Chapter 211 Business, Working Ant, Handy Monkey, Fire Lizard

Wandering through the aisles, witnessing cages, display cases, and other containers, Luke observed the beasts in the pet shop.

In an aisle, a Moss Rabbit is curled up in a glass box, slowly nibbling on a leaf, while a Star Dragonfly flapped its wings beside the Moss Rabbit, the light from its wings illuminating the entire shelf, likely disturbing other beasts.

In another aisle, a pangolin sleeping quietly as if nothing could disturb it.

Above the pangolin’s cafe is a sparrow, hopping between the perches, emitting tiny spark-like songs from its beak.

Afterward, at the end of a corridor, a Mirror Fox!

That Mirror Fox was the most striking, because when Luke stopped in front of it, the fox stared at him, its body mimicking his posture, with crossed arms and even his tilted head, as if mocking him.

Luke chuckled and continued on, but he could feel the fox staring at his back all the way he wheeled a corner.

Luke remarked that these beasts were far from Lesser-tier, as they were all Primal-grade beasts with a maximum tier of 9.0, and he carefully checked the labels on the cages to confirm.

Beasts of that tier are a bit like the Ember Finch, which is a Primal-tier 9.0 beast, small and beautiful, but it could still singe a curtain if it got angry.

"Look at this, it’s truly outrageous and inhumane," Amigo spat, summoned himself, and landed on Luke’s shoulder. He transformed into the form of a primitive slug. "How can they treat us beasts like toys to sell?"

Luke was startled by Amigo’s sudden appearance, but he figured he should be used to it by now, as his beast was notorious for always doing this.

At the moment, his beast is furious about the state of the pet shop.

The beasts are kept in cages, occasionally administered drugs, bred, and managed, like toys, property, any derogatory description...

Luke understood Amigo’s position.

He put himself in Amigo’s shoes, imagining what it would feel like if he were to walk into a place where humans were kept and confined.

In fact, there was a cube-shell tortoise in a cage nearby, so seeing this scene touched Amigo.

Although the cube-shell tortoise is not evolutionarily related to him, the heavenly Immortal tortoise, they are both members of the same race: tortoise.

"Master, how about I just release all these beasts! Or I could regress them to a state where they are just cells, so no one can use them again."

"That’s very evil, Amigo," Luke replied, being the more mature adult in this conversation.

Amigo replied, "Not as evil as what my eyes are seeing..."

Sigh... "Listen, Amigo. I know this is complicated, but you must understand that some of these beasts are man-made, not like you, who are true beasts. Some cannot survive in the wild, so they depend on humans, and some will provide companionship to some people in need: a boy fighting a disease, an elderly person on the brink of death. We must also acknowledge their merits, rather than being swayed by emotions."

Amigo muttered, "Young man, don’t bother me, let me grumble in peace."

Arghh!

"What could that thing be?!"

Luke stopped in the corridor and looked down at a cage. Amigo was reacting to the thing in the cage.

It looked like a little old man no taller than a house cat, with a long white beard that almost touched the floor, wearing a tall red pointed hat, a round nose, and a blue coat with a big button.

He was sitting on a mushroom stool, holding a small fishing rod, fishing in a bowl of water like he had nothing else to do.

"That’s a gnome," Luke said, recognising the species.

Then he looked at Amigo with a critical eye.

"So you only feel sympathy for things in cages when they are both cute and beasts?"

Amigo recoiled slightly, nervously chuckling, having been caught in his hypocrisy—he would no longer judge this beast shop.

After inspecting the beasts in the shop. Luke walked away to handle the day’s affairs, while Mr. Blackstone, Lin Moon, and their scientists were waiting for him.

They weren’t waiting idly; before Luke arrived, they were conducting some tests, but those were trivial tests, so Luke didn’t miss anything important.

This room was an office x laboratory, with a big desk in front filled with scientific equipment, and opposite the desk are a sofa and a coffee table.

On that desk, there are three cages, each containing a beast: a worker ant, a handy monkey, and a fire lizard.

These three beasts were successfully bred from prototypes obtained from Blackstone Corporation.

Luke rushed to the table, pushing Lin Moon and a scientist aside to get a clearer view of the beasts.

He leaned over to look at their cages, and the beasts were looking back at him.

The worker ant was as big as a pet dog, deep brown exoskeleton, six strong legs, and mandibles that can split wood.

The worker ant’s antennae constantly danced in Luke’s direction, an intelligent beast trying to communicate.

Currently, the ant was moving a small stone from one corner of the cage to the other, then coming back, as if it already has its own job and doesn’t need anyone to tell it what to do.

Meanwhile...

The handy monkey is an average-sized monkey with very long fingers, and its tail clings tightly to the railing like a third hand.

Currently, the handy monkey was busy fiddling with the cage latch, but most notably, it wasn’t looking at the latch; instead, it was looking at Luke, tilting its head as if observing how he was looking at it too.

Lastly...

The fire lizard was as long as Luke’s arm, with red scales and an orange belly, lying on a flat rock with its eyes half-closed.

It must be the laziest...

The air around this lizard was hot, and the glass of the cage felt warm.

When Luke approached, the lizard opened one eye, slowly blinked, as if to say it didn’t care.

Yes, it was the laziest!

"Wow, I really can’t believe you can create life like this. This is truly incredible," Luke exclaimed.

"I’m glad you like it," Mr. Blackstone said, while Lin Moon noted Luke’s comments on the results.

Mr. Blackstone continued, "We thought you should take a look at these progenitors before we start breeding. Pogenitor refers to the first beast created before breeding. To prevent you from disliking the numerous offspring, we must ensure you are satisfied with these ancestors."

"Yes, I am very satisfied," Luke replied, nodding and acknowledging Blackstone and the scientists, guessing they must have done some tedious work. "I know they don’t have talent, but their traits are exactly what I need."

"Alright, we can get started—"

"What tiers are they?" Luke interjected.

"The worker ants are Primal-grade 2.0, the handy monkeys are Primal-grade 3.8, and the fire lizards are Primal-grade 2.5."

"That’s good," Luke replied. "However, there’s one thing I want to check personally, so could everyone please leave the room?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Sorry? Leave the room?

"Yes, I want to check something."

"What do you want to check that requires us to leave?" Mr. Blackstone asked, both surprised and curious.

"Luke Kingsley gets crazier by the minute," Lin Moon thought to herself, shaking her head.

"This has to do with my Beast Armor talent. The system wants to check if these beasts are compatible, thus, I need some focus," Luke lied.

The scientists bought the lie and left, Lin Moon also left the decommissioned room, but Mr. Blackstone sensed something unusual here, so he didn’t leave but wanted to see how Luke used the system.

—He didn’t leave until a guard knocked on the door,

"Lord Blackstone, someone is here to see you... very important."

Mr. Blackstone sighed, patted Luke on the shoulder, and then left to meet this very important person, leaving Luke alone in the office-lab.

Luke sighed in relief after achieving such success, because he didn’t know how he would accomplish this goal if the room weren’t so empty right now.

Therefore, without wasting any time, he had to act quickly.

Therefore, he summoned the empyreal angel, Seraphina.

"Seraphina, now the time has come...!"