King of Beasts

Chapter 84: Initial Team Confirmation

Lu Ran was speechless.

Just say what you want to say.

Why make it so complicated?

Are you the sudden death king?

Lu Ran felt that Xiaobailong, this leader, was truly an old hand.

Given how far the conversation had gone, what else could Lu Ran say? He could only reply, “Uncle Zhao, what are you saying?”

“If you had said it earlier, I wouldn’t have doubted you!”

“In a couple of months, I’ll be heading back to school. Green Sea City really needs experienced people like you… veterans with extensive work experience to guide us.”

Xiaobailong, this old leader, was also a first-generation beastmaster.

However, he was one of those first-generation beastmasters whose pet beast had been severely injured in a secret realm, causing him to lose heart and withdraw from frontline combat early.

After retiring, he had been recruiting newcomers for the government, amassing a wide network of contacts.

Unfortunately, his limited abilities meant that although he held an important leadership role in the newcomer recruitment department of the beastmaster administration bureau, his chances of getting promoted were slim.

“Haha, I already know. You have a special superpower that allows you to communicate with animals. Frankly, I don’t get the supernatural beings myself, so I won’t meddle in areas I’m not an expert in.”

“Once I get there, I’ll help manage and communicate with civilian beastmasters, attract investments, bring in talent, develop Green Sea City’s economy, and expand our beast taming forces.”

Zhao Chen was clear about his role.

His old friend transferred him to Green Sea City to be the chairman of the Beast Taming Association not to target Dr. Gu or Lu Ran but because he valued the potential for development in this beast taming special zone. Getting transferred here was a chance to build his resume.

If Green Sea City truly thrived, his path to promotion would be much smoother.

Thus, Zhao Chen knew exactly what to do and what not to do after being transferred to Lu Ran’s domain.

Maintaining a good relationship with Lu Ran was crucial since Lu Ran had much more potential than he did.

Though Zhao Chen was the chairman, in reality, Lu Ran was the most crucial person in Green Sea City.

The better Lu Ran’s prospects, the better chances Zhao Chen had.

“Sure, Green Sea City depends on you, Uncle Zhao.” Lu Ran said. Having lived here for so long, he naturally hoped Green Sea City would develop well.

“Of course, of course, Lu Ran, when do you have time? Once I get to Green Sea City, let’s sit down and talk. You mentioned you’ll be going back to school in two months, so you’re familiar with the Freshman Tournament at the beast taming university, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware. Why do you ask?”

“I have some critical intelligence. If a city’s students perform well in the Freshman Tournament, it’s a significant indicator of the city’s beast taming potential. With you and the Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden, Fang Lan, in Green Sea City, we can definitely make a name for ourselves.”

“But having more talented beastmasters is always better. So, once I arrive, I want to gather young beastmasters interested in applying to the beast taming university and train them during this period.”

“If they can also achieve good results in the Freshman Tournament, Green Sea City’s development and prospects will undoubtedly improve…”

“Is there anything specific you need my help with?” Lu Ran knew his fortunes were tied to Green Sea City. The more prosperous the city became, the more resources he would have.

“In fact, there is!” Zhao Chen replied. “Green Sea University, along with various high schools in Green Sea City, have a batch of young beastmasters. However, training them effectively is not easy. Since you can communicate with wild mutated beasts, is it possible for you to find a few strong mutated beasts to act as ‘sparring partners’ for them? This way, we can ensure safety while achieving effective training.”

“Interesting idea,” Lu Ran pondered. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“But they’ll need compensation for their work. We can deduct it from the city’s finances!” Helping is one thing, but spending his own money was out of the question!

“Great, let’s discuss the details when the time comes!”

After hanging up with Zhao Chen, Lu Ran thought about the idea of using powerful supernatural beings from the wild as sparring partners for the rookie beastmasters in Green Sea City.

It was a pretty good idea.

In the future, he could even develop a similar business, perhaps start a ‘Beast Sparring’ company to earn crystal coins. After all, not everyone dared to venture into secret realms for training. With the number of beastmasters increasing, this service would surely be in high demand.

Lu Ran completely understood Zhao Chen’s point. This was akin to high schools striving for higher college admission rates. If Green Sea City could produce a few top-tier beastmasters who dominate the freshman top ten in the beast taming university, who would dare say that Green Sea City was inferior to a provincial capital?

