Super Gene

"Is there no other way?" Han Sen asked, frowning.

The people had been trapped there for a very long time, some for decades. If they really had no clue, Han Sen suspected he might not be able to find a solution anytime soon, either.

Wang Jiangang said, "It’s not that there is no way; in fact, we believe there might be. We are just unsure whether or not we can pull it off. ’Tis a crying shame."

"What do you mean?" Han Sen asked.

Wang Jiangang pointed at the Tree King and said, "At night, those Dark Haunted Bugs deliver nectar to the Tree King. They feed monsters that reside within it. The monsters inside seem to have a manner of control over the bugs and trees. We believe if we can kill whatever lurks inside that wooden fiend, we’ll be free to leave. But those monsters are so very strong, and with the risk of being killed through a quick aging process by venturing close, we don’t believe such a thing is possible. None of us here possess the necessary experience needed to pull such a thing off, and it’s a crying shame."

"What is the monster, exactly?" Han Sen asked, curiously.

"The Dark Haunted Tree King is different than the other trees. Those fruits to do not birth bugs; they release bat-like creatures. Sometimes they will consume the nectar the bugs deliver, with a speed unlike anything you’ve ever seen. You’d be hard-pressed catching those things on the move," Liu Fang chimed in.

Han Sen spoke with them for a while and then decided to stay a while and wait to see if he could catch a glimpse of what he might be dealing with past nightfall.

That night, Han Sen planned on leaving Zero behind and going alone. But Zero wasn’t having it, and she insisted on following him.

Han Sen had no choice but to accept her company, and since he was watching from afar anyway, he didn’t think her presence would cause too much trouble.

The luminous flowers bloomed and the Dark Haunted Bugs filled the space beneath the canopy. Even at night, the forest was illuminated due to the light they cast. Without hesitation, Han Sen and Zero ventured towards the area where the Tree King resided.

The people in the camp had seen far too many desperate people trap themselves in bids to escape, so they didn’t bother trying to stop them. Liu Fang did remind them, however, that the radius of the Tree King’s effect was one kilometer.

Han Sen nodded and proceeded to where the Dark Haunted Tree King was. By following the bugs, it didn’t take them long to arrive.

The Dark Haunted Tree King was like a hill, dressed in luminous flowers. The center of each open fruit had a black bat hanging from it.

Endless streams of bugs came, to and fro, delivering all their nectar into the open, luminous flowers. When they filled up, the nectar would flow and drip into the mouths of the black bats and feed them.

After hearing what Liu Fang had to say, he also paid heed to his own lifeforce. Despite what he had been told, he didn’t notice anything damaging occurring to it.

Liu Fang mentioned even the ordinary trees could make a person age and absorb one’s lifeforce. And regardless of how little it was, it was something Han Sen should have been able to sense.

But still, Han Sen felt nothing. And this made him frown.

He looked at the distance between him and the tree, and noticed he was standing exactly one kilometer away from the Tree King. Han Sen made Zero wait there, while he approached.

But again, Zero wasn’t willing to be left behind. When Han Sen took a step forward, so did she. Han Sen had no choice but to accept her insistence of accompanying him, and allow her to come. She was a much happier girl these days, but she was still as stubborn as ever.

With Zero around, though, he didn’t dare get too close. As he approached carefully, he calculated his distance away from the tree.

Suddenly, Han Sen felt his body’s energy start to drain. He quickly pulled her back with him about ten meters, and the leak of lifeforce he had felt stopped.

"That makes no sense!" Han Sen was shocked, unable to believe his lifeforce could leak out uncontrollably as it had.

While Han Sen was lost in thought, Zero did not stop. She continued to approach the Tree King, unheeding Han Sen’s concern. He shouted out to her, "Zero, what are you doing? Get back here!"

Zero did not listen and did not turn around, she continued her stroll right into the danger zone. Han Sen moved forward to grab her back.

But then, Zero’s black hair turned purple and two purple horns erupted from her forehead—she was becoming a shura.

Han Sen looked at Zero, unsure why Zero was so determined to walk towards the Tree King and why she was turning into a shura.

"Zero, what are you doing? Come back!" Han Sen shouted again.

Zero ignored Han Sen’s request once more, and she continued walking forward mindlessly. Her purple hair dragged along the ground, and her purple horns were glowing brightly.

Han Sen summoned his devil-eye mask to take a look at Zero, and he noticed that her lifeforce was blazing like a firestorm. For some reason, it wasn’t leaking at all.

"What is this?" Han Sen was shocked. Zero wasn’t losing any of her lifeforce, and this was something not even he could do.

Han Sen decided not to pull her back and he stopped calling out, since she didn’t appear to be in danger. Right now, he was transfixed, curious to see what Zero was going to do.

Her powers surprised Han Sen. It had been a while since he saw Zero become a shura, and her lifeforce was like that of a super creature. It was far stronger than what she was like when she was just a human.

The bats on the flower screamed, indicating they had detected her presence. They flew out of their flowers, down towards Zero.

There were many bats, at least three hundred. Judging from their lifeforces, they were each almost at the power of a super creature, too.

Their power was comparable to that of a human who had used the shura liquid.

Han Sen’s worry returned, seeing Zero continue to walk forward with so many powerful bats swooping down towards her. But in the next second, that worry became shock.

When the bats had almost reached Zero, fangs bared, she reached her hand to grab the bat leading the charge. She tore it in half, dressing the ground with its black blood.

Han Sen had never seen Zero fight so brutally, even when she was a shura. And one by one, she continued doing what she did to the first bat. She tore each in half with lightning speed, and not a single bat was able to deliver the smallest speck of damage.

The way she fought was like an animal, and anyone who saw it would most certainly be afraid.