Free Web NovelChapter 158: Chapter 140: The Last Beastmaster
A crowd of hunched, bizarre monsters suddenly flooded the periphery.
Many of the campers immersed in the scene were startled and quickly tried to get out of the way. It was only when some of the hunched monsters passed right through their bodies that they remembered it was a virtual projection.
Su Zhi watched the figures with a complicated expression.
They weren’t monsters at all, but disaster victims. They were sallow and emaciated from malnutrition, their bodies frighteningly thin. They staggered as they walked, which was why many had mistaken them for monsters.
THUMP!
Just as the Beastmaster raised his longsword, the victims fell to their knees. A dense crowd of them surrounded him in the center, kowtowing and pleading.
The Beastmaster had already done too much for them. They begged him to stop.
His two companions had been sacrificed in the battle against the Fierce Beasts, not even their bodies left behind. His Thunderbolt War Falcon, too, had been grievously injured by a Fierce Beast while protecting children and was now on the brink of death.
The Fierce Beasts were ultimately driven back, and the disaster victims survived.
But now, all the food was gone, and the Flying Shadow Alliance’s reinforcements were still three days away.
The last Beastmaster decided to kill his own grievously injured Pet Beast to help the victims survive this final, darkest hour before the dawn.
The victims wailed and pleaded.
The Thunderbolt War Falcon was their savior. If they ate her flesh and blood just to survive, their consciences would never be at peace.
The Beastmaster asked the victims, "Which is more important? Your conscience, or your survival?"
All the victims fell silent, leaving only the mechanical sounds of their kowtowing and pleading.
The Beastmaster heaved a long sigh and slowly raised his longsword.
The holographic projection was incredibly realistic.
Su Zhi could clearly see the man’s hands trembling, his eyes bloodshot, and the blood he’d drawn from biting his own dry, chapped lips.
After all, how many people could bear to kill their own Pet Beast with their own hands?
But the Thunderbolt War Falcon was surprisingly calm. She stretched her neck out toward her Beastmaster’s feet, gently pecking at his shoes. Her eyes, which flowed with a faint electric light, gazed quietly at her master, filled with both reluctance and a sense of release.
Hot tears streamed from the Beastmaster’s eyes, and he squeezed them shut.
The longsword finally reached its apex...
"Don’t!"
One of the female campers burst into tears.
Hearing her cries, the others who had been holding back their emotions also began to shed tears.
And in that very moment, the scene froze. The Thunderbolt War Falcon’s gaze, the Beastmaster’s upraised longsword, the hunched and emaciated victims... everything was frozen in time.
The virtual scene slowly faded away. After a moment of darkness, the room was once again filled with soft light.
Selena slowly emerged from a corner of the room. The floor in the center of the room gradually rose, revealing a display case that held a single ink wash painting:
Amid the Purgatory-like ruins of a village, victims knelt and pleaded. A Beastmaster in tattered, beige robes stood surrounded in the center, his longsword raised high. A battered and wounded Thunderbolt War Falcon lay at his feet, its gaze toward its master calm and gentle.
"This is the masterpiece known as *The Last Beastmaster*, designated as the official Alliance painting by the Flying Shadow Alliance. It depicts a disaster relief mission that took place in the Hundred Rivers Region at the end of the Classical Era."
Even Selena’s usually cool voice was tinged with emotion.
"The Boya Alliance’s high school textbook, *Beast Taming History, First-Year Volume*, also uses this painting as an illustration for the ’Fifth Hundred Rivers Earthquake.’ What you all just witnessed was the story behind this painting."
Su Zhi muttered under his breath, "The current textbooks have already removed it. They said the scene was too bloody and a bad influence on young people..."
Selena offered a pleasant smile. "I hope those old fossils die soon."
Hearing the aloof beauty’s vicious curse, everyone present chuckled along, and the long-repressed atmosphere lightened slightly. But after the laughter died down, the mood somehow felt even heavier.
