"Luoluo, this Contract Spirit of yours..."
Liu De looked at Bai Chen, who was lying on Lin Luoluo's lap, his form once again a lump of black jelly. His face was full of hesitation.
He wanted to ask about him, but didn't know where to begin.
He had seen that strike clearly. That thick black tentacle was definitely not something a creature like a Slime could possess.
"T-Town Chief! My Slime seems to be a C-Rank Mutant Slime!"
Seeing the deep confusion on the town chief's face, Lin Luoluo's heart leaped, and she understood almost instantly.
She hurriedly finished her explanation before Liu De could ask any more questions.
Lin Luoluo might have looked a little vacant, but her mind was racing at that moment!
She absolutely could not tell the truth about how the Slime she had contracted possessed an S-Rank Life Skill and belonged to a completely unknown species!
A Slime with an S-Rank ability?
Who would believe her if she told them?
They would only think Little Black was some unknown, dangerous Contract Spirit. They would take him away from her, or even destroy him outright!
At the thought, Lin Luoluo's heart rose into her throat.
She had only just gained Little Black, the little fellow who had protected her when she was most desperate. She would never let anyone hurt him.
A trace of guilt welled up in Lin Luoluo's heart at having lied to Town Chief Liu, who had often looked after her since she was little.
But though she was a little absent-minded by nature, she wasn't stupid.
In the Underground City, where the weak were prey to the strong, carrying a jade treasure was a crime. Until she had enough strength, her Contract Spirit's secret was her greatest secret.
"I see... So he's a Mutant Slime."
Hearing her explanation, Liu De's tightly furrowed brow relaxed.
It never occurred to him that the simplehearted Lin Luoluo would lie to him.
He had graduated from a Contract Spirit Master university and systematically studied a great deal about Contract Spirits. He knew that, while mutated Contract Spirits were extremely rare, they were not impossible.
Some Contract Spirits, affected by special energy or mutations in their own genes, did indeed display abilities entirely different from others of their kind.
A C-Rank mutant, and one as high as level nine.
Catching an S-Rank Contract Spirit off guard and sending her flying right after she had been summoned, before she had fully adapted to her surroundings, still sounded a little absurd, but it was just barely plausible.
Looking at the girl in the wheelchair, her face pale but her gaze unusually determined, he sighed inwardly:
This girl had suffered so much since childhood, with no one to depend on.
Her own legs were disabled, and she still had to care for a seriously ill younger sister.
Now the heavens had finally opened their eyes and hadn't completely blocked the girl's path!
At that thought, a genuinely relieved smile appeared on Liu De's face:
"Girl, that's good, that's good.
"I was thinking of helping you report this to the alliance, to see if the value of your S-Rank talent could get you a better Contract Spirit.
"But it looks like there's no need now.
"Now that you have this C-Rank Mutant Slime, as long as you work hard, you might be no worse off than those masters with B-Rank Contract Spirits in the future!
"Once you get your junior Contract Spirit Master certificate, you'll be able to go down into the mine tunnels. That'll greatly ease the financial pressure on you and your sister!"
[Mine tunnels] were not literally mine tunnels, but a general term for spatial Rifts that connected to another world and spawned Devil Creatures.
In the Underground City, most of these Rifts appeared in old, abandoned mining tunnels.
So people had grown accustomed to calling the exploration of Rifts and hunting of Devil Creatures [going down the mines].
They went down the mines to kill Devil Creatures and obtain the spirit cores and various materials inside them.
This was the most basic and fastest way for Contract Spirit Masters in this world to earn money.
However, to qualify to go down the mines, they first had to pass an examination and obtain an officially certified junior Contract Spirit Master certificate.
Lin Luoluo nodded weakly. In truth, she herself didn't know what kind of being she had contracted.
In her field of vision, the species field for Bai Chen was completely shrouded in a thick fog.
But none of that mattered now.
The little fellow had just protected her. The feeling of being firmly sheltered behind him had given Lin Luoluo, who had always had to grit her teeth and shoulder the burden of her entire family, her first taste of being protected.
They had already formed a contract. From now on, they would be each other's closest family, and that was enough.
She gently stroked Bai Chen's springy, jelly-like body, already making plans in her heart.
Little Black protected me. Tonight... should I use the money I've saved up for so long to make something tasty as a reward for him?
