She couldn't even remember what her Brother looked like as a child!
What is happening?
Something far more devastating than the pain ravaging her body hit Kasumi. She clutched her head in disbelief, desperately trying to recall her past.
But she still remembered nothing.
It was as if she had never had those memories in the first place.
Just like the clones who lacked memories.
Her hands grabbed at her hair in panic. Her voluptuous body trembled violently on the floor as she stared at her reflection in the window.
She saw a familiar face, yet it felt completely unfamiliar.
"No, this is all DOATEC's conspiracy! That's right! DOATEC's conspiracy! They erased my memories! It has to be that! It must be! That's definitely what happened! This is all DOATEC's conspiracy!"
'Kasumi' finally found an explanation she could use to convince herself. She suddenly sprang to her feet and once again threw a punch at Ryuji.
But the body that had always felt so familiar to her suddenly protested.
The moment she swung her fist, a sharp pain exploded through her arm. The pain forced her strike off course, and she collapsed to her knees directly in front of Ryuji.
At that moment, neither the pain in her arm nor the cold floor beneath her felt as chilling as her own heart.
Because just moments ago, her body could perform such movements without any problem at all. But now, the same action had produced a reaction similar to a severe muscle strain.
That fact alone was enough to prove that the man she'd called a DOATEC lapdog in front of her might actually be telling the truth.
Her eyes reddened as she stared at Ryuji and forced the question through clenched teeth.
"What exactly did DOATEC do to me?! And you, Mai Shiranui of the Shiranui-ryu, are you planning to violate the agreements between ninja clans?!"
'Kasumi' roared like a furious demon. But Ryuji could understand her reaction.
If something like this happened to him, he wouldn't be able to accept it either, let alone someone like 'Kasumi'.
"Our agreement was signed with the Mugen Tenshin clan, but..."
Mai looked at 'Kasumi'. Although she didn't know why the woman could use the techniques of the Mugen Tenshin style, she knew perfectly well that the leader of the clan was Hayate, not Kasumi.
Even if this woman truly were the real Kasumi, Mai would not simply obey her because of some ninja agreement.
After all, she herself was the leader of the Shiranui-ryu.
How could she allow herself to be questioned by a mere ninja of the Mugen Tenshin clan?
More importantly, Ryuji had concluded that this woman was a clone. And Mai believed Ryuji.
Looking at the kneeling 'Kasumi', Mai shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but my husband wouldn't lie about something like this."
Ryuji nodded.
"That's right. As for DOATEC, they're not worthy of having me as their lapdog. To be precise, DOATEC is currently my lapdog. You've got things backwards, Miss 'Kasumi'."
After saying that, he continued.
"And the things that happened to you aren't entirely DOATEC's responsibility. They were the actions of a group of people within DOATEC. You know Douglas was assassinated, don't you? He opposed these things. It was people within his company who made those decisions on their own."
To be fair, Douglas had truly taken the blame for something that wasn't entirely his doing.
The focus of his research had been things like super-soldier serums and enhancement technologies. While some of his methods were certainly questionable, the absurd clone-soldier project was not actually his doing.
Although Douglas could be remarkably ruthless in many respects, Ryuji believed that he had certainly played some role in the cloning research. However, Douglas had been quite open about his actual objectives. His projects had always focused on enhancement drugs and similar technologies.
Clones, in his plans, were merely experimental subjects.
What had happened to 'Kasumi', however, was clearly the result of the idiotic clone-soldier program.
Ryuji was fairly certain that some scientists had simply decided that, rather than spending enormous amounts of money researching super-soldier serums and enhancement technologies, it would be easier to manufacture superhuman soldiers directly.
After all, they already possessed relatively mature cloning technology, so why not use it?
It was fast, efficient, and profitable.
DOATEC was a corporation created to make money, not to fulfill some founder's personal dream.
Ryuji was convinced that those idiots had thought exactly that.
And had acted on it.
But for someone like Douglas, increasing his own strength was the most important thing.
What was the point of mass-producing first-rate martial artists through cloning?
Did they really think first-rate martial artists were so easy to create?
And even if they succeeded...
Were tanks, missiles, and aircraft supposed to be decorative ornaments?
No matter how powerful a carbon-based lifeform became, a nuclear weapon would still turn it into dust.
Furthermore, clone soldiers were inherently a violation of basic human rights. The moment such a project became public, it would make its creators enemies of the entire world.
For a man like Douglas, whose sole focus was climbing the social ladder, strengthening his family's status , and ensuring the continuation of his bloodline, such a brain-dead strategy made no sense at all.
After all, once you proved that human cloning was possible, you risked triggering a global crisis of trust. At that point, the entire world would unite to eliminate you.
If you think cloning people is a good way to make money, try a different timeline.
"Bastard… bastard…"
'Kasumi' didn't know what to say. She just kept panting, wanting to attack Ryuji again. But at this moment, part of her body had already been repaired, making her less susceptible to anger than before.
And that directly led to one thing.
She noticed that something was wrong with herself.
She touched her chest, which still felt slightly damp. And when she pressed down, her hand came away with a large amount of liquid. Staring blankly at her palm, then at her completely unharmed body, she looked at Ryuji in disbelief.
"My heart... and this..."
In all of her memories, her breasts had never had this kind of problem before! As for being pregnant, that was even more impossible!
~~~~~~~~~~
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