The One and Only Gene Lock: Tyrant Dragon!
“Ha! A lizard gene?!”
“Isn't that a trash Gene Lock?”
“With a Gene Lock like that, you dare ask for a loan? Get lost!”
Xalen walked down the street with a gray face, the heartless insults still ringing in his ears.
Just moments ago, he had tried to borrow a hundred thousand from a loan shark, using his successful gene awakening as the reason. He was ruthlessly rejected because the gene he awakened was too garbage.
This world, a hundred years ago, had been abruptly loaded with a system called Global Evolution. From that day, the Global Evolution Era began.
First came natural disasters: earthquakes, typhoons, floods sweeping across the globe. Then a plague silently erupted and spread with hurricane-like fury. The world fell; countless lives were lost. The surviving beasts mutated into terrifying Aberrant Creatures. Humanity, in turn, unlocked their Gene Locks and stepped onto the path of genetic evolution. The struggle between Aberrants and Gene Soldiers began and lasted over a century. National systems collapsed, and the Federal World Government was established. Under the FWG's lead, fortified Base Cities ringed with high walls rose across the land. Inside, Gene Academies blossomed in every district.
Every citizen, on turning 18, could receive a free Gene Serum distributed by the FWG. After taking it, the Gene Lock hidden deep inside their bodies would be unlocked.
Gene Locks were ranked by power: Common, Rare, Mythic.
Common Gene Locks granted traits of ordinary beasts like wild boars, goats, and cattle.
Rare Gene Locks gave access to creatures like saber-toothed tigers, mammoths, and dinosaurs.
As for Mythic, it meant legendary divine beasts like the White Tiger, Vermilion Phoenix, and Black Tortoise.
Undoubtedly, the higher the Gene Lock tier, the greater the power it bestowed.
Unfortunately, Xalen's Gene Lock was a common lizard. No, it might not even count as common. Lizards were reptiles, not even beasts. So the boost to his Four-Dimensional Attributes after awakening was even weaker than a standard Common Gene Lock. Even though he gained the relatively rare talent Self-Regeneration, it was still treated as a trash gene. Such a trash gene was even despised by loan sharks, who directly turned down his application.
Thinking of this, Xalen fell into utter despair. He was born in the slums of Crownhold Base City, without a father, living with only his mother and younger sister. His mother worked day and night to support the family, and not long ago she unfortunately fell gravely ill. Now she lay in the hospital receiving conservative treatment.
Fortunately, Xalen had just turned 18 and could undergo Gene Awakening. It was no exaggeration to say he was the whole family's hope. If he awakened even a common beast gene, he should be able to cover his mom's medical bills and household expenses. A Rare Gene would be wonderful—he could get a monthly subsidy of ten thousand credits from the FWG without lifting a finger. Budgeted carefully, that would be enough for the three of them to live comfortably. A Mythic Gene? The whole family could just relax. Not only would they receive a hundred thousand credits each month, the entire Base City would pour resources into his training. Moving out of the slums into a downtown apartment or even a villa would be within reach. If he grew strong enough, he could even climb to the top ranks of the FWG and become a true elite!
Xalen had been full of hope. But fate played a cruel joke. Under such circumstances, he actually awakened a trash gene! His heart burned with unwillingness and bitterness.
With a gene like that, forget going to the battlefield—finding any decent job inside the Base City would be tough. Of course, there were still jobs ordinary people could do. But the pay barely covered daily expenses, let alone his mother's medical bills. Desperate, Xalen resorted to the last option: borrowing from loan sharks, at least to cure his mom first. But that plan crumbled. The gangsters knew how worthless a trash gene was and kicked him to the curb without a second thought.
What now? Xalen wandered aimlessly, a cold, cornered despair blooming in his chest. He was only 18, a freshly minted Gene Soldier. His life was supposed to be just starting, yet it already felt like it was over.
Bang! A collision jolted him. “Huh?” Xalen rubbed his shoulder and looked up. A tall, black-haired man stood right in front of him. When Xalen looked, the man bared his teeth in a grin. “Hey, kid, you hurt me bumping into me. Pay up.”
What?! Xalen froze for a moment, then let out an angry huff. “I don't have any money!” He wasn't even surprised by the shakedown. The Base City looked heavily fortified, but the slums were a lawless zone. Security forces were pitiful. The Security Department turned a blind eye. No one knew if the FWG deliberately allowed chaos to brew or just couldn't be bothered to police it. All anyone knew was that brawls, thefts, and robberies happened here every day.
