Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 301: Joining Team Zenith

With all this half-dead prey placed before him, Zhang Lie would be able to obtain the gene fragments he needed just by dealing the finishing blow and then consuming their flesh.

“Team Leader Zhou, Team Leader Xia, what's this?” Zhang Lie asked knowingly, believing that the team leaders certainly wanted something from him if they were willing to go to this extent.

Xia Na gave him a brilliant smile.
“It's nothing, Deputy Leader.
Since we're here, we thought we might as well help you out.

Zhou Ming agreed.
“Right! Troop Leader Zhou instructed us to take good care of you.”

“Deputy Leader Zhang, won't you land the killing blow? One of my team members is an excellent chef, and I'll have him demonstrate his abilities for you!” Zhou Ming urged.

Thinking about it for a moment, Zhang Lie decided to accept their kindness.
With a snap of his fingers, all the genetic lifeforms arrayed before him lost their lives.

Zhou Ming and Xia Na's subordinates immediately got to work, retrieving a set of cleavers and carving knives, chopping up the carcasses on the spot, and starting a campfire.

Zhang Lie, Zhou Ming, and Xia Na sat by the side of the fire as they began to chat.
The two team leaders only asked about mundane, anodyne topics until the scent of roasted meat wafted over to them.
Only then did Xia Na ask casually, “Deputy Leader Zhang, just how did you obtain such strength? We've both had the foundational breakthrough, but our strength certainly isn't at your level.”

So this was the reason behind their actions—they wanted to learn how to become as strong as he was.
Zhang Lie smiled.
“It's a little too late.
The earlier you obtain these limit fragments, the better.
You'll see what I mean when you advance to the third realm.”

Both of them understood the hidden implication behind Zhang Lie's words almost immediately.

“You mean…
the benefit we get from these limit fragments persists from realm to realm?!” Xia Na exclaimed in shock.

Zhang Lie nodded in assent, causing both hunters to stagger.
Zhou Ming pressed, “In that case, will we still have a limit of 110 basic gene fragments even in the third realm?”

“110? Yes, that's right!”

Xia Na and Zhou Ming were gratified to hear his answer, but they then realized what he meant by their already being behind in terms of strength—by the time they performed the fundamental breakthrough, they were already in the second realm, and they had lost the ten additional limit fragments from the first.

Moments later, Xia Na calmed down and asked the question she cared most about.
“Deputy Leader Zhang, are you so strong simply because of the limit fragments that you acquired?”

“About half my strength, perhaps.
I obtained quite a lot of treasures within the first realm,” Zhang Lie replied with a smile.

His strength could largely be tied to the mutated and superior limit fragments he possessed, along with the peak and disaster gene fragments he had so fortuitously obtained.

The acquisition of his peak gene fragments had been widely publicized, because a few hunters had seen the moonlight wyrm carcass that he and the members of Team Zenith had brought back to the Blacksteel settlement before the start of the Void Cup.

Indeed, many media sources had even been guessing about the extent of his strength, and some had, fortuitously, gotten it right.
One news outlet had proposed that, from Zhang Lie's dominating performance in the Void Cup, he had to have at least 160 limit fragments, with 50 mutated and 50 superior limit fragments added to the mix.

However, this seemed hardly possible.
After all, it was widely believed that Zhang Lie had been very lucky to be able to develop his Potion #1, which provided basic limit fragments.
How could he have come up with the corresponding potions for mutated and superior limit fragments as well?

After this conversation, however, Xia Na chose to believe that he had indeed done so.
Zhang Lie, champion of the Void Cup, strongest of the younger generation of Chinese hunters, might well have exceeded experts' expectations worldwide and come up with Potions #2 and #3 on his own.

Taking a deep breath, she asked, “Deputy Leader Zhang, can I join your team? I want to be a member of Team Zenith!”

Xia Na's eyes shone as brightly as if she had found an oasis after wandering the desert for a week.

Unfortunately, Zhang Lie didn't give her the answer she was hoping to hear.
“Team Leader Xia, do you understand what I had in mind when I called my team Team Zenith? The zenith of strength requires a strong foundation built from the first realm, and I've carefully cultivated that in every member of Team Zenith.
Unfortunately, I can't accept your request—we're already in the second realm, and your limit has already been restricted as a result.”

“Ah.” Xia Na's eyes dimmed.
She knew that Zhang Lie was right, but even so, she couldn't help feeling as though she had been deprived of something important.