C4 Commander Han Dong

This man — seemingly in his forties — was neither well-built nor tall; however, he emitted an imposing manner with each confident step he took. At this moment, he seemed as if he had just returned from a massacre. His shoulders and chest still stained with the blood and flesh of the Blood-Thirsty Furious Ant, which added to his ferocity.

Though he looked at the man from afar, Chu Lin's eyes throbbed in pain, as if the man's fierce aura was hurting him directly.

The pressure this man emittted was clearly several times that of the Blood-Thirsty Furious Ant.

"We pay our respects to the commander!"

The veterans stood straight up and said in unison.

At this point, it should be obvious that this man is the one in charge of the F-class gathering ground 'Weiyang', Han Dong.

Waving his hands to indicate for everyone to quiet down, he announced in a deep voice.

"The false intelligence we received from the Central Royal City has resulted in extremely heavy losses in the ranks of our gathering ground. The ten E-class mutated beasts that we discovered were far more powerful than the usual F-class mutated beasts we found in the lair."

"As a result, we have paid a huge price for that mistake. Although our Weiyang exploration team — twenty-seven squads totaling up to five hundred and forty people — had gone all out for this expedition, the death rate was more than thirty-seven percent. Even one of our five Awakened Practitioners, Chao Long, sacrificed himself in a valiant manner to fend off the attacks of the mutated beasts."

With a cold expression, Han Dong walked to the center of the camp with large and confident strides. Only then did he continue to speak.

"But this is the reality of war."

"Over the past thousand years, we, humans, have never given up despite suffering countless defeats and losses from the mutated beasts. But one day, we will be able to return to the surface and regain the glory we once had a thousand years ago. As for the dead who have sacrificed their lives along the way, they will all be known as the heroes of Weiyang!"

"Thus...! We shall not retreat and falter in our advances! In this battle, the five Awakened Practitioners paid the price of one to kill three of the Blood Devouring Ants. Furthermore, we even have a comrade who has just awakened his gene chain!"

Han Dong's eyes lit up as he pointed in a specific direction with his finger.

"Chu Lin!"

*Swish!*

All the veterans looked in the direction that Han Dong pointed towards and stared at Chu Lin — their eyes filled with reverence and eagerness.

"Chu Lin, you were born a soldier and had your genes awakened during the most recent battle. You have become the sixth Awakened Practitioner of Weiyang and will assist in filling up the vacancies in the F-class gathering ground. Now, a round of applause for our sixth Awakened Practitioner — Chu Lin!"

"God bless Weiyang!"

Although Han Dong's voice was not loud, it nonetheless possessed the unique power of calming the hearts of others.

With just those few words, Chu Lin could feel that the depressing atmosphere in the camp was gradually changing — perhaps due to the trust others had for their leader, Han Dong.

With that, Han Dong relieved everyone from the meeting before walking towards Chu Lin.

"Chu Lin, you're not bad! Follow me!"

When Han Dong signaled Chu Lin to follow him, he hesitated for a moment before giving in to his order.

Before long, the two of them stopped in front of the barracks.

At this moment, there were already three people waiting inside the barracks.

While all of them were dressed in gray battle uniforms , each respective person had distinct features and differing personalities. The first person was a muscular man who stood tall and sturdy like an iron tower. The second was a seemingly refined young man with glasses while the last was an extremely charming and beautiful woman.

Seeing that Han Dong had returned, the three of them stood up immediately and made way for him.

"There's no need for you guys to stand up to greet me. Just remain in your seats. Chu Lin, come, let me introduce you. These three are the other Awakened Practitioners in the gathering ground. The one beside you is called Ning Feng, an awakened specializing in the element of wind. Furthermore, he has already activated two and a half of his gene chains." After Han Dong finished speaking, the youth tipped his spectacles up and snorted arrogantly without making any unnecessary movements.

Just as Chu Lin was about to speak, Han Dong waved his hand and introduced the next person. "This lady over here is called Hong Moli. Awakening the superhuman gene that specializes in poison, she had also activated two gene chains. Although she may be a lady, allow me to remind you how she has a rather unique type of gene chain and is ranked in the top three strongest fighters of our gathering ground."

"Commander, stop exaggerating. I'm not as incredible as you say. You must be Chu Lin, right? You must act more intimate with your sister from now on~" Hong Moli spoke with her scarlet red lips, looking extremely alluring.

Han Dong shook his head and was about to introduce the sturdy man.

"My name is Tie Niu, possessing the ancestral gene, known as the Big Yellow Ape. I too have awakened two gene chains. Having just looked through the report, your name is Chu Lin, right? Your awakened gene chain should be similar to mine." Tie Niu burst into a series of laughter so loud that even the tiles on the ground of the camp began to tremble.

He reached out his hand towards Chu Lin's hand and grasped him with his utmost strength.

