Ch. 294 - Sadder Than Sadness Is... False Hope

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"Chen Pi!"

Just as Chen Shu was about to leave, Fang Si called out to him.

The Beast Taming Arena was empty now save for the two of them. Qiao Yue had already left, hugging her tech laptop.

"Hm? Sis Fang Si?"

Chen Shu turned back with a smile. "No need to praise today's performance. I'd call it basic operations, really!"

"Praise my ass. You know, I feel like if I let you stick around for a while longer, my entire beast taming squad is going to fall apart."

Fang Si shook her head. "Can I see your contract spirits' panels?"

As team captain, she naturally needed to understand everyone's combat capabilities. Tactical command in the field would all fall to her.

Chen Shu, for his part, had absolutely zero interest in seizing command. Mainly because being captain didn't come with any extra rewards.

"No problem!"

Chen Shu nodded and shared both contract spirits' panels with Fang Si.

The Husky's panel was nothing too shocking — at most, [Sustained Assault] and [Clone] stood out a bit.

The rest was pretty unremarkable.

But the Slime's panel made Fang Si's entire body jolt. Her eyes flooded with sheer disbelief.

The Beast Taming Arena fell utterly silent.

After a long moment, Fang Si swallowed and spoke.

"Are you... sure this panel wasn't Photoshopped?"

"..."

Chen Shu's mouth hung open. "Sis Fang Si, your imagination is impressively vivid!"

As everyone knew, information panels couldn't be PS'd.

"Impossible. Even if you leveled a skill every single time you advanced a sub-rank, there's no way your skill levels could be this high."

Fang Si furrowed her brow, sizing Chen Shu up and down. Her eyes were full of confusion.

Her own combat prowess was outstanding, and it wasn't just because of her two dragon-type contract spirits.

The most important factor was her nickname: Fang Never Empty-Handed!

From the moment she'd been a Level 0 Beast Tamer, every single time Fang Si broke through, her contract spirits would either comprehend a new skill or upgrade an existing one.

This was the combined result of luck and innate talent — and honestly, it was even more shocking than her two S-rank contract spirits.

But compared to Chen Shu... the gap between them looked absolutely colossal.

"Seems pretty reasonable to me. Every time I break through, I level two or three skills at once."

Chen Shu spoke matter-of-factly. "Who said you could only level one skill at a time?"

Although he trusted Fang Si one hundred percent, the System was simply too absurd. No one would believe him if he explained it — better to just let it rot in his stomach.

"Don't show your contract spirits' information to anyone."

Fang Si committed the effects and levels of Chen Shu's skills to memory, her tone dead serious.

"Of course!"

Chen Shu nodded and strode off with purpose.

Fang Si hurriedly called after him. "Hey! Your husky!"

"YOUR husky!"

Chen Shu turned back with a grin — then his expression froze in shock.

The Husky was currently fighting a battle against... its own clone.

"Holy crap, are you fucking mentally ill?!"

Chen Shu's mouth twitched. He immediately dispelled the [Clone] skill, recalled the Husky, and left the Beast Taming Arena.

Fang Si remained behind, still stunned by the sheer perversion of Chen Shu's skill levels.

She murmured to herself, "Now this is a real monster... Even that poser Ling Chen wasn't this twisted..."

...

Two days passed.

Chen Shu stayed in his hotel the entire time. With the dimensional expedition approaching, he needed to make some preparations.

Nighttime.

Chen Shu sat at his desk, fully focused. Laid out before him were all kinds of medicinal ingredients.

In order to max out his spirits' primary attributes, Chen Shu had genuinely paid premium prices for these materials — and it had made his wallet ache for quite a while.

This was what finally drove home a certain realization:

Turns out the Nanjiang Bandit's autograph really was worthless!

He planned to concoct four types of potions: Body-type Potion, Defense Potion, Flame Potion, and Lightning Potion.

Just fifty bottles each of those four types had cost Chen Shu over twenty million in Huaxia currency. Averaging out to over a hundred thousand per bottle.

The whale-spending nature of the beast taming path was gradually revealing itself.

Chen Shu summoned his contract spirits. The Husky appeared in the room, bouncing around energetically.

At the same time, a rift tore open in the nearby space, and a pair of adorably vacant eyes peeked through.

"Goo-gii! Goo-gii!"

"Hm? Your wounds healed?"

Chen Shu blinked, peering into the space at the Slime.

He'd spent the past two days dealing with potion matters and hadn't taken the Slime to the Beast Taming Hospital.

Back during that sparring match at the Beast Taming Arena, the Black Thunder Bird had inflicted some pretty serious injuries on the Slime.

Yet in just two short days, it was completely healed!

"So the Beast Space upgrade's bonus effect was wound recovery?"

Chen Shu rubbed his chin, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

Out in the dimensional spaces, there were no hospitals. This was where the Beast Space's utility really shone.

And on top of that — most importantly — it saved money!

"Little Yellow, open wide!"

Chen Shu called out, preparing to toss the potions in.

A figure immediately lunged straight toward Little Yellow's gaping maw.

"OH COME ON! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

With quick hands and sharp eyes, Chen Shu grabbed the Husky's body and roughly scrubbed its head.

"Awooo! Awooo!"

Chen Shu let out a breath of relief and shoved the Body-type and Defense Potions into the Slime.

"These are yours!"

He stuffed the Lightning and Flame Potions toward the Husky.

The Husky was an all-element type — it needed to consume all kinds of elemental potions.

But Chen Shu's funds and time were limited, so for now, he could only boost its fire and lightning attributes.

"Awooo!"

The Husky turned its head away with stubborn defiance, like it was throwing a tantrum. It flat-out refused to take the potions.

"You motherfucker!"

Chen Shu silently opened his backpack and pulled out the urea bag!

"Awooo!"

The Husky's eyes burned with indomitable defiance, as if it intended to resist Chen Shu to the bitter end.

But its body was awfully honest — it obediently gulped down bottle after bottle.

The four key potion types further boosted both contract spirits' combat power, and Chen Shu's confidence in tackling the [Living Wood Swamp] grew stronger.

...

Early the next morning. Just as Chen Shu was about to head out, his phone chimed with a notification.

Zhang Dali (Lonely Wolf) had sent a file: Skintight Leather Bodysuit Photoshoot!

"?!"

Chen Shu's heart skipped a beat. He silently saved it.

Then typed: "Did your account get hacked?! What the hell kind of garbage are you sending?"

"Uh... wrong file, meant to send a recipe."

Immediately after, another file labeled "Recipe" came through.

"Got it."

Chen Shu ignored the recipe and opened the saved photoshoot file. His pupils contracted. His expression shook!

"Ah... this..."

The photoshoot was entirely filled with close-up shots of Ultraman...

"You MOTHERFUCKER!"

Chen Shu started typing furiously — but Lonely Wolf had already gone offline.

Sadder than sadness is... false hope.