Super Gene

The planet was part of Ghost Starlight. The whole planet was full of land pulses. One only needed to take three steps to discover another small pulse. If one took 10 steps, one could probably find a big pulse. If one used a shovel to dig a bit, one might get a gene egg. Of course, that was a bit exaggerated, but there were many land pulses and gene eggs. In a few short days, they were able to dig up a thousand gene eggs. Although there were no god-class gene eggs, there were a lot of king-class gene eggs. On the fifth day of their dig, something happened. A big dragon space knight died. In the beginning, no one noticed it. The rider was sleeping in a tent with a few other riders.

The next day, he just stopped breathing. His body was already cold when it was discovered. He had no wounds, and the other knight riders had not heard anything. They thought he must have died from a sickness of some kind.

Over the next few days, one rider died during their sleep each night. They all passed away quietly without wounds.

The medics examined the knights’ bodies and found no problems. There was no poison in them, and their organs were fine. It was as if they had died naturally.

Sky King thought someone had come to fight him for the land pulse, so he sent someone to scour the area. He also had powerful gene casters in place to defend the area.

In the end, they were unable to find anything. One person was still dying daily. It was no more and no less. It worried all of the big dragon riders. None dared to sleep. They were scared that they would be the next one to die.

“My King, I do not think this is about a potential enemy doing something,” Mister Wei said to Sky King.

“What do you mean by that?” Sky King asked with a squint of his eyes. He looked calm, but people who knew him knew that his mood was secretly sour. “The riders who mysteriously died one by one were digging in the same zone as the land pulse,” Mister Wei said. “From what I can tell, they should have been affected by the same land pulse.”

“Are you saying there is a gene race near that land pulse?” Sky King asked with surprise.

Mister Wei shook his head. “It might not be a gene race. Many land pulses have unlucky powers, such as an evil spirit spring weird scene.”

“I asked, but they did not find an evil spirit spring there,” Sky King answered.

Mister Wei said, “An evil spirit spring is a rather obvious weird scene. There are some worse powers out there that are not as easy to trace. I want to go to that land pulse and see what happens.”

“Sure. I will go with you. I would like to see what is causing this.” Sky King spoke with a murderous look.

Han Sen and the others followed as well. After all, Han Sen had taken a 30% cut, so it would not be very nice if he sat there doing nothing at all to contribute.

The dead riders had dug at different locations of the land pulse, but they were always near the same river.

That river was the biggest one on the planet. It was more than 10,000 miles long. It also had several branches.

Other creatures on the planet had almost entirely been wiped out by the toxic bees. Some had managed to stay alive in the water. Sky King believed it must have been a gene race that survived in the water causing the problem. After investigating it, they discovered nothing.

Mister Wei brought a few students with him to follow the river. They observed the river and how it flowed. They took out something that looked like a disc to confirm their location.

They eventually reached the land pulse where the knights had been digging. On the way, Mister Wei did not have much to say. For the duration of their journey, his face looked gloomier by the minute.

After he checked out a few spots on the land pulse, Mister Wei looked at Sky King with seriousness. “Mister King, we cannot dig this land pulse within 300 miles of this river.”

“Why is that?” Sky King asked with genuine curiosity.

Mister Wei pointed at the river and said, “Please look over there. The river starts from a snowy highland. It should go to the sea, but halfway down this river, it goes underground. It creates an underground river. Although it still flows to the sea, in this formation, the land pulse has a name. It is called a Snake Turtle Hide.”

“What is a Snake Turtle Hide formation? I have never heard of such a thing,” Sky King asked.

Mister Wei had a wry smile. “The river above the land pulse is called a dragon pulse, but dragons fly through the nine clouds. They do not go underground. Right now, half the river is underground, and thus it is like a snake hiding in a turtle shell. That is why it is called a Snake Turtle Hide.”

“What is so special about this formation? Why can’t we dig here?” Sky King asked.

Mister Wei replied, “Mister, have you heard about snakes and turtles fighting each other?”

“I have seen a lot,” Sky King said with a nod.

Mister Wei nodded and went on to say, “If snakes want to eat turtles, they have to bite their necks. When the turtle is in pain, it will bite the snake’s body and retreat its head back into the shell. The snake’s head will be brought in with it too. During this kind of snake and turtle fight, they will bite each other and let go until they are both dead. It ensures that if one goes down, the other goes down with it. The Snake Turtle Hide formation is like that. If we dig land pulses near this river, it is like we are digging the snake’s body and turtle shell. The snake and turtle that killed each other might now be set free. The person who digs the snake’s body and turtle shell will be in bad shape. This is an extremely bad formation. It is one of the evilest land pulses in existence. If we keep digging here, something negative will happen. Even if you do get some gene eggs out of it, it will never be worth it.”

“The area of this river is very large, and there are many land pulses,” Sky King said. “If we do not dig within 300 miles of the river, we will take on at least 10% to 20% additional damage. Do you have a way to fix that?”

“The evil pulse is here now, so there is nothing I can do,” Mister Wei said, looking rather sad.

“If things are indeed like that, then let’s not dig up anything.” Sky King understood. He ordered people to replan their excavation efforts and avoid any area that resided within 300 miles of the river.

As for the river that led underground, Mister Wei calculated where it went so they could avoid it.

After that, the big dragon riders stopped having a fatality every day. No more knights died during their dig.

They thought things were now okay. After a few days, lights began to glow inside the river. It was like a nightlight river.

Looking out at the planet, a shiny, real dragon was lying on the ground. It looked very bright.

Anyone was able to tell that this was a weird scene with a land pulse that could shock the world. It was a shame that it was within the Snake Turtle Hide formation. There was no way to get at it.

After Sky King sent a group of knights to the river to dig up a land pulse, the riders all died within a few days. There was not a single survivor.

After that, Sky King did not dare send anyone out there to dig land pulses. Every day, he watched that land pulse that shocked the sky, but he did not dig. He was very upset.