At that point, the national government would undoubtedly prioritize investment in Green Sea City. Both Lu Ran, as the King of Green Sea, and Zhao Chen, as the chairman of the Beast Taming Association, would benefit from this.

In summary, for Green Sea City to develop, it couldn’t rely solely on wild supernatural beings. The growth prospects of fourth-generation beastmasters were also critical.

At this moment, General Ha was already napping on the carpet. Lu Ran took out his phone and called Fang Lan.

It didn’t take long.

Fang Lan arrived at Lu Ran’s house, sporting two dark circles under her eyes.

Seeing her, Lu Ran was startled.

“Did a scorpion sting you?”

“You wish! I was up all night studying toxicology… and then collecting poison during the day. I haven’t had a chance to rest yet.” Fang Lan relaxed as soon as she got inside and lay down on the sofa, closing her eyes. “Tea… tea…”

“Here, a cup to wake you up.” Lu Ran helplessly handed her a cup of Ice Honey Tea.

Fang Lan struggled to sit up, took a sip, and seemed much more energized. She sighed and said, “Well, you’re something else. I saw the news on my phone. First, you made it to the Infinite City No.5 rankings, then you fused a trait crystal and re-entered the rankings of Infinite City No.3… You even unearthed a trait crystal in one go. Your luck is incredible!”

“Hahaha,” Lu Ran chuckled. “There’s no such thing as luck. It’s just countless bad lucks that paved the way behind the scenes.”

“…” Fang Lan was speechless, feeling an itch to punch him.

“And luck is indeed conserved. After returning to Infinite City No.3, General Ha and I challenged another secret realm, and the harvest was mediocre.”

“Right now, thanks to the angel investments from Dr. Gu and a forging master, I am conservatively in debt by over 100,000 crystal coins…”

“If this continues, I don’t know when I’ll be able to pay it off… I called you today to solve this problem.”

“How can I help? You’d be better off praying to Buddha; there’s nothing I can do to help with luck.” Fang Lan blinked. Luck… she didn’t have much of it to share with Lu Ran.

“Team up! It’s the same for me whether I’m clearing a secret realm solo or with four people. This way, there’ll be four sets of clearance rewards, and selling those will bring in much more money.”

“Oh, right!” Fang Lan finally caught on.

“So, do you want to challenge a secret realm? I can take you. Right now, I’m powerful enough to dominate novice abyss level secret realms. Actually, your godfather and godmother needn’t worry about safety anymore. You can keep any resources you need and give me the rest. How does that sound?”

“It’s actually thanks to your venom. Without it, General Ha and I would take forever to deal with the Demon Bull Commander.”

“Is that so? Sure!” Fang Lan’s eyes lit up, and she instantly felt invigorated. The fatigue disappeared as she excitedly stretched out her legs, her face flushing with excitement. “When can we challenge a secret realm together?”

“You alone won’t be enough. We’ll need at least two more teammates willing to pool their resources…” Lu Ran pondered for a moment. “Do you have anyone in mind you can trust?”

“If not, I could bring in some folks from Lujia Village; there are plenty of beastmasters there.”

“By the way, in a couple of days, Green Sea City might establish a Beast Taming Association. The newly appointed chairman has contacted me and seems keen on nurturing local fourth-generation beastmasters. We could choose two of the best to train with us.”

“Hmm, I don’t really have any suitable candidates on my end. The beastmasters I know from school aren’t that competent. I have a good friend who used to keep pets, but she hasn’t become a beastmaster yet…”

“In the arena, I’ve met a few decent beastmasters, but either they’re already part of the official team or they’ve joined a guild, which doesn’t seem ideal either.”

“You’d better pick the teammates yourself,” Fang Lan suggested after thinking for a bit.

Lu Ran considered it. It seemed like the best option was people from Lujia Village. He didn’t know many fourth-generation beastmasters. Xiaobailong, Shenghua, Little Ling—each of them wasn’t combat-focused and had their own jobs. Pluto certainly didn’t lack money and wouldn’t be interested in joining his team; his guild’s team could likely clear an abyss secret realm on their own.

By the way, Pig Raiser… speaking of which, after he took the assessment for the Star Cluster guild, he seemed to have vanished. Given his performance on the divine beast leaderboard, he hasn’t even reached out since. Did he get stuck in some secret realm? Lu Ran wondered.

