QQ Farm

"This one, then." Luo Yu chose one, pointing at the masochistic rock sheep. *Little creature, you sure know how to enjoy yourself. Come back with me, and I'll satisfy you.* *Lock you up together with a Water Element Enhancement Honey-Water Bee—who says sheep milk isn't water?* "Huh?" Seeing Luo Yu pick one so quickly, Shui Wuyue, Yuwan, and Chen Bo paused in surprise and looked closely. It didn't look like anything special... "Hello." Chen Bo stepped forward, trying to communicate with it. "Baaah~~ (*Whip me harder~~*)" Chen Bo: ? "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you sure choosing this one is fine? What about its mental state?" Chen Bo asked in shock. Luo Yu chuckled. "Mental issues don't matter as long as its physical condition is fine. Look at its build—isn't it pretty sturdy?" The old man in the straw hat pressed down his hat brim, wearing a strange expression. This one... its body really had no problems. It was just a psycho. It loved stirring up trouble, never learned from being whipped, and actually got more excited the harder it was lashed. However, after it got pregnant, to avoid affecting its delivery, they hadn't really used physical punishment on it. Seeing Luo Yu select it, the straw-hatted old man was incomparably relieved. Wonderful, finally someone was taking this psycho sheep off their hands. "Then let's take this one." Yuwan examined it and found that its build was indeed robust, with thick hide and tough flesh. Luo Yu continued observing... Then, his eyes lit up as he spotted a very scruffy rock sheep! [Species]: Rock Sheep [Individual Talent]: Fermentation Master (Advanced talent: As the milk it produces sits over time, its flavor will drastically decline, but its nutritional content will increase.) "I want this one too." In the blink of an eye, Luo Yu picked another. *Good, good, good—century-old cellared milk; the older it gets, the more nourishing it becomes.* The moment he saw this one, Luo Yu knew this trip had been worthwhile. "This one...?" Chen Bo was still baffled. The old man in the straw hat took a look. This one produced very little milk, and it must have gotten sick recently. Although nothing looked off on the outside, its milk spoiled extremely fast... He couldn't help but stare blankly. How did this young man manage to accurately pick out defective specimens with both of his choices? Clearly, half the flock consisted of ordinary individuals. Was he running a garbage recycling station? "This one." Luo Yu pointed out another. [Individual Talent]: Omnivore (Ordinary talent: The more varied and haphazard its diet, the healthier its body.) Although it had nothing to do with milk production, at least it would keep the sheep healthier. With a healthy body, milk production would naturally be plentiful. Mainly, there were too few individuals here, leaving Luo Yu with limited room to choose. "This one." "And this one..." Shui Wuyue and Yuwan had originally wanted to select rock sheep according to their own methods, but they realized Luo Yu wasn't giving them any chance at all... Before long, Luo Yu had picked out all ten ewes. "You're already done?" Shui Wuyue asked. *I haven't even made a move yet!* Luo Yu nodded. "Just about. These ten will do. Let's go look at the rams." Shui Wuyue fell into deep thought. Oh well... Luo Yu was the main driving force behind the Ancient Grotto project anyway, so they might as well follow his lead. In the end, they finished choosing the fifteen rock sheep they were going to buy. The farm would transport them aboard the Raging Blue, which would sail across the sea back to Jingyue Island. "Old Hu, how were their choices?" After Luo Yu and the others left, Deacon Shi Ning of the Liuli Merchant Guild asked the breeder about the situation. "A pile of crap," the straw-hatted old man said, shaking his head. "They let that young man call all the shots completely. Whatever he said went. But I think that kid doesn't understand rock sheep at all. Out of the fifteen he picked, more than half are defective." "Still, it's a good thing... We cleared out a bunch of useless rock sheep..." Shi Ning said, "Is that so? From the looks of it, they want to transport the rock sheep to Jingyue Island for breeding, but it seems like a lost cause." Rock sheep were heavily dependent on specific environments to survive. Leaving Qianyan Island, they would most likely suffer from acclimatization issues. Furthermore, their breeding progress was very slow, producing about one litter every six months. Under these circumstances, she felt that after this batch of sheep was shipped to Jingyue Island, it wouldn't be long before they all died off without generating any profit. However, for this rock sheep purchase, that young man was actually the one calling the shots?? The deacon of the Liuli Merchant Guild was very surprised. She had assumed Shui Wuyue or Yuwan would take the lead. She hadn't paid much attention to Luo Yu or Chen Bo... "Look into it. See what those two Trainee Beast Masters have been up to during their two days on Qianyan Island." Just who was this Luo Yu, that a King-rank Beast Master and the Director's secretary would defer to his choices... *** After losing to Luo Yu, the twin-braided girl had lost not only her money, but also her smile. Afterward, she made a point of