Chapter 28: Eliminating the Source

Despite having anticipated it, Ding Huan was still disappointed, but at least he now knew Qu Yi had people protecting her.

Ding Huan held little hope for the man and woman protecting Qu Yi; if they truly could protect her, Qu Yi would never have been captured by the Gene Alliance in his past life and killed in a human gene experiment.

Since he could not gain Qu Yi's trust, he had to seek the source.

Ding Huan now knew who was watching Qu Yi: the two men staying at the You Dun Luxury Hotel.

In the following days, Ding Huan purchased materials for disguise; he did not want things to spiral out of control.

The best solution was to eliminate the uncontrollable factor causing Qu Yi's danger.

Even though he knew Qu Yi would not be taken for testing until five months from now, Ding Huan refused to take the risk.

If he had not just investigated the You Dun Luxury Hotel, Ding Huan would have killed those two men days ago.

Ding Huan waited over a week before disguising himself and entering the You Dun Luxury Hotel.

He did not choose to go at night; daytime, with people coming and going, was safest. At night, with fewer people, his disguise would make him stand out more.

He took the elevator directly to the 11th floor of the You Dun Luxury Hotel, walked to Room 1123, and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came a lazy voice from inside.

"Hotel ice drink delivery," Ding Huan replied, his voice slightly gentle.

"We didn't order any ice drink…" The door opened as he spoke.

Ding Huan stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

"Who are you?" The man who opened the door immediately stepped back several paces—he clearly realized Ding Huan was not hotel staff, dressed oddly.

A full beard, a baseball cap, sunglasses nearly covering half his face.

"Get out…" The other man pulled out a knife, shouting for Ding Huan to leave, already swinging the blade.

He had no intention of letting Ding Huan actually leave.

Ding Huan did not even dodge; instead, he stepped forward, his hand moving faster than the attack, grabbing the man's wrist and twisting it sharply upward.

A sharp *crack* echoed as the wrist snapped easily.

"Aaah…" A piercing scream rang out; the knife fell from the man's hand, and he collapsed to one knee, as if bowing to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan flicked his foot, catching the knife mid-air, then looked at the other man, frozen in shock, and said,

"If you make even one more sound, I guarantee you'll fall completely silent."

"Who are you? Do you know where we're from? We're…"

The man with the broken wrist turned pale from pain, still roaring.

Before he could utter the words "Gene Alliance," Ding Huan swept his knife across—blood sprayed in an arc, and the kneeling man's head was cleanly severed.

The man who had opened the door fell backward onto the floor, his face equally pale with terror.

How had he ever seen such a bloody scene? True, gene beasts ran rampant now, but men like him had never set foot on a battlefield.

The harshness of human survival affected only ordinary civilians—it had nothing to do with them.

Ding Huan tapped the man's face with the knife. "See? I said I'd make him silent."

"I don't know anything…" The man finally snapped out of his terror, trembling as he spoke.

"I ask one question, you answer one. If you lie or stay silent, you'll be silent too." Ding Huan sat down in a chair.

Even though Ding Huan had sat down, the man inside the room—where Ding Huan had just slaughtered a man in blood—was still gripped by terror.

"What's your name?"

"Chang Chang Chongjin."

"Which organization? What are you doing here?"

"We're from the Gene Alliance. Our mission is to guard the Huaxia Martial Gene Testing Building daily, searching for special gene carriers."

"How many have you found?"

"All of them are here." The man did not hesitate or conceal anything—he picked up the notebook on the table and handed it to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan flipped through the notebook; at least twenty names were listed, Qu Yi clearly among them.

What surprised Ding Huan was that Qu Yi was not an Alien Gene Affinity Carrier, but a Coupled Gene Carrier.

He had been wrong—but accidentally right; he had assumed the man meant Qu Yi when speaking of an Alien Gene Affinity Carrier, but now realized the Alien Gene Affinity Carrier was someone else entirely.

That was strange—if Qu Yi was a Coupled Gene Carrier, why was she still being taken for gene testing?

"Have these records been submitted?" Ding Huan raised the notebook.

The man shook his head quickly. "No, all these are handwritten notes. After the assessment begins, we must deliver them to Boss Quan."

"Who is Boss Quan?"

"He's the Gene Alliance's appointed officer assigned to this Blue Star Top Ten Academies assessment, tasked with finding talent."

Ding Huan sneered. "Finding talent? You mean finding people to be used in gene experiments—or sent to die."

The man gaped, staring at Ding Huan in disbelief—how did Ding Huan know this?

