Who Was Lu Ran?

Ying had thought Lu Ran and that Silly Husky would have a tough fight on their hands.

After all, necromancy had far too many advantages in the early stages: invisibility, passing through walls, possession...

Besides, that Silly Husky looked to be at an even lower level than the Necromantic Cat.

Yet they had taken out this Necromancer in a single exchange?

"Trash!" Manager Ying scoffed.

Granted, Lu Ran pulling out a high-grade weapon had been one of the factors that turned the tables.

But a weapon alone wasn't enough. That dog... the way that dog had used its presence...

Its superb energy-flow techniques and its mastery of the weapon were nothing like what a level-six pet beast should have been capable of!

Even a veteran Beast Tamer raising a new pet could hardly have done better, could they?

Manager Ying quickly landed on the ground and looked at Lu Ran and the Silly Husky.

"Aroo?" This was General Ha's first time seeing Manager Ying. When he noticed the cat studying him, he adopted a majestic expression.

What were you staring at?

Overwhelmed by my peerless prowess?

A mere undead creature was no match for me.

"But he doesn't look very bright!" Manager Ying said in puzzlement.

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!!!" General Ha was shocked. Was this cat insulting him? Lu Ran seemed to say that all the time!

He had looked so cool just now! What right did this cat have to criticize him? He would remember this grudge!

"Waka!!!" Sudden Death King was stunned on Lu Ran's shoulder. His admiration for General Ha knew no bounds, not just because General Ha could easily deal with the undead, but because he could face any powerful opponent without a care!

After pondering it carefully, Sudden Death King decided this probably wasn't courage. There was just something wrong with General Ha's brain.

He reckoned that even if an actual Giant Dragon appeared in front of them, Brother Ha would charge straight at it. Everyone got equal treatment.

"Nonsense. My General Ha has incredible aptitude and an off-the-charts IQ." Naturally, Lu Ran had to defend his own pet.

"If all rookie Beast Tamers were like you, we wouldn't have to worry about Necromancers picking them off."

Manager Ying's mouth twitched. She felt that her attempt to give Lu Ran some training had been utterly pointless.

Hadn't she just handed him the credit for free? And after all that work...

Sure enough, not a single psychic was easy to deal with.

She looked toward the Necromancer lying amid the dust. Fortunately, he had let his undead pet possess him before attacking. Otherwise, he would undoubtedly have been a corpse by now.

Even with soul energy covering his entire body as protection, his injuries were still severe.

Several huge sword wounds had split open the flesh of his chest, sending blood gushing out. One arm was barely hanging on, almost completely severed...

Neither Lu Ran nor Sudden Death King wanted to look that way for long.

"Leave him like that. He won't die."

"Call that guy and have him come clean this up," Manager Ying told Lu Ran.

"Okay." Lu Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Getting dragged into this had dampened his mood a little, but the thought of the reward money coming his way left him satisfied.

Ideally, it would cover a whole month's food for General Ha and Sudden Death King, with a lightning awakening fruit thrown in. Then General Ha's spending half his stamina firing off Gale Sword Aura, and Lu Ran's wasting half a day, wouldn't have been for nothing!

Lu Ran took out his phone and called Zhao Chen. Zhao Chen was waiting for news at the Jinling Beast Taming Tower. Once he heard Lu Ran's report and confirmed the address, he immediately said in delight, "Great! We'll be right there!"

After hanging up, Lu Ran couldn't help glancing at the blood-soaked Necromancer again. "Manager Ying, he seemed pretty rational to me. If you hadn't blocked his teleportation with a spatial skill, he probably would've escaped to Infinite City already."

"From meeting me to luring me over here, he acted pretty much like a Common person. He seemed to have decent self-control. Is he one of those people you mentioned with a real talent for being a Necromancer?"

Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran. "You're overthinking it! He's simply too weak."

"Necromancy pets feed on souls, but souls are incredibly complex and contain all sorts of emotions from living beings. The more souls they consume, the more they contaminate themselves. Given enough time, they lose control."

"Because Necromancers are linked to their undead pets through their contracts, they're affected too and gradually go mad."

"The reason he looks relatively normal right now isn't that he has exceptional willpower. They simply haven't consumed many souls yet."

"Of course, 'not many' is relative. It's still been a huge boost for them. This guy hasn't even been a Beast Tamer as long as you have-only a few days. Yet his pet is already level eight, while yours is only level six. That's the advantage Necromancers have."

So that was it...

"Do the souls Necromancy pets consume have to be supernatural ones? He didn't seem interested in attacking Common people or Common animals."

"Not necessarily, but Common souls are low-quality food. It takes enormous quantities to fill them up, and consuming too mixed a diet makes Necromancy pets and Necromancers more prone to madness. So even Necromancers almost never let their undead consume Common souls. That's digging their own graves, and it isn't good for their growth."

