“If we were to split the experimental monsters based on their physical power, we can roughly divide them into four levels.” Martin walked out and stood on the rostrum. He then wrote a ‘1’ on the blackboard using chalk.

“1. Peak Level – The genes they fused with may be extremely powerful or extremely ordinary, but it resulted in a manifestation of unimaginable power on the host body. The general cause is unclear, but we suspect that it may be due to a deeper level of assimilation with the activated cells. We refer to these experimental monsters as – mutants!”

“2. Superior Level – The genes they fused with were those of animals already at the peak of the food chain on Earth. Their gene fusion was also more perfect, and were hence able to fully display their power. Although they wouldn’t be able to reach Peak Level with this kind of gene fusion, the power of their genes was very stable so it was an excellent choice. If they’re lucky enough and manage to mutate, it’s possible for them to enter Peak Level as well.”

“3. Middle Level – The genes they fused with can be considered predators in the natural world, but the level of fusion is very average, so their level of strength is also just barely decent.”

“4. Inferior Level – There’s nothing much extraordinary about the genes they fused with, these kinds of gene-fused monsters, other than being food for other monsters, don’t have much purpose. Of course, even monsters like these are extremely dangerous to humans now.”

“If we fuse with the genes that Hong Qi Hua described, what level would we be at?” Somebody immediately asked. Everybody minded things related to their strength and future survivability a lot.

“Roughly…Middle Level!”

“So low? And this is only roughly?” Everyone was shocked, Hong Qi Hua’s plan sounded really good, so why was the level so weak after fusion?

“That is just based purely on physical strength, such as only using fangs and claws to fight. Don’t forget that the biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans know how to use weapons.” Bai Yi stood up.

“The strength of an evolved lifeform is not just related to the physical body, it is also dependent on its intelligence. Moreover, don’t forget the most fundamental factor… activated cells, they are the core of everything. In reality, actively fusing genes technically isn’t raising our strength, but just lets us have greater capacity to deal with dangers. As for how far each one of us can walk in this world, I’m afraid that not even God can answer that question.” Bai Yi said slowly. His lungs were still throbbing in pain, so he couldn’t speak too fast.

Because he spoke very slowly, everyone heard his words very clearly, and all of them fell into deep thought.

Using fangs and claws to battle, using weapons… I think I understand.

That was why Bai Yi said that the alligator genes were quite useless. Alligators were considered to be one of the peak predators in the food chain of the natural world. What it relied on was its fearsome huge jaw and that powerful biting force. However, was a human that fused with alligator genes going to use his mouth to battle? What humans were most familiar with were still using weapons, so those supporting abilities like what Hong Qi Hua wrote on the board – strength, agility, vision, etc were still the most useful things to them.

“Hey hey, what are you guys looking at me for?” Woolf asked dumbly after seeing everyone looking at him.

“Pffft!” Heloise saw Woolf’s dumb look and immediately couldn’t help but laugh. Woolf really did not understand the meaning behind Bai Yi’s words. Everyone looked at Woolf being confused and also started laughing, and overall the atmosphere in team wasn’t too heavy. On the contrary, it was actually quite lively.

“Arrrgh! No laughing! You guys better explain to the noble Sir Woolf what’s going on!” Woolf roared with his mouth wide open and said. However, this made it even harder for everyone to hold in their laughter and the laughter grew louder. In the end, Heloise came to Woolf’s side and explained everything clearly to him. The others tried to add in from time to time but Woolf waved them away.

Bai Yi saw the two of them like that and felt quite surprised. He still thought that Woolf would have no chance, so this was really quite unexpected.

“Let’s continue then.” Hong Qi Hua knocked on the blackboard after Woolf finally understood everything. Everyone immediately started to focus again.

“Just as Uncle Bai said, although our strength would probably only be at Middle Level after fusing with those genes, we know how to use weapons. An agile body and strong base specs that gene fusion can give us would let us have greater capability to face dangers in the future. Of course, this is given that we can remain calm.” Hong Qi Hua continued.

“Actually, the combination of genes we chose now is not bad, and there’s a chance of entering the Superior Level as well. However, as for whether we can really enter that level is also dependent on the degree of fusion.” Hong Qi Hua slowly said. This time around, everyone was learning very seriously. From what they saw just now, it appeared that Bai Yi and Hong Qi Hua had thought everything through very thoroughly.

“Degree of fusion?”

