Chapter 00129: Oceanic Creatures
# Oceanic Creatures
Chapter 129
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 129: Oceanic Creatures
"So strong..."
It wasn't until Ding Huan's figure disappeared beyond the steel defense line that Fan Yibing murmured to herself.
She had no idea that Ding Huan hadn't relied on his own strength but rather on the gene poison mist he had created.
Nong Yizhen, who had also been watching the battle, looked pale.
Only now did he understand just how powerful the expert Zhong Chi had spoken of truly was.
Zhu Qinjiang glanced at Nong Yizhen and spoke in a cold tone, "Dean Nong, you've always been so clever. Why did you make such a foolish mistake this time? If it weren't for Zhong Chi pleading on your behalf, you would already be dead."
Nong Yizhen took a deep breath.
If he had still harbored some resentment before, after seeing Ding Huan withstand the demon dragon's attack and then chase it down, all his arrogance had vanished.
"Sigh, I was blinded by greed," he admitted.
There was no point in hiding it now.
Back then, when he supported Shi Changyi and the others, wasn't it all for the sake of the Divine Crystal?
"So Zhong Chi earned Teacher Ding's friendship, while you were merely spared by his mercy," Li Chuan said with a chuckle.
He didn't care about saving face for Nong Yizhen.
Nong Yizhen was the dean of one of the top ten academies on Blue Star, and so was Li Chuan.
The continuous cries of the beasts finally snapped Fan Yibing out of her daze.
"Senior Zhong is out there clearing the beasts. We should hurry and help."
The combat disc had been shaken by the demon dragon's claw, nearly crashing outside the protective wall.
Zhong Chi was drenched in cold sweat.
Fortunately, his control over the combat disc was decent, and his reflexes were sharp enough.
Seeing that the demon dragon wasn't pursuing him, Zhong Chi decided to unleash the disc's energy beams in all directions.
Inside the defense line, he had been cautious about accidentally hitting his allies.
But now, surrounded by beasts, he held nothing back.
The beams from the combat disc mowed down every beast in sight.
In a short time, hundreds of thousands of beasts were slaughtered by Zhong Chi's disc.
Without the demon dragon to lead them, many of the beasts, having seen their leader severely injured and fleeing, began to scatter as well.
One beast's retreat triggered a chain reaction.
After Zhong Chi killed tens of thousands, the remaining beasts fled toward the ocean trench.
Zhong Chi wasn't about to let them go.
He piloted the combat disc, chasing them down relentlessly.
Nearly all the beasts from South America had gathered here.
As Zhong Chi pursued them, the ocean trench became littered with their corpses.
When Fan Yibing and the others opened the steel gates of the defense line, they were stunned by the sight of the dead beasts.
Since the war against the gene-enhanced beasts began, humanity had never killed so many in one go.
"Are there over a million here?" Dou Qingzhi muttered, staring at the piles of beast corpses stretching into the ocean trench.
"Probably more. Senior Zhong chased them all the way. I think the beasts of South America might be extinct by today," Li Chuan said.
Fan Yibing immediately understood what needed to be done.
Without hesitation, she turned to the commander beside her.
"Open the human corridor defense line. Have two federal armies clean up the battlefield. The rest will follow me to reclaim South America."
With this order, South America, once dominated by beasts, was back in human hands.
...
The Foundation Establishment demon dragon was indeed different—it could fly.
But its speed was slowing, while Ding Huan, standing on his makeshift wooden raft, was gaining speed.
Ding Huan was quite pleased with his gene poison mist.
Without it, he would have had no chance against the demon dragon.
This demon dragon was a Foundation Establishment beast, and the gap between Foundation Establishment and non-Foundation Establishment was a massive chasm in the path of cultivation.
To defeat a combat-oriented demon dragon head-on, Ding Huan would need to reach Foundation Establishment himself.
What worried Ding Huan was the possibility of the demon dragon diving into the ocean.
Although he had left a spiritual mark on it, there was no guarantee he could track it underwater.
But Ding Huan soon realized he was overthinking it.
In less than an hour, the demon dragon fell from the sky.
Before it could hit the water, Ding Huan slashed out with a wind blade.
The once-impenetrable demon dragon was easily decapitated.
Ding Huan examined the corpse and found that its meridians had already dissolved, and its insides were a mushy mess.
It was a miracle the beast had managed to flee this far.
The gene poison mist was terrifyingly effective.
Even Ding Huan was secretly shocked.
If he hadn't prepared the mist in advance, today would have been a disaster.
Luckily, Old Zhong had intervened in time, or Ding Huan wouldn't have had the chance to use the mist.
Dragging the demon dragon's corpse to a nearby reef island, Ding Huan immediately extracted its core.
The core was intact, and Ding Huan was satisfied.
This demon dragon's core was far more valuable than the giant eagle owl's.
After storing the core, Ding Huan tried to examine the dragon's tendons, only to find them dissolving under the effects of the gene poison mist.
The scales were also corroded.
Though still usable for now, Ding Huan knew they would soon become brittle.
He had acted quickly; otherwise, he might not have even gotten the core.
Pulling his halberd from the demon dragon's body, Ding Huan dug a shallow grave and buried the beast on the reef island.
After all, it had been the strongest creature on Earth.
It deserved some dignity.
When Ding Huan returned to the human corridor defense line, he saw countless federal soldiers pouring out, heading down the ocean trench.
His spiritual sense swept out, revealing the trench filled with the corpses of various beasts.
It seemed Zhong Chi had done well, taking the combat disc all the way to South America.
As the commander of the defense line, Fan Yibing wasn't about to miss the chance to completely eradicate the beasts.
