Chapter 543 - False Universe

Now that Sudden Death King and Dark Crow have both broken through, Lu Ran wanted to test their strength, and two volunteers just happened to show up. Lu Ran could also just summon Six-Path Flower and Captain Doofus for some team training, but he would have to heal them afterwards if he did.

In contrast, he didn’t remotely care what happened to the Golden Toad and Lunar Rabbit.

"Who's there?" Lu Ran shouted as he pulled out two Epic-grade Time Fruits.

When Tree Monarch first gave them to him, they were originally only Rare-grade items. They were upgraded thanks to the amplification cards. The higher quality fruits had longer-lasting effects, fewer side effects, and significantly higher nutritional value. They provided a permanent boost beyond their primary effect.

They would undoubtedly play a strategic role in helping Lu Ran prepare for his battle against the three Beast Gods. Since he had a pretty ample supply of them, using two for a practice fight wasn’t too much of a waste.

Once they consumed the Time Fruits, Sudden Death King and Dark Crow’s level shot up to 100. While the Golden Toad and the Lunar Rabbit stood there stunned in silence, Sudden Death King suddenly opened its mouth and condensed a ball of electricity in it.

A moment later, a red beam of lightning burst forth. The beam was over a thousand meters wide and struck fear into the toad and rabbit’s hearts.

"What’s your problem?" the Lunar Rabbit exclaimed as it tried to dodge the attack. The Golden Toad didn’t say anything but was visibly upset as well.

In spite of their best efforts, they didn’t stand a chance with Dark Crow playing support. A single word from it made them freeze where they stood. A level 100 Dark Crow supported by a legion of clones easily overpowered them.

BOOM!

The beam swallowed the duo and left them dazed and paralyzed. Before they could gather themselves, they felt something heavy slam into them. Sudden Death King condensed a pair of energy shields and crushed the toad and rabbit between them.

After a relentless barrage of attacks that were buffed by Dark Crow, the Golden Toad and Lunar Rabbit fell unconscious. Once they came to, they found themselves tied up with incredibly durable vines. Not far away from them, there was a massive pot and grill being heated up with a Legendary-grade fire.

"The toad cultivates the power of faith and wealth and has reached the Low Legendary level thanks to its followers' greed. Its primary ability should be to locate natural treasures using faith-based skills.

"The rabbit, on the other hand, is a Grass-attribute creature that specializes in purification. It can transform normal plants into top-tier medicines.

"They’re both weak, neither being combat-oriented. They can’t compare to the Divine Deer, so we might as well eat them," Six-Path Flower explained after looking over the prisoners and ordaining their pasts.

With that, Lu Ran was ready to determine their fates.

The Golden Toad and Lunar Rabbit were so terrified that they almost wet themselves. Six-Path Flower saw right through them. They couldn’t compare to other Low Legendaries in strength. They only managed to hide and survive on the moon out of sheer luck.

One of them had found an evolution resource that allowed it to survive in space, while the other continuously consumed elixirs to extend its life span. They didn’t expect their peaceful lives to be disrupted by Lu Ran’s sudden appearance.

“Wait!”

The two hastily begged for their lives.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

Lu Ran looked over at the duo that had just reawakened.

“Where do you live?”

“The moon,” they replied in unison.

“

Hmph!

In a previous life, I was the king of the moon and ruled over it as my dominion. You trespassed in my palace. We didn’t get off on the wrong foot at all,” Lu Ran declared.

Lu Ran decided to use this opportunity to test Bai Ze’s Kingly Auspicious Beast talent. The talent made people related to the Bai Ze more persuasive. Lu Ran made something up on the spot to test its limits. The story couldn’t pass a smell test, but to his surprise, the toad and rabbit reacted with awe.

“Lord Moon King, I didn’t know that the moon was your territory! I was just following the rabbit the entire time!” the Golden Toad hurriedly confessed.

“My lord, that’s not true at all! I was the one following the toad! I had no intention of trespassing! I was just trying to survive!” the Lunar Rabbit cried.

