The Strongest Gene

The Genetic Union.

This era was rather unique. At the very least, that was the case for the majority of the people of this era. What made this era unique was the birth of a youth with astonishing talent. He was merely 14 years old yet was already being lauded as a rising star. He was the future of humanity.

However, no one considered that this responsibility might be too heavy for the shoulders of a youth. He was only 14 years old, his prime age. He was infatuated with the young missy that sold flowers. Her smile looked exceptionally good, like that of a fairy that had descended upon the mortal realm. This beautiful smile was carved deeply in the dreamlike part of the youth’s memories.

On a certain day, the youth finally gathered enough courage to go to the little missy. “Missy, I want a flower.”

The young missy smiled an extremely captivating smile. “Little Yuan is here? Tell me, which little girl do you fancy?” She naturally knew who this youth was. He was the proud chosen of the Genetic Union, which was just opposite where she sold her flowers. He was the pride of humanity, a child well liked.

“I… I want a flower,” Little Yuan repeated, his face flushed red.

“Okay, okay.” The young missy picked the prettiest of the flowers she had. “Here, you can have it for free.”

Little Yuan shook his head. “No, that won’t do. I must pay for this.”

He settled the bill solemnly, as if they were complete strangers.

“Oh.” The young missy appeared somewhat disappointed. “Ten yuan.”

“Mhm.” Little Yuan paid. Next, after a slight pause, he passed the flower to the young missy with his face flushed red. “I… My gift to you.”

“Huh?”

The young missy blanked as she looked at the blushing youth with a serious expression before her. Suddenly, she laughed. This was a very happy laugh, as if this was the finest moment of her entire life. Next, things seemed to progress smoothly, the way such things should.

Every single day, Little Yuan visited the young missy. He became stronger and stronger, his confidence growing by the day, and his looks improved as well. On the various news channels, his news would not stop being reported. He was given numerous titles, such as Rising Star, Future’s Seed, Legendary King, and so on. In fact, he had long become numb to all these.

From his birth, nobody had been capable of competing against him. Everyone else was too weak, or he was too strong. He had seemingly entered the elitist circle of humanity with a single step. As for those about as strong as him, they were all of the senior generation, much older than even his father.

As such, he was confident that there was nothing he couldn’t do. Naturally, he was also extremely intelligent. He was aware that the source of everything he possessed was his strength. As such, he was extremely serious; he never stopped cultivating. Even though he spent time going out on dates with the young missy every single day, he never neglected his cultivation.

In fact, this young missy had served as motivation, making him even stronger. He knew that in order to protect this young missy, he would have to forever remain at the top. He could not allow anyone to surpass him.

Years passed, and he was now a legend. Even those seniors 20 or 30 years older than him were officially defeated by him, making him the undisputed number one youth of this era. At that time, he was only 16 years old. At that moment, he faithfully believed that nothing was impossible for him. This faith lasted until a certain day. On that day, his family suddenly told him that it was time for him to get engaged. His bride-to-be was a person with a similarly powerful background. She was the young lady of a certain family. Only this would allow the youth to reach even higher heights.

“Why?” He could not accept such an arranged marriage.

“You are the future of humanity…” his father calmly explained. “You have enjoyed a huge amount of the resources humanity has to offer. It is only natural that there will be a price for that. In the past, you were still young. As such, we did not get involved in your relationships. But now that you have grown, you should start taking note of your relationships.”

He knew what his father was getting at. That young missy… He probably wouldn’t be able to see her much in the future.

“Why?” He still couldn’t accept this.

“You are extremely talented. However, I am sorry to say that our family is too weak.” His father sighed. “As such, if you want to be the master of humanity, if you want to be the president of the Genetic Union, you have to establish an alliance with that family. Only with their assistance will you have any hope of achieving all this. Otherwise, you might be suppressed by those at the top.”

“I don’t care!” The youth was filled with confidence. “Give me 10 years. I will surpass every living human in existence.”

His father sighed. “You won’t have those 10 years. This is not an easy path. Don’t you enjoy watching TV series with ancient settings? Do you not feel like this path is quite similar to the fights over the emperor’s throne depicted in those TV series?”

These words resounded heavily in the youth’s mind. Fight over the throne… True. This was the Genetic Union they were talking about. This organization surpassed all companies, organizations, factions, and families. Would the presidency of such an organization be something nobody would covet? Would everyone give way and allow him to step on the throne just because of his talent?

Evidently, that would not happen. This path would be drenched in blood. From the day the youth first exhibited his talent to the world, he no longer a way out of this fight.

“I know you like that young missy. It doesn’t matter. In fact, we have always known of your relationship with her. None of us will stop you. You will be too strong in the future. As such, nobody is willing to offend you just for this. However, we hope you can somewhat control yourself. Two years will be sufficient. In the future, when you finally become the master of the Genetic Union, you can take her as your wife if you wish to. Nobody will be able to stop you. At that time, you will finally be able to protect her properly. Otherwise, do you think that your opponents on this bloody path will let her off easily?”

His father spoke earnestly. That night, his father told him many things. About women, about maturity, about the future, and about responsibility. Ultimately, the youth compromised. He accepted the best choice his father had made for him. He also told the young missy this. They broke up.

