Chapter 53 - Getting Pimped Out to Pay Off Debts
Outside the research institute, everyone looked at the half-collapsed research institute with different expressions. Lu Ran and Captain Doofus were in a good mood but avoided eye contact with anyone in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility. Gu Qingyi was smiling, while Manager Ying was simply speechless.
It had been using instant teleportation all day, so its stamina was almost exhausted. It suffered a major loss.
"You owe me a servicing fee of 8,000 crystal coins," Manager Ying muttered.
"Huh??? You’re joking, right?"
Manager Ying’s comment made Lu Ran anxious.
"Yeah, but you better remember not to damage load-bearing walls again," Manager Ying complained.
Captain Doofus humbly accepted the criticism. Honestly, it had done this kind of thing on a smaller scale before and got a severe butt-whooping from Lu Ran. Although Lu Ran started it this time, Captain Doofus still backed him up. It was fully aware of its own faults.
"Amazing! I didn't expect that you could wake it up from its berserk mode so easily," Gu Qingyi praised.
Normally, the stereotype was that huskies were prone to wreck the house, but in this case, the owner joined in. There was a first time for everything, but all’s well that ends well. With Lu Ran’s help, Captain Doofus was able to overcome its trauma and move forward.
As long as I don’t didn’t have to pay for damages...
"The research material——" Lu Ran suddenly blurted out
"Don't worry. Not only are there backups, I have also memorized all the material as well," Gu Qingyi said as she approached the ruins.
"Dr. Yunhan's research in Green Sea City was the study of familiar spirits. The Spirit attribute is very rare. Although it isn’t as good as Time or Space, it’s far rarer than basic elemental attributes.
"This attribute is related to the brain and controls bodily potential. You may have heard about people or even certain creatures obtaining extraordinary strength in extreme situations. This is all due to a sudden spiritual shift that unlocks the hidden potential of the body.
“Additionally, the spirit is also related to many important skills, such as advanced applications of Formation techniques that require the integration of spiritual will. I heard from Manager Ying that you seem to have mastered a momentum-related skill. That is also considered a superficial application of spiritual power.
"Originally, Dr. Yunhan wanted to develop the spiritual regions of the brain in familiars to stimulate their potential. The state of your husky is supposed to be a type of enhancement that temporarily releases its spiritual restrictions.
“Obviously, his research in this area failed. The spiritual region of the brain is not so easy to develop. The experimental subjects all ended up like this, uncontrollable and prone to rampage. It was one of the causes of the accident in this research institute."
Captain Doofus tilted its head.
"Dr. Yunhan used drugs, technology, and other methods to forcibly stimulate animals’ brains, creating a berserk skill. The skill’s essence lies in stimulating the brain to unlock the body’s potential. On paper, it’s a good concept, but unfortunately, users lose their sanity during activation, making it a failure.
"To make matters worse, the skill can be triggered by anything in the user’s daily life, creating a highly dangerous situation. Your familiar is fortunate to have met you early on."
Lu Ran looked at Captain Doofus and sighed.
"Then how do we fix it?"
"One option is to use medication and hypnosis to make it completely forget the berserk state. Another option is to awaken the Spirit attribute as its secondary attribute. Special Spirit resources can strengthen its brain, eliminating the berserk state while fully controlling and utilizing its potential.
"This information stems from Dr. Yunhan's research on fully developing the basic potential of familiars. However, resources for strengthening spiritual power are extremely rare and offer only minimal improvement. It’s not cost-effective, which is why the research is considered a failure. After all, there are many other ways to enhance a familiar’s potential, so this approach wasn’t the only option."
Lu Ran’s jaw dropped slightly as his gaze shifted between Captain Doofus and Manager Ying. He was afraid that Manager Ying would quote him 1,000 crystal coins for this information.
"Don't look at me."
Manager Ying walked away. Although it could have gathered the information itself, since Gu Qingyi had an eye on Lu Ran, it left the favor to Gu Qingyi. Lu Ran's potential was undeniably good and worth cultivating. It was just a pity he had contracted a dog—something it didn’t particularly like.
"Are you trying to decide which is the best option? If it were me, I would choose the latter," Gu Qingyi suggested. "If it completely forgets, then wouldn't it have suffered in vain?"
Captain Doofus nodded in agreement.
"The best option is still to integrate this state by strengthening its spiritual power. This will also enhance its racial characteristics. While not very cost-effective, since you’ve chosen it as a partner, the investment is worthwhile.
"As for strengthening its spiritual power, I don’t recommend selecting the Spirit attribute as its secondary attribute. Spirit-attribute familiars are rare, and its inability to control the berserk state makes it incompatible with the Spirit attribute. If the secondary attribute or trait lacks high compatibility, it could hinder the familiar’s future evolution. That’s why I prefer using consumable resources to enhance its spiritual power."