"It's like you. You wouldn't eat dog food, would you?"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough." Lu Ran looked embarrassed. General Ha looked indignant, while Sudden Death King sank into thought.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Manager Ying eyed Lu Ran suspiciously.

She had a nagging feeling Lu Ran was up to no good.

At first, this guy had acted like a coward scared witless of Necromancers.

Then he had turned around and taken one out instantly.

"Ha... ha..." Lu Ran said. "I just wanted to learn more about potential enemies."

"Ha... ha..." Lu Ran said, "I just wanted to learn more about potential enemies."

"Really...?" Manager Ying remained suspicious, but she continued, "Then I'll explain."

"Necromancy is extremely unusual. The only known way to create an undead pet is through the Beast Taming skill, Necromantic Revival."

"Necromantic Revival: after a contracted pet dies, it can be converted into an undead creature, gaining the necromancy attribute. However, it will most likely lose its original attributes and memories, becoming like a puppet. Once fully converted, its species rank also has a chance of changing, either rising or falling."

Lu Ran frowned.

"So far, there's no information on any Secret Realm that drops the Necromantic Revival Beast Taming skill. Right now, it's exclusive to Other Shore. Nobody knows where they're getting it in such large quantities."

"Do you know why Other Shore has survived despite crackdowns by countries all over the world?"

"Why?"

"Because they have a monopoly on this Beast Taming skill, allowing them to keep recruiting new members."

"Think about it. If your pet died, would you want him gone forever, or would you want him reborn in another form? If you wanted him reborn, you'd have to join Other Shore. What would you choose then?"

"Whine..." General Ha added another grudge to his list. This cat was wishing him dead.

"Even if only one out of every ten powerful Beast Tamers chooses Other Shore, they'll still have a constant supply of fresh blood."

"I keep getting the feeling you're one of the people who might fall for that someday..." Manager Ying grew increasingly suspicious.

Lu Ran: ???

"Not a chance, not a chance. My resolve is firm," Lu Ran said confidently.

Although Necromantic Revival really did hold considerable appeal for him...

Still, the more he learned, the more troublesome it sounded. First, finding food would be too much trouble. He had no desire to hunt other Beast Tamers. Second, it might erase a pet's memories of its former life. Would that even be the same pet anymore?

"I hope so!" Manager Ying said. "Getting involved with that stuff only drags you deeper and deeper until you're neither human nor ghost. You have bright futures ahead of you. There's no need for it~"

"All right, what do you want? You took out a Necromancer. Even if he was just a rookie, the reward should be substantial. As promised, it's all yours," Manager Ying said casually.

"Crystal Coins. Just Crystal Coins! Thank you, Manager Ying." Lu Ran broke into a delighted smile. With Crystal Coins, he could buy whatever resources he wanted.

As soon as he finished speaking, movement stirred all around them. Jinling's official Beast Tamers must have arrived...

Night fell.

Since Lu Ran had personally encountered a Necromancer, Zhao Chen worried that the experience might leave him traumatized and had wanted to arrange counseling for him. However, Lu Ran had been away from the dojo for too long and only wanted to head back, so he declined the kind offer.

Lu Ran acted as though nothing had happened that day and went out to dinner with his master and the others that evening. What he didn't know was that Manager Ying had gotten through to Gu Qingyi.

"Little Qingyi, you finally picked up."

"Ying? Sorry, I was researching evolution earlier. What's wrong? Did you need something?"

"You've got pretty good luck. Where did you find a rookie with such outstanding potential? I met that Lu Ran you've got your eye on today. He's talented. He might make it to the front ranks someday and become a dependable right-hand man for you."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'? Do you think I've underestimated his potential?"

"No, this Lu Ran you're talking about... who is he?"

Manager Ying: "Meow, meow, meow???"

A little later.

Manager Ying hung up and sank into thought. Lu Ran really hadn't lied to her! He genuinely didn't know Gu Qingyi well!

"Damn it! Then why did I go to all that trouble to train him and even give him resources? What a loss!"

"No, maybe it wasn't a loss. He really does have good potential. Since Gu Qingyi said he isn't one of hers, why don't I... make the first move and recruit him into the Maid Café?"

"But he's contracted a dog. No, that won't do."

Manager Ying kept thinking it over. In the end, she decided to investigate Lu Ran's background first.

"I want all his information within six hours, including that Silly Husky's. I have a feeling that Silly Husky's origins aren't simple. Look carefully into what happened to him before he met Lu Ran," she said into her phone.

"We're both clones, so why do you get to slack off and travel while I have to gather intelligence? Our original is so unfair." Beneath the moonlight, a black cat with emerald-green eyes voiced her dissatisfaction.