Chapter 00075: Who Is Thinking of Him
# Who Is Thinking of Him?
Chapter 75
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 75: Who Is Thinking of Him?
"I hereby announce that Aixi has been awarded the International Guardian Star rank, with a one-star rating. She will receive one Vitality Stone and 100,000 Alliance Coins. Fang Chong has also been awarded the International Guardian Star rank, with a one-star rating. He will receive one Vitality Stone and 100,000 Alliance Coins..."
As Zheng Fang's voice echoed, Fang Chong, filled with excitement, hurriedly stepped forward to receive his award.
Before coming here, he had never imagined he would be awarded the Guardian Star rank.
The benefits of this rank were immense.
With just this one-star rating, he would be respected wherever he went.
"Do you have anything to say?" Zheng Fang asked after presenting the awards to Aixi and Fang Chong.
This was slightly different from Qu Yi's treatment.
Qu Yi, as the representative of the support team, had to speak.
Fang Chong and Aixi, however, could choose whether or not to speak.
"I have one thing to say," Fang Chong began without hesitation.
"My mentor is Ding Huan. The Gene Alliance has put a bounty on my mentor, and I can't stand it anymore. They twist the truth and use all sorts of baseless reasons, all because they want the gene potions my mentor possesses. If Senior Sister Qu Yi goes to the Gene Alliance, I, Fang Chong, will definitely go with her."
Fang Chong's words were direct and blunt, unlike Qu Yi's more tactful approach.
Guo Qingrong, covering his forehead, thought to himself, "Can't you learn from Qu Yi and speak more diplomatically?"
Before Zheng Fang could respond, Aixi chimed in, "I share the same thoughts as Senior Sister Qu Yi and Senior Brother Fang Chong. What concerns Mentor Ding Huan concerns us as well."
"Your mentor is also Ding Huan?" Hu Jiatian couldn't help but ask.
Aixi smiled, "Yes."
In Aixi's eyes, Ding Huan was her mentor, even though Fang Chong had been the one teaching her on his behalf.
Among those present was Zang Yijun, a defense officer from the Gene Alliance.
He was a typical Western European.
If he had been somewhat dismissive of Qu Yi's words earlier, he was now feeling uneasy after hearing Aixi and Fang Chong's declarations.
He had witnessed the performances of Qu Yi, Aixi, Fang Chong, and even Lü Zi on the battlefield against the beasts.
These individuals had already grown into formidable forces.
If Fang Chong's students were to join them in the future...
Zang Yijun didn't dare to think further.
This group could very well uproot the Gene Alliance.
Even if they couldn't do it now, given time, it would become inevitable.
Qu Yi's words had already swayed the human defense line in Ding Huan's favor.
With Ding Huan's extraordinary disciples, the Gene Alliance might truly be doomed.
Anxious, Zang Yijun wished he could immediately call Shi Changyi, the leader of the Gene Alliance, to report the situation.
However, the award ceremony still had several hours to go.
Although Zheng Fang was only presenting the top ten awards, the rest would be announced by name and distributed by unit, which would take some time.
---
Ding Huan walked out of the Luo Huan Building, feeling refreshed.
Using his gene poison mist, he had killed 311 members of the Blade Washing Society.
Essentially, he had wiped out the entire Blade Washing Society in Luohe City, regardless of gender.
Ding Huan felt no pity for them.
Each of these individuals had blood on their hands, and killing them a hundred times over wouldn't be enough.
If it weren't for the fact that the Luo Huan Building was in a bustling area with too many surrounding buildings, Ding Huan would have considered burning it down.
After leaving the Luo Huan Building, Ding Huan decided to head to the train station to catch a train to Kunxin City.
Kunxin City, established less than a decade ago, was originally built to combat the beasts from the Kunlun Mountains.
With the beasts becoming increasingly terrifying, Ding Huan wasn't sure if trains were still running to the city.
However, as he walked down a small path, Ding Huan suddenly stopped.
He spotted an old scavenger in the distance.
Unlike other scavengers who used hooks to sift through garbage, this old man used his bare hands to search for anything usable.
In his previous life, Ding Huan's legs had been broken, and his eyes had been gouged out.
It was an old scavenger who had picked him up and sold him to the Gene Alliance.
Could this be the same old man?
Ding Huan thought he could confirm it just by hearing the old man's voice.
Just as he was about to approach and ask, a woman carrying a bag walked out.
"Here's some food. Do you want it?" The woman, clearly kind-hearted, approached the old man and handed him the bag.
In this day and age, giving food to a scavenger was an act of great kindness.
"Thank you..."
The old man quickly wiped his hands on his clothes, smearing dirt and garbage all over himself.
After cleaning his hands, he accepted the bag with both hands.
Ding Huan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
This was the old man.
