House of Evolution

"So, Mr. Bai Ye, would you like to hear my story now?"

Genos asked.

"Sure, but please keep it short."

Bai Ye put extra emphasis on "keep it short."

Because if he didn't stress that point, Genos would definitely launch into a supposedly little story over a thousand words long.

Never mind Saitama-not even he could stand that.

In short, before Genos became a cyborg, disaster had struck. His family had all been killed by a cyborg that had gone berserk, and he alone had survived by sheer luck. He then met Dr. Kuseno. Because he was too weak, he asked the doctor to modify his body, vowing to destroy that rampaging cyborg and crush all evil in the world...

Just as Genos was about to launch into his recital, Bai Ye interrupted him, leaving him no choice but to rephrase it.

"I want to crush all evil, so I want to become as strong as you, Mr. Bai Ye."

This time, Genos kept it brief enough.

"That's a noble ambition. As for becoming like me... all I can say is, good luck."

All Bai Ye could do was cheer Genos on.

"I'll work hard!"

Genos nodded solemnly.

"First... actually, have you registered on the Hero Roster?"

Bai Ye asked.

"Not yet."

Genos shook his head. "Does that mean you're already on the Hero Roster, Mr. Bai Ye? You must be an S-Class Hero, right?"

"No, I'm just a B-Class Hero."

Bai Ye corrected him.

"...How did that happen?"

Genos was immediately surprised.

"Nothing happened. I'm just a B-Class Hero. Mr. Saitama, on the other hand, is already ranked fifteenth in S-Class."

Bai Ye spoke without expression.

Unable to believe it, Genos immediately picked up his phone, opened the Hero Association's official website, and searched the rankings.

Sure enough, he saw Saitama in fifteenth place in S-Class. What bothered him, however, was that Mr. Bai Ye really wasn't on the S-Class list.

He scrolled down, but couldn't find Mr. Bai Ye in the A-Class rankings either.

He kept scrolling...

Finally, he found Mr. Bai Ye in fourth place in B-Class, under the hero name [Kamui]. Bai Ye's profile picture was there, so he recognized him.

"There must be some mistake. With your abilities, Mr. Bai Ye, there's no way you should only be in B-Class..."

Genos couldn't help saying, "If you've been treated unfairly, Mr. Bai Ye, I can go to the Hero Association and demand justice for you."

"Nothing like that happened. It's my own problem, and it's just a trivial matter anyway."

Bai Ye shook his head.

"All right."

Genos could only respect Mr. Bai Ye's wishes.

"Then I'll register on the Hero Roster too."

Genos stood up, ready to leave.

He hadn't been particularly interested in the Hero Association before. He had always preferred to carry out justice alone.

But after learning that Mr. Bai Ye was also in the Hero Association, he felt he needed to pay them a visit.

That same day, Genos went to the hero certification exam venue in Z City and took the exam.

Naturally, he earned full marks on both the written exam and the physical tests, becoming another S-Class newcomer after Saitama.

He was ranked eighteenth in S-Class.

[Ding! Your disciple Genos has reached rank 18 in S-Class. Growth reward received: 50 points!]

At the same time, Bai Ye received a system reward.

From the looks of it, every rise in Genos's rank would earn him points. Even moving from eighteenth to seventeenth would yield a reward.

After attending the lecture, Genos returned.

"Mr. Bai Ye, I've registered on the Hero Roster."

Genos sat upright across from Bai Ye.

"Mm. With your abilities, you should already be in S-Class, right?"

Bai Ye said.

"Yes..."

Genos nodded slightly.

At the same time, he grew even more puzzled.

The hero certification exam had been so easy. Why hadn't Mr. Bai Ye become an S-Class Hero right away, just as he had?

He felt there might be some serious underlying reason. Perhaps the Hero Association wasn't as righteous as the world imagined...

Since Mr. Bai Ye had been unwilling to say more earlier, Genos didn't voice his doubts now. He simply resolved to keep an eye on the Hero Association.

"Good. Didn't you want to follow me? Now it'll be easier for you to fight alongside us."

Bai Ye concealed his little ulterior motive.

After all, he couldn't teach Genos any real skills, nor would he tell him to work toward climbing the rankings. Since he intended to let Genos develop on his own, he would stick to that approach and avoid carelessly interfering with his direction.

"Indeed. Joining the Hero Association was clearly the right decision."

Genos nodded.

The House of Evolution was located deep within a remote mountain forest.

A tall building stood there, but it was actually a decoy base.

The real House of Evolution was in the underground laboratory directly beneath it.

The so-called House of Evolution had been established by a scientist named Genus.

When he was young, he had used his extraordinary intelligence to make many contributions to the world. Yet he had become disappointed in it, because no matter how much people praised his brilliant mind, no one agreed with his ideals.

He wanted to make humanity evolve through artificial means, believing that humans in their current state were far too limited. In his eyes, every human other than himself was a stupid animal. Thus, at just fifteen years old, he had already drawn up a plan to reshape humanity and the world into what he wanted.

When he was in his seventies and nearing death from old age, he accelerated his plans. Not only did he restore his youth, but he also created a whole bunch of clones of himself.

Then he and his clones conducted extensive animal experiments, going so far as to use humans as test subjects. Mosquito Girl had been created through such modifications.

He had named this place [House of Evolution] precisely because of his dream of making humanity evolve.

"Mosquito Girl was actually killed?"

"It doesn't matter. She was only a test subject at best. Without drinking blood, she was nothing more than a fragile insect."

"No... Mosquito Girl was actually defeated after absorbing a large amount of blood and evolving. It was an utterly crushing defeat, too..."

"What?"

Inside the laboratory, rows of cultivation tanks held human bodies, some incomplete and others intact.

Dr. Genus was speaking with his clones.

"Here's some of the recorded footage. Please take a look."

A clone projected the video onto a large screen.

The screen replayed the scene of Mosquito Girl's defeat.

"That guy is a monster? Mosquito Girl was defeated by a monster..."

Seeing Vaccine Man blast Mosquito Girl away with an energy sphere at point-blank range, Genus immediately lost interest.

After all, that kind of monster wasn't the artificially modified new human he wanted.

"The footage isn't over yet. Please watch to the end."

The clone reminded him.

Then Genus saw Bai Ye suddenly appear out of thin air and slap Vaccine Man senseless. What was more, Vaccine Man acted meek and submissive, putting up no resistance at all...

"That monster... actually didn't dare defy him?"

The corners of Genus's mouth rose. "And his speed was completely beyond what the naked eye could follow. That's enough to show that his body is powerful too. He should make a fine specimen. I'd like to examine his body..."

P.S. That's the fifth update finished. Still asking for gifts~