"Okay, let's stop wasting time. I’ll take care of this matter, so you can just withdraw your men. We might alert the enemy if we take too many people. That might give him a chance to escape, which will be troublesome," Manager Ying said.
"Don't you need backup?" Zhao Chen asked.
"No, it’s just a necromancer."
Manager Ying brushed it off.
"You should still take a couple of people with you to be safe."
"You are so annoying. Are you afraid that I will solve this case alone and you won’t get any credit?"
Zhao Chen's expression froze, and he awkwardly replied, "How could that be? Since you have already decided, I will just follow your lead."
"If you want me to bring backup, then how about this guy? I'll let him lead the way back to the crime scene, and he can see what facing a necromancer is like," the Cat Maid Cafe manager said as it looked towards Lu Ran.
"Uh..." Zhao Chen was caught off guard.
I told you to take backup, not dead weight.
His expression changed slightly before he tried to dissuade the cat.
"Manager Ying, you can let Lu Ran lead the way, but you shouldn’t let him get too close to the necromancer. It can be dangerous. Lu Ran is just a newcomer. It wouldn’t be too late to let Lu Ran see the necromancer after we catch him."
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him. It'll be okay," Manager Ying replied. "A captured necromancer isn’t anything worth looking at."
"That still isn’t...” Zhao Chen spoke awkwardly.
"Lu Ran is a newcomer favored by Dr. Gu. How about I call Dr. Gu first and ask what she thinks?”
He still wasn’t comfortable with Lu Ran going with the cat alone to deal with such a dangerous enemy. Although Manager Ying was rumored to be very powerful, Lu Ran's identity was unique as he had connections to someone important. Even if Lu Ran was also pretty strong himself, the enemy was an international criminal organization.
"Huh? He is a newcomer favored by Gu Qingyi?" Manager Ying was startled and looked at Lu Ran, who awkwardly coughed.
"Uncle Zhao, it's okay. I really want to go." Lu Ran was a little embarrassed. White Dragon and the others had really active imaginations.
This cat seemed to know Gu Qingyi. It would be awkward if they mentioned him in conversation with her and then found out she didn’t know him at all.
"No wonder you mentioned Gu Qingyi before. It turns out that y’all know each other."
Manager Ying pondered for a moment before nodding.
"Don't worry about it, Zhao Chen. I know Gu Qingyi better than you do. Leave this kid to me, and I will take good care of him for Qingyi. I promise to bring him back in one piece."
"Okay." Manager Ying acquiesced.
Lu Ran had already agreed, so there was nothing else he could say.
He really couldn't help but envy Lu Ran. Having connections was great. Not only did he have Dr. Gu as a backer, but now he could easily get close to Manager Ying.
"Let's go." Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran.
"How are we going?” Lu Ran asked.
"Have you heard of the Space skill, Instant Teleportation?"
Golden Hill City, Rainbow Town, rear mountain.
A ray of light flashed, and two figures appeared. Upon arriving, Lu Ran silently looked around.
Just now, Manager Ying used the Space skill, Instant Teleportation, jumping through space several times in under a minute and easily bringing Lu Ran back to the mountain where Sudden Death King was hunting grasshoppers!
Along the way, because they had to teleport from place to place, including places he was familiar with, Lu Ran had an experience different from what he felt in Limitless City.
This is so convenient! In the future, I will definitely need to awaken the Space attribute in one of my familiars! Lu Ran swore to himself.
It’s worth it simply for the ease of traveling!With instant teleportation, I wouldn’t need to take high-speed trains or airplanes anymore.
"Huh, where’s the body?"
Upon arriving, Lu Ran saw that the area was empty.
The shallow grave had been cleared away. Since the body had already been identified, it must have been exhumed and transported to the morgue for Manager Ying to investigate further. Not a single speck of dust was left behind at the scene.
"Hey, Lu Ran. I didn't like you very much at first, but since you are the beastmaster that little Qingyi favors, do you want to go all out on some training?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Generally, necromancers that appear in our country are not very strong. Most of them are equivalent to Apprentice beastmasters but are more difficult to deal with due to their special abilities.
"I can easily deal with him, but that’ll be too boring. Since you have a special ability and know Qingyi, I'll leave this training opportunity to you. After I find him, you’ll fight him, and I'll supervise."
"What!? You want me to fight that necromancer?" Lu Ran was surprised.
He could clearly feel his pocket moving at this moment. It was probably Sudden Death King shivering in fright. Since that cat appeared, this guy had been playing dead. He must have sensed that Manager Ying wasn’t easy to mess with.
Are you afraid of being eaten by the cat?
"Yes, it's a rare experience."
"Actually... Dr. Gu and I aren’t that close to each other. She doesn't even know who I am. I just so happen to have a sister who is favored by Dr. Gu. As for fighting the necromancer, it’d be better if I just watched from the side," Lu Ran admitted.