Lu Ran: ?

These two sure switch sides pretty fast. I can’t believe that it worked! They don’t look like they’re pretending.

“Very well, then. I have some questions for you,” Lu Ran said.

“When did you leave Blue Planet for the moon? Other than you two, how many other creatures left Blue Planet?”

Just as the two rushed to answer, Lu Ran gestured for the Lunar Rabbit to stay quiet so that he could hear from them one at a time.

“After the spiritual energy faded, the vast majority of Legendary creatures decided to leave. A few of us settled on the moon—about a dozen or so. In the end, only I and the rabbit survived. There’s also a handful of each of our species that lives on the moon under our protection.

“The stronger creatures looked down on the moon because it could only absorb a small amount of sunlight. They believed that the moon’s energy would inevitably be drained away by Blue Planet, so they ventured deeper into the universe.

“To be fair, they were right. Later on, things got so bad that even the sun was almost snuffed out.”

“Your turn.” Lu Ran turned to the Lunar Rabbit.

The Lunar Rabbit sounded like a girl, with a soft and gentle voice.

“Lord Moon King! I know what happened to those who fled Blue Planet!”

Hm?

“Of the group that ventured into deep space, after so many years, only a few managed to survive and return to the moon or Blue Planet. I ran into one of them and gave it some help.

“It told me that the universe we’re living in is fake. Nothing exists in the outer reaches of space. The edge of this universe in every direction is shrouded in an all-devouring fog. Those who haven’t returned are all dead. Even the great Torch Dragon God perished on the journey.”

Lu Ran glanced over at Six-Path Flower. He wasn’t expecting to actually find any useful information.

There’s a fog even capable of destroying the Torch Dragon?

“What happened after that?”

“The creatures that couldn’t survive in space could only create a tear in space to venture into the unknown in hopes of finding a new path of survival,” Lunar Rabbit continued.

“I haven’t heard anything since then.”

Hearing this, Six-Path Flower telepathically spoke to Lu Ran.

—Some of the creatures of Blue Planet likely reached space near the Stellar Moon World. I just spoke with the Divine Deer. It confirmed that there are many beings living in space surrounding the Stellar Moon World, but they aren’t able to enter due to the world barrier created by the Divine Dragons.

—Although the Stellar Moon World was damaged during the great war, its condition is still better compared to Blue Planet. Even the space around it is capable of supporting Legendary creatures, albeit barely.

—Alright, that I can understand,

Lu Ran responded.

—But what’s this ‘fake universe’ and fog the rabbit mentioned?

Six-Path Flower thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a good answer.

—Maybe they encountered some sort of natural space disaster?

“You mentioned other members of your species, right?” Lu Ran asked the Golden Toad, deciding to move on.

“Yes,” the Golden Toad answered. “Lord Moon King, surely the penalty for trespassing isn’t being eaten!”

“You’re right, but did some of your kin destroy a lunar exploration probe? Those probes were built using taxpayer money, which includes my money. In other words, not only did you live in my palace, but you even destroyed my property. The additional charge makes a death sentence completely justified.”

Golden Toad: ?

What in the world is going on?

“Unless... Well, in light of the fact that you all have painstakingly survived in space for so long, I can give a path to redemption.

“Serve me. Collect meteorites and other small celestial bodies from the surrounding space for me. I need materials to build a grander palace on the moon. I will let the two of you go once the palace is complete.”

“No problem!” the Lunar Rabbit eagerly responded. “I’ll do my best, but the toad is clearly up to something, so you should just eat it. I can do the work for you by myself.”

“Fuck you!” the Golden Toad roared. “My Lord, this rabbit has only lived for a hundred thousand years. What could

it

possibly know? If you’re looking for materials, then I’m obviously the better candidate!”

Right there and then, the two Legendary creatures started to bicker. Lu Ran stopped to think for a moment. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to eat the pair. Having Legendary-ranked laborers provided far greater benefits.

