Super Gene Optimization Fluid

The hunchbacked shopkeeper smiled at Xia Fan's question. "Yes, yes, I truly do have such a thing. It has that strange wings symbol on it.

"Now that I think about it, getting that item wasn't easy. I bought it from someone else at a heavy price. If this was someone else, I wouldn't let people look at it even if they begged me. After all, such things with this wing design are extremely rare. I'm only making an exception because it's you, sir."

A cunning businessman!

Xia Fan chuckled as he formed an image of the sort of person this hunchbacked shopkeep was. He had said all that simply because he wanted to sell off his item at a good price.

To tell the truth, Xia Fan doubted that he actually knew what the wings symbol represented. Before Xia Fan had arrived, he probably didn't even think that this thing had any value.

Traveling Buddha was still rather pure, gasping in surprise, "Oh my! This makes me very curious! Hurry and take it out so that I can get a good look at it."

The old man nodded and went deeper into the store.

At this moment, Tony smiled at Traveling Buddha and said, "As the old saying goes, there's no businessman who isn't cunning. You shouldn't have shown your excitement. In a little while, that old man's going to demand a sky-high price from you.

"But it's fine. I'll deal with him."

It wasn't long before the old man came out with a steel snack box. He opened it up and slowly removed a piece of cloth, one that had clearly been torn off someone's clothes.

"Let me look at it," Traveling Buddha grabbed at it impatiently. The old man was startled after he realized that his hands were empty. Traveling Buddha had been so fast that the old man felt like he was seeing things.

"What? It's just a piece of cloth with the wings symbol. It seems to have come from a combat suit, as the material is rather decent. I've never seen such light yet tough material before."

As Traveling Buddha spoke, he offered the cloth to Xia Fan, seemingly rather annoyed.

As Xia Fan took it, he suddenly felt an indescribable bleakness.

Traveling Buddha saw only a piece of cloth, but Xia Fan saw a gruesome battle!

Based on the fiber material's shape and damage, the person who had worn this combat suit had been fighting for his life against someone. It was very possible that he was already dead...

This was the remnant of a deceased relative!

Xia Fan's pulse quickened, his blood surged, and an inexplicable anger welled up in his mind!

Blood was thicker than water, and bonds of blood were an existence that could not be explained by logic.

Xia Fan, who had never met any other member of his family before, valued his relatives more than anyone else. That was because he had always desired familial affection and had always been searching for his family. Behind that sunny smile was a loneliness that was carved into Xia Fan's bones!

Was he really all alone in Ashen Moon?

Would he always be alone?

In his dreams, Xia Fan always saw some affectionate figures. They were his imagined family. His father was like him, exuding a heroic aura despite his slender build, while his mother was gentle and mild-mannered. Perhaps he also had siblings, and if his siblings had children, then he would be an uncle, and it would be very adorable if all their children were ringed around him.

His vision suddenly began to blur, as blurry as the faces of the family in his dreams. Xia Fan knew that he had a family, but he had never met them before.

Quietly, Xia Fan put away that piece of combat suit bearing the Skywing symbol and then turned to the hunchbacked elder.

Xia Fan smiled and asked him, "Where did you get this thing?"

Although he was always smiling, the smile this time appeared to have a complicated mixture of emotions in it.

The hunchbacked elder began to tell a story about how he had paid a high price to a smuggler for this remnant. According to that smuggler, the remnant came from Ashen Moon and was part of the estate of a hierarch in Sacred Federation.

By now, Xia Fan was completely sure that the old man had no idea what these wings signified and that it represented the Skywings. Thus, he was lying.

His face chilled, and even Traveling Buddha grew impatient. He grumbled to the man, "What nonsense are you babbling? Sacred Federation has three thousand hierarchs, but not a single one uses wings as their symbol. Are you trying to take advantage of my ignorance?"

Xia Fan glanced at Traveling Buddha. Traveling Buddha naturally knew all about that because he was from the Starcloud Union's Holy Buddha Clan. His father was the Great Old Buddha, his grandfather was the Venerable Old Buddha, and he was the famous Little Old Buddha.

When Traveling Buddha grew impatient, he would become very violent. He grabbed the shopkeeper's collar and started to threaten him.

At that moment, Tony laughed and said, "Friendliness makes money, friendliness makes money. This is a market, so there's no problem that gold can't fix. Let me talk with him."

Xia Fan nodded, and Traveling Buddha put down the hunchbacked elder.

Tony called the shopkeeper inside. The market had many hidden laws, and Xia Fan was not allowed to interfere in their negotiations.

Traveling Buddha leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "That thing was left behind by the Skywings."

Xia Fan was startled. "So you've known the whole time?"

Traveling Buddha nodded. "Of course. You think there's something I don't know? That metabolic booster that Sramana used was also from the Skywings. The ancestors of our clan, those old coots, left behind a book that mentioned this symbol.

"After all, our clan suffered a large loss to the Skywings. You're on good terms with Soul Flying Bird and Heizi, so you probably know that their ancestors were also killed by the Skywings.

"In Ashen Moon, every warrior clan has an ancestor that died to the Skywings. Those madmen were a nightmare for Ashen Moon.

"I now understand why you came here."

You know!?

Xia Fan was aghast. Could Traveling Buddha already know that it was no coincidence that his surname was Xia and that he was of the Speed-type, that it was all because he was a descendant of Blue Moon's public enemy, the Skywing Clan?