Lu Ran wasn’t overly enthusiastic about fighting members of an international criminal organization. It would be troublesome if he became a target.
"Do you think I’ll believe that? Are you scared?" Manager Ying mocked.
Me? Afraid? What a joke. I’m just under the influence of Super Beast Mimicry after syncing up with Sudden Death King!
"I just don't want to get too involved with The Other Shore. Besides, I'm not really that close with Dr. Gu."
"Getting involved with that organization or not isn’t something that you can decide. You could even run into undercover members of The Other Shore while clearing a secret realm in the future. The group of beastmasters you enter secret realms with are mostly random. It’s the ideal hunting ground for The Other Shore.
“They won't hold back when hunting for prey. When that time comes, you won't have time to get ready. If it weren't for the fact that you and Gu Qingyi know each other, I wouldn't bother with you."
Lu Ran smiled bitterly. This was a big misunderstanding, and the cat didn’t believe him even when he told the truth. However, Lu Ran knew that Manager Ying genuinely wanted to use this opportunity to prepare him for the dangers he may encounter in the future.
"Well, if the enemy really isn’t that strong, then I'll give it a try.” Lu Ran gave in.
"That's right. What are you afraid of?" Manager Ying questioned, looking like a wise teacher.
"Additionally, if you really catch the guy, the bounty on him won’t be small. It doesn’t matter much to me, but it can be considered a large sum of crystal coins for a newcomer like you. It’ll be enough for you to spend for a long time.
"Once this is over, the bounty will go to you, and internally, it’ll be announced that I solved the case, so you don’t have to worry too much. Of course, if you can't beat the opponent, just ignore what I said. But as someone with a special ability, your combat ability shouldn’t be that low, right?"
"A large reward of crystal coins? "Lu Ran’s eyes flashed.
Why didn't you say so earlier? If you had led with that, I would’ve volunteered to catch this despicable murderer from the start! It’s my duty to punish the wicked and support the righteous!
Lu Ran was suddenly filled with a sense of justice.
This sudden shift in attitude stunned Manager Ying.
Huh? Is this guy short on crystal coins? Yes, that should be the case.
Manager Ying could sense that the lizard in Lu Ran's pocket hadn’t awakened yet.
Did he need money to gather materials?
Forget it; it's none of my business.
It turned its head to look at the grave and held a moment of silence for that unlucky newbie beastmaster. Then, faint golden-blue ripples appeared around it and expanded until it soon enveloped the entire mountain!
Countless shadows appeared in its pupils one by one like a slideshow. A moment later, the light disappeared.
"Alright," Manager Ying said calmly.
"That necromancer is also a newbie and left many traces. Let's find him. As long as he is still in Golden Hill, we will locate him in no time. It might be a bit troublesome if he left Golden Hill or went to Limitless City, but let's look for him around here first."
"Okay!" Lu Ran nodded.
"If we find him in the city, we’ll need to use you as bait to lure him somewhere less crowded. Is that okay? We don't want to fight in a crowded place, nor will he. I won’t make a move unless I have to so that we don’t scare him off."
Lu Ran's face darkened. Sure enough, he had to be bait!
"I feel that directly baiting him is a bit unreliable," Lu Ran commented.
"As long as he isn’t stupid, he will definitely not attack an unknown beastmaster. He will probably want to feel out his target’s strength in advance."
The cat smirked lightly.
"Soul devouring is highly addictive for low-level necromancers, like you-know-what. Only a few people can control it. Generally, these local necromancers are small fries and don't have that kind of determination. Only the core members and senior executives of The Other Shore can be considered to have fully mastered this profession."
What do you mean by “you-know-what”? I, in fact, don’t know.
Lu Ran was speechless.
"The Other Shore casts a wide net for these small fry, mass-producing them like raising poisonous insects. It doesn’t matter if many die; only those who truly master necromancy are formally recruited into The Other Shore."
"Just take your lizard and wander around the city. With the necromancer’s sensitivity to souls, he’ll be able to tell that you are weak and delicious. After all, your lizard is really weak, but that's normal, considering that it hasn’t been contracted yet and is only level one. The other party cannot tell whether it has a contract or not and will definitely assume that it’s your familiar."
I want to die! Sudden Death King telepathically cried out.
Lu Ran felt that the plan seemed feasible. He petted Sudden Death King in his pocket.
Don't die, buddy. Didn’t you hear? You have to follow me and become stronger! There is a group of people who can level up by hunting, and you will be in greater danger!
Sudden Death King trembled but felt that what Lu Ran said made sense. The world was so dangerous. In order not to be killed, it had to follow Lu Ran and become stronger. It would be best if even its soul could be trained to become resilient. This way, it could become undefeatable!