Starting with a Ghost Ship

Before long, Luo Yu was back at the research institute. He set the egg on the table and got ready to hatch it. “Beast Taming Space.” He stood before the table, a flicker of light passing through his eyes. The next moment, it was as if Luo Yu could see inside his own body: an independent little world flowing with a blue halo. “A contract... how am I supposed to use it...” Before long, as Luo Yu grew familiar with his beast-taming ability, a strong blue light enveloped the whole eggshell. And then— “Crack...” As if jolted by something, the penguin egg split open in an instant beneath that light. “Did it work?” Then, just as Luo Yu's nerves were stretched to the breaking point, a small penguin finally poked its head out of the egg. The instant their eyes met, Luo Yu felt he had been brilliantly clever. No wonder penguins had been so popular before the apocalypse... it really was adorable. A round, roly-poly body, as if wrapped in a fluffy gray down coat. On top of its head, pitch-black fuzz spread down both sides, leaving a broad patch of snow-white face in the middle. Just then the little penguin seemed to be dazedly committing Luo Yu's appearance to memory. It looked a bit dim... nothing to do with clever. Luo Yu studied this big dumpling closely. If there was any difference between a Ground Penguin chick and an ordinary Emperor Penguin chick, it was at the neck: the Ground Penguin chick had extra reddish-brown down—the color of earth—wrapped around it like a scarf. “Wuji~” A moment later the little penguin suddenly spread its wings, gave a cry, and tried to press itself against Luo Yu. Penguins are naturally creatures that grow intensely attached to whatever hatches them. The mutated Ground Penguin still kept that instinct. “Nice. With intimacy this high, training won't be a burden later.” Luo Yu hugged the little penguin and smiled faintly. Getting stronger was bound to come with sweat and pain. If he simply contracted some random wild mutated beast and then put it through hellish training, Luo Yu really feared it might turn on him one day. Partner was partner, but the two of them still had to find a way to survive together in this world where zombies ate people. “Wu...” The Ground Penguin suddenly drooped its head, dejected. “Hungry?” The instant the spiritual link formed between them, Luo Yu understood a little of what the little penguin was saying. Once a Beast Master and a pet beast establish a spirit contract, the pet beast can sense the Beast Master's general thoughts to some degree, and the Beast Master can likewise grasp some of the pet beast's thoughts. And right now the little penguin's thought was undoubtedly that it was hungry. “As expected of a mutated creature...” Luo Yu thought, looking at the little penguin begging for food. Being a mutated creature, the Ground Penguin chick already had a certain capacity for movement the moment it was born—it had developed to a certain level. Most mutated creatures were this miraculous: they could hunt the moment they were born. Some of the more intelligent species even reached the intelligence of a human infant several years old within days of hatching. This Ground Penguin chick, with its Cleverness talent, was probably in that group. Still, for most mutated beasts, no matter how their intelligence developed, it was hard for them to surpass humans. Species instinct was their strongest weapon. “I'll go get you something to eat right now.” “But first, let me see what innate talent I awakened after contracting you...” Luo Yu began to look inward into his Beast Taming Space, searching for his innate talent. Then he “saw” it—on the barrier wall of the Beast Taming Space, the magnificent, profound soul pattern that represented his innate talent... A Soul talent?! With that startling discovery, a sudden exhaustion welling up from the depths of his soul drowned him. Add to that a whole day of hunger and fatigue, and Luo Yu's mind overloaded. He passed out cold. “Wuji?!” Seeing Luo Yu collapse, panic immediately showed on the little penguin's face, but once it sensed that Luo Yu had only fainted, its hunger made it turn and look back at the egg that had hatched it... It waddled over and pecked at the broken pieces of eggshell, eating them as food. Then, full and content, the little penguin set off with a swagger that acknowledged no one, struggled over to Luo Yu's side, patted its belly, and fell asleep beside him... ………… The next day. Luo Yu was pecked awake, one peck after another, by the little penguin. He crawled up off the floor in a daze, rubbing his temples where the pain stabbed and throbbed, and came face to face with the Ground Penguin's dumb, bright eyes. “Jiu...” It gently pecked Luo Yu's hand again. Luo Yu stared at the Ground Penguin, liking it more the longer he looked. He really was a sucker for a pretty face. When it came to penguin chicks, judging purely on the cuteness scale, they beat cats and dogs, and beat other marine creatures by a mile. Probably only a panda cub on land could match one in looks. As for in the ocean... a mermaid? That was a whole different rating system... “Wuji?!” Seeing Luo Yu awake, the little penguin chirped happily again. It flapped its wings and pointed with one toward the inkfish swimming around in the pond outside the window, its clear, clean eyes full of a question. Can I eat that? It had eaten the eggshell, had a sleep, and was still hungry. Luo Yu said helplessly, “You can put away that much? That stuff is poisonous, tastes awful, and you couldn't digest it anyway. Hold on, I'll go find you something good.” “!!!” At that, the little penguin was brimming with anticipation. So saying, Luo Yu poured out in front of the little penguin the “feed” from the pet beast shop that was used for feeding inkfish. Some dried shrimp—easier for the little penguin to digest right now. The little penguin looked down at it, then immediately began pecking away happily, not picky at all. “Once you're a bit bigger and your digestion is stronger, I'll buy you mutated beast meat.” Luo Yu rubbed his stomach and suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten either. But just before he could go make something, he remembered something else. “Look at this