A savage...
The way Luo Yu was dressed now, he really was no different from a savage. He was wrapped up so tightly that his face could barely be seen, and he stank to high heaven. The student wasn't wrong.
"Not a savage, right? He looks like a zombie!" The other two students took a closer look.
"Don't talk nonsense." The middle-aged Beast Taming Master looked at Luo Yu and said, "He's probably a hunter from a nearby village."
A moment later, Luo Yu had walked quite close to them.
"Am I disturbing you?" Luo Yu asked.
"No. I'm a teacher at Mirror Moon High School, and I'm taking my students on a field exercise nearby. It seems there was a misunderstanding."
Luo Yu nodded. "Good, as long as I'm not disturbing you. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
"All right, stay safe." The teacher nodded in acknowledgment.
"Goodbye." Although Luo Yu was a little surprised to find more people nearby, he didn't mind. With a powerful Beast Taming Master in the area, he could ask for help if something went wrong on his end. That was a good thing too.
After the two parties crossed paths, Luo Yu continued on his way, searching for those Honey Water Bees.
Watching Luo Yu's retreating figure, one of the male students couldn't help asking, "A hunter from a village...? He dresses so strangely. Why make himself stink so much?"
"He's probably dressed strangely to deal with mutated beasts..." The schoolteacher was knowledgeable and experienced. "I should have taught you that fighting beasts isn't the only way to deal with mutated beasts..."
"You're in luck. You've met an expert, so you can see exactly how he deals with mutated beasts..."
He too watched Luo Yu's retreating figure. "The equipment he's wearing must have been prepared to exploit his prey's weaknesses. This is a great opportunity to observe someone in the real world. You can follow him and take a look, but of course, don't disturb him."
The three students exchanged glances, then followed Luo Yu at a distance as their teacher had instructed.
They watched as Luo Yu swaggered straight into the Honey Water Bees' territory.
"Is he trying to catch Honey Water Bees?"
The schoolteacher pondered.
"Teacher, look..." A little while later, the students were suddenly astonished. They saw Luo Yu approach quite a few Honey Water Bees, yet the bees ignored him, as though he didn't exist.
Honey Water Bees were highly territorial. Any other creature that came too close to their hive was sure to be attacked, yet he was perfectly fine.
"See?" the schoolteacher said. "What did I tell you? That's wilderness survival skill for you. He must be an experienced old hunter."
After searching for a while, Luo Yu finally found the bee with enhanced five senses again, and sure enough, it ignored him too.
Seeing this, Luo Yu grinned, gently untied the burlap sack he was carrying, and slipped it over the bee in one swift move!!!
Buzz!!!
In the flash of a spark, the Honey Water Bee with Five Senses Enhancement fell into the trap. The smell of fermented Dragon Snake Orchid in the sack instantly made it dizzy.
It didn't struggle and couldn't send out a distress signal. The whole thing ended without a ripple.
"Whew..." Luo Yu had been very nervous too, but seeing no movement around him, he couldn't help feeling relieved.
"My bargain dad really came through."
Next, Luo Yu found the two Honey Water Bees with "ordinary enhancement talents" and successfully captured them the same way.
Once everything was done, Luo Yu quickly left the Honey Water Bees' territory. He then noticed that the teacher and students from earlier had been watching him from afar the whole time.
First, he ruled out the possibility that they wanted to kill him and steal his treasure.
They'd have to be bored out of their minds to rob him of a few lousy bees that looked completely unremarkable.
"Can I help you?" Luo Yu asked, tugging on the sack.
The schoolteacher chuckled. "Hello. My students and I saw how you captured the Honey Water Bees just now, and I'm very impressed by your skills. I'd like to ask you to share some wilderness survival tips with them, if that's convenient for you."
Luo Yu took off his mask and hat, revealing a youthful face. "I don't come out into the wild very often myself. I don't have any tips to share."
So young!
The teacher and students were surprised. They had expected a hunter of considerable age, but he turned out to be a teenager?
The schoolteacher asked in surprise, "You don't look very old. Are you a student too? Which class are you in?"
Luo Yu shook his head. "School? I didn't go."
In this era, humans generally awakened the Beast-Taming Space ability around the age of fifteen, which was also the age at which they now became "adults."
After completing the "nine years of compulsory education" inherited from the old era and learning some basic knowledge, these apprentice Beast Tamers could go to Mirror Moon High School, Mirror Moon Island's Beast Taming school, to study advanced Beast Taming and navigation, along with plenty of practical training.
But Luo Yu hadn't even enrolled.
His parents had already taught him everything in the high school curriculum when he was little... Going would have been a waste of time.
"You didn't go?"
"Yeah," Luo Yu said.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
Luo Yu turned and left. Watching his retreating figure, the students were utterly bewildered. Just who was he?
After thinking for a moment, the schoolteacher said:
"I think I know who he is."
"Of everyone old enough this year who didn't attend Beast Taming school, there should only be one..."
