Astral Pet Store

“Our job...” Su Yuanshan answered with a smile, “As seamen, we sail out on the ships and search for rare and wanted materials in the sea. You must know that there are spatial cracks in the barren areas, but you may not know that you can also find those cracks in the sea. Of course, you won’t see many people fighting and contending over things in the sea with so many wild beasts out there; whoever finds the materials will be the rightful owner.

“You can collect and pick up anything you find inside those spatial cracks in the sea. Naturally, the inside can be quite dangerous. You may even find beast kings inside some of those cracks. That is when people need us, the professionals, to probe.”

“And how do you do that?”

“It’s a job that needs a lot of devotion and special care. We may use some pets with temporary contracts. Us seamen would go in if there are no pets available.”

IIII

Su Ping was at a loss for words. Sea explorations could be fatal. Was did his father mean by saying “special care”? Su Yuanshen went ahead and shared other seamen’s stories and described some of the strangest spatial cracks he had seen.

Su Ping listened with rapt attention.

His father made understating comments of his adventures but Su Ping was able to grasp the sinister nature of the job. At times he felt scared for his father.

They were approaching the end of the topic when Su Ping threw out another question. “From what you told me, I can tell that the more powerful you are, the better it is when being a seaman. Why is it that common men work on the sea as well?”

The reason for that particular question was that Su Ping failed to detect any signs of astral powers on his father, who was not a battle pet warrior, just a common man.

“What you said is not only a rule for seamen but all occupations. However, those at higher ranks would prefer not being seamen. Why not choose to make some easy money on land? Only those whose lives valued little would take up a job as seamen. Of course, they would be the ones with the guts to do the job,” answered Su Yuanshan.

“There are different levels of us seamen. Battle pet warriors are senior seamen and people like me who are in charge of transporting materials are just average seamen.”

Su Ping answered with momentary silence.

Right then, his mother went upstairs to call them and have them help with the dumplings.

Su Yuanshan went downstairs with Su Ping.

Su Yuanshan wore an apron and went to the kitchen to chop the pork while Li Qingru washed up the vegetables. Su Ping sat in the living room, watching his parents at work. What a nice and warm image. And yet, something was lacking. Upon further thought, he realized that his bullying candidate wasn’t there.

He wondered how she was doing at the academy.

Su Ping shook his head.

Soon after, the dumpling filling was ready. His parents made the dumplings while Su Ping sat there, waiting for the meal.

They made quite a few dumplings. His mother cooked a serving for Su Ping and Su Yuanshan, then she went back to cook her share.

The father and son pair sat down by the table, eating and chatting. Su Yuanshan asked things about his son, for example, when he had awaked and how he had been able to reach such a high rank.

Su Ping made up an excuse, but he was afraid of being found out because he had a feeling he would not be able to fool his father as easily as his mother. He wondered if his father had bought his story. The lucky thing was that Su Yuanshan was not a battle pet warrior; he might know a thing or two about battle pet warriors but he was a layman nonetheless, which created a chance for Su Ping to make up a story.

The TV was on.

Suddenly, the news report interrupted Su Yuanshan and Su Ping. That was the Longjiang Base City’s official TV channel which would always report authentic news; since it was an official channel, it didn’t need to broadcast fake news to garner attention. There were images of other base cities on the TV at the moment. The Jinghai Base City was one that was neither far nor too close to the Longjiang Base City; it was closer to the sea, though. The ship that Su Yuanshan had boarded to return had been moored at the Jinghai Base City’s port.

The Jinghai Base City was also under attack and had actually been breached.

The images of collapsed residential buildings, debris, and deformed and bloody remains of the wild beasts were being shown on screen.

There was a beast king among the wild beasts striking that base city! Even though there was merely one beast king, the threat was fatal for the Jinghai Base City which was a Class B base city. Fortunately, many from other base cities went to help. While the Jinghai Base City had been breached and the casualties were many, the beast king didn’t wipe out the base city completely!

Apart from the Jinghai Base City, two other base cities were under attack. One of the two suffered a sad tragedy. The aerial photo showed that one-third of the base city had been destroyed; no building remained standing, as if a tank had rolled over the base city.

Su Ping suddenly lost his appetite after looking at all that mess.