"What resources do I need, and which secret realms can I find them in? Can I buy them somewhere?"
Lu Ran agreed with her suggestion. He also felt that awakening the Spirit attribute wasn’t a great idea for his dog.
Moreover, using consumable resources to strengthen its spiritual power didn’t conflict with awakening the Spirit attribute. The latter would have to wait until Captain Doofus reached level 10 anyway, which was still far off in the future. It was important to solve Captain Doofus’ problem as soon as possible.
"Spiritual resources are extremely rare and can’t be found in the beginner secret realms you have access to, while the things you can buy aren’t high enough quality," Gu Qingyi explained.
Lu Ran looked stressed, feeling duped yet again. The cat and Dr. Gu were both full of tricks. Was he going to have to sell his resources again? It felt like the 10,000 crystal coins he earned from capturing the necromancer were already gone—and now, he’d need to spend even more.
"So, Dr. Gu, would you happen to have any of these resources?" Lu Ran finally inquired.
"You’re so smart!" Gu Qingyi smiled as she took out a white five-petal flower from her storage.
[Name: Dokarona Flower]
[Grade: Rare]
[Description: A flower with the magical ability to heal, strengthen the spirit, and tap into bodily potential. It blooms on the back of the Dokarona Turtle.]
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"This is a resource that is only dropped by the Dokarona Turtle, a King-ranked species, and happens to be the perfect resource for you," Gu Qingyi introduced.
Lu Ran quickly covered up his chest while Captain Doofus took a step forward.
"Woof?"
Captain Doofus looked at the conflicted Lu Ran in puzzlement.
"How... How much?” Lu Ran's mouth twitched.
"I'll give it to you for free." Gu Qingyi smiled.
"Ah?" Lu Ran took a step back.
This actually scared him a little. Since childhood, his parents had warned him that free things often came at the highest cost. Don’t be greedy or owe favors lightly. Dr. Gu had fair skin, a pretty face, and the air of a sugar mommy, but accepting free stuff from her didn’t sit well with him.
He’d rather rack up a huge debt. Having never worried about food or clothing, he wanted to experience the struggles of the common man and the satisfaction of paying off a loan.
"Hehe..." As if seeing through Lu Ran's concern, Gu Qingyi smiled.
"Are you worried? Then just think of it as an investment. I may need your help one day."
"Me?" Lu Ran was puzzled.
"Yes, although my level is far higher than yours now, there are some things that I can't personally do," Dr. Gu replied.
"You need something from secret realms?" Lu Ran guessed.
"I enjoy talking to smart people. Secret realms are categorized into beginner, rank one, rank two, and beyond. Each time a beastmaster ranks up, more advanced secret realms become accessible."
"Once higher-level secret realms become available, you will no longer be able to enter the lower-level ones. The problem is that some special resources can only be found in specific secret realms. So, obtaining certain materials from low-level secret realms isn't easy, even for a high-level beastmaster. The only option then is to buy them.
"However, due to the limited number of beastmasters, the cost of clearing secret realms is too high. As a result, some secret realms have never been cleared. These are the more difficult ones that no one is willing to challenge. Additionally, Limitless City regularly updates new secret realms with varying difficulty levels, and beastmasters of corresponding ranks have their own value.
"You are considered very skilled for a fourth-generation beastmaster. In the future, when I need some rare materials, I may have to ask for your help. This is why the government places so much importance on training fourth-generation beastmasters. Even low-level beastmasters can be of great help to high-level ones.
"If you’re willing to step up, then this Dokarona flower will serve as my deposit for your assistance in acquiring materials of equivalent value one day. When that day comes, we’ll call it even."
Lu Ran looked at the flower and accepted Dr. Gu’s explanation.
"Okay, but I won’t go into a secret realm that I can't beat."
He was already planning to sell materials to make money. The materials he gathered could be sold to anyone. It was just that now, rather than picking secret realms randomly, he would just pick the ones his sponsor chose for him. This thing didn’t come cheap. It seemed that he would have to sell himself to work off his debts.
"Then here’s to working together!” Gu Qingyi exclaimed.
"Aooo~!"
Captain Doofus couldn't wait any longer as it stared at the flower in Gu Qingyi's hand.
Is that for me to eat?
"Eat." Gu Qingyi bent down slightly and handed the white Dokarona flower to Captain Doofus.
Lu Ran didn't say anything as he watched. Lu Ran was just happy that Captain Doofus wasn’t blinded by food. Although Gu Qingyi was handing it a delicious snack and Captain Doofus really wanted to eat it, it still glanced at Lu Ran to get his permission.
"Go ahead, eat it." Lu Ran finally spoke.
"Ao!"
Captain Doofus happily swallowed the Dokarona flower in one gulp. After it swallowed the flower, it took effect quickly.
"Woo—!"
