"Master, the flame gene serum is ready."
"Bring it here!"
Xu Long did not have to wait long before a pigeon landed on the windowsill.
The pigeon opened its beak and spat out a syringe, then melted and transformed into a miniature Red Queen.
"What's the success rate? Are there any side effects?"
Xu Long asked, holding the syringe filled with red liquid.
"Out of 1,000 fusion trials, 997 succeeded. Of those, 29 resulted in mutation and enhancement."
"Wait, you counted mutations as successes too?"
Xu Long looked puzzled.
"The purpose of making this gene serum was to obtain a flame ability. As long as that was achieved, it counted as a success."
"All right, then what happened in the three failures?"
Xu Long waved his hand and asked.
"The gene serum came into unforeseen conflict with your bloodline, Master, and then exploded."
The Red Queen turned on the television, and the screen showed the wonderful sight of Little Boy and Fat Man exploding over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Xu Long: "..."
Granted, it really was a wonderful sight, but using it on him, her master, seemed a little inappropriate.
"How long will it take to adapt?"
Xu Long continued to ask.
"At least two hours, and no more than twenty-four."
"All right, then!"
Xu Long sighed. He had originally planned to inject it after entering the Reincarnation Temple.
After all, with the Main God watching over him, nothing serious would happen.
But there were only five minutes of waiting time before entering a mission world, which wasn't enough.
Pssh!
The needle pierced his skin, and the red liquid was injected into his body.
Xu Long felt as if magma had flowed into his veins, setting him ablaze in an instant.
The serum's effects were more violent than he had imagined. As soon as it started, Xu Long felt an unbearable itch all over...
No, his whole body was heating up!
Whoosh!
Xu Long opened his mouth to expel the stale air from his lungs, only for a tiny wisp of flame to come out instead.
"The gene serum has come into conflict with the T-Virus Enhanced Bloodline. The two are fighting for dominance."
A beam of light shone from the miniature Red Queen's eyes as she scanned and recorded.
"Fuck! Don't do research at a time like this! Hurry up and figure out how to deal with it!"
Xu Long roared, a ball of fire spraying from his mouth.
"These two powers are contending against each other. There's no way to stop it."
The Red Queen spread her hands in an extremely human gesture.
"Why can a measly flame ability stand up to the T-virus? I could crush a whole bunch of that kid with one hand, so why is this happening?"
After roaring for a while, Xu Long gradually calmed down.
Mainly because staying worked up wouldn't help, so he could only force himself to calm down.
"This is a struggle between the fundamental natures of the powers. It has nothing to do with the person controlling the ability."
The Red Queen said, "For example, if genes collected from an S-rank fire ability user fought genes collected from an E-rank water ability user, the fire genes wouldn't necessarily win."
"So how do we solve this now?"
Xu Long looked down. His cotton clothes had burned to ash, and the hair on his body was gone too.
"Wait. There's no other way."
The Red Queen said.
"Ah!"
Sighing helplessly, Xu Long turned and went to the bathroom, where he began filling the bathtub with water.
He couldn't run outside in broad daylight, and he couldn't burn his home down either.
He would have to make do. At least he'd save on the electricity for heating water.
Time passed second by second. Xu Long boiled nearly ten cubic meters of tap water, and the abnormalities in his body finally began to fade.
Although the flame ability was unrivaled when it came to boiling water, the T-Virus Enhanced Bloodline ultimately proved superior.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers, and a flame began burning at his fingertip.
"Well, look at that. I've saved the money for a lighter."
Xu Long exclaimed in amazement. At this flame's intensity, it would take at least three days and nights to burn someone to death!
The research into the flame ability could be considered a failure. It wasn't that it lacked power, but that it was fucking useless.
Producing flames consumed energy from the body. Xu Long had cultivated martial arts, so it consumed his internal force.
But for the same amount of internal force, those martial arts were much stronger than the flames.
The only use for this thing was destroying corpses and wiping out the evidence.
Then again, could he sell it?
It was useless to him, but it could be useful to others.
"How's the research on Sing's gene sample going?"
Xu Long found some clothes and changed into them. His balls swung as he walked, smacking his legs until they hurt.
"Sing's genes are very unusual. There won't be any results until next month."
"It won't be like what just happened, will it?"
Xu Long muttered. He didn't want to go through that again.
"After a finished product made from Sing's genes is injected, it will be a gradual process. It won't have any effect on you, Master. It will only slowly change your constitution."
The Red Queen replied.
"That's good!"
Xu Long nodded, then called Sun Yameng.
In the end, the two of them hadn't gone to get a room. For one thing, they had been too impulsive at the time; for another, Sun Yameng had been brought up rather strictly.
Although they hadn't taken the final step, their feelings for each other had grown much stronger than their original fondness, and their relationship could be considered settled.
"Which mission world are you planning to go to next?"
Xu Long asked, lying on the sofa.
"I'm planning to go to the newly opened Wolf Warrior!"
"Wolf Warrior? That's a D-rank mission world. You've reached D-rank?"
Xu Long asked in surprise.
He knew the plot inside and out, and it was only by selling the T-virus, secret manuals, and other things that he had managed to reach D-rank after just two mission worlds. Was this girl that formidable too?
"My dad gave me ten thousand points. After I came out of Spider-Man, I raised my agility and spirit stats to 50, then passed the assessment and reached D-rank. Impressive, right?"
"Yeah, pretty impressive!"
Xu Long answered, a trace of delight rising in his heart.
He was going to Wolf Warrior too, but he didn't tell her. He planned to give Sun Yameng a surprise.
"I'm still hanging around at E-rank. I'm going to Spider-Man next."
The two chatted for a while, then hung up.
"Dating a rich girl like this really takes a lot of thought!"
Xu Long reflected inwardly.
Their identities, status, backgrounds, even their food, clothing, daily expenses, and the things they came into contact with were completely different from those of poor people.
If two people wanted to be together, they certainly couldn't rely on the abnormal secretion of hormones in their bodies alone.
But Xu Long was no ordinary person. On the contrary, his class was far above Sun Yameng's.
His knowledge of the plot put him directly above everyone else in this world, and with the Red Queen assisting him, it wouldn't be long before he surpassed Sun Yameng's father. Even reaching a point where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Divine Heavenly Emperor wouldn't be much trouble.
"Love really is a wonderful thing!"
Xu Long muttered. When he thought of Sun Yameng's soft, smooth skin and enchanting face, he felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.