As they shook their hands, Chu Lin could feel Tie Niu tightening his grip — seemingly strong enough to crush a rock. In response, Chu Lin subconsciously used 50% of his strength to barely resist him.

"Looks like the gene chain that Little Brother Chu Lin awakened is quite extraordinary. I wonder what kind of gene it is. This is the first time big sister has met a newly Awakened Practitioner who was able to withstand this brute's strength. It seems that you are much more capable than Ning Feng. Back then, Ning Feng's face twisted in pain while his hands were bruised." Hong Moli covered her mouth and laughed.

"Hmph!"

Ning Feng snorted, appearing to not get along with Hong Moli at all.

"Not bad indeed!"

Han Dong nodded in satisfaction. Tie Niu was a straightforward person who would never lie. To be able to withstand Tie Niu's strength having just awakened is certainly no easy feat. "No matter how extraordinary your gene chain is, we will still have to run some tests to know the specifications of your abilities. Chu Lin, come over here and put your finger on this."

"This is the hexagonal crystal that has been harvested from the earth's core. It possesses the ability to test the type of gene chain in an Awakened Practitioner. Go on and try it."

Han Dong took out a purple hexagonal crystal and said.

Chu Lin followed Han Dong's instructions and pressed his finger to the side of the crystal. Following that, a dim red light gradually lit up in the crystal that he pressed down on.

Chu Lin did not understand anything that was happening.

Han Dong, on the other hand, twitched his eyebrows as he could not believe his eyes.

"It's only the most basic superhuman gene chain?"

Han Dong's brows tightened.

With the existence of spiritual energy, all living things would have receive an opportunity to evolve at some point.

As for the human body, there were hundreds of thousands of gene chains inside, and by awakening any one of those could a human become an Awakened Practitioner. However, there are many types of gene chains unique to each Awakened Practitioner, which could be divided into five main categories.

The five main types include superhuman gene, natural gene, ancestral gene, special gene and unknown gene.

Furthermore, each gene chain has their own differences in potential and strength.

Starting from the weakest gene is the superhuman gene, ancestral gene, natural gene, and finally, special gene.

As for the unknown gene, humans could not determine the potential of such genes. Due to how the uniqueness of certain unknown genes, it could most of the time not be identified. Since Chu Lin was already able to withstand the attack of Tie Niu even though he had just awakened his gene chain, everyone anticipated his gene chain to be somehow related to the superhuman gene.

However, everyone thought that Chu Lin's superhuman gene would at least be in the intermediate or even higher-tier. Now that the results show that he possessed the most basic-level gene, everyone could not help but let out a disappointed frown.

Seeing his results, Chu Lin was also stunned for a moment.

When he thought about it again, however, his disappointment quickly subsided.

After all, the Blood-Thirsty Furious Ant was simply a mere insect before the discovery of Spiritual Qi. Even then, they were still one of the weakest creatures among the other mutated beasts. Though they were able to lift objects the times heavier than themselves due to their species' characteristics, they were still far too weak when compared to other beasts.

Besides...

With the extraction system in his possession, what is there to be afraid of?

From the others' perspectives, however, Chu Lin had undoubtedly displayed a rather disappointing performance.

"Don't be too discouraged. Although the basic superhuman gene chain won't offer much in terms of improvement, you might be able to open up other types of gene chains in the future. Furthermore, even the lowest level of the superhuman gene is nevertheless another step closer to activating your bloodline after awakening ten gene chains total in the future."

As Han Dong's facial expression returned to normal, he patted Chu Lin on the shoulder and encouraged him.

"Many thanks to the commander. I will definitely work hard to meet your expectations," Chu Lin replied.

Hearing that his response, Han Dong did not say anything else.

The superhuman gene was already the weakest among the five main gene chains, let alone the most basic superhuman gene. Although Awakened Practitioners could awaken even more gene chains, only the most talented practitioners would be able to do so.

As for activating ten gene chains, there was simply no such news of anyone achieving that feat yet.

"It's good that you know how to work hard. The current you is no longer one of the mere soldiers that were gathered at the meeting place previously. You're now one of the five great Awakened Practitioners of Weiyang. Since you have just awakened, however, there are still many things that need to be tested regarding your abilities. Your progress as an Awakened Practitioner will ultimately be decided by how much effort you put into your training." Han Dong continued to encourage Chu Lin as he explained.

"According to the regulations, Awakened Practitioners are able to obtain a set of F-class gene drugs — capable of reducing the side effects of activating your gene chain and increasing the effectiveness of your gene chain by more than 20%.

Gene drugs?

What in the world is that?

Chu Lin simply stood there dumbfounded and remained silent.

"Commander, I disagree with your decision!"

Ning Feng, who had not spoken for a long time, interrupted the conversation and imparted his objections immediately.

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