Chapter 456 - The Evil Little Beastmaster (Part 1)

“Void mantis?”

Upon hearing the Divine Deer’s words, Lu Ran was taken aback.

The Void God turned out to be an insect-type?

“Nice.” Lu Ran felt pleased.

Doesn’t this mean Captain Doofus’ evolution is basically secured?

After all, in their early days, they had relied on grinding the Mantis Jungle Secret Realm to get where they were. The resources dropped by the mantis boss in the Mantis Jungle all served to enhance Captain Doofus.

Logically, this void mantis shouldn’t be much different. Of course, they weren’t planning to raid the Divine Void Court. It was merely a friendly visit.

“I’ll pay them a visit when we return to the Stellar Moon.”

“Sure.” The Divine Deer nodded.

It was not bothered that Lu Ran wanted to source resources from other Legendaries. On the contrary, it appreciated Lu Ran’s initiative in seeking ways to grow stronger.

At that moment, Bai Lu looked a bit bewildered.

Is Lu Ran trying to get the Void God to give him special treatment? How is that possible...?

The Void God had its own messengers, and besides, Lu Ran and them were technically World War rivals. Even the Divine Deer had little communication with the Void God. Lu Ran was merely the Divine Deer’s messenger. The Void God had no reason to help him.

Isn’t Lu Ran being a bit too optimistic?

Just wait and see.

Lu Ran caught Bai Lu’s confused expression and gave a slight smile. Bai Lu was just too self-conscious. She didn’t understand how to turn status into opportunity. She wouldn’t get far by only relying on the Divine Deer’s power.

Afterward, the Divine Deer left with Bai Lu. Lu Ran guessed it was to open a dedicated training secret realm to give Bai Lu some special training. Once training was complete, Bai Lu would probably be ready to challenge a Legendary secret realm.

“I need to hurry, too.” Lu Ran returned to the Amazon Palace.

While modifying his soul clone, he continued to develop his soul evolution, hoping to complete it before the World War. He also focused on developing new beastmaster skills.

Super Beast Mimicry and Flame Spirit were already highly developed and needed no further attention. For now, Lu Ran focused on developing kinship skills. He aimed to both increase the number of kinship slots for more familiars and to expand Captain Doofus’ kinship slots.

He had already achieved the first goal, having developed a kinship slot for Sudden Death King. As for the second, he was close to figuring it out. Once the mechanical lightsaber kin was complete, Captain Doofus would likely be able to form a contract with it soon.

However, it would still take some time. To accelerate the process, he needed Epic-grade learning resources and an upgrade to the imperial seal, as both were indispensable.

As for soul clone, time acceleration, and time shield, Lu Ran decided to set them aside for now.

While developing his own capabilities, Lu Ran also discreetly directed Sudden Death King, Dark Crow, and Baby Cloud to continue speeding up the exploration of the ocean.

A few days later, in two deep-sea locations, Dark Crow’s two clones descended near the quasi-Legendary clam and quasi-Legendary octopus king. The eerie and terrifying energy fluctuations instantly drew attention from both sea Overlords.

“Who’s there?”

“I am...”

As always, Dark Crow introduced itself in a pretentious tone. However, unlike the grumpy ancient Divine Bull from before, the pearl clam and octopus king calmly listened to Dark Crow’s grand speech and stared at it silently.

“Quasi-Legendary from the land... What business do you have?” they each asked from different locations.

“I wish to invite you both to join the Beastmaster Empire, also known as the Divine Nation of the Amazon.”

The pearl clam and octopus king were about to tell Dark Crow to go back to where it came from when suddenly, a violent explosion erupted in a distant corner of the sea. A blinding light cut through the darkness, expanding rapidly. The intense energy shockwave felt like it could sweep across the entire Blue Planet ocean.

“What the hell?”

The sudden event startled both quasi-Legendaries. They sensed a force strong enough to threaten their lives. Even though the explosion occurred far away, it still set off intense alarms in their bodies.

“What’s with you two? Jumping like that in the middle of serious business. It’s nothing. It’s just a celebration. A new ocean faction has joined our Beastmaster Empire, so our dear ‘Sister Fireworks’ is letting off fireworks to mark the occasion.”

The two quasi-Legendaries were confused. Baby Cloud had just released its most powerful skill to date, which was Nature’s Wrath. Nature’s Wrath fused nine elemental energies into a single explosive reaction, releasing devastating force through elemental fission.

Having stored up power for several days, Baby Cloud’s explosion produced a towering water pillar and dense steam clouds, catching the attention of the entire world.

“Could it be another Legendary has awakened beneath the sea?”

Across the ocean, the Eagle Federation detected the tremendous energy surge in the deep sea. It was as if someone had dropped a barrage of nukes underwater, which caused panic. The towering water pillar and the radiant lights under the ocean became a breathtaking spectacle.

Such energy should’ve triggered tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. However, in the blink of an eye, the disaster’s origin seemed to vanish, and no catastrophe unfolded.

Still, the rampant energy wave awakened many deep-sea Overlords. With the precedent of the Beastmaster Empire, countries concluded that an ancient Legendary was awakening beneath the sea. It couldn’t possibly be real bombs; otherwise, there would be disasters.

“It really was just fireworks.”

Above the sea, Dark Crow’s main body flew leisurely through the air, grinning at the glowing ocean. Behind it, several ancient ocean Overlords bobbed in the waves, nodding like crazy.

Yes, yes, yes. You’re absolutely right. We’ve already agreed to join your empire. Was it necessary to celebrate with such beautiful fireworks?

Meanwhile, back to the clam and octopus king.

“Are you kidding me?”

The two quasi-Legendaries stared at Dark Crow’s eye with disbelief.

Fireworks? Bullshit.

“Are you threatening us?”

Their instinctive reaction was to reject the invitation.

No dignified quasi-Legendary would want to submit to another’s rule. However, Dark Crow had come prepared.

“Threatening? No, no, no. It’s really just a celebration. If you join us, we’ll put on even more spectacular underwater fireworks!

Oh,

are you worried about environmental damage? Don’t worry, our dear Sister Fireworks can completely devour any aftermath. It’s purely for aesthetics!

“Let’s do this instead. Why don’t you come visit our empire’s capital first? Take a look at our prosperity before you decide. Trust me. Once you see it, you won’t be able to resist joining.”

Dark Crow’s gaze turned eerie.

I’ve already backed off this far. Don’t you dare turn me down now...

Of course, once they left the ocean and stepped on land, it wouldn’t matter if they wanted to join or not. With Six-Path Flower, Lu Yao, the Divine Fox, and the minotaur waiting, they’d never leave again. Whether they agreed or not, Dark Crow’s goal was to trick them onto land first.

“You wouldn’t reject such a small request, would you?”

The two quasi-Legendaries remained suspicious. However, after witnessing Dark Crow’s display of controlled power, they could no longer refuse. What if the next firework went off too close? Still, that didn’t mean they feared Dark Crow. For now, they treated it as an equal-status super lifeform.

“Fine, we’ll go. However, if we’re not satisfied...”

“If you’re not satisfied, don’t join. We’re all good people. We don’t force anyone,” Dark Crow cut in.

“Let’s hope so.”