Gene Humans

Hu Ya suddenly appeared in front of him and threw a fierce kick!

Boom!

Lin Xiaosu felt as though a tornado had swept through the dim underground basement.

The man who had already rushed up to him was kicked squarely between the legs by her, sent flying into the air.

The instant he flew up, his face twisted completely out of shape.

But this man's unusual traits also revealed themselves. He suddenly kicked off the wall behind him, turning his whole body into a black sword, a black dagger aimed straight at Hu Ya's throat.

Hu Ya spun sharply and dodged with astonishing speed. Her right hand came down, striking the man on the head.

With that blow, the man smashed heavily into the ground, making the floor tremble.

The man struggled to raise his head, only to be greeted by a foot! A huge foot, at least size forty-one, came crashing down. The man skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall behind him. His head lolled to one side, and he passed out.

A beam from Zhou Mei's flashlight lit up, trembling faintly in her hand.

Even as a police officer, when had she ever faced such danger?

An invisible attack in the darkness, with a weapon besides—if it had been her facing that sudden assault, she feared her grand ambitions would have gone unrealized while her photograph was already hanging on the wall. Yet under Hu Ya's hands, the attacker had been taken down with a few punches and kicks.

Was this the method of free fighting?

Was this the strength of the Tashan Female Tyrant, spoken of in the little county as though she were a god?

Lin Xiaosu stepped over the man, and soon a cheer rang out. "Found him!"

With a whoosh, Hu Ya appeared in the room. Looking at the scene beneath the phone flashlight, even the tip of her nose had broken into sweat.

It was Jiang Yang!

It was him!

Jiang Yang lay atop a pile of packaging bags, sleeping sweetly. He had clearly been drugged unconscious.

Outside, Zhou Mei had just twisted the unconscious suspect's arms behind his back and cuffed him. Hearing the cheer from inside, the flashlight clenched between her teeth trembled and fell.

The next moment, she entered the room and saw Jiang Yang in the blue hoodie, whom she had seen once on the surveillance footage. Her heartbeat instantly accelerated.

A phone call went out, and Captain Zhang was stunned.

Mrs. Wang, who had followed him all the way, suddenly jumped up, crying and shouting.

Police sirens wailed as the cars raced over at top speed...

Lin Xiaosu finally had to face Zhou Mei's gaze. Heaven bore witness, it was not a grateful look. On the contrary, there was more than a hint of suspicion in it. "What's your name?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"I need to know where you were an hour ago..."

"Damn! You suspect me?" Lin Xiaosu practically jumped eight feet into the air.

"I know it's rude to suspect someone who helped solve a case, but the way you solved this case was simply too unbelievable. My criminal investigation knowledge isn't enough to support it, so you'd better answer my questions honestly. If I wronged you, I'll treat you to a meal and apologize." Zhou Mei's voice was calm and even.

Hu Ya stepped forward. "Officer, you've got the wrong person! An hour ago, he was with me in Old Tashan Village solving another case. When we learned the child had disappeared, we came over together."

"What case?"

"The Widow Feng Bathing Case... Everyone in Old Tashan Village knows about it. You can go ask around. If it hadn't been for him, my dad would have taken the blame." Hu Ya folded her arms.

"So he really can smell things like a police dog...?"

"Yes!" Hu Ya said. "He's really good at sniffing out scents. Whenever we hunted game over by Old Pagoda Mountain, he was always the one sniffing out the trail and chasing after their asses..."

"Hunting game?" Zhou Mei's eyes lit up.

"Ahem... not protected animals, just rabbits and the like. Officer, we know the law." Lin Xiaosu hurriedly clarified.

"Mm, I specialize in studying the Animal Protection Catalog. I can basically recite it backward now." Hu Ya climbed right along with the stick.

Zhou Mei fell silent...

Police sirens sounded outside, followed by pounding footsteps.