Captain Doofus suddenly felt a chill in its brain, but oddly enough, its whole body felt blazing hot.
"Woof!"
It began to run in circles. Its eyes turned bloodshot, then returned to normal, only to repeat the cycle again.
"It’s taking effect. If nothing unexpected happens, it will fully integrate the power of its berserk state. Its racial characteristics will also improve slightly. It may not rank up, but its physique will improve significantly.
"Its physique will transform from that of a husky to that of an Arctic wolf king. At the same rank, its basic stats will be much stronger," Gu Qingyi said.
"Not only that, it should also level up during this process. You can take a look at its contract card."
Originally, Lu Ran was still observing Captain Doofus, but with Gu Qingyi's reminder, Lu Ran quickly took out Captain Doofus’ contract card and was stunned.
[Species: Husky]
[Attribute: Wind]
[Species Rank: Intermediate-Transcendent]
[Level: 9]
Captain Doofus actually leveled up three times, going from 6 to 9 in an instant! Is this the growth brought by tapping into the body's potential?
"It's actually level 9! Captain Doofus, how do you feel?" Lu Ran asked.
By now, Captain Doofus had gone from being confused to excited. Its eyes were no longer bloodshot and had returned to a deep blue color.
"Ao, ao, aooo!"
Suppressing its newfound strength, it shook its head while looking at Gu Qingyi fondly. It stretched out its paw as if to ask if she had any more treats. Captain Doofus now understood why the animals in the park wanted to set Captain Lu up with their owners. Rich people were so attractive. The snacks this sister took out were much more delicious than the food Lu Ran prepared!
"No more."
Gu Qingyi turned around, which made Captain Doofus freeze.
"Stupid dog, you’re too greedy. Do you want me to work for the rest of my life?"
Lu Ran's face also turned black.
"When you were level 6, you were already ranked first on the rankings. Now that you're level 9, you've caught up with the top echelon. I hope that you can become the strongest fourth-generation team—not only in Limitless City #3, but also in Xia, and, one day, even worldwide."
Gu Qingyi calmed down and said, "Ok, let me think. Have you picked out your first trait?"
"Yes, the Weapon Control trait drops from the hell-difficulty beginner-ranked secret realm, Abandoned Laboratory," Lu Ran replied. "I actually wanted to buy a guide from the Cat Maid Cafe."
"Weapon Control?" Gu Qingyi and Manager Ying, who was already walking away, asked at the same time.
Gu Qingyi was stunned and rubbed her temples as she felt a headache creep in.
"Hahahaha. I’m going to die laughing." Manager Ying laughed.
"You can talk him out of it yourself. When I saw his husky using a sword, I had a hunch he would take a non-mainstream route. Turns out, I was right! If I remember correctly, the first-generation beastmaster, Condor Hero, who also came from Rainbow Dojo, had fused with that trait, right?" Manager Ying recalled.
"Yeah, Condor Hero was my senior brother."
Lu Ran was offended.
Keep laughing!
"Then you should know that if the trait isn’t compatible, it could cause problems with its evolution in the future," Gu Qingyi commented.
"Yet you still insist on having your husky fuse with the Weapon Control trait? Do you want to follow in your senior brother's footsteps and have your familiar evolve toward a humanoid form?"
"Ying, so far, have there been any beastmasters with a familiar that has completed a complete evolution with the Weapon Control trait?"
"No," Ying replied.
"See? Do you want to reconsider?" Gu Qingyi asked.
Lu Ran pondered it for a moment as Gu Qingyi continued.
"Currently, there are two popular evolutionary paths for huskies. The first is to awaken the Ice and Wind attributes and then fuse with the King and Ancient Soul traits. This would allow it to evolve into the Incarnation of the North Wind, the Northern Wind Wolf King. You can also replace the Wind attribute with the Light attribute and evolve it into the Aurora Wolf King.
"The second is to awaken the Ice and Rock attributes and fuse with the Giant and Permafrost traits, evolving it into the Living Iceberg, the Giant Frozen Stone Beast.
"These are all well-tested evolutionary paths. Of course, the werewolf route is also an option, but it’s not very suitable for huskies. The most important thing is fusing with the Weapon Control trait, which is even more difficult.
"In addition..." Gu Qingyi looked at Lu Ran and saw that he wasn’t convinced at all, so she shook her head.
"It seems that you have made up your mind."
She felt a splitting headache.
"Listen to me. I'm doing evolution research, and I know the difficulty of forging a completely new evolutionary path. Not to mention that it's based on Weapon Control, a trait that no beastmaster has ever been able to use.
"If it succeeds, it will certainly be worth celebrating, and it will make you famous amongst beastmasters, but if it fails..."
Lu Ran's eyes were ablaze.
"Actually, I've figured out a way for Captain Doofus to use this trait perfectly and complete its evolution. Why don’t I run it by you, doctor, and you give me some advice?"