Before returning to the Dragon Group Base, Ling Feng first made a trip back to the Divine Gate Base. A year ago, when Ling Feng had not yet rebelled, the Divine Gate was the top-tier power in the Underworld. However, after the catastrophe of Ling Feng's uprising, the Divine Gate could now barely be considered a second-rate force.
Before Ling Feng left the Divine Gate, he hoped that everyone in the Divine Gate would disband. After all, the Underworld was not meant to be a final destination! But due to various reasons, the brothers who had fought alongside Ling Feng chose to remain in the Divine Gate and continued to mix in the shadows of the underground world. This left Ling Feng feeling a sense of guilt.
After all, he had once been their leader—how could he be at peace with enjoying his life back home while leaving them behind?
And so, Ling Feng wanted to take this opportunity, under the guise of raiding the Louvre, to give the members of the Divine Gate a proper explanation.
After two days, Ling Feng returned to the Divine Gate once again.
This time, however, Ling Feng did not alert anyone. Instead, under the cover of night, he quietly made his way into Catherine's room.
Inside Catherine's bedroom, she was slumped over the desk. The documents on the desk were scattered messily, with many papers even strewn across the floor.
Looking at Catherine's sleeping face, her brows furrowed even in repose, Ling Feng couldn't help but feel a surge of affection as he gently brushed her hair.
Although she was Ling Feng's woman, she was also the Mad Doctor's student and the daughter of their instructor. Initially, Ling Feng's brothers had very complicated feelings toward her.
But during the six months when Ling Feng was bedridden, Catherine took meticulous care of him and commanded the Divine Gate with precision and order, gradually earning everyone's acceptance and establishing her authority as their "big sister."
Especially after Ling Feng returned home, the full burden of running the Divine Gate fell squarely on Catherine's shoulders. She neither hesitated nor faltered and instead resolutely organized all the members, maneuvering within the Underworld against other forces that were eyeing them hungrily.
"You've really suffered," Ling Feng muttered softly, looking at Catherine's perpetually furrowed brows with a pang of heartache. At that moment, his thoughts only revolved around the idea of returning to his roots, but he hadn't made proper arrangements for the members of Divine Gate. If it weren't for Catherine, the Divine Gate might have already been divided up by other forces.
"Wait… this is…" Ling Feng's gaze shifted, catching sight of the documents on the desk. Unable to resist, he picked one up and began to look through it seriously.
But as he read on, his expression darkened, his hand trembling uncontrollably, as though he had stumbled upon something infuriating.
A soft murmur broke the silence as Catherine sensed the heavy atmosphere around her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Ling Feng standing in front of her. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovᴇlFir(e).nᴇt
Her lips parted slightly, the mix of languid expression and disbelief in her eyes making her appear both alluring and adorable.
But Ling Feng's face remained grim and clouded.
"Ling Feng, is that really you? Am I dreaming?" A wave of excitement flashed through Catherine's eyes as she leapt into Ling Feng's arms, breathing in his scent with an expression of pure happiness. "You're back. You really came back. I thought I was dreaming… This is wonderful…"
But Ling Feng gently pushed Catherine away, his voice containing suppressed rage as he said, "Catherine, I think you owe me an explanation!"
Saying this, he held up the documents in his hand, his face looking utterly bleak. "What are you trying to do?"
Seeing the documents in Ling Feng's hand, Catherine's face briefly showed a trace of panic but quickly regained her composure.
She calmly tidied up the scattered papers on the desk and said with feigned indifference, "Oh, you mean these? I was only organizing them, you know. After all, we're planning to relocate the Divine Gate to Fusang soon…"
"Don't lie to me!" Ling Feng grabbed Catherine's shoulder with one hand and said, "Catherine, you know me well. And in turn, I know you well too! When you lie, you blink twice in quick succession. You're aware of my bottom line—so don't lie to me about this!"
Catherine's face revealed a bitter smile, her act of pretense easily unraveled by Ling Feng.
"Ling Feng, I know you're angry right now, but please don't overreact!" Catherine leaned in slightly and said softly, "Grant me the chance to explain, won't you?"
Ling Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the fury rising within him, and said, "Fine, I want to hear your explanation! I've said this before: all the Mad Doctor's research on gene experiments should be destroyed, but these…"
He raised the documents in his hand, a flicker of agony crossing his eyes. "I didn't expect that you would keep them!"
The documents in Ling Feng's hand were the core findings of the Mad Doctor's research, encompassing the data from gene experiments and genetic development.
It was no exaggeration to say that this data encapsulated the sum of Ling Feng's torment and suffering within the Divine Gate. It was through such gene experiments that the Mad Doctor had achieved unparalleled breakthroughs in the field of genetic development worldwide.
Thus, Ling Feng and all the brothers of the Divine Gate harbored a deep hatred for the gene experiments conducted by the Mad Doctor!
When Ling Feng killed the Mad Doctor, he had ordered Catherine to destroy all records pertaining to the experiments. Such things had no place in this world!
But he never expected that Catherine had not only failed to destroy them but had meticulously organized them instead. This left Ling Feng with an overwhelming sense of betrayal!
At the same time, Ling Feng trusted Catherine's feelings for him—there was no room for doubt. Because of this, he was willing to give her the chance to explain herself.
When Catherine saw the flash of pain in Ling Feng's eyes, her own heart ached as well. As the assistant and student of the Mad Doctor, how could she not know the depth of Ling Feng's loathing for this data? If she couldn't give him a proper explanation, it might even jeopardize her standing in Ling Feng's heart!
And that was something Catherine absolutely couldn't accept!
"Alright, Ling Feng. Before I explain myself, let me ask you—do you think that aside from the Mad Doctor, the other underground forces have refrained from conducting gene experiments?" Catherine said seriously.
Ling Feng furrowed his brows, "What are you getting at?"
Catherine guided Ling Feng to sit in a chair, then took a seat beside him. She said, "Ling Feng, years ago, when you burst onto the scene and became one of the Eight War Gods of the Underworld, you probably couldn't have imagined the massive impact your emergence had on the entire underground world."
"Made an impact?" Ling Feng shook his head. "At the time, my true strength was nothing impressive—I wasn't even a match for the other War Gods. What kind of impact could I possibly have made?"
With a bitter smile, Catherine replied, "In terms of raw power, that's true. But the significance of your arrival shocked the underground world profoundly. Because every force discovered a truth—if the human genetic code could be unlocked to a certain extent, it would grant people immense strength, even rivaling the power of those in the Demi-God Domain!"
"And creating such individuals didn't require years of painstaking training—it could simply be achieved through technology unlocking the Gene Lock!" Catherine sighed and said, "Your appearance led other underground forces to discover a method to elevate their power. Many began investing heavily into genetic research and experiments as a result!"