You're Awake—Your Brain Isn't Damaged, Right?

What a despicable, shameless human!

He had actually pretended to be harmless to lure it into attacking. Putting aside the fact that I wanted to eat you, wasn't this basically entrapment?

Simba was shocked and furious, but it could still assess the situation clearly.

The dark aura on this Demon Beast was simply too dense—so dense it was terrifying, as though it itself was "darkness."

Without hesitation, Simba turned and ran, using all four limbs as it fled at top speed.

It was a demi-human. After gaining a healthy, powerful physique, its physical abilities had become extremely formidable.

"Tch, you still want to run, Demon Beast."

Seeing how decisively the demi-human fled, Gu Xin clicked his tongue.

With a wicked, cruel expression, Demon Beast flapped its shattered giant bat wings and shot forward like an arrow.

It was so fast that it seemed like nothing more than a black phantom!

In the blink of an eye, Demon Beast had caught up with Simba and was running alongside it.

Simba turned its head and saw a bizarre demonic face right beside it, nearly scared out of its wits.

How was it so fast?!

"Awooo!!"

An enraged howl like a wolf's rang out. Simba decisively stopped running and viciously tore at Demon Beast with its sharp claws.

Since it couldn't outrun this demon, it would fight!

Demon Beast's eyes were full of mockery. Rather than counterattacking, it lightly leaped backward and effortlessly avoided Simba's claw strike.

Simba did not let up. Both claws wildly slashed at Demon Beast, determined to tear this demon to pieces.

Yet Demon Beast merely dodged as if taking a leisurely stroll, its movements natural and elegant, like graceful dance steps.

As for Simba, its Wolf Fang Wind Wind Fist was thrown with tremendous force, its strikes stirring up the air—yet... it was completely useless.

"Is that all you can do?"

Demon Beast tilted its head slightly, its low, hoarse, magnetic voice sounding out.

"So weak."

"Awooo!!!"

That word, "weak," seemed to touch some primal nerve in Simba. It let out an utterly furious howl, blood vessels filling its green beast eyes.

It huffed!

The black phantom spun, and Demon Beast's figure instantly vanished from before Simba, causing Simba, still in its huffing state, to blank out for a moment.

The next instant, a demonic claw wreathed in black energy slammed heavily onto Simba's forehead.

Bang!

Simba's body instantly stiffened. Its eyes gradually lost focus and rolled white as its burly body collapsed to the ground, slowly falling unconscious.

"You didn't kill it, did you?"

Gu Xin walked over.

"Honored Master, you ordered me to capture it alive. How could I disobey your command?"

Like a gentleman, Demon Beast raised its right arm diagonally before its chest and gave Gu Xin a slight bow.

Though the gesture looked exceedingly strange coming from its demonic appearance, that bizarre absurdity instead made one's scalp tingle.

"Well done."

Gu Xin nodded in satisfaction.

Demon Beast smiled and bowed once more, expressing its gratitude for its master's praise. Then it raised its head, its scarlet demonic eyes turning toward the full moon in the night sky.

The moon was truly beautiful.

"Its intelligence is quite high, and its strength... I can't tell exactly, but it's probably no weaker than an ordinary third-rank creature."

Gu Xin examined Demon Beast. There was no doubt that Demon Beast was exceptionally powerful.

The primary material used to create [Demon Beast] had been Silver Demon. Although Silver Demon had been easily toyed with by Baron Nashor back then, it had genuinely possessed peak second-rank strength.

And clearly, as a two-star gold card, [Demon Beast] was only stronger than Silver Demon, not weaker.

Moreover, it was obvious that Demon Beast possessed a remarkably high level of intelligence.

"If I remember correctly, Demon Beast has excellent potential."

Gu Xin narrowed his eyes slightly. He held considerable expectations for the [Demon Beast] card.

Because this was the first gold summon card he had created!

And according to his memories from his previous life, Demon Beast could even evolve into one of the Seven Great Demon Kings in the future. This card was highly valuable.

Therefore, Gu Xin had no intention of selling it. He planned to keep it for himself.

Of course, if he made other [Demon Beasts] in the future, he could sell the newly made ones to other people.

"Macho, take him back."

Gu Xin summoned the Macho Goblin and had it pick up the demi-human before running toward his little shop.

Yeah, this kind of manual labor was better suited to the Macho Goblin.

Gu Xin and the Demon Beast followed behind.

Not long after Gu Xin left, a young man emerged from around a corner in the alley.

"That person just now... was that Little Gu?"

The young man was extremely surprised, to the point that he could barely be sure.

Because the demon beside Gu Xin was very powerful!

Inside the laboratory of the Blue Star Card Shop.

The Macho Goblin set Simba down. Drooling as it stared at the male demi-human, it was eager to try, yet deeply conflicted.

Just once, just one touch!

The Macho Goblin swallowed and reached its green palm toward a certain part of Simba's body.

Just then, footsteps sounded.

The Macho Goblin shuddered in fright, hurriedly withdrew its hand, and sat upright with a solemn expression.

"Not bad, Macho. You didn't get handsy this time."

Gu Xin looked at the honest-looking Macho Goblin in surprise. He had thought that the moment he came down, he would find it humping the demi-human.

Well, it wasn't that Gu Xin was prejudiced. The Macho Goblin simply had far too many prior offenses.

"Very good. You've learned to restrain your desires. You've grown, Macho. I'm very pleased."

Gu Xin was deeply gratified.

"Ge!!"

Hearing Gu Xin's praise, the Macho Goblin's eyes were full of confusion. With its intelligence, it didn't quite understand what Gu Xin meant.

Still, it puffed out its chest and raised its head, accepting its master's praise. After all, Gu Xin rarely complimented it!

"Very good. Go play somewhere."

Gu Xin gestured for the Macho Goblin to go play in the mud.

The Macho Goblin obediently walked away, looking back at Simba with every step. By its standards of beauty, this demi-human was far more attractive than the cultist Ulan.

Well, the main reason was that Simba was still warm, while Ulan had long gone cold.

Gu Xin had already grown used to this. He sat on a stool and leisurely examined the demi-human.

"A werewolf, huh? A bit ugly."

That was Gu Xin's assessment.

The demi-human before him truly wasn't much to look at. Its body was indeed humanoid, with dense gray-black fur covering its limbs, torso, and head. It even had a tail behind it.

Its head in particular was thick with fur, and its mouth was wide. In Gu Xin's eyes—

This demi-human probably only looked thirty percent human. Its degree of human resemblance was far lower than that of the cultists.

It was nowhere near as attractive as the foxfolk Gu Xin had seen at the circus before.

However, after getting a clear look at the creature, Gu Xin knew what kind of card he should refine it into.

The Demon Beast extended its clawed hand. Black demonic power condensed and flickered, forming a sphere that shot toward Simba and landed squarely on his forehead.

Simba let out a pained groan and finally stirred awake.

An unfamiliar ceiling...

Just then, a gentle young voice entered his ears.

"You're awake? How do you feel? Your brain shouldn't have been smashed, right?"