Reborn as an Extra Chapter 686: Operation ’Hydra’. Part-4.

From Neo Aldif's own account and the details he shared with Ashtel before their climactic showdown, he conducted thousands of experiments pursuing the ultimate scheme.

He backed Fade, scattered mimics far and wide, stashed his true body in concealed hideouts, amassed mighty summons, and brutally fused them with others to forge even mightier hybrids.

Neo experimented with virtually every tactic imaginable to boost his strength and devise a counter to Ashtel.

He went so far as to ally with a perilous demon purely to seize forbidden lore that might vanquish Ashtel.

Neo’s scheme was straightforward... should he grow powerful enough to slay Ashtel Rex, he'd possess the might to intimidate the world alliance, ensuring no one dared meddle with his future ambitions thereafter.

Seizing Liam’s body was merely one of countless contingencies Neo devised; he opted for possession chiefly because it boasted the best odds of triumph.

His predictions held true; absent Riya guiding Ashtel to the world's favor, Neo would have surely ended Ashtel’s life that day.

Ultimately, his plot crumbled due to Rio’s subtle impacts, as Rio had already twisted the storyline profoundly by then, and Riya’s very survival stemmed from Rio rescuing her and altering her destiny.

Though Neo perished in defeat and vanished, his vast research and secret laboratories persist even today.

In a criminal hunt operation, Rio once uncovered such a lab, where the discoveries outshone even the mightiest artifacts in value!

Ashtel and the rest departed the conference chamber, navigated multiple hidden passages, and entered a gigantic laboratory.

The lab's walls, floor, and ceiling consisted entirely of enchanted white concrete, robust enough to shrug off a max-force strike from an S-ranker!

"We'd originally readied just one, but after your call yesterday, we set up the second too..."

"These will prove ideal for our mission..."

At Ashtel’s statement, Rio locked his gaze on the duo of sleek, futuristic cryo-pods positioned dead center in the chamber.

Two human-shaped figures rested inside the cryo-pods, utterly lacking faces or genitalia.

Those figures brimmed with intense life force, appearing fully alive, yet Rio perceived no souls within them; they were merely animated shells devoid of thought or awareness.

"Neo Aldif was a deranged fanatic obsessed with crafting his own clones... he favored this tactic to conceal his actual body..."

"I’ve no clue where he learned to forge such lifelike clones, but his expertise there was unmatched..."

"When Rio stumbled on that secret lab, it held hundreds of clones. The association claimed and demolished most, but fortunately Raji preserved ten securely for any emergencies..."

Raji nodded in agreement before adding her own words.

"Back then, Jin and Ashtel both lay comatose... I figured if they failed to heal from their injuries, we could employ taboo magic and potent artifacts to bind their souls to these clones..."

"That would let them at least get mobile even if their real bodies never stirred... slim as the odds were, it remained a real option then..."

"Luckily, Rio and Riya roused those two soon after, so this approach went unused..."

At Raji’s explanation, Lia reacted with the greatest shock,

"Professor Jin awoke!? I had no idea! Wonderful news!"

Lia had embarked on her training quest by the moment Rio revived Jin and Ashtel, and with just one day back, she remained in the dark about the nation's latest developments.

"Yeah, he’s recovering well now... Actually, Jin and Anna have set their wedding date; they’ll wed shortly..."

Ashtel nodded to Lia while sharing the joyful update of Jin and Anna’s imminent marriage.

"This is the first glad tidings I’ve heard in ages... sigh, at last those two can end their torment; their sacrifices ran deep..."

Rio nodded too right then, casting a look at the coffin still drifting behind him.

"Yes... just as we revived Professor Jin... we’ll achieve the same for Liam and Ellie... we’ll prevail..."

As Rio spoke, a grave expression settled over all faces while Ashtel began his briefing.

"Operation ’Hydra’ represents our mission to save Liam and Ellie... I was already aware that Neo Aldif had destroyed Liam’s body, so we’d need to secure a new vessel for him if we could rescue his soul..."

"Ellie requires the identical process now; fortunately, Rio didn’t just retrieve both souls completely intact—he also resolved the challenge of obtaining fitting bodies for their souls!"

"The cloned humanoid bodies displayed here were forged by Neo Aldif through sacrificing countless innocent human lives..."

Neo proved a complete lunatic; he abducted harmless individuals and exploited their corpses along with their vitality to produce these humanoid clones.

Since such clones had to endure the awareness of an SS-ranker like himself, Neo ensured these forms possessed sufficient strength and perfect compatibility with his own essence.

"Given that he’s Neo’s son, Liam’s soul will find these bodies compatible as well, owing to the resemblance in their soul signatures and so on..."

"Regarding Ellie, Rio has recovered her original body... thus, we can combine it with the clone to craft a vessel perfectly suited for her soul..."

"I understand... this strategy seems highly debatable and paints us as mimicking Neo’s actions... but we truly have no alternatives at this moment..."