Hiss...
Yu Lei took a drag on his cigarette, then stared blankly at July standing on his desk and the heat dissipating from his wingtip... He'd said it before: pet beasts weren't allowed on the desk!
No, wait, why did your Earth Penguin have a fire-type ability? What was going on?!
No, no, that still wasn't right!
There was nothing strange about a pet beast developing an ability outside its own type, as long as it had the talent and its owner was willing to pour resources into it.
As a biological researcher, Luo Yu was naturally capable of helping a pet beast develop a new ability... What Yu Lei really wanted to ask was, why would you have your pet beast develop a fire-type ability in the middle of a great age of seafaring?!
Earth paired with fire-was he born a rebel? He was crazy!
"What have you been training him in?!" The director was baffled. Why did young people these days refuse to take the usual path?
Luo Yu said, "Well... I planned everything around his interests, hobbies, and talents. Besides fire, there's fishing?"
All right, all right... Yu Lei understood even less now. Fishing and lighting cigarettes-weren't those essential skills for junior employees working under a leader, so they could keep their boss company? Was this kid trying to climb the ranks?!
Director Yu imagined a scene: Luo Yu fishing by the river, with the little penguin accompanying him, carrying a fish basket and lighting Luo Yu's cigarette from time to time... He was putting on even more airs than Yu Lei himself.
A Honey Water Bee farm in the outskirts of Clear Creek Village, Mirror Moon Island.
A woman of eighteen or nineteen, dressed in a breezy tank top and shorts with chef's sleeve protectors, was carrying a wooden basket and scattering feed from it for a group of wild mutated beasts.
But before long, the mutated beasts that had eaten the food began vomiting in alarm. After hurling a few abilities at the woman, they fled in panic.
"Huh..."
Looking at the rather dissatisfied beasts, Lin Li took another taste of the food she had made.
"It doesn't taste bad... But it doesn't seem to suit mutated beasts' tastes... Another failure at developing a new dish."
She turned away in disappointment. Just then, two people, one old and one young, approached from the distance.
Spotting Director Yu Lei from afar, the woman hurried forward to greet him, but nearly tripped over a vine.
"Director Yu, you're here. My father asked me to wait for you."
"Little Lin, why are you still so clumsy? You were just like this before!"
Yu Lei shook his head. Back then, this girl's grades had put her so far ahead of everyone else that she was in a league of her own, but her coordination was terrible and she was always absentminded. As a result, Boss Lin didn't dare let her go out to sea, afraid she would fall overboard someday.
"Hehe..." Lin Li gave an embarrassed laugh.
"The last time we met was at your school graduation ceremony, wasn't it? So much time has passed in the blink of an eye. Oh, right, this is Luo Yu. He's the one who discovered the special abilities of certain mutated Honey Water Bees," Yu Lei said, introducing him to Lin Li.
"Hello." Luo Yu held out his hand, though he was thinking, Why does she look like an idiot? Someone like her can pass the breeder qualification assessment?
"Hello, hello." Lin Li held out her hand too, and the two shook hands politely.
"My father already told me about this. I never imagined there were Honey Water Bees like that..." Lin Li looked up at Luo Yu, who was a head taller than her.
"You're amazing. May I ask..."
"You're curious about the Honey Water Bees' enhancement effects, right?" Luo Yu said.
Lin Li was taken aback. "How did you know?"
"It's only natural. Shall I show you?" Luo Yu said.
"Yes, please!" Lin Li looked on expectantly.
"July."
At Luo Yu's command, dust flew into the air, and July appeared on the ground.
The little penguin looked left and right, then turned to Luo Yu.
"Enhanced by the power of three bees, his strength, defense, and five senses have all improved considerably."
"The improvement to his senses shows in his control over the details of a fight. It's hard to demonstrate here."
"As for strength and defense... To put it plainly, his physical toughness has improved."
An Earth Penguin...
Lin Li's gaze grew serious. Although the beast she had contracted was also a lower-tier species, the strength of her queen bee was actually quite considerable, thanks to her family's Honey Water Bee farm.
But why had Luo Yu contracted an Earth Penguin, of all pet beasts?
This kind of mutated beast was ordinary in strength, defense, speed, and abilities. But precisely because it was such an ordinary species, she wanted to know just how far the Honey Water Bees had enhanced this Earth Penguin...
"Improved physical toughness means he can withstand more violent elemental power..." Luo Yu pointed at a wild tree in the distance. "July, show this young chef what you can do."
"Unleash... the maximum power you can muster right now."
"Coo-coo, quack-quack!" The next moment, July raised his wings.
What was this?
If Lin Li remembered correctly, the Earth Penguin's ability was Dig.
But what he used next was nothing like Dig. The surrounding temperature began to soar, and a scorching red light spread across his wings.
"A fire-type ability?!"
An earth-type mutated beast had actually gone and learned a fire-type ability...
Now Lin Li understood what Luo Yu meant. Earth Penguins weren't fire-type creatures, so one needed a very tough body to withstand the power of the fire element. In other words, the strength of this Earth Penguin's fire-type ability would show just how far he had developed his body!
The next moment, July swept both wings forward, and a scorching heat wave exploded outward. It was Blazing Blade!
However, compared to when he had just awakened his talent at level 2, his body could now withstand a higher temperature. As he moved, the heat even mingled with the air currents and swept outward, forming a heat wave!
Boom!!!
