King of Beasts

“It’s possible!” Upon hearing that it was the culprit who abducted the black turtle, Lu Ran was instantly furious.

This kid kidnapped the general of the King of Green Sea, and still has the audacity to propose an alliance.

“What does the official stance say?” Lu Ran asked.

“The Fishman Empire is quite sincere, and they are willing to send the Mermaid Princess to Xia Country for a marriage alliance, or to establish a contract with a human beastmaster.”

“They also promise that if Xia Country goes to war with the Dragon Palace, the Fishman Empire will send troops to help resist the shrimp soldiers and crab generals of the Dragon Palace.”

“Their only objective is to bring down the Black Dragon King together.”

While Lu Ran was lost in thought, Gu Qingyi continued, “The high-level members believe an alliance is viable. Although there are risks in forming an alliance with the Ferocious Beasts Empire, having an ocean ferocious beast faction as an ally could indeed ensure the safety and stability of the coastal waters for a long time.”

“Of course, there’s one more condition from the Fishman Empire.”

“Why do they have so many demands,” Lu Ran said speechlessly. According to Manager Ying’s intelligence, if it weren’t for the Fishman King supposedly having some hidden cards keeping the Black Dragon King cautious, the Fishman Empire would have been wiped out by the Dragon Palace by now.

“The Fishman Empire hopes that if Xia Country is willing to form an alliance, the Mermaid Princess’s marriage partner would be you.”

“Additionally, if the contract route is chosen, they hope the contractor would be one of the twelve branches or you, to contract with the Mermaid Princess.”

Lu Ran: ???

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Lu Ran was stunned and said, “Could it be that my handsomeness has already reached the deep sea?”

Gu Qingyi’s exasperated voice came from the other side, “Ever since the Fishman Empire started interacting with the human Alliance, they’ve always had the idea of a marriage alliance, targeting human superhumans.”

“Your status as a superhuman is no secret, and coupled with your prominence in the human world, it’s only natural they would target your ‘excellent genes’!”

“Please allow me to refuse,” Lu Ran said. “Although I’ve been single for 18 years, I’m not desperate enough to marry a mermaid.”

“Is there a photo of the Mermaid Princess?”

Gu Qingyi: ???

“You said you refused.”

“Marriage alliance is out of the question, but a contract could be considered.” Lu Ran said righteously, “If the talent is outstanding, contracting a new pet isn’t a big deal.”

Lu Ran looked down at the cloud baby beneath him.

In fact, Lu Ran wasn’t particularly eager to contract with the Mermaid Princess himself.

The main issue was that his contract slots were too limited, and it wasn’t worth sacrificing his potential to contract a pet beast with such a complex background just for the alliance.

However, while he didn’t have a contract slot, a pet beast could. If the cloud baby could contract a retainer like the Mermaid Princess, it would be perfect.

Even though the weather elf has water abilities and can operate in the deep sea, it’s not specialized in water.

In this case, having a retainer specialized in water would undoubtedly make Lu Ran’s activities in the blue star’s sea region much more convenient in the future. ȑ𝐀

Originally, Lu Ran had a fleeting thought of letting the old turtle become a retainer for the cloud baby.

But considering personality, Lu Ran indeed felt that the Mermaid Princess might be more pleasing to the eye.

“Enough already,” Gu Qingyi said. “How could there be a photo?”

“So, is it confirmed that we are allying with the Fishman Empire?”

“Not yet.”

“Dr. Gu, hand me the communicator; I need to question that fishman prince about the black turtle situation.”

“Even if he didn’t know the black turtle already had a master at first, it’s still unacceptable that he ended up losing the black turtle to the Dragon Palace.” Lu Ran gritted his teeth, unwilling to let the fishman prince off so easily.

Want an alliance? He’d have to get past Lu Ran first.

…

The fishman prince was only level 49, a lower overlord species, with very weak abilities.

Once on land, as long as he was under the surveillance of a First Generation, there was no way he could cause trouble.

Inside a dimly lit room, a blue-skinned fishman with a blue shark head continually delighted in tasting various human world beverages. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, jolting him.

Previously, regardless of who he faced, he never felt fear. But ever since the Fishman King, his greatest backing, was severely injured by the Black Dragon King, the fishman prince had become much more restrained.

He was acutely aware that this mission to form an alliance with humans was crucial and couldn’t afford failure.

“Fishman Prince.” Dr. Gu, clad in a black trench coat, entered the meeting room. She said, “Originally, we had confirmed the alliance, but after an investigation, we discovered that the Fishman Empire has engaged in activities harming the interests of Xia Country.”

“How could that be!” The Fishman Prince clenched the bottle of Ice Black Tea

1

tightly and exclaimed.

