Chapter 1117 - 462: Refusing to Be a Burden

Yangshan, Floating Bridge Port.

Ding Yan frowned, looking at the yacht that had already sailed away, revealing a trace of melancholy.

Zhao Kai walked over and said, "Sister Ding, let’s go back. Brother Liang has already left."

Ding Yan turned to Zhao Kai and suddenly asked, "Did you break through the Genetic Species?"

Zhao Kai nodded and replied, "Yeah, Brother Liang helped me guard during the breakthrough. I just formed the Genetic Species this morning."

Ding Yan’s gaze fixed on Zhao Kai, and she suddenly said, "Fight with me."

Zhao Kai was taken aback: "What?"

"I said fight with me! Let me see how strong you’ve become after awakening the Genetic Species."

"No way, how could I?"

Zhao Kai shook his head repeatedly and hurriedly backed away.

From the earliest days at Meidu Garden, Ding Yan always seemed somewhat unapproachable to this group of people.

Beneath her cold exterior, she seemed to keep everyone at a distance.

But Zhao Kai knew that Sister Ding was only using this way to build a hard shell, not wanting to show a vulnerable side.

Back then, when he’d yet to awaken a superpower, he lost an arm.

He thought he would be abandoned by Liang Yuan’s team, but Liang Yuan did not abandon him and instead arranged for him to guard the corridor passage.

And every time he stood guarding there, although Sister Ding never said anything, she would open the door unintentionally, offering him some care.

At that time, he had lost an arm and had no superpower awakened.

If someone with ill intentions appeared in the corridor, he might not be able to match them.

So to this day, he remembers Sister Ding’s care.

How could he possibly lay a hand on Sister Ding?

Ding Yan furrowed her brows tightly and scolded, "Why so hesitant! Fight!"

"No, Sister Ding, I..."

"If you don’t start, I will!"

Shwing!

Ding Yan said it and did it, and the next moment, two empowerment orbs suddenly erupted at her feet.

With a bang, she dashed out like lightning with great speed.

Zhao Kai hurriedly flashed aside, narrowly avoiding Ding Yan’s punch.

Ding Yan’s fist burst in mid-air, the air cannon fist exploded, stirring up a roaring airwave.

Zhao Kai was extremely nervous and hurriedly shouted, "Sister Ding, what are you doing!"

"Fight! Show the momentum you had when you killed Mao Xiaoqiang!" Ding Yan shouted angrily.

Zhao Kai still dared not fight back, but Ding Yan had attacked again.

She seemed to have mastered some sort of explosive skill.

Under the empowerment light, special patterns formed, exploding under her feet.

Every time, she would shoot out like a cannonball, extremely fierce.

Zhao Kai dared not underestimate, hastily activating his superpower.

Instantly, countless cold air surged within him, enveloping the surroundings.

On his body, pieces of Zero-Degree Armor emerged.

Still, he didn’t fight back.

Instead, Ding Yan continued to attack, hitting Zhao Kai multiple times.

Yet Zhao Kai remained unmoved, and even the cold air on his body counterattacked, directly numbing Ding Yan’s limbs, forming large amounts of frost.

Ding Yan was empowered for protection, yet she could barely withstand the cold air.

Before long, her body was covered in a layer of frost.

Zhao Kai simply stood still, saying, "Sister Ding, you see, after breaking through the Genetic Species, I awakened a Defense Gene Map."

"Even standing here without moving, you wouldn’t be able to break my Zero-Degree Armor."

Ding Yan stopped as well, staring at Zhao Kai, scrutinizing his armor.

After a long while, she suddenly laughed.

"Good, now you truly deserve Liang Yuan’s attention."

Zhao Kai was stunned: "Sister Ding, you..."

Ding Yan turned to look at the floodwaters and said, "I know, before he left, he must have entrusted Yangshan to you."

Zhao Kai was at a loss, not knowing what to say.

Ding Yan said, "It’s us who are useless, still lingering among ordinary superpower users for so long."

"He has to bear everything in front."

"A team shouldn’t be like that, right?"

