Beastmaster King

Royal Capital of the Beastmaster Empire, inside the palace.

Lu Ran, dressed in loose pajamas, stared silently at Sudden Death King. #18 was being mischievous again.

"Roar!"

Although Sudden Death King had shrunk in size, its majestic aura remained undiminished. Yet, the shield it held completely ruined its imposing Dragon King presence. While the shield's color scheme was domineering, the goofy, meme-like eyes and mouth on its surface drastically altered the vibe.

When Sudden Death King brought it over, the shield immediately switched to a kissing expression upon seeing Lu Ran. However, when Lu Ran ignored it, the shield's face quickly shifted to confusion.

"Die, die~! Die, die~!"

The Star Dragon Shield Spirit asked Sudden Death King why its master's master wasn't paying attention to it.

"So why is the shield telling me to die? Or perhaps, does it want to die?" Lu Ran finally asked, baffled by #18's craftsmanship.

It was far less normal than the sword spirits he forged or the awakened swordgrass. Sudden Death King pondered but had no answer. Perhaps it inherited its speech quirk because the materials included its scales? That just proved it was a true descendant, just like the sword spirit and the swordgrass.

Lu Ran rubbed his chin and said, "Never mind, it's not important. Star Dragon Shield Spirit, from today onward, I'll be counting on you to protect Sudden Death King. Let's give you a name, too.Hmm...since you're a round shield, how about Little Circle?"

"Die, die! Die, die!"

"Roar!"

It says the name sounds awful, and it'd rather die!Sudden Death King translated, further confirming their blood relation.

Lu Ran waved it off. "You were just born, so what do you know about good or bad names? It's settled. A name is just a name. If you're strong enough, your enemies will give you a grander title. For example, the kin of the Space Dragon was once called Little Squirrel, but later, people referred to it as the God of Sealing or Squirrel God."

"Roar!"

Sudden Death King found this reasoning sound and comforted Little Circle.

Once it became a god, it'd be the Circle God, which sounded imposing enough.

"Die, die! Die, die!"

Lu Ran stepped forward, grabbing Sudden Death King's claw with one hand and touching the shield with the other. The moment Lu Ran made contact, the shield spirit switched to a shy expression. Lu Ran's face darkened.

You are way too expressive...

Originally planning to establish a kinship contract between Sudden Death King and the shield, Lu Ran paused and pulled out his phone, showing the shield an image.

"Look. From now on, always maintain this expression." He pointed at the smug emoji on the screen.

This expression looked very punchable, ensuring enemies would be provoked at first glance. That way, the Don't Hit the Face talent could activate.

After Lu Ran's explanation, Little Circle seemed to be considering it. Lu Ran then proceeded to finalize their contract. Soon, the bond between Sudden Death King and Little Circle was complete. Thanks to the contract feedback, the Star Dragon Shield Spirit's level soared by 10, and its defensive attributes skyrocketed.

"Roar!"

Sudden Death King roared triumphantly, feeling its defenses grow even stronger.

Although the shield's level wasn't high yet, through its talents like Armored, Possession, and Dragon Shield, combined with the kinship contract, its defensive boosts didn't just stack with Sudden Death King's; they multiplied in some aspects.

This meant its defenses had undergone a comprehensive upgrade. In other words, blocking attacks with the shield now far surpassed tanking hits with its bare body.

Lu Ran nodded in satisfaction as he watched Sudden Death King wield the comical shield like a fist. "Good. With stronger defenses, your body won't collapse as quickly when enduring the Dragon God's blood."

"Roar!"

Having the newborn shield share the pain with it made the ordeal feel much safer.

***

Two days later, following the birth of Sudden Death King's shield spirit, the mechanical lightsaber kin for Captain Doofus was also completed.

[Species: Starlight Sword]

[Attribute: Mechanical (Light)]

[Species Rank: Low Overlord]

[Level: 10]

[Species Talent 1: Light Devourer (Bane of light-element attacks. Can absorb and amplify most light sources, unleashing their power multiple times stronger.)]

[Species Talent 2: Light Dominion (Innate absolute control over light, making it the master of radiance.)]

[Species Talent 3: Armored (Can take mechanical form and arm its wielder, significantly boosting offensive attributes.)]

Compared to Sudden Death King's shield, the Starlight Sword was far more conventional. It was a mechanical evolution of the Epic-grade Starlight Sword.

When crafting this, #18 felt a wave of relief. Unlike Little Circle, which combined Mechanical, Undead, and Dragon attributes, which was something it'd never worked with before, this was straightforward. Yet despite its normal appearance and talents, Lu Ran couldn't help but complain.

"#18, why is the mechanical lightsaber mute this time? It doesn't even make sounds."

"Why does a mechanical lightsaber need to make sounds in the first place?" #18 shot back.

"Fine. Once it grows stronger, there'll be plenty of ways to communicate. For now, it can rely on the contract." Lu Ran sighed before looking at Captain Doofus, who was panting, and the floating lightsaber. "The problem is... You two can't contract yet. Give me some more time. I'll try to unlock your third kinship slot before returning to Stellar Moon."

