Chapter 4: That Girl

After leaving the school, Ding Huan immediately accelerated and turned onto a path he rarely took before, as he remembered an important matter.

In his previous life, it was also today that he felt very disappointed because he couldn't stay at the Heluo Upper Martial University as an instructor. He hadn't even felt this disappointed when he was kicked out of the Baiyu Group as an heir by Ding Jie, so he drank some alcohol at a small restaurant near the school.

Just as he stepped out of the small restaurant after drinking, he was hit by a car, and then he heard someone shouting to send him to the hospital immediately.

However, when he woke up, he wasn't in a hospital, but by a trash heap.

At that time, his legs had been broken. That wasn't the worst part; the worst part was that his eyes had been gouged out.

If it weren't for that old man who scavenged trash, he probably wouldn't have had a future from that day on.

On an Earth where genetic mutations and fierce beasts ran rampant, let alone the death of an insignificant student, even if a small town were slaughtered by beasts, it would only appear on the evening news for a few minutes.

After that old man picked him up, he didn't know where he had been sent.

He remembered the old man only saying one sentence: "This kid is one of the very few cross-genetic affinity types, with an affinity definitely reaching over eighty percent. If you take him, the price is one thousand Alliance coins."

At that time, Ding Huan couldn't speak, but he heard the old man's words clearly, and he understood even better that he was not some cross-genetic affinity type.

The so-called cross-genetic affinity type was not only capable of fusing with the vast majority of genetic agents, but when fusing with some incorrect genetic agents, they would only show symptoms of non-fusion for a short time, and the probability of death was much lower than that of ordinary people fusing with genes. To put it bluntly, they were suitable as test-subject machines.

This was extremely valuable. Nowadays, various genetic agents were flooding the market, but truly excellent genetic agents were rare. When major genetic research institutions developed a new genetic agent, they had to have someone test it.

Every time a valuable genetic agent was released, it was a true money-printing machine.

For genetic agent testing, the cross-genetic affinity type was naturally the best. They could quickly reflect the problems with the genetic agent, helping researchers correct the genetic agent in the shortest possible time, thereby shortening the research and development time for qualified genetic agents.

Wanting to buy a true cross-genetic affinity type for one thousand Alliance coins was a pipe dream. So, even though his legs were broken and his eyes were gone, he was immediately taken away from the old man.

Ding Huan suddenly thought of that old man. The scavenging old man was definitely not simple, because he only learned later that he really was a cross-genetic affinity type.

A taxi came from afar, and Ding Huan hailed it.

No matter who wanted to kill him, and no matter who that old man was, he had to leave this place immediately.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Qianjiang Gate," Ding Huan said.

It would take twenty minutes from where he got on to the Qianjiang Gate restaurant. Just as the taxi was about to reach Qianjiang Gate, Ding Huan suddenly said, "Master, stop here. I'll walk the rest of the way; I need to buy something first."

Concerning his own life, Ding Huan had to be cautious.

After getting out of the taxi, Ding Huan quickly entered a street with a fair number of people. An hour and a half later, Ding Huan arrived at Yujiang University.

"You want to report for duty?" A middle-aged woman in the personnel department of Yujiang University stared blankly at Ding Huan in front of her, completely unable to understand which planet this guy came from.

Yujiang University couldn't even pay salaries now and was truly on the verge of closing down. How could someone still come to report for duty?

Ding Huan placed his identity documents and assignment letter in front of the middle-aged woman and said with a beaming smile, "Sister, look, can I report for duty with this assignment letter?"

The middle-aged woman subconsciously touched her face. Sister? This sunny, handsome young man called her sister, which was still very pleasing to her.

She glanced at the things Ding Huan took out and said, "Does one still need an assignment letter to enter Yujiang University now? With your graduation certificate from Heluo Upper Martial University, you can definitely get in as an instructor.

However, young man, I must make it clear to you: the school's funds are a bit tight now, and you won't be getting a salary for the time being."

Not to mention Ding Huan, even she herself wasn't getting a salary now. The teachers and staff who stayed at Yujiang University did so either out of sentiment or because they really had nowhere else to go.

More people were just waiting for the day Yujiang University merged with another university, and then they would naturally become faculty and staff of that other university.

"Is there a place to stay?" Ding Huan knew that there would definitely be no salary here.

"There are plenty of places to stay, and you can eat in the cafeteria, but it's not free," the woman said as she took out the entry form and handed it to Ding Huan.

The registration went very smoothly. After all, even if Yujiang University were popular, it was impossible for someone to come and register right after leaving another school.

Because Yujiang University had many empty houses, Ding Huan could even move into a townhouse courtyard. Of course, there were over a dozen such courtyards in a row.

Yujiang University ranked at the bottom in all disciplines, but in terms of area, it could rank in the top ten in the country.

This was because Yujiang University was in the suburbs of Heluo City, not very far from Mount Qianluo. As long as Yujiang University was willing, it could expand toward Mount Qianluo at will.

That was exactly what Yujiang University did. When the financial budget was still up to standard, it would expand a large area toward Mount Qianluo almost every few years. Large rows of villas and independent courtyards were built just to attract talent from all aspects.

It was a pity that Earth's environment mutated, various animal and plant genes mutated, and fierce beasts ran rampant. All of this caused Yujiang University's beautiful prospects to suddenly collapse.

