Chapter 00025: Taking Back What's Mine
# Taking Back What's Mine
Chapter 25
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 25: Taking Back What's Mine
Ding Huan didn't say a word.
He walked over to the table and picked up a solid copper paperweight.
"What are you trying to do?" Xing Hai took a step back, his eyes fixed firmly on Ding Huan.
He knew full well that someone like Ding Huan, a young master who had lost everything, was capable of anything.
Ding Huan ignored him.
With a slight exertion of his hand, he placed the copper block into Xing Hai's palm.
Xing Hai's mouth hung open in shock as he stared at the copper block in his hand.
Clear indentations of five fingers were pressed into it.
So strong! Ding Huan had definitely become a gene mutant.
Once someone became a gene mutant, they were undoubtedly a member of the Gene Alliance.
He had been foolish enough to try and take advantage of a Gene Alliance member.
If he ended up dead on the streets tonight, no one would bat an eye.
He might even die a death worse than a dog's.
Before Xing Hai could speak, Ding Huan said, "Five million. I want the money now. If you can get the property deed to me, I'll sign whatever you need. If not, I'll take my business elsewhere."
Xing Hai swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"It can be done. I can handle the paperwork for you right now. If you're in a hurry, I can give you the money first. Just sign a few documents, and I'll take care of the rest."
"Good. Bring the documents, and I'll sign them now," Ding Huan nodded.
As Ding Huan signed the papers, Xing Hai finally calmed down a bit from his initial fear.
He leaned in closer to Ding Huan and whispered cautiously, "Actually, a few days ago, a woman named Fu Mei came by. She inquired about this house and seemed interested in selling it."
Ding Huan's heart sank.
If he had been a few days later, the house might have already been sold by Fu Mei.
If Fu Mei wanted to sell the house, as long as she had Ding Jie's approval, Xing Hai would have helped her bypass any regulations, no matter how irregular.
If Xing Hai hadn't mentioned it, Ding Huan might not have remembered.
But now that he did, Ding Huan recalled that Fu Mei was the daughter of his family's nanny, Ji Chunfu.
She was not only cunning but also ruthless.
This woman had probably sold his house and gathered over ten million alliance coins.
In his memory, Fu Mei had used the ten million alliance coins to participate in an auction, where she bid on a vial of gene serum with uncertain effects.
Most people wouldn't dare to take such a gene serum even if it were given to them for free, let alone spend ten million on it.
Fu Mei, however, had both the guts and the luck.
Not only did she buy the flawed gene serum, but she also successfully fused with it.
After fusing with the gene serum, Fu Mei became a gene mutant.
Later, she joined the Gene Alliance.
By the time Ding Huan left Earth, he had heard that Luo Xinwei had died at her hands over some trivial matter.
By selling the house early, Ding Huan had inadvertently helped Luo Xinwei once again.
The process went smoothly.
Before the property deed was even transferred, Xing Hai had already transferred five million into Ding Huan's account.
"Thank you, Manager Xing. You've done me a favor."
Ding Huan smiled as he picked up the paperweight again, pressing his fingers into it several times with force.
When he put it down, the clear finger indentations were now a chaotic mess, as if they had been smashed by something irregular.
As he reached the door, Ding Huan turned back and said, "Manager Xing, I'm leaving all the furniture to you. If there's a dog in the house, make sure to chase it away."
"So strong. He's definitely a powerful gene mutant," Xing Hai thought, his back cold with sweat as he watched Ding Huan leave.
Then it dawned on him—if Ding Huan was a gene mutant, how could Ding Jie have taken over Baiyu Group? Was Ding Jie also a member of the Gene Alliance?
It was still early, so Ding Huan went to the bank to change his card's password.
Looking at the five million in his account, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
Finally, he didn't have to worry about money.
Five million would last him for a while.
...
At Shanghe Garden, Ji Chunfu, who had been kicked out of the house by a man in black, was still in disbelief.
Her face had been slapped several times.
How could a group of people suddenly show up and kick her and her daughter out, claiming the house was theirs?
"You're trespassing! This is against the law! I'm calling the police!" Fu Mei shouted, her hair disheveled.
Xing Hai waved the property deed in front of her.
"I just bought this from Young Master Ding. This is my house now. I'm kicking out trespassers. Tell me, what law am I breaking? Go ahead and call the police, or I'll slap you again."
Youyuan Real Estate wasn't exactly a clean or kind company.
Even if they were in the wrong, they would still take what they wanted.
Moreover, from Ding Huan's tone, Xing Hai could tell that he despised these two nannies.
"How is this possible? How? He has no right..."
Ji Chunfu stared at the property deed, completely unable to comprehend what had happened.
A fake property deed? Only an idiot would do that.