“A few months ago, did you send a subordinate to the mainland to abduct a turtle?” Gu Qingyi released a wave of authority, leaving the Fishman Prince stunned in place.

The bottle of Ice Black Tea fell to the ground.

“This, this…” The Fishman Prince suddenly remembered that something like this had indeed happened. A cold shiver ran through him as he looked into Gu Qingyi’s eyes. He wanted to fabricate a lie but found it difficult to do so.

“It seems there was indeed such an incident,” he admitted.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“That turtle is a general of our King of Green Sea from Xia Country.”

“As for who the King of Green Sea is, it’s precisely the superhuman you’re seeking an alliance with-Lu Ran.”

Fishman Prince: ???

“Blah blah.” The Fishman Prince was dumbfounded.

Gu Qingyi eyed him scrutinizingly and said, “So, regardless of whether we form an alliance or not, to show sincerity, shouldn’t the Fishman Empire return and release the King of Green Sea’s black turtle general?”

The Fishman Prince’s eyes were on the verge of tears.

“I didn’t know the old turtle had this kind of identity at first.”

“Once it was with me, it didn’t say anything either.”

“I just noticed its unique strength, so I sent someone to invite it to serve me.”

“After inviting it, not only did it not reveal its identity, but it also expressed willingness to serve me. I even rewarded it with all kinds of resources to enhance its strength… There was no mistreatment whatsoever!”

Gu Qingyi was speechless.

Of course!

If that old turtle had been captured and started shouting, ‘Release me, or my big king won’t spare you,’ it wouldn’t have survived.

It definitely had to bide its time and wait for rescue.

From this perspective, Lu Ran’s black turtle general had some brains.

It knew to enjoy the Fishman Empire’s offerings while waiting for rescue.

“If that’s the case, then it’s acceptable,” Gu Qingyi said. “So, when will you release the turtle?”

“This, this…” The Fishman Prince was at a loss for words, looking aggrieved.

“The black turtle general… the black turtle general…”

“The black turtle general has outstanding talent, and with the resources I provided, its Dragon’s Bloodline has been greatly enhanced.”

“But then the Dragon Palace rose to power, and the Black Dragon King’s generals started capturing dragon-blood creatures to join the Dragon Palace and serve them…”

“The black turtle general… was accidentally captured by the Dragon Palace. I failed to rescue it in time.”

“This is my fault.”

The Fishman Prince gritted his teeth, realizing he had made a significant mistake. He hadn’t expected that his thoughtless action from so long ago would offend the King of Green Sea, Lu Ran.

“I’m willing to offer an additional gift to seek my brother-in-law’s forgiveness.”

“When we go to war with the Dragon Palace again, I will certainly help my brother-in-law retrieve the black turtle general, ensuring its safe return.”

Gu Qingyi: ???

“What kind of gift?”

Gu Qingyi didn’t pay attention to the Fishman Prince’s form of address. She knew Lu Ran’s intention was to find out about the black turtle’s situation and maybe get some compensation for the losses.

“A divine stone fragment!!” The Fishman Prince raised his head and said, “I am willing to give my brother-in-law a divine stone fragment!”

“Divine stone fragment?” Gu Qingyi looked confused, wondering what that was.

“Yes, actually, the divine stone fragment was given to me by my father…”

“Originally, our family was in deep sea slumber, but one day, a nine-colored divine stone fell into the ocean, shattering the earth, releasing countless natural energies, and allowing us to awaken.”

“That nine-colored divine stone, much like the dragon pearl of old, shattered into many fragments and scattered across the deep sea, claimed by countless supernatural creatures.”

“Our family was fortunate to acquire three pieces; my father gave one to me and one to my younger sister.”

“I’m still carrying it now.”

With that, the Fishman Prince reached into his throat, and shortly after, a stone shimmering with nine colors appeared before Gu Qingyi.

In fact, as soon as the Fishman Prince mentioned the origin of the divine stone fragment, Gu Qingyi realized what it was.

When Infinite City carried out its spiritual energy revival update, the global revival of spiritual energy was triggered by a nine-colored meteorite that fell into the ocean!

At that time, exploration teams from various countries immediately started searching for that nine-colored meteorite, but unfortunately, they couldn’t find it.

So it shattered into many fragments distributed among ocean creatures?

[Name]: Nine-colored Meteorite Fragment

[Level]: Exquisite

[Introduction]: A mystical meteorite from beyond the skies that, when carried, can slowly enhance the growth level of pet beasts.

Gu Qingyi: !!!

“My father said that even if you don’t train while carrying this divine stone fragment, your own strength can gradually improve. If you pair it with training, the enhancement is even more noticeable,” the Fishman Prince explained.

