King of Beasts

Lu Ran still had high hopes for the dark crow.

Although its mouth was a bit foul, its other merits were enough to overshadow its flaws.

Previously, Lu Ran had considered whether to make a contract with the dark crow. After all, the dark attribute was quite rare.

However, as he learned more about the rare species with inherent commander traits and the Freshman Tournament prizes being pet beast eggs of sovereign species, the dark crow’s advantages seemed less significant.

But now, Lu Ran thought that if he could establish a Beast Taming Legion in the future, the dark crow would still be worth contracting.

A single dark crow might not have an advantage compared to those superior pet beasts with better species talents, but what if it was a highly intelligent dark crow that could command an entire crow legion?

Lu Ran wondered if there was a trait crystal like “the more subordinates, the stronger the leader” or “the more of the same species, the stronger the leader,” but he figured it was worth a try.

In nature, there are so many social creatures that he couldn’t believe there wasn’t a similar talent.

Most likely, the current secret realm level explored by the beastmasters on Blue Star wasn’t high enough, so such crystals hadn’t been found yet.

After all, the strategy team had only managed to conquer Level 5 secret realms on hard difficulty; they hadn’t even fully conquered Level 5 secret realms on abyssal difficulty.

Above that, there were Level 6, Level 7, Level 8, and Level 9 secret realms… all unknown.

When such crystals do appear, having already established a pet beast army might give him a significant advantage.

Even if they don’t exist, it wouldn’t matter. With some highly compatible fusion skills and legion skills, his Beast Taming Legion would still be formidable.

On the Star-Moon Continent, the empire’s Beast Taming Legions used a similar strategy, and it had proven effective.

“Although I can’t fuse traits for the dark crow before contracting it, I can still use resources to awaken its secondary attributes.”

“Why not find a resource to awaken the ‘mental attribute’ for the dark crow? This could turn it into a dark attribute creature proficient in illusions, communication, and manipulation.”

“The mental attribute would undoubtedly complement its species talent, making it easier for it to command a vast crow legion.”

Before the revival of spiritual energy, Lu Ran had frequent contact with the dark crow and knew that it, like the bug king, had its own ideas.

The bug king wanted to build a harem, reproduce, and yearn for freedom—completely unambitious. The dark crow, on the other hand, wanted to recruit underlings and achieve great feats, showing a bit more promise.

Lu Ran wondered where it got this ambition from.

He speculated it might be his own doing, cultivating this ambition in it unknowingly.

After all, when he first interacted with it, Lu Ran was still in his teenage years, often playing “king and general” games with it…

At that time, the dark crow was just a little crow, in its formative stage… It’s possible Lu Ran led it astray.

Hmm… Well, for now, he’ll just play along with the dark crow a bit more.

If it truly leads to something remarkable, the dark crow will be happy, and Lu Ran will benefit greatly as well.

…

“Why do we have to use teleportation again?”

Outside the cat-eared maid café in Green Sea City.

Manager Ying was agitated.

Before Lu Ran even entered, he noticed Manager Ying sunbathing on the roof.

Then, he called it down, asking for its help to teleport himself and Fang Lan to Jinling.

“Using transportation is a bit dangerous. You know a killer organization is targeting me,” Lu Ran said seriously. “Planes and high-speed trains are prime spots for assassinations…”

“They might even bomb the vehicles!”

“Targeting you? You should be more worried about being targeted by The Other Shore.” Manager Ying had done some investigating.

The information provided by the vampire was accurate; Lu Ran was indeed on a must-kill list in the underground world abroad.

Because of his identity as a superhuman.

But the problem was, Lu Ran wasn’t the only one on that kill list.

Nearly a hundred superhumans worldwide were on it, spanning various countries.

The likelihood of carrying out these assassinations was minimal.

So far, no assassin had been known to take such orders, as superhumans were the treasured gems of their respective countries.

Assassinating them would be akin to declaring war on major nations.

However, the person who issued this kill list was indeed mysterious.

Even the dark overlords of the underground world didn’t know his true identity.

Nor did they know how he obtained information about the superhumans from various countries.

Knowing that even Xia Country can’t possibly know the exact number of superhumans in other countries, and vice versa, makes this mysterious person’s knowledge all the more baffling. As soon as a superhuman reveals their powers, they make it onto his must-kill list.

This leads to the suspicion that his intelligence network is not merely vast but that he possesses some kind of supernatural ability like “divination,” which enables him to obtain information about superhumans.

Compared to the idea that every country has been infiltrated, relying on a supernatural ability seems more reasonable.

However, abilities like “divination” are quite eerie. What’s even more perplexing is why, if he has such an ability, he harbors such animosity towards superhumans and insists on exterminating them.

According to Manager Ying’s investigation, the underworld is rife with theories. Some say things like, “Superhumans aren’t Blue Star humans; they’re undercover aliens and can’t be trusted.”

Others claim, “All gifts come with hidden costs, and the rise of superhumans will ultimately lead to Blue Star’s destruction.”

And then there are the outlandish ones, like, “That person is jealous of others having supernatural abilities while he doesn’t, so he wants to kill them all.”

In short, superhumans are shrouded in a lot of sinister rumors. But without concrete evidence, no country would take these rumors seriously.

The strategic significance of superhumans is immense. Countries are more likely to protect and nurture them rather than suppress them.

Even if some factions were initially wary of superhumans, seeing the tremendous advantages they bring to other countries would make them realize that embracing superhumans is the right choice.

“So, to avoid being targeted by The Other Shore, Manager Ying, please teleport me!” Lu Ran said earnestly.

