Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Han Sen, you rock! How did you do that? You dealt Dong Lin a significant blow." In the communicator, Tang Zhenliu was staring at Han Sen in awe.
That person in Dong Lin looked for Tangâs family, desiring reconciliation with Han Sen.
"That money is for his sonâs life." Han Sen looked at Tang Zhenliuâs list and smiled.
"Whatâs going on? You made a move on his son?" Tang Zhenliu looked at Han Sen with an expression of surprise.
"I didnât do anything to his son; he came after me." Han Sen told Tang Zhenliu the tale of what had occurred in the royal shelter.
"Youâre telling me you killed an evolver who had unlocked their first gene lock? You have opened a gene lock too, then, I presume?" Tang Zhenliuâs eyes were wide, looking at his correspondentâs face with much admiration.
"Iâm not that fast; it was just luck. I have a kick-ass pet, and it was my pet that killed Thunderdevil," Han Sen told him, smiling.
"What sort of pet can be that powerful? If youâve got any more for sale, Iâll take ten!" Tang Zhenliu jested with a hearty laugh.
"I only have one. I can only surmise that Lady Luck is fond of me, when bestowing the fortune to receive such pet. You canât envy me!" Han Sen laughed.
"It is no wonder why he was willing to pay you that much. An evolver with an unlocked gene lock was killed by you? Nothing could stand in your way of killing Qi Xiuwen, if that is what you chose to do," Tang Zhenliu said.
"Of course, but Iâm not that stupid. Iâm not willing to kill people of small concern, like him. Thereâd be no benefit, and if anything, itâd just be a hassle. Retaliation from Dong Lin would likely occur, as well. I donât even have that many troops at my command, either. I need to make use of his men to take care of the royal shelter for a while, while my own army expands. Qi Xiuwen is now a puppet on strings, so I have no fear of any more betrayal. He and his troops will do things honestly and earnestly henceforth."
Han Sen continued to peruse the list while he told Tang Zhen Li, "I suppose I agree with the compensation they are offering. But I donât want these random items or their money. Help me talk to the people in Dong Lin and have it all swapped for Geno Creation pills."
"If those things donât work correctly, they can kill someone. What do you need that many for?" Tang Zhen Li enquired, frowning.
Han Sen knew what Tang Zhenliu was thinking, so he smiled. He said, "Donât worry, Iâm not using this stuff to harm anyone. I know how to use them, but anyway, help me talk to them to get this exchange in motion."
"Okay, Iâll get in touch with them. Iâll let you know in a few days, most likely." After a while, Tang Zhenliu still wanted to ask once more, "Did your pet really kill Thunderdevil?"
"There were many people there, and they can be found all across the Icefields. If you honestly donât believe me, why donât you ask them? I barely lifted a finger." Han Sen spread his hands as he reasserted what had happened.
"Damn! Your luck really does make others jealous. To be able to kill a man who has unlocked their first gene lock, that pet must be way too OP. Why canât I ever be the recipient of such fortune?" Tang Zhenliuâs face was one of almost anguish, in the envy he had for Han Sen.
Turning off the communicator, Han Sen went to the royal shelter.
The Geno Creation pills from Dong Lin were not the type of goods that could be purchased in the markets. This was because the Alliance forbid them to be sold. If Han Sen wanted to buy some, there was nowhere he could go to do so. Even if he could obtain them through the more illicit routes of trade, theyâd cost an arm and a leg. So, getting them directly from the Qi family was undoubtedly the best way to go about their retrieval right now.
If the silver fox wanted to eat them so much, perhaps they could provide some major benefits? There would be no harm in having a few more at his disposal, anyway.
If they turned out to provide the boon he was hoping for, Han Sen thought Qi Xiuwen could stay wrapped around his finger for a while longer. If he ever wanted more, he could go through Qi Xiuwen for them at the family discount.
"Boss, the silver beetles outside the gate remain. They are not pulling away. We tried killing a few, and we were successful, but itâs as if they can respawn in an instant! How should we deal with them?" Philip saw Han Sen pass by and made sure to voice his concern over their unwelcome squatters.
This Philip was quite something. The reason he was called Philip was because of his gluttonous appetite for fillet steaks.
Li Xinglun once said that Philipâs family was rather extensive, and he himself was quite talented. If he wasnât, he couldnât be a faction leader in the fragmented Icefields, after all.
"I will handle this. You guys donât need to do anything." Han Sen then went to look for Zero, and with her and the silver fox in tow, exited the shelter via the main gate.
The evolvers out on the road would always allow Han Sen to pass, and many would greet him as courteously as they could. Theyâd also make sure to pay their respects to the silver fox.
"That is the pet that killed the guy with an unlocked gene lock."
"It looks so... ordinary. Who would have thought it possessed so much power?"
"Aww, itâs so cute! I really want one."
...
Han Sen was holding the silver fox when he passed through the gate, but when he approached the ladybugs, they did not disappear underground. There was a dizzying amount of them, squirming and shimmering like a lake of molten silver.
But as Han Sen drew nearer, the presence of the silver fox eventually came to their attention. When it did, some ran away, whereas others burrowed underground as quickly as they could.
These silver beetles were very strange. You wouldnât receive an announcement when you killed one, there was no way to obtain a beast soul from them, and their carcasses simply decomposed without providing any meat for consumption.
It was the vast number of them that was most curious, though. It would seem no matter how many you killed, theyâd always come back.
Han Sen held the silver fox and ran around the area in a loop. Wherever he went, the silver beetles would disappear, but whenever he left and later returned, theyâd be back.
Han Sen summoned Princess Yinâs spirit, bringing her pretty shadow to life in front of him. He pointed towards the silver beetles and asked, "Whatâs the deal with these silver beetles?"
Princess Yin moved her pretty eyes and said, "They are not exactly âcreatures.â"
"Well, if they are not creatures... what are they?" Han Sen frowned as he enquired. After all, how could the creatures inside the shelters not be creatures?
"They would best be described as âweapons,â" Princess Yin said.
"Give me the details." Han Sen was quite curious about this revelation, so he pressed further.
Princess Yin then explained, "There is a Silver Beetle Mother somewhere underground, and she can constantly reproduce the smaller bugs that you see here. But theyâre not offspring or babies in the traditional sense, theyâre more like weapons."
Han Sen now understood why killing them was so useless; the actual creature they sought resided underground!
"Is the Silver Beetle Mother a sacred-blood creature?" Han Sen asked.
"Yes," Princess Yin confirmed.
Han Sen looked around, and said while furrowing his brow, "Where can she be found?"
"I am unable to control it, as I once could. Therefore, I do not know. As a rough approximation of their burrowed depths, they usually live around five hundred meters underground."
"Five hundred meters?!" Han Senâs eyebrows went even tighter. There was no way he would be able to drill five hundred meters underground to fight a sacred-blood Silver Beetle Mother.
But if he did not kill it, it would cost a lot of resources to have people remove their presence, day-in, day-out. And Han Sen would be the one paying the most; therefore, he did not want that.
"It is not difficult to kill the Silver Beetle Mother. In fact, if I had my sister, we could do it together ourselves," Yin fluttered her beautiful eyes.
"This is awesome." Han Sen did not think twice and immediately summoned Princess Yang.
The beautiful twins, one with silver hair and the other with gold hair, appeared in front of him. Han Sen could not help but gulp as he witnessed their presence before him, side-by-side. It was a gorgeous sight to behold.