Chapter 369 - The Instant-Kill Cheat for the Entire Map

“Let’s go.”

After Baby Cloud’s evolution, a black card hovered in the air. After the giant fish was enveloped in light, it was immediately drawn back into the card.

With a thought, Lu Ran summoned the black card into his hand and then fused it into his body. Beside him, Sudden Death King twitched at the corners of its mouth. It also felt uneasy, never expecting Baby Cloud to become so powerful after evolving.

This seemed to confirm that the later the evolution, the more intense the evolution would be, due to the better resources. For its second-stage evolution, Sudden Death King wanted to be the last one to evolve.

With this in mind, Sudden Death King pushed Lu Ran, who was seated in a wheelchair, out of the Evolution realm. They left behind a crowd of beastmasters who had bought tickets and were now unsure whether they should proceed with evolving their familiars.

On the same day, the beastmaster community on Blue Planet was shaken. Whether it was the duel between Lu Ran and Oub or Lu Ran’s latest evolution of an overpowered familiar, both topics became widely discussed.

Some media outlets claimed that due to Lu Ran’s disruption of the Evolution realm, several top-tier experts who had originally planned to evolve their familiars during this session left with darkened faces, instead opting to wait for the next opening of the secret realm.

As perfectionists, they refused to use a secret realm that Lu Ran had thoroughly trashed. Among them was even President Oub.

“Trashed? What nonsense. There’s still plenty of evolution energy inside.” Lu Ran was displeased with the media’s choice of words.

By now, he had already left Limitless City and returned to Green Sea.

While scrolling through the news, Lu Ran suddenly received a video call.

“Hmm? The old president?”

He answered without hesitation. A moment later, a familiar elderly face appeared on the screen.

“Kid, you’re quite impressive. A Superior Overlord was unexpected. I never thought you’d actually master Kunpeng Intent.” The old man chuckled.

Lu Ran laughed heartily. “It was just luck. The times are just better now.”

When the old president had studied Kunpeng Intent, there hadn’t been so many Treasure-grade resources available to boost comprehension.

“Luck is part of strength. I heard you made a bet with that mechanical kid?”

Lu Ran nodded. “Yes. I’ve set it for six months from now. Don’t worry. Leave it to me. I won’t lose.”

“I’m not worried about that. The Undead attribute is at a slight disadvantage against pure mechanical lifeforms, but since the Eagle Federation has only mastered mechanical modification technology so far, it’s not a big issue. As for the participants, you can decide on your own. The association won’t interfere,” the old president said.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Got it.” Lu Ran nodded.

“The main reason I contacted you is about the trip to the Stellar Moon Federation. According to Manager Ying’s report, you’re about to depart, right?”

“Pretty much. I hope everything goes smoothly,” Lu Ran said.

“With the two of you, there shouldn’t be any problems. But aside from searching for the Divine Deer, I might have an additional task for you during this trip to the Stellar Moon Federation. Try to bring back an artificial intelligence lifeform.

“The tech department has been begging for funding. The Eagle Federation’s advancements in technology have left them gasping for air. If there’s no breakthrough soon, this research will become a bottomless pit.”

“Understood. However, the cost of teleportation isn’t small, so I might need to stay there for a while before returning,” Lu Ran said.

“That’s up to you to arrange.” The old president didn’t seem concerned.

It wasn’t just about mechanical beasts, the Eagle Federation had also developed firearms that could be brought into Limitless City’s secret realms, crafted from materials dropped in the secret realms. For example, the heavy artillery on Oub’s giant tortoise familiar was a technological weapon.

In terms of practicality and power, it far surpassed cold weapons like swords. Fortunately, their technology wasn’t perfected yet, so it hadn’t had a major impact on the beastmaster community.

However, if this continued, the Eagle Federation would eventually develop pure mechanical lifeforms—warships and mechs capable of generating intelligence on their own, without relying on plants or animals.

When that happens, the shock to Blue Planet’s beastmaster community would far exceed the emergence of the Undead attribute or the popularization of plant familiars.

However, if Lu Ran could bring back an intelligent mechanical lifeform for research, Xia wouldn’t fall too far behind in the field of technological familiars.

This was the task the old president had in mind, but even without him mentioning this, Lu Ran would have taken the initiative to explore and interact with Mechanical familiars once he arrived.

After ending the call, Lu Ran rubbed his chin before setting the thought aside.

I’ll deal with it when I get there.

Right now, he was more focused on what fifth trait to fuse with Baby Cloud. At level 50, it had only fused three traits, leaving two slots open.