With an exceptionally calm expression, the young missy walked away. The youth told her that the day would come when he married her. He would most definitely reach a higher height, a height such that nobody could stop what he wanted to do. After reaching that height, he would return to take her as his wife.

The young missy merely smiled in response, not saying anything. This one smile caused panic to surface in the youth’s heart. On the next day, the youth received a certain piece of news. That young missy, who had always seemed to have a smile on her face, had committed suicide in her own house. The youth went crazy when he heard this.

He tried to rush out of his house like a madman. However, he was stopped by his family members. This resulted in him failing to even see her one last time. Subsequently, she was cremated. The young missy, akin to a blooming flower, had now turned to dust. The youth realized that he had made the wrong choice. He had no interest in becoming the president. He had no interest in surpassing all of humanity. He only wanted to see her.

“You can’t go. You are the legend of humanity. You are the future of our family. Everyone is paying attention to you, waiting for you to do something wrong. By going to her, you will ruin your own future. Therefore, you can’t go.”

Everyone tried to stop him. Everyone wanted the best for him. And thus, he did something that shocked everyone: he crippled himself.

That’s right. He crippled all his power. This alarmed everyone. And thus, he left his house. Nobody bothered to stop him now, there was no longer any need to do so. Staggering along, he ran over to her. The only thing he could see was a grave, and on the gravestone was a crude black-and-white photograph of the young missy with her signature sweet smile.

Sorry…

He knelt in front of the grave for a very long time. Nobody cared about him. Nobody bothered him. Even his rivals stopped disturbing him, as he was no longer worth their time. He was now nothing but a cripple.

Near the grave, he erected a hut. He resided there, accompanied by wind and rain. He had every intention to spend his remaining life there. This life lasted until a certain day when he heard of something. Something he wasn’t supposed to know about.

Perhaps this was something his ex-rivals intentionally leaked to him. Or perhaps it had been leaked to him for some other reason. This thing he should never have known about was regarding the death of that young missy. Her death might have been related to some people.

They had not harmed her in any way. They had merely sought her out and talked to her. The content of their conversation was unknown. However, after the conversation, the young missy committed suicide. This was obviously something that his family members, who had always been monitoring that young missy, should have noticed. And yet… why hadn’t they done anything about it?

The youth laughed suddenly. He knew that even though his family had always disliked that young missy, they nevertheless would not have done anything to her. However, if an enemy was making a move on her, there wouldn’t have been any need for them to rescue her, right?

So… this was the truth. His family, the alliance, and his rivals…

Those big shots, those important figures, had forced an innocent young lady to her death. Oh, right, he was partly responsible for her death as well. That night, the youth laughed alone for a long time. He also cried alone for a long time. Finally, he left the hut.

…

“All right, this is where the story ends,” an old man told the children before him.”

“What happened next?” a young girl asked, tears welling in her eyes.

“Next?” The old man’s gaze became filled with reverence. “He started his path of cultivation once again. However, since he had once crippled himself, he was extremely weak. His strength was weak, as were his fused abilities were weak. However, none of it mattered. A genius is still a genius. He ultimately established the greatest company in this world. Even though he is not the Genetic Union president, he is still an extremely grand existence.”

“Wow.”

“The greatest company? Have we heard of this company?” the girls asked in excitement.

“Of course.” The old man pointed at the devices on their wrists. “Turn it around.”

“Huh?”

The girls turned their wristbands over curiously. With astonishment, they found that no matter what edition of the wristband they wore, several metallic words were carved there: Stormtech – Luo Yuan.

“So he is actually…”

The young girls were all alarmed. Luo Yuan! So that legendary youth was actually Luo Yuan?

“How… about that young missy? Is this over for her just like that?” someone asked, somewhat unwilling to accept the young missy’s fate. Even the Luo Family had benefited from the rise of Luo Yuan in the end. That young missy had been the only sacrifice. Was this even right?

“Of course not.” The old man smiled. “He told me that the day will come that he returns.”

A girl sighed. “Returns? It is already the era of the gods. Even if he returns, will he amount to anything?”

“Yes, he will.” The old man gazed up at the sky. There, a meteor seemed to be streaking past.

“He will return. After all… he is a legend,” the old man muttered. Suddenly, the wristbands buzzed.

Everyone looked at their wristbands. Even those not wearing their wristbands rushed to put their wristbands on, curious to know what was going on. On the screen, only a short sentence could be seen.

“I am back – Luo Yuan.”

What did this mean? Everyone blanked. And yet, right at this instant, everyone’s wrist started to hurt.

Pu!

A certain power seemed to have instantly permeated into all the wearer’s bodies. With this, the wristbands that one could take off at any time were locked to the wearers’ bodies. Nobody could take their wristbands off. Now, the wristband was part of their body.

Bang!

In the sky, that shiny meteor suddenly intensified and became clear for all to see. It turned out to be a silhouette. A silhouette that those of the elder generation were incomparably familiar with. It was him. Countless people were alarmed. They thought of something and wanted to stand up. Alas, it was at this instant that an immense power surged out of their wrists. At this instant, the numerous life-forms all knelt down at the same time, as if they were welcoming his return with reverence. In the sky, that “meteor” appeared incomparably resplendent.

“You have returned,” the old man said, fanatical devotion clear in his eyes. He was clear that this was the moment, the return of a king.