Chapter 84: Ding Jie, the Stray Dog

In Yan's office, Ding Jie's eyes held fear and unease. "Sister Yan, Luohé City nearly fell to a genetic beast today—I want to leave for Yanjing early."

"Why the rush? Who even knows you're here? The Seleu gene incident is long over; you can reappear openly after a while with no consequences," Yan said coolly.

"Sister Yan, I heard that Ding Xiaotu, that little brat, has become incredibly powerful—is it true?" Ding Jie, though always hiding, wasn't completely ignorant.

Yan chuckled. "So what if he's powerful? Can he even find this place? The Gene Alliance is hunting him—he can barely save himself."

Before Yan finished speaking, she saw Ding Jie suddenly rise. She was about to ask what was wrong when she felt something—turned back, and found the door had opened without her noticing.

Standing at the doorway was a young man in gray clothes, his back laden with a large pack.

"Who let you come here?" Yan snapped sharply.

She assumed it was some student's relative who'd tracked him down.

But Ding Jie's eyes filled with terror; his whole body trembled.

"Long time no see, heir of Bai Yu Group," Ding Huan stepped into the room and kicked the door shut.

"Ding Xiaotu, you, you…" He had always been the one scolding Ding Xiaotu; now, seeing him, Ding Jie felt an inexplicable dread.

Logically, he should've held the psychological upper hand standing before Ding Xiaotu.

"You're Ding Huan?" Yan suddenly realized, staring at him in shock.

She naturally knew Ding Xiaotu was Ding Huan.

"That's right—I'm Ding Huan. A few months ago, I destroyed the Gene Alliance's main base and slaughtered everyone inside. A few days ago, I wiped out every single member of the Washing Knife Society in Luohé."

As Ding Huan spoke, he smiled pleasantly, as if recounting an ordinary event.

Even though she knew Ding Huan was trying to frighten her, Yan couldn't stop trembling.

Normally, she looked down on everyone—even the principal didn't earn her respect. But now, facing death, she panicked.

"List everything I need to know. I'll ask you later—if you don't, you'll know the consequences," Ding Huan said, locking eyes with Yan, then slowly walked toward Ding Jie.

After sizing up Ding Jie, Ding Huan spoke: "What kind of beast did you crawl out of? You don't even know gratitude—you betrayed the one who saved your life."

Ding Huan knew clearly that when Ding Baishan saved Ding Jie, Ding Jie was about to be taken for genetic experiments.

When genes first emerged, countless people were destroyed by all sorts of genetic trials. Ding Jie was just one of them.

"I don't know, I know nothing…" Ding Jie had long seen from news reports how powerful this Ding Xiaotu—who'd changed his name to Ding Huan—had become.

Now, hearing Ding Huan had wiped out the Gene Alliance and the Washing Knife Society, he turned pale with terror.

"You have three seconds. If you don't speak, you won't speak at all," Ding Huan had no time to slowly interrogate Ding Jie.

"It was them—they forced me to betray Father…" Ding Jie's voice shook; as he spoke, he pointed at Yan.

"You have no right calling him Father. Speak—was it Seleu Gene?" Ding Huan's tone turned harsh.

Ding Jie hurriedly said, "Yes. Professor Wen Yuanfu, who served Uncle, developed Seleu Gene. Seleu Gene requires a herb called Mutated Qimá."

Mutated Qimá is a herb exclusively controlled by the Qin family of Yanjing, so Uncle took Professor Wen to the Qin family in Yanjing…"

He dared not call him Father anymore.

Only now did Ding Huan understand why Ding Baishan had sought a marriage alliance with the Qin family.

It was all because of Seleu Gene.

Ding Baishan vanished in Yanjing; Seleu Gene later malfunctioned; then, a new gene with identical effects—Cocoon Source Gene—appeared.

Cocoon Source Gene was jointly developed by Yongtang Biotech and Ocean Group. The truth was becoming clearer.

"I stole the data on Seleu Gene's formula, but the formula lacked the true gene-chain fusion component."

Yan told me she brought the gene-chain fusion data. Later, I learned the data and files were false."

Ding Jie's voice trembled with fear—he worried Ding Huan would kill him.

After saying this, Ding Jie saw Ding Huan's face darken, and he hurried to add: "The Kuiyuan Pill given to Uncle was provided to me by Yan."

"Kuiyuan Pill?" Ding Huan frowned. His father, Ding Baishan, was just an ordinary man—why would he need a Kuiyuan Pill?

"Yes. Uncle is a Xuan-level martial artist. They feared he might resist, so they had me give him the Kuiyuan Pill in advance. The pill activates two days later," Ding Jie didn't dare hesitate.

Ding Huan was stunned. Honestly, if Ding Jie hadn't shown up today, he'd never known his father, Ding Baishan, was a Xuan-level martial artist.

No wonder he built such a vast empire—he wasn't ordinary after all. But if his father was a Xuan-level martial artist, why didn't he teach Ding Huan himself? Why hire so many martial arts instructors for him?

Seeing Ding Huan's darkening expression, Ding Jie grew even more terrified—he feared Ding Huan might strike at any moment, and kept babbling:

"I didn't do any of this! Even stealing Professor Wen's data wasn't my idea—they forced me…"

From Ding Jie's expression, Ding Huan knew he could know no more.

