Chapter 382 - Let it Come to Me!

High in the sky, Baby Cloud flapped its wings tirelessly. Among the current team members, Baby Cloud was undeniably the fastest when it came to sustained movement speed. Even Six-Path Flower might not be able to match it.

Under normal circumstances, Baby Cloud should have been brimming with pride. But whenever it thought about how Manager Ying and the others were leisurely sipping afternoon tea inside the ruin space while it was working hard to travel, Baby Cloud couldn’t help but feel something was off.

Is this what they mean by “with great power comes great responsibility” in TV shows? Life is hard.

Baby Cloud sighed.

Until it reached the destination, it had no choice but to keep flying diligently. Whenever it grew tired, Lu Ran would toss energy crystals from the ruin space to feed it. With its digestive abilities, its stamina would quickly replenish.

And so, Baby Cloud soon left the continent behind and arrived above the open sea. It had crossed the ocean many times before, but this time, as it flew over the waters, it sensed something unusual. It decided to immediately call out to Lu Ran and the others inside the ruin space.

“

Plip!

”

Finally, it realized what it had detected.

[Species Talent: Catastrophe Devourer]

[Description: Possesses the ability to foresee natural disasters. Can condense natural catastrophes into consumable enhancement resources called Calamity Cores.]

As soon as Baby Cloud flew over the ocean, its disaster-prediction talent activated. The seas were naturally prone to catastrophes, with storms being a frequent occurrence.

Inside the ruin space, Lu Ran, who had been studying soul clones with Dark Crow, immediately responded upon hearing Baby Cloud’s report.

“Oh? A natural disaster? You’ve never tested this talent since awakening it, right? This is the perfect opportunity. Go find a storm and devour it.”

“

Plip!

”

Upon Lu Ran’s order, Baby Cloud’s monotonous journey finally gained some excitement. It immediately flew in the direction of the sensed disaster.

Meanwhile, Manager Ying, who had indeed been enjoying afternoon tea, set down its teacup and exhaled a puff of steam. “Stop researching your beastmaster skills for now. We’re almost there. Focus on the main task. Think about how to find the Divine Turtle or the Ghost Mother, God of the Abyss.”

Lu Ran released the Dark Crow and frowned. “The Divine Turtle has no specific traces. It’s only said to be somewhere in the ocean. The ocean in Stellar Moon is as vast as the land. There’s no way to search thoroughly. So, my plan is to find the Ghost Mother first and ask it—you know, since they’re both ocean gods.

“However, while the Ghost Mother’s location is relatively clear, it’s definitely sealed inside an independent secret realm to suppress the Evil God’s seal. Finding it won’t be easy either. The task the Divine Deer gave us seems simple, but it’s actually quite difficult. But it’s fine. I already have a solution.”

“What solution?” Manager Ying looked surprised.

Lu Ran grinned. “Do you remember what the Divine Deer said? After the Evil God was sealed, all of the Evil God creatures immediately hid, not daring to cause trouble in fear of the Ghost Mother wiping them out completely.”

“Yeah...”

“Then isn’t it simple? As long as we find a way to make the Evil God faction stir up trouble again, won’t the Ghost Mother have to show up? Instead of us looking for it, let it come to us.”

The cat’s eyes widened.

Holy shit. Why are your thought processes always so wack?

“What... What exactly are you planning?” Manager Ying’s lips twitched as a bad premonition crept up on it.

Lu Ran narrowed his eyes and looked at Dark Crow. Dark Crow also perked up instantly, locking eyes with Lu Ran.

“Manager Ying, you haven’t forgotten Dark Crow’s Legion Dominion trait, right? A familiar fused with this trait crystal can awaken dominion power, gaining strong control over creatures that share its bloodline or are of a similar race... and can even borrow the strength of the dominated creatures to enhance itself!

“On Blue Planet, only the crow species could be dominated by Dark Crow. But Dark Crow also has the bloodline of the Evil God lineage. That means it can dominate these remnants of the Evil God faction, too. While the Evil God is sealed and these scattered creatures are leaderless, why don’t we take over the Evil God faction?

“Once these Evil God creatures lend their power to Dark Crow, the surge of Evil God energy it unleashes might just attract the Ghost Mother’s attention. We’ll make it seem like a new Evil God is about to emerge!

“Given the diligent work ethic of the divine dragons’ kin, it wouldn’t ignore this, right? Even if it doesn’t care, it must have a few underlings responsible for cleaning up Evil God creatures. Contacting them would work just as well. Legendary creatures might be hard to find, but Evil God creatures? Piece of cake.”

“

Caw, caw, caw!

The crow legion on Blue Planet, and the Evil God legion on Stellar Moon—I’ll be invincible, my king!” Dark Crow grew excited.

“Hold on! It won’t be the same. The crows on Blue Planet were all raised by Dark Crow from scratch. They obey it because Dark Crow’s strength completely suppresses them. But the remnants of the Evil God faction...? Can you guarantee Dark Crow can dominate them 100%? If their numbers are too great and Dark Crow faces retaliation, you’ll have nowhere to cry.” Manager Ying felt this was too risky.

