Wang Ran conducted an Instant Simulation before pushing the door open.
He had already "seen" this scene in the simulation, but when he actually saw dozens of clones identical to himself floating in culture vessels, he was still profoundly shocked.
These cloned bodies were a protective measure by the Watcher's Association.
While their physical characteristics matched Wang Ran's for the ease of control, they were essentially unrelated to Wang Ran.
These clones were cultivated from a special material resistant to psychic contamination, able to bear several seconds of mental corruption at critical moments and buy the pilot time to escape danger.
The usage was straightforward.
The pilot lay in a psychic transfer pod, similar to a cockpit, transferred their spirit into any clone body, then used the clone to operate the spacecraft for reconnaissance missions, and transferred the spirit back after finishing the operation.