Hugheska’s voice was so loud it drowned out the staff member, silencing the entire room the moment he spoke.

Everyone turned to look at the same time.

Hugheska, however, couldn’t be bothered with anyone else. Right now, he just wanted to know if any of this was real!

’How could Graces, a ’defective’ male, possibly become a Gene Fusion Expert? This is absolutely impossible. I don’t believe it!’

’How could the little brother he’d always looked down on become a Gene Fusion Expert? If that’s the case, doesn’t that diminish my own significance in the Leslie family?’

The thought that his own status might be threatened, that he could no longer use the ’defective’ label to humiliate Graces, filled him with bitter resentment.

’This has to be a mistake. Yes, it must be a mistake!’

The staff member snapped out of his daze and looked at him. "And you are?"

"I’m Graces’s brother. I suspect he forged this test report. It can’t possibly be real. He’s just a defective male. How could his gene fusion have succeeded?"

At that moment, Hugheska was past caring about appearances. His only thought was that he absolutely could not let Graces turn his life around.

The staff member was completely taken aback. He paused for a moment before saying, "We will verify whether the test report has been forged. Could you please remain quiet?"

Hearing this, Hugheska turned to Graces. "This can’t be real. You did something, didn’t you?"

Graces watched him coldly. ’Hugheska looks like a hideous, crawling insect,’ he thought. "Are you really so afraid of me becoming a Gene Fusion Expert?"

The single sentence struck Hugheska right where it hurt. His pupils dilated, and the flesh on his face twitched. "Afraid? What do I have to be afraid of? So what if it’s true? At least I’ve never been a defective, heh!"

Despite his best efforts to hide his panic, his blustering act gave him away. After all, even as a ’defective,’ Graces had risen to the rank of Colonel in the military through his own abilities. Meanwhile, Hugheska was nothing more than a minor department manager in the family business. By comparison, even as a Gene Fusion Expert, he paled in comparison to Graces.

Lu Xia wondered where he found the energy for all this drama. "If you’re not afraid, then open your eyes and watch. From now on, Graces is a Gene Fusion Expert. Once his information is updated, we’ll also inform Duke Leslie so she can share in the happy news. You can be there to witness it, *brother*."

At this, Lu Xia gave Hugheska a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

’She knew exactly what bothered Hugheska. And it was precisely because she knew that she wanted him to watch with his own two eyes as Graces shed his ’defective’ status and became a Gene Fusion Expert.’

Unable to refute Lu Xia’s words, Hugheska stood off to the side, chewing his nails, anxiety written all over him.

The clerk behind the window quickly returned after completing the verification. If he had merely been surprised when he first saw the test report, now he was utterly shocked. There had never been a single case of someone becoming a Gene Fusion Expert after a failed gene fusion.

This was an absolute first in the Empire—a miracle.

The clerk’s hands trembled with excitement. This would definitely go down in the history books, and he was the one who had processed it.

’That means my name will be in the historical record too.’

"Congratulations, sir. We’ve just verified it, and this test report is authentic and valid. I’ll process the information change for you right now." As his voice fell, the crowd of onlookers gasped in disbelief. "Did he really go from a defective male to a Gene Fusion Expert?"

"How did he do it?"

"Yeah, how exactly? Can you tell us? Is there some new miracle drug in the Empire?"

Seeing the crowd swell, security personnel had to come out and maintain order.

But the onlookers wouldn’t give up. After all, who didn’t have a few ’defective’ males in their family these days? If there really was a miracle drug that could change everything, they were all willing to try it.

With hope dangling right in front of them, how could they possibly let it go?

The crowd grew more agitated, forcing Graces to speak up. "There’s no miracle drug. The activation of my Beastification Gene was a complete accident, the result of a near-death experience. There’s nothing to be learned from it, so please don’t try to replicate it."

Hearing this, the crowd gradually quieted down. It made sense. If there really were a miracle drug, could it have been kept secret this long? It would have been widely publicized by now.

Realizing this, the onlookers could only look at Graces with envy.

The crowd of onlookers slowly dispersed, leaving only a few persistent individuals who stayed behind, as if by standing guard they could somehow pry the truth out of Graces.

Neither Lu Xia nor Graces knew when Hugheska had left. By the time the crowd thinned, he was nowhere to be seen. Not that they cared, even if they had noticed.

He had likely realized that Graces was now truly a Gene Fusion Expert, that the fact was irreversible, and had fled for fear of retaliation.

The information change went smoothly. Soon, Graces had his new identification documents.

The clerk stood up again. "Congratulations, Mr. Graces. As of today, you are a Gene Fusion Expert. With this document, you can attend a week of free training at the Gene Research Institute. I wish you a happy life and career. If you need anything else, you can come to me anytime!"

From the moment Graces became a Gene Fusion Expert, it was as if everyone in the world had become kinder to him.

But he wasn’t moved by this, because he had already been treated with kindness by Lu Xia.

His expression remained calm as he nodded at the clerk. "Alright, thank you."

Faced with such a composed man, the clerk couldn’t help but take a second look. He was not at all what the clerk had imagined.

The clerk had worked here for a long time and registered countless Gene Fusion Experts. Every single one of them had been ecstatic upon receiving their documents.

Compared to them, Graces was far too calm.

It was, in a way, admirable.

Once he had the documents, Lu Xia patted Graces on the shoulder and smiled. "Let’s go home. I had the butler prepare a feast tonight to celebrate properly."

Graces’s heart stirred, and the corners of his lips curled up unconsciously. "When did you arrange that?"

’I had no idea.’

Lu Xia looked up, catching the hint of a smile in his eyes. She knew Graces was happy in this moment; his reserved nature just kept him from any overt displays.

"Before we left this morning. Something like this is definitely worth celebrating." Lu Xia paused, then reached out and hugged him. "Congratulations, Graces. From today on, you are no longer defective. You’re a Gene Fusion Expert. In the future, those who looked down on you, who mocked you, will have no power over you. Your life is only going to get better, and I’m so happy for you!"