All those Treasure-grade resources it consumed before evolving had clearly paid off as Baby Cloud had now become the familiar with the highest species rank and level in Lu Ran’s team, finally having its spotlight.

For its fourth trait, Lu Ran had already prepared Size Shifting. As for the fifth, he hadn’t decided yet. He planned to consult the all-knowing Manager Ying.

At that moment, Manager Ying had also returned, but ever since coming back, it had been buried in its phone.

“What are you doing?”

Manager Ying didn’t even look up.

“Gathering intel. After seeing Baby Cloud’s evolution, I suddenly became interested in Blue Planet’s mythological system. In the Stellar Moon World, the Elemental Era birthed a group of Elemental Gods, the Animal Era produced divine beasts, and the Plant Era gave rise to Plant Gods... But these Legendary beings essentially ascended to godhood within the Stellar Moon World.

“However, based on my intel, the Stellar Moon World has no record of Legendary creatures like the Kunpeng. Yet the existence of Kunpeng Feathers proves that the Kunpeng was indeed a Legendary lifeform... Combined with its documentation in Xia’s myths and legends, this suggests...

“If Blue Planet’s ancient past included a Transcendent era, then it’s entirely possible that some Legendary beasts unique to Blue Planet, not originating from the Stellar Moon World, also emerged here.

“Take the Kunpeng, for instance. How would its strength compare to the divine beasts of the Stellar Moon World? Low Legendary? Intermediate Legendary? Superior Legendary? Are these Legendary divine beasts now in slumber, or did they follow the Stellar Moon’s divine beasts to their world? Or perhaps they perished when spiritual energy faded?”

Manager Ying’s curious questions made Lu Ran scratch his head.

“Why the sudden interest? Planning to join the old president in archaeological research?” Lu Ran asked.

“First, Baby Cloud’s evolution process using Kunpeng Intent was absurdly exaggerated. Second, that Space Dragon’s kin mentioned that I might be the reincarnation of a Legendary divine beast... But I checked, and the Stellar Moon World has no feline divine beasts.

“So, what do you think? Could I be the reincarnation of a Legendary feline beast native to Blue Planet? The Nine-Tailed Cat might actually be my second life,” Manager Ying theorised.

Lu Ran was baffled. “Not necessarily. Maybe you’re the reincarnation of that War God tiger that injured me. After all, cats and tigers are practically family. That’d make revenge even more convenient,” Lu Ran teased mischievously.

“Bullshit! No way! I’m elegance incarnate. That divine beast was clearly a brutish warrior,” Manager Ying cursed.

“Stop dreaming. No matter how strong your past life was, it’s still in the past. Xia has always had tales of reincarnation, but few Xia people care about their past lives. Living in the present is what matters. So, Manager Ying, any ideas for Baby Cloud’s fifth trait?”

Manager Ying rolled its eyes. “I’ve looked into it, but you’ve already missed the chance to obtain it. Now it’s up to whether your Flood Dragon Squad can deliver.”

“How so?” Lu Ran was puzzled.

“There’s a level 2 Legendary secret realm with a Low Overlord as the final boss. Depending on the attributes of the items it carries, it can switch its own attributes. That ability would suit Baby Cloud perfectly.

“First, it’s because Baby Cloud has the Adaptive Transformation talent. Each new attribute grants it a new form. Fusing traits, one attribute at a time, would waste trait slots. An ability that lets it directly gain multiple attributes would be far more cost-effective.

“Second, it’s because it’s already fused with a Transformation trait, meaning it just needs various materials to transform. These materials can double as attribute-switching tools, killing two birds with one stone.”

Lu Ran’s interest was immediately piqued by this attribute-switching boss. Now that Baby Cloud also had the Catastrophe Devourer talent, which could convert catastrophe energy into resources, those resources could also serve as attribute-switching tools.

The synergy was perfect. This way, one move would achieve multiple goals, with extremely high trait compatibility.

Unfortunately, as Manager Ying said, he couldn’t tackle it himself. Only the Flood Dragon Squad could. But while the Flood Dragon Squad was capable, clearing a Legendary secret realm required a four-person team. Lu Ran wasn’t entirely confident they could secure the best resources.

“The trait is great, but I’m not sure about the Flood Dragon Squad. Is there any fourth-generation genius who soloed a level 2 Legendary secret realm?” Lu Ran asked.

