Before long, Luo Yu returned to the research institute and placed the egg on the table, preparing to hatch it.
"Beast-Taming Space."
Standing before the table, he felt a glimmer flash through his eyes.
The next moment, Luo Yu seemed able to see inside himself. There was an independent world there, flowing with a blue radiance.
"How... do I use the contract...?"
Before long,
As Luo Yu grew familiar with the Beast Taming Ability, a brilliant blue light enveloped the entire eggshell.
Immediately afterward.
"Crack..."
As if something had stimulated it, the penguin egg instantly cracked open under the light.
"Did it work?"
Then,
Just as Luo Yu was tense with anticipation, a little penguin finally poked its head out of the egg.
The moment Luo Yu met its eyes, he immediately felt that he had been incredibly wise.
No wonder penguins had been so popular before the apocalypse... they really were cute.
Its round, plump body looked as though it were wrapped in a fluffy gray down coat.
On top of its head, black down spread down both sides, leaving a broad, snow-white face exposed in the middle.
The little penguin seemed to be trying to memorize Luo Yu's appearance, looking a little dazed... nothing about it suggested intelligence.
Luo Yu carefully observed the big fluffy ball.
If there was any difference between an Earth Penguin chick and an ordinary emperor penguin chick, it was probably around the neck. The Earth Penguin chick had an extra patch of reddish-brown down, the color of the earth, wrapped around its neck like a scarf.
"Wu ji~" A moment later, the little penguin suddenly spread its wings and called out, wanting to snuggle up against Luo Yu.
Penguins were creatures that naturally grew very attached to whoever hatched them.
The mutated Earth Penguins had retained that instinct.
"Nice. With our closeness already this high, training you later won't be a burden." Luo Yu held the little penguin and smiled faintly.
Growing stronger was bound to involve sweat and pain. If he casually contracted a wild mutated beast and put it through hellish training, Luo Yu really was afraid it might rebel one day.
A partner was a partner, but the two of them still had to find a way to survive together in this world where zombies ate people.
"Wu..."
The Earth Penguin suddenly drooped its head in dejection.
"Hungry?"
The moment their minds connected, Luo Yu understood a little of what the penguin was saying.
Once a Beast Tamer and a pet beast established a Mental Contract, the pet beast could sense the Beast Tamer's general thoughts to a certain extent. The same applied to the Beast Tamer, who could also understand some of the pet beast's thoughts.
And right now, the little penguin's thought was undoubtedly that it was hungry.
"As expected of a mutated creature..." Luo Yu thought as he looked at the little penguin begging for food.
Because it was a mutated creature, the Earth Penguin chick was already capable of some movement and had reached a certain stage of development just after hatching.
Most mutated creatures were this remarkable, capable of hunting as soon as they were born.
Some particularly intelligent species could even reach the intelligence level of a human child several years old within days of birth.
This Earth Penguin chick with an Intelligence Talent was probably among them.
However, for most mutated beasts, no matter how their intelligence developed, it was still difficult to surpass humans.
Their racial instincts were their strongest weapon.
"I'll go find you something to eat right now."
"But first, let me see what Innate Talent I awakened after contracting you..."
Luo Yu began looking inward at his Beast-Taming Space, searching for his Innate Talent.
Then, on the barrier of the Beast-Taming Space, he "saw" the magnificent and mysterious soul pattern that represented his Innate Talent...
A Soul Talent?!
Along with this delightful discovery, a sudden wave of exhaustion from the depths of his soul engulfed him.
On top of being hungry and tired all day, it overloaded Luo Yu's mind, and he fainted on the spot.
"Wu ji?!"
Seeing Luo Yu faint, the little penguin's face immediately filled with panic. But sensing that Luo Yu had only fainted, the hungry penguin couldn't resist looking back at the egg it had hatched from...
It waddled over, pecked at the broken eggshell, and ate it as food.
Then, with its hunger and thirst satisfied, the little penguin strutted with a swagger that acknowledged no one as it laboriously made its way to Luo Yu's side. It patted its belly and went to sleep beside him...
The next day.
Luo Yu was woken by the little penguin pecking him again and again.
Dizzy, he climbed up from the floor, rubbing his throbbing temples, which felt as if they were being stabbed with needles. He found himself looking straight into the Earth Penguin's dazed yet bright eyes.
"Chirp..." It gently pecked Luo Yu's hand again.
Luo Yu stared at the Earth Penguin, liking it more the longer he looked. He really was a sucker for good looks.
When it came to cuteness alone, penguin chicks were far cuter than cats and dogs, and much cuter than other marine creatures too.
On land, probably only giant panda cubs could rival them in looks.
As for the ocean... mermaids? That was a different set of standards altogether...
"Wu ji?!" Seeing that Luo Yu was awake, the little penguin cried out happily again.
It flapped its wings and pointed one of them at the inkfish swimming back and forth in the pond outside the window. Its clear, innocent eyes were full of questions.
Can I eat them?
It had eaten the eggshell and slept, but it was still hungry.
Luo Yu was at a loss. "You can eat that much? Those things are poisonous, taste awful, and you can't digest them either. Wait here, I'll find you something good."
"!!!" Hearing that, the little penguin was filled with anticipation.
With that, Luo Yu poured the "feed" used for the inkfish at the pet beast shop out in front of the little penguin.
Some dried shrimp would be a little easier for the little penguin to digest right now.
The little penguin looked down, then immediately began pecking at them happily. It wasn't a picky eater.
