274: The energy of the clone comes from yourself.

The large transport helicopter slowly descended, and Liu Chuan got off the helicopter and ran towards Tian Ming. When he saw the clones, he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Boss, what is this?"

Tian Ming smiled faintly and said, "A newly acquired ability, quite useful."

Although Liu Chuan was a bit surprised, he wasn't overly shocked. The boss had already become omnipotent in his mind.

Tian Ming continued, "Take the people back, settle them down, and treat those who need treatment. I won't be going back. If there are more people later, and they are close, I'll have you come pick them up again."

Liu Chuan nodded and said, "This city isn't far. If there are no Corpse Kings, General Manager Meng said he wants to do targeted drops to clear this area."

"Let General Manager Meng decide that himself. The Shelter's supplies shouldn't be too tight, right?" Tian Ming asked.

"Supplies aren't a big problem, it's just that the population is growing too fast. Although the progress of the Underground City is already very fast, it's still a bit behind. Currently, more than half of the people are still above ground. Donghai City has been mostly cleared out. Now, General Manager Meng's idea is to have the transport and collection teams explore surrounding cities," Liu Chuan said with a wry smile.

Tian Ming nodded and said, "Okay, first take the people back. I'll go clear out the remaining Corpse Kings in this city."

"Alright!"

Liu Chuan responded, then began organizing people to board the helicopter.

Tian Ming, on the other hand, left the square with his clones. Before, relying on probing and searching, the efficiency was naturally much slower. Now, with the existence of clones, it was like upgrading from a shotgun to a cannon.

Under Tian Ming's command, the clones began searching for traces of Corpse Kings in the city. They were distributed in various corners of the city, and through shared consciousness, they could quickly find their targets.

These clones had a very thorough understanding of Tian Ming's commands. In just over ten minutes, they found a Corpse King.

Tian Ming immediately rushed to the clone's location. This clone's chest had been flattened by the Corpse King, and its limbs were twisted in a strange posture, appearing to have lost all vitality.

A high-strength body, but the combat power was still insufficient. Clones without independent consciousness were still far from being able to deal with Corpse Kings.

Looking at the large Corpse King, Tian Ming slapped it from a distance. The surrounding air condensed into a huge palm, directly sending the Corpse King flying.

The Corpse King was sent flying dozens of meters by Tian Ming's slap, crashing heavily into a building and causing it to collapse. The surrounding zombies were scattered and fled, and for a time, this area became much quieter.

Before the Corpse King could react, Tian Ming instantly approached and killed it, obtaining a Red Crystal Core in a moment.

After Gang Dan died, the Corpse Kings in this city were not high-level. At most, they were just small fries with brute strength who couldn't even speak.

Using clones to find Corpse Kings was efficient, but the rate of clone attrition was also very fast. Within a day, Tian Ming obtained more than eighty basic Red Crystal Cores, successfully extending his control range to 32 meters. However, over a hundred clones were also almost completely scrapped.

As the sun set, Tian Ming sat on the edge of a tall building in the city, looking a bit tired.

After a full day of fighting, Tian Ming had cleared out all the slightly more powerful zombies. The rest would be left to General Manager Meng.

Clones were quite draining for Tian Ming. The energy for these clones' actions still came from Tian Ming. Therefore, this method had its pros and cons; no matter how strong, he couldn't withstand the direct extraction by over a hundred clones.

Tian Ming decomposed the remaining clones, leaving only one. The feeling of fatigue on him was slowly diminishing. Tian Ming set up a tent, had the clone stand guard, and then went to sleep.

With a thought, the clone's perspective appeared before his eyes. If his clones were like artificial intelligence and could learn, that would be great. Wouldn't that allow them to instantly become combat masters? If each clone was given an alloy forged blade, they would all become like Qiu Qian, becoming a God of Combat.

Tian Ming's thoughts were quite beautiful, but at this moment, Xin Xin's voice came from his mind: "Don't be so fanciful. The more clones you have, the greater the drain on you. As for God of Combat, they are currently just retarded versions of robots."

Tian Ming was startled and said unhappily, "Why did you suddenly pop up again? How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"My ability allows me to read your thoughts. Besides, I live in your ear, so close to your brain. It's normal for me to hear your inner thoughts," Xin Xin said with a smile.

"You should know more about these clones than I do, why don't you give me a rundown?" Tian Ming asked with some curiosity.

Xin Xin giggled twice, then slowly began to speak: "Actually, to be precise, I also belong to the conscious clone of Yuanchu God. It's not difficult to make clones have consciousness; there's a process of budding. It's like intelligent beings, from a single cell, becoming a person, receiving different information, and then, fed by this information, developing their own thoughts. This is the process of consciousness budding."

Tian Ming was silent for a moment, then said, "Why are you telling me all this? I just want to know if I can create clones with autonomous consciousness, not these robot-like things."

"Go to bed. Unless you possess the complete abilities of Yuanchu God. Currently, what you create are just puppets, and these puppets still consume your own energy. Although you don't have to obey the conservation of energy, the energy consumption of the clones also increases your own burden."

Tian Ming asked, "Can I understand what you're saying like this: the reason the clones I create are so trash is because I'm not strong enough myself?"

"Hehe!" Xin Xin giggled and said, "Yes, that's a very correct understanding. So, you still need to absorb more Red Crystal Cores. But now the zombies are also a bit beyond my expectations."

"What do you mean by that?" Tian Ming asked with some confusion.

"I can feel that a revolution is taking place within the zombie collective, forming their own society. Humanity's opponents are not just evolving through brute force; now, they also understand and are beginning to move from savage monsters towards civilization."

Tian Ming slowly shook his head and asked, "Whose side are you on exactly?"

"I'm not on any side; I'm just watching the show. Oh, by the way, you don't have much time left. You need to work harder."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing really. You still need to improve yourself as quickly as possible, otherwise, in this struggle, let alone controlling the overall situation, you are very likely to be at a disadvantage."

Tian Ming nodded slightly, closed his eyes, and soon fell into a dream.