The Magic Conch

The wooden box July reeled in was surprisingly heavy, clearly not empty. Man and penguin exchanged a glance, then pried it open. There was no dazzling treasure glow, only a white conch resting inside... "Wu ji?" July gave it a sniff. Dead, inedible. "Is this a Communication Conch?" Well-read and knowledgeable, Luo Yu quickly identified the object. The Communication Conch was a type of mutated beast endowed with the ability to communicate across vast distances with its own kind while ignoring external interference—essentially a biological telephone. Its exact communication range depended on its life level. What made this mutated creature truly remarkable was that its special ability persisted even after death; the power remained preserved in its shell. It was much like Yuwan's star shell, whose leftover pearls retained a certain miraculous potency even after the pet beast perished, allowing Yuwan to perform rudimentary astrology with them. *How do you use it again?* There were ten orange patches across the shell, representing digits zero through nine. It seemed the user could tap different combinations to place a call to other Communication Conchs, just like dialing a phone number. *Tap, tap, tap.* Luo Yu casually tapped out 10086, but the call failed to connect. "Wait a second... aren't Communication Conchs insanely expensive?!" Luo Yu paused, suddenly remembering a crucial fact. Because breeding them was extraordinarily difficult, Communication Conchs fetched astronomical prices. Although technically only an Upper Common Species, their market value rivaled that of a Monarch Species cub. Put simply, the research grant Luo Yu had spent over a month applying for through his breeding successes was worth less than this single shell. He stared blankly at July, who was still clutching the fishing rod. "Is this novice protection period luck or what? What kind of fortune is this?" Luo Yu was utterly speechless. This was infinitely more valuable than hooking some giant, delicious fish... "This little lake formed during high tide. The box must have washed ashore from the sea back then. Maybe it came from a shipwrecked merchant vessel..." "Well, fate brought it to me. Guess I'll just keep it and dial random numbers every day for fun. If I ever connect with someone, it'll be like finding a message in a bottle." While Luo Yu marveled at the penguin's absurd luck, July was already seated by the water's edge, casting the line once more. July knew nothing of treasure chests or Communication Conchs; the penguin only knew that no roastable big fish had been caught yet today. "Wu ji!" July's eyes burned with the determination of a Saint. * * * Returning home that evening, Luo Yu cooked dinner as usual—for himself, for July, and for Yuwan. In the end, cooking duties always fell on him. Luo Yu had discovered that Yuwan truly had no culinary skill whatsoever. At best, she could merely heat ingredients until they were cooked, producing dishes whose taste defied description—a sheer waste of good food. Granted, some seafood tasted fine simply steamed, but the girl hadn't even purged the mutated lobster's urine before tossing it into the steamer, utterly ruining the flavor and texture. After finishing dinner, Luo Yu returned to logging the breeding groups' status. The pairs without a Breeding Exemplar would need nearly a month before laying eggs. As for the dual-exemplar pair, based on previous data, eggs could be expected in just over ten days. To Luo Yu, those ten or so days flew by in a flash. Twelve days later, the dual-Breeding Exemplar pair Luo Yu had been eagerly anticipating finally produced their brood. Gazing at the neat rows of octopus eggs suspended inside the mini sea cave, Luo Yu's eyes lit up. Twenty eggs in total! As expected of a pairing between two Breeding Exemplars, the clutch size was triple that of ordinary inkfish! Because of inbreeding, however, the quality of the clutch was bound to fluctuate wildly. Inspecting the first, second, third, and fourth eggs, Luo Yu was met with one disappointing result after another. [Individual Talent]: Sleepless (Ordinary talent; superior at staying up late compared to normal individuals.) [Individual Talent]: Big Eater (Ordinary talent; larger appetite than normal individuals.) [Individual Talent]: Lust (Ordinary talent; stronger mating drive than normal individuals.) [Individual Talent]: Soft (Ordinary talent; body is softer than normal individuals.) *Right, right... since when does lust count as a talent? If even lust is considered a talent, do you have no other skills at all?