Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

It was a well-known fact within the team that the assistant had a crush on Yu Lan, so when he announced he had met a woman named Jingjing who was her exact double, no one took him seriously.

Lili even mocked him. ”Assistant, has your crush on Yu Lan finally driven you mad? Did you just imagine a woman who looks exactly like her?”

Xuelian also teased him, ”Assistant, we all know you like Yu Lan, but you can’t just meet any beautiful woman and decide she looks just like her.”

Yu Lan herself gave a little gagging sound and said with disbelief, ”I refuse to believe there’s another woman in this world who looks exactly like me.”

Seeing that no one believed him, the assistant immediately pulled out his phone, displaying the photos and videos he had taken. ”If you don’t believe me, look at these. Compare them to Yu Lan and see if they don’t look alike.”

When Lili and Xuelian saw the images on his phone, their jaws dropped in terror. ”Holy crap, the assistant is right! There really is a woman in this Magic Academy who looks exactly like Yu Lan.”

Just then, a worried look crossed Zhao Rong’s face. ”Is it possible that after we entered this academy, they obtained our genetic maps and sequences? And what if these villains have made copies of us?”

A chill ran down the assistant’s spine. ”Zhao Rong, are you saying that gorgeous woman I just saw, the one who looks just like Yu Lan, is just a copy?”

Zhao Rong nodded grimly. ”If I’m not mistaken, you’ll also find women in this academy who look exactly like Lili and Xuelian.”

The implications were horrifying, and the assistant paled. ”Zhao Rong, does that mean we might also find men who look exactly like you... or me?”

Before the assistant could finish, Zhao Rong lunged forward, grabbing his neck. ”Drop the act, replicant,” he hissed. ”You’re not the assistant at all. You’re just a copy created by the villains after they got his genetic data. You’re trying to infiltrate our team so you can wipe us out.”

When the three women heard Zhao Rong declare that the assistant before them was a replicant, they huddled together in absolute terror. ”Zhao Rong, are you telling the truth? Please don’t scare us! This man looks exactly like our assistant—his height, his face, his clothes, everything. Why would you say he’s a replicant?”

Zhao Rong pulled a small device from his pocket. ”You didn’t see it, but while everyone was distracted, I secretly used this miniature Human Authenticator to scan him. I discovered that he’s not a real person at all, just a replicant.”

”A replicant?” Lili asked, confused. ”What’s a replicant? Is there a difference between that and a clone?”

Zhao Rong explained, ”A clone is a person recreated using genetic technology—an exact copy of you, but a distinct living being. A replicant, on the other hand, is just a mindless shell created from your genetic sequence. It has no brain of its own and is controlled by our enemies. That’s the difference.”

The explanation hit Yu Lan like a physical blow. Her eyes widened in horror as the realization dawned on her. ”Zhao Rong, are you saying the villains have already created five other people identical to us? And they plan to use them to eliminate our team?”

Zhao Rong nodded. ”That’s right, Yu Lan. From now on, whenever you meet a team member, do not trust them. First, take out your Human Authenticator and scan them. Only then can you decide whether to make contact. Otherwise, you’ll be in grave danger.”

With that, Zhao Rong produced four more Human Authenticators and handed one each to Lili, Yu Lan, and Xuelian.

Then, with a sudden, forceful twist, Zhao Rong snapped the replicant’s neck. ”If you encounter a replicant, you must kill it,” he told the three women. ”Otherwise, it will kill you.”

The moment the replicant died, its body dissolved into a puff of smoke and dust that scattered on the wind and vanished before their eyes.

Just as the dust settled, they heard a man’s voice call from downstairs. ”Zhao Rong, let me come up!”

Hearing the assistant’s voice again, the women’s first instinct was that this had to be another fake. Lili immediately drew a revolver from her pocket, rushed to the balcony, and aimed at the figure below. ”Drop the act, replicant!” she yelled. ”One more step and I’ll blow your head off!”

Yu Lan was right behind her, leveling a double-barreled shotgun at the man. ”We know you’re not the real assistant!” she warned. ”Get on the ground, now! This shotgun isn’t just for show; one blast will send you flying.”

Xuelian joined them, popping the caps on two cans of pepper spray. She aimed them over the balcony and shouted, ”Get lost, you replicant, or I won’t be so nice!”

Just as the three women were about to open fire, Zhao Rong stepped in front of them. ”Lili, Yu Lan, Xuelian, don’t shoot! This person isn’t a replicant. He’s the real assistant. He’s human.”

But the women were unconvinced. ”Zhao Rong, how can you be so sure he’s real? Have you already forgotten that a replicant of him just tried to harm us?”

Before they could finish, Zhao Rong raised the Human Authenticator again, aiming it at the man below. He showed them the screen. ”Look. The scanner proves it. That’s the real assistant down there, not a fake.”