4. Genetic Matching

Ning Xuan learned much of the world’s basic information aboard the spacecraft through her neural interface.

Eight hundred years ago, this world faced an apocalyptic crisis: celestial fire rained down, the earth’s crust collapsed, and an unknown virus spread across the land. This led to the mutation of flora and fauna, toxic mists enveloped vast regions, and humanity suffered massive casualties. The overall environment deteriorated drastically.

Humans with fragile constitutions found survival nearly impossible. Scientists developed gene fusion technology, extracting genes from mutated plants and animals and integrating them into human DNA to enhance physical resilience and adapt to the harsh conditions.

Thanks to this gene fusion technology, humans awakened psychic powers, becoming Spirit Controllers—individuals capable of harnessing and manipulating spiritual energy.

Spirit Controllers possessed physiques far superior to ordinary humans and exhibited strong resistance to the unknown virus and toxic mists, allowing humanity to endure.

However, decades later, the drawbacks of gene fusion became apparent. Males had a vastly higher success rate in gene fusion—about 100 to 1—compared to females. Yet, once fusion succeeded, male Spirit Controllers were prone to mutation under the influence of alien genes, sometimes losing their sanity entirely and devolving into beasts. Female Spirit Controllers, in contrast, retained complete control over the alien genes.

If gene fusion were an evolutionary process, male Spirit Controllers represented an incomplete evolution, while female Spirit Controllers embodied perfect evolution.

In response, scientists developed gene suppression drugs. These medicines were costly and scarce due to the difficulty of acquiring their raw materials and could not fully resolve the mutation problem. Instead, it was the mental guidance and pheromonal soothing provided by female Spirit Controllers that delayed male mutation. For those with high gene compatibility, female Spirit Controllers could even help males overcome mutation completely, achieving perfect evolution.

Under these circumstances, scientists created a super mainframe capable of detecting gene compatibility, instituting a gene matching system whereby a male and female must have at least 60% compatibility to unite.

Due to severe gender imbalances and males’ dependency on females to survive, traditional marriage was replaced by a contractual system. Females became contract initiators, and males contractees. Upon formal union and mental linkage, the contractee would submit body and spirit to the initiator. Federally, contractees were required to obey unconditionally, sharing all property with the initiator.

Nearly a millennium had passed since the apocalypse. The severe gender imbalance had improved considerably. Females, free from mutation troubles, boasted higher survival rates and longer lifespans, resulting in a current gender ratio of roughly ten females to one male.

Yet, perhaps due to safer living conditions and social responsibilities, an increasing number of females failed to awaken psychic powers. Even among those who did, most were low-level Spirit Controllers.

Male Spirit Controllers generally possessed higher psychic levels, which rose further through battles against mutated beasts.

If a female Spirit Controller’s psychic level was two ranks below a male’s, she could neither effectively guide his turbulent spirit nor resolve his mutation. Thus, high-level female Spirit Controllers were truly scarce. Those ranked B or above were called Controllers.

Ning Xuan glanced at her own D-level psychic power, then at the mainframe’s message stating her counterpart’s spirit level was far higher. She suddenly understood the significance of the five gene-matched candidates.

As a contract initiator, Ning Xuan’s sole obligation was unfulfilled, yet she held her contractees firmly in her grasp—a situation fraught with peril for the contractees, who would be foolish to accept.

Lin Mo maintained a cold exterior but was inwardly restless. Having awakened psychic power at birth with a score of 74, ranking D, he naturally advanced to B level by eighteen. Through relentless combat with mutated beasts, he gradually reached 2S level. In recent years, his psychic surges grew more frequent and intense, his fever cycles increasingly unbearable. Given his current state, even high-grade medicines offered scant hope of surviving his companion spirit’s next transformation. Failure meant either severe injury with rank drop or full mutation into a beast.

His father had long sought a suitable contract initiator for him, but female Spirit Controllers were few, and high-level Controllers even scarcer. Each powerful Controller possessed countless contractees, treating them as possessions—disrespectful and capricious. Lin Mo had witnessed many talented predecessors, colleagues, and friends reduced to playthings after contract.

He preferred enduring the torment of psychic surges over falling into such a fate.

His father, unwilling to see him mistreated, searched for years in vain. Now, the mainframe had forcibly matched him!

Lin Mo glanced covertly at Ning Xuan. She was strikingly beautiful and young, with a seemingly stable temperament. Though their psychic levels differed greatly, their gene compatibility was high. Forming a contract with her might not be so bad. However, once formalized, regulations required him to remain by the initiator’s side for a year. His mutation had reached a dangerously unstable point; he might lose control at any moment. He did not want to put her in harm’s way.

Though Lin Mo could conceal his information, he could not break the contract. Under federal law, he was already Ning Xuan’s contractee.

After delivering Ning Xuan to Xingluo Bay, troubled and restless, Lin Mo made no pause—he sent off his men and left immediately.

Upon entering the residence she found in her personal data, Ning Xuan encountered staff from the housing registry quarreling with a mother and daughter.

“Ms. Ning, according to household records, your niece is not deceased. You cannot transfer this property now.”

“That’s impossible! Three days ago, I saw her enter the B-level mist zone. She’s a powerless waste without psychic abilities—there’s no way she could have survived there!” Ning Fei shouted. She had bullied her younger sister since childhood, never taking her seriously. Yet, their current home belonged to Ning Xuan. The house had been purchased by Ning Xuan’s mother, Zhi Lan. When Ning Xuan turned sixteen, ownership was automatically transferred to her.

The Xingluo Bay residence was in District D, regarded as relatively safe and near the best school in the district. Its current market value was about three million star coins.

Such a fine home had sheltered their family for over a decade, yet their mother had never mentioned it belonged to Ning Xuan. However, if Ning Xuan were truly dead, the mother—as Zhi Lan’s only sister and Ning Xuan’s maternal aunt—would have inheritance rights.