“Hey Fang Lan, have you come across a beastmaster with the ID ‘Pig Raiser’ in the arena recently?” Lu Ran asked.

“Pig Raiser… Why does that sound so familiar?” Fang Lan said as she sipped her Ice Honey Tea. “Hmm, I think I did fight someone with that ID before. I beat them pretty badly… Oh, right! I remember now. That name has popped up a few times recently, hitting the tenth spot on the divine beast leaderboard. Although, it doesn’t stay there long before getting bumped off again.”

“The divine beast leaderboard?” Lu Ran couldn’t believe his ears. Pig Raiser, that guy—while better than most city beastmasters—should still be far from making it to the divine beast leaderboard, right?

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. It’s an easy name to remember, and his pet beast was a wild boar.”

After hearing Fang Lan, Lu Ran was still skeptical. He wondered what had happened to Pig Raiser. After thinking it over, he called Xiaobailong.

“Passerby A, the big shot!” Receiving Lu Ran’s call, Xiaobailong was both surprised and flattered. Given Lu Ran’s current status, he should be mingling with more influential people. Why was he reaching out?

“Hey, Xiaobailong, old pal.”

“I’m actually calling to ask about Bixia Shenghua, your colleague known as Shenghua. Do you remember that newbie she was mentoring, ‘Pig Raiser’? I heard he made it onto the divine beast leaderboard?”

“Oh, that.” Xiaobailong said, “You want to know what’s up with that newbie?”

“Yeah, I do have him on my friends list, but I haven’t bothered to log in and ask him directly. I figured Shenghua, who was specifically mentoring him, might know more.”

“You’ve come to the right person! Yeah, Pig Raiser did make it onto the divine beast leaderboard recently!” Xiaobailong said. “When I saw it, I reached out to Shenghua to ask about it.”

“And guess what?”

“What?”

“After Pig Raiser registered, our department did some digging. Turns out he was born in a rural area. Initially, his family was doing quite well—they were the major pig farmers in their village, raising a lot of pigs,” Xiaobailong explained.

“Then tragedy struck. An outbreak of swine fever wiped out almost all their pigs.”

“His family went bankrupt, owing the villagers millions. Under immense pressure, his parents were on the brink of giving up on life. At that desperate moment, Pig Raiser somehow got hold of a black card and contracted the only pig that wasn’t affected by the swine fever. Luckily, this pig underwent a mutation and reverted to its ancestral form, becoming a wild boar with decent combat capabilities.”

“After entering Infinite City, Pig Raiser learned from Shenghua that the beast taming occupation was quite lucrative. Desperate to make money quickly to help his family and repay the villagers, he decided against joining the official team and instead went for the Star Cluster guild because they offered hefty joining bonuses.”

“I know he went for the Star Cluster guild assessment. What happened next?” Lu Ran asked.

“After that? With the rise of fourth-generation beastmasters, major guilds were no longer short on newcomers. Unless someone had exceptional potential, the entry benefits and perks were slashed. According to Shenghua, after Pig Raiser heard that the entry benefits were cut, he decided not to stay at Star Cluster and went back to Shenghua.”

Lu Ran shook his head, impressed by how shrewd Star Cluster and Pluto were. What a pity Pig Raiser was so eager for the assessment initially.

“Right now, Pig Raiser learned from Shenghua about the substantial prizes in the Freshman Tournament at the beast taming university. So, he’s been training intensely in secret realms, and his strength has improved rapidly.”

“But even with that, he was still far from making it to the divine beast leaderboard. Shenghua found out that after the resurgence of spiritual energy, Pig Raiser discovered a rare resource near his village. His wild boar accidentally ate the resource, and it became significantly stronger as a result.”

“I see,” Lu Ran remarked, “No wonder he managed to climb the leaderboard. That rare resource must have done wonders.”

“Exactly. That wild boar got a significant boost. It’s all about luck and timing,” Xiaobailong said, wrapping up the story.

“After discovering the truth, that kid was filled with regret. You see, if he had sold that rare resource, it wouldn’t just cover a few million in debt—it could’ve been worth tens of millions. So, he became even more driven and started fiercely challenging secret realms with his wild boar. After burning the midnight oil like that, he occasionally manages to make it onto the divine beast leaderboard for a few hours,” Xiaobailong explained.

