85: The seventh pet

"How much are these three contracted beasts individually?"

Xu Le pointed at the tablet and handed over the three he had selected.

Chu Chu smiled charmingly, "Sir, you have excellent taste!"

"The Azure Dragon Divine Fish may only be S-Rank, but it possesses Dragon Clan Bloodline and extraordinary potential. Legend has it that if it finds the Dragon Gate, it can even advance into a true Dragon. The price is 500 million."

"The Dolphin Demon Fish is a standout among SS-Rank contracted beasts. At the same Rank, few can match it except for the Dragon Clan. Coupled with its ease of contracting, the price is 1.2 billion."

"The Golden Silk Demon Monkey is peerlessly brave. Even if its opponent is a SSS-Rank Dragon, it dares to charge forward with a weapon. The price is 10 million."

"As you are our Gold Card member, you receive a flat 30% discount."

Xu Le remembered that after the entrance exam, the head examiner at the time had traded three SS-Rank contracted beasts for a heart of the commander worth a billion.

Yet here, a single S-Rank Azure Dragon Demon Fish cost 500 million. He couldn't help but suspect she was overcharging a regular customer.

Chu Chu saw the look in Xu Le's eyes and understood instantly. She hurriedly explained, "Mr. Xu, your vision far exceeds the mundane. The contracted beasts you've chosen are the best of the best, so the price is naturally much higher than others of the same Rank."

"These are our transaction prices from last month. Please feel free to look. If we have misquoted the price, we will compensate you a hundredfold."

Xu Le turned serious and took a casual glance, realizing she wasn't lying.

He pointed to the S-Rank Golden Silk Demon Monkey and asked, "Why is this one so cheap?"

Generally, a decent S-Rank contracted beast costs around 100 million.

Yet this one only cost 10 million, and with a 30% discount on top of that. He had to admit, it was comparable to a budget shopping tour group.

Chu Chu's smile remained. "Mr. Xu is a distinguished Gold Card holder of our mall, so I won't hide it from you. Please look at this contracted beast's age."

Only then did Xu Le notice that while the first two were less than a month old, the Golden Silk Demon Monkey was already over a year old.

Chu Chu continued, "This demon monkey is more bellicose than its kin. Even if defeated, it refuses to submit."

"It has been bought five times. Four of those times, the customers failed to sign the contract and returned it for a half-price refund."

"The fifth time, after the customer forcibly signed the contract, during a dungeon run, it charged straight into the deepest part of the monster swarm to solo the enemy lord. That customer's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering in fear, and they immediately force-quit the dungeon."

"Saying they were afraid of being dragged to their death by it, they preferred to lose a contract slot and forcibly terminated the contract, returning it at a 90% loss."

Xu Le realized that they had long since made enough money from it; selling it for even a penny now was pure profit.

Moreover, with that monkey's tendency to screw over its owner, running a dungeon was one thing since you could force-quit, but if you were farming monsters in a Fallen Zone, wouldn't you be screwed until not even your bones remained?

Xu Le coughed. "Very well, bring that monkey over for me to see. If we hit it off, I'll take it."

"Alright, please wait a moment!"

Soon, staff members arrived carrying a cage. Inside lived a demon monkey with a face full of ferocity, flailing and striking out wildly.

However, Xu Le saw a hint of desolation in its eyes.

Clearly, its previous experiences hadn't left it unscathed.

Perhaps even the fifth time, when that person was able to forcibly sign a contract with it, there had been an element of its own willingness involved.

Xu Le shook his head. "What a pity. Its wildness is gone."

After contracting so many beasts, Xu Le had discovered that his talent could increase the Rank of contracted beasts, turning them into top-tier contracted beasts.

However, it couldn't change their fundamental nature.

Nine Phoenix was proud, Little Black Snake was obedient, Little Peach Tree was timid, and Little Dog was insidious... The current demon monkey was about to become, or rather had already become, a dog. It looked fierce, but it was just a hollow facade.

With such a contracted beast, would it really be able to fight well after the contract?

"Screech screech screech..."

Hearing Xu Le's evaluation, the demon monkey instantly flew into a rage.

Its dull eyes suddenly brightened, like a sharp sword that could pierce through one's heart.

The eyes are the window to the soul.

It had never changed!

It was just so desperate for battle that it chose a temporary disguise.

Bang, bang, bang... The specially made cage began to deform slightly.

The staff hurriedly opened a portable case containing anesthetic injections.

Xu Le reached out to stop them. "Stop, I'll take this Golden Silk Demon Monkey. Don't hurt it."

After saying that, he squatted down and said to the demon monkey, "Don't make a scene. Come home and contract with me later, and I guarantee you'll be able to fight to your heart's content."

!!!

The demon monkey stared into Xu Le's eyes with that heart-piercing gaze, trying to discern how much of what he said was true and how much was false.

In the end, it chose to believe him for now.

Its eyes were merely bright; it couldn't actually see through a person's heart.

Having been deceived five times already, it didn't mind being deceived once more.

At worst, it would just take revenge ruthlessly later!

This time, if it really was being deceived, it would wait until they reached a Fallen Zone to cause trouble.

Having chosen the contracted beast, Xu Le took out the equipment and skills he had recently acquired to sell them.

There were over forty items in total.

Only about ten were truly valuable; the rest were drops from low-level monsters. They required high Ranks but provided few stats—a classic example of useless junk that was more trouble than it was worth.

Chu Chu hurriedly called someone over to calculate the value. It totaled 32.8 million, and she rounded up the change.

Now, the only things remaining in his possession were Ghost Executioner's dagger and useful items like the Banshee's Heart.

Xu Le had wanted to buy some equipment, but unfortunately, the best available was only Epic Rank, and the additional stats were negligible, so he passed.

There wasn't a single piece of equipment for contracted beasts either.

He spent another million Credits to restock on daily supplies and went straight back to the school... dormitory.

Xu Le set up the Contract Array, and the Golden Silk Demon Monkey proactively walked to the other end of the array, its familiarity with the process being almost heartbreaking.

Xu Le channeled mana, and the Formation activated.

The Golden Silk Demon Monkey suddenly erupted with ferocity, leaping directly onto him and throwing a punch at his face.

It was somewhat surprised that this human was even weaker than imagined. It planned to give him a good beating before signing the contract.

However, it found its thrown punch blocked by a hand that appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did this hand come from?"

Just as it was thinking that, it received a flick to the forehead.

Xu Le smiled and said, "You shouldn't hit people in the face. If you hit faces and don't behave, you'll be sanctioned."

???

What the hell kind of sanction is that!

The demon monkey was furious and unleashed its honed martial arts.

This time, it didn't hold back and used its full strength.

Especially that move, 'Monkey Steals the Peach,' which was an innate skill of a veteran peach picker.

A stroke of genius!

With one reach, it was already near the 'peaches.'

Xu Le raised his knee, blocking the wicked monkey claw, and delivered another flick to its forehead.

"It's one thing to use that on enemies, but using low blows on me? You don't seem very smart!"

"Screech screech!"

The demon monkey cursed loudly and used the move 'Old Ape Climbs the Tree,' leaping at Xu Le.

However, its body fell straight to the ground; what was in front of it was merely an afterimage.

After Xu Le dodged, he flicked the demon monkey's head again.

"Your Rank isn't high enough, your quality isn't good enough, yet you dare to keep attacking me. It's not rational."

...After ninety-nine flicks, the demon monkey kicked off hard with both legs. 'Unexpectedly' using too much force, its body landed directly on the contract position.

Runes entwined, and the contract was complete!