The King of Beast Trainers
Chapter 1004 - 491: Acceleration of the Black Fog

Chapter 1004: Chapter 491: Acceleration of the Black Fog

Looking at Dark Crow’s sorry state, Lu Ran knew it must have caused some trouble.

"But speak freely, I absolve you of any crime," Lu Ran said with a casual wave of his hand. Inside the Imperial Palace, he was dressed very casually, having just finished a bath and wearing a bathrobe—he could be dubbed the Bathrobe Emperor.

"It really wasn’t my fault," Dark Crow said with tears in its eyes. "I just went to the edge of the Star Domain to scout as you requested, boss. My other selves had already investigated and found some results, and the black fog on the other side was relatively stable... But not long after I arrived, the spread of the black fog sped up. Boss, what should we do? Boo-hoo-hoo, I didn’t mean to leave you without an heir."

Lu Ran: "..."

"What’s the speeding up of the black fog got to do with me not having an heir? Did the other selves not take their job seriously? Wait, the black fog’s acceleration... You didn’t say something to the fog, did you?" Lu Ran asked suspiciously.

Heh heh, Dark Crow replied, "I just said ’unless the spread of the black fog speeds up, we still have a lot of time to prepare.’ It’s just a normal sentence, boss. You can’t take that out of context to mean ’I made the black fog spread faster!’ Surely the Verbal Spirit Series doesn’t misinterpret my words like that!"

Lu Ran felt drained and made a judgment in his mind. It likely had something to do with Dark Crow, but it wasn’t the work of a Word Spirit.

"Keep in touch with your other selves and keep an eye on the situation with the black fog. If I’m not mistaken, the fog should have only accelerated slightly."

"Ow!" Dark Crow held its tongue and was about to continue monitoring when it suddenly remembered something discovered by Manager Ying’s other self.

Turning its head, Dark Crow also relayed some clues found by Manager Ying’s other self to Lu Ran.

"Inside and outside the black fog, we are on two different timelines?" Lu Ran fell into deep thought.

Under what circumstances would two regions be on different timelines?

For instance, Lu Ran was currently on Blue Star, where time flowed at the same rate as the Star-Moon Continent because they were in the same universe. But if No. 18 were to summon the Candle Dragon and use its power to stop the flow of time on Blue Star, then at that moment, Blue Star and the Star-Moon Continent would be on different temporal dimensions.

Lu Ran thought for a moment, his expression changed slightly, and he made some new judgments but could not be certain, as the information was insufficient.

"Manager Ying, reincarnated as a Maintainer of Time, should not be wrong in her judgment."

"Continue the investigation, and remember, we can’t trust the current spread rate of the fog, nor the original rate."

"The spread is slower now, possibly because the Four Great Dragon Gods are resisting it, but their energy is limited. When they have the strength, the rate at which the fog spreads may stay the same, but once their energy is depleted, the fog’s speed could explode a thousandfold, and our world could be devoured in an instant."

"So..." Lu Ran looked at Dark Crow: "We still need to prioritize increasing our strength."

"Understood!" Dark Crow acknowledged the plan.

...

The black fog was a disaster even the Four Great Dragon Gods struggled to resist, but the current intelligence suggested that Infinite City’s status should be higher than that of Cosmic-Level Lifeforms, surpassing the Four Great Dragon Gods.

Therefore, if the black fog truly were to devour Blue Star and the Star-Moon Continent one day, Lu Ran really wanted to know if by hiding inside Infinite City, one could possibly avoid the black fog’s erosion.

On Blue Star and the Star-Moon Continent, most people eligible to be Beast Trainers had already received permission to enter Infinite City, and those without the qualifications were also trying to obtain them. After all, we are now in the Beast Training Era, and a Beast Trainer’s identity is like a diploma for the average person. You might not use it, but it’s best to have one—it’s convenient for everything.

After the introduction of Mechanical Pets to Blue Star, the local internet companies started employing them.

Many jobs were taken by smart AI machines, not to mention some of the old industries that required hard labor.

Having the identity of a Beast Trainer in Infinite City was a matter of fate for most, but for a few like Lu Ran who had administrative rights in Infinite City, they had a limited ability to issue access cards, which made organizing some things more convenient.

After changing into his clothes—a dog-head T-shirt and black shorts, which were bought before the revival of the extraordinary and enhanced by him to the World’s Rare level, mainly because old clothes felt comfortable for everyday wear—Lu Ran made a call to Doctor Gu. Soon, Doctor Gu’s image in a black suit appeared on the virtual optical screen.

Seeing Lu Ran, President Gu smiled slightly.

Lu Ran also smiled and got straight to the point: "Doctor Gu, remember to prioritize your relatives and friends with your Infinite City card issuing rights, and not sell them for profit or to seek out talented newcomers."

"Make sure everyone from the elderly to nursing babies, even if they are not currently suitable to become Beast Trainers, gets permission to enter Infinite City and arrange a strength Pet Beast to protect them."

"What’s going on?" Gu Qingyi asked.

"Nothing much, the situation over at Star-Moon has made me reflect. If a disaster truly unstoppable happens, Infinite City might be the last ark, the best refuge."

"Okay," Gu Qingyi nodded, knowing Lu Ran was keeping something from her. She could tell he was troubled, but since Lu Ran wasn’t talking, it meant she couldn’t help much. All she needed to do was to follow Lu Ran’s instructions—they wouldn’t harm her.

Truth be told, Lu Ran wasn’t sure if hiding inside Infinite City could elude the black fog, but it was always good to arrange an extra safety net for one’s relatives and friends.