Wherever the heat wave passed, the wild grass in front of July instantly charred black.
Immediately afterward, the heat wave struck the trunk of the wild tree, leaving a large scorched patch!!
"Coo-quack..."
A moment later, the little penguin blew on his smoking wings and shook them.
Compared to the water element, elemental powers like fire and lightning were more violent, but the little penguin controlled them with ease.
"Is that performance good enough?" Luo Yu asked Lin Li.
Lin Li was dumbstruck.
Was this really a lower-tier Earth Penguin? She felt the temperature of the heat wave, her face flushed red.
"..." It wasn't just her. Even Director Yu Lei, standing beside her, had a twitch in the corner of his mouth.
He had thought the little penguin's fire-type ability was for lighting cigarettes. He'd been too hasty.
Damn it, an ordinary water-type mutated beast of the same level might not even be able to withstand that kind of heat head-on!!!
How on earth had he raised him?!
"I understand..." Lin Li swallowed and said, "I'll take you to see the bee farm, Scholar Luo Yu... You can pick any of the Honey Water Bees inside. Take away any you think are talented for your research."
"Thank you." Luo Yu recalled July and let him go back to rest. The Sting Training Method had indeed contributed to the heat wave just now, but his top-tier talent had actually made a greater difference. There was no need to explain that, though; this way, the Sting Training Method would seem even more impressive...
The Moon-Facing Pavilion's Honey Water Bee farm.
The number of Honey Water Bees here was astonishing: more than ten thousand in all. Though it couldn't compare to an ordinary bee farm from before the apocalypse, each Honey Water Bee was now the size of a fist... Their upkeep cost much more.
Luo Yu looked around and figured it would probably take him quite a while to examine each bee's talent individually.
"Director, I may need quite a long time..."
"All right, I'll leave first, then. You and Lin Li can talk." Director Yu Lei nodded. He had plenty of other things to do and couldn't stay here picking bees with Luo Yu.
By personally bringing Luo Yu here, he had already shown his support for him, warning the Moon-Facing Pavilion not to bully him.
However, judging by the fact that the Moon-Facing Pavilion had sent Lin Li to receive him, it would be good enough if Luo Yu didn't bully her.
After Director Yu Lei left, Lin Li said, "It's almost evening. I'll go prepare something for you to eat."
"Thanks." Luo Yu didn't stand on ceremony. He could try her cooking while he was at it.
Next, Luo Yu began searching the enormous Honey Water Bee farm for the individuals he needed.
Before long, his eyes were red from picking, and he couldn't bear to leave.
That evening, he enjoyed a honey-themed feast prepared by Lin Li: honey-roasted chicken wings, honey-roasted squid, honey fried rice... It was tasty, even downright delicious, ten thousand times better than Yu Wan's cooking. He was determined to have this chef. It was just too sweet!
If he ate this kind of food every day, he'd get diabetes sooner or later. Luo Yu still preferred salty and spicy flavors...
The Luo Yu Research Institute.
"He's not coming back tonight?" Yu Wan looked at the stars outside the window, lost in thought.
Before leaving, Luo Yu had said he was going to the farm to select Honey Water Bees and might be up all night. He had asked her to look after the research institute.
She hadn't expected the Sting Training Method to work so well, or for it to have won her uncle's approval too... Once could be a coincidence, but twice... Could this kid really be a genius?
Under cover of night, Yu Wan performed another divination, this time to see Luo Yu's future potential.
"There's no light this time either." The pearl was pitch-black, its color like an abyss.
By the next morning, Luo Yu had only examined half the Honey Water Bees. He had looked so hard his eyes were nearly sprouting styes.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Luo Yu finally finished identifying the talents of every Honey Water Bee on the farm.
Compared with wild swarms, the Honey Water Bees here were indeed better in average quality.
Among the sixteen thousand Honey Water Bees, approximately 110 possessed Senior Level talents. Most importantly, for the Honey Water Bee population, ordinary talents weren't entirely useless either.
After all, Strength Enhancement and Defense Enhancement were both ordinary talents.
This time, Luo Yu found a total of sixteen Honey Water Bees with ordinary enhancement talents and three with Senior Level enhancement talents.
Specifically, three had the Strength Enhancement talent.
Four had the Defense Enhancement talent.
Three had the Speed Enhancement talent. This was a newly discovered enhancement talent that could enhance the reaction speed of the one stung through Poison Sting.
Four had the Stamina Enhancement talent, which could enhance the ability of the one stung to resist fatigue.
Two had the Poison Resistance Enhancement talent, which could enhance a living being's resistance to toxins.
As for the three Honey Water Bees with Senior Level enhancement talents, they were:
One with the Water Element Enhancement talent, which could enhance control over the water element.
One with the Spirit Enhancement talent, which could enhance mental strength.
One with the Life Enhancement talent, which could promote growth.
Counting the three Honey Water Bees at the research institute, that made eighteen Honey Water Bees with ordinary enhancement talents and four with Senior Level enhancement talents. Some were male and some female, unlike the original three, which were all female. He now had a certain foundation for breeding, with both parents able to possess enhancement talents!!!
Of course, what made Luo Yu happiest wasn't finding these nineteen Honey Water Bees with enhancement talents, but discovering a Senior Level talent among the swarm that resembled Breeding Paragon.
[Individual talent]: More Children, More Blessings (Senior Level talent. The more times the individual gives birth, the stronger the aptitude of its offspring will become...)