"Woof!"

Hurry up!

Captain Doofus was impatient. It couldn't wait to bond with the lightsaber. Once it had the plant sword, undead sword, and mechanical sword, merging the three into one would be so cool.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

After unlocking the third slot, remember to unlock the fourth!

Captain Doofus also wanted an elemental sword. Although holding Baby Cloud wasn't bad, Baby Cloud couldn't form a kinship contract. Maybe it could use the elemental creation device to customize one later.

If triple-wielding was already cool, Captain Doofus couldn't imagine how epic it'd be to summon four sword kins and unleash the Immortal-Slaying Sword Domain.

"You're so demanding." Lu Ran rubbed his temples.

Then he turned to the mute lightsaber. "You need a name, too. Let's call you Little Light. Since you don't talk, it's settled. It's still better than Little Mech, right?"

With this, #18's tasks were all complete. Currently, #18 was a level 60 Low Overlord with the Mechanical and Space attributes. The strength of research-type mechanical lifeforms lay in their ability to mass-produce combat mechanical lifeforms of the same or even higher species ranks, given the right materials, methods, and time.

Thus, whether in the Mechanical Era or Stellar Moon Federation, research-type mechanical lifeforms were priced many times higher than their combat counterparts.

At this moment, Lu Ran felt genuine gratitude toward Bai Lu and Death Gun. However, research-type mechanical lifeforms had a flaw, which was the lack of combat prowess. Even if it fused with offensive weapons, their output paled in comparison to dedicated combat models due to structural limitations.

Now that #18 had finished all of its assigned tasks, it planned to embark on its Return of the Dead project. However, for this, it needed materials that it couldn't obtain alone and had to request from Lu Ran.

"Master, I need to request some materials from you."

"What materials?"

"Severed arms, legs, or residual souls of beastmasters from ascension realms."

Lu Ran grimaced. "What the fuck? What are you planning?"

#18 eagerly explained its Return of the Dead project.

"Now that there's no mission, I want to pursue my own research to help you become a Mythical necromancer! We can't enter ascension realms to hunt ourselves. However, other participants might have collections.

"I saw online that a rich Legendary woman in Stellar Moon Federation decapitated the most handsome man from the Beastmaster Era in an ascension realm and brought his head back as a keepsake, admiring it day and night."

Lu Ran was weirded out. "The fuck? How can someone be so twisted and terrifying? I'll have to be extra careful when I reach Stellar Moon. I might not be as handsome as the Beastmaster Era's top heartthrob, but I'm probably close."

#18 assured, "Master, you're safe. Don't worry. Anyway, back to the topic. Blue Planet must have similar collectors. I need you to leverage your connections to gather materials for me. Then, I'd like you to form a special team to hunt residual souls, hearts, and such in ascension realms for you."

Lu Ran's lips twitched as he stared at #18.

"Hold on, you're not even two months old. Is this the kind of research a child should be doing? Isn't this way too evil?"

"Is it?" #18 blinked innocently.

If even Lu Ran called it evil, maybe it was.

"I do want to be a Mythical necromancer, but not to this extent. Recruiting people to help hunt... no way. If I ask acquaintances, my image in their eyes will be ruined. If I ask strangers, any leak could get me globally boycotted."

"Ah...So... we'll have to hunt secretly ourselves?" #18 looked lost.

Lu Ran said, "It's not about hunting or not. It's just inhumane. Targeting hostile beasts is one thing, but humans? Even if they're projections, it's a line I won't cross. I'm human, after all. Even though I can eat meat from any species, whether it's a panda, dragon liver, or phoenix, I'd never eat human flesh."

#18 scratched its head in frustration, and Lu Ran ruffled its hair.

"Since you're free, let me assign you a new mission."

"Wh-what?" #18 was taken aback.

"It's also a fusion of mechanical and undead properties, but it's far more ethical than your idea."

#18 stared at him eagerly.

Lu Ran said, "Before you were born, Six-Path Flower and I challenged the Mythical Wind Dog God Secret Realm. The Wind Dog God is a god of faith and a Low Legendary. Although it was only a Low Legendary, its power far surpassed ordinary beings. The tricky part was its near-immortality. Even if it was destroyed once, as long as faith in it persisted, it could resurrect.

"By harnessing faith, it could reshape its existence. Before this, I also strengthened the Divine Deer's faith spirits by amplifying their worship, which led me to the real Divine Deer. How about you research faith power?

"Using ancient legends and artifacts imbued with faith, create a device that can amplify faith and temporarily summon the faith's subject as a heroic spirit.

"Yes, heroic spirits! Heroes whose deeds became legends after death, and their objects of faith—there must be many remnants of their worship. If we can summon them as heroic spirits, necromancers would instantly become far more impressive, and even respectable." Lu Ran grinned.

If he could have a positive image, why stay a villain? These days, even villains were busy redeeming themselves. If possible, he'd love to cleanse the name of necromancers further. He'd go from necromancer to heroic spirit summoner.