Chapter 72 - The Dog Teaching the Lizard (Part 2)

"Lu... Commander Lu, the Beastmaster Tower has just informed us that you're now in charge of all matters related to the spiritual energy revival in Green Sea City!"

Lu Ran ended the call with Fang Lan and turned to face Officer Luo, who was approaching him. He hadn’t expected Dr. Gu to act so quickly. It also felt unreal that such an important responsibility had been assigned to him. Yet, in these extraordinary times, the Xia Empire was so vast that not even a third-generation beastmaster could be spared for Green Sea City. This was the only option.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and in this era of rapid change, capable young beastmasters like Dr. Gu could swiftly rise to prominence.

"Alright. Let’s work together and give it our all!" Lu Ran said decisively.

"Awaiting your orders!" Luo Shang replied. He suddenly felt reassured, convinced that entrusting Lu Ran with the responsibility had been the right decision.

Many cities were entangled in violent conflicts with highly evolved creatures, often with tragic and devastating outcomes. In contrast, thanks to Lu Ran's involvement, Green Sea City remained relatively calm. Such tranquility was a rarity, observed only in major cities where high-level beastmasters had gathered.

"I’ve already sent crows out to scout the city for highly evolved creatures," Lu Ran continued. "You need to cooperate with their search. If the creatures haven’t harmed anyone, monitor them first without alarming them and notify me immediately."

"The wild animals in Green Sea City are mostly concentrated around Emerald Mountain. Focus the search there, but our priority should be the urban regions with the densest populations. Even an evolved mouse can trigger a major incident. We need more personnel to protect the civilians. If any evolved creatures show signs of aggression toward humans, they must be eliminated immediately."

"Additionally, there are plenty of livestock in the rural areas, which are also being severely affected. We can’t overlook them. Hold on—I'll speak to the one-eared white cat and have it mobilize the controllable transcendent stray cats across the city for you to command."

"There should also be quite a few fourth-generation beastmasters in Green Sea City. Most of them likely haven’t joined the alliance yet and are still students. Find those with some prior experience and organize them into teams. Encourage them to volunteer and help handle less complex situations in the city. Even as newcomers, their familiars should be powerful enough to deal with most transcendent creatures. That said, make sure they’re compensated for their efforts."

Lu Ran issued a long string of orders.

Green Sea City wasn’t small. Although it couldn’t compare to a major city, it still had a population of one million. Even if Lu Ran and Captain Doofus pushed themselves to the limit, they couldn’t cover the entire city alone. Lu Ran resolved to handle the more difficult creatures—those above level 10—while leaving everything else to the coordinated efforts of the various groups in Green Sea City.

After organizing everything and parting ways with Luo Shang and the others, Lu Ran decided to act alone while waiting for updates. He summoned Captain Doofus and pulled Sudden Death King out of his backpack. Sudden Death King had grown to the size of an arm and no longer fit in his pocket, forcing Lu Ran to carry it in a backpack.

At this rate, though, even the backpack wouldn’t be enough.

“Woof!”

Captain Doofus barked energetically as it emerged. It was in high spirits and seemed to enjoy the fresh air, stretching its limbs with enthusiasm.

Captain Doofus was still a bit sleepy, but after finishing its stretch, it looked up at Lu Ran, waiting to see what they would do next.

“Croak.”

Sudden Death King, on the other hand, had been listening attentively the whole time. Its admiration for Lu Ran had deepened, and it seemed more determined than ever to stick close to him—if only to avoid meeting an untimely end.

“I’m not sure if we’ll get into any fights,” Lu Ran said, “but we need to get stronger regardless.”

He took out the Life Dandelion he had just obtained and handed it to Captain Doofus.

“Woof!?”

Captain Doofus was taken aback. It looked at Lu Ran in astonishment—was it time to eat already?

“Eat up,” Lu Ran instructed.

As for the Dragon Blood Crystal, he decided to hold on to it for now, intending to give it to Sudden Death King in the future.

The reason he didn’t give it immediately was that the crystal was Captain Doofus’ hard-won spoil of war. Lu Ran had already made a significant investment in Sudden Death King by helping it awaken its Lightning attribute, a gesture born from their long history together. However, if it didn't perform well in the future, Lu Ran would not pile resources on it for no reason.