She ordered the federal army to move into South America and clean up the remnants.
"Teacher Ding, what happened to the demon dragon?" Dou Qingzhi, who had stayed behind at the defense line, hurried over to ask when he saw Ding Huan return.
"That demon dragon won't be a problem anymore," Ding Huan assured him.
Dou Qingzhi was overjoyed.
"I'll inform Commander Fan immediately. We should celebrate here. From today on, Earth's fate is in our hands."
He had stayed behind specifically to wait for Ding Huan.
Everyone else had followed the federal army into South America.
Anyone who participated in this operation to exterminate the gene-enhanced beasts would reap immense benefits.
No one wanted to miss out.
Ding Huan waved his hand.
"I need to leave. Tell Old Zhong to take care. Also, I have two favors to ask of you, Director Dou."
Dou Qingzhi responded without hesitation.
"Teacher Ding, just say the word. If it's within my power, I'll make sure it's done."
Ding Huan didn't hold back.
"Thank you. First, I need some beast hides and blood, preferably from higher-level beasts."
Though he hadn't started researching talismans yet, Ding Huan knew that beast hides and blood were essential materials for crafting them.
In the long journey ahead through the cosmos, these materials would help pass the time.
Dou Qingzhi immediately summoned a messenger.
"Go collect ten thousand beast hides and as much blood as you can. Make sure the beasts are high-level."
"Yes, sir!" The soldier hurried off to carry out the order.
Ding Huan walked over to the giant ape still impaled on the wall spikes.
He pulled it down and quickly skinned it, collecting some of its blood.
The ape had been hanging there for a while, so there wasn't much blood left.
Dou Qingzhi followed him.
"Teacher Ding, what's the second favor?"
With a swift wind blade, Ding Huan split the ape's skull, revealing a beast core.
Even Dou Qingzhi couldn't help but feel envious.
This was the core of a ninth-level beast!
Such a core wasn't just valuable—it was a symbol of prestige.
Just having it on you would earn the admiration of countless people.
But the core belonged to Ding Huan.
And unless Ding Huan offered it, no one dared to take it.
Otherwise, even if the giant ape had been left hanging as a deterrent, someone would have dug out the core by now.
"Director Dou, the second favor is this: once things here are settled, I need you to go to Luohe City. Behind Luohe University of Martial Arts, there's an ancient cypress tree that's over ten thousand years old. This tree is extraordinary. I want you to cordon off the area within a few kilometers of it and declare it a restricted zone."
Ding Huan was certain there was something special about that ancient cypress.
He had a strong feeling it was waiting for him.
But he didn't dare go there himself.
Dou Qingzhi laughed.
"Is that all? Consider it done, Teacher Ding. I'll make sure it's taken care of."
Ding Huan handed the giant ape's core to Dou Qingzhi.
"Director Dou, this is for you."
"I can't accept this. It's yours, Teacher Ding," Dou Qingzhi quickly refused.
Ding Huan chuckled.
"I'm giving it to you. No one will dare say a word. Just take it."
Hearing this, Dou Qingzhi no longer hesitated and happily accepted the core.
"Thank you! I didn't expect staying behind would have such benefits."
After chatting with Dou Qingzhi for a while, a pile of beast hides and several barrels of blood were delivered.
Ding Huan didn't take all of it, selecting only what he needed and having it sent to the Blue Star ship.
Then he bid farewell to Dou Qingzhi.
He waved to Qu Yi and Qi Xin Yue, who were waiting for him.
"Let's go. Qu Yi, you're coming back to Yiling City with me. This place isn't suitable for you."
He was about to leave Earth and didn't feel the need to say goodbye to Zhong Chi.
Perhaps he would never return.
What was the point of goodbyes?
As soon as he boarded the Blue Star ship, Ding Huan noticed a black, unremarkable object.
"Brother Ding, this was sent by Director Dou. He said it was something Commander Fan promised you," Qu Yi explained.
"Ah, Commander Fan is a woman of her word. Let's head to Oceanic Genetics first," Ding Huan said, satisfied.
...
The headquarters of Oceanic Genetics was located in the Oceanic District on the outskirts of New Rome.
As one of the top three biopharmaceutical companies globally, Oceanic Genetics' power rivaled that of some nations.
Unlike other companies, Oceanic Genetics was a classic family-run business.
In the Oceanic District of New Rome, it had essentially become a city within a city.
When Ding Huan piloted the Blue Star ship there, it was rush hour.
The dense crowds made it hard to believe this was a world in chaos.
But Oceanic Genetics' products were in such high demand that they couldn't keep up.
Ding Huan landed the Blue Star ship on Oceanic Genetics' landing pad.
Immediately, several security personnel approached.
They hadn't received any notice of a visitor, and suddenly a ship had appeared out of nowhere.
To them, the Blue Star ship looked like an aircraft, albeit with an unusual design.
"Where is your chairman?" Ding Huan asked casually as he stepped off the ship.
"Who are you?" one of the guards demanded, while another even drew a gun and pointed it at Ding Huan.
"I'm here to visit Wills," Ding Huan said with a smile, heading toward the tallest building in Oceanic Genetics—the Seven Stars Tower.
His spiritual sense had already detected a group of people inside the tower, deep in discussion.
"Stop! If you don't halt, I'll shoot!" the armed guard shouted.
When Ding Huan mentioned visiting Wills, the guard knew it was a lie.
Oceanic Genetics had been founded by Wills, but he had long since retired.
The current heads of the company were Wills' son, Wilmar King, and his grandson, Anderson.
(That's all for today's update.
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(End of Chapter)