Even if the old man turned to ash, Ding Huan would recognize his voice, even if he only spoke three words.
Back then, the old man had said, "A thousand Alliance Coins it is. This is a gene affinity body. You're getting a bargain."
At this moment, Ding Huan wanted nothing more than to grab the old man and take him away.
But he hesitated.
He was weighing the pros and cons.
If he wanted to recreate the events of the past, he might have to let the old man pick him up again.
If he forced the old man to take him to the Gene Alliance branch, would history change? Even if the fleet still departed as scheduled, would he survive the void vortex that swallowed the fleet, just like before?
Ding Huan quickly dismissed these thoughts.
Perhaps history had already changed when he wiped out the leaders of the Puhai Gene Alliance.
Why overthink it? If the Gene Alliance didn't organize the fleet, he would force Shi Changyi to do so by stepping on his head.
Opportunities didn't have to be the same as before; they could be created.
Now that he had encountered this old man, not confronting him would be a disservice to his past suffering.
Ding Huan took out the remaining blood of the Great Desolate Golden Ape from his bag.
He had prepared too much of it, nearly a full bottle, and had only used a fraction for his gene experiments.
Now, he poured some of the blood onto his face, neck, hands, and even his clothes.
Then, picking up a piece of wood, he pretended to be severely injured and limped toward the garbage heap.
As he approached the old scavenger, Ding Huan feigned exhaustion and collapsed to the ground.
At this moment, Ding Huan's spiritual sense was focused on the old man.
If the old man could recognize him as a gene affinity body, Ding Huan suspected he was no ordinary person.
However, no matter how much Ding Huan observed, the old man showed no signs of spiritual energy.
He seemed like an ordinary scavenger.
Seeing Ding Huan fall, the old man merely glanced at him, tightened his grip on the bag, and slowly walked away.
This wasn't what Ding Huan had expected.
He frowned, wondering if he should just grab the old man and interrogate him.
Just as Ding Huan was contemplating his next move, the old man suddenly seemed to remember something.
He pulled out a leather scroll from his pocket, examined it carefully, and then turned to look at Ding Huan.
Ding Huan felt as if a thunderbolt had struck his mind.
The leather scroll—it was the same kind as the one he had swallowed before, and likely from the same era.
How could something so bizarre happen? The scroll he had obtained before was from a desolate planet outside the Changyi Continent.
And Earth was not even in the same galaxy as Changyi Continent.
Ding Huan was about to rush over and snatch the scroll when the old man suddenly walked toward him.
The old man approached, scrutinized Ding Huan, and compared him to the scroll in his hand.
Then he asked, "Are you Ding Xiaotu?"
Before Ding Huan could answer, the old man shook his head and muttered in a barely audible voice, "No, that's not right. Wasn't Ding Xiaotu supposed to have his legs broken and eyes gouged out?"
This Ding Xiaotu only seemed injured...
No matter how softly the old man spoke, Ding Huan could hear him clearly.
At this moment, Ding Huan was not just shocked—he was utterly horrified.
What was going on?
Forcing himself to stay calm, Ding Huan focused his spiritual sense on the scroll in the old man's hand.
"According to my calculations, the appearance of this scroll means that Ding Xiaotu is about to appear. He will have his legs broken and eyes gouged out, then be left by the garbage heap at the east entrance of Luohe City. He is a gene affinity body, and gene affinity bodies are highly valuable. If you take him and sell him, it will be a significant income. Afterward, you can go to the place where this scroll appeared. There, you will find new gene cultivation techniques. This is your opportunity, your future."
Reading this, Ding Huan felt a chill run down his spine.
After swallowing the scroll, he had known that the person who left it was incredibly powerful.
Such predictive abilities were beyond terrifying.
But why would a figure from the ancient immortal era know about him, a nobody born in the post-Earth era? Not only did this ancient powerhouse know about him, but he had also left behind a legacy scroll for him.
Moreover, this powerhouse had even predicted the calamity that would befall Ding Xiaotu?
These thoughts sent shivers down Ding Huan's spine.
What had he, Ding Xiaotu, done to deserve the attention of such an ancient powerhouse? And why would this powerhouse go to such lengths to predict his fate?
Even as a fourth-level gene cultivator, Ding Huan could sense that predicting events so far into the future was no simple feat.
It likely came at a great cost.
"Ding Xiaotu, I can take you somewhere where you won't have to struggle so much. At the very least, you won't have to worry about food and shelter. Would you like to come with me?" The old man's voice interrupted Ding Huan's thoughts.
Ding Huan struggled to his feet.
"Is there food? If there's food, I'll go."
He wanted to know if the old man would still take him to the Gene Alliance branch and sell him for a thousand Alliance Coins.
In his memories, the old man hadn't directly sold him to the Gene Alliance branch.
(End of Chapter.
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