Red-eyed crocodile skinks were naturally timid creatures, so Lu Ran cut Sudden Death King some slack. This was simply a trait of its species, and Lu Ran refused to look down on it because of that. Still, he expected it to have its own strengths despite its timid nature and looked forward to seeing its future contributions to the team.

Sudden Death King would naturally be rewarded with a greater share of resources once it began making significant contributions. This was a key rule Lu Ran had established for his team: he would not bond with familiars that were useless, nor would he allocate resources to them without a purpose.

The two rare resources in question, the Life Dandelion and the Dragon Blood Crystal, could be beneficial to any creature. The Life Dandelion enhanced familiars’ regenerative abilities, while the Dragon Blood Crystal boosted their vitality. Though their effects overlapped, the Dragon Blood Crystal was far more potent for draconic species.

Reptiles, such as lizards and snakes, were the species most closely associated with dragons—a fact confirmed within the beastmaster realm. Even if the definition of “dragon-related” were broadened to include creatures like deer, camels, rabbits, serpents, fish, eagles, tigers, and cows, none of these had any connection to dogs.

As such, giving the Flawed Dragon Blood Crystal to Captain Doofus didn’t make practical sense. It was far more viable to give it to Sudden Death King.

Lu Ran had no intention of trying to evolve Captain Doofus into a dragon. Though he joked at times that its personality was similar to Yazi, one of the legendary dragon’s nine descendants, making such an evolution happen was even more implausible than fusing Captain Doofus with the Weapon Control trait.

Besides, mythical beasts like Yazi weren’t even the strongest among their kind. If Lu Ran were ever forced to use a mythical beast as a reference, he would pick something far more powerful. Captain Doofus trained in swordsmanship primarily because Super Beast Mimicry allowed both beastmaster and familiar to grow rapidly in sync.

Lu Ran held high expectations for Captain Doofus. For him, any mythical beast or creature was a milestone to eventually surpass. As a result, he reserved the Flawed Dragon Blood Crystals for Sudden Death King, planning to evolve it into a mighty dragon someday, and instead gave the Life Dandelion to Captain Doofus to boost its regenerative abilities.

With the Divine Deer Pendant, Lu Ran didn’t lack healing capabilities, but Captain Doofus’ self-harming fighting style was already deeply ingrained. If he could increase its regenerative ability, then it wouldn’t have to suffer as much. Having it was better than not. Coincidentally, Captain Doofus loved eating vegetables, and Sudden Death King loved eating meat, so the resources were perfectly suited for their tastes.

"Ao~!"

Captain Doofus’ eyes lit up as it ate the Life Dandelion like a piece of cotton candy. It licked it slowly, having learned to savor its food. This was because the dandelion was too small, and if it ate it in one bite, then it wouldn’t even know what it tasted like.

"Croak!"

Sudden Death King watched it enviously.

"When you learn Lightning Armor, I will take you out to fight. If you perform well, I will also give you something delicious to eat."

"Croak!"

Sudden Death King nodded enthusiastically.

I have to learn Lightning Armor to avoid dying!

"It's good to be confident. You will have to change your catchphrase in the future."

Sudden Death King was still young, so Lu Ran tried to reshape its personality.

"Instead of just saying that you’re going to die, you should add something else in front of it to make it sound cooler. Do you understand? For example, ‘Oh my~! What a terrible attack! If it hits me, I will die.’"

Sudden Death King was speechless and felt that something wasn’t right.

"That way, it sounds very cool!"

Lu Ran tried to teach it a taunt skill to draw an enemy’s attention. This way, if he really contracted Sudden Death King, he wouldn’t end up too cowardly when he mimicked it.

"Captain Doofus, eat faster. When you’re done, teach Sudden Death King about the key to Energy Formation."

"Woof?"

Captain Doofus was stunned and turned its head slightly. Wasn’t it a tall ask for it to teach the lizard such a difficult skill? It looked at Sudden Death King suspiciously, doubting its intelligence.

Although Sudden Death King didn't understand Captain Doofus’ bark, it could still see the mocking expression in Captain Doofus’ eyes.

"Croak! (You’re looking down on me!)"

Sudden Death King was genuinely concerned about increasing its defense.

Lu Ran decided to translate for them to make the situation more entertaining.

"Sudden Death King said that you actually dare to look down on it. It will remember this grudge."

Captain Doofus was taken aback and glared at Sudden Death King.

If you don’t learn Lightning Armor, then you will have a taste of my sword qi!