Boom!
Gray waves surged across the boundless ocean, crashing against the reefs of Mirror Moon Island.
On the island, a flock of seagulls spread their blue-green wings, their gazes sweeping over the warships anchored in the harbor as they circled above the town.
"Must've gotten up too suddenly..." Luo Yu woke in an open-air courtyard, staring in a daze at the mutated seabirds beneath the clear sky.
He seemed to see the seagulls wearing uniforms and carrying mailbags. Were they delivering letters?
Before he could think any further, another enormous creature, resembling a "white whale," passed through the sea of clouds. Its silver scales and feathers gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight. It no longer looked like a life-form from Earth.
"What the heck is that... Who am I? Where am I...?" Luo Yu's head swam.
"I remember now..."
He had been a breeder at a pet breeding facility, where his job was to develop new pet varieties.
After years of diligent work, he had finally bought a car and a house, only for the apocalypse to arrive...
Countless extraterrestrial bodies of water had passed by in close succession, plunging into Earth's atmosphere. A global downpour had followed.
Vast numbers of living creatures had rapidly mutated after coming into contact with the rain, becoming zombies!
Between the man-eating monsters and the relentless, atrocious weather, society's old order had quickly collapsed.
Luo Yu's last memory was of being forced by a food shortage to roast and eat a zombie fish.
As expected, he had kicked the bucket.
He had died of food poisoning.
When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in this unfamiliar place.
And everything he saw led Luo Yu to conclude that he had probably transmigrated...
"Just as I thought!" After getting up, he went to a pond in the courtyard and looked at his reflection. A well-proportioned boy appeared in the water. He was only fifteen or sixteen, wasn't he?
What concerned Luo Yu more, however, was that the pond also contained many palm-sized, ink-black octopuses. Judging by their appearance, they weren't any species from Earth either.
"Can you... eat these octopuses?"
Perhaps it had been too long since he'd eaten, but everything looked like food to Luo Yu now.
These unfamiliar ink-black octopuses looked nice and chewy. They might be delicious grilled on an iron plate or served as marinated seafood.
"Forget it... I got a second life for free. Better not eat things at random."
Luo Yu hesitated and was just about to look away when rows of strange characters suddenly appeared over one of the ink-black octopuses he was watching.
[Species]: Ink Fish [Attribute]: Water [Species rank]: Low-Rank Ordinary Species [Life level]: Level 1 [Species ability]: Ink Spray [Individual talent]: Deadly Poison (Ordinary talent. Possesses toxicity exceeding that of ordinary individuals.)
Was hunger making his eyes play tricks on him? Was this a hallucination?
Luo Yu froze and rubbed his eyes.
The text disappeared, but when he turned to look at another one...
He could still see its information. The contents were much the same, except for the talent entry.
[Individual talent]: Spray Warrior (Ordinary talent. Sprays ink more accurately than ordinary individuals.)
"What is all this...?" Luo Yu couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"But with Deadly Poison and Spray Warrior... they really aren't safe to eat."
There were even information prompts...
Thank you, mysterious panel.
But these prompts aren't enough. Where exactly am I... Can somebody tell me?!
Luo Yu had just finished shouting in his heart when his consciousness suddenly spun, and countless images streamed through his mind.
Islands, warships, harbors, mutated creature research institutes...
His breathing quickened, and he instinctively tried to break free of the state.
"This is..."
But only after he succeeded in breaking free did Luo Yu realize that those seemed to be the original owner's memories... the very thing he needed most right now.
According to those hazy memories, this seemed to be a world dominated by oceans, with very little land.
The seas teemed with all kinds of powerful mutated sea beasts and were extremely dangerous. As a result, a group known as "beast tamers" held an extraordinary status!
They developed special abilities to form contracts with sea beasts, using them as ships and weapons to hunt for resources in the sea and protect one human settlement after another.
Some top beast tamers could even build cities and countries on the backs of their pet beasts.
And his current identity was Luo Yu, a prospective beast tamer on Mirror Moon Island, a small human settlement.
They shared the same name and even looked somewhat alike, but he was no longer the corporate drone trapped in a building by the torrential rain.