Maybe it was the Kingly Auspicious Beast buff, but the two weren’t egotistical like other Legendary creatures and surrendered without much resistance. After some thought, Lu Ran still believed that the pot and grill were the main motivating factors.

With that, Six-Path Flower marked the two of them while Dark Crow placed a curse on them. With those assurances in place, the two wouldn’t dream of rebelling and could only work diligently.

Once everything was settled, Lu Ran returned to Blue Planet.

"Squirrel God, we need to go to Stellar Moon."

"I’ve been waiting for you."

The Squirrel God also wanted to go watch the fight on Stellar Moon, but it didn’t want to get dragged in, so it sent a clone instead. It would be able to use it to observe from a safe distance.

Lu Ran didn’t know what to say about the Squirrel God’s behavior. It was capable of single-handedly sealing a Superior Legendary, but it was still such a scaredy cat. It reminded him of Manager Ying, who was also going to send a clone. As an intelligence broker, it wouldn’t miss the first major battle between Legendary creatures since the end of the Mechanical Era.

The next day.

Lu Ran materialized from the portal in the Stellar Moon World. Many people were out looking for him, but Time Shield, combined with the powers of the Squirrel God and Manager Ying, made sure that even the Chaos Dragon God itself couldn’t find him.

"With kin of the Space and Time Divine Dragons, you have nothing to fear. No one will know that you’re here," the Squirrel God commented.

"Nothing will go wrong unless you publicly expose yourself."

"My bad."

The Squirrel God spoke too late as Lu Ran was already holding his phone.

"I just needed to send a few quick texts, so people definitely know that we’re here.”

Squirrel God: -.-#

"But it should be fine since it’s just for a few friends." Lu Ran scratched his cheek as his phone was flooded with messages cursing him out.

They were all from Death Gun, and the earliest ones were from right after the World War ended. All of the messages were overflowing with resentment.

Come on, it was just some light treason. What’s the big deal? Is it really worth all this fuss?

Over in the Death Desert, Death Gun and Ice Emperor were still digging deep underground for corpses when Death Gun suddenly paused.

“What’s going on?" Ice Emperor asked when he saw Death Gun stop digging.

"Are you finally giving up? That boss of yours definitely lied to you. The Death Scorpion skeleton doesn’t exist. This place is a godforsaken dump. There’s nothing here but sand and idiots. Take me to Pedestrian A already!"

Death Gun stared at his phone. On it was a notification telling him that Lu Ran was online again.

This guy dared to come back even though all three Beast Gods are looking for him?

"Fine."

After so much effort, he still couldn’t find a remote trace of what he was looking for. Death Gun was truly in despair and wanted to go back to ask the Underworld god for more clues. But before that... he looked at Ice Emperor.

"You’ve stayed with me this whole time, so I’ll help you find Lu Ran, but you have to tell me what you’re planning on giving him. You mentioned that you were going to give him something in exchange for his help, right?

"If you don’t tell him ahead of time, then he might not show up. You should know how sensitive his identity is right now.”

Ice Emperor fell silent. What Death Gun said made sense.

"Fine, I’ll tell you. My sister, the Legendary elementalist Hel, has an extremely rare physique. She could contract with elemental lifeforms of any attribute. Thanks to this trait, every inch of her body could be considered a treasure.

"Her blood, for instance, is clear instead of red and is capable of enhancing elemental resources. Even an ordinary bowl of spring water could be turned into an Epic-grade water resource using a drop of her blood.

"When I was sealed, she left me with a huge stash of resources, which included some of her blood! Lu Ran’s Mechanical Blood Angel has the word 'blood' in its name, so he should have some use for it. Blood of an Epic beastmaster should be irresistible.”

With it, Lu Ran should be fully motivated to revive his sister.

Death Gun found Ice Emperor’s words quite shocking. He looked at Ice Emperor like he was an idiot. This was like trying to slap a dog with a steak, but to be fair, he would’ve made a similar mistake back in the day.