Traveling Buddha smiled creepily, and then he patted Xia Fan on the shoulder. "Your surname is Xia, and the Skywings also have the surname Xia. You are a Speed-type, and the Skywings were also of the Speed type. This is too much of a coincidence."

"Thus, you hope to get Skywing equipment, because you're about to reach Star Domain rank, a Heavenly Sovereign. When you become a Heaven Sovereign, you'll basically become invincible, and the Skywings have the best equipment when it comes to speed. If you can find some of the equipment left behind by the Skywings, it will be a huge help to your future development!"

Traveling Buddha looked at Xia Fan very seriously, smugly saying, "So? Am I right? You came here to get a hold of some Skywing equipment."

Phew!, Xia Fan almost laughed. What sort of nonsensical theory was that?

Getting hold of some Skywing equipment? The Skywings were his family. Why would he need to get hold of their equipment?

Xia Fan chuckled, and then said to Traveling Buddha very seriously, "Mm, sure enough, I couldn't hide it from you. Impressive as always."

"Haha, I knew it!" Traveling Buddha was delighted. Folding his arms, he righteously said, "We're brothers forever! Relax. I'll definitely help you out!"

"Thank you." Xia Fan gave him a sunny smile.

After a while, Tony returned. "The talks are done. Five gold coins."

Xia Fan was startled. The price was much lower than he had expected. After all, that shopkeeper had seemingly been looking to take him for all that he was worth.

"How did you do it?" Xia Fan curiously asked.

Tony smiled. "You don't need to to worry about that. You spend the money to hire me, so I have to prove my value, right? Moreover, five gold coins means he makes quite a tidy profit."

"Then did he say how he got the item?" Xia Fan asked.

Tony sighed. "That? It was a scrap collector who sold it to him, but he doesn't know where the scrap collector got it. I don't think he was lying."

Xia Fan nodded in disappointment. He had gotten a remnant of a Skywing combat suit, but he didn't know where it had come from, so it wouldn't help him find more clues.

Even if he used his Scent special ability, he wouldn't come up with anything. After all, the Skywings had invaded Ashen Moon forty thousand years ago!

------

Xia Fan paid the money and headed back to the Garden Hotel with Tony.

When he was paying, Xia Fan had lightly stroked his spatial ring, producing the five golden coins as if by magic.

Upon seeing that, the shopkeeper's eyes had glowed, and he had seemed very shocked.

After Tony handed the money over, he took the shopkeeper to the side and whispered to him. The shopkeeper nodded multiple times after he was done.

When Tony came back, Xia Fan asked him what had happened.

Tony shrugged. "It's nothing. The market is a very complicated place. Although I'm keeping you company, it's best to be careful."

Thus, when the party returned to the hotel, Xia Fan decided to refuse Tony's offer to take them out to play, agreeing to meet up again tomorrow morning. Traveling Buddha wanted to go, but he didn't want to go alone, so when he heard Xia Fan refuse Tony, he became rather bored.

-----

The next morning, Xia Fan met up with Tony and Joe just after the market had opened.

As before, they walked over to the Beacon Grand Market, which was only a little way down the street.

The clever Big Eyes came out of nowhere and called out to Xia Fan, "Boss! Boss!"

Compared to yesterday, he had a much better complexion, and a little color on his tanned face. He had presumably eaten his fill.

Although his clothes were still the shabby clothes from before, they had been washed. He had also washed himself, the acrid odor from before having utterly disappeared, and he was brimming with energy.

"Oh, you're here."

"Boss! What are your orders today!? I'm willing to do anything for you!"

Xia Fan smiled and looked around, spotting a rather unique little restaurant. It had a huge window that ran from floor to ceiling, allowing one to see everything that was going on in the street from the inside.

Xia Fan pointed at the restaurant and said to Big Eyes, "Your mission today is to continue searching the market for things with this design. The more you find, the higher your reward.

"But you can't make a big stir about it, letting the entire market know that I'm looking for this thing, and you can't bring many people with you, only the people that you deeply trust.

"Before dusk, we will meet up here."

Big Eyes forcefully nodded. "I understand. I'll take my two little brothers and quietly look for the thing you want. We're all brothers, so they can be trusted!"

Xia Fan spotted two restless youths waiting nearby. They were just as thin as Big Eyes and they also had very large eyes, but they were a little younger, not even ten years old, and their clothes were shabbier.

"Stick out your hand," Xia Fan said.

Perhaps because he felt like he wasn't clean, Big Eyes rubbed his hand on his pants first before sticking it out.

Xia Fan shook his head, silently passing him a gold coin and a few small silver pieces. The silver pieces were change from when he had paid for some coffee yesterday. Xia Fan was smarter now and knew that this was a place where one could not show off their wealth.

Big Eyes felt the weight in his hands, and his arm trembled in excitement.

Xia Fan said, "Get to work, but remember to eat."

Big Eyes almost got on his knees, bowing deeply to Xia Fan again and again. He then led his little brothers into the market. The security guards tried to stop them, but they shot through the gaps in the railing like little monkeys.

Tony watched as Big Eyes left and said with a frown, "If you're having Big Eyes go searching, what are we doing today?"

Xia Fan smiled. "Didn't you say that there are some big bosses in the market that operate shadier businesses which normal people can't access?"

Tony nodded. "Yes, those places sell high-class goods, and no one can go in unless they're guided inside."

Xia Fan replied, "That's where we're going today!"