Pacing at the Edge of Death

Relying on Bus No. 11—his own two feet—Lu Yuan walked for over an hour, following the map on his phone until he found his destination.

West Li City, South District branch of the Gene Warrior Association.

It was an exceptionally conspicuous building even within the bustling district.

The towering building, constructed entirely from black stone, spanned over two hundred meters. On either side of the central entrance stood warrior statues roughly fifty meters tall, each holding a longsword. The swords crossed in midair, with the main entrance directly beneath them.

The people entering and leaving through the main entrance were also dressed quite differently from ordinary people.

Some wore armor, some wore robes, some carried longswords, and some even had tails. Lu Yuan was beginning to wonder whether they were really human. Humans could grow tails?!

Yet almost all of them exuded a powerful aura.

Here, Lu Yuan felt like a sheep that had wandered into a pack of wolves.

He took a deep breath and entered through the main doors.

Beyond the entrance was a large hall, and the first thing Lu Yuan noticed was the central information desk.

Carefully avoiding the Gene Warriors striding about with imposing vigor, he made his way to the desk.

The young woman at the desk looked at Lu Yuan with a warm smile.

"Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I just awakened and would like to register."

The woman pointed to the right. "The registration office is over there... Xiao Ai, please show this gentleman the way."

As she spoke, a white robot about 1.6 meters tall stepped out from beside the desk, speaking in a crisp, lively little-girl voice.

"Sir, please follow me. Xiao Ai will take you to the Gene Warrior registration office."

After speaking, the robot Xiao Ai turned and left, and Lu Yuan hurriedly followed her.

Whenever the Gene Warriors saw Xiao Ai, they moved aside. Following behind her, Lu Yuan no longer had to keep dodging through the crowd, and before long, he reached a room on the right side of the hall.

The room was roughly two hundred square meters. Chairs filled the center, while a row of service windows stood along the wall opposite the door, with staff members inside handling registrations.

Lu Yuan quickly glanced around the room.

About twenty people sat in the central chairs. Their faces were all youthful, and they looked about Lu Yuan's age, perhaps even a little younger.

Lu Yuan knew that they were probably newly awakened people like him.

After bringing Lu Yuan to the room, Xiao Ai spoke again in her little-girl voice.

"Sir, this is the registration office. You may take a ticket from the ticket machine and wait for your number to be called."

Xiao Ai pointed at a ticket machine beside the door.

Lu Yuan walked over and took a ticket. He looked at it: B12.

He checked Window B. They were only calling B08, so he still had to wait a while.

He went to sit in a corner and waited quietly.

After about half an hour, an announcement sounded, calling Lu Yuan's number.

Lu Yuan sat down in front of the window. Inside was a thin young woman.

She smiled at Lu Yuan.

"Hello. Are you here to register as a Gene Warrior?"

"Yes."

"Please give me your ticket, then we'll verify your fingerprints and irises."

Lu Yuan handed her the ticket, then followed her instructions to have his fingerprints and irises scanned.

The young woman glanced at the light screen beside her and smiled.

"Imperial citizen, ID number XL139205253232, name Lu Yuan. Please confirm whether this information is correct."

A light screen also appeared before Lu Yuan, displaying his portrait, ID number, and name.

Lu Yuan swept his eyes over it and tapped confirm.

"Please present your Gene Battle Tattoo."

Lu Yuan raised his left wrist, revealing the golden pattern on it.

The young woman took out a black device and placed it against the golden pattern. Soon, it beeped, and a green light began flashing on the device.

She smiled as she spoke.

"Gene Battle Tattoo confirmed. Mr. Lu Yuan, congratulations on becoming a Gene Warrior. May your martial fortune prosper, and may you fight for the survival of humanity."

"Thank you."

The young woman operated something else before continuing.

