King of Beasts

“Who claimed you were the king? Don’t call me that randomly,” Lu Ran twitched the corner of his mouth.

“Ga?” the crow was puzzled.

Wasn’t that what you had asked to be called before?

Why deny it now? I’ll keep calling you that!

At this moment, it wasn’t just the crow leader who recognized Lu Ran.

A cricket, its body covered with a metallic energy overlay like it was clad in armor, also silently watched Lu Ran.

It immediately recognized him as the person who had kidnapped it before.

Despite its young age, it was the undisputed ruler of the cricket realm behind Maple Park! Regrettably, its prowess was noticed by this man who then captured it and took it home.

The cricket thought its end was near.

However, Lu Ran treated it well, feeding it and teaching various combat skills.

In a short time, its combat power increased again, making it utterly invincible in the cricket realm.

It even easily became the champion of the Fighting Bug Tournament.

However, crickets by nature are solitary and prefer not to associate with other species.

Most crickets are like this—solitary and preferring to live independently.

Except during mating, they never allow themselves to live with other crickets, let alone a different species.

Therefore, once they encounter each other, they start fighting, and the fighting bug tournaments capitalize on this trait.

In the cricket realm, competition is fierce, and fighting is commonplace.

At this moment, this Bug King cricket only had fragmented memories of Lu Ran, as its intelligence was not very high initially.

But it could tell that Lu Ran had treated it well and knew that its current combat skills were thanks to his training.

Otherwise, with its previous strength, becoming the king of the cricket realm would have been difficult.

Most importantly, after teaching it all these combat skills, the man eventually gave it its freedom back.

The Bug King cricket recalled fighting side by side with Lu Ran and started chirping loudly.

It asked if Lu Ran was also there to snatch this dandelion or if he was there to find it…

“You’ve gotten quite smart,” Lu Ran seemingly mocked.

The Bug King cricket waited for Lu Ran’s response, but Lu Ran’s comment seemed like a taunt.

“Hush,” the cricket king was annoyed.

“If you want this, I can give it to you as a token of my gratitude for your training. But if you’re here to find me, I must decline. I now have seven wives to look after.”

Lu Ran: ??

So, this is why you always wanted to return to nature?

At that moment, seeing Lu Ran and the cricket communicating, everyone fell silent, very silent.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t understand the cricket’s language, nor could they gauge the depth of the exchange between Lu Ran and the cricket.

Meanwhile.

Lu Ran glanced at the resource that had attracted the “three ferocious beasts.”

Name: Life Dandelion

Level: Rare

Introduction: Consuming it can enhance an organism’s self-healing abilities.

It was a rare resource!

Lu Ran’s eyes lit up, finding it incredible.

To think, he had spent over half a month grinding in secret realms, exhausting himself, and only managed to get a rare resource from a public secret realm boss.

Apart from that, there was only the rare resource that Dr. Gu had given him.

Rare resources truly lived up to their name; they were very hard to come by.

But Lu Ran had never imagined that he could find a rare resource just casually on the mountains of Green Sea City.

Is this what the early stages of the revival of spiritual energy look like? Treasures are everywhere!

No wonder these three animals were attracted to it. If any of them could consume this dandelion, their ability to survive in the wild would definitely see a terrifying boost.

“Looks like there’s no need to fight over it. You three can’t easily share it, so how about giving the dandelion to me?” Lu Ran was sensible, taking the crow’s and cricket’s advice.

Red Large-Toothed Snake: ??

Police: ??

“Hiss!!!” The red large-toothed snake’s eyes widened, but in the next second, the crow leader took flight, its gaze sharp as it stared at the snake.

The cricket also turned around, its steel jaws open, seemingly ready to engage the snake in a fight.

If it wasn’t easy for them to get the resource, letting Lu Ran have it was an outcome both could accept.

At this moment, the crow noticed something and started talking to the cricket.

“Ga! So you’re also a general under the king!”

The red large-toothed snake was baffled:

The police were baffled too!

Damn, what’s going on? Lu Ran was just strolling around, and of the three ferocious beasts originally fighting over a rare resource, two suddenly turned to support Lu Ran, even fighting over the treasure for him?

What the heck.

This world is too crazy.

At that moment, Lu Ran also recalled the words of the one-eared white cat: in Green Sea, even if a pig fell from the sky, it would have to take the surname Lu! Lu Ran looked innocent, as if he was being mistaken for some kind of tyrant.

Wasn’t this about resolving conflicts?

Unfortunately, Lu Ran didn’t recognize the red large-toothed snake; otherwise, he could have even more amicably taken the resource.

The evolution of the red large-toothed snake was not minor. It seemed that the authorities of Green Sea hadn’t discovered it since it had always been in the wild.

After thinking it over, Lu Ran decided to talk to the red large-toothed snake rather than resorting to force.

