Sudden Death King

Lu Ran gazed kindly at Sudden Death King.

Although his plan was to try every animal he knew in Green Sea City and pick... pick his second pet there, he simply had too few Awakening Leaves at the moment.

Sudden Death King's appearance reminded Lu Ran that, besides General Ha, he already had another pet at home, didn't he?

He had even discussed with Fang Lan before whether lizards could evolve into Giant Dragons... Now he could see whether Sudden Death King had the potential for extraordinary evolution.

Of course, Lu Ran wasn't getting his hopes up.

After all, only one animal in a hundred could awaken Extraordinary Power through an Awakening Leaf alone, without relying on a Beast Tamer contract.

As for Sudden Death King... no matter how he looked at him, he didn't seem to have the makings of a powerhouse.

His instincts proved right. When he extended the invitation to Sudden Death King, the lizard's eyes widened.

Then his body slowly toppled over, as though he had breathed his last...

[That looks so gross. I want bugs, not leaves. Sudden death!]

Lu Ran: ?

Lu Ran looked at the lizard lying on the television without the slightest sign of life and took a deep breath.

"Get up, or I'll bury you."

Sudden Death King recoiled: !!!

At that, he immediately scrambled up.

Thinking about Sudden Death King's history, Lu Ran sighed.

He was actually Sudden Death King's third owner.

Originally, Sudden Death King had been a pet belonging to one of Fang Lan's close female friends.

However, Red-Eyed Hawk Lizards were extremely fragile creatures, easily affected by their surroundings.

If their habitat changed even slightly or failed to meet their survival requirements, they would feel unwell and might even drop dead on the spot.

Because Fang Lan's friend hadn't cared for him properly, Sudden Death King had soon come close to dying for real-not merely playing dead.

Fortunately, Fang Lan came from a family of veterinary professionals and had broad expertise herself, so when her friend asked for help, she had managed to save Sudden Death King.

In the end, realizing she couldn't keep Sudden Death King alive herself, Fang Lan's friend had given him to Fang Lan to raise.

However, although Fang Lan kept lizards too, hers were all easy to care for. This was her first time raising a Red-Eyed Hawk Lizard, and this creature that threatened to drop dead at the slightest provocation gave her quite a headache. She wasn't sure whether she could raise him successfully.

Seeing her distress, Lu Ran had asked for the Red-Eyed Hawk Lizard under the pretext of requesting a birthday present.

Although he had no experience raising Red-Eyed Hawk Lizards either, he could hear this fellow's thoughts and understand what he needed from his surroundings, greatly increasing his chances of survival.

And that was exactly how it had worked out. Lu Ran had cared for him very well, even having an enormous artificial habitat custom-built for him.

It was fair to say that without Sudden Death King's incredible luck, which kept bringing him increasingly reliable owners, he might not have survived to this day.

"Waka." Sudden Death King nervously sprang back to life, terrified that Lu Ran might actually bury him.

"Eat this."

Lu Ran held out his left palm. The Red-Eyed Hawk Lizard hesitated, then climbed onto it.

Then Lu Ran brought over the Awakening Leaf in his right hand and pressed it to Sudden Death King's mouth.

The Awakening Leaf was good stuff. After all, it was a high-grade extraordinary resource. Even if Sudden Death King lacked the potential to awaken through it, his vitality would grow stronger, allowing him to adapt better to his surroundings.

Then Lu Ran wouldn't have to worry about him dying for real.

"Waka..." Suppressing his distaste, Sudden Death King began nibbling on the Awakening Leaf.

Lu Ran shook his head. Unlike General Ha, who happily ate both meat and vegetables, this little fellow was a strict carnivore.

Whenever Lu Ran brought crickets, rhinoceros beetles, and other fighting insects home to train, this fellow would secretly watch them.

Once, he had even tried to sneak a bite, only to be knocked flat on the spot by the Insect King rhinoceros beetle. After that, he had grown even more timid.

Before long, Sudden Death King finished the entire Awakening Leaf.

After eating it, he didn't seem to change at all.

Lu Ran held him in his hands, examining and handling him for several minutes, but there was still no change.

Seeing this, he met Sudden Death King's red eyes... then sighed.

"Looks like this blessing wasn't meant for you."

