Super Gene

Ancient Devil stood next to the river and gazed across to it. After a while, he said, “This river is a bit weird. Maybe there is something underneath it. We should go down deeper into the lake.”

Han Sen looked at the lake. He did not know much about land pulses and things like that, but his sense of perception was razorblade sharp. He felt that the lake was special in some capacity. It was like there was some spirit air coming down from it.

Ancient Devil was down in the water. He swam into the lake. Han Sen followed. The water was cool and comforting, but there was nothing inherently special about it.

The surface of the lake was green. Usually, green lakes were not very deep. The darker a lake was, the deeper the water was.

This green lake was bottomless. They dove 900 to 1,200 feet, and there was still no end to their deep dive.

If they were outside Dust Sky, they could dive around 1,500 feet. Even if they had to dive 120,000 or 150,000 feet, they would have been unaffected. In Dust Sky, diving 120,000 or 150,000 feet cost them a lot of power.

Ancient Devil performed a gesture to Han Sen. It was like he had found something. Han Sen nodded and followed him in the dive. He followed Ancient Devil deeper down. It was not long before they were under the lake where there was a big crevice. It was like there was a cliff beneath it.

After landing on the cliff, Han Sen peered down the drop. The water was pitch-black. It was like a gateway to hell. They could not tell how deep they would have to go.

Han Sen looked down further. In that pitch-black darkness, an eye was peering up at them. It seemed to frown as it looked upon Ancient Devil.

Ancient Devil felt something. He looked at Han Sen. They could not talk underwater, but their hearts were in sync. They knew what each other was going to say.

They nodded. The two of them were diving down deeper into the water below the cliff. The most dangerous place they could be was where they were staring into.

They were both commoners. Their sense of perception was low. In the pitch-black water, they could not see through the lake. Even if something was directly in front of them, they would not have seen it. They could only dive in based on their confidence in their feelings.

Han Sen’s ability of sense was still there. He felt as if there was an eye staring at them in the dark. It was like the eye of a toxic snake that ate people.

When the water moved, Han Sen felt Ancient Devil come near him. Even so, he could not be accurate about where exactly he was. All he could do was keep diving.

Suddenly, Han Sen felt something bad was about to happen. He ceased all hesitation and moved his body to the side like a fish.

He was too late. It felt as if his leg had been snared by a snake. He quickly went deeper down. He was going deep into the farther recesses of the lake. The water splashed wildly. There was a white wake of water bubbles behind Han Sen. It was because he was sinking too fast. The water was kind of like a whirlpool. It spun for a while before the empty space of his prior presence was filled.

Han Sen reached out his hand to grab what had latched onto his leg. Whatever it was, it felt cold. It was as thick as an arm and felt like it had the scales of a fish or a snake. It was unknown if it was a snake or what.

Han Sen tugged at it twice. The thing was very tight. It was so tight and powerful that he could not move it. He used his hand like a knife and kept striking the skin. Nothing was achieved.

Suddenly, a halo appeared in front of him. He saw a strap was tying up his leg. It looked like a snake, and it looked like a fish. It was impossible to tell what it was, but it was black. Han Sen could not see its head.

Ancient Devil was not far from Han Sen. Just like Han Sen, he was also getting dragged by that thing. While they were both sinking quick, two big empty pillars appeared behind them.

The light was coming from someplace below their feet. The monster was trying to pull them toward the light.

They sank very quickly. The light was getting brighter. Han Sen now knew what was up with the lighting.

It was a copper tablet. There was a lot of seaweed around it. After looking closely, though, he noticed it wasn’t seaweed he was seeing. It was the weird stuff that surrounded Han Sen and Ancient Devil.

The copper light came out from the copper tablet. It was unknown how long the copper tablet had been there. The lake’s water had corroded it somewhat, but it did not look broken.

In that green light, Han Sen saw the copper tablet had two words written on it: Destiny Tablet.

Han Sen observed it. He saw the seaweed-like monsters were coming for him as a group. Ancient Devil and Han Sen could not fight back. They were both tangled up.

His legs, hands, waist, neck, and other parts were bound. He was like a mummy, and he was being pulled toward the Destiny Tablet.

Pang!

Ancient Devil and Han Sen struck the bronze tablet. Their noses bled, and their faces were twisted following the smack. Their cheeks cracked.

Soon after, they discovered that there was no water by the bronze tablet. Han Sen wanted to escape, but he heard Ancient Devil quietly say, “Do not move. This is Evil God’s Beard. The more you move, the faster you die.”

Han Sen saw Ancient Devil stand where he was without moving. He let the weird thing come all over him. He did not move. He knew Ancient Devil was not just lying to him, so he stopped moving too.

Evil God’s Beard did not let them go just because they stopped moving. It still surrounded them, and the bindings were becoming tighter. Han Sen felt as if his bones were going to break due to the squeeze.

Ancient Devil was faring a bit better. Han Sen quietly said, “This is not looking good. Is there a way for us to get out of this?”

“Destiny Tablet and Evil God’s Beard are both here. That means Mister Leader’s body is here too. We have come to the right place.” Ancient Devil’s eyes looked bright.

“Why are you not answering what I am asking?” Han Sen asked with a streak of depression. “I am asking if you have a way to kill this thing. Even if your leader’s body was right in front of us, it won’t matter if we’re dead.”

Ancient Devil was being strangled. He could not breathe, but he was still able to remain calm. “Do you know how to play dead?”

“Play dead?” Han Sen did not know what Ancient Devil meant.

“You will live if you play dead. Otherwise, real death is the only way out for you.” Ancient Devil closed his eyes and rolled his head like he had died. There was no more presence from his body anymore.