"Your registration is complete. As you have only just awakened, you are currently an apprentice-level Gene Warrior. You will receive an Imperial subsidy of 5,000 Red Maple Coins each month. This month's subsidy has already been deposited into your personal account. In addition, I have activated your access to the Gene Warrior website. Your account is your ID number, and your initial password is 666666. You may log in to the Gene Warrior website to review materials related to Gene Warriors. The Empire has also prepared the Basic Aura Guidance Technique, Military Body Fist, and Military Killing Sword free of charge for newly awakened Gene Warriors. They have been sent to your Battle Net mailbox, so please check them when you return."

The young woman said a great deal, then looked up at Lu Yuan with a smile.

"Do you have any further questions?"

After listening carefully, Lu Yuan was a little dazed.

He hurriedly took out his phone and checked it, immediately seeing the transfer notification for 5,000 yuan.

His personal savings had now reached 5,035 yuan. What a joyous occasion!

As for the gifted Spirit Qi Guiding Art and such, Lu Yuan did not understand any of it.

He planned to look into them after returning home.

With that in mind, Lu Yuan was eager to get back.

He beamed.

"No more questions. Thank you."

"You're welcome. If you have no further questions, please rate my service."

Naturally, Lu Yuan gave her a five-star review.

After that, Lu Yuan eagerly left the Gene Warrior Association.

Now that he had money, Lu Yuan used a ride-hailing app as soon as he stepped outside.

Within seconds, an unmanned Hover Car stopped in front of him.

The technology in this world was far more advanced than that of Lu Yuan's previous world.

Self-driving technology, Intelligent Robot technology, and hover technology had all matured.

From what Lu Yuan understood, all of it was knowledge obtained by Gene Warriors from Origin Land.

One could imagine just how many treasures Origin Land contained.

He got in and headed home.

Before long, the Hover Car left the dazzling, bustling district and entered a somewhat rundown area.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Sitting in the car, Lu Yuan faintly heard gunfire in the distance.

His expression did not change. He was used to it.

Because his living expenses were limited, Lu Yuan lived in a slum with poor public security, where gunfights broke out from time to time.

After all, this world had aberrations, and vicious beasts sometimes even infiltrated cities. Ordinary citizens were not forbidden from carrying weapons.

As a result, gangs ran rampant and crime was common in areas with poor security.

The neighborhood where Lu Yuan lived was already considered fairly decent. He had heard that people disappeared every day in some areas.

Soon, the Hover Car stopped outside Lu Yuan's residential complex. Lowering his head slightly, Lu Yuan hurried inside.

After carefully avoiding several drunks and turning down the eager solicitations of a young woman, Lu Yuan returned to his room.

It was a partitioned little room of around twenty square meters, containing only a bed, a desk, and a crude bathroom.

The rent was cheap: 200 a month.

Only after returning to his room did Lu Yuan let out a breath.

Every time he came home, he feared that a stray bullet from somewhere would blow his head apart.

He had only felt it through the memories of the previous owner of this body before, but now that he had experienced it himself, Lu Yuan was scared out of his wits.

It felt as though he had always been pacing at the edge of death.

Wait...

Didn't I have money now?

His eyes lit up as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

Tomorrow, I'm going apartment hunting! I'm moving out of this hellhole!

Otherwise, he feared that someone would shoot him dead before he even became a big shot.

That would definitely be humanity's greatest loss in history, okay?!

He stopped thinking about it, opened the antique laptop on his desk, and began logging into the Gene Warrior website, commonly known as Battle Net.

He searched for the website, opened the page, and entered his account and password.

"ID number... 666666... I'm in!"

After logging in, the first thing Lu Yuan did was change his password, then he chose a nickname.

Lu Yuan originally wanted the nickname "You Yuan Ren," only to find that it had already been taken.

He tried several other nicknames, but they all already existed as well.

In the end, Lu Yuan chose "You Yuan Ren," a nickname brimming with the power of support.

It made Lu Yuan keenly realize that no matter what world one was in, naming things was always the most troublesome matter.

After changing his nickname and password, Lu Yuan noticed that he had mail.

He opened it and found three files.

Basic Aura Guidance Technique.

Military Body Fist.

Military Killing Sword.