Chapter 382 - 257: Bring Your Computer to Court

"Chirp chirp~" Upon receiving praise from Great Sage Yu Bao, Shan Bao happily bobbed up and down.

"Guu..." A groan came from the fierce and combative Fighting Pet Beast below.

Since Shan Bao still had Super Heavy Gold Fall active, it had dealt a second blow to Big Stick just by turning around. The few bobs that followed dealt even more damage...

Big Stick struggled feebly a couple of times, then lay flat on the ground, completely still.

The deceased is currently in stable condition.jpg

"Chirp." Shan Bao scratched its head sheepishly, quickly hopped off of him, and poked him with its foot.

’Looks like it’s fallen unconscious. That’s not good.’

Su Zhi squatted beside it, lost in thought. "Shan Bao, give Big Stick some CPR."

"Chirp chirp?"

"It’s easy. Just activate Super Heavy Gold Fall at full power and jump on him."

"!!!" Big Stick shot up in fright, instantly restored to full health.

The group of people and pets all burst into laughter, and the air by the campfire filled with merriment.

Vice Alliance Leader Gou cupped his hands with a sigh. "I have lost. The younger generation is truly formidable."

Su Zhi instinctively replied with polite modesty, "Not at all, not at all! It’s mainly because your skills weren’t that great to begin with... uh, no, that’s not what I meant..."

Gou Yu covered his face. "Thank you for your modesty. Please don’t be modest ever again."

"Pfft..." Shen Chuqing bent over, trying to stifle her laughter.

"But I truly do accept my defeat without any reservations."

Speaking of which, Gou Yu’s mouth twitched. "Cognitive Camouflage isn’t impossible to crack. I thought you might have a way to counter my Cognitive Camouflage... but I never imagined your method would be so brutally simple."

Su Zhi scratched his head. "The principle is actually very simple. For things that are easy to forget, you just need constant reminders to stay focused. As the saying goes, ’keep it in your thoughts, and you’ll never forget’."

"You might not be able to talk about it all the time in your day-to-day life, but you can use sticky notes or memos as reminders. The point is to keep it somewhere prominent."

With that, Su Zhi showed Gou Yu his chat interface. The contact "Vice Alliance Leader Gou" was pinned to the top.

"This way, you’ll never forget."

"That’s all it takes?" Gou Yu murmured thoughtfully. "I guess my talent isn’t so heaven-defying after all."

’No, you’re the one being modest...’ Su Zhi pursed his lips.

Cognitive Camouflage is inherently an assassination-type talent. The fact that it could make him and Shan Bao stumble time and time again in a head-on battle was already incredible. If used to ambush an unsuspecting enemy, this talent would be a guaranteed kill.

Without prior investigation, an enemy might not even know a person named Gou Yu existed. Who would treat him like a significant other and keep him in a prominent place every day?

’All I can say is, Vice Alliance Leader Gou is just too much of a noob... he’s wasting such a good talent.’

"My comrades in the Alliance often forget I exist. The Alliance Leader forgets me on a daily basis, hehe. It’s not as if she couldn’t have thought of such a simple solution."

Vice Alliance Leader Gou laughed heartily and nodded at Su Zhi in gratification. "Thank you for the revelation! Sometimes you have to look at problems from a different angle. Rigid thinking is a no-go!"

Shen Chuqing said, "Or is it possible that everyone knows this simple method, it’s just that you aren’t that important to Senior Cui Que, so she couldn’t be bothered to put in the effort?"

Vice Alliance Leader Gou’s smile froze on his face.

Su Zhi watched, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, as he squatted on the ground, drawing circles in misery.

Yu Bao munched on popcorn, enjoying the show.

Wu Bao considered whether to add such a clown to the upcoming plot.

Shan Bao hopped over, patted Vice Alliance Leader Gou’s shoulder with its ’jio’, and consoled him, ’It’s okay, it’s great that no one remembers you, too~’

Gou Yu looked at Shan Bao on his shoulder. "Regarding our spar just now, I have another question!"

Su Zhi blinked. "Go ahead?"

"It’s true you had the upper hand then, but I distinctly had Big Stick release Paralyzing Spores. The idea was to stall until the poison took effect, then look for an opportunity to counterattack. Why didn’t Shan Bao react at all?"

Su Zhi looked somewhat surprised. "You did that?"

Gou Yu: "..."

’So you’re telling me we worked ourselves to death, and you didn’t feel a thing?!’

Su Zhi scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "Shan Bao says it had Immortal True Gold active the whole time, so it didn’t notice any Paralyzing Spores."

Gou Yu: "......"

’A Flash Gold Sparrow... practicing Immortal True Gold?’

’How could he say something like that so calmly? And it was active the whole time? What kind of absurd stamina would that require?!’

’But then again, he also had Shan Bao learn Hardening and Super Heavy Gold Fall. Looked at that way, it’s actually normal. Because he himself is completely abnormal, any illogical things are actually quite logical...’

"I never thought such a unique individual could exist in the world. A Flash Gold Sparrow is clearly a mobility-type Pet Beast, yet under your training, it’s become an excellent tank. How magical."

Gou Yu sized up Shan Bao, then suddenly asked, "Tell me, can a Flash Gold Sparrow like this still be considered a Flash Gold Sparrow?"

Hearing this, Su Zhi was also stunned for a moment.

’Vice Alliance Leader Gou might be a noob, but that was actually a pretty profound question.’

By strengthening the Perception that ordinary Yu Dian Dogs aren’t skilled in, Yu Bao’s abilities have fundamentally diverged from those of a conventional Yu Dian Dog. It even vaguely hinted at a long-lost Evolutionary Type.

Shan Bao’s path was also clearly different from that of an ordinary Flash Gold Sparrow.

’Does this mean that when Shan Bao evolves in the future, it will also take an unconventional path?’

"I don’t know either. Maybe it will be like Yu Bao and forge its own Dao."

Su Zhi smiled faintly. "The road ahead is long and winding, and I will seek my heart’s desire. In my opinion, chasing the Dao of ’oneself’ is the greatest joy in the Beast Taming World."

"Well said!" Gou Yu cracked open another can of beer with a FSSSH. "To my little brother Su Zhi, may you attain the Dao of Beast Taming! Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The two clinked their beer cans together.

Shen Chuqing glanced at her watch and said flatly, "You’re right, but it is now 8:15 AM, Alliance Headquarters time."