King of Beasts

“What are you doing?”

If it were someone else, Manager Ying certainly wouldn’t want to interfere. However, because of a good relationship with Gu Qingyi, Manager Ying had intended to use this opportunity to leverage Xia Country’s resources to accelerate the awakening of its main body. But Lu Ran, this young man, always seems to want to stick his nose in everything.

Lu Ran’s resources +1.

Cat’s resources -1.

Manager Ying calculated in its mind…

“Your crow is only at level 40. Why are you causing trouble? Do you really expect to raise its swarm form to level 70 in just 10 days?” Manager Ying said indignantly.

“This isn’t causing trouble,” Lu Ran analyzed. “Who said I need the crow legion to face the Black Dragon head-on?”

“Don’t just focus on ganging up on the Black Dragon, it’s not alone.”

“You haven’t forgotten, have you, that the Dragon Palace is a deep-sea power gathering countless sea beasts? Besides a level 70 Black Dragon King, who knows how many subordinates the Black Dragon has.”

“The Fishman Empire, such a colossal force, lost to the Dragon Palace. Surely, that wasn’t all done by the Black Dragon alone?”

“By then, someone has to monitor this group of sea beasts.”

“My dark crows can scout from ultra-long distances, even across the ocean to check on the deep sea. A little investment won’t be a waste of resources.”

“Moreover, in the case of unexpected developments – like if you injure the Black Dragon heavily, but it escapes to the deep sea – the only forces that might quickly locate it and deliver the finishing blow are likely the dark crow legion.”

Lu Ran laid out the strategic value of the dark crows one point at a time, making Manager Ying pout.

There seemed to be… some logic?

“What is a swarm form?” Lin Nian asked slowly. What kind of trait allowed Lu Ran, as a level 3 beastmaster, to have the confidence to suppress numerous advanced sea beasts?

Lu Ran replied, “It’s a legion talent. The more crows my Twin Crow controls, the higher its growth level becomes. Its current growth level is 40. After commanding the crows in Green Sea City, it can transform to reach level 45.”

“And that’s with the supernatural crows hardly receiving any advanced training.”

“Green Sea City is just an ordinary city within a province, and even just commanding the supernatural crows in this area brings it to level 45. What if we expand this range?”

“For instance, if we look for advanced crows nationwide and attempt to command them.”

“Then, by investing resources and nurturing the crow flock, I believe the crow flock form of the dark crow could easily reach beyond level 50, maybe even nearing level 60!”

“Combined with its long-range reconnaissance and curse killing technique, while it might not affect the Black Dragon King directly, it can certainly instill fear among the Black Dragon King’s subordinates.”

“Oh?” Lin Nian remarked in surprise. “Oh! It’s that trait from the queen ant in the Legendary Secret Realm.”

“Yes.”

“Indeed possible. Currently, Xia Country’s high-end combat power is still too limited. I’ll reconvene the twelve branches meeting for another vote,” Lin Nian said. The former guild leader had entered the breakthrough secret realm, and she was acting as the interim leader. Manager Ying claimed it could counter the Black Dragon, and Lu Ran asserted that the crow legion could overpower the Dragon Palace; she was willing to believe them.

Next, as long as more than half of the twelve branches agree, the exquisite resources from the Alliance’s resource bank can be allocated to Manager Ying, this unconventional totem guardian, and Lu Ran at this crucial moment without issue.

In Lin Nian’s view, this battle is one that must be fought.

Not because she’s belligerent.

The reason is simple.

It’s clear that the Black Dragon doesn’t take Xia Country seriously.

Whether it’s to establish the Dragon Palace’s status globally or to showcase its own power, the Black Dragon has placed itself in an extremely domineering position. Ṙ

In fact, it does have this capability, as humanity currently lacks effective countermeasures against deep sea ferocious beast forces.

Even handling ancient creatures on land is challenging, not because they can’t be defeated, but because the cost of defeating them is too high.

If ancient creatures invade human cities, should we use bombs or not?

Whatever the case, the damage caused is unbearable for any nation.

The Black Dragon is likely probing the limits of human countries.

Preparing for further territorial invasions on land.

Therefore, for future peace, Xia Country must decisively subdue the Black Dragon this time to deter other ancient creatures.

If the beastmasters of Xia Country show the slightest weakness in this confrontation, it will only lead to more troubles in the future.

