An hour later, Chen Shu arrived at his destination, Longyun City, with great caution!
"Has the defensive measures already been activated?"
Chen Shu looked down at Longyun City. A massive white shield covered the entire city, guarding against the beastly onslaught.
However, outside the technological shield, there were no signs of ferocious beasts. Instead, human Beast Tamers were occasionally seen coming and going.
It was clear that the situation was not as dire as imagined.
"Huh? Why did the sky darken?"
Just then, a Beast Tamer's expression froze. He found himself enveloped in shadow.
He abruptly looked up and instantly saw a huge yellow posterior, swaying back and forth.
"Holy crap!"
The Beast Tamer was startled, initially thinking it was a beast invasion. However, the large yellow sphere zipped past him and headed straight into the city.
"Is that the Nanjiang Bandit?"
Upon seeing the full appearance of the Slime, he immediately recognized Chen Shu's identity.
Across the globe, no Beast Tamer possessed such a colossal Slime. Chen Shu was in a league of his own.
"Let's rest for a bit."
Chen Shu put on his Imperial Dragon Guard armband and successfully led the four of them into Longyun City.
The cities within Longjiang Province had few ordinary residents, resulting in small land areas, far inferior to Nanjiang City.
However, this also meant that activating defensive measures required less energy.
"Is this Longjiang Province, the so-called paradise for Beast Tamers?"
Chen Shu and the other four curiously surveyed the entire city. The most common structures were not related to daily necessities but rather shops catering to Beast Tamers.
This was understandable. Longjiang Province not only possessed the most dangerous Dragon Abyss but also various dimensional rifts of different grades, naturally leading to a highly developed beast taming economy.
Many Beast Tamers were seen riding their contract spirits. During this special period, summoning contract spirits was permitted freely.
As they flew through the city, passersby frequently looked their way, clearly recognizing the iconic contract spirit of the Bandit.
"Everyone is quite calm..."
Chen Shu also observed the others. Every Beast Tamer appeared composed and collected, showing no panic, completely different from his expectations.
"The Beast Tamers who frequent Longjiang Province are all adventure-seekers. They face ferocious beasts year-round; what's there to panic about?"
Ah Liang, who was quite familiar with Longjiang Province, explained,
"For them, it's probably just a change of hunting grounds. Previously it was in dimensional rifts, now it's on the Blue Star."
"Is that so..."
Chen Shu nodded. The situation was more stable than he had anticipated, but perhaps this was only because it was a Level 2 danger zone, lacking creatures from the Dragon Abyss.
The most common Beast Tamers encountered were Silver Rank. Gold Rank individuals were already considered rare powerhouses.
"What should we do now?" Wang Jue asked. "Head out and hunt beasts directly?"
"What's the rush?" Ah Liang shook his head calmly. "Let's head to the Beast Tamer Association first and gather some intelligence."
The group nodded and proceeded towards the city center.
A massive circular building stood in the city, bearing the inscription 'Beast Tamer Association'.
"This is so grand!"
Chen Shu recalled Little Yellow and looked at the Beast Tamer Association before him, marveling,
"This is at least dozens of times larger than the association in Nanjiang City!"
Ah Liang stated, "In fact, it's even larger than the association in the capital!"
"Is it necessary?" Wang Jue looked up at the massive building, saying, "How much money would this cost?"
"Of course, it's necessary!" Ah Liang explained earnestly,
"Every dimensional rift has a small town as a supply point outside. Longjiang Province lacks such towns because the cities themselves essentially serve as the dimensional rift towns!"
"This makes their Beast Tamer Associations incredibly busy, naturally requiring a larger scale."
The group suddenly understood, finally grasping the reason.
The five stepped into the Beast Tamer Association and found the staff in the second-floor lobby.
With his Imperial Dragon Guard armband, Chen Shu obtained the latest detailed intelligence.
"Within Longyun City's jurisdiction, there is a Gold One-star Lord, and over a hundred mutated Silver Rank ferocious beasts..."
The five meticulously studied the intelligence. According to official records, a Gold Lord appeared at the beginning of the chaos but was repelled by Gold Rank Beast Tamers within the city.
The number of other beasts was also considerable, with many mutated ones among them.
When invading the Blue Star, the beasts naturally chose to bring their elite subordinates. Otherwise, bringing a bunch of weaklings would be pure suicide.
As they were studying, a man in a suit approached and said,
"Bandit Chen Shu?"
"Hmm?" Chen Shu's gaze shifted towards the man. Could it be a fan?
"Sorry, I didn't bring a pen today. I'll sign for you next time!"
"..."
The man's mouth twitched. "Uh, you misunderstood..."
"Not my fan?" Chen Shu turned and asked, "Is there something you need?"
The man cleared his throat, a touch of confidence in his eyes, and said,
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am the leader of the Flame Beast Tamer Group!"
"Oh..."
The five nodded, but their response was merely perfunctory.
Seeing this, the man's expression faltered. He immediately realized the five had never heard of him.
"It's like this, the strongest beast in Longyun City right now is that Gold Lord." The man's eyes gleamed with excitement. "If we can hunt it down, not only will there be official rewards, but the corpse will also belong to us!"
"What is it?" Chen Shu smiled, vaguely sensing the man's intention.
"We have already gathered eight Silver Three-star Beast Tamers, led by a Gold One-star Beast Tamer, to jointly hunt that Lord!" The man said excitedly, "Would you be willing to join us?"
Logically, the combat power of civilian Beast Tamers was equivalent to ordinary beasts of the same rank.
However, the average combat power of Gold Rank Beast Tamers was superior to mutated beasts of the same rank, only inferior to Lord-level beasts.
This was because those who could reach Gold Rank were by no means mediocre individuals, so their average combat power far surpassed that of ordinary beasts of the same rank.
With one Gold leading and eight Silver Three-stars, hunting a Gold Lord had a chance of success, but it was crucial to ensure no other unforeseen circumstances arose.
Just as Chen Shu was about to reply, new options appeared before his eyes:
[Option 1: Agree to the man's request and hunt the Lord together! Completion Reward: Moderate amount of Beast Taming Power]
[Option 2: Directly refuse, choose not to provoke the Lord, prioritizing safety! Completion Reward: One random skill for the Elemental Beast]
[Option 3: Refuse, and lead your own team to hunt the Lord first! Completion Reward: '+1' to 'Countershock Force' and 'Violent Kill']