The Strongest Gene

High above the sky, amid the boundless darkness, a pair of huge eyes were seemingly shimmering there. Suddenly, the swelling black balls started stirring.

Xiu!

The black balls transformed into numerous black streaks as they charged toward the genetic warriors near them.

"Careful!"

Everyone was horrified. Although they had no idea what these things were, anyone worth their salt knew that nothing good would come from letting those things touch them. As such, they all unleashed their defensive abilities hastily. Alas, their defensive abilities were ineffective, as these black balls were simply illusory objects that would not be stopped by anything in the physical world.

Pa! Pa!

The black balls latched onto their bodies.

"Submit…"

"Submit…"

A faintly discernible voice started echoing from the dark sky. Suddenly, each genetic warrior that had been latched onto felt their consciousness growing hazy. It was at this very moment that a dazzling red radiance flashed past.

Xiu! Xiu!

The red radiance flickered about. Astonishingly, the black balls that had latched onto the bodies of those genetic warriors instantly disappeared as the red radiance appeared.

Eh?

Instantly, they regained their consciousness. When they raised their heads once again, they were rather confused, as all they could see was a tiny red snake hovering in the air. The snake in question was presently swallowing up those black balls. That's right. This snake was devouring those black balls. Those unique black balls that were immune to physical attacks were being swallowed down just like that. Moreover, after swallowing all those black balls, that red snake seemed to grow longer as well. Was this a misconception?

Xiu! Xiu!

After swallowing several tens of the black balls, that red snake was obviously longer now. Furthermore, it was growing thicker as well, and its movement speed had increased as well.

Xiu! Xiu!

The red flickered around. In a short instant, all the black balls were swallowed cleanly. Once again, this place regained its initial tranquility.

???

The Genetic Union warriors were rather dazed at this new development. What was going on? Not only had they failed to understand what those black balls were, what was the deal with this red snake that had appeared suddenly? With the strength of these genetic warriors, it was not a sure fact that they couldn't have defeated these black balls. Among the rich experience they had, numerous experiences dealing with these things with unique immunity existed as well. As long as one paid a sufficient price, even if the price was high, it was definitely doable.

It was truly unexpected that before they had even been able to do anything, the battle was already over. As the red flashed about, only several seconds passed before all those black balls were erased from existence. The only thing remaining was the afterimage of that red streak.

Everyone gasped in admiration.

"What in the world is that thing?"

"Gluttonous snake?"

"…"

"No idea. Perhaps it's a trump card of someone from our side."

"I think so as well."

Everyone started guessing. Despite their guesses, that red streak had only appeared for a short while before vanishing completely.

"Perhaps that person is not willing to expose his trump card."

"Yeah."

Everyone was guessing without stop.

Since the threat posed by the devil race was still looming about, they couldn't spare much of their energy to look for an expert unwilling to reveal himself. Regardless, now that the black balls were no longer here, the Genetic Union warriors could stop wasting time on them. Rather, they could now pay attention to the next batch of devil race members. In this plan that had been conceived by the devil race after spending so much time, a huge frog and many black balls had appeared. What would appear next?

"Based on the information supplied by Chen Feng, the devil race has been in preparation for this awakening for many years. As such, it definitely won't be as simple as what we have seen so far," Han Yula stated coldly. "This plan they have prepared with utmost care was prepared with the ancient race in mind. Since we resemble the ancient race greatly, we must—"

Ka! Ka!

Before Han Yula could even finish his words, once again, the earth trembled violently. This was the third batch of the devil race's attack. The third wave was starting.

Bang! Bang!

Numerous explosions erupted on the ground, leaving numerous craters behind. From the darkened soil, a terrifying fog shot out suddenly. Alarming everyone there was the fact that before even dealing any sort of damage to anyone here, the fog had already dissipated amid the air.

"What is that?"

Their expressions were unsightly. The black balls that had appeared previously were still something they had been able to see with their naked eyes. Now, though, this newly appeared fog…

"This looks bad," someone muttered. This development was much harder to deal with than they had expected. They had initially thought that regardless of how powerful those devil race members were, as long as they were strong enough and were cohesive enough, they would be able to defeat the devil race. However, these two batches of the devil race's attacks had proven that the devil race's attacks were not limited to direct battles.

"Were these prepared by the devil race with the ancient race in mind as well?" someone asked softly.

Shua! Shua!

The fog dissipated among the air without stop. One genetic warrior tried to stop a particular burst of fog. Alas, the fog still managed to dissipate without any trouble. What exactly was this fog?

"No clue."

Everyone shook their head. Something like this that they couldn't see or understand was the scariest thing to face.

Shua! Shua!

Soon, all the fog vanished, with no new fog coming out of the ground.

"Howl—"

Once again, some powerful devil race members crawled out from the ground. These newly appeared devil race members had thick scales all over their bodies, showcasing their astonishing defense. They were obviously stronger than the earlier devil race members. Despite this, the genetic warriors were still all focused on the fog that had appeared earlier. What had that been, exactly?

"Oh." One of them scratched his head. "Was that fog something to create a proper mood to welcome the appearances of these new devil race members?"

Everyone else: "…"

What, do you think this is some stage performance? Creating a proper mood? Do you want a spotlight while you're at it? Furthermore, that fog was not the dry ice normally used for performances, okay?

Bang! Bang!

The devil race members started their attack. As for the Genetic Union members, they could only hold in their doubt and once again face those devil race members. However, their curiosity was answered immediately right after the battle started. The purpose of that damnable fog was instantly revealed.

"This is bad."

"Insufficient energy!" one of them cried out in alarm.

What?

Everyone else's expression sunk. What joke was this? In a battle of such a scale, what would be the consequences of insufficient energy? It was something easily guessed.

"How is this possible? We clearly prepared sufficiently…"

Everyone was still rather confused. However, after several clashes with the devil race members, their expressions were already changing. That was because the rate of their energy exhaustion had been increased by more than tenfold. Their exhaustion had increased greatly. Let alone their natural recovery rate, even after using their energy reserves, they still had insufficient energy to continue battling.

This rate of exhaustion was simply too astonishing. Tenfold? What concept was that?

"What's going…"

Before the question was even completed, they received their answer.

"It's the fog from earlier."

Their bodies chilled.

"At this speed, we will use up all our energy soon."

They had never expected that the third batch of the devil race's attack would be energy exhaustion. The devil race had actually employed such a method to exhaust their energy. This plan of the devil race's that had been prepared for the ancient race actually worked so magnificently against humanity. The moment their energy was fully exhausted…

"What are you guys afraid of?" Han Yula stated with a cold expression. "When your energy is about to be exhausted, leave here and recover your energy. As long as you guys recover yourselves quickly using the energy stones, everything will be fine."

Their expressions were unsightly. "But this will cause our combat power to be reduced by 50%!" If they employed this idea, it would be equivalent to half of them being reduced to noncombatants. There would always be half of them recovering energy outside at all times, causing the combat power of Genetic Union to drop drastically. What would happen if their combat power dropped drastically when facing enemies such as these devil race members? They would suffer disastrous losses!

"Don't worry," Han Yula stated with a cold expression. "Do what you guys must do. I will handle the rest."

Shua!

After saying this, he tightened his grasp on the weapon in his hands. If possible, he truly hoped that he could survive this as well.