The Fishman Prince was convinced this was a valuable item. However, he felt that the divine stone fragment wasn’t something indispensable to him, and using it as compensation should be sufficient.

…

“The meteorite actually shattered into numerous fragments?”

Lu Ran was stunned upon receiving this intelligence from Gu Qingyi.

Learning about the effects and level of the nine-colored meteorite fragment surprised him even more. Wow, it’s practically an automatic training hack.

Based on the images captured by satellites at the time, that nine-colored meteorite was enormous.

How many pieces did such a large meteorite finally break into?

Lu Ran already had a healthy respect for the deep sea, but now he realized that the deep sea definitely harbors many advanced ferocious beasts.

Because who knows how many supernatural sea beasts obtained these nine-colored meteorite fragments. The overall level of these creatures is undoubtedly very high, surpassing land-based beasts.

“Is it possible to collect them…”

As soon as Lu Ran considered the possibility of a large number of meteorite fragments still in the deep sea, he was excited.

Maybe these fragments wouldn’t significantly impact each of his Main Pet, but for Lu Ran, who followed a legion school, nurturing the subordinates of his Main Pet was the challenge.

If he could gather a bunch of meteorite fragments, the overall strength of his Pet Beast Legion would definitely increase significantly.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Dr. Gu’s voice came through once more to Lu Ran’s ears.

“So, how is it?”

“It’s okay,” Lu Ran sighed, “Considering the Fishman Prince didn’t mistreat the old turtle and invested a lot of resources, I won’t hold this matter against him.”

“As for the old turtle being taken by the Dragon Palace again, let’s just let it get familiar with the environment there for now.”

“Once we take down the Black Dragon King, we can support Dr. Gu’s Vast Sea Azure Dragon to ascend as the new Dragon King of the Dragon Palace.”

“At that time, the black turtle general can become the Turtle Prime Minister.”

“I remember there’s a big guild in Infinite City No.3 called Dragon Palace City, founded by your fans, right? Well, the true Dragon Palace is coming now.”

“Ahem…” Gu Qingyi choked a bit.

“Do you need the meteorite fragment urgently? If you do, I’ll have a pet beast deliver it to you.”

Lu Ran replied, “The meteorite fragment… Please help and send it over.”

…

After finishing the call with Dr. Gu, Lu Ran patted the weather elf he was riding and asked, “If I let you contract a retainer, what would you like?”

“A divine dragon, a turtle, or a Mermaid Princess?”

“Forget about whales or sharks.”

Cloud Baby fell into contemplative turmoil.

It whined a bit.

It… wants… all of them!

Having just one subordinate doesn’t really make it a boss, right?

It wants a black and white orca as a little brother to rival General Ha.

It wants a domineering dragon as a little brother to match the Sudden Death King.

It wants a whale that can transform into a bird, a Kun Peng subordinate to compete with the Dark Crow!

While Lu Ran was teasing Cloud Baby, suddenly, numerous deer spirits of Faith all looked in one direction and began running swiftly.

Seeing this, Lu Ran immediately became alert, interrupting the weather elf’s thoughts. He patted it and said, “Quick, follow that direction!”

…

The deer spirits kept running while Lu Ran and his companions followed. Although no one could tell exactly why the deer spirits suddenly went wild, Lu Ran was full of anticipation.

However, it ended up feeling like the deer spirits were playing a joke on Lu Ran. After sprinting a considerable distance and passing through a city, they stopped and gently grazed on the grass.

Lu Ran was both exasperated and amused.

Fortunately, the arrival of a white feathered dragon lifted Lu Ran’s spirits, leaving him in a much better mood.

This is another one of Dr. Gu’s pet beasts, a feathered sub-dragon that evolved from a bird. It flew over here to deliver the nine-colored meteorite fragment to Lu Ran.

After receiving the nine-colored meteorite, Lu Ran tossed a portion of Dragon Cuisine to the feathered dragon as thanks, and then temporarily entered the space within the ruins.

He had to trouble Dr. Gu’s pet beast to make the delivery because Lu Ran had a sudden thought.

Considering that this meteorite holds magical powers, could it be used for the Sudden Death King to gain some insights? After all, the Sudden Death King has often been mimicking meteorites recently, jumping down from high places. This meteorite might help the Sudden Death King learn meteor intent and be somewhat beneficial!

“Wait a minute, this meteorite shattered when it hit the seabed, doesn’t that imply it’s not very sturdy? If the Sudden Death King mimics it, won’t it end up shattering too?”

Footnote:

1. Ice Black Tea(冰红茶):

   Ice Black Tea is a cold beverage made by brewing black tea and then chilling it.