He remembered the hellish scene outside the Longjiang Base City. Their base city had survived and the wild beasts didn’t breach the city; still, the casualties were just as great as in any other base city. He did help, but the number of wild beasts was simply massive. He had driven away the leading beast kings. However, the remaining wild beasts had been enough to topple any base city. The five major families and reinforcements who had traveled from other base cities made grave sacrifices just to protect the base city.

They only won because they had outnumbered the wild beasts.

“It’s not safe out there...” Su Yuanshan heaved a sigh. He took a couple of more dumpling bites and shook his head.

To that, Su Ping replied with silence.

He remembered what he had heard about the Deep Caves in the Tower. He didn’t know the details. However, the appearance of the Otherworld Heavenly King and the simultaneous strikes on several base cities told him that things had started to go haywire.

Apart from the three base cities that had already been struck, two base cities had been surrounded by wild beasts. A reporter was interviewing a government official at one of the base cities.

“Am I confident? This is not a time to talk about confidence. But, the Hancheng Base City is more than prepared to fight until our last breath!

“We have detected the presence of two beast kings. We earnestly ask for outside help. Honorable titled battle pet warriors, please come and help us out. The people of the Hancheng Base City will never forget your kindness!”

Su Ping wondered if the Tower would send reinforcements to the Hancheng Base City when no beast kings like the Otherworld Heavenly King was there.

The tragic images and the memory of blood spilled outside the Longjiang Base City made Su Ping want to immediately leave and help out those base cities.

After a moment of silence, Su Ping finished his dumplings and went back to his store without lingering further at home.

At his store.

Su Ping noticed that all of those waiting there were old acquaintances.

They greeted Su Ping at once; their eyes were filled with admiration as they looked at him. His name had been heard all across the Longjiang Base City in the two days that Su Ping was in a coma.

After the battle, people saw how the city had been defended.

Those who hailed from the five major families had fought while disregarding their own safety The volunteering titled battle pet warriors from other base cities charged wildly against the wild beasts. The one who stood out the most was Su Ping, whose fight with the Heavenly King had been earth-shaking.

Su Ping had become a household name during the next-to-last beast strike. This time, he had become even more famous.

People knew that it was because of Su Ping, the five major families, and those who had arrived from other base cities that the Longjiang Base City was still standing.

Su Ping returned their warm greeting before he went to a corner and called a friend, Venerable the Blade.

“Mr. Su, what’s up?”

Venerable the Blade didn’t expect a call from Su Ping Su Ping heard the whistling wind. “Where are you? Do you have time to come over to my store?”

“I’m on my way to the Hancheng Base City. Mr. Su, what is the matter?” Venerable the Blade asked.

“I said I would give you a gift after the battle if you came to help us. You must be going to help fight the wild beasts at the Hancheng Base City. My gift can be of assistance to you,” answered Su Ping.

“Mr. Su, you’re also aware of what is going on in the Hancheng Base City? No problem. I’m on my way,” Venerable the Blade said.

After the call ended, Su Ping called Wu Guansheng who was teaching Su Lingyue healing skills; he had agreed to travel to the Longjiang Base City to lend a helping hand. “Mr. Wu, thank you for what you did for the Longjiang Base City. When you’re free, come over to my store. I have a gift for you.”

“Mr. Su, you are very welcome. I would go even if you didn’t ask. I’m at the Jinghai Base City right now. Many battle pet warriors and their pets are waiting for me to treat their wounds. I will stop by your store when I have time.” Wu Guansheng was glad since he was surprised to receive a call from Su Ping.

Su Ping remembered the news he saw. He nodded, even though Wu Guansheng was unable to see him.

He went back to the counter to receive his customers after he took care of the calls.

Truth be told, Tang Ruyan could have easily taken care of those customers for him. His presence was only needed when the customers required professional training.

Those recurring customers had gone there multiple times but their wealth didn’t allow them to choose the professional training. The beast strike had also sabotaged the economy, which was felt by everyone. In addition to the general public, even the rich households were in danger of bankruptcy. Some companies that were involved in import-export businesses had suffered greatly when the Longjiang Base City had decided to close its borders to heal.

Su Ping took the customers’ orders and saw each of them to the door after the customers thanked him for what he did for the Longjiang Base City again.