“It’s not risky,” Lu Ran said.

Then, he turned his gaze to Six-Path Flower, who was currently renovating the ruin space. It was unhappy with how much of the ruin space’s flora had been destroyed, and had started planting flowers to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

“Six-Path Flower’s Beast Path talent can directly erase the consciousness of birds and beasts, turning them into its puppets. Evil God creatures are all animals, right? That means that any Evil God creature weaker than Six-Path Flower can have its consciousness wiped.

“Do you think mindless Evil God puppets would still be able to retaliate against Dark Crow? It’d be double enslavement. How could they possibly cause trouble?”

Manager Ying fell silent. It suddenly remembered the promises it and Lu Ran had made to the Divine Deer and Bai Lu.

Keep a low profile. Avoid causing trouble. Damn it, is this really a low-profile way to find the Ghost Mother?

If Lu Ran said that he chose this method without any ulterior motives, Manager Ying wouldn’t believe it. From its understanding of him, he was definitely eyeing this unclaimed Evil God force.

After all, if he wanted to rebuild the beastmaster empire, the more factions under his control, the better... And Lu Ran wasn’t exactly picky about who joined.

***

Baby Cloud had flown into a stormy region. The tempest on the sea was like a terrifying beast, devouring everything in its path. Towering waves surged like mountains, ready to swallow any living thing whole.

This chaotic, vortex-filled area was devoid of sea creatures. The occasional flash of lightning illuminated the raging waves, while thunder that could send chills down the spine rumbled deafeningly. But faced with this apocalyptic scene, Baby Cloud was like a child who hadn’t eaten its fill. It was very delighted.

As it circled the area, its body acted like a black hole. The violent pull of natural energy into Baby Cloud caused the massive storm to lose its “soul,” quickly restoring calm to the sea.

The moment the disaster faded, Baby Cloud spat out a palm-sized crystal core glowing with a deep blue light.

[Name: Calamity Core (Storm)]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: A one-time resource. Consuming it grants the user the catastrophic power of wind and rain, though the body will bear some strain. Permanently enhances Wind, Water, and Lightning-attribute powers afterward.]

Feeling the quality of the Calamity Core, Baby Cloud couldn’t hide its disappointment.

Rare? That’s it? It’s not even as good as Uncle Dragon’s scales or blood. This storm must’ve been too weak.

Baby Cloud called Lu Ran and tossed the condensed Calamity Core to him. Upon seeing the Rare core, Lu Ran also found it underwhelming.

“Manager Ying, here, it’s yours. It’s something new.” He casually tossed it to Manager Ying.

Catching the Calamity Core, Manager Ying mused, “This ability isn’t bad, actually. Catastrophes come in different grades. I guess you’d need a disaster capable of wiping out a large island to condense a Treasure-grade Calamity Core.

“For an Epic one, you’d need a historically recorded super disaster, like an ice age or a decades-long drought. As for a Legendary-grade Calamity Core... I think that might actually be the easiest grade to condense.” Manager Ying smirked.

“How so?” Lu Ran blinked.

Manager Ying explained, “The Stellar Moon World has ten forbidden zones. These zones are all catastrophic disaster areas where even Legendary powerhouses would die upon entering.

“According to records and speculation, these ten forbidden zones might have been created by Legendary creatures fighting, or they might house slumbering Legendary beings, with the surrounding disasters acting as barriers to keep outsiders away... These ten forbidden zones are all Legendary level. Once Baby Cloud’s strength is sufficient, letting it feast there wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Mooching off Legendary divine beasts, huh. We’d have to be tired of living for that,” Lu Ran said.

“Aren’t all your actions lately basically asking for death anyway...?” Manager Ying was speechless.

“那个时间系的四级传奇秘境爆的特质，没忘吧，我做出决定了，就给暗鸦融合这个!”

Lu Ran scoffed. “We’re almost there. Manager Ying, help me use Foresight to locate the main gathering spots of Evil God creatures later.”

Manager Ying was dumbfounded.

What?

“Of course, I won’t make you do all the work. I’ll fuse the Foresight trait with Dark Crow. It’ll be the main searcher.”

“What? You want to fuse Foresight into that crow?” Manager Ying froze.

Lu Ran grinned. “Yep. You remember the Time-attribute trait that dropped in that level 4 Legendary secret realm? I’ve decided to give it to Dark Crow! Then, when Dark Crow evolves again at level 60, it’ll awaken the Time attribute! I want it to evolve with Time as its main attribute!”

Manager Ying said, “Didn’t you originally plan to fuse it with the Demonic Transformation trait dropped by the Demon Starfish?”

“That was before. I’ve changed my mind, mainly because Six-Path Flower doesn’t need the Time attribute anymore. Such a powerful attribute can’t go to waste. Thinking about it, Foresight and Time might suit Dark Crow better than Demonic Transformation!

“Imagine—not only would its scouting abilities reach new heights, but once Dark Crow grows stronger, it could even peer across the river of time to cast curses into the past and future. Doesn’t that sound awesome?” Lu Ran mused.

“You’re dreaming. Aren’t you afraid the Time Dragon’s kin will come after you?”