He was currently living in a biological research institute that the island had allocated to the original owner's parents.
Luo Yu raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight. He had only eaten one zombie fish. Where had that landed him...?
"Not long ago, Father and Mother Luo, both biologists, set off for Azure Waves Island, the largest human settlement, to buy the original owner a top-grade pet beast cub. Unfortunately, they encountered a sea beast attack on the way, and their ship was destroyed, killing them..."
"Upon learning the terrible news, the original owner couldn't withstand the blow and took a large quantity of sleeping pills to kill himself..."
Now Luo Yu understood what the ink-black octopuses in the pond were.
Research subjects...
Father and Mother Luo had both been obsessed with researching mutated creatures. Though they had made no astonishing breakthroughs, they had been fairly well-known on Mirror Moon Island, and the evolution of Ink Fish was the problem they had been working to solve.
Normally, biological evolution was extremely slow, but this world was somewhat different. Under the influence of supernatural forces, it sometimes took only a single trigger for one species to become another, more powerful one.
Years ago, someone had stumbled upon an evolution ritual performed by a group of wild Ink Fish.
During the ritual, a large number of Ink Fish turned into black ink and fused with one another, condensing into a new form in the sea and ultimately completing their transformation.
After fusing and evolving, they were said to possess terrifying strength, becoming a "Monarch Species" whose body could easily crush ships.
When word got out, the price of Ink Fish skyrocketed. Many people followed the trend and bred them, hoping to uncover the principles behind their evolution. But even now, no one had successfully recreated that evolution ritual. Luo Yu's parents had been among the suckers.
"So I've transmigrated to a supernatural ocean world where mutated creatures and humans coexist, and the power system is 'Beast Taming'?"
"But couldn't I have gotten a normal start? I was an orphan in my last life and grew up relying entirely on social welfare, and this time my parents were sacrificed to heaven again..."
Luo Yu looked at the group of Ink Fish.
The craze for breeding Ink Fish had long since passed, and their price had collapsed. They were practically a liability...
On top of that, the original owner's parents had sold off all their other assets and taken the money to buy a pet beast, so there was no doubt about it: he was a pauper now.
He couldn't even afford a decent pet beast... How was he supposed to survive in this world?
Even farmers in this world apparently needed pet beasts to ripen and water their crops so they would grow quickly and well... It could be said that contracting a pet beast was no less important than being reincarnated a second time!
Although he vaguely remembered that Mirror Moon Island's welfare was fairly good and that it provided pet beasts free of charge for beast tamers of the appropriate age to contract, did contracting a free pet beast... really offer a bright future?
"Chances are it'll be pitch-black. If I'd known, I wouldn't have lent my light to Tiga back then... Hmm... Wait...!" Luo Yu suddenly realized something.
Come to think of it, I could see these Ink Fish's information just now, couldn't I?
In his memories, other people didn't have that ability.
A golden finger...?
Luo Yu observed them for a good while longer and discovered that many of the Ink Fish's talents weren't obvious. They were hidden talents that would be hard to discover without a careful search, rather like a group of college students who seemed useless on the surface but unknowingly concealed talents like "shooting," "diving," and "perfect pitch."
As a breeder who had worked in pet breeding for years, he suddenly felt his heart race...
Could I use this ability to breed mutated creatures and roll for top-grade traits?
Find low-level individuals with hidden exceptional talents and mate them to produce offspring, continually refining their bloodlines and passing down top-grade talents. After a few generations, wouldn't that be a form of "evolution" too?!
In his previous life, as an orphan, he had loved keeping pets from childhood and enjoyed their company.
After growing up, he had gone into a pet-related line of work, and he was especially interested in breeding all kinds of new pet varieties.
Even when playing pet-catching games, he hadn't been a mainstream collector or battler. Instead, he had liked quietly hatching eggs at his base and breeding the young he liked...
But in reality, no matter how carefully ordinary creatures were bred, their offspring were still ordinary creatures, and the differences wouldn't be all that great.
But in this world, where biological evolution defied reason... perhaps he could breed a super individual capable of breaking the shackles of its species and possessing the aptitude to evolve?
Luo Yu's hand trembled slightly.