However, if they successfully and decisively take down the Black Dragon, showcasing their power, other ancient creatures might think twice before causing trouble or trying to extort resources.

This situation isn’t exclusive to Xia Country; every human nation is likely to face the same challenge soon.

The weak get bullied, treated like soft targets.

Lin Nian left.

Manager Ying sat in the chair, deep in thought.

It seemed to be imagining its battle scene with the Black Dragon.

“Lu Ran…” At that moment, Gu Qingyi also pondered for a long time and said, “Help me.”

“I want my vast sea azure dragon to evolve quickly.”

Lu Ran looked at her helplessly and said, “You specialize in Loong-type beasts. Even if your pet beast evolves, it won’t make much difference in front of the Black Dragon; its bloodline will be heavily suppressed. Rushed evolution would also limit its future potential.”

“Why not just do as Lin Nian suggested and act as bait honestly?”

“The main fighters this time should be Manager Ying and its group of ancient creatures.”

“Once they take down the Black Dragon, you can then use the Black Dragon’s Dragon Blood, Dragon Soul, and dragon pearl as evolution resources to help your vast sea azure dragon evolve.”

“Let it be arrogant a bit.”

Gu Qingyi: ???

“Meow??” Manager Ying was taken aback and just as it was about to say something, Lu Ran quickly patted it and said:

“Manager Ying, are you reliable? Do you really have the confidence to confront that Black Dragon?”

Manager Ying replied, “One-on-one, I can’t guarantee a 100% kill, but sealing it should be no problem.”

“Huh?” Lu Ran asked, “Sealing?”

“Yes, sealing,” Manager Ying said. “I can seal it within a certain domain or space for several years; that shouldn’t be an issue.”

“This was initially a ‘killer move’ I used for escaping, sealing the enemy for a year or so so I could safely run away.”

“But it can be used against an enemy as well.”

“If we can seal it, that might, at least, count as resolving the crisis, right?”

“After all, by the time it breaks free from the Seal, you all should have leveraged Infinite City to level up quickly, making it easy to wipe it out.”

“Yes, I once encountered a formidable foe, an overlord of a higher level than it. I couldn’t defeat it, but I did successfully seal it within my domain for two and a half years. By the time it broke free, I had already slipped away from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere,” Manager Ying chuckled.

“Just how many tricks do you have up your sleeve?” Lu Ran’s mouth twitched. Goodness, you used to say you were the weakest among the ancient creatures, but now you’re talking about sealing a level 70 Dragon King?

To escape… you sealed an enemy in an interdimensional space for two and a half years???

This cat, something’s off, really off.

This domain is definitely not weak.

On the contrary, it’s incredibly strong.

But… this cat used it just to run away???

Manager Ying snorted and said, “As an intelligence dealer, one of the basic principles is to never fully expose your information.”

“Qingyi, just do as Lu Ran said, don’t rush evolution. This battle doesn’t require you, so no need for psychological pressure.”

“As long as Xia Country is willing to invest resources to awaken my main body, I have the confidence to help resolve it for you all.”

“At the very least, I can Seal it for a year or so.”

“Okay…” Gu Qingyi was momentarily at a loss for words. After a slight pause, she walked up and hugged Manager Ying unexpectedly, rubbing it wildly with a smile on her face.

“Manager Ying, so are you exposing your strength information for me this time?”

“Ugh-” Manager Ying didn’t expect Gu Qingyi’s embrace to be so overwhelming, and said, “Enough.”

Meanwhile, Lu Ran watched with dry amusement.

“Manager Ying, can you teach me this trick?” Lu Ran asked enviously.

So that’s what gave Manager Ying its confidence.

“I told you, my domain isn’t suitable for you, it’s hard to teach,” Manager Ying poked its head out and said, “It involves space and time!!”

“Isn’t it just about time? I have Time awakening resources too.”

Manager Ying: ???

…

Atop the tallest building in Shanghai.

Lu Ran, clad in a necromancy robe, gazed deeply at the ocean.

A summoning circle appeared, and two overlapping figures manifested behind Lu Ran.

“Big King!!!”

The Twin Crow emerged and immediately spoke respectfully, sensing an imminent storm, its eyes keenly fixed on the direction of the ocean.

Lu Ran glanced down at the citizens starting to hoard supplies again, feeling a headache coming on. Due to numerous global incidents of ferocious beasts attacking cities, the mere appearance of the Black Dragon King sent people nationwide into a hoarding frenzy.

