Super Gene

There was a giant creature swimming across the sea, which almost resembled a moving island.

Seeing it, Han Sen and Queen did not even dare to breathe, and they steered the whale in another direction to avoid it. With the silver fox onboard, the only creatures they were likely to meet would be insanely powerful ones.

The two had been lost at sea for half a month, and this was the second time they had seen a creature like this. Fortunately, the creatures never paid them heed and would instead continue in the direction they were headed.

They waited until the giant creature was out of sight and let out long sighs. After another half day, Han Sen suddenly saw something green on the horizon. It could have been an island, he thought.

”We are saved! There is an island in the distance. Even if there is no one there, we could at least find some real food. All this time adrift, all we have been drinking is fish blood. I’m getting sick of it!”

Queen looked happy at this news, too. The entire time they had been on the back of the whale, they had been eating fish meat and drinking fish blood, and she too was starting to hate it.

As the image of green drew nearer and nearer, it revealed itself to indeed be an island of sorts. The hills were quite steep, but they were short, and it was decorated with much foliage.

There were no tall trees on the island, but there were many berry bushes. The berries they contained looked like delicious little grapes.

Queen summoned her wings and flew over to take a look. The island wasn’t too big, and it didn’t seem to be populated with any creatures.

Both feeling confident about their new-found parcel of land, they disembarked and climbed onto the island. Han Sen looked at the red berries and thought to himself, ”These berries can’t be like those red mushrooms, can they?”

Queen had already ventured inland. After a brief search, she found a pond hidden among the hills. The prospect of fresh water excited her very much.

”What are you looking at?” Queen noticed Han Sen squatting near the bushes. She furrowed her eyebrows.

”I am wondering whether or not I can eat these things. I am getting tired of eating fish meat, and I am keen to eat something fresh like this,” Han Sen answered.

”Don’t randomly eat stuff. Let’s stick to the fish,” Queen told him.

Although she was sick of fish meat, as well, not all plants in the world were safe for human consumption. The berries did look delicious, but who knew whether or not they’d cause problems if eaten?

”I think they’re okay. I’d say it’d be okay for us to eat them.” Han Sen continued to observe the berries, and from the knowledge he had received from Professor Sun, he was sure they would be fine to eat.

Queen ignored Han Sen and simply returned to the sea to catch more fish. She was happy enough to be able to cook the fish meat, and doing that was certainly better than risking the consumption of curious, unknown berries.

Although Han Sen was sure they would be okay to eat, he didn’t take any.

Han Sen had a question burning in his mind. Why did the berries, while edible, grow in such abundance on the island? And why were they wholly untouched?

While they were out at sea, they saw many birds flying overhead. And yet, there was nothing in the remote vicinity of this island. This made Han Sen believe something was wrong.

Han Sen fought back the desire to try out the berries, and decided to take a stroll around the island, find out what he could, and see if he could witness anything strange about the place they had ended up on.

The island wasn’t too large, and a regular human could walk around it in half a day. With Han Sen atop Golden Growler, combined with his abilities, it didn’t take him long to scope out the place.

While the island wasn’t too big, the hills inland were strange. The rocky hills were not too high, standing at about twenty meters tall, and from afar, one could mistake them for overgrown pineapples. The weirdest thing was how identical each hill was to the next.

Han Sen climbed a hill and looked around. On the tallest hill, he caught sight of a lotus-looking plant.

It looked like an ordinary lotus, with seven leaves and a bud at the center. It was also pure white.

Han Sen frowned. Lotuses tended to grow in water, or at least in very moist soil. He had never seen one grow on a hill before, which made him question whether it was really a lotus.

Seeing as it was just a plant, Han Sen didn’t think he’d have anything to be afraid of. Carrying the silver fox, he decided to ascend the hill. Upon reaching the top, he took a proper gander at the seven-leaved flower.

Taking a closer look, Han Sen confirmed that it was indeed a lotus. Its snow-white petals were all folded around the fist-sized lotus cup inside. This was different than the usual green ones, as this cup was snow white on the inside, too.

It was semi-transparent, and there were many red seeds on the inside. However, it wasn’t very big, which indicated it wasn’t fully mature yet.

As Han Sen continued to observe it, the silver fox jumped out of his arms. It used its own nose to sniff the lotus and blinked as a human would. Then, it curiously circled the lotus as if inspecting the flower. After a while, the silver fox decided to lie down next to it.

”Silver fox, do you care to tell me what that means?” Han Sen asked, while looking at the silver fox with a puzzled expression. If the silver fox wanted to eat something, he’d usually gobble it down without a second thought. He had never waited for his food before.

The silver fox’s face suggested that it did want to eat the plant, but the fox continued to just lie down next to it. Han Sen wasn’t sure what it was thinking.

”Do you want to wait until it is ripe?” Han Sen thought of this possibility and asked the silver fox.

But the silver fox could not reply. All it did was squint with its eyes and continue lying there. It was almost as if it were guarding the lotus plant, like a watchdog.

Han Sen saw smoke rising near the oceanside, which told him Queen had already gathered some fish and was most likely cooking it. When he reached down to grab the silver fox, it bolted out of the way as if it didn’t want to leave. It then sat down, unmoving.

”Even if you want to wait until it is ripe, it could take a while. No one is fighting for it, so let’s go eat some food and come back.” Han Sen comforted the silver fox and tried to grab him again.

But again, the silver fox refused to budge. He had no intention of leaving the lotus and seemed resolute in his decision to guard the plant.

With nothing he could do about it, Han Sen decided to walk back to the oceanside. As he made his way back, he thought to himself, ”That lotus must be some good stuff. Otherwise, why would he be so stubborn and stay there? He is rather picky when it comes to food.”

”No, I can’t let the silver fox take it all for himself! I bet he is waiting for the lotus seeds. Otherwise, he’d have munched it all at first sight. What other reason could there be for him to stay there and wait? Hmm, but how can I take them away from the silver fox? If the silver fox decides to fight me, how can I expect to look after it in the future?” Many different thoughts and questions now plagued Han Sen’s mind, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to do.

The silver fox was refusing to leave that spot, and it was going to wait until the seeds were ripe. Stealing food from it would be a difficult thing.