Wouldn't that make this the world a breeder dreams of?
So perhaps he could inherit the original owner's parents' profession and work in mutated creature research too?
Biologists were highly esteemed in this world, especially marine biologists who had made major research breakthroughs.
After all, this world's system revolved around marine life.
Research mutated sea beasts... Once I have a series of results, won't I have money?!
"Besides... even if I don't have money, it looks like I don't need to worry about being unable to buy a top-grade pet beast."
Luo Yu had also discovered that mutated beasts' individual talents had different grades.
Of these several hundred Ink Fish, most had ordinary talents such as "Cold Resistance," "Focus," and "Strongman," but four possessed "advanced talents." One of those even had "dual talents."
They were "Breeding Paragon," "Dark Affinity," "Eight-Sword Style," "Mercy," and "Thick Skin and Tough Flesh"!
"Breeding Paragon, advanced talent: more likely than ordinary individuals to produce exceptional offspring."
"Dark Affinity, advanced talent: possesses the aptitude to comprehend and master dark-type abilities."
"Eight-Sword Style, advanced talent: its eight tentacles can deftly manipulate implements and abilities simultaneously."
And "Mercy, advanced talent: the ink it sprays can stop bleeding and heal wounds; Thick Skin and Tough Flesh, ordinary talent: more resistant to blows than ordinary individuals." These two talents appeared on the same Ink Fish, the only individual here with dual talents.
Palm-sized Ink Fish were undoubtedly weakling mutated beasts at the bottom of the food chain...
Yet Luo Yu saw different possibilities in these four Ink Fish with advanced talents. The Breeding Paragon, for example, seemed as though it had been prepared just for him.
And then there was the "dark octopus." If it received targeted training and learned dark abilities outside its own type, its combat power would surely crush that of ordinary individuals.
It might even have a chance to contend with mutated beasts of a higher species rank...
So, since he had no money to contract a mutated beast of a higher-ranked species, was it possible to find a bargain and contract a mutated beast with an unremarkable species rank but an incredibly heaven-defying hidden talent?
A low species rank didn't necessarily mean poor potential if its individual talent was strong!
It was just that no one had discovered what made them shine.
Besides, species rank could be raised through mutation and evolution, whereas talents were innate. Clearly, individuals with greater talents had more potential.
Although Luo Yu would rather breed a pet beast he liked and contract it himself-for example, by mating two individuals with advanced talents to produce offspring possessing both-time and money didn't seem to allow him to do that for his first pet beast...
It was more important to contract a pet beast first and establish himself. Breeding could wait until later.
"Good, that's what I'll do. There are plenty of free, weak wild mutated beasts on the island. There have to be some bargains to pick up..."
Luo Yu had just finished making his plans when a knock at the door interrupted his fantasy.
"Is anyone there?" a woman's voice called.
Luo Yu froze, then passed through the research institute from the back courtyard and came to the door.
Through the peephole, he saw that the person knocking was a mature beauty in professional attire, holding a document. She was probably twenty-eight or twenty-nine.
Great. At least it's not a zombie frog knocking with its tongue anymore.
"Who is it?" Luo Yu asked instinctively.
"I'm Yu Wan, a clerk with the Beast Management Bureau. I'm here to deliver the 'Notice of Reclamation of the Right to Use the Luo Shui Research Institute,'" the woman said from outside the door.
Reclaim the research institute?
I was just planning to make a living as a biologist, and now you're taking away my rice bowl?
Have a heart!
If he wanted to research mutated creatures, a research institute and laboratory were indispensable...
I have to keep the Luo Shui Research Institute!
"Please come in."
Luo Yu opened the door, and the Beast Management Bureau clerk entered the research institute.
"Miss Yu Wan, when exactly will it be reclaimed?" Luo Yu asked first.
Yu Wan stared straight at him.
"You don't recognize me with my clothes on?" Yu Wan asked.
Luo Yu: ???
Aren't you a clerk with the Beast Tamer Administration Bureau? Do we... have some other relationship?
Come on, brain, think!
"You don't remember? Fair enough, you were still little back then," Yu Wan said with a smile.
"Here's a hint: swimming lessons..."
