Chapter 66 - The Second Update

Lu Ran initially planned to collect his bet from Pluto and then add his fellow villagers as friends. However, given Captain Doofus's self-inflicted damage, he had no choice but to finish off the Redrock Dragon-Tailed Scorpion and leave coolly. There was simply no other option—he couldn’t let his pet suffer for long, could he?

Upon returning to his private room, Lu Ran immediately summoned Captain Doofus and used the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer for healing.

“Woo, woo, woo. Woof!”

Moments later, under the healing golden-green light, Captain Doofus was fully restored with a brand new set of teeth.

“Woof!”

Captain Doofus stuck up its chin, seeking praise for its earlier performance.

“Not bad.” Lu Ran chuckled.

“As expected, the extreme Storm Slash can instantly kill most enemies, even if they have a higher species rank than you. You don’t even need to use a weapon.”

Lu Ran had already roughly estimated Captain Doofus’ various skill damage.

“According to Dr. Gu’s strategy, the boss in the Abandoned Laboratory Secret Realm has high defense, high attack, low speed, and wields a rare weapon.

“It’s a super experimental war machine created by the beastmaster empire and is much more troublesome than the Redrock Dragon-Tailed Scorpion. While we easily handled the scorpion, it only means we are preliminarily qualified to challenge the Minotaur Leader.

“Don’t get cocky.”

“Woof!”

Captain Doofus turned its gaze away.

Here he goes again

.

It then slumped in exhaustion. It really hoped that the Minotaur wouldn’t make it lose too many teeth. If it did, Captain Doofus would demand a month of steak as revenge.

Lu Ran chuckled and then turned to inspect the materials they had just obtained.

[Name: Flawed Dragonblood Crystal]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: A flawed crystal containing dragon blood. Consuming it greatly enhances life force. The closer a creature is to being a dragon, the better the effect.]

“Nice! It’s the first time I’ve gotten a rare material! I wonder how good its effects are. Raid bosses are definitely lucrative.” Lu Ran was pleased.

This was indeed a dragon-related material. For someone who planned to cultivate a dragonic familiar, this item was incredibly valuable. He then looked at the next material.

[Name: Dragon-Scorpion Tail Needle]

[Grade: Advanced]

[Description: Contains a special toxin capable of petrifying flesh and energy.]

“This one...”

The Dragonblood Crystal was practically perfect. It enhanced life force and would be useful for any familiar. However, the Dragon-Scorpion Tail Needle seemed closely tied to the poison attribute. Lu Ran thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up.

Fang Lan’s birthday was coming up soon. Lu Ran had initially planned to farm for a Poison-attribute amplifying beastmaster skill from a dungeon to give her as a birthday present. However, even after a week of grinding the Mantis Jungle Secret Realm for a Wind-attribute amplifying beastmaster skill, Lu Ran had come up empty.

After getting a perfect SSS score for a week and not receiving a Beastmaster Skill Card, he started to think that farming a specific skill as a birthday gift might be too challenging.

So, the Dragon Scorpion Tail Needle had come just in time. It would make a perfect gift for Fang Lan, who was currently researching the poison attribute.

“I made the right call to take on that raid boss!” Lu Ran thought cheerfully.

He stowed away the resources and glanced at Captain Doofus, who was still in a daze from using the extreme Storm Slash. Seeing the dog’s tired state, Lu Ran decided to let it rest by recalling it to the Black Card.

He quickly opened his communications and sent a private message to Pluto.

[Pedestrian A: Ready the Lightning-attribute awakening fruit, and let me know when to collect it.]

Not long after Lu Ran sent the message, Pluto responded.

[Pluto: A deal’s a deal. Come to the Galaxy Guild’s headquarters, and I’ll hand it over.]

[Pedestrian A: Okay.]

Lu Ran was surprised by Pluto’s willingness to follow through. Despite the online stereotype of arrogant super-rich second generations, Pluto seemed reasonable and even endearingly straightforward. Lu Ran thought he’d be happy to bet with him again next time, given Pluto’s sportsmanship.

“Alright, let’s head over to the Galaxy Guild’s headquarters.”

Lu Ran knew where the guild’s base was. After tidying up, he prepared to head out.

***

The Galaxy Guild’s headquarters was a pentagonal building, luxurious and clearly heavily invested in.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Upon arriving, Lu Ran immediately messaged Pluto to come out. Moments later, Pluto emerged from the guild and handed the Lightning-attribute awakening fruit to Lu Ran with a disgruntled expression. It was blue and looked like a durian.

“Here’s your fruit.” He threw it at Lu Ran.

“Hey!” Lu Ran caught it, though his hand got pricked.

Fortunately, he had good defense.

“You sure tossed that with some resentment,” Lu Ran said, smiling.

“Think what you want.”

Pluto took a deep breath and added, “My brother’s inside. He wants to meet you.”

“Nebula?” Lu Ran raised an eyebrow.

Nebula was the Galaxy Guild’s leader and a top contender on the Heavenly Familiar Ranking, making him one of the best of the second-generation beastmasters.

“Sure.”

