257: West City Shadows

Shenglan City, like the surrounding beast taming cities, was a small-to-medium-sized beast taming city with a population of nearly 1.5 million.

The city sat atop a ley line, giving it a unique geographical advantage, making it slightly larger than nearby cities, though not by much.

Inside were various buildings: beast taming arenas, beast taming academies, beast trading markets, residential buildings, and so on.

People finishing work headed home with their respective beasts; under the bright lights, the prosperity of civilization was on full display.

It was truly a scene of vibrant life, with all things flourishing.

For the general public of Shenglan City, tonight seemed like just another peaceful night.

Most went to sleep as usual, waiting for the next day.

However, they did not know that a terrible disaster would quietly arrive soon.

In the East District of Shenglan City, a stunning woman who appeared to be in her thirties stood on the rooftop of a high-rise, gazing into the distance.

The cold wind blew, but she was completely unaffected.

Suddenly, space distorted beside her, and a silver-haired man of a similar age appeared.

He wore white robes, and his features were sharp and well-defined.

"President Consort Li~ I'm here~" he said faintly, his tone carrying a hint of warmth and familiarity.

The woman called Consort Li turned her head, revealing her exquisite beauty.

Her features were delicate—willow-leaf eyebrows, a fine nose, vermillion lips, and pearly teeth.

Most striking were her lake-blue, gem-like eyes, clear and deep, as if they could see through one's Soul at a glance.

She had a noble and elegant temperament, her every move exuding the authority of a leader, yet without losing gentleness and virtue, making people feel an instinctive closeness to her.

Her name was Consort Li, the branch president of the Shenglan City Beast Tamer Association, and also a Rank 55 Main Hall Beast Master.

The man from before was her old classmate and deputy, a Rank 50 Main Hall Beast Master named Ouyang Haoyu.

"How is it? Is everyone else in position?"

"They're definitely all in position, just waiting for the early warning to trigger," Ouyang Haoyu replied.

"However, if something truly unexpected happens, we must ask for help immediately."

Ouyang Haoyu's tone became very serious, because every Legendary-rank beast possessed the power to destroy a beast taming city; even with ample preparation, it could still cause massive casualties.

More importantly, this beast attack was too sudden; they didn't have time to evacuate so many citizens and lead them to shelters.

Imagine how difficult it would be to evacuate an entire city's population under such urgent circumstances.

The time they had to react was a mere fifteen minutes.

If the news were released, the panic would cause the citizens to flee in chaos; with such a dense crowd, if that Legendary-rank beast appeared then, the casualties would be unimaginably heavy.

Not just in Shenglan City, but everywhere else as well, silence was kept; only this way could civilian casualties be minimized!

As the Shenglan City Beast Tamer Branch President, she was responsible for the safety of the vast majority of the people.

Thus, she could only let those citizens who might suffer casualties endure some hardship.

"By the way, Haoyu, have the people from the city's Three Great Families been moved?"

"Yes, it's all done."

Ouyang Haoyu nodded, then walked to the other side of the rooftop and slowly sat down near Consort Li's feet, looking out at the city nightscape with her.

Simultaneously, he raised his right hand, took out a beast taming card, and swept it through the Void Realm in front of him.

"Beast Taming Contract! Sign!"

"Beast Taming Skill: Fragrant Sea!"

In an instant, the beast taming card activated, manifesting a colorful sea of flowers on the rooftop behind them.

"Little Fifi, look, what's this?"

Hearing this, Consort Li simply turned and gave a cold glance.

"Boring. A waste of spiritual energy."

Over the next period of time, the two chatted briefly.

Though it was called chatting, Ouyang Haoyu did almost all the talking, constantly trying to switch topics, while her responses were few and far between.

"What? You still can't forget him?"

"Yes."

Consort Li seemed touched by those words, and her voice softened significantly.

With that reply, the atmosphere between them gradually grew quiet, with only the whistling of the wind in their ears.

Meanwhile, many beast taming experts across more than a dozen beast taming cities and dozens of small towns had their hearts in their throats.

They all watched tensely as time ticked away.

Before long, the clock turned with a click.

Time's up!

... "Report! Report!"

"This is the Regional General Association. Please report the situation in your respective branch territories immediately!"

As soon as the time arrived, each branch president received the inquiry, but the messages they sent back to the Regional General Association all indicated that everything was calm.

"Report! No target found in this city!"

"Report! This town is safe!"

"Report, no powerful beasts have appeared in this city."

"Report, no trace of powerful beasts in this town either."

... Consort Li contacted the powerful Beast Tamers stationed in the other three districts, but the replies she received were all that there were no abnormalities.

"Stay alert!"

Seeing this, Consort Li instinctively thought the Legend-rank beast had appeared in another city.

However, the Regional Beast Tamer General Association still hadn't received any news of a Legendary-rank beast appearing.

This was very wrong and unusual.

Beside her, Ouyang Haoyu consoled her: "It's nothing, there are so many places."

"Besides, the Sword Dragonfish King's warning ability isn't 100% accurate."

"Don't worry, nothing should happen."

Yet even so, the worry in Consort Li's heart only intensified, as if some danger were approaching!

... In the West District of Shenglan City at night, all was silent.

The members of the Beast Tamer Association responsible for guarding the West District were overjoyed, thinking they were about to finish their shift.

Unfortunately, the latest notification came through, requiring them to conduct another comprehensive patrol of each district.

"Sigh, President Consort Li just likes to look for trouble when there is none. How could there be so many accidents?"

Hearing this news, many association members began to complain.

"Exactly. Our Shenglan City hasn't been attacked by a powerful beast in over fifty years. Nothing will necessarily happen this time."

"Even if there is one, so what? We're all Main Hall Beast Masters now. Handling a little beast will be easy, right?"

Listening to these complaints, Chen Bao, the captain of the West District patrol team, also looked helpless.

President Consort Li was indeed a bit too cautious and demanding, and he had some complaints himself, but he was someone who saw the big picture and would strictly carry out orders.

"Alright, everyone get to work. We can finish up once the patrol is done."

"Let's go, let's go. Finish the patrol quickly so we can go back."

Soon, the West District patrol team set out to execute Consort Li's orders.

"Let's move faster."

"Okay."

The Shenglan City West District patrol team quickly began a new round of inspections.

"Report, everything is normal on West District Route 20!" The Beast Tamer responsible for checking the area immediately reported to Captain Chen Bao after finishing.

"Continue forward."

"Yes, Captain!"

... Soon, the patrol team arrived at a certain building on West District Route 17.

"Huh? The lights in this building are all out? Everyone's gone?"

Chen Bao saw that the skyscraper and the nearby lights were all extinguished, and he immediately felt something was wrong.

Because in the past, there would be many staff members in this building working 24-hour shifts; they wouldn't all leave work at once.

He quickly led his team closer. Suddenly, he discovered that in the darkness, a massive monster seemed to be lurking in the building's shadow, appearing to have merged with the entire structure.

Chen Bao sensed an intense aura of danger! It made the hair on his body stand on end.

"Danger, retreat quickly!!"

Chen Bao immediately led his teammates in a rapid retreat. The next moment..."}],