“Everyone has their own fate,” Xiaobailong said with a tone full of emotion and sighs. “To think a family on the brink of collapse could change their destiny because of one talented beastmaster.”

“So, this guy isn’t a member of any guild, hasn’t joined the official team, and now he plans to apply for the beast taming university?” Lu Ran asked with a peculiar expression.

“Seems like it. With his current strength, paying off the family debt shouldn’t be too hard. Now he’s probably looking to further his own development,” Xiaobailong replied.

“Alright, got it. Thanks a lot,” Lu Ran responded.

“No problem,” Xiaobailong laughed. “See you at the beast taming university.”

Lu Ran hung up the phone. Fang Lan had been quietly listening the whole time and then said, “Do you know Pig Raiser well?”

“It was him who gave me the awakening leaf that awakened the sudden death king. You could say he’s one of the angel investors for the sudden death king,” Lu Ran explained. “Seems like this guy is pretty lucky, finding a rare resource in the wild. Definitely the fortunate type. Once I get back to Infinite City, I’ll contact him and see if he’s willing to join my team.”

Although Pig Raiser was also in need of money, Lu Ran thought he might be more in need of opportunities to grow stronger—something hard to achieve alone.

“That leaves us with one more person to find,” Fang Lan said.

“I’ll ask around,” Lu Ran replied, taking out his phone and dialing a number from memory.

Fortunately, the person was also outside, not in Infinite City.

Soon enough, a hearty female voice came through the call, “Who is it?”

Hearing the female voice, Fang Lan perked up her ears.

“Lu Bing, it’s me, Lu Ran.”

“Lu Ran?!” The surprise in Lu Bing’s voice was palpable. “Lu Ran, what’s up?”

After all, it had only been a short while since they last parted ways.

“Haha, actually, I do have one thing. I owe a substantial sum of crystal coins to some senior members and I’m in urgent need of money. Though I can solo the abyss secret realm to earn crystal coins, the drop rate for rare materials is too low when I’m alone. So, I thought about teaming up for these challenges, but I don’t know many fourth-generation beastmasters. I was hoping to borrow one or two from LuJia Village,” Lu Bing explained.

“I’ll lead the team and help clear the abyss secret realm. In return, I’ll have the right to distribute the clearance materials. Don’t worry, I won’t waste anyone’s time or energy. I’ll compensate the team members from the drops. Do you think you could ask around if anyone in LuJia Village is willing?”

“Hey, listen up!” Lu Bing’s puzzled voice came through, “Are you doing charity work?”

“Getting a big shot to lead a team through the abyss secret realm is something people would pay for. You’re offering to pay them? Please, let me join in on this!” Lu Bing was quite taken aback.

Did Lu Ran understand? For most beastmasters, facing secret realms on normal difficulty was already the limit.

The abyss secret realm? They can’t even beat the regular monsters in there!

Having a big shot lead them and gain experience from the abyss secret realm was a rare opportunity.

After all, even major guilds require a team effort to challenge the abyss secret realm, not to mention newbies who can drag everyone down.

“If you put it that way, there will definitely be a lot of people vying for this,” Lu Bing said.

“No, I don’t need too many people,” Lu Ran clarified. “Just those who can accept the terms. So, when I’m ready to challenge the secret realm, I’ll get in touch?”

“Absolutely,” Lu Bing agreed readily.

Lu Ran looked towards Fang Lan, and with a nod, their list of candidates was set.

Passerby A, the Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden…plus two alternates who could be switched in from Pig Raiser and people from LuJia Village.

In no time, Lu Ran’s team for the secret realm had tentatively formed.

“Should I go let Little Wu and the others know?” Fang Lan asked.

“Don’t worry, our village’s beastmasters won’t drag you down!” Lu Bing assured quickly, afraid that Lu Ran would leave them out.

Lu Ran chuckled, feeling absolutely confident.

It was well known, after all, that the most common breed of hunting dogs in LuJia Village were mastiffs.

And there’s an old saying: one mastiff can fight three tigers, three mastiffs can sink a battleship, five mastiffs can wage war on God, and ten mastiffs can create a new epoch. These dogs were far more formidable than any city pet dog.

LuJia Village had always been tough. With Lu Ran leading the challenges in the secret realms, the village’s overall power would undoubtedly increase even faster!