Lin Luoluo couldn't help thinking, a faint blush of anticipation appearing on her cheeks.
Would Little Black like the food she made?
Slimes... ate anything, didn't they?
Just then, the onlookers, who had been stunned into silence by what they had just seen, finally erupted. A clamor of discussion rose at once.
"That can't be right! Are my eyes playing tricks on me? A Slime actually sent an S-Rank Cold Moon Fox flying with one strike?!"
"You've got to be kidding! Everyone knows Slimes are at the very bottom of the Devil Creature food chain!
"It's hard to find high-level Slimes down in the mines nowadays because those trash Devil Creatures make the best beginner experience packs. They can't necessarily even beat Contract Spirits more than ten levels below them!"
"I think I saw it just now... he attacked with a tentacle.
"Do Slimes have tentacles? Do you think... he could be one of those things? An Evil Contract Spirit?"
The moment that last guess came out, the atmosphere in the entire square plunged to freezing.
Almost everyone drew a sharp breath, and the looks they gave Lin Luoluo and Bai Chen in her arms turned to deep fear and wariness.
Evil Contract Spirits were a taboo existence.
They were a special kind of Contract Spirit, possessing terrifying power far beyond that of their normal counterparts. Cunning and brutal by nature, they were unwilling to remain subordinate to others.
The contracts they formed with their masters were also different from normal master-servant contracts, being more like parasitism and disguise.
No one knew when they might turn around and devour and control their masters, sowing chaos in human society.
Because Evil Contract Spirits were extremely difficult to identify in their early stages, every time one was discovered, it had already caused a major crisis in human society.
As a result, almost everyone turned pale at the mention of them.
"Enough, enough! What nonsense are you all spouting?!"
Hearing remarks that could prove fatal, Liu De's face instantly turned livid.
He spun around and roared at the crowd.
People's words were to be feared. If Lin Luoluo were branded the master of an Evil Contract Spirit, then even as a peerless genius with S-Rank talent, she would struggle to take a single step on the road ahead.
She might even be dealt with outright by the Federation's extremist higher-ups, who would rather kill a thousand innocents than let one culprit escape!
"Listen up, every one of you!
"Lin Luoluo contracted a C-Rank Mutant Slime, and his level is far higher than that Cold Moon Fox who had just been summoned. That's why he caught her off guard and sent her flying in one strike!
"If anyone else dares spread such dangerous rumors here, don't blame me for arresting him as a spy disturbing public order!"
Liu De knew his explanation was somewhat far-fetched, but he had no choice at the moment. He could only use his authority to force the matter down.
"Oh... so he's a Mutant Slime!"
"Then it's not so strange. But that Cold Moon Fox Jiang Ruoxue contracted really was stupid, getting taken out in one hit by a Mutant Slime. Even if he's a mutant, he can't be all that strong, can he?"
"Shh, shh, shh! Do you have a death wish, talking about the Jiang Family Heiress like that?"
"What's there to be afraid of? Didn't she just slink away? I saw her holding that fox, and her face had turned green.
"Contract Spirits like Cold Moon Foxes love cleanliness. She was already in a hurry to take her back and attend to her bath."
"She really has left. But... I think that girl called Lin Luoluo might be in for it.
"With Jiang Ruoxue's vengeful nature, after losing so much face today, sooner or later she'll pay her back tenfold, a hundredfold..."
Under Liu De's scolding, the crowd gradually dispersed, still talking among themselves.
By now, everyone who had successfully summoned a Contract Spirit had long since finished registering, and the enormous square soon became empty.
Only Lin Luoluo remained, sitting quietly in her wheelchair with Bai Chen in her arms, and Liu De, standing before her with a worried look on his face.
Liu De sighed heavily and spoke to Lin Luoluo earnestly:
"Luoluo, you don't need to worry too much.
"If Jiang Ruoxue really dares to cause you trouble, remember to call me right away.
"She wouldn't dare openly move against someone with S-Rank mental talent who's on the Federation's records."
He paused, his tone growing even more serious.
"If you can, get your junior Contract Spirit Master certificate as soon as possible.
"Once you join an official cave exploration team, it'll be the equivalent of having a semi-official position with the Federation.
"Then, if the Jiang Family wants to make a move against you, they'll have to think twice..."