In Green Sea, with Manager Ying guarding it, Lu Ran felt safe. But when handling matters outside, without Manager Ying accompanying him, he felt insecure.

His parents were high-ranking members of The Other Shore. Although they are now deceased, if the other leaders of The Other Shore find out that the two Dr. Lus had a talented superhuman son, they might very well try to recruit Lu Ran into their ranks.

“Alright, alright.” Manager Ying finally relented. If Lu Ran was going to Jinling, it would naturally follow.

However, it absolutely refused to teleport instantly and insisted on taking conventional transportation together.

It had figured out that Lu Ran just wanted to save time and reach Jinling quickly.

Initially, Manager Ying would never agree to this, but it cleared its throat and made a condition: “This will be the last time, and you have to agree to one request.”

“When you’re in Green Sea, I’ll provide the ingredients, and you come over to cook for me regularly.”

“No problem, right?”

“And use that dragon culinary intent!”

Lu Ran was speechless.

He hadn’t expected Manager Ying to be such a foodie.

If Manager Ying knew what Lu Ran was thinking, it would surely scoff, thinking he underestimated it.

With its power, how could it be tempted by mere food? Delicious as it might be, it had the self-control to resist.

The real reason was that Flame Dragon Culinary Intent was exceedingly rare. Manager Ying wanted to see if it could study Loong-type powers through Dragon Cuisine.

Maybe, just maybe, it could eventually create a dragon-cat clone.

…

“This is the owner of the cat-eared maid café I mentioned earlier, Manager Ying.”

“It has now opened a branch in Green Sea…”

Before departing, Lu Ran met up with Fang Lan.

He introduced her to Manager Ying.

“Manager Ying!” Fang Lan’s eyes sparkled upon seeing it. What an adorable big cat.

She usually didn’t care much for cats or dogs, finding poison pets cuter, but Manager Ying’s aura was exceptional. It was a truly magnificent cat.

“Mm-hmm.” Manager Ying responded coolly, “If you’re ready, let’s depart.”

Next, Lu Ran and Fang Lan experienced a dizzying, space-warping journey to Jinling.

During this process, Lu Ran learned what Fang Lan had been up to.

She was nurturing her second pet.

After her breakthrough, she contracted a purple poison snake that had also awakened to the poison attribute. This snake had mutated with the revival of spiritual energy and belonged to an upper supernatural species with exceptional Talent.

Fang Lan named it Little Purple.

These past few days, she had been busy enhancing Little Purple’s toxin.

Additionally, Fang Lan brought out numerous resources from the breakthrough secret realm. After selling the unused resources, she purchased a trait crystal called “Toxin Healer” and fused it with her poison snake.

Although fusing the same trait with a pet beast eliminates diversity, Toxin Healer is incredibly significant for poison-type pet beasts. It lays a solid foundation, and Fang Lan wisely chose to focus on building this foundation. Only by doing so can her poison pet’s toxicity steadily increase in the future.

As for the second trait, neither the poison snake nor the poison spider had reached level 20, so Fang Lan wasn’t in a hurry to choose.

“By the way, do you still lack a second beast taming skill?” Lu Ran asked on the way to Jinling.

“Yes, I do.”

“I have a beast taming skill that I’m not using at the moment—Fusion Skill. Would you be interested? I initially planned to keep it for my level 1 use, but since I have other options now, it’s just sitting there. You might as well use it.”

“Maybe learning it could even improve your tournament ranking.”

“Fusion Skill? That sounds great!” Fang Lan was pleasantly surprised. “Would that make me like the Spider Queen or Medusa?”

“This skill suits you well. If I get a good reward in the tournament, I’ll give it to you as payment for the Fusion Skill.”

“You’re too kind.” Lu Ran dismissed it casually. He didn’t need Fusion Skill at the moment. For his third beast taming skill, Lu Ran planned to choose Death Revival.

When he eventually wanted to learn Fusion Skill, he would be capable of farming it from the secret realm himself.

There’s a level 3 secret realm at abyssal difficulty that can drop Fusion Skill cards.

So, the skill card in his backpack was just lying there. Giving it to Fang Lan made more sense.

“You two…” Manager Ying finally spoke up, looking displeased after teleporting Lu Ran and Fang Lan to Jinling.

It had exerted considerable effort to teleport them, and they were just chatting away?

“Oh, Manager Ying, thank you for your hard work!” Lu Ran realized he had neglected Manager Ying and immediately expressed his gratitude.

“You two, staying here should be fine, right?” Manager Ying huffed, not bothering to argue with Lu Ran. It pointed to a massive building in front of them.

This was…

Lu Ran looked at the place in front of him… Oh, Manager Ying had brought them to the Rainbow Heaven Dojo.

Since the spiritual energy revival, it had been a long time since he had visited his master.

He had originally planned to exchange swordsmanship insights with Master Jiang Dou…

But in the blink of an eye, even Erha had learned sword intent. What else was there to discuss?

“Alright then,” Lu Ran nodded. This saved him a lodging fee—here it is.

Additionally, it was a great opportunity for General Ha to perform “Blizzard Sword Intent” and “Sword Control Technique” for Master Jiang Dou. It was a pity that General Ha’s attributes didn’t match, so it couldn’t learn Flame Dragon Sword Intent. Otherwise, Master Jiang Dou’s expression would be even more priceless…

“Where is this?” Fang Lan, unfamiliar with Rainbow Heaven Dojo, asked.

The next moment, the dojo doors opened, and Fang Lan saw a young boy in apprentice attire step out. Beside him was a tabby cat. The most bizarre part was that this cat was holding a small wooden sword in its mouth.

Lu Ran, Fang Lan, and Manager Ying: ???

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