1720 Baron Gene “There was a problem generating my geno armor. This is a medicine that should help, and so I am heating it up,” Han Sen said. The Kate men nodded and no longer seemed interested. The three of them settled in and then went for a shower, and Han Sen watched them. It wasn’t hard to get along with people from Planet Kate, and with Han Sen’s observational skills, he was able to tell that their fitness was greater than that of humans. But that seemed to be their only major advantage—their fitness. They were not as intelligent, and when it came to research and development, they were quite lacking compared to humans. Han Sen hadn’t seen the Nobles fight yet, so perhaps they were much stronger than ordinary citizens. Han Sen stayed in the living quarters. The names of his three roommates were rather strange, so he just called them Long, Suo Tu, and Kun. They weren’t hostile, but neither were they overly friendly. They were just average roommates, really. Han Sen wasn’t in a rush to open the cooker, so he waited until the next day, when the other three were out, to stop the cooker and lift the lid. It released a puff of fragrance and steam. When he gave it a sniff, Han Sen noticed it smelled like blood. He knew that the cooker might not have any effect on such a hard bone. But now that he was taking a look, he was genuinely surprised. All the water had become purplish and red. It smelled like blood, and it was frothing. Han Sen knew that should have been impossible, as when blood was boiled, it usually became solid. After poking around in the weird liquid with a spoon, he noticed that the bone was gone. There wasn’t even a tiny bit left. He was even more surprised. That was just a normal cooker with a pot full of water. And yet, it had been able to cook the item successfully and melt the bone completely. Smelling that blood, though, Han Sen wondered whether or not he could eat it. But since he had heard the unexpected voice of the sanctuary, Han Sen wanted to give it a try. He spooned up some of the soup and sipped it Han Sen frowned. It tasted very bad. It was like drinking hot blood. Fortunately, he was used to eating bad things. He had grown accustomed to eating raw flesh, after all. A bit of blood wasn’t going to put him off. “Consumed a Baron Xenogeneic Gene. Baron Gene +0′ When Han Sen heard the announcement, he was delighted. It was working, but he had sipped such a small amount, it had added zero points. Han Sen lifted the entire cooker and pot, and then he gulped it all down like a vat of soup. The heat was in his belly then, spreading out through his whole body. Han Sen’s blood warmed and began to flow more swiftly. As his blood continued to surge, his entire body started to feel hot. He felt as if he was in a sauna, and his skin was red, burning with a constant sizzle. Han Sen had almost finished drinking it all, but he had yet to hear an announcement. It appeared that he hadn’t gained a single point. “Was it because the bone was too small? Was it not enough to give me even one point?” Han Sen felt depressed about this, but he finished the last few swigs of the broth. “Consumed a Baron Xenogeneic Gene. Baron Gene +1” When Han Sen finished it all, he heard what he had wanted to hear. His gene tally had increased, and although it was only a Baron tier—which was the lowest—it was a good start, nonetheless. The heat inside his body lasted a whole hour, and after that, his body temperature returned to normal. Now, though, Han Sen was feeling much stronger. His Spell armor, as he had begun calling it, didn’t seem to improve. That surprised him. Xenogeneic genes only increased the strength of Han Sen’s actual body. They didn’t improve his Spell armor. As Han Sen was happily thinking about these changes, Kun came back. He told Han Sen to pack a few things because they had been given a mission to hunt a xenogeneic. Han Sen and Kun packed up, as he, Kun, and Long were a team. There would be ten people going on this mission, all led by one leader. In the plaza, they found nineteen other teams. A captain oversaw them all, and he directed them to board a ship to fly elsewhere. Han Sen knew Hardman used his people as pawns and little more. Han Sen was prepared for this, though, and he had been expecting it. Hardman only saw them as cannon fodder. Han Sen’s contract put him in a slightly different role. Soldiers could only earn money, but if Han Sen killed a xenogeneic, he could earn rewards in addition to the monetary sum. Han Sen didn’t see any Nobles amongst them. They didn’t mingle with ordinary soldiers. “Where are we going?” Han Sen asked Suo Tu. Suo Tu merely shrugged and said, “We are just soldiers. We don’t know where we’re being deployed. We’ll end up fighting no matter where we drop, anyway.” “If this is so dangerous, why are you joining the hunting group?” Han Sen wondered. “Because there is a lot of money involved,” Suo Tu said. He then got out his wallet and showed it to Han Sen. It held a picture of a beautiful Kate woman and a little girl. They smiled joyfully. But the little girl had no hair or fur, and she looked bald. “My daughter has a genetic problem. A lot of money is required to heal her. She needs expensive geno fluid to stay alive, and that is why I am here,” Suo Tu said calmly. Han Sen didn’t say anything. He wasn’t good at comforting, so he wasn’t sure what he might say that would make the man feel better. “I tell you this not for sympathy. I just want you to know that you should be careful. If you are in danger, don’t expect someone to play the hero and attempt to save you,” Suo Tu said, pocketing his wallet. “You’re not bad,” Han Sen told him. He knew the man meant it as a genuine warning, not a threat.