Chapter 27: Addressing the Root Cause

Although Ding Huan had mentally prepared himself, he was still very disappointed, relieved only by the fact that there were protectors by Qu Yi's side.

Ding Huan had little hope for the man and woman protecting Qu Yi, for if they were truly capable of protecting him, Qu Yi wouldn't have been captured by the Genetic Alliance in his previous life to undergo lethal human gene experiments.

Since he couldn't gain the trust of Qu Yi's side, his only option was to find the source.

Ding Huan now knew who was watching Qu Yi, they were the two men staying at the luxurious Tinghuan Hotel.

In the following days, Ding Huan bought some materials for disguise; he didn't want the situation to spiral out of control.

The best course of action was to eliminate the unpredictable factors that endangered Qu Yi.

Even though he knew Qu Yi would be taken for experimentation by the Genetic Alliance only five months later, Ding Huan didn't want to take that risk.

Had it not been for his recent scouting at the Tinghuan Hotel, Ding Huan would have attempted to eliminate these two men a few days ago.

Ding Huan forced himself to wait for over a week before he disguised himself and entered the Tinghuan Hotel.

He did not choose to go at night; during the day, the hustle of people was safest. At night, with fewer people, his disguise would more likely attract attention.

Upon entering the Tinghuan Hotel, he took the elevator directly to the 11th floor and walked to room 1123, where Ding Huan knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a lazy voice asked from inside.

"Room service with ice drinks," Ding Huan responded, his voice slightly gentle.

"What ice drinks? We didn't order any..." The door was opened as he spoke.

Ding Huan entered and closed the door behind him.

"Who are you?" The man who opened the door immediately stepped back several steps, clearly recognizing that Ding Huan wasn't from the hotel and looked peculiar.

Full of beard, wearing a cap, and sunglasses that almost covered half his face.

"Get out..." Another man pulled out a knife, yelling at Ding Huan to leave, his hand swinging the knife.

He had no intention of letting Ding Huan actually leave.

Ding Huan didn't even attempt to dodge; instead, he stepped forward, reached out his hand swiftly, caught the man's wrist, and twisted it upwards violently.

A crisp "snap" sound followed as the wrist was effortlessly broken.

"Ah…" A piercing scream echoed as the knife fell, and the assailant half-knelt as if bowing to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan flicked his toe, and the knife landed in his hand, then he turned to the other stunned man and said,

"If you dare make another sound, I guarantee I will make you completely silent."

"Who exactly are you? Do you know where we are from? We are…"

The man with his wrist broken, his face pale from pain, continued yelling.

Before the man could fully utter the words "Genetic Alliance," Ding Huan's knife swept across, a splash of blood followed, and the kneeling man's head was brutally decapitated by Ding Huan.

The man who opened the door for Ding Huan collapsed onto the floor, his face terrifyingly pale.

Where had he ever seen such a bloody scene? It indeed is a time when genetic beasts roam, but such men, never stepping onto a battlefield themselves, are untouched by it.

The harsh reality of human survival applied only to ordinary people, not to them.

Ding Huan tapped the man's face with the knife and said, "See, I told you I'd make him quiet."

"I don't know anything…" The man finally recovered from the shock, trembling as he spoke.

"I'll ask you one question, and you'll answer one. If you lie or remain silent, you'll be quiet too," Ding Huan said as he sat down on a chair.

Despite Ding Huan sitting down, the room, with its freshly bloodstained murder, still haunted the man with fear.

"What's your name?"

"Chang Chongjin."

"Which organization? What are you here for?"

"We are from the Genetic Alliance, tasked with guarding the Hua Xia Martial Arts Gene Testing Building daily, looking for various special genetic bodies."

"How many have you found?"

"All here." The man didn't dare hesitate or hide anything, picking up a notebook from the table and handing it to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan opened the notebook, which listed at least twenty names, Qu Yi prominently among them.

What astonished Ding Huan was that Qu Yi wasn't a Genetic Affinity Body but a Coupled Gene Body.

He had been mistaken; previously he thought the man referred to the Genetic Affinity Body as Qu Yi, only now realizing he referred to someone else.

This was odd; if Qu Yi was a Coupled Gene Body, why was he still taken for genetic testing?

"Has this data been handed over yet?" Ding Huan lifted the notebook.

The man quickly shook his head, "No, all these data are handwritten, we were supposed to submit them to Mr. Quan after the assessment started."

"Who is Mr. Quan?"

"He is the person sent by the Genetic Alliance, in charge of scouting talents during this Blue Star Ten Great Colleges assessment."

Ding Huan sneered, "Scouting talents? More like scouting people for genetic experiments or, shall we say, sending them to their deaths."

The man's mouth hung half-open; he couldn't believe what he was seeing as he stared at Ding Huan. How could Ding Huan know about these matters that even they were unclear on?

