King of Beasts

After Lu Ran submitted his report, he left a message for Fang Lan. Without waiting for Fang Lan to emerge from the arena, he tidied up his things and directly rode on the cloud baby, heading towards the necromancy secret realm.

Having only had one battle, Fang Lan likely wouldn’t be satisfied. Forget about level 2 beastmasters, even level 3 beastmasters would probably find her difficult to handle. In this case, Fang Lan would definitely need to fight to her heart’s content before coming out.

While Lu Ran was on his way to the necromancy secret realm.

In the deep sea, within Dragon Palace.

Despite its weakness, the black turtle had already mustered a team of shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the midst of the chaotic battle in the Dragon Palace.

Lu Ran might not have anticipated that the scene predicted by Manager Ying, of the black turtle leading shrimp soldiers and crab generals into battle, was not for the Dragon Palace City… but for him.

At the same time.

Antarctica, at the headquarters of the international alliance.

Manager Ying was sitting on a high stool in front of a table, opposite a middle-aged man in knight attire who wore a displeased expression.

“What could I mean… Your Excellency Knight King? I just saw the news that your country’s Princess of Light was poisoned by Xia Country’s Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden, and I wanted to ask if you needed an antidote.”

“I can try to contact that Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden…”

“I remember you were the mentor who taught the Princess of Light about beast taming, weren’t you?”

“No need.” The Knight King replied calmly, “A priest has already helped the princess detoxify.”

Looking at this cat, the Knight King felt it was like a cat crying over a dead mouse, feigning sympathy. It seemed like it was here to boast. Who didn’t know that this ancient cat had long been tied to Xia Country?

“So, Manager Ying, tell me why you called me here. I don’t believe it was just for this.”

“No problem then…” Manager Ying smiled faintly and said, “I heard that the Princess of Light has a shapeshifter trait, am I right?”

The Knight King frowned, wondering where the cat had obtained this intelligence. There should be no more than ten people who knew about this trait.

“I have a need for this trait. I wonder if Your Excellency Knight King can reach out to the princess for an exchange with me.”

“Don’t be quick to refuse.”

“As far as I know, your country is currently troubled by an ancient giant rat spreading plagues everywhere. Many rural areas have already fallen, and while you can currently control public opinion, once this ancient giant rat reaches the cities, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

“That rat is adept at earth evasion, even harder to catch than the giant snake in the sea. You won’t be able to catch it. Just give me that shapeshifter trait and ten exquisite resources as compensation, and I’ll handle that ancient rat for you. How about that? It’s quite a deal, isn’t it?”

Manager Ying spoke calmly, even though it pretended to be in a difficult position with Lu Ran, claiming that this deal was tough- it was all an act!

It already knew the pain points of the other party and believed the offer would be hard to refuse. Not only could it profit from the Yinglun Alliance, but it could also gain a substantial reward from Lu Ran. It knew well that Lu Ran had plenty of good stuff. By exaggerating the value of the shapeshifter trait, it was certain that Lu Ran would be tempted.

“You…!” The Knight King’s expression changed. Both the news of the shapeshifter trait and the ancient rat hadn’t spread; how did this cat know?

“Make a decision soon. Surely, Your Excellency Knight King and Her Highness wouldn’t want the citizens living under the constant threat of a plague-spreading rat, would they?”

“Give me some time…” Finally, even the Knight King couldn’t withstand Manager Ying’s persuasion. He took a deep breath and chose to return to discuss the feasibility of the offer.

Manager Ying’s smile widened as it said, “I’m leaving Antarctica. Let’s contact each other through international calls then.”

…

The other shore island.

After flying for a long time, Lu Ran finally arrived. Although the cloud baby wasn’t slow, its still leisurely speed made Lu Ran tear up, desperately needing a high-speed transport pet.

“Wow.”

Just as they approached the other shore island, Lu Ran was taken aback, and the cloud baby also looked pleasantly surprised at the sight of the cat before them.

Manager Ying sat calmly on a rock, gazing at the clouds.

“I thought a pig would come to greet me… Manager Ying, what brings you here again?”

Manager Ying glanced at Lu Ran and said, “The deal for the shapeshifter trait, just as I thought, they’re asking for a steep price.”

“What did they want?” Lu Ran’s expression changed.

“They infuriated me.”

Lu Ran: ?

“They didn’t ask for resources; they wanted me to commit to acting on their behalf three times.”

“Isn’t that outrageous? Who knows what they’ll ask me to do then.”

“This…” Lu Ran was taken aback. The other side was quite calculating. After witnessing Manager Ying’s strength, they knew that getting Manager Ying to act was the most valuable thing.

“What are you going to do?”

“I agreed,” Manager Ying sighed. “Who could say no, with the cloud baby practically raised by me-it’s like my own child. I had to do it for its potential.”

“Pitter-patter…!!” The weather elf was taken aback, and looked at Manager Ying with tearful eyes.

In its heart, Manager Ying’s status soared, comparable to Lu Ran.

Besides, Lu Ran also felt that something was off, but seeing the cloud baby like this, he realized that Manager Ying had been caring for it for so long that there might truly be an emotional bond.

“Don’t worry, Manager Ying, I won’t let you suffer a loss,” Lu Ran said.

That was the line Manager Ying was waiting for.

