Chapter Twenty-Seven

Cheng Yuan felt a pang of envy toward the little tiger, whose strength only made it more beautiful. On the other side, the Manze Giant Lizard easily maxed out its swimming skill, acquiring a new talent—Swimming—and a new skill—Surfing, swiftly reaching level seven. Its progress was astonishing. Though swimming and night vision didn’t interact, the rise to level seven automatically granted a new skill: Mimic Poison Fang.

When Cheng Yuan saw this new skill, it truly caught him off guard. He knew the Manze Giant Lizard had a chaotic skill pool, but obtaining this particular ability was entirely unexpected.

Judging by the progress of these two little companions, Cheng Yuan devised a new training regime: the Manze Giant Lizard would practice climbing trees, and the little tiger would hone its fiercely offensive Golden-Claw Strike. The little tiger, a close-combat warrior, had learned a slew of support skills—one could almost mistake it for a support character.

Returning home, Cheng Yuan carried the gentle Manze Giant Lizard in his arms, the excited little tiger trailing behind. "Mom, I’m home." Inside, his mother was cooking. Hearing his voice, she immediately set aside her work and greeted him with a beaming smile, "You’re back!"

She soon noticed the Manze Giant Lizard coiled around Cheng Yuan’s arm. As a creature both affectionate and formidable, she instantly recognized it and asked curiously, "You’ve contracted it?"

"Yes, it’s now a new member of the family. Come on, Manze Giant Lizard, this is my mother." The lizard raised its palm in greeting.

Cheng Yuan’s mother nodded, reached out to ruffle his hair, and said, "You must be tired from the dungeon. Tonight, you can have anything you want—I’ll cook it." Cheng Yuan thought for a moment. The cafeteria at Sichuan University was delicious, but after half a month, he’d eaten fish almost every day. The Manze Giant Lizard had arrived late and, coming from the wild, wasn’t picky. The little tiger had eaten fish with him for a month, until eventually it preferred Sichuan University’s fried chicken over the flesh of fish-type monsters that boosted strength. Now, even Cheng Yuan had lost his appetite for fish. "Anything, as long as it isn’t fish."

"Alright," his mother replied and went out to buy groceries. Cheng Yuan turned on the television. As a candidate for the college entrance exam, he needed to stay updated with current affairs—sometimes they appeared in essay prompts. The little tiger wasn't interested; it looked for its own mother first, and, finding she wasn't home, headed to the yard to practice Golden-Claw Strike on stones.

The Manze Giant Lizard, visiting the house for the first time, crawled around curiously, exploring this unfamiliar environment.

"Today’s news: At 16:50, in Baizhou, Sichuan Province, strange roars erupted from within a dungeon, causing all city residents to experience heart palpitations. Suspected of housing a calamity-level monster, the Baizhou Pioneer Police have been dispatched to investigate. In the Great Evil Nation’s polar zone, the Polar Bear Pioneer Legion is locked in fierce combat with three calamity-level monsters, the Moon Polar True Dragons. The battle continues, and the resulting blizzard and ice disasters have spread to California in the Great Evil Nation, with signs of further expansion."

Cheng Yuan watched as colossal beasts, dozens of meters long, swam through the water, hailstorm-like ice pelting the earth, glaciers rising in succession, and the long, resonant roar of dragons echoing across the battlefield—like a creation myth replaying, reshaping the world with divine power.

Such scenes would easily outshine any Hollywood blockbuster in the old world. Yet in this world, for those actively exploring, it was just daily life. One could never guess what monsters lurked in the corners of the unknown.

Calamity-level monsters were nearly impossible to kill without preparation. If they wished to leave, there was simply no way to stop them. Their long lifespans and accumulated experience granted them intelligence beyond the ordinary, allowing them to read the situation and escape the killing line with ease.

Encountering three at once this time, even with formidable military strength, the odds were precarious—major losses seemed inevitable. After all, all three were calamity-level.

But that was a foreign nation’s concern. The eastern region of Huaguo was coastal, its oceanic dungeons almost fully developed. For rapid strength improvement, one had to venture to the southwest, where sparse populations and geographic challenges left areas largely unexplored, and face those unknown yet powerful beings.

That evening, Cheng Yuan’s father returned home and caught sight of the Manze Giant Lizard crawling up the wall, his mouth twitching in surprise. Nana, the White Gold Tiger, had just arrived, and immediately picked up her son’s scent. Entering the house, she paused, confused by the presence of the lizard.

Cheng Yuan, already seated and waiting for dinner, saw his father glance at the nearly meter-long Manze Giant Lizard. "Is it yours?"

"Yes."

"Manze Giant Lizard?"

"That's right," Cheng Yuan replied.

His father smiled. "Not bad." The Manze Giant Lizard had always had a good reputation, with diverse and flourishing training methods, so Cheng Yuan’s father wasn’t worried about him raising it improperly.

Cheng Yuan looked up at the lizard clinging to the ceiling. "Come down." The Manze Giant Lizard let go, dropping into Cheng Yuan’s hands in a free fall. It eyed Nana warily; as an adult White Gold Tiger, her aura was overwhelming. Yet it detected a scent similar to the little tiger’s.

As a trainer, Cheng Yuan could sense the lizard’s state clearly. "Don’t worry. She’s the little tiger’s mother; she won’t attack you out of the blue. You’re the little tiger’s companion, after all."

The Manze Giant Lizard cautiously crawled along Cheng Yuan’s body toward Nana. After a few minutes, Nana glanced at the tiny newcomer, gave a soft growl, then ignored it.

The lizard let out a sigh of relief and quickly returned to Cheng Yuan, firmly believing this was the safest place in the world. The Cheng family felt a festive air thanks to the arrival of the Manze Giant Lizard.

By contrast, Wang Ningning also chose a second monster, but her household was far less cheerful. Her mother, clutching her head, pointed at the dusty tortoise beside her and said, "I understand the reasoning, but why did you contract another tortoise?"

Wang Ningning stood confidently, hands on her hips, and declared proudly, "Big Mud Tortoise! Straight from the dungeon. The three of them contracted water-type monsters, but I chose an earth-type. Earth overcomes water—this time, I’ll be first in the monthly exam!"

Her father looked at his confident daughter; her grasp of the elemental cycle was sound, but she was still young. Pretending to recall something, he said, "By the way, Cheng Yuan also contracted a water-type. His first was the White Gold Tiger. Earth generates metal—he’s not afraid of you."

Wang Ningning paused in thought. "That’s true. Earth generates metal, so earth-type skills against metal-type would halve the damage due to attribute resistance. He also contracted the Manze Giant Lizard; water beats fire, doubling attack damage, and attribute resistance reduces it to a quarter."

Being an academic ace, Wang Ningning quickly worked it out in her mind. "Fire overcomes metal, earth overcomes water—if I stick to my own system, I still have the advantage." Seeing his daughter reason her way through without losing her composure, her father smiled. "Ningning, excellent insight."