Luo Yu fell into thought.
Father and Mother Luo had placed great importance on the original owner's education, but because they were busy with work, they had hired quite a few private tutors to teach him all manner of skills.
Swimming was one of them.
About ten years ago, they had hired Yu Wan, who had recently graduated and placed first in her school's swimming exam, to teach him.
Why hire a student? Because students were cheap.
So when she talked about not wearing clothes, she meant a swimsuit. Tsk...
"Teacher Yu Wan..." Luo Yu said weakly.
"I'm glad you remember. I heard about your parents... My condolences." Yu Wan patted Luo Yu on the shoulder.
"You asked when the research institute would be reclaimed, right?"
Luo Yu nodded.
"The Luo Shui Research Institute may need to dispose of its own assets within seven days." She opened the notice, intending to explain it to Luo Yu.
"After all, this research institute was only allocated by the island. Under the current circumstances, the regulations require it to be reclaimed."
Luo Yu asked, "Then what conditions would I have to meet if I wanted to keep the right to use the research institute?"
Yu Wan stopped what she was doing and looked up at Luo Yu in surprise.
"Are you worried you won't have anywhere to live? Your parents were scholars who contributed to the island's development. The island will make proper arrangements for your housing and schooling from now on, so don't worry..."
"That's not what I mean." Luo Yu shook his head.
"Then what is it?"
"My parents still had an important research project on Ink Fish underway. Although they had an accident, I took part in the research from beginning to end as their assistant, and I'm confident I can finish the remaining work. So I'd like the right to use the research institute for another year."
"Within a year, I'll produce a significant research result on the Ink Fish."
The earlier part of what he had said was naturally something he had made up. Although "Luo Yu" had often helped his parents as an assistant, he had mostly done odd jobs and had never been involved in their core experiments.
Even so, Luo Yu was confident that he could produce a research result on the Ink Fish within a year.
He might not necessarily find a way for them to evolve, but breeding a batch of more valuable specimens shouldn't be a problem.
"Are you serious?" Yu Wan looked at Luo Yu suspiciously.
"I have no reason to lie," Luo Yu said. "I just don't want to see all their hard work go to waste..."
"I see." Yu Wan was surprised.
Luo Yu's reaction was hardly like that of a teenager who had just lost both parents...
She had expected him to accept the notice in a daze.
"Still, I can't make that decision. I can only report what you said to my superiors," Yu Wan said.
"Then sorry for the trouble, Teacher Yu Wan," Luo Yu said.
"It's all right. I'll come by again this afternoon or tomorrow." Yu Wan nodded and prepared to leave.
But just as she reached the door, she suddenly remembered something. She turned back and added, "Oh, right. Don't go wandering around lately. There are suspected signs of zombie activity in the coastal waters. After all, it won't be long before the Tidal Corpse Transformation. Your research shouldn't require fieldwork, should it?"
"No..." Luo Yu was just about to thank her again,
but the next moment,
his expression suddenly stiffened. He wondered if he had misheard something.
Zombies?
What the hell? Hadn't he transmigrated to another world where humans and mutated sea beasts coexisted? Why the fuck were there zombies too?
In the sea, no less?
Fragmented, jumbled memories continued to piece themselves together in his mind. A moment later, Luo Yu fell silent.
So that was it... He hadn't transmigrated to another world at all...
He had clearly come to a future world that had gone through a rainstorm apocalypse, where sea levels had risen wildly and the ocean had swallowed most of the land!
Under the onslaught of the mysterious rainstorms, some animals on Earth had first undergone a flawed evolution. Their genes had collapsed, turning them into zombies and zombie beasts, but before long, correct paths of evolution had begun to appear one after another.
Mutated beasts that possessed great power and could retain their reason had also been born.
The ability to control mutated creatures, which surviving humans had evolved at the same time, had kept humanity from going extinct.
From then on, Earth had officially entered the age of oceanic Beast Taming. The "Tidal Corpse Transformation" Yu Wan had mentioned was when the zombie beasts in the deep sea attacked human settlements alongside the supertide that occurred once every ten years. It was commonly known as a "Zombie Tide," and the next supertide was less than a year away...