Super Gene

Han Sen frowned, and Lilly looked upset. Then he realized something.

Han Sen was riding atop the blood kirin, following slowly behind Lan Haixin. He behaved as if he didn’t care, but the truth was, he didn’t know where the relic was. He stayed carefully behind Lan Haixin where he wouldn’t have to lead the party.

What confused Han Sen was that the old female Siren in front wasn’t guiding them away from Planet Water Zone. They were actually headed for the deeper recesses of the sea.

“Does the Siren treasure reside here on the planet? If the treasure is here, why haven’t they just gone and taken it already?” Han Sen thought for a minute and suddenly realized, “Maybe Lan Haixin and the others don’t have possession of the relic? Maybe they didn’t bring it with them; the relic might have already been on Planet Water Zone when they came here.”

Han Sen thought some more, and he considered many details. He thought to himself, “If that is what is happening, then Bai Yi’s mother should have kept the relic. In that case, why didn’t Bai Yi’s mother give the relic to her son? Based on the angry journal entries on Bai Yi’s computer, he had no idea where the relic was. But Lan Haixin did. This whole scenario makes no sense.”

Han Sen thought some more, but he couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for this. He eventually grew tired of the fruitless line of thought, so he decided to roll with things and see where his luck might take him. He would love to take the relic for himself, but it would be fine if he couldn’t. It wasn’t his, after all.

Following the guidance of that old Siren woman, Han Sen and the others stopped near a mountain deep beneath the sea.

Han Sen frowned and looked around.

He was very familiar with this underwater mountain. The last time he was here, he had been chasing the Move Mountain Sea Conch. In fact, this was where he killed both the Move Mountain Sea Conch and the Crystal God Conch.

But Han Sen had been on the left side of the mountain back then. Now, he was on the right side of the mountain.

“The Crystal God Conch cannot be related to this relic, surely,” Han Sen thought. He felt something very strange occurring.

Bai Yi had killed all of Planet Water Zone’s high-class xenogeneics. This underwater mountain had two Kings and one deified. That was definitely strange.

“My lady, it is okay.” The old Siren woman walked before a cliff face and bowed to Lan Haixin.

Lan Haixin nodded and gave Bao’er to the female Siren guard. Then she walked in front of the mountain and took the necklace off her neck.

The necklace was simple: a red chain adorned with a blue stone pendant. It wasn’t shiny like a gem, so it didn’t appear to be anything too special.

If Lan Haixin hadn’t brought it out now, Han Sen would never have known that it was important. He would have walked right past it if it was lying on the side of the road. It was too ordinary-looking to even draw the eye.

There was a small triangular hole in the mountainside, and Lan Haixin slid the blue stone into it. The stone fit the small hole perfectly. Then, a booming noise came from within the mountain.

The whole underwater mountain moved, revealing a dark path beneath. Stairs led downwards, but when Han Sen tried to look down them, he could only see blackness.

The seawater had been separated by some hidden force, too. The path was dry.

The old Siren woman slowly headed down the stairwell, and Lan Haixin brought Bao’er and the other Siren in with her.

Han Sen frowned and followed after Lan Haixin. He looked around dubiously, feeling nervous about something unseen. He couldn’t quite tell what was making him unsettled, though.

But Han Sen’s instincts were reliable. Aside from his guesses about whether or not he would receive a beast soul, his other feelings were fairly accurate.

If Han Sen was feeling this unsettled, there had to be some danger lurking in that place.

But he couldn’t yet detect any presences that shouldn’t have been there. The stairs led down and down, as if they would never end. The people shone like holy lights in the dark, but their lights only lit up a small portion of the area around them. And their lights didn’t penetrate far below.

Han Sen looked down the dark stairs, and he felt as if he was walking into the hellish maw of some terrible beast.

Lilly was scared, and she stood as close as she could to the blood kirin. She almost found herself hugging Han Sen’s legs. She was usually scared of the blood kirin and stayed as far away from him as she could. Clearly, the darkness scared her far more. Her decision to stay that close to Han Sen and the blood kirin revealed how frightened she really was.

In other circumstances, Han Sen already would have comforted her. But he was disguised as Bai Yi. Bai Yi wasn’t a man who showed compassion and concern for others, so he pretended as if there was nothing to see.

The group moved silently. Han Sen wasn’t certain how long they’d been traveling, but he figured it was at least eight hours before they saw a light up ahead in the darkness.

“We’re almost there.” The old Siren woman looked happy, and she moved a little faster.

The light grew brighter. After walking for another half hour, Han Sen saw what was basking in the light. And what he saw shocked him.

It was a crystal palace that looked like it had come straight out of a legend. The whole palace was bathed in holy light and mysterious clouds. It looked like something out of a dream.

When Han Sen and the others drew closer, they saw that the crystal palace’s gate had a sign above it. It really did say Crystal Palace.

Looking at the Crystal Palace, Han Sen felt rather nervous. His heart jumped.

The Crystal Palace was entirely transparent, as if it had been crafted from flawless crystals. He should have been able to see straight through it, but clouds and strange sparkles of rainbow light hung within the Crystal Palace. It was impossible to see what lay within the palace.

The rainbow light caught Han Sen off guard. It looked like the Crystal God Conch’s rainbow.

The crystal of the Crystal Palace looked like the material that composed the Crystal God Conch’s shell.

“Is that just a coincidence?” Han Sen wondered, but he doubted that.

Now Han Sen hesitated to continue forward. If the Crystal God Conch was a xenogeneic from Crystal Palace, it was possible that another deified xenogeneic might be inside, as well.

Han Sen glanced over at Bao’er and the little red bird atop Bao’er’s shoulder. They didn’t seem concerned about the place, so that put him at ease a little.

As Han Sen was thinking, the team came before the gate of the Crystal Palace. And there, Lan Haixin looked at Han Sen. “Your turn.”

Han Sen was startled. He didn’t know what Lan Haixin meant, but he couldn’t reveal his confusion.

So, Han Sen kept looking at the gate of the Crystal Palace, pretending to be lost in thought.

“You’re already here. What are you waiting for? Do you not trust your mother? If she hadn’t set the Crystal Palace gate to only open to your blood, I wouldn’t have accepted her request.” Lan Haixin looked at Han Sen coldly. “Now that you know where the Crystal Palace lies, are you really going to try to back out of our deal?”