Manager Ying looked at him. “You could ask Master Jiang Dou to try later. After all, you gave him a King sword spirit. With its first-stage evolution, it has the potential to become an Overlord sword spirit. At that point, soloing a level 2 Legendary secret realm would be feasible. As for others like Fang Lan, Xia Ri, or Lin Yin, they’ve long surpassed level two...”

“Is this okay...? Asking my master to farm traits for me...” Lu Ran hesitated.

“Who was it that just said something about having their master represent them in the duel? What’s the difference?”

Lu Ran had no retort. “

Ahem.

Fine, I’ll trouble Master with this. To make it easier for him, I’ll prepare some extra resources first...”

***

Lu Ran didn’t rush to call his master. Before leaving, there were many tasks to handle, and he needed to tackle them step by step.

First, Baby Cloud had become an Overlord, meaning it could now enter the Overlord Heavenly Familiar Ranking. He needed to find a ranking list to get Baby Cloud on it.

Lu Ran fused the Size Shifting trait with Baby Cloud first. Unfortunately, this alone wasn’t enough to push its species rank further. Still, if Superior Overlords were further divided into tiers, Lu Ran felt that it would rank quite well among them.

After the fusion, Lu Ran immediately entered a Public Limitless City. In this instance, the current top spot on the Overlord Heavenly Familiar Ranking was held by a first-generation beastmaster from Japan. Lu Ran had no intentions of taking it.

[Name: Dragonman Tribe]

[Secret Realm Level: 4]

[Difficulty: Hell]

Lu Ran randomly selected a high-difficulty secret realm and entered.

***

[Challenge Mission: Defeat the Dragonman Chief.]

***

Soon, Lu Ran found himself in a mountain range. He summoned Baby Cloud, and what happened next was nothing short of spectacular.

A dark cloud slowly rose into the sky. Within seconds, it expanded to cover the entire secret realm. The endless expanse of dark clouds made the dragonmen in the mountains look up, their instincts screaming at them as they saw flickering lights within the clouds.

Before they could react, tens of thousands of lightning bolts rained down from the sky, illuminating the entire secret realm. The deafening roar of thunder echoed through the void. This scale of lightning was beyond mere thunderbolts—it was a heavenly tribulation.

In an instant, thousands of dragonmen in the tribe were reduced to charred husks, vanishing into phantom shadows. Even the Dragonman Chief was struck dead on the spot.

“Awesome!” Lu Ran stood in place, laughing heartily.

This was even more satisfying than Dark Crow’s ultra-long-range sniping. After fusing the Size Shifting trait, Baby Cloud’s maximum expansion could now cover all of Green Sea City, giving it preliminary city-level destructive power. Its role had circled back to what Lu Ran originally envisioned—an AoE calamity mage.

When used to clear common secret realms, Baby Cloud became an instant-kill cheat for the entire map!

“

Plip!

”

In the sky, Baby Cloud gazed down at the secret realm with pride, while also asking Lu Ran what loot had dropped.

“It’s just a Hell-difficulty secret realm. The drops are trash, with only two barely worth looking at.” Lu Ran didn’t care much.

[Name: Trait Crystal (Humanoid Transformation: Allows a familiar to evolve toward a human form.)]

This could drop even in low-level secret realms, so its value was small. Lu Ran still had the Mutant’s Tear, which could also enable human transformation and was far stronger since it didn’t occupy a trait slot.

[Name: Dragon-Attribute Amplification Skill Card (An amplifying beastmaster skill that enhances draconic power.)]

Such a generic reward no longer excited Lu Ran. Hearing this, Baby Cloud looked disappointed...

Boring!

It wanted to challenge the Mythical secret realms in the Stellar Moon World.

Lu Ran had already discussed the Stellar Moon’s Limitless City updating with Mythical secret realms with his familiars. Now, after evolving and growing stronger, Baby Cloud couldn’t stop thinking about it.

How cool would it be to become the first in the team to clear a Mythical secret realm, and the first to defeat a Legendary species...?

Baby Cloud’s ambition burned as it fantasized about the admiring gazes of Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, Dark Crow, and the Six-Paths Flower after its triumph.

“

Plip, plip, plip...

” Baby Cloud giggled foolishly.

“This kid doesn’t seem too bright either.” Lu Ran sighed inwardly.

Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, Dark Crow, and now Baby Cloud. All three of them don’t seem particularly sharp. Maybe it’s because I spoiled them too much. I can’t wait for the Six-Paths Flower to hatch. The team desperately needs a mature, steady, and chill nanny familiar. Flower Sister... should be up to the task, right?