Chapter 4: Flame Beast

Quick! He's here!

Zhang Jie darted through an alley, shouts came from behind, his eyes narrowed, that person's life code instantly fell into chaos, he collapsed to the ground wailing nonstop.

Gene ability! It's a gene ability!

With that shout, Zhang Jie could feel the ordinary life codes behind him slow their steps, while the few extremely complex life codes still pursued relentlessly.

In this complex street area, Zhang Jie kept weaving through, ultimately sadly discovering that the entire surrounding region had been sealed off, the encirclement continually shrinking, the escape route he hoped for the two of them seemed never to have existed from the start.

Zhang Jie... can we escape...

Yes.

Really?

Trust me.

Zhang Jie hid in a clothing store that had been looted, the clothes whose tags hadn't yet been torn off were scattered all over the floor, each stained with dirty footprints.

He set Lin Ran down from his back, Zhang Jie gently leaned her against the underside of the counter, then pulled a few pieces of clothing from around and laid them on the ground.

Wait here for me, I'll go lure them away.

Hide here, you must! You must hide well!

Zhang Jie!

As Zhang Jie was about to leave, Lin Ran grabbed his arm with all her strength.

Zhang Jie... you too must, you must come back.

I... I only have you left...

Zhang Jie let out a long breath, lowered his body, and gently rested his head on Lin Ran's forehead.

Me too.

Wait for me to return.

There's no time to delay, grab a pile of clothes to cover Lin Ran, then shoulder a small dummy wearing a wig and clothes and rush out.

Your silhouette instantly drew their attention, the encirclement quickly closed in on him, fortunately the encirclement likewise bypassed the clothing store where Lin Ran was.

You don't know this; you only know you must break out, escape this damned encirclement regardless of your own fate, as long as Lin Ran remains safe.

You dare not confront those wielding gene weapons head-on; the gene biology knowledge in your mind surges forth at this moment, becoming ever clearer, as strands of superhuman beings' gene codes emerge, and you also clearly sense an invisible shackle on your own life code.

You sensed the gene lock, it caps the upper limit of biological potential, determining the species' limit; only by continually breaking limits can an individual have a chance to break this shackle, whereas a potion made from superhuman beings' genes can easily break this rule, allowing even an ordinary person a probability to break it.

You feel as if you've grasped something, wondering whether you can compile superhuman beings' genes into your own life code, thereby breaking a first-level gene lock?

With pursuers relentlessly closing in behind you, giving you no time to think further, you gritted your teeth, quickly selected a superhuman gene, and using the gene-editing knowledge you'd learned in your spare time, you inserted it into your life code.

In an instant, a wave of excruciating pain surged from all over your body, so intense you couldn't breathe, you collapsed to the ground, thinking you had succeeded in opening the gene lock, until you caught sight of your life code constantly throwing errors.

The pursuers quickly caught up to you; when they discovered you were carrying not Lin Ran but a dummy, they angrily demanded to know Lin Ran's whereabouts, repeatedly punching and kicking you, you struggled to rise, helplessness surged again.

You have failed; the gene potion is the painstaking work of over a dozen generations of humanity, your amateur gene knowledge could never match the results of centuries of human research, you can feel your body gradually losing sensation, from the initial excruciating pain to later, even as those people punch and kick you, you feel nothing at all.

Your consciousness gradually blurred, the reel of life played out at this moment, past scenes continuously surfaced, until the flickering images froze on the present, freezing on the savage faces of those beating you, freezing on Lin Ran hiding in the clothing store awaiting your return, freezing on your continually disintegrating body.

You did not want to die like this; you still had many unfinished matters, resentment and anger turned into a blazing fury surging in your chest, scarlet flames erupted from the depths of your consciousness, spewing forth from your ruined body.

【Life entry—turning my ruined body into flames—activated】

Damn it! This little brat is really weird!

The leader viciously kicked Zhang Jie's half-dissolved body, getting a shoe coated in an unknown nauseating solution.

He disgustedly rubbed his foot on the ground, then immediately summoned his retinue behind him.

All of you go back and search for me! I don't believe this little brat can turn into a living person!

If you can't find that girl, don't even think about getting a single drop of the gene potion!

He snorted coldly, turned to leave, but suddenly felt a fierce burning sensation on his foot.

Just see, the unknown solution on the spot where he had kicked Zhang Jie's foot actually began to burn, blood-colored flames like a demon demanding his life rapidly climbed up his body.

What the hell is this!

He slapped at the flames with his hand, but it had no effect; instead, both hands became smeared with more red fire.

Water! Get water!

Big brother... you... behind you!

He saw his subordinates all showing fearful expressions, continually retreating backward; he hurriedly turned his head, only to witness an unforgettable scene.

Endless blood-colored flames shot up into the sky, a figure stood within them, like a demon gaping with a blood-filled maw, blood flames continually flowing from his body.

Roar!!!

Monster! Monster!

The lackeys behind that person turned and ran, the blood flames surged like a tsunami, instantly engulfing them, like salt meeting water, instantly dissolving these people in the sea of fire.

Not only this group came after him; among them were plenty of second-rank gene warriors; the pursuing troops behind, seeing this scene, were scared witless, this blood-colored flame seemed to possess a gene-level deterrence, making them feel an indescribable fear.

Retreat quickly!!

What on earth is this!

A red figure shot out at extreme speed, everywhere it passed was shrouded in blood-colored flames; constantly people were swallowed by the sea of fire, torn apart by the beast within the flames, even second-rank gene warriors could hardly escape.

That figure was like a beast, wrapped in endless rage, burning wantonly.

Wails followed one after another; Zhang Jie only felt his chest-full of rage had no outlet, the angrier he grew, the more fiercely the blood flames burned.

The oncoming pursuers were completely wiped out in just a few short minutes, none survived, leaving only a scorching red sea of fire and a beast howling toward the heavens.

Caesar's life capture plan had failed; the red flames that shot up into the sky that night terrified countless people, with no survivors among the witnesses, everything within a hundred-meter radius was burned to ashes, and no one knows what actually happened that day.