Chapter 49 - Who is Lu Ran?

Manager Ying originally thought that Lu Ran and the husky were in for a tough fight. After all, the necromancers had too many advantages, such as invisibility, intangibility, and possession. To make matters worse, the husky's level was lower than the undead cat. But the whole thing ended with the necromancer dying in seconds?

"Trash!" Manager Ying pouted.

The high-level weapon Lu Ran pulled out was only one of the reasons that he was able to turn the tables. However, the weapon alone was not enough. The dog actually used sword momentum!

Its superb Energy Acceleration skills and weapon control weren’t that of a level 6 familiar! Even a newly trained familiar of a high-level beastmaster would only be at about this level, right?

Manager Ying quickly landed on the ground and looked at Lu Ran and the husky.

Ao?

It was Captain Doofus’ first time meeting Manager Ying. It puffed out its chest when it saw the cat constantly staring.

What are you looking at?

Are you impressed by my peerless display?

It was just a ghost. Not worth mentioning.

"It doesn't look very smart." Manager Ying was puzzled.

Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Captain Doofus was incensed. Was this cat scolding him? This was also something Lu Ran said a lot! It was so handsome just now, but the cat still called it stupid. It would remember this grudge!

Croak!

Sudden Death King was amazed. It admired Captain Doofus a lot because of how easily it dealt with the undead spirit, and even more so for its calm attitude when facing stronger opponents!

Sudden Death King pondered for a moment and concluded that Captain Doofus wasn’t brave—there was probably something wrong with its brain. It imagined that even if a giant dragon appeared, Brother Doofus would charge ahead and deliver an equal-opportunity beating.

"Nonsense! My Captain Doofus has incredible comprehension and an off-the-charts IQ!" Lu Ran defended his familiar.

"If all new beastmasters were like you, necromancers wouldn't be a threat," Manager Ying muttered, his mouth twitching, feeling as though bringing Lu Ran along was just to test his own patience.

This was essentially gifting him accolades! I wasted all that effort.

Sure enough, nobody with special abilities is easy to deal with.

It glanced at the necromancer lying in the dirt. Fortunately, he had been possessed by the undead familiar before the attack; otherwise, he’d already be a corpse.

Even with the soul force protecting his body, he was severely injured. Deep gashes on his chest exposed flesh, with blood gushing out, and one arm was nearly severed.

Neither Lu Ran nor Sudden Death King could bear to look at him any longer.

"There you go. He won’t die. Now, call that guy and have him come clean this up," Manager Ying told Lu Ran.

"Okay." Lu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

Although getting involved in something like this was a bit depressing, his mood lifted when he thought about the bounty.

It would cover Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King’s food bill for a month and, even better, a Lightning Awakening Fruit. No more wasting half a day grinding for one with wind blades!

Lu Ran pulled out his phone and called Zhao Chen, who was waiting at the Golden Hill Beastmaster Tower. Zhao Chen immediately set out upon receiving the location.

After hanging up, Lu Ran couldn't help but look at the bloody necromancer.

"Manager Ying, this guy is quite meticulous. If you hadn’t used Space-attribute skills to block his transfer, the necromancer might have escaped to Limitless City. From meeting me to luring me out here, he didn’t reveal anything throughout the whole process. This guy was quite restrained. Is this what you were talking about? That he was born to become a necromancer?"

"You’re overthinking it! This guy is too weak!" Manager Ying replied.

"Undead-attribute familiars feed on souls, but souls are too complex and contain a lot of emotions from their lives. It could become toxic if they consume too many souls. Over time, the Undead-attribute familiar will go mad. Since the necromancer is connected to the familiar through the contract, he will also be affected to a certain extent and gradually go insane.

"The reason why he looks relatively normal isn’t because of his high willpower. He just hasn't devoured that many souls. Of course, ‘not many’ is a relative term. Souls are also a great supplement for them. This guy only became a beastmaster in the last couple of days, but his familiar is already at level 8, while yours is only level 6. This is the advantage of being a necromancer."

I see...

"Are undead familiars only limited to consuming transcendent souls? I don't think he has any intention of attacking ordinary people or animals."

"Not necessarily, but ordinary souls are considered inferior. They would need a huge amount to be full, and eating too many would make the familiar and necromancer go crazy. That’s why necromancers will rarely let their familiars devour ordinary souls. It’s high risk, low reward. For instance, you won't eat dog food, right?"

Cough, cough, cough.

