Super Gene

Han Sen stood atop the waterfall, absorbing the moon and cold powers alongside the smaller jade toads.

When Night River King saw this, his face hardened. Inside, he was thinking to himself, “This must have been set up before Knife left or something. That must have been why she allowed him to become the Cold Palace guardian. How could Knife treat an outsider so well without sparing a second thought to her own kind, the Rebate?”

Night River King thought this must have been a scheme concocted by Yisha. That was the only explanation he could think of for Han Sen’s immunity to the cold powers and his friendship with the jade toad. He had no idea that, in reality, Yisha hadn’t been able to get that close to the jade toad either.

He was angry, but there was nothing he could do to Han Sen. He most certainly regretted giving Han Sen permission to access Planet Blade. If he hadn’t caved in, Han Sen wouldn’t have been able to do anything.

Night River King forced himself to ignore Han Sen’s presence for the moment. He cast his geno art and readied himself to absorb the moonlight.

But just as he prepared to absorb the moonlight, Han Sen stepped forward atop the waterfall and went before the moonlight that the jade toad was spitting out. By doing that, he completely blocked it from Night River King.

Night River King’s parcel of land was left completely dark. He was wholly inside Han Sen’s shadow, and he couldn’t see the moonlight he wished to absorb.

“D*mn it!” Night River King thought furiously. But in the presence of the jade toad, he wouldn’t dare make a disturbing noise. He didn’t want to interrupt the jade toad, which was still in the process of unleashing moonlight.

Night River King didn’t think the jade toad was all that nice of a creature. The jade toad used to be very infamous for its cruelty. It had once swallowed a planet and killed countless people. Its true self couldn’t have been as friendly as it seemed to be with Han Sen.

The jade toad wasn’t in Narrow Moon as a subordinate of the Rebate. It was a joint-partnership.

The jade toad had to spit out moonlight to practice its geno arts. Narrow Moon had many moons, so it was the perfect place for it to practice.

The jade toad had intended to enter Narrow Moon by brute force. It would have begun a war, and during that war, it probably would have extinguished the lantern of the Rebate. Luckily, the Extreme King had intervened. They stopped the deified creature and established the working deal between the toad and the Rebate.

The jade toad was permitted to live in Narrow Moon, and in the meantime, the Rebate would look after it. The Rebate would send one person with the guardian tablet, and the toad would also allow that individual to absorb the moonlight powers. And if Narrow Moon even faced a crisis, the jade toad would have to chip-in and help.

Over the many years since, the jade toad had been taken care of by the Rebate. And always, one of the Rebate was elected to absorb the moonlight. It was a peaceful thing. And Kings like Night River King, who was very old, still remembered the time when the jade toad wished to force its way into the Narrow Moon system. The fear had been constant in those days, and the old King knew better than to attempt provoking it.

Now Han Sen was there, blocking the moonlight, and it was prohibiting him from absorbing the moon powers. A dour look etched itself into Night River King’s face. His forehead was green, and the blood vessels in his eyes looked like they were about to burst. There was nothing he could do about it, either.

Night River King gritted his teeth, looked around, and thought to himself, “If Han Sen is allowed to go up there, then I should be able to select a different spot to sit.”

Night River King wanted to move to a different position, but he didn’t dare go close to the waterfall. He just wanted to place himself at a different angle to absorb the moonlight powers from an area that wasn’t cloaked by Han Sen’s shadow.

Night River King wasn’t sure if that would work or not. The agreement with the toad stated that the guardian must always remain on the porch.

If he wasn’t permitted to go anywhere else, then he had no way of keeping Han Sen from blocking the moonlight. Not a single ray of light would be able to reach him, and he’d be unable to practice. But of course, that wasn’t something he’d be willing to let happen.

Night River King mustered the courage necessary to risk moving. While looking at the jade toad, he raised one leg with the intent of putting it down off the porch.

But the moment his leg rose, the jade toad atop the waterfall moved its eyeball and looked his way. A chill rolled over Night River King’s heart. He stopped, as if he had been stricken with petrification. Cold sweat covered his brow, and he didn’t dare complete the move. He pulled his leg back.

The jade toad returned to looking at the sky. It was as if nothing had happened.

“Why… why… How could things turn out this way?” Night River King stood in place, his forehead glistening with sweat. His face had gone ashen, robbed of color and fixed with a contorted expression.

It had been a long struggle for him to gain the position of guardian, but now that he had finally achieved his goal, he was unable to see any of the moonlight the jade toad was spitting out. He could only sit there uselessly and enjoy the cool breeze, like a run-of-the-mill security guard.

“Han Sen… Han Sen… I will kill you…” Night River King hissed. He stared up at the back of the man standing atop the waterfall, and a capillary pulsed in his forehead.

Of course, while the toad was still there, Night River King could only remain where he was. He had almost ground his teeth to dust.

Han Sen hadn’t spared Night River King a single glance the entire time, though. He stood in front of the moonlight, absorbing as much of the power as he could, all alone.

He knew Night River King despised him, but so what? If Han Sen just gave up without fighting, that was exactly what would make Night River King happy. And it would only halt Han Sen’s progress in leveling up.

Humanity was born to compete. Even from the time each individual was a sperm amongst billions of others, everything was a race. In a family, fighting siblings for resources was common. Fighting against classmates for opportunities, or fighting against your workmates for chances of advancement. Fighting off creatures for the claim of food. Fighting for the chance to be the one who would evolve first.

If someone refused to fight, they’d never become better. They’d never reach the top.

If Han Sen had been afraid to fight, he wouldn’t be traveling the road he was currently on. Instead of coming to the geno universe, he’d have stayed at home to make babies.

Anyone who crossed over to the geno universe, whether they were Han Sen or Ning Yue, they all knew what they would face: a fight. They would do anything to proceed, and falling back wasn’t an option.

Night River King had cut off Han Sen’s resources. That meant he had put a stop to Han Sen’s chances of evolving. That was as bad as killing Han Sen’s parents. And that meant Han Sen couldn’t settle for peace with him.

The moment Han Sen accepted the legacy items, he knew right away that only one of them would end up hurting.

Night River King stood on the stone porch, and he stared at the shadow falling from atop the waterfall. He wanted to kill Han Sen, but he could only stand and watch as the man absorbed the moon power.

Han Sen looked so cold and proud. In his mind, he swore that if anyone fought against him for resources, they’d be the ones left chewing dust.

The shadow was like a mountain’s, and it left Night River King gasping. He really wanted to kill Han Sen. And he began to scheme for a way in which he could make Han Sen dead.