Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Huang Ya had retired to his room when the day’s excitement finally simmered down. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. After receiving Huang Ya’s permission to enter, two hulking figures quietly stepped into the room.
“Both of you did well today. Here’s your reward, as promised,” said Huang Ya, smiling as he gave each of them a black case.
After inspecting the contents of their cases, the two Arctic men grinned widely at Huang Ya. “Thank you kindly, good sir!”
…
Gao Peng had never believed in the prospect of loyalty. Only those with absolute power were able to command the respect and obedience of the masses. Truly loyal people like Dian Wei, Fan Kuai, and Guan Yu were few and far between. One had to be thankful to the powers that be that only one Gao Peng existed in this world.
Gao Peng believed that most people were intelligent enough to know right from wrong. Such people tended to make the most of their lot in life without stepping out of line.
Most humans were born with an innate desire to want more. However, only the intelligent ones were capable of restraint. Most of them would never blunder into a situation without having all the facts in hand. Of course, Gao Peng wasn’t so benevolent as to provide such a luxury for his subordinates.
When night came, Ji Changming came to Gao Peng’s compound alone.
Gao Peng was surrounded by his familiars, who were hungrily looking at a barbecue grill in the middle of the compound. A skinned body was slowly cooking on it.
Why does this creature look so familiar? thought Ji Changming.
Gao Peng called him over, chuckling. “After doing an inspection of the monsters in our store, we discovered that the Six-Horned Dreadwolf was pregnant. Our store’s policy dictates that our merchandise should never engage in intercourse, lest their viability as familiars be affected. So I decided to put it out of its misery and cook it for dinner.”
“I see…”
“You’re right, Gao Peng!”
“There is wisdom in your words, Master.”
His familiars nodded in agreement with Gao Peng’s every word.
Ji Changming’s gaze fell on the wolf’s tail, which was standing upright on the grill. He quickly pulled his gaze away from it.
If the boss says it’s pregnant, then it must be pregnant. Though I wonder how a male wolf could possibly get itself knocked up…
“Do you know how to work the grill?”
“Kind of.”
“Great. Come give me a hand then. There’s something I need to do.” Gao Peng rose to his feet and rubbed the oil off his hands against his apron.
On the other side of the compound was a wooden table, on which bottles of various shapes and sizes were placed. Ji Changming didn’t dare look at what Gao Peng was doing. After throwing a glance at the table, he quickly turned his attention back to the grill.
Thanks to his time in the wild, he knew how to cook any kind of meat on a barbecue grill. Ten minutes later, the Six-Horned Dreadwolf was finally cooked. The air was now filled with a delicious aroma of cinnamon, black pepper, and paprika.
The wolf’s meat was a crispy yellow shade. Oil droplets oozed out of it and sizzled as it dripped onto the flickering embers in the pile of firewood beneath the grill. The mouth-watering smell wafted even further beyond the compound’s confines.
“Give this to your familiar. This drug will allow your Wind-type Sharp-clawed Phoenix Hawk to evolve. However, it’ll only evolve into a Wind-water type monster. If that’s not what you want, you can always give it back to me.” While saying this, Gao Peng took out a small knife and began cutting the wolf’s meat with it.
Ji Changming looked at the drug in amazement. He had heard that the young chairman of the Southern Sky Group was a first-rate monster breeder, that most of the group’s familiar powerhouses had been raised by him personally. He had never had the chance to witness such talent firsthand until today…
Wait, did he just brew up a familiar-evolving drug while I was working the grill? What’s more, he knows exactly what type of creature his concoction will evolve my familiar into. This is just unheard of… A wind-water dual type…
Ji Changming frowned. Gao Peng definitely wouldn’t have added an additional elemental attribute to his familiar without reason, and he most certainly hadn’t invited him to his place just to have him cook dinner for his familiars.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Lowering his head, he said in a deferential tone, “I am ready to accept whatever task you have in mind for me.”
…
Half a month later, Gao Peng left the Arctic region behind him and flew back to Yuzhou.
In the Black Fog World, walking skeletons of all shapes and sizes roamed the Land of 1,000 Streams. Skeletal behemoths splashed about in the water, occasionally letting out spine-chilling roars into the sky, while huge horned skeletons ran wild across the land as if they owned the place.
Bones wriggled out of the muddy streambed and swam about in the water like strange-looking worms. All the other fish swam away hurriedly, as if they had just seen a ghost.
An unsettling atmosphere of death and decay had fallen upon the place. The commotion raised by the rampaging skeletons had woken up the Ancient Dragonfish, who had been sleeping soundly in the depths of the Land of 1,000 Streams. It emerged from one of the more turbulent streams in the area, its two eyes peeking out of the surface of the water like a pair of oversized light bulbs.
Sensing that its territory had been intruded upon, a creature as territorial as the Ancient Dragonfish’s first instinct was to seek out and eliminate the trespasser, or in this case, trespassers.
The water began to swirl around the Ancient Dragonfish until it settled into the shape of a water dragon. In this form, the Ancient Dragonfish rushed towards one of the undead in the distance before scooping it up in its mouth and grinding its bones into fine dust between its teeth.
The Ancient Dragonfish’s whiskers suddenly stiffened. Whatever it had put in its mouth, it didn’t taste good. Not only did it feel hard and dry in its mouth, but it also smelled like death.
Dumby was standing on the head of a 30-foot-tall undead creature, impassively looking down at everything beneath it. The Skeleton Tyrant’s benevolence and loyalty were reserved only for its master. Everything else served no purpose.
The Ancient Dragonfish was now being assaulted by the corpses of monsters that had lain in undisturbed slumber for years in the depths of the Land of 1,000 Streams.
Dumby stared at the Ancient Dragonfish as it fiercely fought for its life. If it was able to resurrect such a fierce creature into a part of its undead army, it would be unstoppable.
Suddenly, Dumby frowned. It had sensed a powerful aura that wasn’t too different from that of the Ancient Dragonfish from the ground beneath its feet.
A permanent reanimation would be impossible to pull off on such a powerful creature… it thought. However, I might be able to bring it back to life at least temporarily.
Since its promotion to Legendary-grade, Dumby had sensed that its Flame of the Undead had improved greatly, allowing it to exercise even more control over the undead than before.
Gao Peng’s data frame rarely presented to him such trivial details. Only in actual combat could he witness the true extent of his familiars’ powers.
Stretching out its bony hands, Dumby released a pillar of fire into the ground beneath it. The Flame of the Undead in Dumby’s eye sockets now seemed dimmer than before.
At the same time, the King-tier Ancient Dragonfish was letting its aura fly from its body, crushing its undead assailants into pieces. None of the undead could stand up to the Ancient Dragonfish’s overwhelming aura.
Croak…
Suddenly, a deep, thunderous croak echoed from deep beneath the ground. Then, a green, sticky fluid began oozing out of the ground.