“To put it simply, if one of us here fused with the genes of an ant, in theory the person’s physical strength should increase. However, how much the strength increases by is definitely different for different people. The higher the degree of fusion, the greater the increase in strength, and vice versa. It’s even possible that only the outer appearance changes and there’s no change in physical strength.” Every time when an explanation was needed, Martin would come out and speak.

The idea about the degree of fusion being a factor wasn’t too difficult to understand, and everyone nodded their heads.

“Other than that, can everybody look at the name list in your hands? I’m not sure if you guys realized, but there’s also a rule in gene fusion.” Hong Qi Hua said while gesturing for everyone to check the list.

Everyone immediately checked their name list. What rule was there on this list?

“The rule is that the genes that an evolved lifeform fused with cannot be fused again onto another lifeform afterwards. For example, Woolf was pierced by the Giant Crab Alligator, but he only fused with the genes of an alligator but not a crab. Martin’s skin was ripped off by the Tentacle Slug, but he only fused with the genes of a slug and not an octopus. That is to say, the genes that an evolved lifeform fused with at a later stage cannot be fused again to another lifeform. My guess is that after the first fusion, some aspects of the other lifeform would manifest on the evolved lifeform, but they aren’t complete.” Hong Qi Hua did not let the rest of them wonder for too long and announced the rule.

“Are you guys happy? You don’t have to be so careful around other people like they have infectious diseases now.” Hong Qi Hua said teasingly.

Everyone immediately started to laugh awkwardly after hearing what she said. To think about it, that was really the case back in the base. All of them were afraid to come into contact with other people because they didn’t know if they would fuse with the genes that other people had already fused with. Now that they heard Hong Qi Hua say this, they could finally put their hearts at ease.

“Of course, as for Sharpei and Pupu, it’s best to keep a distance from them unless you want to fuse with their genes.” Hong Qi Hua added, and everyone looked at the two ‘pets’.

“However, Sharpei and Pupu don’t have to worry about fusing with human genes because the origin of the activated cells came from the Progenitor. The Progenitor is a human and no other human genes can be above that of the Progenitor.” Hong Qi Hua said again. This sentence instantly made everyone focus their attention again. Although Hong Qi Hua used a light tone to talk about all this, this was actually incomparably important information.

“Now for the next piece of information!” Hong Qi Hua said.

“There’s actually another way of classifying the experimental monsters – 1. Animals fusing with genes from other lifeforms and turning into monsters. 2. Humans fusing with genes from other lifeforms and turning into monsters. To tell you guys a secret, back at the gas station I had the fortune to meet a human experimental monster, but he still retained enough intelligence and memories to not attack me.” Hong Qi Hua said, and everyone except Bai Yi instantly became stupefied.

“In some ways, those human experimental monsters are actually our predecessors or precedents.” Mavis very quickly calmed down and said.

“Precisely!” Hong Qi Hua nodded.

Everyone else nodded too and expressed that they’d understood.

“Next, we found out from the information that Martin and Heloise collected that this Otorohanga Middle School has a small ecological park. The students used this for studying nature. There aren’t any special animals inside, but the more common ones can still be found. So, our first stop is here, to fuse with useful genes.” Bai Yi explained.

“Then lastly, using all the information that we have so far, Uncle Bai and I came to a final conclusion on the genes that we should fuse with.” Hong Qi Hua said again, and now everyone couldn’t be more focused. Every time Hong Qi Hua spoke, the information that came out from her mouth became even more astonishing.

“Just as what we have written on the board, the first genes that Uncle Bai and I suggest for everyone to fuse with are ant genes. Powerful physical strength can be useful in many situations. As for the others, we will be leaving them up to everyone to decide for themselves.”

“Only fusing with ant genes, the rest are uncertain?”

“Correct, we aren’t certain!” Bai Yi stepped forward and nodded.

“Gene fusion isn’t some simple process like playing a video game, as there isn’t any fixed path to follow. Even if it seems like our analysis is very logical and thorough now, in reality a lot of things cannot be confirmed. Hence, the suggestion that Hong Qi Hua and I came up with is for everyone to fuse with two or three genes first. At the very least we must have some power to protect ourselves. As for what genes we would fuse with, how far we can go in the future… will be up to fate.” Bai Yi said as he looked outside the window.

Everyone looked outside the window too as they heard Bai Yi speak.

Fate… That was really a super irresponsible conclusion, and everyone felt quite bitter and astringent on the inside. However, all of them had to admit that everything Bai Yi said was the truth.

Fate!