He and his companions could only vaguely guess that the people they had recorded would mostly likely not appear in the future.

The reason the Genetic Alliance was so powerful was that there were constantly people sacrificing their lives for new genes.

With every new gene discovered, the Genetic Alliance had one more machine to print money.

Guess though they might, they dared not speak a word. Who would dare mention such things would be equivalent to not wanting to see the sun tomorrow.

"Speak, what's Boss Quan's real name? Do you have a photo, where does he live?" Ding Huan knew it was unlikely he would get any useful information.

The man shook his head, "I don't know either, I only know his codename is Boss Quan. Those who are privileged to meet him call him Mr. Quan.

After the gene assessment begins, we have to take this data to the Tinghuan Hotel, where someone will automatically come to find us."

…

An hour later, Ding Huan left the Youdun Luxury Hotel and returned to his own place.

The next day when Ding Huan went to eat, he heard the news that two members of the Genetic Alliance had been killed.

Youdun Luxury Hotel was already sealed off, and the streets were full of officials inspecting, with those from the Genetic Alliance in charge of security affairs acting as if they were driven mad, checking every hotel.

Ding Huan sighed inwardly, two members of the Genetic Alliance had been killed. For ordinary people, let alone two, even two hundred could be killed and it was likely there would be no news in the newspapers the next day.

Such a large-scale search was unheard of.

Not to mention ordinary people, even when he had killed two members of the Washing Blade Association in Luoh River City, that matter had still fizzled out.

Even though that matter wasn't concluded, the Washing Blade Association didn't dare to openly deal with him, they could only act in the shadows.

This indicated how great the influence of the Genetic Alliance was.

Ding Huan acted as if nothing had happened, continuing with his cultivation and meals over the next few days.

The Genetic Alliance hadn't uncovered any results; they couldn't even find out what the murderer of the two Genetic Alliance members looked like.

Because that person had disguised himself and after entering room 1123, he didn't come out again, the person must have left through the window of the room.

Who, capable of leaving from a window on the eleventh floor, could possibly be an ordinary person?

Puhai was the location for the enrollment assessment of the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges, and as the time for the assessments neared, more and more people were coming to Puhai.

The Genetic Alliance, despite its considerable influence, was only an international organization.

The Genetic Alliance's overt search for the murderer had indeed caused displeasure among various parties.

Moreover, Puhai was an important city in Hua Xia; in front of such a significant event, the Genetic Alliance couldn't dominate everything, causing upheaval and spreading unrest.

At this point, the Genetic Alliance had to cease its overt investigations.

Ding Huan wasn't planning to let things rest; once the enrollment assessments began for the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges, he was thinking of making his way to the Tinghuan Hotel to look for Boss Quan.

The ideal outcome would be to eliminate this guy; last time, Qu Yi was probably abducted by him and then met his end.

For now, it was better for him to keep a low profile and let that Mr. Quan swagger around for a few more days.

"Is that you? Ding Huan?"

That day after Ding Huan had finished breakfast, he was buying information on the enrollment assessments of the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges at the hotel entrance when someone called out to him.

As the assessments for the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges were drawing near, new information emerged daily, and you could buy it at the entrance of any hotel, no matter where you were staying.

Ding Huan puzzledly turned his head and immediately saw Luo Xinwei standing not far away.

"Luo Xinwei?" Seeing Luo Xinwei caused Ding Huan a bit of confusion, but he didn't take it to heart.

In his eyes, Luo Xinwei was no different from a stranger.

"Ding Huan, is it really you? What are you doing here?" Luo Xinwei immediately walked over.

Regardless, she had received many favors from Ding Huan, without whom she wouldn't be where she was today, let alone being able to work as a guidance counselor at Shangwu University in Luoh River City.

"Oh, I'm a guidance counselor, I'm tagging along with Mr. Geng. Mr. Geng is bringing a few students who are about to participate in the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges assessment, I came to Puhai early to check out the situation."

Ding Huan casually replied.

Luo Xinwei looked at Ding Huan in surprise; she hadn't expected him to land such a role.

This was no ordinary job; anything linked to the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges assessment wasn't simple.

She was so obsequious, yet she was only following the team from Shangwu University in Luoh River City to do some menial tasks at the assessments. After all, she had made it to Puhai.

"Xinwei, let's go," a calling voice came from the distance.

Luo Xinwei hastily said to Ding Huan, "Ding Huan, good luck, you will definitely succeed."

After saying that, she hurriedly chased after her companions.

Ding Huan was baffled, succeed in what? He had no idea.

Hmm, something was wrong, Ding Huan felt a sensation like being watched by a venomous snake.

He looked back again, a black figure flashed by, seemingly a woman looking at him? With hatred?

That familiar silhouette, who was that woman?