He and his partner could only vaguely guess that those they recorded would never appear again.

The Gene Alliance was so powerful because people constantly died to feed new gene development.

Every new gene that emerged meant another money-printing machine for the Gene Alliance.

They could guess—but dared not speak. To say such things aloud meant you didn't want to see tomorrow's sun.

"Tell me, what's Boss Quan's real name? Do you have a photo? Where does he live?" Ding Huan knew he wouldn't get more.

The man shook his head. "I don't know. I only know his codename is Boss Quan. Only those qualified to meet him call him Uncle Quan."

"After the gene assessment begins, we take this data to the Ting Huan Hotel—someone will come to us automatically."

…

An hour later, Ding Huan left the You Dun Luxury Hotel and returned to his lodging.

The next day, while eating, Ding Huan heard the news that two Gene Alliance members had been killed.

A high-end hotel had been sealed off, and officials were everywhere on the streets conducting checks; the Gene Alliance's security personnel acted as if they had gone mad, searching every hotel.

Ding Huan sighed inwardly—it was two members of the Gene Alliance who had been killed. If ordinary people were killed, even two hundred of them, there wouldn't be a single mention in the newspapers the next day.

Such a massive search was impossible.

Not to mention ordinary people—even when he killed two members of the Washing Knife Society back in Luohe, the matter had simply faded away.

Even if that incident hadn't been fully resolved, the Washing Knife Society wouldn't dare openly target him—they could only act in secret.

This showed just how powerful the Gene Alliance was.

Ding Huan acted as if nothing had happened; for the next few days, he trained as usual and ate as usual.

The Gene Alliance found no results; they couldn't even determine what the killer who murdered their two members looked like.

Because the killer had disguised himself, and after entering Room 1123, he never came out—he must have left through the room's window.

Who but an extraordinary person could escape through a window on the eleventh floor?

Puhai was the site of the Blue Star's Top Ten Academies' recruitment exams, and as the exam date drew near, more and more people arrived in Puhai.

No matter how powerful the Gene Alliance was, it was still just an international organization.

The Gene Alliance's loud, public search for the killer of its members had already stirred resentment from all sides.

Besides, Puhai was a vital city of Huaxia; before such a major event, the Gene Alliance couldn't monopolize control and cause unrest and panic to spread.

At this point, the Gene Alliance could only lower its flags and cease its open investigation.

Ding Huan had no intention of letting it go; he planned to find Quan Laoda at the Huan Hotel after the Blue Star's Top Ten Academies' recruitment exams began.

It would be best to eliminate this man—last life, Seeing Qu Yi had been taken away by him and then killed.

For now, it was better to stay low-key; let Quan Laoda boast a few more days.

"You? Ding Huan?"

One morning, after breakfast, Ding Huan was buying information about the Blue Star's Top Ten Academies' exams at the hotel entrance when someone called out to him.

With the Blue Star's Top Ten Academies' exams approaching, new news emerged daily; no matter which hotel you stayed in, you could buy this information right at the entrance.

Ding Huan turned his head in confusion and saw Luo Xinwei standing not far away.

"Luo Xinwei?" Ding Huan recognized her, felt a flicker of surprise, but didn't dwell on it.

In his eyes, Luo Xinwei was no different from any passerby.

"Ding Huan, it really is you! What are you doing here?" Luo Xinwei immediately walked over.

No matter what, she owed Ding Huan many favors; without him, she wouldn't be who she was today—not to mention that she now worked as a tutor at Luohe Shangwu University.

"Oh, I'm a tutor—I'm tagging along with Teacher Geng. Teacher Geng brought several students preparing for the Blue Star's Top Ten Academies' exams, and I came ahead to Puhai to scout the situation."

Ding Huan answered casually.

Luo Xinwei stared at Ding Huan in astonishment; she never expected he could land such a position.

This wasn't an ordinary job—anything tied to the Blue Star's Top Ten Academies' exams was no small matter.

Even she, through all her flattery, could only assist the Luohe Shangwu University team with menial tasks; at least, she had made it to Puhai.

"Xinwei, let's go!" came a voice from afar.

Luo Xinwei quickly told Ding Huan, "Ding Huan, good luck—you'll definitely succeed!"

Then she hurried off to catch up with her companions.

Ding Huan was baffled—succeed at what? He had no idea.

Hmm, something was off—he felt a sensation like being watched by a venomous snake.

He turned around again; a black shadow flashed away—was it a woman watching him? With hatred?

That back was so familiar—who was this woman?