* Staying up late, gluttony, lust, and "soft-bodied"—which was just a polite way of saying flabby and physically frail. This clutch had basically hatched an entire college dorm room. Still, inbreeding was known to either crash completely or produce miracles; this outcome was well within Luo Yu's expectations. Subpar offspring could serve as candidates for selective culling, while the exceptional ones would be kept. Sure enough, the subsequent eggs gradually restored his confidence. Out of the twenty eggs, only six possessed mediocre talents. The remaining fourteen all boasted advanced talents—and of astonishing quality! Among those fourteen eggs with advanced talents, six were Breeding Exemplars, instantly triggering a massive population boom of exemplars within the research institute. The other eight advanced talents were an eclectic display of remarkable gifts. First were two Fire Element Affinities. A Water-system mutated beast had somehow produced offspring with Fire affinity. Talk about creative genetics—was this caused by pent-up passion with no outlet? Then there was a Grass Element Affinity, equally counter to its native attribute. Two Electric Element Affinities followed... also counter-attribute. Aside from those five elemental talents, there was Coordination Master, granting an extraordinarily high aptitude for energy control. Another was Natural Herculean Strength. Although Luo Yu had no idea how superhuman an inkfish's strength could get, if an entire group of individuals with Herculean Strength fusion-evolved into a Water Demon Beast, their constrictions and tentacle bindings would probably be terrifyingly brutal. And finally... the greatest and most surprising harvest of all. Even if this clutch had produced only this single one, the entire endeavor would have been worthwhile. Nursery Expert. [Individual Talent]: Nursery Expert (Advanced talent; its ink accelerates the incubation speed of conspecific young.) A surge of satisfaction washed over Luo Yu. With this talent, the waiting time for future inkfish breeding would be drastically reduced. In terms of value for establishing a breed, it was second only to the Breeding Exemplar itself! He was now one step closer to custom-crafting his ideal Water Demon Beast. "Extra rations for both of you..." Luo Yu said, glancing warmly toward the two distinguished parents. The Luo Yu Research Institute would make sure its greatest contributors were well rewarded! * * * "Teacher Luo Yu seems in high spirits today..." In the research institute's backyard, the three students had just completed their daily routine of nine bee stings—three each in the morning, noon, and evening. As they chatted afterward, they noticed that Luo Yu had been wearing a broad smile all day, looking as overjoyed as a father celebrating the birth of a prized son. "Teacher Luo Yu..." Mi Xiaoyu stepped up to him. "To express his gratitude, Teacher Wang would like to treat you to a meal at Lin Yue Xuan..." Lin Yue Xuan was the finest restaurant on Jingyue Island. Most of its ingredients were high-level mutated beast meat hunted on the open ocean by the island's major fleets. "Sure, but this meal is on me." Luo Yu was in a splendid mood today and cared little about the bill; he treated it as a celebration. For his part, Wang Ze was genuinely grateful to Luo Yu. Watching his three students make such staggering progress, he realized he knew nothing about beast taming. It was truly fortunate that he had befriended Luo Yu; otherwise, the three youths would have been completely ruined under his guidance. By now, even Wang Ze wanted to apprentice himself to Luo Yu and properly learn how to nurture pet beasts. Luo Yu had consistently ignored Teacher Wang's hints, however—not because the man lacked funds, but because his pet beast's talent was Clean Freak, an ordinary talent that merely made it cleaner and tidier than normal individuals... *Just give up on treatment; what use could that possibly have?* He could certainly help others uncover their pet beasts' hidden talents to prevent them from taking detours, but that relied on the talent being useful in the first place... Perhaps placing that pet beast on a filthy, chaotic battlefield might trigger some latent potential, but the prospects still looked bleak. The only honest advice Luo Yu could offer was suggesting the beast work in sanitation. Its approval ratings would surely be stellar, with spotless attention to detail, but who would give up being a teacher to become a janitor? "Actually, the school is holding a freshman monthly exam the day after tomorrow," Wang Ze said inside Lin Yue Xuan, watching Luo Yu set down a crab claw. "The Director will be attending in person, and the results will serve as a reference for selecting outstanding student representatives. All three of them are participating. I wonder if Scholar Luo Yu might be interested in coming to watch?" "School exams already?" Luo Yu mused. "Not bad. That'll be a good way to test the results of their recent special training." "In that case, let's wrap up your lessons today. Take tomorrow off to rest and prepare for the exam... I've already taught you everything I can." Over the past two weeks, the students had gradually built up an immunity to the Honey-Water Bee stings, so continuing the regimen would yield diminishing returns anyway. "The course is over?!" Hearing this, the three students wore expressions of reluctant parting mixed with immense relief. Finally, no more bee stings... "Think of this dinner as our graduation banquet," Luo Yu said with a faint smile. "I'll come watch your exam. Perform well, and don't embarrass me." Above all... the Director would be watching! Their performance directly determined how much research funding he could secure next. Besides, once his reputation was established, he could even open a little bee-training tutoring center of his own!