Bait and Beast Tamers

"Sophist? Who was that?"

Lu PingAn had just gotten home and had not even entered when he ran into Xia Qin, her face weary with exhaustion.

She tossed him a document pouch and took Lu PingAn away.

Yes, took him away, rather than staying behind.

"Stay at a hotel for a while. I'll contact you through a secure line. Don't open the door for anyone except people you know."

The contents of the pouch explained why.

Sophist, real name Yuan Dunxing, was suspected to be a Tier 4 Professional. Once a member of the Zion District Special Task Force, he was now an A-rank wanted criminal.

Over two years, he had committed a blood case that killed 167 people and forced more than twenty Special Task Force members into immediate retirement.

"Being a cop seems like a high-risk job these days. The file says he was tempted by some evil god and joined a cult? Do you remember him, Chris?"

There was no response from the other side. She was clearly still angry, but Lu PingAn knew how to get her talking.

"He came for us. I need his detailed information."

There was rare sincerity in his words. On this matter, Lu PingAn and Big Cat shared common interests.

".I don't know."

"Wasn't he your subordinate?"

"If you were the boss of a gang, would you care if another nameless lackey showed up today? I only remember that he didn't follow me from the beginning. He should have defected from another organization."

Fine. So in her eyes, an A-rank wanted criminal was merely some nameless underling.

Lu PingAn flipped through the file. He had heard about the infamous Dongxiang Mall Explosion Case two years ago. It was said to have been an explosion caused by a serious safety accident.

".It caused over a hundred victims to commit collective suicide. The dozens of survivors only mutilated themselves, but their severed limbs could never be restored."

There were several photos from the scene in the folder. They were too ghastly to bear.

At Tier 1, he had been a Forbidden Scholar; at Tier 2, a Covenanter; at Tier 3, a Negotiation Expert. For Tier 4, there were only eyewitness reports indicating that he had advanced into some special profession on the evil gods' side.

From the file, he seemed to be someone who fought with his mouth. Xia Qin's note offered the following advice:

"Do not make contact. Do not fight. If you encounter him, turn around and run. Most importantly, do not speak to him under any circumstances."

He was described like some ultimate final boss, but Lu PingAn found something off about it.

"This Sophist looks more like bait."

He had barely arrived before committing a blood case that alerted the local authorities.

And as if that were not enough, he had produced a miniature Mother Goddess Statue and his own mark, making the blood case scene look like a blood god ritual.

In Lu PingAn's eyes, the man himself was unimportant. The people behind him were what mattered.

"Someone even Chris has no impression of is unlikely to threaten her. But if someone swallows this bait, the fisherman behind it will naturally show himself."

Following the bait to find whoever was behind it? The risk was too great. If even the bait was Tier 4, what if some Tier 6 or Tier 7 big shot really emerged? Who would deal with them?

That big shot was most likely in this city right now. They were merely worried about Chris's condition and had sent this little fish out to probe them.

".Let's hide for now. The Storm is Coming. Be ready to be found. I need more means to protect myself."

If he had been strong enough, Lu PingAn would have charged over and killed them already.

Just like in the secret realm today—if his individual strength had crushed the other side, there would have been no need for tricks. He could have simply steamrolled straight through.

"Tsk, tsk. This is a little depressing. I'll accumulate a bit longer and hope the leeks work harder. Oh, right, Chris, are you free? Let's talk."

With nothing else to do, Lu PingAn started chatting with Chris. They were now in the same boat in every respect, so they needed to improve their relationship a little.

Time flew by. The student about to take the college entrance exams grew tired of chatting, flipped through his Teaching Material, ignored the countdown showing barely ten days until the exams, and happily drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Cat Cat, his first profit-sharing target, gave Lu PingAn a surprise.

Animal Raising Technique lv1, 3/100

Animal Taming and Command Technique lv1, 7/100

The experience Cat Cat fed back not only further improved the Runner's professional techniques and skills, but also gave him something extra.

".She's become a Beast Tamer. That little guy must have been provoked by you and gone back to pick up a side profession."

"Now that you mention it, she just broke through as a Tier 1 Runner. If she doesn't plan to advance higher, it really is a good time to take on a side profession. But animal taming? That profession sounds a little weak."

"Weak? Heh, that was my first profession. Have you forgotten? Yesterday, that bitch's power landed on your Gardener Shovel. What if it landed on a pet you were carrying instead? Humans aren't the only ones that can be corrupted."

Lu PingAn silently took notes. He had already mastered the art of communicating with Big Cat.

As long as he acted shallow enough and provocative enough, Chris would naturally jump out to correct him.

And whenever it involved the Maiden of the Forest, Big Cat's aggression directly doubled.

Lu PingAn suspected there was some history there, but he could not be bothered to ask.

Still, in just a few words, Lu PingAn realized how terrifying this path was.

Beast taming, as the name implied, meant taming beasts. But just as a Gardener's "plants" could refer to more than ordinary flora, these "beasts" could be local corrupted animals or magical beasts from other realms.

But unlike Gardeners, who constantly pursued stronger magical plants, most Beast Tamers devoted themselves to cultivating their own pets.

".She has the 'cat' ability, so she should be able to communicate with her own kind. As long as she finds a good, obedient cat, she can let it bear the corruption and achieve nearly double the combat boost and growth rate."

The greatest drawback of corrupted animals was how easily they went berserk, but that was no problem in front of Cat Cat.

"So she has quite a bit of potential?"

"Lots of people have potential. That Xia Qin and Lei Huo Ren are both decent, too. But among those who can ultimately realize their potential and safely live to Tier 3, fewer than one in ten make it."

Lu PingAn had also looked into it. Common abilities in the real-world ability-user society were not necessarily weak.

On the contrary, that often meant there were many developers and varied playstyles. Beastification was famous for having both a high floor and a high ceiling, though its growth was slow. But for him...

"With me around, growing shouldn't be difficult."

At that moment, Lu PingAn was seriously considering whether to give Cat Cat a long-term cooperation contract.

Hardworking leeks that were so cute when bullied seemed rather difficult to find.

"Huh? Isn't my Runner boost a little too high?"

Light Chasing Running Method LV2, 55/100

Swift Flash Breathing Method LV2, 41/100

Yesterday, Cat Cat had only given him a total of thirty points. Today, it had nearly doubled to sixty. That rate of improvement should have exceeded the limits of what effort alone could achieve.

".Is it the profit share from the secret realm? After receiving the secret realm's gift, she can still give me another share? It seems that aside from long-term cultivation targets, I can use the extra slots to find people to invest in at the entrance to secret realms."

The capitalist of the New Era nodded in satisfaction and turned his gaze toward the next leek.

After the diligent Cat Cat gave Lu PingAn a surprise, the two Gardeners' contributions were much more plain and unadorned, but useful.

".This really is what I need most: a Gardener's professional techniques and professional abilities. I can buy some seeds and plant a few fields."

And when Lu PingAn turned his attention to his Gardener path, he found what he had been overlooking all along.

"Essence Fragment of the Explosion Module? What is that?"