memory of mine... Weren't young bodies supposed to work better? My memory's not even as good as that of my old corporate-drone body with its ‘Three Highs’ talent.” His innate talent... He had actually awakened a Soul talent... Looking across the six great talents, the Soul talent was absolutely the most special and the rarest of them all! Searching his memory, on Jingyue Island there seemed to be only one Beast Master publicly known to possess a Soul talent. Elsewhere too, those with a “Soul talent” were extremely few. Originally, what Luo Yu had most wanted to awaken was actually the “Spirit talent.” Just as Chen Bo had said, the Spirit talent was the one best suited to a biologist. Because beyond awakening psychic powers once spiritual power grew strong, it had another, more fundamental ability: “telepathy.” It allowed a Beast Master with the Spirit talent to communicate to some degree even with wild pet beasts. With that talent, Luo Yu's biological research would have gotten twice the results for half the effort... what a pity... Still, the Soul talent was hardly weak either. Beast Masters with the Soul talent had a bug-level ability: once their soul was strengthened, they could achieve soul projection and exist in soul form! In this era, souls and ghosts truly existed. Among other places, the “Specter Sea,” renowned as one of the seven great mysterious seas, was the main gathering ground of ghost creatures. These ghosts were all transformed from life after death, and it was also called the Ghost Sea, the Hell Sea, the Underworld Sea. Terrifying as it sounded, this stretch of sea was a place countless Beast Masters and navigators yearned for. Because ghost sea beasts could be contracted too. On top of that, ghost sea beasts possessed a very powerful species ability: “possession.” And that made possible a very special thing—the “Ghost Ship”! Let a ghost sea beast possess a hull built of special materials and become a “ship spirit,” and the Beast Master would gain a ghost ship with its own consciousness and abilities! Some had judged that a ghost ship was not necessarily the finest ship, but the strongest warship was always a ghost ship. Beast Masters with the Soul talent could do something similar, which was why the helmsmen of those famous fleets were basically all “Soul talent Beast Masters.” In a moment of danger, they could attach their souls to the warship and make the ship “come alive,” performing miraculous feats of navigation. And right now, Luo Yu did indeed have the feeling that he could control his soul the way he controlled his hands and feet. “I was just thinking that after contracting an Earth-system pet beast I'd have to buckle down and study navigation... after all, without a Water-system beast to help, going to sea would all be on me. But now... so this is what they mean by everything straightening itself out when the time comes? I've won at the starting line.” “A ghost ship's odds of survival on the ocean are far higher than an ordinary ship's.” Joy filled Luo Yu's heart. He quickly used the ingredients he had bought to make a plate of chili stir-fried mushrooms, a pot of rice braised with mushrooms, and a bowl of mushroom soup, to celebrate the day's gains. Only, with no meat dish, it didn't feel like it went well with rice. Because the meat dish he had planned to buy had now become his pet beast... Luo Yu looked over. The little penguin had finished its food too. Full and content, the human and the penguin were once again staring at each other. “Well, since we've both eaten... come on, let's go try out your talent.” Luo Yu set it on his shoulder, followed his memory to find a key, and came to one of the research institute's storerooms. Click. The storeroom door opened, revealing a deep-V, sharp-bottomed wooden boat used for coastal exploration. Crude as it looked, it was made of “Sea-Dwelling Wood,” a very precious deep-sea timber with nine properties, including shock absorption, waterproofing, high toughness, and cold resistance. Among them was also the property of soul attachment, which ordinary wood did not have. Normally, the institute's field coastal surveys all used this boat. Standard capacity: two people plus one small or medium traction pet beast. If you weren't headed anywhere dangerous or traveling far, it was just enough. Luo Yu examined the little boat, walked up to it, placed his hand on it, and stirred his soul power. A moment later, Luo Yu's eyes went blank, as if he had lost his soul, and at the same time the hull actually rocked slightly—but only the tiniest bit. “Phew...” A moment later, clarity returned to Luo Yu's eyes, and he shook his head. “My soul power is still too weak. Not enough to be a ‘Ghost Captain’ yet.” “To strengthen my soul, I have to raise my pet beast's level...” He turned to look at the little penguin, which had already hopped down from his shoulder and was clambering curiously onto the bow, transformed into a penguin captain, and said: “Seems I still haven't given you a name...” “I can't keep calling you ‘little penguin’ forever... let me think...” “This month looks like July... Since you were born in July, and I transmigrated in July too, I'll call you July.” “July, you were born today, so it's worth celebrating. I'll give you one day off. We start training tomorrow.” Little penguin: ??? A celebration of its birth, and it gets one day off? Its clever brain told it there seemed to be a problem here. But its meager experience left it unable to spot what was wrong. Luo Yu had barely finished speaking when he suddenly remembered he still had to register for the Breeding Qualification Examination to keep the rights to this research institute, and he sank into thought: “No, wait—almost forgot the important part. Let's say training starts in three days, then.” Three days... Into July's clear, wise eyes crept a look of delight, as though it were happy about two extra days off, and feeling its emotion, Luo Yu was slightly taken aback. Kid, do you really have the “Cleverness talent”? “Theoretically, understanding what I mean right after being born is already super intelligence; I can't ask for more... I just hope it gets smarter as it grows. Best would be if it can help me record breeding experiment data...”