All over the world, countless villages were slaughtered by beasts, and humans began to gather. No matter the size of the city, as long as it still existed, it had to build a protective wall.

Small city protective walls might be real walls. For medium and large cities like Heluo City, they were all built with laser net walls and cutting-ray types of protection.

Yujiang University became the edge of the city. Although it was also protected by a wall, once a beast tide broke out, it would definitely be the first to bear the brunt. Coupled with Yujiang University's poor management, the talent it had managed to attract fled one after another, leading to a large number of vacant houses.

After the middle-aged woman who brought Ding Huan to the courtyard left, Ding Huan examined his courtyard. It was indeed small, with an area of no more than twenty square meters.

Entering the house, it had a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom structure. There was a bed and a quilt, and the kitchen had pots, bowls, and ladles used by others. For Ding Huan, this was enough.

Sitting on the bed, Ding Huan finally let out a sigh of relief. At least today he wouldn't suffer the same tragedy as in his previous life, having his legs broken and eyes gouged out. His tense nerves finally relaxed.

Once his spirit relaxed, Ding Huan couldn't help but think about who exactly wanted to kill him in his previous life.

At first, Ding Huan always thought it was Ding Jie, but after repeated thinking, he felt Ding Jie had no reason to kill him.

Ding Jie was adopted by his father. After his father went missing, Ding Jie had already legally seized the Baiyu Group on the surface. Whether he killed him or not didn't seem to matter much.

Instead, who was that scavenging old man? In this era, wanting a stranger to save someone they didn't know in a trash heap was a pipe dream. Of course, that old man didn't save him, but sold him to an unknown organization.

And what was the organization that bought him from the scavenging old man? Why did he appear in a branch of the Gene Alliance after waking up? Did that organization buy him and then sell him to the Gene Alliance? And how did the old man know he was a cross-genetic affinity type?

A pile of questions that had troubled him for a long time swirled in his mind, making Ding Huan's thoughts a bit chaotic for a while.

He wouldn't be grateful to the Gene Alliance for this. The Gene Alliance saved him because he was a cross-genetic affinity type. After being saved, he could die even more miserably at any time.

In his previous life, it was in this Gene Alliance that Ding Huan saw too many miserable ends for test subjects after failed gene fusion: bodies exploding, heads shattering, bodies festering...

For a genetic test subject, dying peacefully might be the best ending.

Ding Huan's thoughts stopped here, lingering on the voice in his mind that he would never be able to forget...

"After I die, please donate my eyes to him. He is still so young; let him carry my eyes to see the beauty of the world..."

Ding Huan subconsciously clenched his fists. He didn't even know her name, her background, or her appearance, but that voice, which contained some hope amidst despair, was forever etched in the depths of his memory.

That was half a year after he was sent to the Gene Alliance, and his leg surgery had recovered quite well.

At this time, he was still lying in the Gene Alliance's laboratory. Even though his broken legs hadn't fully recovered, and he still didn't have eyes, he still had to fuse with a genetic agent every once in a while.

Although Ding Huan's body hadn't had any problems after experiencing multiple gene fusion tests, his heart had long since died. During this period, almost every day someone died miserably due to failed gene fusion. Maybe the next one would be him, Ding Huan.

One day, more than half a year later, Ding Huan heard a few people walk into the laboratory again.

Ding Huan was used to this kind of thing. Except for his tough life, people who conducted gene fusion tests here basically couldn't last more than a month. Someone coming meant someone new was here to fuse genes.

There seemed to be a woman among the people who came in. After seeing his appearance, her tone even carried a sobbing sound: "Why be so cruel? Not only did you break his legs, but you also gouged out his eyes. He is still so young..."

No one answered her. She didn't even think that she was also a miserable person who could be sacrificed by this laboratory at any time. Clearly, she was miserable herself, yet she couldn't bear to see others' suffering.

Perhaps she had thought about her own miserable fate and felt resonance after seeing Ding Huan.

Ding Huan's long-numb heart was touched for the first time. Before this, he only knew that none of the classmates and friends he associated with were not after his family background.

Except for his mother, whom he never knew, the only person in this world who truly cared about him was his old man, Ding Baishan. Today he learned that there was still a stranger in this world who cried for him.

Ding Huan only hoped that this girl, who came to do gene testing just like him, could be lucky enough to survive.

Unfortunately, fate didn't favor her. Like many others who failed gene fusion, her first gene fusion ended in failure.

He didn't know which gene she was testing, but Ding Huan could clearly feel her despair and pain before death.

Even so, she still said in a trembling voice, "After I die, please donate my eyes to him. He is still so young; let him carry my eyes to see the beauty of the world..."

Everyone knew that the "him" she spoke of was Ding Huan. Ding Huan had never seen her face, but listening to her voice, he knew she was just as young.

Ding Huan's empty eyes felt a bit sore. In this world, was there another stranger who would offer him their eyes?

From this moment on, that voice was forever etched in the depths of Ding Huan's soul. This was the most precious voice in his life.

It was also from this moment on that Ding Huan decided to live on—not only for himself, but also for that girl he had never met and whose name he didn't know. He would carry her eyes to find the beauty she spoke of in this ugly world. ===== CHAPTER 5 =====