“Give me some face; I’m taking this.”

“What do you think?”

“Hiss—” The red large-toothed snake looked doubtful, its tongue flicking out, recognizing that both the crow and the cricket regarded this man as their leader.

What was happening?

It glanced at the dandelion, very eager to eat it, but the current situation clearly spelled danger.

After a moment of deep thought, the red large-toothed snake hardened its gaze and slithered away.

Now, only Lu Ran, the crow leader, and the cricket, the bug king, remained.

“That’s a sensible snake,” Lu Ran remarked, quite pleased.

It seemed like a creature he could communicate with, which would make things easier in the future.

However, at that moment, Lu Ran suddenly noticed that the surrounding police were looking at him as if they had seen a ghost.

Lu Ran quickly explained, “Coincidentally, I’ve also fed this crow.”

“And that cricket, I’ve taken it to a fighting bug tournament before, so we’re pretty familiar.”

Officer Luo was speechless: as he watched the two fierce beasts being easily tamed, could he even dare to speak? He dared not.

He was afraid of offending Lu Ran, the King of Green Sea, who might make things difficult for him.

Didn’t the snake-like beast have to give face to Lu Ran?

Whatever Lu Ran said, went.

“Ah bah ah bah ah bah…” The other beastmasters also turned their heads, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.

They saw nothing, heard nothing.

“But letting that red large-toothed snake go just like that?” Officer Luo frowned, concerned. “It’s a previously undiscovered beast; with its size, it could be quite dangerous.”

Lu Ran said, “We can’t just aim to eliminate every fierce beast just because they are dangerous. This is only the first wave of evolution, and there will definitely be many more supernatural beings emerging and growing. Humanity can’t possibly destroy every one of these creatures. I think we should try to communicate and establish cooperation with them.”

“For instance, the giant turtle in Qingwu Lake. If it becomes the leader there, it can keep the other supernatural beings in check since it’s at the forefront of evolution.”

“Although this idea might not be widely accepted now, I always feel that humans will eventually have to coexist with supernatural beings, just like beastmasters do with their pet beasts.”

“Of course, I’m not saying we should completely ignore that red large-toothed snake for now. I’m just not very familiar with it. You continue to monitor it, and when I have time, I’ll personally go and have a thorough talk with it.”

In the animal world, Lu Ran preferred to solve problems through communication rather than conflict.

In the secret realm, the situation was different as the beings were only projections and couldn’t communicate, but in reality, it was essential to make good use of telepathy.

“Ga, right, let it know who is the real king here!” the crow said. Lu Ran replied, “Shut up!”

“Should I go then?” asked the crow.

“Wait.”

Lu Ran looked at the crow. “It seems you’ve gathered quite a few followers. Do me a favor, send them to fly around Green Sea City to find other beings that have evolved significantly like the red large-toothed snake.”

“After you find them, compile the information and report back to me. Don’t worry, there will be a reward.”

The crow leader was momentarily stunned, then nodded its head.

It understood Lu Ran’s true intentions, saying he wasn’t aiming to be the King of Green Sea, but in reality, everything he did was exactly what someone who wanted to become the King of Green Sea would do!

In contrast, the cricket, the bug king, was rather aloof. Seeing that Lu Ran was about to take the dandelion and that the red large-toothed snake had also left, it quietly turned and left without saying a word.

Seeing this, Lu Ran didn’t try to stop it; after all, they were bound to meet again in Green Sea City.

“You also help me out, try to lead the insect world of Green Sea City. Keep them from causing chaos. With your strength, you should be able to…”

“Shh—” The cricket hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded its head.

After all, it was the bug king.

With that, it flew away.

As a swarm of black crows filled the skies above the forest, Officer Luo remarked, “Lu Ran, it seems you are planning to…”

It sounded like something unbelievable! Officer Luo couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Lu Ran said, “Just as I mentioned earlier, I plan to first locate all the animals in Green Sea City that have undergone significant evolution, visit each one, and suggest that they stay away from human habitats while helping to maintain the order in the wilderness of Green Sea City.”

After all, Lu Ran was now residing in Green Sea City and he did not want the area to become chaotic due to the resurgence of spiritual energy.

While he might feel powerless and lack the energy to manage other cities, he was determined to organize Green Sea City first.

Officer Luo, still hesitant to speak, realized the implication: Lu Ran was aiming to unite the various factions… essentially taking control of the wildlife in Green Sea!

And yet he claimed he didn’t want to be the King of Green Sea!

The thought of Lu Ran successfully uniting all the supernatural beings in the city, with them all looking up to him as their leader, made Officer Luo shiver.

Was this external support sent by the provincial capital really just a simple beastmaster?

Honestly, with what Lu Ran was doing, Officer Luo was somewhat unsure how to report the specifics of this mission…

Currently, Green Sea City was probably one of the cities where order had been restored the fastest.

