Super Gene

The furnace had become semi-transparent under the heat of its own flames. The coin hit the side of the furnace with so much force that it started to cave in on itself. A small hole formed in the surface, and the coin disappeared into that hole.

 It felt like time was standing still. Dragon One and Dia Robber didn’t see the coin come out on the other side, so they assumed that the coin was still stuck to the furnace where it had originally landed. They doubted the coin would have enough power to penetrate the furnace.

 But then they froze in disbelief. The whole furnace was imploding. As if a black hole had formed at the center of the furnace, the whole thing collapsed in on itself. The huge furnace twisted into a small chunk of metal.

 And this minimizing process continued without stopping. It was like a soda can being crushed under someone’s foot. The power inside the furnace continued to collapse its structure.

 The giant furnace grew smaller, and smaller, and smaller.

 Eventually, the furnace was no more than a point of light. Then it detonated like a supernova.

 The shockwave of the explosion rocked that section of space. Debris and destruction spread everywhere, far beyond what the eye could see. Dragon One and Dia Robber were sent flying away by that scary power.

 When Dragon One and Dia Robber gathered themselves enough to look around, they saw that the giant copper furnace had been reduced to nothing but cosmic dust. All of the Swords from the Furnace had cracked because their hosting entity had been annihilated. They created a chain of explosions, one after another. It was like watching a giant universe firework event.

 Han Sen still stood there unaffected.

 Dragon One and Dia Robber looked at each other. This hadn’t just been a display of high defense. Dollar had completely annihilated a creature that was almost deified. That was a very powerful attack, to say the least.

 Even a top-class half-deified couldn’t endure the stream of swords like he had just done.

 “Scary!” Dragon One and Dia Robber thought of the same thing at the same time.

 “Mutant Xenogeneic King hunted: Core Smithy Furnace. Beast soul gained.”

 Han Sen was shocked. There had been no announcement of a xenogeneic gene being found. Now Han Sen understood the scariest part of the coin’s power; it had even destroyed the xenogeneic gene inside the creature.

 That attack was the furnace’s own power turned against it. The Swords from the Furnace were too powerful for it to withstand. Every power from the individual swords had been gathered together. Each one had probably reached deified level, and that was how Han Sen was able to defeat the furnace.

 Just as Han Sen was about to take a look at the beast soul the furnace had given him, he noticed something flashing far away. He looked closer, and he saw the small copper furnace running away.

 Han Sen stopped using his Move Mountain Area and flew after it.

 The furnace wasn’t a fast creature. It didn’t fly quickly, and so Han Sen was able to catch up to it in no time. He pulled out his Core Demon Bug Gun to kill it.

 The small furnace stopped in its tracks, puffing its chimney to make the fire spin, spew, and spread. It gave off a string of crying noises.

 Han Sen thought it was prepping itself to fight. He held the Core Demon Bug Gun with a fixed aim, but he soon noticed the furnace wasn’t unleashing its green fire at Han Sen. Instead, the fire twisted in the air to form a few words.

 “My… king… spare… me…” Han Sen was shocked. He lowered the gun, taking his finger off the trigger.

 The small furnace, noticing that Han Sen hadn’t attacked, spit out a few more green flames. It formed the shape of more words. “I am willing to become your slave.”

 “Holy sh*t! This guy is very smart,” Han Sen thought in shock. The xenogeneics he had seen so far in the core area weren’t intelligent. Even the deified insect wasn’t smart like an ordinary high-level creature.

 But the small furnace’s intelligence was the same as a high-level creature’s.

 “What can you do for me?” Han Sen asked, looking at the furnace.

 Han Sen didn’t think he could take a core xenogeneic into the geno universe. Even if he accepted its services, it would have to remain in the core area.

 The furnace understood Han Sen, so it spat out more green fire to shape words. “I can give directions to my king, for I am familiar with this place.”

 “Pah!” Han Sen laughed. He thought the small furnace was very talented.

 “Wouldn’t you hate me for killing your brethren?” Han Sen asked, raising an eyebrow at the small furnace. That big furnace looked like some sort of parental figure to the small furnace. It would be risky to have a servant who hated him.

 The small furnace spat out more fire and said, “We are of the same kind, but there is no connecting bloodline.”

 “If that is the case, then I will permit you to live. Go ahead and lead the way, then. If you try anything funny, I’ll kill you.” Han Sen thought the small furnace was funny. He kind of liked the thing, so he couldn’t bring himself to kill it. He would keep it around for now, and see whether or not it really wanted to give him good directions.

 If it really did want to serve him, then having a companion that knew about the core would be useful. In the future, he could avoid accidentally stepping into the territory of strong xenogeneics. Having another mishap would be bad.

 “Do not worry, my king. I will lead the way. I will live for the king, and I will die for the king. I will spend my life in the service of the king.” The small furnace spelled out.

 “Now I know you’re full of sh*t! Lead me to where I can find xenogeneics. Something I can kill that isn’t so dangerous,” Han Sen instructed firmly.

 “This way, my king.” The small furnace led the way out into space.

 After the two disappeared, Dia Robber and Dragon One revealed themselves. They hadn’t come out and greeted Han Sen before because he had been too scary. They had to think of a way they could motivate Han Sen to cooperate with them.

 He was so powerful. Unless they provided a lot of incentive, Dollar wouldn’t care for their offers. And the two of them were fighting each other, anyway.

 Before they could offer him a larger portion of the reward, though, they would have to consult with their own people.

 “Brother Dragon One, I have a suggestion. I am wondering if you are interested in hearing it.” Dia Robber looked at Dragon One.

 “Cooperation?” Dragon One asked, looking at Dia Robber.

 “You had the same thought, brother?” Dia Robber was surprised.

 Dragon One smiled. “It looks like we are a match for each other. We should go somewhere nice and discuss the details.”

 “My thoughts exactly! After you, good sir.” Dia Robber smiled.

 The furnace guided Han Sen forward. He was still suspicious about its help, but the small furnace didn’t play any tricks. They went to a place with a small number of King xenogeneics. They were creatures that Han Sen could kill easily. He managed to earn twenty xenogeneic core genes in just a few days. He grew confident that he would find more xenogeneics with the furnace than if he was to remain solo.