Super Gene

Han Sen felt as if the Phoenix Sword had come down on rubber. It was a deep strike, but the sword eventually gave in to the cushion and bounced backwards. And with the force Han Sen had put into that strike, it made him fall back more than a few steps.

Han Sen pulled out Taia this time and tried to deliver a number of smaller strikes instead. He unleashed a flurry of manic hits, not willing to give the ball a single moment of reprieve.

When the ball first rolled down the hill, it had done so soaked in blood. Now, the blood was all gone. Han Sen noticed the ball had absorbed the blood.

With Double Fly, Han Sen laid into the ball. He didn’t want to invoke its ire and then let it go free, so he had to put his back into it and do his best to end the ball’s life now.

But despite exhausting all his strength, Han Sen was unable to damage the white ball. His swords and strikes continued to bounce back, having left no damage on the ball’s rubber-like skin.

With his nine gene locks open, Phoenix Sword and Taia akimbo, Han Sen did all he could. Under the force of such power, most super creatures would have been laid to waste already. Han Sen couldn’t fathom what sort of creature he was now faced with. Its skin made for the best defense possible.

Han Sen decided to put his swords away and watch while the ball tried to scramble away from Bao’er’s Dyson-gourd.

When he looked at Bao’er, she actually appeared to be sweating. It seemed as if using the gourd cost her energy, and using it for a long time was taxing. But Bao’er did not want to let the ball go free. She insisted on capturing it, and she seemed determined not to let it get away.

Since there was no one else around, Han Sen summoned a coin and let the numbers on it tick upwards.

“Let’s see how well you resist such lavish expenditure,” Han Sen mocked. Bao’er’s hands were trembling by this point, and when the coin count reached nine, Han Sen released the power and fired the coin at the white ball.

A Saving Money coin, with the power of nine, hit the white ball with the weight of mountains. It seemed to be quite effective, too, because it flattened the white ball like a deflating balloon.

Bao’er pulled the gourd away and immediately went to sit down, gasping.

The ball had been crushed in place. It could not move, it had been crippled, but it had been able to resist the weight and not get blown up. After a short while, though, it returned to normal.

Han Sen was shocked, to say the least. The coin had reached nine, and he was certain it’d be enough to do something more than temporarily restrain the spherical fiend.

But with the coin still firmly in place on the ball’s surface, it remained unharmed.

The ball did roll much slower now, though, so there was that. If it was once a cruising supercar, it was now grandad’s rusty lawnmower.

Han Sen felt relieved that the coin was able to do something, at least. It didn’t kill or grievously damage the ball, but it was enough to practically cripple it.

“Saving Money still has its uses, I suppose.” Han Sen snapped his fingers and summoned a coinfall on top of the ball, then.

A short while later, the entire ball had been given a new coat. It was like a golden orb now, without an inch of its body free from the oppressive weight of a coin.

Bao’er saw the ball in place, stuck. Then, she ran up to it and kicked it.

The ball was completely unable to move now. It was still as tough as ever, though, and there was no sign it was going to buckle under the weight and allow itself to be crushed.

The nature of the ball still perplexed Han Sen. If it was a super creature, and it had just endured so much painful treatment, it should have at least tried to fight back. Strangely, the ball was as docile as ever, but Han Sen wasn’t quite willing to believe it was just an object, either.

Han Sen approached the ball and examined it with greater curiosity. It was an enigma he really wanted to figure out.

Bao’er leaped onto the white ball and continued to kick it for the runaround she had endured earlier. But eventually, the ball became bouncy again.

Bao’er summoned the mini gourd once more and attempted to absorb it. But right after she took aim, and before she could fire, the ball seemed to quiver and shake as if it was afraid.

Han Sen still had no clue what the thing was, and if there was a chance it could turn sour and attack, he had no qualms with letting Bao’er suck it into her gourd.

Suddenly, though, before more could be revealed, the sound of a katcha was heard. It was the ball, and it was starting to crack.

Han Sen knew it wasn’t because of the coins, though. The “crack” was a straight line through the middle, all around it.

The crack also originated from the bottom, and Han Sen couldn’t quite see what was emerging just yet. But regardless of what it was, he at least now understood that the ball was hollow.

Something was inside it and looking to get out. The once tormenting, violent father and daughter had become as scared as kitty cats. Bao’er leaped into Han Sen’s arms, wondering what would happen next with an equal mix of fear and curiosity.

Han Sen was alert. If this had been a super creature egg this entire time, something most fearsome must reside within. Both of them stared at the crack, and soon after, something emerged.

When that thing came out, their eyes grew wider.

When it wholly emerged, it looked at Han Sen and Bao’er and roared at them fiercely.

Roar!