Mrs. Wang was running at the front, staggering as she went. One of her high heels had fallen off, so she simply flung the other away and sprinted all the way over barefoot.

Lin Xiaosu gently tugged Hu Ya. "Let's go."

"Yeah, let's go. I'll treat you to dinner!" Hu Ya followed him out of the construction site, ran to the roadside, and hailed a taxi...

Inside the construction site, Zhou Mei faced the suspect with an incomparably grave expression. "Captain Zhang, I suspect this man is a Gene Human!"

Captain Zhang's expression abruptly changed.

Gene Humans, products of modern technology.

They fused all kinds of genes, gaining all kinds of abilities.

Once the fusion succeeded, they were no longer ordinary people. They were terrifying beyond measure.

"What traits did he display?" Captain Zhang asked in a low voice.

"His reaction speed was unbelievably fast. In terms of fighting ability alone, even you, Captain Zhang, might be far inferior to him. If Li Diandian hadn't been there, I might already be dead!" Zhou Mei said.

Captain Zhang reached out and opened a small box he carried with him. Inside was a metallic object resembling a thermometer. He inserted it into the suspect's mouth, then took it out about three seconds later. A faint blue glow shone from within the metal object.

Under the blue glow, the expressions of several police officers became exceedingly grave.

This was how Gene Humans were detected. This suspect truly was a Gene Human!

Captain Zhang slowly raised his head. "Any case involving Gene Humans is a case that reaches the heavens. I'll report this to the city bureau immediately..."

Wanzhou Grilled Fish Restaurant was a famous specialty restaurant in Phoenix City, renowned throughout the county for its grilled fish. Lin Xiaosu and Hu Ya entered a private room on the second floor. Once the door shut, Hu Ya poured him a cup of tea and lowered her voice. "Today, I helped you cover up your lie in front of that pretty little police officer, but I can't convince myself. How can you smell things like that? You're fiercer than a dog..."

Fiercer than a dog!

What kind of bullshit comparison was that?!

Lin Xiaosu shot her a glare. "Maybe it was because you force-fed me so much different wild game that my genes mutated."

"How is that possible? I ate wild game every time you did, and I ate much more than you. Why haven't I mutated?" Hu Ya asked.

"You haven't mutated? Could an unmutated girl kick a grown man weighing a hundred or two hundred pounds several meters into the air? Your mutation is far more terrifying than mine. It's just that our mutations probably went in different directions. Mine happened above the neck, while yours gave you overdeveloped limbs..."

Hu Ya looked dejected. "That may really be it. My mom said I shouldn't eat random things. Maybe she was right. The wild game in the mountains is strange. I eat their meat, and they turn around and mess with my genes."

"Actually, it's not so bad. In modern society, ordinary people have a hard time surviving. Having some special skills is pretty good. Like today—if you hadn't been so fierce, we'd probably both have been finished."

"That may be true, but I'm a girl!" Hu Ya said. "Books say women are made of water, but what kind of water am I made of? I'm made straight out of cement. You wouldn't believe this, but my skin has become more and more freakish. Even needles can't pierce it."

Lin Xiaosu was greatly shocked. "No way, right? Didn't you get your whole head covered in stings when you poked that hornet nest last year?"

"That was last year. It changed again this year. Last time, I specifically went to pick a hornet nest because I wanted to experience getting stung, but those hornets kept ramming into me and couldn't sting me no matter what. The hornets were practically crying. Xiao Su, I... I'm a little scared. Really."

"What are you scared of?"

Hu Ya said, "I'm worried I really won't be able to get married in the future."

"Don't worry. If no one else is willing to take you on, I'll do it! If I don't enter hell, then who will?" Lin Xiaosu puffed out his chest, high-spirited and imposing.

"You? You think you can really do it?" Hu Ya glanced at him. "I told you, even hornets can't sting through my skin. With that little body of yours, it's not that I look down on you..."

"Damn! I really have to try."

"Try, then. But you're not allowed to cry after getting crushed..."

