How to Stop Long Aotian from Killing 27 Versions of Me

[The recent updates are minor edits to chapters already written, so there's no need to read them. I'll let you know when the whole story is complete. Thank you for your support.]

After working overtime for seven straight days, Shen Cong realized the world was starting to get weird.

He met a fat cat that could talk!

The fat cat said, "Shen Cong, you're not human."

Shen Cong considered his meager salary and mountain of work. Right, he barely counted as anything more than a consumable!

The fat cat continued, "There are 29 copies of you, all identical to you. They're genetically edited perfect specimens: beautiful, intelligent, capable, and terrifyingly powerful."

Shen Cong fell silent for a moment, then turned and headed into the hospital's psychiatric department.

The fat cat panicked, meowing, "Each copy has a different specialty. There's a financial tycoon, a fried-rice-noodle beauty, a top student... Once their genes merge with yours, you'll be a beautiful, wealthy, top-student tycoon who's also great at frying noodles!"

Shen Cong: "Specialties? Merging?"

The fat cat: "They're 29 golden fingers, a Thousand-Armed Guanyin BUFF! You can do anything!"

Shen Cong wasn't sure whether to believe it.

Until he watched himself fall from a financial tower and vanish without a trace, then saw himself get hit by a car and turn to ash that merged into his body... The next second, he had mastered god-tier fried-noodle skills.

And when the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against his temple, Shen Cong finally knew he wasn't crazy.

He stole a glance at the gunman: handsome, icy, and brimming with killing intent.

Shen Cong: "Who is that?"

The fat cat: "He's Lu Yuan, the most ruthless commander of a secret force, tasked with exterminating all perfect genetic individuals. You're too powerful and threaten the survival of ordinary humans. But don't worry, your genes were custom-edited to match Lu Yuan's preferences. As long as you behave and please him, he might let you go."

Oh wow, he came with a get-out-of-death-free BUFF.

Shen Cong, putting on a bright, sweet-girl face: "Hi, officer."

The gun pressed harder.

Shen Cong, his face crumpling in defeat: "I was wrong."

Lu Yuan: "If you want to live, cooperate."

Cooperate with what? Finding the remaining copies.

Shen Cong calculated that there were 27 copies left. If he found them slowly, one a year, his KPI was guaranteed for 27 years.

Oh wow, that meant he wouldn't die until 27 years from now!

Shen Cong immediately smiled and turned to Lu Yuan:

"Hello, officer. I'm here to surrender!"

But after surrendering, Shen Cong's dream of lying flat shattered. He spent every day doing sit-ups.

Copy No. 4 was a top student in his senior year of high school, and students kept mysteriously dying at his school. Shen Cong rushed over to save him. Intelligence fusion +1.

Copy No. 6 was livestreaming at an amusement park, showing off his abs and pushing the boundaries. People kept dying at that park too, so Shen Cong hurried to save him. Lean-muscle fusion +1.

Copy No. N was running an art salon on an island, but people kept dying there too...

How was he supposed to make this a sustainable 27-year plan?

At first, everyone, including the fat cat, thought Shen Cong was struggling to survive in the gap between human and nonhuman.

Later, they realized that the monsters and ghosts lurking in that gap were quietly forging a new god.

The perfect individuals would eventually reunite.

Shen Cong: "Officer, can you not kill No. 12? He's hopelessly love-struck. If I merge with him, I'm done for."

Lu Yuan fell silent.

Shen Cong: "I'll make you fried noodles myself."

Lu Yuan: "Deal."

Turning away, Lu Yuan instructed his adjutant: "Go take care of No. 12. Make sure you're upwind, so his ashes blow over to Shen Cong."

Theme: Labor is the greatest honor