Su Ping went back inside, which seemed quite empty after the customers left. The battle had affected his store as well. Many repeated customers were not in the mood to train their pets at the moment.

Su Ping wondered if he should contact Qin Duhuang and ask the five major families to stop by and show some support to his business. That way, he would be able to collect enough energy points to revive the Inferno Dragon and upgrade his store as soon as possible.

While he was thinking, he heard something outside the store.

He saw something familiar.

Something, not someone.

A chubby little mouse.

That purple fur told Su Ping that it was a Lightning Rat.

But that one was quite chubby. Its master had fed it well.

Su Ping recognized the look in the Lightning Rat’s eyes at once. He had trained the Lightning Rat; it was Su Yanying’s pet.

The next second, Su Ping turned ghastly pale! He was able to sense that the Lightning Rat had no master. He could sign a contract with it!

That pained Su Ping’s heart. A thought came to his mind, but he brushed it away and hurried to where the Lightning Rat was.

The little beast was squatting on the staircase, looking around, confused. Su Ping moved closer.

The Lightning Rat had recognized Su Ping as well.

Memory clips were surging back in the Lightning Rat’s mind. Its hair stood on end; the Lightning Rat showed its teeth at Su Ping.

How surprising. After all that time, the little guy had not been freed from that trauma.

He patted the Lightning Rat’s head. “What are you doing here? Where’s your master?”

The Lightning Rat wanted to move away from the patting, but it was also wary of something at the same time. The Lightning Rat eventually allowed for Su Ping to pet it. Nevertheless, sparkles of electricity were dancing around and it was still showing its teeth.

And yet, the Lightning Rat came to a sudden stop and its hair softened down as Su Ping posed those questions. The sparkles of electricity died down; the little critter looked at Su Ping, baffled.

Su Ping’s heart skipped a beat.

The Lightning Rat looked around and struggled away from Su Ping’s hand. It turned around, gazing at the street, trying to find something.

Su Ping was in a daze. There was a shadow cast over his face, hiding his expressions.

“Where is this pet from?” Tang Ruyan was surprised to see the Lightning Rat

Zhong Lingtong went out with her. She was quickly able to tell something was off with the Lightning Rat. “I don’t think it has a master. Is this a Lightning Rat? I’m detecting a horrifying level of lightning energy inside it.”

“No master? Is it a wild beast? No, that isn’t right. See the necklace. This Lightning Rat must have a master,” Tang Ruyan stated after a close examination.

Only then did Su Ping notice the necklace hidden by the purple fur. The pendant was a silver heart. Su Ping reached for the necklace but that action riled up the Lightning Rat. It jumped back at once and showed its teeth at Su Ping again.

This time, the Lightning Rat didn’t hide its ferocity. The surging lightning energy from the Lightning Rat was truly strong.

Both Tang Ruyan and Zhong Lingtong were stunned speechless by that level of energy.

Tang Ruyan remembered something. She recalled that there was a girl who would leave a Lightning Rat for training many times.

She realized something that made her face turn cloudy.

Su Ping was not offended by how hostile the Lightning Rat had become. He didn’t try to reach for the pendant. He was able to see the word “Yin” engraved on the silver pendant after crouching down.

Are you here...

To wait for your master?

Su Ping clenched his fingers.

He was certain that Su Yanying would never give up the Lightning Rat, her most powerful pet, unless something had happened to her.

Su Ping remembered when Su Yanying and Ye Hao had stopped by to say goodbye before the battle.

Never did he think that it would be the last time he would say anything to Su Yanying.

Su Ping bit his teeth.

He was willing to go and confront the Otherworld Heavenly King because he didn’t want to see anything happen to his friends, his customers. And yet, he had failed to protect all of them in the end.

The Lightning Rat glared at Su Ping for a moment. The Lightning Rat calmed down since he didn’t take further action. The chubby rat jumped here and there, looking around, waiting for something.

But the street was empty. There wasn’t even a single pedestrian.

Su Ping suddenly took out his phone and he found Ye Hao’s number. He called at once. The busy tone seized him with tension. He was worried that he was going to hear something he didn’t wish to hear. But soon, the call was picked up and it was indeed Ye Hao who answered.

“Mr. Su?”

Su Ping was relieved. “You said you would join the fight. How is Su Yanying?”

He received no reply. That last kindling of hope had died down.