"When you're bigger and can digest things better, I'll buy you mutated beast meat to eat." Luo Yu rubbed his belly and suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten anything yet either.
But just before Luo Yu went to make himself something to eat, he remembered something else.
"Look at my memory... wasn't a young body supposed to work better? My memory's even worse than when I was an overworked corporate drone with the 'three highs talent.'"
Innate Talent...
He had actually awakened a Soul Talent...
Of the six major talents, the Soul Talent was definitely the most unusual and the rarest!
Luo Yu searched his memories. On Mirror Moon Island, there seemed to be only one Beast Tamer publicly known to have a Soul Talent.
It was the same elsewhere. People with a Soul Talent were extremely rare.
Originally, what Luo Yu had most wanted to awaken was actually a Mental Talent. As Chen Bo had said, a Mental Talent was the best suited to a biologist.
Besides being able to awaken supernatural powers once one's mental strength grew strong enough, it also had a most fundamental ability: Telepathy.
It allowed a Beast Tamer with a Mental Talent to communicate to some extent even when faced with wild pet beasts.
If he had that talent, Luo Yu could get twice the results with half the effort in his biological research... what a pity...
Still, the Soul Talent was by no means weak.
Beast Tamers with a Soul Talent had a bug-level ability. Once their souls had been strengthened, they could leave their bodies and exist in soul form!
In this era, souls and ghosts truly existed.
The Ghost Sea, hailed as one of the seven great mysterious seas, was a major gathering place for ghost creatures.
These ghosts were formed from life after death, and it was also called the Specter Sea, the Hell Sea, and the Underworld Sea.
Though it sounded frightening, this sea was a place countless Beast Tamers and sailors longed to visit.
That was because ghost sea beasts could also be contracted.
On top of that, ghost sea beasts possessed an extremely powerful racial ability, "Possession."
This could create something very special: a "ghost ship"!
By having a ghost sea beast possess the hull of a ship built from special materials and become its "ship spirit," a Beast Tamer could obtain a ghost ship with its own consciousness and abilities!
Some said that a ghost ship might not necessarily be the finest ship, but the most powerful warship was certain to be a ghost ship.
Beast Tamers with a Soul Talent could do something similar, so the helmsmen of those famous fleets were basically all "Soul Talent Beast Tamers."
In moments of danger, they could attach their souls to a warship, bring it "alive," and perform miraculous sailing maneuvers.
Now, Luo Yu really did have the feeling that he could control his soul as naturally as his own hands and feet.
"I was just thinking that after contracting an earth-element pet beast, I'd have to study navigation seriously... after all, without a water-element pet beast to help, I'd have to rely entirely on myself at sea. But now... is this what they mean by 'the boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge'? I've won right at the starting line."
"A ghost ship has a much better chance of surviving at sea than an ordinary ship."
Luo Yu was overjoyed.
He quickly used the ingredients he had bought to make a plate of mushrooms stir-fried with chili peppers, a pot of mushroom rice, and a bowl of mushroom soup to celebrate what he had gained today.
It was just that without a meat dish, the meal didn't feel quite as appetizing.
Because the meat dish he had originally planned to buy had now become his pet beast...
Luo Yu looked over. The little penguin had finished its food too.
With their hunger and thirst satisfied, the man and the penguin once again stared at each other, big eyes meeting little eyes.
"Since we're both full... come on, let's go try out the talent."
Luo Yu put it on his shoulder, found a key using his memories, and went to a warehouse at the research institute.
Click.
The warehouse doors opened, revealing a deep-V, pointed-bottom wooden boat used for nearshore exploration.
Though it looked crude, it was made of Sea-Dwelling Wood, a precious deep-sea timber with nine properties, including shock absorption, water resistance, high toughness, and cold resistance.
Among them was the ability to serve as an anchor for souls, something ordinary timber lacked.
The research institute normally used this boat for its nearshore field surveys.
It had a standard capacity of two people and one small or medium-sized towing pet beast. It was barely enough, as long as they didn't go anywhere dangerous or travel far.
Luo Yu examined the little boat, walked up to it, and placed his hand on it, drawing on his soul power.
A moment later, Luo Yu's eyes went vacant, as if his soul had left him. At the same time, the hull actually rocked slightly, but only for a brief moment.
"Whew..." A moment later, clarity returned to Luo Yu's eyes. He shook his head. "My soul power is still too weak. For now, it isn't enough to become a 'ghost captain.'"
"To strengthen my soul, I'll have to raise my pet beast's level..."
He turned to the little penguin, which had already climbed down from his shoulder and curiously clambered onto the bow, transforming into a penguin captain, and said:
"I don't think I've given you a name yet..."
"After all, I can't keep calling you 'little penguin'... let me think..."
"I think it's July this month... since you were born in July, and I transmigrated in July too, I'll call you July."
"July, you were just born today, so that's worth celebrating. I'll give you a day off, and we'll start training tomorrow."
Little penguin: ???
A whole day off to celebrate its birth?
Its clever brain told it that something seemed a little wrong here.
But its meager experience left it unable to tell what was wrong.
Just after Luo Yu finished speaking, he suddenly remembered that he still had to sign up for the breeding qualification assessment to retain the right to use the research institute. He couldn't help but ponder aloud:
"No, I almost forgot the important business. We'll start training in three days instead."
Three days... joy appeared in July's clear, intelligent eyes. He seemed happy to have two more days off, and sensing his feelings, Luo Yu was slightly taken aback. Kid, do you really have an Intelligence Talent?