Though the city had many supernatural beings with significant evolution, it was fortunate that a human who could communicate with them and was quite familiar with them had appeared in Green Sea.

With Lu Ran’s assistance, the leading supernatural beings were immediately deemed temporarily non-dangerous.

They even voluntarily helped maintain the public order in Green Sea.

This allowed the officials to save a lot of manpower, avoiding the need for tense stand-offs with them.

They could instead focus on better maintaining urban order.

Ultimately, Officer Luo reported the situation in Green Sea City truthfully.

It’s important to note that other cities were still primarily focused on eliminating or clearing out the powerful mutant beasts surrounding them.

Lu Ran’s approach of subduing the mutant beasts around the city, aiming for peaceful coexistence, and leading them without a contract was something Officer Luo had not heard of being attempted in any other city.

Such a situation was impossible not to report.

Lu Ran, aware of how his approach differed from other cities, waited for more intelligence on supernatural beings from Green Sea City officials and a flock of crows while trying to reach Dr. Gu for her opinion.

Leaning against a tree and watching the busy police in the distance, Lu Ran waited for the phone to connect, uncertain if Dr. Gu had the time to talk. Fortunately, after only a few seconds, he managed to get through to Gu Qingyi.

“Dr. Gu, this is Lu Ran!”

“I know, what’s up? Is it about the global evolution?” Gu Qingyi asked.

“Yes… I’ll keep it short, Dr. Gu. As you know, I have a special superpower that allows me to communicate telepathically with other species. I’m familiar with most of the wild animals in Green Sea City. Currently, I see that other cities are maintaining stability by eliminating these creatures, but here in Green Sea, I want to try maintaining order through communication and dialogue.

“I can speak with several of the most highly evolved supernatural beings here, and we have a good relationship.”

Gu Qingyi paused before responding, “Theoretically, your approach is more sustainable. In other beast taming civilizations we’ve encountered, many supernatural beings have already integrated into human societies. The division isn’t so absolute, or rather, it’s impossible to make it absolute without disrupting the entire ecosystem. Even some wild overlords and sovereigns have their own unique understandings with human civilization and generally don’t cause major conflicts.”

“But right now, on Blue Star, everything is still at an early stage. There are too few people like you who can communicate with animals, and there are also too few advanced mental pet beasts for communication. With these communication barriers, cities have to adopt a more forceful approach to ensure stability.”

“It’s not that your idea is wrong, nor is the current official approach incorrect.”

Lu Ran pondered, “So for my part…

“I’ll think about it,” Dr. Gu said. “Your idea would likely be supported by any advanced beastmaster. After all, it has been proven in other worlds. I’ll inform the Beast Taming Edifice in Jinling to grant you certain authorities and designate Green Sea City as a key experimental area. Go ahead and implement your plan. As long as you can maintain city stability and achieve results, it will be considered a merit. I’ll apply for a reward for you when the time comes.”

“Do you feel confident? After all, this is no easy task. Of course, if you succeed, you’ll be the representative, the King of Green Sea. The benefits are tremendous—you’ll be able to manage the city’s biological resources by yourself and quickly close the gap with previous generations of beastmasters. But it will also be… very tiring and stressful.”

“Damn.” Lu Ran hadn’t expected Dr. Gu to agree so readily.

Did this mean… she supported his plan to unite the animal kingdom in Green Sea City?

Lu Ran was conflicted; he just wanted to ensure Green Sea City was stable and harmonious. After all, he knew many of the animals and didn’t want humans or the animals to get hurt.

But it would be very tiring… Well, a little fatigue was worth it for the privileges.

Hmm… As a new beastmaster, managing a city’s wild supernatural beings seemed reasonable. Lu Ran slapped his forehead, feeling like he was getting in over his head.

However, after Lu Ran and Dr. Gu expressed their positions, he felt relieved. With the support of a big shot like her, he felt much more secure.

But before Lu Ran could relax for long, his phone rang again.

It was Fang Lan!

“Wow, Lu Ran, are you back in Green Sea? Haha, I’m so awesome now. I’ve tamed supernatural centipedes, poisonous snakes, scorpions, and toads. I just need a gecko to complete my collection of the ‘Five Poisons.’ Do you want to come with me to capture supernatural beings outside? I want to catch a gecko!”

Lu Ran was speechless.

You really are excited!

“Sorry, I’m busy uniting the animal kingdom in Green Sea City. Don’t run around with your poisonous creatures and increase my workload, okay? I’ll let you know if I find a supernatural gecko… By the way, are you interested in a level 10 red large-toothed snake? I stumbled upon one earlier.

Negotiating with a red large-toothed snake might be easier if it had a boss to report to.

Fang Lan: “Ah?”