Chapter 387 - Divine Deer: You What the

“What is this? Two years old?” Lu Ran was stunned.

If it were a humanoid form, fine. Even if it wasn’t an adult, a teenager would be okay. But an infant? What kind of joke is this!

“Forget it. Arguing about the age of an artificial human is pointless. Brother Death Gun, I’ll take her.” Lu Ran reluctantly accepted it.

Death Gun said coldly, “Don’t say it like you’re settling. This artificial human was created by the Flare Source Conglomerate using the extinct humanoid Transcendent species—the Angel clan—as a blueprint. In other words, this artificial human is actually a mechanical angel.

“This is one of the Flare Source Conglomerate’s core products. Out of the entire conglomerate, only 18 were ever made, and this is the last one. If it weren’t for their CEO having a good relationship with me, even offering a young Overlord familiar wouldn’t be enough to trade for it.”

The Flare Source Conglomerate was one of the top ten conglomerates in the Stellar Moon Federation.

Lu Ran nodded with a smile. “Got it. I owe you one. If there’s any secret realm you can’t clear in the future, feel free to call me for a team-up. By the way, are angels the ones with white wings?”

Death Gun felt Lu Ran was a bit too full of himself. Through his tactical visor, he had already scanned Lu Ran’s stats. Although Lu Ran’s body, mind, and soul were exceptionally strong, he was still only level 4—weaker than Bai Lu. Death Gun didn’t know what gave Lu Ran the illusion that he was strong.

Still, as a messenger of the Divine Deer, Death Gun believed in Lu Ran’s potential. Helping him out this once wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m leaving. You’re still too weak to be of any real help to me. When you get stronger, we’ll talk if I need anything.” Death Gun turned and walked away, his boots stepping on the grimy ground.

As he left, the silver mechanical assistant floating by his shoulder paused for a moment to leave Lu Ran with a final message.

“Mr. Beastmaster King, Artificial Angel #18 will be delivered to this location within one business day. Before the delivery arrives, please do not leave this city. Relevant staff will contact you at that time...”

With that, Death Gun and his mechanical assistant vanished into the dimly lit city. Lu Ran kicked a soda can on the ground and looked up at Manager Ying, who was perched on a streetlight.

“What do you think?” Lu Ran asked.

“It’s not bad. A King species will be at a much higher starting point than a Champion species. The next time we hear about ruins like this, we’ll have to secure exploration rights immediately... Otherwise, all the good stuff will get taken,” Manager Ying said.

“We didn’t have a choice. We’re unfamiliar with this place, so everything feels restrictive. The priority now is to establish ourselves in the Stellar Moon Federation quickly...” Lu Ran sighed.

The air in this city is thick with pollution, yet somehow it feels cleaner than the Imperial Capital’s...

“Got it. I’ll expand the Dog Head Maid Cafe as soon as possible,” Manager Ying said.

“Can you change the style of the shop? Even if you want to differentiate it from the cat maid cafes, does it have to be such a bizarre name? Does that sound like something that’ll take off?” Lu Ran criticised.

Manager Ying licked its paw and said, “Fine, fine.”

There were two reasons Manager Ying could become the second-largest intelligence source in Xia. First, its countless clones and formidable strength gave it an absolute advantage in investigation and reconnaissance.

Second, it had long-established connections with Xia’s officials and built strong relationships with many of its high-ranking combatants, giving it an extensive network.

In the Stellar Moon Federation, if Manager Ying wanted to become a top-tier intelligence dealer again, its first advantage would still be helpful—now at full strength, it could create even more and stronger clones.

As for the second advantage, Manager Ying would have to start from scratch. Fortunately, it was off to a decent start, having already connected with Bai Lu. Leveraging Bai Lu’s network as a super-genius of the Stellar Moon Federation, Manager Ying felt it could quickly expand its own circle.

“No rush...” Manager Ying’s eyes gleamed.

Once it dispersed its clones to every major city in the Stellar Moon Federation, this place would soon become their backyard.

***

Half a day later, Lu Ran received a space capsule. It was personally delivered by a team of mechas, which was utterly ridiculous.

After signing for it, Lu Ran found the container holding the artificial angel inside, along with various instruction manuals.

After skimming through the manuals, Lu Ran said, “Let’s not activate it yet. Setting it up requires inputting the owner’s information. We’ll do that after returning to Blue Planet.”

“Where to next? Back to Blue Planet?” Manager Ying asked.

“Yeah. First, we’ll find the Divine Deer. Even though we haven’t completed the task it gave us, Ghost Mother is already helping us search. Next, we’ll bring the Divine Deer back to Blue Planet to help Six-Path Flower evolve to Legendary.

“Along the way, we’ll collect 100,000 beastmaster blood samples for Ghost Mother and drop off the artificial angel in Xia. After all of that, we’ll return to Stellar Moon.”

Once back in Stellar Moon, they’d deliver the blood to Ghost Mother, locate the Divine Tortoise, and complete the mission. After that, the world would be their oyster. Lu Ran could then take Six-Path Flower to challenge the Mythical secret realm he’d been eyeing. Lu Ran was burning with curiosity as to what treasures were lying there.

“Let’s go,” said his bodyguard, Manager Ying, shrugging.

Soon after, Baby Cloud began its miserable flight once more. Lu Ran felt as if he could predict the future. He actually raised a familiar with such a fast flight speed. Otherwise, he would’ve wasted an enormous amount of time traveling in the Stellar Moon World.

