Outskirts of Shanhai City.

Several heavy armored security vehicles pulled up one after another in front of an abandoned factory.

As the doors opened, a group of fully armed security officers poured out at once and rushed into the factory in an orderly charge.

“Security officers are here—run!”

Shouts rang out inside the factory.

Then came a fierce exchange of gunfire.

The traffickers knew full well how grave their crimes were; being caught was basically a death sentence.

So they all raised their guns in resistance, spraying bullets madly at the officers who had come to arrest them.

It was either you die or I die.

Facing the suppressive fire, the officers chose to avoid the edge for the moment, not rushing to go head‑to‑head.

In any case, drones were guarding the perimeter outside—there was no escape.

Unlike the officers, Lin Zichen did not choose to bide his time; he charged straight through the hail of bullets toward the traffickers.

Unlike the flesh‑and‑blood officers, his biological level was as high as Ordinary Tier Nine and his body had been tempered; his flesh was incredibly tough, able to tank even heavy sniper rounds. Ordinary firearms did not frighten him in the least.

Behind him, Luo Yongjian gritted his teeth and followed despite himself.

He was a provincial top scorer after all—he could not chicken out at a time like this.

Bang! Bang! Bang…

Seeing the two coming straight at them, the traffickers poured fire into them.

Bullets hit Lin Zichen as if striking steel, pinging off at once. They could only shred the clothes on his body and could not injure him at all.

By contrast, Luo Yongjian had it rough.

He tried to aura farm and got wrecked instead; he took several rounds and his clothes were spattered red with blood on the spot.

Howling from the pain, he had no choice but to duck behind cover to avoid the bullets.

By then, Lin Zichen had already cut into the traffickers’ position and opened a one‑man show—one punch, one takedown.

“This guy’s impervious to blades and bullets, we can’t hurt him!”

“Don’t—don’t kill me, I surrender!”

“Screw you, I’ll pull the pin and drag you to hell with me!”

BOOM!!!

One desperate trafficker blew himself up with a grenade.

When the smoke cleared, Lin Zichen was unscathed, his face expressionless as he continued finishing off those still resisting.

Seeing how ferocious Lin Zichen was, many traffickers were scared into tossing their guns and surrendering, not daring to resist any further.

The few who remained were still putting up a last‑ditch resistance, firing as they ran and looking for a chance to escape.

Seeing that the outcome was decided, Lin Zichen stopped, deliberately leaving the cleanup to give Shen Qinghan some training.

“No wonder he’s Shanhai U’s Freshman King—this body is too strong!”

Seeing Lin Zichen rout a group of gun‑wielding traffickers by himself, the square‑faced captain could not help exclaiming in admiration.

He waved his hand and led the officers in a charge, pressing the advantage to pursue the remaining traffickers.

Shen Qinghan began to move as well, using her long‑distance blood‑control to support the officers—she threw the traffickers’ vital blood into chaos, making them dizzy and collapse.

“Die!”

Suddenly, a female trafficker darted out from a corner at extreme speed, an alloy‑steel blade in hand and slashed viciously at Shen Qinghan’s neck.

Shen Qinghan wore bulletproof gear; ordinary guns could not hurt her.

But that high‑tech alloy‑steel blade was different—it could slice iron like mud.

If it hit with one stroke, it could take her head clean off along with the helmet.

Shen Qinghan reacted fast and slipped aside at once.

Immediately after, with a thought, she manipulated the woman’s vital blood from afar.

The woman’s vital blood erupted into disorder; she fell into vertigo and staggered, her footing unsteady.

Shen Qinghan remembered Lin Zichen’s usual teachings:

When you kill, you must not be soft‑hearted.

Strike fast, accurate and be ruthless.

So, seeing the woman in front of her stunned and reeling, she did not hesitate—she whipped a full‑power sweeping kick at the woman’s head.

Bang!

With that single sound, the woman’s head exploded under the kick; red and white splattered everywhere.

Looking at the burst head on the ground, Shen Qinghan felt a wave of nausea. She clapped a hand over her mouth, hurried behind cover and dry‑heaved for a while.

Brain matter was spilling out; the sight was too gory for her to take.

Lin Zichen glanced her way but did not go over—he let her retch.

This was a road she had to walk to grow stronger; she had to overcome it herself.

* * *

A little over ten minutes later, the operation ended perfectly.

There were twenty‑one armed traffickers in total.

Sixteen were killed.

Five were captured alive.

By contrast, among the officers, only three were wounded; none were killed.

The main reason for such a good outcome was Lin Zichen’s presence.

His strength crushed the field.

When he moved, it was a moral crushing strike.

Before the traffickers had fired a few shots, they were dropped one after another.

“How do you feel?”

Outside the factory, Lin Zichen handed Shen Qinghan a bottle of water.

She took it, removed her bulletproof helmet and revealed a head of vivid, watery blue hair and a pretty face flushed a little red with vital blood surging.

She twisted off the cap, took a sip, then tried to keep her voice even, “I felt okay back inside the factory, but now that we’re out here I feel a little weak in the legs.”

“That’s normal, I was about the same my first time. Do it a few more times and you’ll get used to it.”

“When’s next time?”

She screwed the cap back on and, her clear peach‑blossom eyes shining and asked.

She wanted to grow quickly, to catch up to Lin Zichen’s steps as soon as possible and realize her wish to be spoken of alongside him as a peerless duo.

Lin Zichen was a little surprised.

He had not expected her to volunteer to take missions to toughen herself.

She really had grown up.

“Half a month from now. I’ll take something similar and we’ll do it together.”

“Okay.”

Shen Qinghan nodded.

Just then, Luo Yongjian—who had taken several rounds and now had bandages wrapped around his wounds—walked over.

Seeing Shen Qinghan’s vivid blue hair, he asked in puzzlement, “Shen Qinghan, how did your hair turn blue?”

He clearly remembered that her hair had been glossy black—how had it turned blue out of nowhere.

“I fused the Azure Jellyfish King Gene,” she answered.

“You underwent gene fusion?” Luo Yongjian’s eyes flew wide; he was stunned, “When did you do it?”

With a thought, Shen Qinghan set the gene to dormant inside her body and her hair returned to black, “Not long ago. I fused it just recently,” she said.

“I see…”

Luo Yongjian nodded, feeling defeated.

He had thought he would be the third Gene Fuser in the class after Li Moyu and Ma Xiwei.

He had not expected Shen Qinghan to beat him to it.

This pretty girl hid deep. On the surface she looked like a flower vase, but in fact she was an out‑and‑out peerless genius—she had really fooled him.

‘Mm. The stealthy flex is the deadliest. I’ve learned something…’

As the three chatted, the square‑faced captain came out of the factory.

Stopping in front of them with a broad smile, he said, “Tonight’s operation went so smoothly thanks to the three of you supporting us. As a thank‑you, once we finish clearing the site I’ll treat you to a late‑night supper. Anywhere you want to go.”

“Thank you for the kindness, Captain Fang,” Lin Zichen smiled and politely declined, “My girlfriend and I have things to do back on campus later, so we won’t stay for supper.”

“I see. In that case there’s no helping it.”

The captain sighed and reading the room, did not press them.

Then he looked toward a female officer out front and called, “Xiao Liu, Lin and Shen need to head back to campus shortly—drive them.”

“Got it, Captain!”

The young officer’s voice brimmed with excitement.

Driving two top‑tier geniuses back to school was an amazing assignment.

If she could build a connection with them on the road, it would benefit her for life.

It had been worth all those little gifts she had given the square‑faced captain and all the times she had buttered him up in his office—this was the payoff.

“Captain, we found a crate of very strange seeds inside.”