Su Zhi asked again, "So, what happened to that Beastmaster and his Pet Beast in the end?"
"I don’t know for sure either. It’s considered one of history’s great mysteries."
Selena looked at the painting in the display case beside her. "When the reinforcements arrived later, they found all the victims in a strange coma, though they all eventually woke up safely. However, the Beastmaster, a man named Tuoba Jing, was nowhere to be found.
"The Flying Shadow Alliance conducted a three-day grid search of the area but couldn’t find any trace of him or his body. In the end, following the protocol of the time, the Flying Shadow Alliance declared Elder Tuoba Jing to be sacrificed. Others say he entered an unknown Secret Realm. To this day, the matter has never been definitively settled."
At this, Selena paused, her purple eyes sweeping over every camper present.
"Attending the Flying Shadow Alliance’s summer camp doesn’t mean you will have to join us in the future. The other eight Alliances have their own charms. But I still hope that today’s trip to the Alliance History Hall has given you all something to think about.
"As you all know, starting in the modern era, the title for those who command Pet Beasts was downgraded from ’Beastmaster’ to ’Beast Tamer’.
"Compared to the masters of the Classical Era, like Elder Pu Yangjing, we now possess superior technology and greater overall power, yet we have regressed in other areas. ’Beast Tamer’ is a title of humility we’ve given ourselves, and also a constant warning that reminds us to strive for more.
"Restoring the glory of Beast Taming is our undeniable duty!"
Selena clenched her left fist and glanced at her watch. Exactly 12:00 PM. Not a second off.
"That concludes this morning’s activities. Dismissed."
’Time’s up, time to clock out!’
·
The Flying Shadow Alliance’s cafeteria was quite large. Even with the addition of a flock of curious newcomers, it could still comfortably accommodate everyone.
This ensured everyone could eat quickly, avoiding delays to training or emergency deployments.
Su Zhi watched the orderly operation of the cafeteria, somewhat lost in thought.
In the eyes of the world, being an Alliance Member meant wealth and glory. And yet, the members of the Flying Shadow Alliance undoubtedly lived a harder life than the average person, constantly rushing between various disaster zones and Secret Realms, sometimes without a single day off all year.
But after the visit to the Alliance History Hall, Su Zhi found himself wanting to become one of them even more.
He also had a premonition: his future opportunities would be with the Flying Shadow Alliance.
"CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP..." The sound of Yu Bao wolfing down his food pulled Su Zhi’s thoughts back to the present.
The little guy was eating with gusto, shoving his head so far into the bowl he nearly fell in.
’This high-quality, freeze-dried feed from the Divine Strategy Alliance really hits the spot!’
"Slow down, no one’s going to steal it from you." Seeing the little guy choke for a moment, Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he patted his back to help him swallow.
"Oh, right, don’t forget to absorb the Burning Sand Forging later!"
Su Zhi patted his backpack. "Once your Energy Value surpasses the one-star level, you’ll hit a bottleneck where your growth will become extremely slow. You’ll need to evolve to break through it."
"Woof!" Yu Bao nodded excitedly. ’He’d been absorbing it for the past few days. That flavor is just intoxicating!’
"...Woof?"
After looking at the Burning Sand Forging, Yu Bao raised his eyebrows again.
’This thing has three Attributes, but I can only absorb its Earth and Fire Element Energy, right?’
’So why can I also sense the Gold Element Energy?’
"For real?"
Su Zhi asked curiously, "So, can you control the Gold Element now?"
"Woof..." Yu Bao hung his head.
’Not at all. I don’t even have any Gold Element Skills, so there’s no way I could control it.’
"It must be your imagination then. Don’t worry about it."
Su Zhi chuckled, speechless. "If you could control the Gold Element, what would that even look like? Mecha Warrior Yu Bao?"
"Woof!" Yu Bao’s eyes lit up.