***

Clear Spring Valley, the Divine Deer’s habitat.

Bai Lu wasn’t here at the moment, so Lu Ran, as the Divine Deer’s messenger, bypassed the various plant barriers and entered the valley.

“Lord Divine Deer.”

After walking for a while, Lu Ran and Manager Ying arrived before the Ancient Tree of Life and called out to the Divine Deer, who was recovering its strength through slumber.

A moment later, the entire ancient tree glowed with a white halo as the Divine Deer’s voice echoed directly in Lu Ran’s mind.

I’m here.

“Lord Divine Deer, I’d like to report on the mission progress. We’ve found Ghost Mother and shared the information about the Stone of the Other Shore and Limitless City with it. After hearing it, Ghost Mother also decided to train messengers to explore Limitless City together.

“Additionally, it agreed to help us locate the Divine Tortoise, though it may take some time. During this period, I’d like to return to Blue Planet to help Six-Path Flower evolve so that we can tackle a Mythical secret realm next.”

I see.

The Divine Deer was surprised Lu Ran had managed to find Ghost Mother, who dwelt in the deep sea, so quickly. But then, it sensed something off.

Wait! Why is the aura of the Evil God so strong on you?

Feeling the intense Evil God energy emanating from Lu Ran, the Divine Deer immediately shifted from its tree form to its deer form, staring at him intently.

“Huh? It’s probably because my ruin space is currently holding a lot of Evil God creatures?”

The Divine Deer was very taken aback.

Lu Ran quickly explained. “Here’s the thing. Since finding Ghost Mother was so difficult, I had no choice but to resort to extreme measures. I took my familiars—Dark Crow and Six-Path Flower—to hunt Evil God creatures in the Endless Sea. We fused their powers together to try and wake Ghost Mother...”

“You—!” The Divine Deer’s heart nearly stopped.

It almost cursed out loud.

You little—! So this was how you found Ghost Mother? If things had gone slightly wrong, it could’ve sparked a civil war among the Divine Dragon’s kin! You’re playing with fire!

“We know we messed up. When Ghost Mother suggested polluting the ocean to find the Divine Tortoise, I thought about it but firmly refused,” Lu Ran said, bowing his head in apology.

What I mean is, high concentrations of Evil God energy are hard for you to control. A full-powered Evil God is second only to the Primary Divine beings. Ghost Mother only managed to suppress it by borrowing the Death Dragon’s power.

Upon hearing that Lu Ran had even considered polluting the ocean to find the Divine Tortoise, the Divine Deer’s lips twitched. If Lu Ran had actually done it, its old friend would’ve cut ties with it on the spot.

This messenger from Blue Planet is definitely a troublemaker!

“Thank you for your concern, Divine Deer. We consulted Ghost Mother, and it said Dark Crow has digested the Evil God’s power very well with no risk of backlash. It also said that when Dark Crow undergoes its second evolution, it’ll help it combine its attributes, ensuring even greater control over the Evil God’s energy.”

The Divine Deer’s tone softened.

Oh? That’s good. Ghost Mother’s understanding of death, the Evil God, darkness, and spiritual energy is the deepest among the Divine Dragons’ kin. If you’ve earned its help, that’s a great fortune for you.

The Divine Deer was pleased and nodded.

This messenger from Blue Planet has a knack for seizing opportunities. Maybe troublemakers have their merits after all.

Although both were Legendaries, the Divine Deer couldn’t offer much help for Dark Crow’s growth.

This was mainly because Lu Ran’s familiars were too varied. Unlike Bai Lu, who mostly contracted plant-types or beings similar to the Divine Deer, only Six-Path Flower and swordgrass in Lu Ran’s team could fully benefit from the Divine Deer’s blessings.

The others weren’t so lucky. At best, they could borrow the Divine Deer’s healing power to train high-risk energy techniques or, like Dark Crow, perform self-cannibalistic strengthening. But these paled in comparison to the Legendary blessing that had given Six-Path Flower a new talent.

As for the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer, Lu Ran had already asked. Unless the Divine Deer advanced further, its current Epic grade was the limit.

Lu Ran stared right at the Divine Deer. Sometimes, he really wanted to say—

Lord Divine Deer, for the sake of your kin, couldn’t you just break through again? You don’t have to reach Primary Divine, but could you at least become a Supreme Divine being so the Broken Horn can reach Legendary?

But alas, such things couldn’t be achieved through begging.

“Let’s go.”

Ignoring Lu Ran’s scheming gaze, the Divine Deer looked into the distance, ready to accompany him back to Blue Planet to help Six-Path Flower evolve. It had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

As for whether Six-Path Flower could evolve to Legendary, the Divine Deer had no doubts. Even without Limitless City, Six-Path Flower had once reached Supreme Divine status on its own. In the Divine Deer’s eyes, this evolution was a guaranteed success.

The only question was how powerful Six-Path Flower’s Legendary talent would be, and whether it would be enough to help Lu Ran conquer a Mythical secret realm in Stellar Moon’s Limitless City, which no one had ever cleared before.

If they succeeded, the Divine Deer would be far ahead, even when compared to the Underworld God and the Void God, who had also trained messengers.

It seems that in training messengers, I’ve far surpassed the Underworld God and the Void God...