Lu Ran blushed while Captain Doofus scowled, and Sudden Death King looked in a random direction.

"Why are you asking so many questions about necromancers?" Manager Ying eyed Lu Ran suspiciously.

I always feel that Lu Ran is up to something.

This guy looked like he was deathly afraid of necromancers at first,

but it only took a second for him to kill one. He also doesn't look like a good person.

"I just wanted to learn more about potential enemies."

"Really...? Fine, I'll tell you some more about them."

Manager Ying was skeptical but continued.

"The Undead attribute is very special. The only known way to create a familiar that has it is through the beastmaster skill, Undead Resurrection."

"When your contracted pet dies, it lets you transform it into an undead, adding to it the Undead attribute. The drawback is that it will likely lose its original attributes and memories from before it died and act like a puppet. Once it becomes an Undead-attribute familiar, its species rank will definitely change, but it could go either up or down."

Lu Ran frowned.

"Currently, there isn’t any information about any secret realm that drops the Undead Resurrection skill. It’s an exclusive skill of The Other Shore, and no one knows where they are obtaining it in large quantities. Do you know why The Other Shore has never been wiped out even though it has been attacked by various countries?"

"Why?"

"It is because they have monopolized the Undead Resurrection skill and can always gather new members. Think about it, if your familiar dies, are you willing to let it go forever, or would you want it to be reborn in another form? If you want it to be reborn, you would have to join The Other Shore. If that happens, what would you choose?"

"Awoo~!"

Captain Doofus gained another grudge against Manager Ying. The cat was jinxing it to die.

"Even one of the top ten beastmasters chose to join The Other Shore. They have a constant supply of fresh blood. I feel that you will become one of those who become bewitched in the future." Manager Ying became more and more suspicious.

Lu Ran was astonished.

"No, my heart is firm," Lu Ran said confidently.

Although the Undead Resurrection skill was indeed very tempting, the more he learned about it, the more disturbed he felt. First of all, it was too hard to find food. He didn't want to hunt other beastmasters. Second, it wipes the familiar’s memory. In that case, would the familiar still be the original familiar?

"I hope so. If you get wrapped up in it one day, you will only fall deeper and deeper. Eventually, you’ll become neither human nor ghost. You have a bright future, so don’t go astray.

"Okay, so what do you want? You caught a necromancer. Although he is just a rookie, you should get a reward. I promised you that the bounty will go to you," Manager Ying said calmly.

"Crystal coins! Crystal coins are fine! Thank you, Manager Ying!" Lu Ran smiled.

With crystal coins, he could just buy whatever resources he wanted.

Right when he finished talking, a commotion rose up around him. The Alliance beastmasters from Golden Hill had arrived.

***

That night.

Having personally faced the necromancer, Zhao Chen worried Lu Ran might suffer psychological trauma and considered arranging counseling. However, Lu Ran politely declined, eager to return to the dojo after a long day.

He acted as if nothing had happened while dining with his master. Unbeknownst to him, Manager Ying was having a conversation with Gu Qingyi.

"Little Qingyi, you finally answered."

"Ying? Sorry, I was in the middle of doing some evolution research. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"You are so lucky. Where did you find such a promising newcomer? Today I met that Lu Ran that you are optimistic about. He is very qualified. Maybe he can be promoted to the front line in the future and become your reliable right-hand man."

"Huh?"

"Huh, what? Do you think I underestimated his potential?"

"No, who is the Lu Ran you're talking about?"

Meow, meow, meow?

A moment later.

Manager Ying hung up the phone and fell into deep thought. Lu Ran really didn't lie to him! He and Gu Qingyi really didn’t know each other!

"Damn! Why did I spend so much effort training him and providing him with resources? What a waste! No, it might not be a waste. That guy has good potential. Since Gu Qingyi said he isn’t hers, why don't I take the initiative and recruit him into the Maid Cafe?

"Wait, no. He contracted a dog."

Manager Ying thought about it for a while and finally decided to investigate Lu Ran's background first.

"Within six hours, I want all the information on him and that husky. I feel that the husky’s origin isn’t simple, either. Carefully investigate the husky’s past from before he met Lu Ran."

The cat issued some instructions to someone over the phone.

"We are both clones; why do you get to slack off and travel while I have to dig up intelligence? The original body is so biased." Under the moonlight, a black cat with green jade eyes expressed its dissatisfaction.

Ying ignored its complaints and continued to ponder. After replaying it in its head carefully, something about the husky’s body stood out. Could it be what Ying suspected?