"Off you go. Don't stay out of your habitat too long, or you'll start feeling unwell."

Lu Ran set him on the floor and gestured for him to crawl back himself.

Meanwhile, Lu Ran took out his phone again, ready to call Fang Lan and arrange a meal.

"Waka..."

But after being put down, Sudden Death King didn't leave. Instead, he kept looking up at Lu Ran.

As Sudden Death King let out a cry, brown light suddenly flickered over his body.

"Huh?" The change immediately caught Lu Ran's attention.

Lu Ran looked over and froze. He really could evolve?

He had actually hit that one-in-a-hundred chance!

"Nice!" Lu Ran put down his phone once again.

His mood instantly soared.

All that time spent sparring with Pig Farmer hadn't been wasted after all.

But as the brown light enveloped Sudden Death King's body, his figure beneath it... Hmm? Wasn't getting bigger?

Although growing larger wasn't a universal rule when Common animals evolved into extraordinary creatures, most of them did increase in size.

The light continued to envelop him, but he still showed no signs of growing.

Lu Ran pondered this. Was his potential too low?

No! Gradually, Lu Ran sensed something was wrong.

"Damn it, fine if you're not getting bigger and more imposing, but why are you shrinking?!"

Within moments, Lu Ran's eyes widened in astonishment. In the blink of an eye, the lizard's body had grown shorter, becoming even tinier.

"What's going on..."

Yet although Sudden Death King's body had shrunk... Lu Ran's expression grew solemn again.

He sensed the terrifying presence of a fierce beast beneath that light.

After using Super Beast Mimicry, Lu Ran had acquired some bestial traits himself and could sense the threatening presence of nearby creatures.

The shrunken Sudden Death King... was no ordinary creature!

"General Ha, come out and take a look." Lu Ran stepped back and summoned General Ha with a flick of his hand.

General Ha stared, dumbstruck, with a bewildered expression. What was this?

As the light faded, a "Red-Eyed Hawk Lizard" only as long as a finger appeared before them.

Why did this fellow look so familiar? General Ha wondered.

Could this be Sudden Death King, who had dropped dead after just one look from him? Why had he gotten smaller?

"Waka!!!" Sudden Death King stirred, turning his red eyes toward Lu Ran and General Ha. That movement made General Ha furrow his brow.

"Grrr-" Seemingly sensing a threat from Sudden Death King comparable to that of the extraordinary Northeast Golden Tiger, General Ha fixed his gaze on him and stood protectively in front of Lu Ran, asking what was going on.

But the moment General Ha bared his teeth, Sudden Death King instantly dropped dead, peacefully passing away once again...

General Ha: ?

Lu Ran's stomach ached. "Damn it, you're extraordinary now. Why hasn't your personality changed?"

"General Ha, did you feel that?"

"Woof!" General Ha nodded, stepped forward, and poked the "dead" miniature Red-Eyes Black Dragon with a paw.

Such incredible physical toughness.

General Ha felt that Sudden Death King's armor was now no less hard than that boar's Rock body. Touching it also gave him a slight tingling sensation.

"Just as I thought. No wonder I sensed such a powerful presence."

Lu Ran could tell now. He seemed to have stumbled upon another exceptional specimen.

He wasn't sure whether he was lucky or Fang Lan was.

If Lu Ran's judgment was correct, Sudden Death King's species rank after first awakening Extraordinary Power was... High-level Extraordinary!

Without any feedback from a Beast Tamer contract, his independent awakening had brought him straight to High-level Extraordinary!

Potential like that was probably even greater than that of the fierce tigers and black bears rated as "mighty species" on the Divine Pet Rankings.

After all, before awakening, he had merely been a palm-sized lizard.

So in a sense, the potential of Sudden Death King and Fang Lan's Color-Variant Wolf Spider was even more frightening.

Surely not every pet Fang Lan had raised started out as a high extraordinary species...

Standing on the floor, Lu Ran silently watched Sudden Death King play dead without the slightest flaw in his performance. But with this personality... despite his incredible species potential, he seemed rather difficult to train.

When someone provokes you, can't you make them drop dead instead of dropping dead yourself???

And... why are you so small? You don't fit my vision of a majestic Giant Dragon at all. Your species rank might be high now, but what can a lizard smaller than my palm actually do?

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