Chapter 15 - Return

The visitor wore a lab coat embroidered with gold patterns. The eagle he rode on was three to four meters tall and could easily carry a person on its back. It had golden brown feathers, sharp eyes, and a majestic demeanor.

After landing, the visitor recalled his eagle familiar. Having heard the commotion, Rain, Lu Ran, and White Dragon were already outside the shop.

Upon seeing them, the visitor quickly introduced himself. “I am Raw Ginger, the deacon of the Medicine Pavilion.”

"How handsome..." White Dragon sighed.

Although the giant golden eagle had been put away, White Dragon and the others had already seen it. The raptor was certainly quite handsome.

"Indeed," Lu Ran agreed. Although he couldn’t see the level of the eagle, he was certain that the familiar had to be over level 10, perhaps even level 20. He wondered if it could compare to a fighter jet.

Raw Ginger was most likely a third-gen beastmaster from a year ago, not a fourth-gen like them. Moreover, the eagle probably wasn’t his original familiar but something he contracted later. After all, Xia’s normal citizens couldn’t just get their hands on eagles.

For his second familiar, Lu Ran also wanted an animal that ordinary people couldn’t get!

Rain stepped forward. "Hello, I am Rain Dancing in the Wind of the Cat Maid Cafe."

Rain and Ginger both looked like college students. This reminded Lu Ran that after he arrived in Limitless City, he didn’t see any older beastmasters; everyone he saw was about eighteen to forty years old, all young and robust.

"We were just in contact. This is Pedestrian A, the new friend I mentioned," Rain Dancing in the Wind added. She didn't introduce White Dragon since he didn’t have anything to do with the matter at hand.

Instead of immediately getting down to business, Deacon Ginger approached and warmly greeted Lu Ran to try to win him over. "You’re quite lucky to have pulled a Grass fruit, Brother. Are you interested in joining the Medicine Pavilion? After your probation, we’ll allocate you an apartment near our headquarters in the outside world, which you’ll find very convenient."

Lu Ran obtaining high-level resources such as the Grass fruit meant he scored at least a D in his beginner trial, which was already pretty good for a rookie. The government and several major guilds knew that 90% of rookies could only get an E or F.

Only those who already knew about Limitless City before getting the black card and had someone to guide them through the process and help plan for the trial could hope to get a high score. Except for naturally gifted beastmasters or people who had frequent contact with animals in their previous professions, C’s and D’s were considered very high scores.

"Uh..." The sudden invitation caught Lu Ran off guard.

Unlike him, Rain wasn’t surprised at all. After all, talents were a rare commodity amongst the major forces in Limitless City.

On the other hand, White Dragon’s eyes widened in fear of his Lu Ran being snatched away. This Ginger wasn’t even the least bit courteous!

Luckily for him, Lu Ran quickly wore a conflicted expression and came up with an excuse. "This is all too sudden. I’m still a high school student, so I’ll have to ask my parents for permission."

White Dragon felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, Lu Ran did not abandon him!

"A student..." Ginger shook his head. Lu Ran appeared to be a minor.

Forget it; recruiting him could lead to a lot of problems.

"Well, if you change your mind, feel free to contact me. Anyway, shall we proceed with the trade? Tell me your beastmaster name and ID number, and I'll transfer the crystal coins to you."

"My beastmaster name is Pedestrian A, and my ID number is 9528."

"Great name," Raw Ginger commented.

A real “Pedestrian A” couldn’t have gotten a Grass fruit right at the beginning. In his opinion, if Lu Ran was in a TV drama, he would be a recurring supporting character for at least ten episodes.

Raw Ginger silently cursed in his heart. He actually regretted naming himself Raw Ginger. Why was he so stupid back then? Name changes cost 10,000 crystal coins, something very few people could afford. Limitless City was such a scam—nothing more than a tool to make money.

Lu Ran soon received the transfer from Raw Ginger, but he was far too focused on the Wind fruit to check it.

He had already taken the Grass fruit out of his storage. The Grass fruit looked like a green pear, while the Wind fruit that Raw Ginger took out looked like a white pineapple.

After they completed the trade, Raw Ginger smiled in satisfaction and said, "Pleasure doing business with you!"

"Thank you," Lu Ran replied. With the Wind fruit now in his hand, he grew even more excited to awaken Captain Doofus’ attribute.

"You're welcome." Raw Ginger chuckled. "I have something else to do, so I won't stay for long. Sister Rain, if you have any more leads like this, you know where to find us. We will accept any number of Grass fruit. Also, uh, Brother Pedestrian A, if you’re ever looking to sell rare resources in the future, please reach out to me directly, and we’ll see if I can take them off your hands. This is my role in the Medicine Pavilion. You can also look for me if you ever need medicines."

"Okay," everyone responded.

Raw Ginger bid everyone farewell, summoned the eagle familiar, and left in a hurry. He seemed to have no plans to dig deeper into Lu Ran anymore.

"The Medicine Pavilion calls themselves a guild, but they’re more like a chamber of commerce. As the deacon there, he has to be pretty busy." Rain smiled. "But Pedestrian A, you were staring at his bird—no, eagle, the entire time. Have you set your sights on it?"

Lu Ran cleared his throat and put the white pineapple-looking fruit into his storage. "It does look a little more handsome than my familiar, and it would feel good to use it for travel. Doesn’t Limitless City have restrictions on flying?"