Zhao Kai understood something, looked at Ding Yan, and couldn’t help saying, "Sister Ding, Brother Liang never blamed us..."

Ding Yan turned to Zhao Kai and said, "No, he can choose not to blame us, but we can’t really get used to it."

"I am a woman, I understand the plight of the weak!"

"I don’t want to be his burden, and I don’t want to face strong enemies one day, only to be able to pray for someone else to save me."

"I will never put myself in that position again!"

Zhao Kai opened his mouth: "Sister Ding, you... what do you want to do?"

"I want to leave Yangshan!"

"What!" Zhao Kai was shocked.

Immediately, he quickly said, "No! Absolutely not! Brother Liang wouldn’t agree!"

Ding Yan laughed, "He’s not here."

"I want to go out to find Physical Class Genetic Mutation Beasts."

"I want to find a way to obtain the Physical Class Genetic Species, to break through and become a Genetic Species strong warrior soon, to help him."

"Sister Ding!" Zhao Kai was anxious, trying to persuade her.

But Ding Yan didn’t give him a chance, immediately saying, "I’ve already decided, Zhao Kai, with your current strength, it’s not a problem to guard Yangshan. I’m not needed here."

"I need to find my path to a breakthrough, I can’t rely on Liang Yuan for everything."

After saying this, her figure flashed, quickly disappearing into the rain curtain.

Zhao Kai was extremely worried, hurriedly chasing after her.

But he wasn’t known for his speed, and Ding Yan’s explosive force was extremely strong. A few minutes later, she vanished completely.

Zhao Kai was anxious, yet helpless.

...

Half an hour later.

Lingyun Slope, Qinghua Paper Mill.

Li Qinghua, Zhou Qingming, Sister Wan, and others gathered here.

Besides them, there were also Li Xiangyang from Meishan, Zhang Rongrong, and Uncle Ge and Xia Ming from Han Xiangman’s former team.

Zhang Rongrong couldn’t help but ask, "Who else are we waiting for?"

Li Qinghua didn’t speak, but Sister Wan beside him smiled and said, "A heavyweight figure."

Zhang Rongrong frowned and couldn’t help but say, "What kind of heavyweight figure?"

"You’ll know when they arrive," Zhou Qingming said.

Li Xiangyang spoke up, "I don’t care who else. I just want to ask one thing: is the monster you’re talking about really of the Light Attribute Physical Class?"

Zhou Qingming said, "I’ve seen it exert Light Attribute abilities. As for whether it’s Physical Class, I’m not sure."

Uncle Ge suddenly said, "Light is also an element, right? Shouldn’t it be considered Elemental Class?"

Li Xiangyang glanced at him, shaking his head, "Light and darkness are different from the Five Elements. I can feel that my Light Attribute superpower is closely related to my constitution."

Zhang Rongrong suddenly looked at Uncle Ge and Xia Ming, curiously asking, "We’re all after that Light Attribute mutant beast, but you two are Elemental Class, right? Why are you also coming along?"

Uncle Ge smiled, took a puff from his pipe, and said, "That place isn’t just about that one monster."

Li Xiangyang couldn’t help but look at Li Qinghua, asking, "Is there really such a place?"

Li Qinghua glanced at him, "If you don’t believe, you can choose not to go."

Xia Ming suddenly spoke up, "Why don’t you invite Mr. Liang to join us? With him, hunting genetic species monsters would be easy, right?"

Li Qinghua glanced at him and said, "Originally, I wanted to invite Mr. Liang, but something came up at Yangshan, and he probably can’t leave for a while."

"It’s just as well that everyone at Yangshan is in quarantine. We can take this opportunity to check it out."

Xia Ming understood and was about to ask more.

Suddenly, Li Qinghua looked up towards the bamboo forest, a smile appearing on his face, "He’s here."

Then from the bamboo forest, a lithe figure flashed out.

"Captain Ding, you’re late," Li Qinghua said with a smile.

Ding Yan glanced at the group, "Are you so sure I would come?"

"Haha, of course, because we all know that Yangshan can’t rely on Mr. Liang alone."

"If we don’t improve, we’ll just drag Mr. Liang down, right?" Li Qinghua said with a smile.

