Cat-Eared Maid Café

"By the way, which is worth more, a grass fruit or a wind fruit?"

After confirming General Ha's attribute, Lu Ran asked another question.

"Hm?"

Little White Dragon hadn't expected Lu Ran to ask that out of nowhere.

He said, "Wind is a good attribute too, but grass has more utility. Besides combat, it offers all sorts of support effects. Most birds have the wind attribute, while grass-type pet beasts are rarer, so grass fruits command a higher market price."

"Why do you ask?"

Lu Ran said, "My beginner rewards included a grass fruit. Attribute fruits might be scarce right now, but I should be able to trade it for a wind fruit, right? Where would be the best place to do that?"

"That shouldn't be a prob..." Little White Dragon nodded, but a moment later, his pupils contracted.

Beside him, Sister Hua's pupils contracted too. Both stared at Lu Ran in astonishment.

"What? What did you say? Your rewards for clearing the beginner secret realm included a grass fruit?" Little White Dragon asked in surprise.

"Yes." During their conversation on the way, Lu Ran had learned that advanced resources were only rare to low-level newcomers. They weren't particularly unusual in Infinite City, so he felt little pressure about bringing it up.

Of his three clearance rewards, the Beast Taming skill was probably the most valuable.

"You got a D rating?" Little White Dragon pressed.

At those words, Wild Boar Young Man and the others all turned to look at Lu Ran.

They were rather surprised. How had he earned a D rating with a husky?

"E and F ratings don't come with resource rewards, only basic crystal coins. You only start receiving advanced resources at a D rating," Flowers Bloom Beneath the Brush said.

"You actually got a D rating... and you were lucky enough to get a grass fruit." Little White Dragon hadn't expected to have misjudged him so badly.

A smile soon spread over his face. Suddenly losing all interest in eating, he grabbed Lu Ran and said, "Come with me."

"I know a place where you're sure to find a wind fruit."

"Uh..." Faced with Little White Dragon's visibly doubled enthusiasm, Lu Ran could only let himself be dragged away.

Before leaving, he willed General Ha, who was clutching his head, to turn into a streak of white light and return to the Contract Card.

"Sister Hua, something's come up. I'm heading out."

Despite his excitement, Little White Dragon didn't forget to say goodbye to his colleague.

Flowers Bloom Beneath the Brush adjusted her glasses as she watched Lu Ran and Little White Dragon leave, then pursed her lips. "Look how happy that boy is."

"Sister Hua, are grass fruits really rare?" Wild Boar Young Man asked.

"They're among the rarer advanced resources. The chances of getting one with a D rating aren't high. He might even have earned a C."

"A C? Wouldn't that put him on par with me?" Wild Boar Young Man said in surprise.

He had earned a C himself, so he knew how difficult it was to get that rating in the beginner secret realm. Even they had narrowly escaped danger several times.

And his pet beast was a pig, which had undergone an atavistic mutation after being contracted and become a supernatural wild boar!

Even in nature, wild boars were formidable creatures, nothing a husky could compare with.

"I'm puzzled too. How did he earn a D rating or higher with a husky...?" Sister Hua pondered for a moment, then said, "Maybe they're exceptionally talented. I forgot to tell you: some animals that look weak, like chickens, ducks, or insects, have a chance of awakening as high-grade supernatural species right from their initial contract if they're highly compatible with their Beast Tamers. They can be on par with lions and tigers. That kind of thing is a rare stroke of luck. Maybe that's what happened to him..."

"Some people are born Beast Tamers."

"Whatever the case, that 'John Doe' is pretty impressive. If you run into him again, you could get to know him better and make friends. Plenty of secret realms can't be conquered alone, after all. Having a strong partner makes things much easier."

"Hahaha, that really is impressive..." Pig-Raising Young Man scratched his head, committing Lu Ran and General Ha to memory with a touch of envy. He could ask them for advice and get acquainted sometime.

Little White Dragon dragged Lu Ran along at breakneck speed.

Along the way, Little White Dragon even swiped his card to rent a shared motorcycle by the roadside, then sped toward the central district with Lu Ran.

"Where are you taking me?" Lu Ran couldn't help asking from under his helmet.

"You won't find any wind fruits by going straight to the shops right now. But the place I'm taking you to will definitely come through."

Vroom, vroom, vroom-

As the motorcycle raced along, Lu Ran saw quite a few more people, but none of them exchanged words.

At last, Little White Dragon brought Lu Ran to a stop outside a shop with distinctly anime-inspired decor.

Once the motorcycle stopped, Lu Ran turned to read the name on the pink storefront. He fell silent, the corner of his mouth twitching.

The sign clearly read: Cat-Eared Maid Café!

"This is where you wanted to take me?"

Lu Ran gave Little White Dragon Amid the Waves, who was licking his lips, a skeptical look as he asked.

"Yes. The Cat-Eared Maid Café is a chain intelligence agency founded by a very capable information broker among the second-generation Beast Tamers. It has plenty of branches throughout the major Infinite Cities. On the surface, it looks like a café, but it's actually an intelligence hub. If you need information in the future, you can't go wrong spending your money here."

"Rather than searching every shop aimlessly for a wind fruit, it's much more efficient to commission them directly."

"Welcome!" While Little White Dragon and Lu Ran were talking, the café door opened. A woman in a black-and-white maid outfit with cat-ear and cat-tail accessories stepped outside. At her feet followed an adorably dressed, Ragdoll-like pet cat wearing a bow.

"Oh, Mr. Little White Dragon." The cat-eared maid immediately smiled when she saw Little White Dragon Amid the Waves.

"Hehe, Xiao Ling." Little White Dragon chuckled. In his suit, he looked every inch a beast dressed as a gentleman. "I brought a newcomer to have a look around."