"That genius boy who passed the breeding qualification assessment at fifteen and inherited his father's research institute. I think his name was Luo Yu... If it's him, that makes sense. Besides experienced hunters, biologists like him can also deal with mutated beasts without drawing blood..."
"Luo Yu?!" The three students were taken aback. They hadn't heard much about him. After all, the breeding qualification assessment was a public examination for a professional qualification, with little to do with ordinary students.
"Teacher, who's stronger, him or the top few students at school?"
The Beast Taming teacher chuckled. "In terms of knowledge, this Luo Yu probably has the edge, but as for practical combat ability, it's hard to say..."
The research institute.
After returning, Luo Yu immediately found three iron cages, placed the sleeping Honey Water Bees in them separately, and hung the cages from a tree.
Before long, away from the Dragon Snake Orchid, they gradually woke up and discovered their predicament.
"Buzz buzz buzz!!!"
"Buzz buzz buzz!!!"
The three Honey Water Bees first flew around the cages like headless flies, then began frantically stabbing at the bars.
Of course, at their current level, they couldn't possibly escape...
Luo Yu watched for a while, then put in their favorite nectar...
The next moment, they stopped struggling and began eating in their cages. Once full, they went straight to sleep on the spot.
"You sure are practical...!"
Luo Yu was speechless. So whoever gave them milk was their mother, huh?
Didn't they have a shred of dignity?
"According to the records, Honey Water Bees at level ten or below have very weak venom. It isn't fatal, but... a jab from their Poison Sting hurts like nothing else!"
"And the pain lasts. An ordinary person needs at least three days before the swelling even begins to go down."
Pain?
As long as he could grow stronger, that small price wasn't worth mentioning.
In theory, he counted as another living being too, so the Poison Sting's effect would probably work on him as well.
Of course, Luo Yu didn't rush to put himself in danger. He first collected a little venom from a Honey Water Bee with an enhancement talent and tested it with instruments and the mud loach. Only after confirming that its toxicity was indeed unremarkable did he dare extend his arm in front of the cage.
The already irritable Honey Water Bee immediately drew its Poison Sting again and jabbed at Luo Yu through the gaps in the cage.
"Hiss..." The intense pain instantly made Luo Yu break out in a cold sweat.
"Not bad..." He bared his teeth and grimaced.
"July should hurry up and try something this good too."
"What Honey Water Bee venom fears most is high temperature. If the temperature gets too high, the venom becomes inactive and loses its effect."
"July is young, but it has mastered the power of high temperature, so it should be quite safe."
With that thought, Luo Yu summoned the little penguin and discussed it with it.
July looked up at the fist-sized Honey Water Bee, then at its Poison Sting as thick as a drinking straw, and fell into thought.
"Wuji!!!"
Its super intelligence told it that this thing... was a little scary.
Did it really have to train like this?
It had a persistent feeling that this method wasn't scientific.
"It is scientific. Trust me." Luo Yu chuckled.
July gritted its teeth and nodded. Then it would give it a die...
"Good child. When it's done, I'll have Auntie Ink Fish treat your wound." Luo Yu was deeply gratified. He picked July up and held it against the cage, its backside facing the Honey Water Bee.
The next moment, the Honey Water Bee promptly jabbed the little penguin too.
"Chirp!!!"
That jab instantly made all the down on July's body stand on end. The piercing pain from the Poison Sting nearly sent it flying.
"Chirp chirp chirp chirp!!!"
Luo Yu put July down, and it immediately began rolling around on the ground.
"Wuji..." It shot the Honey Water Bee a furious look, then blew on its wound.
"..." Luo Yu smiled from the side, having already decided to make stinger training part of their daily routine.
After that one jab, Luo Yu did feel considerably stronger, though he didn't know if it was his imagination. It was as if he'd been given a stimulant...
But there was no qualitative change in his strength. He figured he would have to keep getting stung every day for a long time before the effects became significant.
In the blink of an eye, another half a month passed...
During that time, all sixteen Inkfish eggs hatched successfully, and the hatchlings were very healthy. Sure enough, they had hatched ahead of schedule.
What defied the heavens was that, during this time, the breeding paragon had mated with Mercy Ink Fish again... She might lay more eggs in a few days.
On the other hand, the Dark Eight-Sword Style family was much slower. They still hadn't laid their first batch of eggs, though that was a normal pace.
In recent days, besides his daily training, Luo Yu had taken on another task: organizing the various experimental data and reports on Mercy Ink Fish.
The time for the monthly "Research Institute Meeting: Research Report Conference" Yu Wan had mentioned was drawing near. Now that Mercy Ink Fish had produced preliminary breeding results, Luo Yu didn't want to put it off too long. He wanted to use these interim results to leverage more research funding as soon as possible, so he wouldn't have to worry about feeding costs every time he wanted to raise more pet beasts.
Also, he needed a security team, didn't he?
It would be best to hire a few assistants too.
Besides, Luo Yu's father and mother had spent so long researching Ink Fish evolution that Luo Yu would feel terrible if he didn't continue their work and uncover its evolution. He wanted to expand the institute and bring in more Ink Fish to study, and all of that cost money!