Long-Haired Mongoose

Rony's chest had been pierced through, blood flowing from both the front and back, unstoppable. However, the windbreaker he wore was peculiar; it absorbed all the blood without letting a single drop leak out.

"Mr. Rony, how did you get such a serious injury? I'll go get a doctor for you."

"No... No, don't..." Rony extended a hand, struggling to grab Duke's sleeve. "I'm being... chased... getting a doctor... will expose me..."

"If you don't get a doctor, you'll die."

"I'm already dead..."

Duke felt utterly speechless. "You've landed me in big trouble!"

He just wanted to keep a low profile, survive in this extraordinary world for a while, and once he understood the depths of this world, he could calmly plan for the future.

He didn't want to get involved in any trouble right now, especially trouble involving murder and death.

Rony, however, couldn't concern himself with Duke's worries. He felt he was on his deathbed and needed to quickly explain things: "I was capturing a 2-Ring Spirit Beast, the Long-Haired Mongoose..."

The reason he had bought ten Arcane Cards a while back was to capture the cunning Long-Haired Mongoose.

Despite Rony's careful watch over the Long-Haired Mongoose, he was still targeted by someone. Just as Rony heavily injured the 2-Ring Spirit Beast Long-Haired Mongoose and was about to finish it off, he was ambushed.

"It was people from the Poison Fang Gang, an outer circle of the Black Snake Family... I killed two, and one got away..."

"Poison Fang Gang? Black Snake Family outer circle? And one got away?" Duke's brow furrowed, and he gritted his teeth. "That person will definitely report back. Are you trying to kill me, Mr. Rony!?"

"I'm unfamiliar with this place..."

Rony had killed two people, but he himself had been pierced through the chest by a surge of fighting spirit. He dared not seek help at the town's hospital, as the hospitals were all businesses of the Black Snake Family.

Furthermore, he had come to Snakehead Town specifically to hunt spirit beasts and didn't know anyone there.

After much thought, he thought of Duke.

As for whether Duke could be trusted, he couldn't afford to worry about it too much. "The Long-Haired Mongoose won't live long; I didn't finish it off... If the Black Snake Family investigates, they'll definitely find it... But they don't know... my initial target wasn't the adult Long-Haired Mongoose... Cough cough... Open the package next to you and take a look."

"I really don't want to look; this will only bring me trouble..." Duke sighed helplessly, but the trouble had already arrived, and there was no avoiding it.

He picked up the package that had fallen from Rony's arms. Inside, there seemed to be something soft. When he opened the package, he was stunned to find a palm-sized, curled-up, unweaned, and unopened-eyed little cub.

He could clearly sense a spiritual aura emanating from the little cub.

"This is?"

"Cough cough... It's my target this time... the long-haired mongoose cub... Haha, cough cough..." Rony coughed up blood but still tried to smile. "Compared to an adult Long-Haired Mongoose, its cub is priceless!"

Duke was startled and immediately asked, "Are cubs easier to tame?"

"Not just taming... If a long-haired mongoose cub forms a Knight Contract and cultivates together, there's a high chance it will evolve into a Phantom Beast species... Once it successfully evolves, it becomes a 2-Ring Phantom Beast, the Armored Mongoose!"

"Phantom Beast!"

Duke's heart pounded.

In the Seven Towers Federation and even other countries on the Barbaric Continent, Arcane Mages who cultivated the Spirit Sea were revered. Blood Sea Knights and Spirit Plant Masters were merely minor branches of the Spirit Sea.

Although both the Blood Sea and Spirit Sea could touch the extraordinary, their potential was extremely limited, with 1-Ring being the absolute limit.

For example, opening the Blood Sea allowed one to cultivate fighting spirit and become a 0-ring Knight, but the endpoint for a Knight was only a 1-Ring Great Knight. Without fortunate encounters, they would remain at the 1-Ring Great Knight stage for their entire lives.

However, a 1-Ring Great Knight, if they had a fortunate encounter, would have room for further growth.

This fortunate encounter was a Phantom Beast.

By contracting a Phantom Beast, one could borrow its power to break through the limit of a 1-Ring Great Knight and advance to become a 2-Ring Phantom Beast Knight, or even a higher-level 3-Ring High-level Phantom Beast Knight.

Therefore, for any 1-Ring Great Knight, a Phantom Beast was a priceless treasure, something they would fight tooth and nail to obtain.

Seeing Duke's shocked expression, Rony knew Duke understood the value of this long-haired mongoose cub. His eyes held much unwillingness, but it eventually turned into a long sigh. "Now... it's yours."

Duke desperately wanted to refuse.

But the words of refusal, once on his lips, refused to come out.

After a long pause, he said in a deep voice, "Mr. Rony, then, what is the price?"

"Cough cough... There's no price, just a request..." Rony struggled to stay conscious. His injuries were too severe; if he fainted, he might never wake up. "My real name is Robney. I have a son, Royce... He's undergoing Knight training at the Spear Knight Monastery in Chen Jiao City... Please help him as much as you can..."

As he spoke, Robney tremblingly pointed to his windbreaker pocket.

Duke reached into the pocket and pulled out a Spirit Dragon Card. "Is this it?"

Robney grasped the Spirit Dragon Card and shook it.

Duke understood and immediately took out his own Spirit Dragon Card, lightly touching it with Robney's. He then saw information appear on the card's surface: "Deposited 8 Gold Dragons, 26 Silver Dragons, 18 Copper Dragons... Balance: 10 Gold Dragons, 47 Silver Dragons, 55 Copper Dragons..."

"Help Royce..." Robney finished speaking, and his head suddenly tilted.

When Duke checked again, he had stopped breathing.

"Sigh!"

Duke glanced at the dead Robney, then at the long-haired mongoose cub in the package, which seemed to be sleeping, unsure how to express his current feelings.

Regardless of his feelings, the immediate priority was to deal with Robney's body.

Otherwise, if it were discovered tomorrow, he would truly be embroiled in trouble.

"I have to dispose of the body!"

He steadied his mind and immediately found a snakeskin bag, curled up Rony's corpse inside, tied the opening, ensuring no blood would drip out.

Then he quickly cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor and went outside to check if there were any bloodstains in the alley.

Fortunately, Rony was wearing a windbreaker that could contain blood, so there were no obvious bloodstains on the road. Only where he had knocked on the door were there faint traces of blood, which Duke quickly wiped away.

He then returned home to wait.

He planned to dispose of the body in the latter half of the night.

"I didn't kill him, yet I have to dispose of the body..." His heart was pounding uncontrollably. Duke had to find something to do to distract himself, so he looked at the long-haired mongoose cub.

The palm-sized cub, like a mouse, wasn't attractive.

Duke quickly found a cardboard box, brought some rags and cotton wadding, and made a small nest for the long-haired mongoose cub, placing it by his bedside.

Looking at the little creature sleeping soundly, he didn't know how he felt for a moment.

"If I had activated the Blood Sea, I would have completed the contract immediately and worked hard to cultivate you into a Phantom Beast Armored Mongoose... Unfortunately, my Blood Sea activation failed, and I can't become a Knight."

Suddenly.

He thought of something and directly asked in his mind, "Xiao Yi, can I still activate the Blood Sea according to the database calculations?"