42: Chapter 42 The Steel Beast Instantly Transforms into a Spoiled, Pampered Dog!

"This is a Tier 2 exotic beast, a Crimson Gold Wasteland Mastiff."

Shen Qingci ignored his rambling.

"Judging by its size and the metallic luster of its exoskeleton, it should be on the verge of breaking through to Tier 3."

"Its bite force can easily shred tank armor, and both its defense and attack power are extremely formidable."

She paused, her tone deepening:

"But I advise you not to mess with it.

The Source Energy within low-tier exotic beasts is too violent, leaving them with nothing but pure killing instinct in their brains; there is absolutely no possibility of domestication."

"The military tried to establish a battle pet unit ten years ago.

They implanted chips into the brains of mutated military dogs and Thunder Hawks to forcibly suppress their ferocity..."

"And the result?"

Su Ming asked with curiosity.

"A permanent shutdown!"

A flicker of coldness flashed in Shen Qingci's eyes.

"The instability of electronic control technology under the abyss magnetic field is one aspect, but what's more lethal is...

The controlled exotic beasts still absorbed Source Energy and continued to evolve.

The moment their energy intensity surpassed the chips' limits, tens of thousands of exotic beasts went berserk within the base and devoured their masters."

"Ultimately, we paid an extremely painful price to slaughter and incinerate the entire project, along with the thousands of battle pets, right on the spot."

Su Ming felt his scalp tingle.

He hadn't expected such a bloody lesson behind all this.

He scratched his head and remarked:

"That doesn't seem right, though? I watched an Awakening promotional video before, and there were clearly powerhouses fighting side-by-side with mutated wolves.

A person and a wolf charging into a beast tide, slaughtering everything in their path; it looked incredibly cool...

Could those scenes all have been generated by a large AI model?"

"Next time, I'm definitely going to pause it and count if that wolf has six claws!"

Being fooled by AI in two lifetimes.

Su Ming found it preposterous.

Had even the official propaganda department learned to use video deception to scam hot-blooded youths like them?

Shen Qingci glanced at him speechlessly, as if looking at someone who had slipped through the cracks of basic Federation common sense.

"Those are Tier 7 high-level life forms."

"Tier 7?"

"Once an exotic beast or Source Beast reaches Tier 7, it transcends the shackles of its species.

It possesses high-level intelligence comparable to humans and can even reshape its body to take human form.

At that level, they can actively choose to sign a soul contract with an Awakener."

She looked at the Wasteland Mastiff and said coldly:

"As for anything below Tier 7...

They only have instincts, no reason.

You take it as a pet, and it takes you as a snack."

As she spoke, she tightened her grip on the Geng Gold bone blade in her hand.

A dark golden shimmer began to faintly flow across the blade.

She was already prepared for battle.

"I'll take the lead in attacking in a moment; you find an opportunity to harass it from the side and draw its attention."

"Don't do that."

Su Ming shook his head, however.

A trace of eagerness curled at the corners of his mouth.

He took a step forward.

Blocking in front of Shen Qingci.

His B-grade trench coat snapped in the radioactive hot wind.

"Big Sister Benefactor, let's try a different way this time."

Shen Qingci was stunned: "What are you trying to do?"

"Let me be the bait."

Su Ming stretched his neck, which emitted a crisp cracking sound.

"Let's see how strong my body is."

He wanted to see.

Whether his own skin of bronze and bones of iron...

Could withstand the full-force bite of a peak Tier 2 exotic beast that lived to shred metal!

If it could, he also wanted to test the combat effectiveness of [Mass Mastery].

He would just have to hold back his strength!

This idea was nothing short of insane!

Especially in Shen Qingci's eyes.

My college roommates always said I was a battle maniac, but could I possibly be crazier than him?

This guy... he really was risking his life to chase thrills.

Or perhaps, he had a near-pathological confidence in his continuously mutating weight-increase talent.

For a moment, Shen Qingci didn't know what to say.

"Suit yourself."

After two seconds of silence, she finally spat out those two words.

She also wanted to see where the limits of this guy, whom her father had described as a "monster," truly lay.

Their previous duel had only been a small test of skills.

It was far from a life-or-death struggle.

Knowing the true strength of her teammate...

Would allow for better coordination in the upcoming hunting operation.

"Alrighty then!"

Su Ming grinned and rubbed his hands together.

Then he swaggered out from behind the cover.

He even deliberately stepped on a loose metal plate.

Making a crisp "clanging" sound.

The Crimson Gold Wasteland Mastiff, which had been devouring its meal, suddenly froze.

It slowly lifted its massive head.

A pair of basketball-sized eyes, flickering with violent red light,

Instantly locked onto the tiny human a hundred meters away.

In the next second, it seemed to have seen some peerless delicacy that made its blood boil.

"Roar——!"

A low roar rolled out from the depths of its throat, carrying a thick, fishy stench.

It was like a moving iron tower.

Stalking toward Su Ming.

Its eyes were greedy, its aggression maxed out.

Su Ming just waited quietly.

With every step the Wasteland Mastiff took, its violent killing intent climbed a notch!

Just as it was less than thirty meters from Su Ming...

Its nostrils flared violently.

The entire behemoth slammed into an invisible wall and froze in place.

A wisp of mysterious aura had just drifted into its nasal cavity.

It was a terrifyingly extreme mass signal that stood above this heaven and earth!

The violence in its eyes was crushed.

Its bloodthirsty ferocity receded like a tide.

That massive head, capable of smashing through city walls, hung down naturally.

The neck, covered in dark golden mane, swayed rhythmically like a lion dance during the Lunar New Year.

Swaying from side to side with great rhythm.

Its two heavy front paws, comparable to millstones, patted the ground in turns.

"Pitter-patter," it began to trot with happy, little steps.

The thick, sturdy tail behind it, resembling a steel whip,

Was spinning in crazy circles like an out-of-control propeller.

Sending iron scraps flying everywhere!

Despite being a body weighing several tons and resembling a moving iron tower,

It was now twisting in a way that felt incredibly incongruous, full of shyness.

It was practically desperate to flip its belly over to show Su Ming.

It squeezed out a few extremely fawning whimpers from its throat.

While twisting, it rubbed its big head against the ground.

After rubbing, it even lifted its eyelids to sneak a peek at Su Ming!

One second it was a fierce "Steel Behemoth," the next second it collapsed into a "spoiled puppy"!

Su Ming's mouth twitched violently.

He subconsciously took half a step back.

Looking at Shen Qingci, who was disheveled in the wind.

"...Are you sure this is a Tier 2 ferocious beast?"

"It's not someone's pet Husky... right?!"