Lu Ran didn’t know what Nebula wanted, but after bullying the guy’s brother, it wouldn’t be right to walk away without addressing the situation.

Lu Ran was curious to see what Nebula had in mind. He wasn’t worried, as Dr. Gu Qingyi had his back, so Nebula wouldn’t dare stir up trouble, right?

“Follow me, then.”

Pluto couldn’t figure out why Lu Ran was so powerful but still led him into the guild. Before long, Pluto brought Lu Ran to Nebula’s private room.

“Brother, I brought Pedestrian A,” Pluto said, addressing the young man at the desk.

The youth wore a purple battle suit, had spiked hair, and exuded a commanding presence despite his young age.

“Hmm.” Nebula looked up, putting down the document in his hand as he eyed Lu Ran.

“I’m aware of the bet between you and my brother. You’re impressive and far stronger than him. Are you interested in joining the Galaxy Guild?

“I’ve done my homework and it seems that you haven’t joined any organizations yet. You’re still a free agent, right?”

Nebula stood up and extended an invitation to join his guild. Lu Ran was taken aback. So this was what the meeting was about.

Lu Ran sighed and replied, “Sorry, I’m already spoken for. I probably won’t be able to join the Galaxy Guild.”

“By who?” Nebula frowned.

“Well... should I even answer?” Lu Ran pondered.

“Let’s just say that my affairs are already handled, and it’s not possible for me to join the Galaxy Guild, so don’t get your hopes up. As for who it is, I can’t say.”

Nebula took a deep breath, but just then, he received a message.

[Gu Qingyi: Real estate guy, I heard Pedestrian A snatched the raid boss your guild found. Suck it up, he’s my guy.]

Nebula was stunned. He had been frustrated, thinking Lu Ran was being coy. After all, he knew all the powerful beastmasters, so who was backing Lu Ran?

But after receiving that message, his expression darkened. He realized that recruiting Pedestrian A was out of the question.

One word from Gu Qingyi could bankrupt their entire group. She was not someone to mess with.

“Alright then.” Nebula sighed.

“In that case, I won’t insist. I know who you’re talking about. To be favored by Dr. Gu... Well, with your skills, it makes sense.”

“Huh?” Lu Ran was confused.

He hadn’t said anything, so how did Nebula guess that Dr. Gu Qingyi was backing him? Beside him, Pluto’s expression froze.

Did Lu Ran really have Gu Qingyi, one of the twelve Beastmaster Alliance’s top Dragon Masters, backing him? One of the top ten most powerful people in Xia?

That explained why he had lost so miserably

“Anyway,” Lu Ran said, brushing it off.

“Nebula, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”

“No, that’s all.” Nebula sighed.

Galaxy Guild’s foundations were still no match for those of the top first-generation beastmasters.

“Pluto, go see Pedestrian A out. You two should stay in touch,” he said.

“Alright...”

Pluto was still reluctant, while Lu Ran was as cheerful as ever.

But just as the two were about to leave, a sudden change occurred. Every beastmaster in Limitless City heard a voice at that moment, causing Lu Ran, Pluto, and Nebula’s expressions to shift into astonishment.

[One million beastmasters have now passed the Beginner Trial.

The second global update is now commencing.

Unlocking World Background: Global Evolution.

From this moment onward, natural energy across the Blue Planet will undergo a massive revival. All uncontracted wild animals and plants will be free to evolve and level up without the limitations of Limitless City.

Next update milestone: Ten million beastmasters.]

As the system’s voice faded, the Galaxy Guild‘s leader’s room fell into a long silence.

“Spiritual energy revival, and global evolution?” After a few seconds, Pluto spoke, feeling incredulous.

“It seems so...” Lu Ran frowned.

“So, all wild animals, even cockroaches in the kitchen, can evolve into Transcendent Species without being contracted by beastmasters?”

Lu Ran’s expression shifted as he suddenly recalled his strange dream.

Wait, if the whole world is undergoing evolution, wouldn’t that mean wild beasts could soon become a threat to human cities?

Humans had been the dominant force on the Blue Planet, but if beasts could evolve and grow rapidly, wouldn’t it only be a matter of time before they could ignore guns and cannons?

If that happened, even if human civilization didn’t collapse, it would surely descend into chaos.

“I thought the second update would just add new features to Limitless City, but I didn’t expect it to actually update the Blue Planet.” Pluto was still in disbelief.

“Brother, what do you think? Is this update good or bad?”

Nebula remained deep in thought before speaking.

“I’m not sure. The current social order will definitely be impacted by the spiritual energy revival of Blue Planet, especially in remote areas far from large cities. Those regions might become very dangerous.

“However, on the flip side, it will become easier for beastmasters to find aptitude-rich familiars, given that animals all over the world can now evolve on their own without needing to be selected by beastmasters.”

“Wait... the evolution has already begun.

“Someone just contacted me to say that a nine-colored meteor fell from a space-time rift outside the atmosphere and crashed into the ocean.

”A massive amount of natural energy is now erupting across the world. Satellites have detected wild animals and plants rapidly mutating.”