Hurry up, bring out all the exquisite resources, let me choose.

“I’ll repay you with a top-notch piece of intelligence!”

Manager Ying: ???

Manager Ying looked up in astonishment, meeting Lu Ran’s sincere gaze.

Who on earth is the intelligence dealer here?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

At this moment, Lu Ran thought to himself that it was a good thing he hadn’t too early revealed the divine deer information to Manager Ying; otherwise, he really wouldn’t know how to repay such a huge favor.

Yes, always keep something in reserve for next time.

“What kind of intelligence?” Despite wanting Lu Ran’s exquisite resources more, Manager Ying was still very curious about the supposed top-notch intelligence Lu Ran mentioned.

“Remember during the Black Dragon incident, when I used the deer spirit to track down the divine deer?”

“Yes, didn’t you report back then that the divine deer lead had failed?” Manager Ying said.

Then it paused, continuing, “Wait, because I was busy at the time, I didn’t ask in detail-when you said it failed, did you mean you didn’t find the divine deer? Or something else?”

Lu Ran smacked his lips and said, “I did say it failed, but I didn’t say I didn’t find the divine deer… none of you asked.”

Manager Ying: ???

“You found the divine deer???” Manager Ying was shocked.

“No.”

Manager Ying: ??

“I found an energy clone left by the divine deer. Its clone doesn’t have enough power to deal with the Black Dragon, but it did provide me with some intelligence.” Lu Ran explained.

“Can’t you just say it all at once?” Manager Ying was getting exasperated. “What kind of intelligence? The suspense is killing me.”

Lu Ran chuckled, then shared everything with Manager Ying about the Blue Star People and the Star Moon Federation being of the same lineage and why the divine deer had come to Blue Star.

Upon hearing this, Manager Ying’s expression shifted repeatedly.

“So there’s this connection between Blue Star and the Star Moon Federation.”

“Besides the divine deer, there are also other retainers of the divine dragon that have come to Blue Star.”

“And there’s even a teleportation circle that leads to the Star Moon Federation?”

Lu Ran nodded. “Yes, Manager Ying, this news is quite explosive, right? If we find the teleportation circle in advance…”

“And monopolize it.”

“The potential benefits would be unimaginable.”

“Isn’t this intelligence deserving of being called top-notch?”

Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran with approval. Excellent, truly a beastmaster I’ve mentored.

“Leave the task of finding the teleportation circle to me,” Manager Ying said confidently, patting its chest with a cat paw, feeling reinvigorated by a new mission.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Aside from the teleportation circle, also help me look for any ancient creatures that are extremely fast.” Lu Ran scratched his cheek. “It seems like the shapeshifter trait matter is settled, so next up, I need to find the first shaping template for cloud baby.”

Manager Ying grinned. “That’s actually the easiest part.”

“Let me share a secret with you.”

“The former guild leader has an epic-level material. Although its function is unknown, its origin is anything but simple.”

“Hmm?”

“In the northern seas, there is a fish, its name is Kun. The Kun is so large, it’s beyond measure in thousands of miles. It transforms into a bird, named Peng. The back of the Peng is also beyond measure in thousands of miles; when it flies in anger, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky…” Manager Ying recited slowly. “That is a feather of the Kunpeng

1

, an ancient divine beast from Xia Country’s Myth and Legend. It’s said to be incredibly fast, possibly the fastest in all of Myth and Legend. You get my drift?”

“If you can manage to get this national treasure, shape cloud baby into a Kunpeng form, and the world will be its oyster.”

Lu Ran was stunned.

“You don’t need to be so shocked. This intelligence is just basic stuff…” Manager Ying said coolly. “Wait for the former guild leader to return and have a chat with him. Even if you can’t get it permanently, borrowing it for ten days or so shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

“Hold on!”

It wasn’t just the intelligence that stunned Lu Ran, although what Manager Ying mentioned was surprising…

He quickly looked toward the ruins space.

“What’s up?”

“The sudden death king… it seems to have finally grasped the meteor intent, or rather, the meteorite artistic conception.”

Inside the ruins space.

“Roar-” The sudden death king was slowly getting up from a massive pit, looking pitifully at general ha, raising its small fists as if wanting to strike them…

At this moment, it felt an extremely terrifying power within itself.

[Skill]: Heavenly Dragon Meteor Fist

[Introduction]: Contains meteor intent, allowing for an extremely powerful punch after withstanding massive damage. Each punch carries the force of multiple meteor impacts, with incredibly fast speed and strong destructive power.

This was clearly a super ultimate move the sudden death king had comprehended after being hit multiple times, combining the force of meteorites and its Heart of the Overlord talent to turn injury into attack…

“Impressive,” Lu Ran exclaimed, praising the sudden death king’s rise. However, it still hesitated; even after gaining this powerful ultimate move, it couldn’t bring itself to strike at general ha. More precisely, it refrained because it didn’t want to risk hurting the sword grass that general ha was holding.

“Don’t worry, sudden death king, we’ve reached the other shore island. We’ll soon find the Pig Deity to spar…”

Footnote:

1. Kunpeng(鲲鹏):

   Kunpeng is a mythical creature from Chinese mythology. It is said to be a giant fish called “Kun” that can transform into a massive bird called “Peng.”