Ding Yan gave him a look but said nothing, only asking, "Are you sure about the captain’s information?"

Li Qinghua nodded, "I’m sure. Old Zhou has already gone to see it himself. That space indeed has issues; it’s most likely a spatial fold."

"However, I can’t confirm the folded space’s range until we get inside."

"But according to the source, there are definitely genetic species-level mutant beasts inside."

"Alright, then let’s set off!"

Ding Yan said in a deep voice.

Li Qinghua laughed and said, "The boat’s been ready for a long time, let’s go."

Apparently, some time ago, Floating Bridge Port in Yangshan was booming, and some boat shelters nearby would sail to the port to resupply.

Or simply wanted to join Yangshan, become part of Yangshan.

However, the condition of serving for a month made some boats hesitate.

Many boats also pondered that upon joining Yangshan, their boats would be confiscated.

Additionally, with the floodwaters rising, no one knew how long Yangshan could hold out.

If Yangshan got submerged in the future, joining now would be like joining the losing side in 1949.

In that case, it might be better to stay with their own boats and keep watching.

However, some boat shelter captains valued Yangshan’s development, liked the atmosphere, and were eager to join.

But Yangshan had its entry criteria--not everyone was allowed in.

Having certain skills could make passing the review easier.

Some people, seeing this review, tried to find insiders from Yangshan to help them.

Of course, this was within Yangshan’s rules.

Li Qinghua’s paper mill had gained some fame in Yangshan.

Hence, people came to him, requesting his help.

Li Qinghua naturally wouldn’t help for free, and he usually didn’t bother with those who came asking for favors.

Yet last month, a captain offered information about a folded space in exchange for a spot.

Being a Space Ability User, Li Qinghua was naturally intrigued by anything space-related.

Through a deal, he got the coordinates of the folded space and went there with Zhou Qingming.

Upon investigation, they found the folded space highly unusual.

The folded space appeared vast, and Li Qinghua used his superpower to send Zhou Qingming inside.

Zhou Qingming’s blood mist ability perfectly permeated the spatial fold.

Inside were massive land islands and many powerful genetic species-level mutant beasts.

Not only that, but the space’s independence meant that without rainstorms, most land hadn’t been completely submerged.

Although much had turned into islands and floodwaters continued to spread, there were still footholds. The only problem was not knowing how long the spatial fold would last.

After they returned, they intended to report to Liang Yuan.

Coincidentally, Liang Yuan had left Yangshan for Mist City.

So the matter got postponed.

When Liang Yuan returned, he brought news about genetic species and stated that breaking through required the blood essence of mutant beasts with corresponding attributes.

This incited ideas among Li Qinghua, Zhou Qingming, and the others.

They suspected strongly that powerful mutant beasts in the spatial rift were likely genetic species level.

However, since they hadn’t reached 50 points in strength, with ulterior motives, they didn’t report it to Liang Yuan.

When recently, Li Qinghua, Zhou Qingming, and others broke through 50 points in their main attribute, Yangshan suddenly faced a plague outbreak.

Liang Yuan was overwhelmed, and they were reluctant to trouble him.

Hence, Li Qinghua approached Ding Yan and gathered a few superpower users who had reached 50 points in their main attribute.

Thus they assembled this time.

They prepared thoroughly for this hunt of genetic species monsters.

Not only did they bring the research department’s latest equipment, spiritual ability glasses, sealing talisman array, but also various new-style superpower weapons.

Ding Yan knew very well that the safest way would be to have Liang Yuan accompany them.

But at present, Yangshan needed Liang Yuan, and she didn’t want to be a burden.

If Li Qinghua and the others could grow independently, why couldn’t she, Ding Yan?

...

At this moment, Liang Yuan was unaware of Ding Yan and Li Qinghua’s plans.

The Yangshan speedboat he was on dashed across the water’s surface at a blazing speed.

However, after just a few dozen kilometers, Liang Yuan’s speedboat encountered trouble.

In the waters ahead, the waves rolled, and a massive ship shaped like a skeleton floated above, blocking Liang Yuan’s path.