties for enemy factions.
Just as Bai Qi was about to end the failed specimen's suffering, a miraculous scene unfolded. The charred mass of flesh began to heal at an astonishing speed. Eyes and mouths that had been melted moments ago regrew.
Witnessing this, Bai Qi no longer rushed. He calmly waited for the failed specimen to heal.
Although it was a failed specimen, it had provided Bai Qi with quite a few surprises. Take this current regeneration, for example.
Within ten minutes, such a severe injury had almost completely healed. The scorched tissue was discarded, and new skin had already formed. Sudan Novel Network
With such potent regenerative abilities, the failed specimen's danger level had increased another notch.
Once he was certain all its abilities had been showcased, Bai Qi waved his hand, and immense psionic energy crushed the failed specimen into a meat patty. A subsequent burst of flame turned the patty into ashes.
With the laboratory's current combat strength, even dealing with a single failed specimen would be extremely challenging. It was fortunate that he was here; otherwise, this escaped failed specimen could have caused a great deal of chaos.
"It seems I need to appropriately strengthen the security here."
However, since he was present, he might as well eliminate a few more failed specimens, which would also help Octavian collect more useful data.
In the following period, Octavian rallied his personnel to set up data collection equipment around the testing ground, while he himself, along with a few key members, busied themselves in the observation room, maximizing the collection of all sorts of valuable data and information.
Initially, his engagement with the failed specimens was out of curiosity, which allowed them to survive longer. For the subsequent seven specimens, after allowing them to demonstrate their unique characteristics and strengths, Bai Qi swiftly dispatched them.
It had to be said, even as failed specimens, they were, after all, infused with his genes, and the abilities they displayed were incredibly diverse.
The initial fleshy orb only exhibited basic capabilities. Following that were specimens with laser eyes, fire breathers, those with formidable scale defenses, and others possessing immense strength, flight capabilities, and the ability to exhale cold air.