Super Gene

“Please don’t tell me Han Sen is your fake name,” Fox Queen said, smiling at Han Sen.

“My name is Han Sen. San Mu is just a nickname. Only close family and my bestest friends call me by that name,” Han Sen said shyly.

Fox Queen rolled her eyes, but she wasn’t going to push the subject any further. She looked back at Edward and the others and asked, “And who are you people, exactly?”

Ice Blue Knight King told her, “We are Ice Blue Knights of the Extreme King. Please do not misunderstand our intent, for we are only here to apprehend the criminal traitor known as Han Sen. We didn’t mean to offend you!”

“What did he do to incite your wrath?” Fox Queen asked with curiosity. “This is quite the hunting party you’ve assembled.”

Ice Blue Knight King and Edward frowned. They had told her they were Extreme King deliberately, knowing that the name was feared all across the universe.

But when they looked at Fox Queen’s face, they saw no hint of fear or trepidation. Their attempted name-drop had failed quite spectacularly.

The Shapeshifting Foxes weren’t one of the top races, and even a deified fox should have been afraid of the Extreme King. However, Fox Queen seemed entirely unperturbed.

What they didn’t know was that the Extreme King only rose to prominence after Fox Queen had been incarcerated in the palace. Their name meant little to her, as they were a minor race back in her heyday.

“He is a traitor in the Ice Blue Knights. It was difficult for us to locate him. Being the slithering, tricky little snake that he is, he managed to escape. He eluded us for a while, but we traced him all the way to this place. It was never our intention to offend you,” Edward went on to say. His face was straining under the weight of his forced sincerity.

Han Sen and Fox Queen had only exchanged a few words in front of Edward, but he could tell that the relationship between them wasn’t very warm. So, he didn’t mention the relic he sought.

Han Sen had to be keeping the relic somewhere on his person. That meant they had a chance. If Edward mentioned the relic, and it was claimed by a deified being, they stood no chance of reclaiming it.

Fox Queen’s face looked like stone. She held a cord of power and used it like a whip to lash Edward, who was still hanging in the air upside-down. His face was gashed as the whip tore so deeply into his flesh that it exposed the bone of his skull. Blood began to dribble through his hair.

Everyone was shocked. Fox Queen did not say a word as she continued the whipping. A short time later, Edward was covered in open wounds and dripping blood.

“I was lying to people before your great-grandmother was even born. And you think you can deceive me? Do you want to die?” Fox Queen’s gaze was hard as she looked at the blood-soaked Edward. “Let me ask you again: why are you chasing him?”

“He stole something very important from us! That is why we have been chasing him,” Edward said.

“And what is this thing?” Fox Queen frowned, but she stopped hitting Edward.

“We don’t know what it is!” As Fox Queen started to move her hand, he immediately said, “We discovered an ancient city in the desert. Han Sen snuck in and stole an item from that city, although we’re not sure what it was. If you would like to know what he stole, then you will have to ask him.”

Fox Queen looked carefully at Edward and the others, then she turned to Han Sen. With a smile, she said, “My good brother San Mu, it looks like you’ve already retrieved the item from that city you mentioned. Very good.”

“I did take something from that old city.” Han Sen nodded.

“Where is it?” Fox Queen’s eyes looked sharp. Even to her, any item that had belonged to the Sacred Leader would be quite tempting.

Han Sen smiled. He had no intention of revealing the stone plate to anyone. He merely said, “Sister, which you would prefer: this item or your freedom?”

“I am very greedy. I want freedom and the item.” Fox Queen’s cord of power suddenly moved. It was headed for Han Sen.

Han Sen shot off to the side hall, wanting to race right into the hellish skeletal gate.

As soon as Han Sen appeared in the side hall, Fox Queen’s cord of power was already on him. But suddenly, a bird’s nest appeared in Han Sen’s hand. Inside it, there was a red egg.

The cord of power could bind a half-deified elite easily, but when it touched the bird’s nest, it snapped like dry twine.

As the attack dissipated, Han Sen flapped his wings and escaped through a slither-of-a-gap between the substance chains coming for him. Then he leaped straight through the hellish skeletal gate.

Fox Queen was shocked. When she entered the White Bone Hell after him, Han Sen was already gone. She had limited power and mobility in that place, so she could only stand atop the skeleton mountain and glower after Han Sen. She couldn’t chase him any further.

“Han Sen, do you want to grow old and die inside the White Bone Hell?” Fox Queen squinted as she looked around.

“There are worse ways to die than in the company of a pretty lady like you.” Han Sen stood far away atop a distant peak and smiled at Fox Queen.

Fox Queen didn’t say another word. She returned to the palace.

Back inside the palace, Fox Queen looked at Edward and the others. She waved her hand, tossing everyone other than Mister White through the hellish skeletal gate.

“Bring Han Sen and the item back to me, or die here,” Fox Queen commanded. Edward and the others were then tossed into the hellish skeletal gate.

As the others shakily stood up and began moving off into the White Bone Hell, Fox Queen turned back to Mister White. “You know how to break the restrictions of this place?”

“I know a little.” Mister White nodded.

“Breaking the front gate… That was no easy task.” Fox Queen raised her lips in a slight smile.

When Han Sen saw Edward and the others fly into the White Bone Hell face first, he knew exactly what was going on. He immediately retreated to the blood kirin’s lotus mountain.

Edward and the others stared mutely at the white bone world around them. They were just as stunned as Han Sen had been when he first entered that place.

Crime concentrated as he activated a special power. In a few seconds, he detected Han Sen sneaking his way over to the lotus mountains. “He’s over there!”

“Let’s go!” Ice Blue Knight King barked the command, and they all took off in pursuit of Han Sen.

The White Bone Hell was so large that it would be difficult to find Han Sen again if he got too far away from them.

And because of Fox Queen’s implied threat, they now had even more motivation for retrieving that relic.

Ice Blue Knight King was the fastest of the bunch, so he arrived at the lotus mountain first. Just as he was about to enter, however, he suddenly felt a blood air rise from the lotus mountaintop.

He had been sprinting forward at full speed, and his momentum kept him from changing direction quickly. He gathered up his strength and sent a wave of deep blue power against the tide of red.

Boom!

The blood air ripped straight through Ice Blue Knight King’s deep blue power. The attack tore through the armor on his chest without even slowing down, and blood began to spurt from his chest with unnatural speed. It was as if some power was sucking the blood out of him.