Chapter 549 - 28: The Leisurely Green Grass and the Fusion Soul

News of Su Zhou’s return spread quickly. The large contingent of Spirit Beasts from the Beast God Realm he had brought back was settled just outside the Three Hundred Sixty-Five Star Constellation Array, where they built a makeshift camp using surrounding trees and materials they had on hand.

All the Spirit Beasts from the Beast God Realm could speak Chinese. Although their accents were strange, they were still intelligible. Since Zhengguo was leading the mission, they were responsible for handling the intake of these Spirit Beasts.

The personnel in charge of the intake discovered that the vast majority of these Spirit Beasts were Production Species. Only a small portion were Combat Species. An even smaller number belonged to the Slave Species and Devotion Species, referred to by the other Spirit Beasts as "Slave Soldiers" and "Flesh Bodies." To everyone’s surprise, these slaves and Devotion Species had all retained their self-awareness and intelligence.

"Those are Spirit Beasts who were demoted to the lower classes from the ranks of the Combat and Production Species."

Su Zhou sat in the middle of the Central Command Chamber, surrounded by commanders of the multinational task force. He wasn’t the least bit nervous; on the contrary, he spoke with ease. "While I was scouting the Beast God Realm alone, I used a few... methods... to question some of the local Spirit Beasts, both friendly and unfriendly. As it happens, I learned of a detention camp where these demoted Spirit Beasts were being held."

"Upon hearing this, I simply rescued them. These Spirit Beasts were imprisoned in a secret chamber, just about to be subjected to modification surgery."

As for how, in the process of "simply rescuing them," Su Zhou had terrified the local garrison into fleeing at the mere sight of his shadow, he conveniently left that part out.

Su Zhou didn’t need to explain the reasons for the Spirit Beasts’ demotion. Based on their analysis of the Beast God Realm’s civilization, everyone present had already figured out the gist of it.

In the Beast God Realm, it was extremely difficult for new Divine Beasts to emerge beyond Tier One. However, transitions between the Combat and Production Species classes still occurred, with a dozen or so cases every few centuries. Furthermore, both the Combat and Production Species had high reproductive rates, and even war was not enough to cull their surplus numbers. As a result, the populations of these two classes would also swell rapidly over time.

Therefore, the Divine Beasts, whose own population growth was extremely slow, would always find some pretext to select Spirit Beasts from these classes and demote them. They would then instigate wars to cull the massive population, thus maintaining the absolute stability of their pyramidal social structure.

By rescuing these Spirit Beasts, Su Zhou had essentially saved their lives. In fact, these members of the Combat and Production Species, who had originally belonged to the middle and upper echelons of the Beast God Realm, swore allegiance to Su Zhou on the spot, hailing him as their new Venerable Lord.

"They’re all grateful to me. And because of what they went through in the Beast God Realm, as long as we’re willing to guarantee their sapience and free will, they are more than happy to assist us in any of our endeavors."

A bright smile appeared on Su Zhou’s face as he spoke. Given his handsome features, any uninformed passerby would probably have become an instant fan on the spot.

But the thought that this very same cheerful, sunny-looking young man had, just a short while ago, crushed a Divine Beast’s head with a single bite—enacting a scene straight out of an R-rated B-level gore flick—filled everyone present with an intense and absurd sense of dissonance.

’Just hours ago, he routed the Beast God Realm’s Alliance Army, smashed the heads of several Divine Beast Venerable Masters, and even took a bite out of one... Yet here he was, acting completely normal. He showed no signs of being affected, not even the slightest hint of the excitement a young man should feel after pulling off something so huge.’

Someone couldn’t help but wonder, ’This Professor Su... is he... really sane? Or are all geniuses just this eccentric?’

In fact, similar thoughts were cropping up in the minds of most of the onlookers.

"Excellent, Su Zhou. This is extremely important. By cooperating with these high-ranking natives from the Beast God Realm, who seem to be sincere, we’ll no doubt be able to quickly understand this unfamiliar world. However, we can table the issue of the Spirit Beasts for the time being."

The Daoist Saint praised Su Zhou’s accomplishments without hesitation. And while he was naturally curious about what else Su Zhou had discovered and done while exploring the Beast God Realm alone, a mission debrief could wait.

Right now, the old man was more concerned about Su Zhou himself.

He was cautious, treading carefully for fear of provoking the young man. In a gentle tone, he asked, "So, uh, Su Zhou... you really don’t think there might be something... a little off with your mental state?"

"You’re saying I have a psychological problem?"

In response to the Daoist Saint’s question, Su Zhou blinked. He seemed stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh and nodded with a solemn expression. "You know what? I think so too!"

His words left not only the Daoist Saint, but even the surrounding crowd of international observers, completely stunned.

’So you *know* you have a problem?’

Meanwhile, Selos stood in the back, a look of sudden realization on her face as she jotted the phrase down in her notebook.

’—When faced with doubt from others, do not hesitate. Admit it directly. Such an action not only frees you from an awkward situation but can even make your questioner feel awkward... As expected of Su Zhou!’

Scribbling furiously, Selos’s hand moved with incredible speed. After she finished writing, she looked with satisfaction at her notebook, which now contained another pearl of wisdom. ’I’ve learned something new,’ she thought. "—Excerpt from *Su Zhou’s Operations in the Beast God Realm*."

Su Zhou, however, hadn’t finished. His tone was perfectly natural as he went on, "Of course, I’m well aware. I’m impulsive, irritable, and quick to anger. I also have a degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder. On top of that, my empathy is far too strong. I’ll occasionally lash out over things that seem completely baffling to others. And when I do strike, I’m ruthless and always go for the kill. I even feel this compulsion to use the same methods as my enemy to slaughter them. If I don’t, I feel deeply unsatisfied—it’s my OCD flaring up."