"There is a special testing area where you can take a test to get a flying license. The beastmaster patrol will punish you for flying without a license," White Dragon explained. "Your Doofus is a Wind-type, so it should also be able to fly using energy wings one day. You’ll also—"

"A husky rider?" Lu Ran shook his head. Realistically, he had to try to contract a real flying familiar. Riding a husky was too stupid. "By the way, I just have to use the 'teleport' function on my ID card to return to the Blue Planet, right?"

"Yes, but we're still newcomers, so we have fewer permissions in Limitless City. We have to return to our own houses before we can teleport away," Rain replied.

"Are you leaving?" White Dragon inquired.

"Although I had some Mind-Cleansing Tea, I still feel a little tired. I want to go back and take a nap first. Besides, I've already been gone for a day, so people outside are probably worried about me.”

"Same, actually; I should head back too. I’ll see you again soon. By the way, do you live alone? Suddenly disappearing could make your family worried.

“I'll give you my phone number. Contact me if you encounter any difficulties in the outside world, like issues with your parents or school. I should be able to help you resolve them. Even if you don’t decide to join the government, please contact me out there as soon as possible so we can register your identity."

"Okay," Lu Ran agreed.

To continue being a beastmaster and frequently enter Limitless City, he had to make sure he handled things in the outside world properly too. Otherwise, it could lead to a lot of trouble.

"Goodbye then," Rain also said.

Before leaving, Lu Ran pondered for a moment. Since he didn’t plan to join any organization, he concluded that it would be better to buy intel here first.

"Wait, I'd like to buy basic beast control information first."

***

After a while, Lu Ran finally said goodbye to the two.

He got to the street and copied what White Dragon had done before, swiping his card and renting a public motorcycle. He thought its one crystal coin per hour price was a bit expensive, considering a day in the training ground cost the same. He had already drunk some expensive tea, though, so he stopped sweating the small stuff. He also really didn't want to walk.

Lu Ran thought about making a carriage for himself in the future and then having Captain Doofus pull it to save crystal coins. It was a sled dog anyway; it specialized in pulling heavy objects. Weren't Wind familiars also famous for their speed? They could just treat it as physical training.

Lu Ran hopped on the motorcycle and turned a corner. Instead of going straight to the residential area, he headed for the smithy that Rain had told him about.

He got three rewards from the beginner trial. He could use the beastmaster skill by himself, and he had traded the Grass fruit for a Wind fruit, which was more compatible with Captain Doofus. All that was left for him to utilize now was the meteorite iron ore.

Lu Ran wanted to make it into a weapon. In doing so, he’d be putting all his beginner trial rewards to good use. It could be considered a perfect start!

"Limitless City, beastmasters... It’s all quite interesting."

Lu Ran licked his lips, still savoring the delicious tea that he had just drank. He resolved to try something more expensive next time.

Lu Ran soon arrived at his destination only to regret ever going. The smithy closed; it seemed he had arrived after business hours.

The corners of his lips twitched a few times. Not long after, he rode his motorcycle back to the residential area with a blank expression.

"I'll come back next time," Lu Ran said through gritted teeth.

It took less than an hour for Lu Ran to get back to the neighborhood where he had come from. After returning the motorcycle to the designated location, he headed straight to his private room, eager to return to the Blue Planet. Having been missing for twenty-four hours, he could only hope that he hadn’t caused any trouble.

He was an orphan on paper and had taken an extended leave of absence from school. Moreover, Fang Lan had just met with him. Hence, he couldn’t have caused too many issues.

Although he had arrived in Limitless City early and made good progress, he hadn’t completed his goals yet. He had certainly gathered a lot of useful information that would allow him to become stronger in the future, but none of it was about his strange dream.

The dream could turn out to be just that—a dream. It could also be that White Dragon and the others simply weren’t of high enough level to know anything about it. Lu Ran even had a theory: if the dream was a premonition, was it possible that Limitless City trained beastmasters to resist certain disasters?

Upon returning to his private room, Lu Ran once again lamented the stinginess of Limitless City. Each transmission between Limitless City and the outside world cost 5 crystal coins, so a round trip was 10 crystal coins. The city was making him spend crystal coins for every action! Fortunately, he scored high in the beginner trial, so he had more crystal coins than the average newbie.

In his private room, Lu Ran summoned his ID card. A familiar voice then rang in his ears.

[Do you want to spend 5 crystal coins to return?]

Yes.

[Teleportation Countdown: 10... 9...]

Ten seconds later, a white flash filled the room, and he immediately vanished. After a moment of weightlessness, Lu Ran opened his eyes again. Back in the familiar room, he took a deep breath and immediately surveyed his messy living space. The things he had prepared for Limitless City were still on the ground.

Lu Ran picked up his cellphone and tapped the screen, his heart skipping a beat upon learning that he had received over a dozen missed calls.

"I’m so dead."

Lu Ran quickly unlocked the phone and checked who had called him. To his confusion, all the missed calls were from Fang Lan, and she had sent multiple messages as well. Moreover, he received them all not long after he had entered the secret realm!

[Fang Lan: Lu Ran, why aren’t you answering your phone ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ !!!]

[Fang Lan: Something big happened. Do you still remember the post I shared with you when we were having dinner?]

[Fang Lan: Ummm, you might not believe it, but... it might have been true. I just got a black card! Σ(゜д゜;)]