“No money?” The man laughed, then grabbed Xalen by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground. “I just saw you walk out of Little Knife Society. You can't fool me.” Xalen's face went pale. The Little Knife Society was exactly the loan shark gang he'd been to. This guy had been watching the whole time. Feeling the man's crushing grip, Xalen forced down his anger and took a deep breath. “I really have no money. I tried to borrow, but they rejected me.” Discretion was the better part of valor. Since he didn't get the loan, there was no point picking a fight he couldn't win. If he got hurt, not only would medical costs pile up, but his mom and sister would worry.
The black-haired man frowned. “What? Rejected?” He stared at Xalen, and when he saw he wasn't lying, his expression soured. Still, after putting Xalen down, he didn't let him go. He started rifling through Xalen's pockets. Xalen tried to stop him, but he was no match. The man yanked out a crumpled handful of bills—fifties, hundreds, but mostly tens, fives, and ones. Altogether, less than three hundred.
“Fucking dirt poor,” the man muttered, shoving the cash into his own pocket and waving a hand like he was shooing a stray dog. “Get out of my sight.”
But this time, Xalen didn't move. He stood rooted to the spot, silent. “Give me my money back.”
Huh? The man did a double take, as if hearing the most ridiculous thing ever. He leaned in, eyes narrowing. “What did you say?” Xalen took a shaky breath. “I said, give me my money back.” That money wasn't much, but it was the last cash he had. Without it, he and his sister would go hungry tonight. Worse, his mom's treatment would stop immediately. This money could not be taken. Xalen clenched his fists, his eyes going bloodshot—a wild, cornered madness.
Even the thug flinched for a split second. Then rage exploded across his face. “You ungrateful little shit! You wanna die? Fine, I'll oblige!” He threw a punch straight at Xalen's face.
Xalen tensed, eyes locked on the incoming fist. His gene might be trash, but he'd trained hard at Gene Academy and learned solid combat techniques. He sidestepped, dodged the punch, then drove an upward fist right into the man's jaw. Thud. The punch connected. But the man didn't stagger or go down. Xalen's pupils shrank—his fist was dead stopped against the man's chin, where a patch of black fur had sprouted. A lesson from Gene Academy flashed in his mind: Localized Beastification. It was a Gene Soldier's ability to partially manifest their gene, greatly boosting strength. The human body was fragile, but beastifying it multiplied power tremendously. Newly awakened Gene Soldiers like Xalen couldn't do it yet; only those who had fused with their genes for some time could. No wonder this guy could lift him so easily earlier.
That was his last coherent thought before his world exploded in pain. The thug sneered and buried a fist in Xalen's face. Stars burst across his vision. The guy didn't stop—he rained down kicks and punches. Under the searing pain, Xalen's combat knowledge vanished, and he could only curl up on the ground, arms protecting his head.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The flurry finally paused. “Huh?” The thug noticed something odd: Xalen's cuts and bruises were slowly mending. But what threw him off even more was Xalen's next move. The moment the beating stopped, Xalen lifted his head, eyes blazing with fury, and lunged again. Caught off guard, the thug took a vicious kick to the groin. His face went purple. He activated Localized Beastification there just in time to avoid permanent damage, but it still hurt like hell. Recovering, his hand morphed into a bear paw and swatted Xalen to the ground. “You little bastard! You seriously have a death wish? With my rank, even if I killed you here, I'd only get a few months in a cell!”
In the Base City, powerful Gene Soldiers enjoyed privileges. An Awakened Master could kill a low-tier Gene Soldier without facing any charges. Xalen's expression stiffened, feeling the genuine murderous intent rolling off the man. But then his face flushed crimson, and he roared, charging again. “So what?! Give me my fucking money back!”
The thug's face turned cold. He wasn't about to murder someone over a few hundred credits, but he could beat Xalen within an inch of his life. He bared his teeth in a savage grin. “Then go to hell.” Boom! Boom! Boom! He attacked in a frenzy. Xalen soon collapsed limp in a pool of blood. The wounds were so severe his Self-Regeneration couldn't keep up. The thug sneered, spat on the ground, and swaggered away.
Xalen clenched his fists so hard they shook, his chest burning with rage that reddened his vision. In his fading consciousness, he saw visions: his sister starving in their rented room, his mother flatlining in a hospital bed because they couldn't pay. Tears of blood streamed down his face. “Mom! Sis! I'm sorry! I'm too weak! I swear to you!!! I will become stronger! Strong enough that no one can ever bully us again!! Strong enough that no one in this world will ever stand above me!!!” “Ahhh!!!” Xalen's eyes bulged with madness as he screamed from his very soul. In that instant, something deep inside him shattered.
[Ding! Triggered by the dual stimuli of mortal danger and unyielding will, your Lizard Gene Lock has undergone an unbelievable mutation, evolving into the One and Only Gene Lock: Tyrant Dragon!]
……