Oh well, matters of maintaining order and calming the public’s nerves could be left to someone else.

“Dark Crow, from now on, I’m lifting your restrictions. You can start expanding your territory from Green Sea City. First one province, then nationwide. I want you to integrate as many powerful supernatural Crows nationwide within seven days. Can you manage that?”

“Caw caw!!!” Dark Crow’s eyes lit up.

“No problem, Big King, leave it to me!!!”

“Go then-” Lu Ran waved his robe, and Dark Crow cawed mischievously, its body slowly merging into the clouds. Blood boiled within it, eager to expand the influence of the Green Sea’s general beasts, but restrained because Lu Ran had never given the order.

Lu Ran had no other choice. After all, the territory allocated by the Xia Country Association for raising wild ferocious beasts was initially just Green Sea. However, given the current pressing times and his now remarkable beast taming status, nearly comparable to one of the twelve branches and arguably second to none, expanding this territory was no longer an issue.

With Dark Crow as the legion overlord capable of perfectly commanding the supernatural Crows, Lu Ran felt confident that even if they were integrated nationwide, the situation would remain controllable.

In fact, it could become even more stable.

Watching Dark Crow’s departing figure, Lu Ran sighed a bit in regret.

If only the Crow tribe legion could be brought into Infinite City, then he’d be invincible.

But that wasn’t a big issue.

Even reigning supreme on the Blue Star was quite impressive.

After all, obtaining resources isn’t limited to just Infinite City; the resources on Blue Star are still largely unexplored.

For instance… Dr. Gu’s fortuitous resources.

Lu Ran knew that Dr. Gu had some fortuitous encounter to be able to cultivate Loong-types. Darn, finding an exquisite dragon pearl fragment just randomly on the beach, her luck was better than his.

“So, how do you plan to find the divine deer next?”

“Are you going to use that divine deer antler as a medium?”

After Dark Crow left, Manager Ying, in one of its clones, appeared beside Lu Ran and said, “Actually, our biggest asset is still that divine deer antler of yours.”

“Directly inviting those two totem guardians to join the fight might not get a positive response.”

“But if we can ensure unlimited healing, that changes everything.”

Currently, within Xia Country, there are two totem guardians: the Panda Guardian of the Youxiong Clan and a newly awakened supernatural Red-crowned Crane.

However, inviting these two to battle might prove challenging, as Manager Ying assessed.

The Red-crowned Crane is unwilling to leave the land of Xia Country, its habitat. It has promised to assist if the country faces an existential threat, but the issue of the Black Dragon King doesn’t quite reach that level yet.

On the other hand, the Panda Guardian is still in recovery. Its deal with Xia Country is merely for food. For just meals, having it risk itself in a weakened state is unlikely to work.

Facing slightly weaker foes might be feasible, but fighting a Loong-type above its level is uncertain for the Panda Guardian’s perspective.

Without significant benefits, these two guardians certainly won’t risk their lives as the main fighters against the Black Dragon King.

“Let’s not worry about them right now. That’s the Association’s headache, figuring out how to communicate with them. We will focus on finding the divine deer. If we can find it, everything else follows,” Lu Ran said. “We’ll tackle it on multiple fronts. Manager Ying, you can attempt to use the divine deer antler as a medium for the search.”

“And on another front, we’ll still rely on faith.”

“Over the past few months, the Power of Faith from Lujia Village has significantly increased, but it’s still not enough. This crisis… well, can’t exactly say divine intervention, but it does present an opportunity.”

“An opportunity?”

“With unrest across the nation, major news outlets are bound to feature stories about the ‘Panda Guardian’ and the ‘Crane Guardian’ to stabilize public sentiment.”

“I suppose, in times like these, mentioning an additional Guardian wouldn’t hurt.”

“For instance, claiming that there’s also a divine deer protecting Xia Country.”

“Without a doubt, in the quest for peace and safety, this would lead to a continuous flow of Power of Faith. With the endorsement of the Alliance, the people of Lujia Village would have even more trust in the divine deer.”

“Who knows, a surge in Power of Faith might just awaken the divine deer.”

“And even if we can’t find the divine deer, I could have General Ha put on the divine deer antler and cosplay as the divine deer to serve as a battlefield healer. That would be just as if the divine deer had descended, without technically deceiving anyone.”

“What the heck!!!!” Manager Ying was astonished. Could it be that Lu Ran is truly a genius?

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