’As expected of my Beast Tamer, so open-minded! If I really do manage to master the Gold Element, maybe I can team up with an Electric Element Pet Beast and see if we can build a mecha!’
’Whatever makes you happy...’ Sensing the little guy’s thoughts, Su Zhi chuckled to himself and went back to eating.
BZZT BZZT
His phone vibrated. Su Zhi tapped on the Huajing Cat avatar.
[Shao Ya]: We visited the Divine Strategy Alliance’s history hall this morning! What about you guys?
[Su Zhi]: We did too.
[Su Zhi]: (Image) (Image) (Image)...
Su Zhi sent a flood of messages to Shao Ya, telling her everything he’d seen and heard at the Alliance History Hall that morning.
Spamming someone with so much at once wasn’t great chat etiquette, but since the person on the other end was Shao Ya, it didn’t matter.
[Shao Ya]: Your place looks so sacred! Both sacred and awe-inspiring...
[Su Zhi]: Aren’t all the Alliance History Halls like that?
[Shao Ya]: Not at all!
[Shao Ya]: Hahaha, let me show you the Divine Strategy Alliance’s!
[Shao Ya]: (Image) (Image) (Image)...
She sent a string of pictures as well.
The first picture showed a Beastmaster trying to graft a cat and a dog together.
The second picture showed a Beastmaster trying to graft a cat and a piece of wood together.
The third picture showed that same Beastmaster trying to graft a cat onto himself.
The fourth...
Su Zhi’s spoon fell into his bowl with a CLATTER. He was petrified on the spot.
’What kind of decades-long psychosis leads to this?!’
Even Yu Bao’s jaw was slightly agape, a look of pure astonishment on his face.
[Shao Ya]: So? Feeling a little bit of that classic Divine Strategy Alliance shock? /smirk_emoji
[Su Zhi]: Uh...
He respected science, but... how to put it... this was a little hard for him to accept.
The Divine Strategy Alliance’s History Hall had successfully shattered his preconceived notions.
[Shao Ya]: But the Divine Strategy Alliance is actually amazing in a lot of ways!
[Shao Ya]: I just took a look, and they actually have some Skill Atlases from the Classical Era preserved here! And they’re pretty complete.
[Su Zhi]: Really!?
Seeing Shao Ya’s message, a pleasant surprise appeared in Su Zhi’s eyes.
After nearly a thousand years of evolution, some classical Skills that couldn’t keep up with the times had been phased out by the mainstream Skill System. Some were lost to time, while others were gathering dust in museums.
But even though they were abandoned by the mainstream, that didn’t mean they had completely lost their value.
Even if he didn’t need these Skills himself, just learning about some relatively unknown ones might spark an idea in Yu Bao and lead him to figure out something new!
’Yu Bao! The God of Bright Ideas!!!’
[Shao Ya]: Want ’em?~
[Su Zhi]: Yes yes yes
[Shao Ya]: Too bad! There aren’t any real classical Skills anymore. They’re all greenhouse-grown Skills nowadays. /smirk_emoji
[Shao Ya]: (Image) (Image) These are the books! They’re all in the reference room next to the Alliance History Hall. I don’t have permission to take them out, so you should come take a look yourself when you have time!
[Su Zhi]: Okay, I’ll go over on my day off, on the fourth day.
[Su Zhi]: We can hang out then too?
[Shao Ya]: Yep! Afternoon~
[Shao Ya]: HuajingCatWaving.jpg
[Su Zhi]: YuDianDogWaving.jpg
"Yu Bao, are you done eating?"
"Woof."
"Then let’s go back and rest for a bit. We still have activities this afternoon. On our day off on the fourth day, we’ll head over to the Divine Strategy Alliance and you can meet up with big brother Xiaoyue."
"Woof woof~"
After finishing lunch, Su Zhi left the cafeteria with Yu Bao.
Neither of them noticed the malicious gaze watching them from a corner...
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