Sure, gene beasts were running rampant, but society hadn't collapsed.
Deep down, she still believed the house was hers.
How could Ding Huan sell her house?
"That little bastard! How dare he sell the house!" Fu Mei gritted her teeth.
She had already planned to sell the property and head to Puhai to participate in an upcoming auction.
It was hard to get useful gene serum through normal channels, even with over ten million alliance coins.
Only at auctions could you find flawed or incomplete gene serums with powerful effects.
Unlike research institutions, immature gene serums could be deadly.
Generally, gene serums that made it to auctions weren't too bad, though their effects were often unpredictable.
But her plan had been cut short before it even began.
Since when did that useless coward have the guts to sell the house himself?
"Mei, let's talk to Mr. Ding. He can get the house back for us. After all, we've done so much for him..."
Ji Chunfu's lips trembled with anger.
In her eyes, the house was hers.
What right did Ding Huan have to sell it?
At that moment, she had completely forgotten that she was merely a nanny hired by Ding Baishan to take care of Ding Huan.
Fu Mei was more rational than her mother.
She shook her head.
"That might have worked before, but not now."
"Why not?"
"Mr. Ding is busy socializing with big shots every day. He doesn't have time to deal with our petty issues. But it's strange..."
Fu Mei frowned.
What puzzled her was why Ding Huan was still alive.
Based on her understanding of Ding Jie, Ding Huan should have been eliminated when Ding Jie took over Baiyu Group.
"What's strange?" Ji Chunfu couldn't wrap her head around it.
Fu Mei snorted.
"That little trash, Ding Xiaotu, dares to mess with me, Fu Mei. Once I become a gene mutant, I'll make sure he suffers a fate worse than death."
...
Ding Huan was already on a high-speed train to Puhai.
With money in his pocket, he didn't skimp this time and bought a business class seat.
As gene beasts became more numerous, the more remote areas were overrun with them.
The destruction caused by gene beasts was immense.
Many railways had been destroyed and were constantly being rebuilt.
Previously, the train from Luohe City to Puhai City took only five hours.
Now, it took at least twelve hours or more.
Looking out the window at the occasional ruins of villages, Ding Huan sighed.
These villages, even small towns, had been destroyed by gene beasts.
As the beasts grew stronger, countless innocent lives had been lost to their jaws.
This wasn't a problem that could be solved overnight.
Even if the villagers had firearms, they wouldn't be enough to stop gene beasts.
Some gene beasts had evolved to the point where their rough skin could withstand ordinary bullets.
As for the military, they couldn't be stationed at every village or along every railway line at all times.
Gene beasts moved quickly.
Sometimes, by the time reinforcements arrived, an entire village had already been wiped out.
Or, by the time the troops arrived, the gene beasts had already retreated into the mountains.
Could you chase them into the mountains and kill them all?
Nuke the mountains?
Ha! Take the Qianluo Mountain Range, for example.
It stretches over a thousand miles.
What kind of nuclear bomb would you need to flatten it?
Even if you could solve the problem, where did the gene beasts come from in the first place?
They were the result of sudden environmental changes on Earth, which caused unknown factors to emerge.
These factors led to the mutation of beasts into gene beasts.
And what caused the environmental changes? Nuclear pollution, of course.
Using nuclear weapons to solve the gene beast problem was a joke.
The gene beasts that survived might even become stronger due to the nuclear contamination.
In the face of environmental pollution, the most vulnerable weren't the plants and animals—it was humanity.
Ding Huan closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat.
After this trip to Puhai, his next step would be to continue searching for skill genes to enhance his strength.
With these skill genes, he could develop his own abilities, much like the anti-toxin gene he already had.
Endurance was a must.
Ding Huan had no interest in Geng Qianxing's endurance gene.
Geng Qianxing treated it like a treasure, but Ding Huan didn't care for it.
As for strength, speed, and agility gene serums, Ding Huan hadn't even considered fusing with them.
In his previous life, he had fused with similar genes, but that was because he didn't have a gene spirit root.
Now that he had a gene spirit root, as long as he followed the Luoshi Scripture step by step, his speed, strength, and other physical attributes would continue to improve.
As he trained, his endurance would also increase.
Ding Huan believed that developing an endurance-based ability was essential.
Endurance was different from basic physical attributes like strength and speed—it represented a qualitative change.
The train had been moving for about three hours, covering roughly half the distance, when it suddenly came to a halt.
The intercom crackled to life:
"Dear passengers, due to damage on the tracks ahead, we will need to pause for repairs. Please remain patient."
No one was particularly anxious.
In an era dominated by gene beasts, encountering damaged railways was all too common.
(That's all for today's update.
Goodnight, friends!)
(End of Chapter)