She talked a big game, fierce enough to scare the devil, but after dinner, Hu Ya got on her bike and took off. The facts proved that she was terrible at it yet loved to play.

What did that mean? She was always teasing Lin Xiaosu, always escalating things however she could, but the moment she really got him worked up, she ran faster than anyone.

Night fell.

Phoenix City was ablaze with countless lights.

Neon lights covered the streets, and traffic flowed like woven threads. Another seemingly ordinary county-town night had begun.

By the Yichuan River in the east of the city, a small conference room on the top floor of the Public Security Bureau was brightly lit.

Director Wang Feng, Deputy Director Li Lisan, and Political Commissar He Jiaqiang were seated inside.

There had been an unwritten rule for meetings throughout the ages: small matters called for big meetings, while major matters called for small meetings.

For the Public Security Bureau, today was a major matter.

News had just arrived from the provincial department: a leader was coming, and the information was to be kept under wraps.

They had not said what level of leader was coming, nor why.

The shorter the message, the bigger the matter.

All three men had spent their lives struggling through treacherous waters and strange storms. From the cause of today's incident and the exceedingly vague message from above, they had read the extraordinary nature of tonight's visitor.

By midnight, the streets had gradually quieted.

The night was deep, with neither stars nor moon.

A light breeze suddenly rose atop the Public Security Bureau building.

As the breeze swept past, a maglev aircraft descended without a sound.

Maglev aircraft had not yet become widespread among civilians. Only the military and secretive agencies could equip them.

The aircraft door opened silently, and two people stepped out side by side, both in plainclothes: a man and a woman. The man had a crew cut and an utterly ordinary appearance, but his eyes shone frighteningly bright in the dark. The woman was extraordinarily beautiful and carried herself with exceptional elegance. Her hair was pinned up, exposing a long neck like that of a white swan, adding even more charm to her bearing.

"The director is waiting in the conference room!" Two police officers bowed at the same time.

"Good!" The young man strode forward and descended from the top floor. At the same time, the maglev aircraft rose and silently lifted away.

The conference room door opened soundlessly. The three people inside stood at once, somewhat startled as they looked at the two young people entering. The visitors were not the provincial department leaders who had spoken with them over the phone, but young people who were far too young. Who were they?

After entering, the young man gave a light wave of his hand.

The conference room door closed.

He walked up to the director and raised his hand slightly. In his palm was a Gold Badge.

It was a golden badge engraved with a golden dragon. The dragon coiled around a pillar, and a row of numbers was carved into the pillar: 088.

The director's face changed. "Qianlong?"

The other two also changed color at once.

Qianlong was an extremely secretive organization that shouldered the nation's most important matters. Some called them "the Hidden Dragon Guard of the Great Xia Republic," while others said they were the people who stood in darkness yet allowed the whole nation to see the light.

"I am Qianlong Number 88. This is Changye," the young man said. "We came today because the child abduction case in your county today is identical to the kidnapping cases that have erupted almost simultaneously across the country recently. We suspect this is part of Hydra's Blood Spear Project. The situation is serious."

"Hydra, the Blood Spear Project..." the director said. "What kind of project is this?"

"This project is classified at too high a level. You do not need to know. You only need to know its basic direction. This project was planned by an overseas organization. Its fundamental purpose is to select Daxia children with superior aptitude, subject them to Genetic Modification, and turn them into Blood Spears to pierce Daxia's defenses from within."

Superior aptitude...

Genetic Modification...

Li Lisan, the deputy director in charge of criminal investigations, suddenly understood. "Two children have disappeared in this county over the past three months. One was the heir of an Ancient Martial Arts Family, and the other studied free fighting. Today's child also studied free fighting. It seems they were all considered highly gifted by those people."

"Of course!" Number 88 said. "Where is that suspect?"

"In the special prison, held in solitary confinement," Li Lisan said.

"Take us there. We'll interrogate him tonight!"

"Yes!"