By now, Lu Ran was utterly speechless. Looking at the smile Little White Dragon couldn't hide, he grumbled inwardly.

At first, he'd thought Little White Dragon was just a respectable, overworked wage slave. He hadn't expected him to be a closet lecher too.

Then again, what respectable person renamed himself Little White Dragon Amid the Waves?

Hah. Men.

Judging by how familiar he was with the place, he must have come here often.

Lu Ran remained skeptical about whether this really was an intelligence agency.

"A newcomer? Welcome, welcome." The cat-eared maid gave Lu Ran a small smile.

"Hello," Lu Ran said, taking off his helmet.

"Let me introduce you. This is Wind and Rain Drifting Feather. She became a Beast Tamer about a month ago too. Broadly speaking, all of us count as fourth-generation Beast Tamers, though the two of us started almost a month before you. She works here. If you ever need any specialized information, you can buy it here. Don't underestimate this café. It's currently Xia Country's second-largest intelligence agency, right behind the official one."

"Xiao Ling, this newcomer passed his trial today. He got a grass fruit as a beginner reward, but his pet beast has the wind attribute, so he wants to trade it for a wind fruit. Can you help?"

The eyes of the cat-eared maid named Xiao Ling lit up. She looked at Lu Ran and said, "Finding a wind fruit anywhere else right now wouldn't be easy, but you've come to the right place."

"Please come inside first."

The maid café's interior had a rather classical style, with bookshelves filling the room.

It also felt more like a cattery than a café. Besides the pet cat following Xiao Ling, several pet cats of different species lay around the interior.

Most striking of all was a statue in the center of the shop, seemingly enshrined there.

That statue was also a cat, but it looked far nobler than the pet cats, constantly surveying its surroundings with gemstone-like eyes.

"It's quite late, so we don't have any other customers right now. Sit wherever you like." After leading them inside, Xiao Ling took out a menu and handed it to Lu Ran with a smile. "What would you like to drink?"

Lu Ran thanked her again and looked at the menu.

When he saw coffees that cost more than entering a secret realm once, his fingers twitched. Unwilling to waste money just yet, he looked up and said, "Nothing, thanks."

"The prices might look high, but all the ingredients in these drinks come from secret realms. Drinking them gives you bonuses, so the markup is reasonable," Little White Dragon said with a smile beside him, seemingly noticing his concern.

"Let's get down to business first." Lu Ran didn't know the going rates and wasn't particularly interested in a drink right now.

By then, Wind and Rain Drifting Feather had taken out a tablet-like device and was standing beside Lu Ran.

"A wind fruit, right? Preferably acquired through barter." She was clearly using the tablet to search for the information Lu Ran needed.

"Found it."

"We currently have information on three wind fruits."

"The cheapest information, and the most suitable for you, costs fifty crystal coins."

"That cheap?" Lu Ran was surprised.

After all, his beginner clearance rewards had included ten thousand crystal coins.

And fifty crystal coins were only a fraction of the price of those coffees and milk teas.

"Generally, cheap information means it isn't very difficult to obtain. There's a good chance you could get it elsewhere too. Are you interested?" Wind and Rain Drifting Feather asked.

"Yes," Lu Ran said. It was only fifty crystal coins. He might as well pay for the convenience.

Wind and Rain Drifting Feather smiled faintly. "There's a card reader on the table. Just put your hand over it."

Lu Ran looked at a sensor screen on the table.

He reached out and placed his palm on it.

The next moment, a voice sounded in his mind, and a line of text appeared before his eyes.

[The Cat-Eared Maid Café requests payment of 50 crystal coins. Do you agree?]

"I agree," Lu Ran said.

A moment later, Xiao Ling tapped the tablet. "All right, the information is unlocked. It has now been sent to your inbox by email."

The identity card's communication functions supported emails, voice calls, and video calls.

Lu Ran checked his inbox and immediately found a system email from the Cat-Eared Maid Café.

[The Beast Tamer Guild "Medicine Pavilion," based in the Sixth Infinite City, purchases grass fruits in unlimited quantities. It accepts both crystal coin transactions and barter. Wind fruits are currently included on the Medicine Pavilion guild's publicly available resource exchange list.]

"The Sixth Infinite City? The Medicine Pavilion guild?" After receiving the information, Lu Ran read it out without concealing anything.

Clearly, he still needed an explanation.

"Hmm..." The cat-eared maid thought for a moment, then said, "We're in the Third Infinite City. The Sixth Infinite City is over in the southwestern region. You'll need to use a teleportation array, or travel to the corresponding region in the real world, to enter it. As for the Medicine Pavilion, it's a Beast Tamer Guild."

"Beast Tamer Guilds are groups of Beast Tamers. They were originally established to tackle abyss-difficulty secret realms together, and most are formed by unofficial Beast Tamers. I've heard of the Medicine Pavilion. It was founded by a second-generation Beast Tamer and has quite a few support- and healing-oriented Beast Tamers, as well as many crafting-oriented Beast Tamers skilled at making medicine. It's essentially a pharmaceutical company operating as a commercially focused guild. So the information you received says they have wind fruits and need grass fruits, right?"

"Yes." Lu Ran nodded. "So does that mean I'll have to go to the Sixth Infinite City to make the trade?"

"No. Your grass fruit is actually worth more than a wind fruit. Since you're a new customer at the Cat-Eared Maid Café, I'll give you a little perk and contact the Medicine Pavilion's people for you. They'll bring a wind fruit here to trade with you. Since the grass fruit is more valuable, I'll also try to get you as many extra resources as I can," Wind and Rain Drifting Feather said. "Remember to give me a five-star review afterward~"

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