looking into Jingyue Island's situation and discovered that it was indeed just a rural little backwater island. It couldn't compare to a large island like Qianyan Island in terms of economy, education, land area, or resources... Yet a Beast Master from such a tiny island had suppressed her using a Ground Penguin. Species rank, life level, and equipment or items—she had been superior in every single aspect. His victory was practically illegal. "You're Yang Qian, right?" Outside the school, a figure appeared before the twin-braided girl. "Who are you?" The girl looked at the woman in sunglasses before her. "Shi Ning, deacon of the Liuli Merchant Guild. I'd like to ask you something. Two days ago, did two Beast Masters from an outer island have a beast battle with you at the arena?" The girl was taken aback. How had a beast battle between her and two outsiders drawn the attention of the Liuli Merchant Guild? Wasn't the Liuli Merchant Guild the organization that liaised with visiting merchant fleets? "Yes." "Could you tell me about it in detail?" The corner of the girl's mouth twitched. Wasn't this rubbing salt in her wound? However, her family's sheep milk business was also regulated by the merchant guild, and she couldn't afford to offend a deacon. So she answered truthfully, "The one with spiky hair wasn't that impressive—all bark and no bite." "But the one wearing an orca t-shirt and shorts, with the Ground Penguin..." "He's a complete freak!" "My rock sheep... was defeated by his Ground Penguin almost in a single exchange." "Is that thing even a Lower-tier Species?" "I feel like, aside from the two students in our school who contracted Monarch Species, no one else would be a match for him." Hearing this, Shi Ning's heart sank. This Yang Qian was considered an honor student at Qianyan Beast Taming High School, and her rock sheep was more capable in combat than some High-Rank Species. Yet such an honor student had been suppressed by that Luo Yu in a single encounter? And with a Ground Penguin? The other party had deliberately challenged Yang Qian probably to understand rock sheep better. Seen this way, he truly was the core figure of this procurement. *A young man capable of cultivating a Ground Penguin to approach the level of a Monarch Species... Would the rock sheep he chose really be all defective culls like the breeder said? Something feels off.* *If he had avoided the defective ones and picked all ordinary individuals, one could explain it as discerning vision.* *But actively bypassing the ordinary ones and picking mostly defective individuals... No matter how you look at it, it makes no sense.* Shi Ning couldn't quite put her finger on it. It couldn't be that these defective individuals weren't actually defective, could it...? Yet those were defective culls specifically singled out by the breeder. Could his eyesight be sharper than a professional rock sheep breeder's? Whatever. The deal was done. They had only bought a dozen or so defective rock sheep. A single transaction like this couldn't possibly shake Qianyan Island's commercial landscape. *** By now, Luo Yu and his party had already departed Qianyan Island and set off on their return to Jingyue. Aboard the Raging Blue, Luo Yu was in high spirits. Among the rock sheep provided by Qianyan Island, quite a few possessed great talents. While nothing might show on the surface, their hidden talents were all top-tier. Especially that Fermentation Master. Normal sheep milk had a shelf life of less than a day, yet the longer this one's milk was kept, the higher its nutritional value became? Among the rams, Luo Yu had also snagged a fine specimen! [Individual Talent]: Model Crossbreeder (Advanced talent: Drastically increases the probability of breeding offspring with other sheep species.) Wonderful. Once they returned, he could have this ram crossbreed with Jingyue Island's water-mutated sheep to see if they could produce a new breed with dual Rock and Water attributes! Once back, he would have to apply for the breeding rights to these rock sheep. Otherwise, entrusted to anyone else, their full value might not be realized. "Hmm... Should the research institute apply to open a pasture? Let's just call it QQ Farm." Luo Yu glanced at July, who was fishing. At the moment, because there were so many sheep on board, the Raging Blue didn't dare sail too fast or too recklessly, lest something go wrong with the rock sheep. This gave July an opportunity... "Guka." July held a fishing rod in one wing to fish, while practicing condensing magma with the other, occasionally tossing the condensed magma into the sea—reclaiming land from the ocean, bit by bit. "Still haven't caught anything?" After a long while, Luo Yu came over to July's side, and his single question made July's temperature spike red-hot with frustration. "Gugu-gaga!!!" July angrily protested that it was definitely the Raging Blue's fault. Its aura was too strong, scaring the mutated sea beasts away from coming close... "Haha..." Luo Yu stood before the bulwark, looking at the sea skimming past. Just as he was about to tell July to go back inside and rest, the sky suddenly dimmed and the seawater turned black. Even the ghost shark possessing the Raging Blue hadn't noticed that the ship had sailed into a patch of black fog... "Holy crap!"