Ding Huan had no intention of sparing this scoundrel. Even ignoring what he'd done to his father, the fake Seleu Gene this man helped create had killed countless innocents.

He raised his hand and hurled a fireball at Ding Jie. The fireball engulfed him, and Ding Jie let out a piercing scream.

At that moment, his deepest fears reached their peak.

It was true—the Soruo Oath was real.

Long ago, Ding Baishan took him to the Soruo Temple to swear an oath: if he ever betrayed Ding Huan or harbored ill will toward him, he'd be burned alive by flames.

Because of that oath, he dared not kill Ding Huan—yet now, the oath had come true after all.

In that moment, Ding Jie, engulfed in flames, was filled with utter terror—but all regret was too late.

Yan's pants were soaked with sweat; despite her efforts to control her body, her legs wouldn't stop trembling.

"You kept Ding Jie alive to use him as a scapegoat, right? Speak—where is my father? Who did this?" Ding Huan stared at Yan, asking calmly.

"I don't know, I know nothing, it has nothing to do with me," Yan's mind was crumbling.

"Then you're useless," Ding Huan said, still calm.

"I only know Da Tang Biotech was involved—Da Tang belongs to the Qiao family. I don't know anything else. I was ordered by the Qiao family to wait here for you to appear…" Yan's voice grew even more frantic.

Sensing Ding Huan's icy killing intent, Yan quickly added: "I heard Ding Baishan was rescued—something to do with the Soruo Temple. I really don't know anything else."

Ding Huan raised his hand and unleashed a wind blade. "You're worthless."

…

After leaving Luohé University of Martial Arts, Ding Huan wanted to visit Sulu Temple, but he knew well that Sulu Temple should no longer exist.

With the gene-beast outbreak, the city of Jinzhou, where Sulu Temple stood, had been occupied by beasts many years ago.

As for going to the Qiao family and Datang Biology, he had no time to go now.

A powerful beast capable of commanding all global beasts had appeared; he must find a way to enhance his strength as soon as possible.

"Laoliu, why are you here so soon? Didn't I tell you to help the Great Ape General with his work arrangements?"

When Ding Huan returned to the entrance of Yujiang University, he found Laoliu staring at Tan Bei and Fei Tongtong, with several nervous security guards nearby.

The conflict between gene-beasts and humans had reached an irreconcilable point; for Laoliu to come to Yujiang University naturally made everyone feel as if under siege.

There simply weren't any guns here—if there had been, someone would've already fired.

"Teacher Ding, this is your pet…?" Tan Bei suddenly understood.

Laoliu gave Tan Bei a disdainful look, thinking: You're the pet, your whole family are pets.

Ding Huan smiled and silently acknowledged it, not bothering to explain such things.

"Since Laoliu is here, let's go now."

Ding Huan hadn't expected Laoliu to arrive so quickly; he was certain Laoliu hadn't completed the task he'd been given, but he couldn't ask about it here.

…

Ding Huan assumed that with the beast tide, the high-speed trains from Luohé to Pǔhǎi might have all been suspended—even if running, there'd be hardly any passengers.

When Ding Huan arrived at the station, he realized how wrong he had been.

The entire high-speed rail station was packed; not only was the waiting hall for trains to Pǔhǎi overflowing, but every waiting hall for trains to safe cities was crammed with people.

This Luohé beast tide had affected everyone far too greatly.

Those with connections dared not stay in Luohé any longer; they feared the beast tide might sweep over Luohé City a second time, and were desperate to leave.

No one knew that Luohé City was now the safest place in the entire world.

Any beast wishing to attack Luohé City must pass through Qianluo Mountain; as long as the Great Wilderness Jin Yuan refused, Luohé City would remain as stable as Mount Tai.

The high-speed train route between Luohé and Pǔhǎi had once suffered a catastrophic beast tide attack, during which the train was nearly annihilated.

Even so, it could not stop the trains from running back and forth between Luohé and Pǔhǎi.

Everyone understood that in this world, no matter where you were, even if you didn't take a train, you could still be swept up by a beast tide.

If that's the case, why fear it?

The larger the city, the stronger its defenses; surviving in a big city was always safer than in a small one.

Although the train was packed, the journey passed without incident; the train didn't stop once, and this time it took only eight hours to reach Pǔhǎi Station.

"Shouldn't we go to Haiyun Mutated Materials first?" As soon as they exited the station, Fei Tongtong asked.

"No, I have limited time—take me directly to the Beast King Guild," Ding Huan had already decided.

First, retrieve what belonged to him from the Beast King Guild, and meanwhile, rescue Mu Tingyun and Zhao Quan.

Second, find out about the Gene Alliance—if their primordial experts are present, he'd use an ambush; if not, he'd storm in directly.

After going to the Gene Alliance, he would take Laoliu to the Kunlun Mountains.

"Alright," Fei Tongtong nodded eagerly, quickly driving her car out of the station to take Ding Huan to the Beast King Guild.

(Four chapters today—will continue tomorrow, friends, good night! Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly vote support.)

Today I added Ye Xingchen, Shao Hua Yi Shi | Hong Yan Yi Lao, and Qiu Huai Han Meng as patrons. Starting tomorrow, we'll give extra chapters for patrons.

)