Chapter Eighty-Four: Lively Calls Along the Street

A huge white egg had appeared before them, constantly exhaling a thick, billowing mist. The mist was strangely heavy, clinging low to the ground as it seeped outward, brushing against the feet of Zhao Nan and Fei Ni Na before spreading inexorably in all directions.

Zhao Nan felt a chill creeping up from his calves and into his body. Ou Li Xi Si let out a low growl at the egg, shook himself, and scattered some of the white mist around them. Whether faced with a level 20 elite monster or a level 20 king-class monster, Ou Li Xi Si might not yet have the upper hand, but he had never shown such an expression before.

This was not fear. It was the look of a lion that has come upon a tiger.

Unable to help himself, Zhao Nan peered through the mist and studied the immaculate white egg.

Ice Phoenix Egg: The egg of an Ice Phoenix of the fantasy phoenix race. Maximum level before bloodline purification: 78.

Before bloodline purification, this was merely a potential pet two levels below Ou Li Xi Si. Zhao Nan exhaled hard, and the warm breath dispersed some of the white haze before him. Through the mist, he caught the proud look in Ao Zi's eyes. The master of the castle was probably overjoyed at being able to show off this egg in front of others.

"Fei Ni Na, quickly hatch it. This is a very good pet," Zhao Nan urged, giving Fei Ni Na a firm push to rouse her from her amazement.

Watching Fei Ni Na walk hesitantly toward the Ice Phoenix Egg, Zhao Nan could not help feeling secretly delighted. An Ice Phoenix... in the time he had once lived, it had been one of the top ten super pets in the world. Once hatched and properly raised, an Ice Phoenix could command weather and snow, and its strength surpassed that of the Purple-Gold Flame Lion.

At that moment, under Fei Ni Na's touch, the Ice Phoenix Egg slowly split into two halves. Inside the shell were countless crystalline fragments of ice, with only a very small hollow at the center. A tiny pure-white figure was now flapping its wings in midair before slowly descending onto Fei Ni Na's shoulder.

This was the newly hatched Ice Phoenix, looking no different from a little sparrow covered all over in white feathers.

"Sha Ye, your name will be Sha Ye!"

Chirp!

The little Ice Phoenix affectionately rubbed itself against Fei Ni Na's cheek. The direct result was that her face was instantly covered by a thin layer of ice, and she cried out reflexively from the cold.

"Hahaha, the little Ice Phoenix has only just hatched, so it still doesn't know how to control its power. You must take good care of it. Don't let it think you dislike it, or that will be bad for its growth later on," Ao Zi reminded her with a laugh.

Fei Ni Na nodded and held the little Ice Phoenix in both hands. She did not mind the chill at all, even though a layer of white mist had already settled over her palms; instead, she watched the little creature's movements carefully, occasionally breaking into a lovely smile.

Fei Ni Na had passed her trial, and the conversation between Zhao Nan and Ao Zi came to an end here as well. Through this exchange, Zhao Nan had filled in quite a lot of his knowledge about this world. To put it bluntly, he had learned some of the plot.

"Global Monster Online" had its own grand storyline...

...

...

Gao Ming Yang and Xu Feng completed their trials almost at the same time. Following Fei Ni Na, they entered the castle lord's room in less than half an hour.

This time, however, Ao Zi did not immediately bring out the pet eggs. After waiting for a moment, Xu Yang, Xu Fei, and the others also completed their trials one after another.

Unlike Gao Ming Yang and the others, who looked somewhat battered, the trials for support-class occupations were clearly not battles. Although Xu Yang and Xu Fei both wore exhausted expressions, their clothes were perfectly intact.

"Chosen ones, congratulations on passing my trial. From now on, please treat your first companions well. They will accompany you in the days ahead and help you defeat your enemies!"

This time, Ao Zi's words were quite official. Zhao Nan did not dwell on it. To earn the recognition of such an unusual native, one must first impress them with strength.

Gao Ming Yang and Xu Feng's evaluations should have been quite good. Gao Ming Yang obtained a Howling Moon Gale Wolf King whose maximum level before bloodline purification was 60, while Xu Feng likewise received a Three-Eyed Earth-Splitting Eagle with a maximum level of 60.

Gao Xiang received a Four-Clawed Stone Ape King with a maximum level of 50; Xu Fei got a Vajra Rock Mantis with a maximum level of 50; Jiang Lun likewise obtained a Three-Tailed Demon Fox with a maximum level of 50; and Xu Yang received a Moonshadow Wind Butterfly with a maximum level of 50.

After hatching, the six pets of varying shapes and sizes rushed straight toward their respective owners, and at that moment a bond like blood connection appeared. It felt much like one's own child.

Ou Li Xi Si seemed rather bored. He let out a deep call, and aside from the little Ice Phoenix chirping back at him, all the other pets began trembling to varying degrees.

"Damn it, if Zhao Nan scares my little wolf king, I'll make you pay me back with one!"

Gao Ming Yang immediately glared at Ou Li Xi Si.

Amused, Zhao Nan patted Ou Li Xi Si on the head before saying, "All right, everyone has their pets now. From here on, let's work hard to raise their levels before the level 20 regular dungeons open. They'll be a very useful support."

After one monster assault on the city, although countless lives were lost, many people survived as well. Their levels also rose greatly. After all, in a single monster siege, the number of monsters slain was comparable to several days of grinding outside.

Before leaving, Ao Zi suddenly called out to Zhao Nan. The two of them looked at each other in silence for a while, and then Ao Zi suddenly said, "If possible, when Ou Li Xi Si undergoes bloodline purification, please come to me."

Zhao Nan's heart stirred. Every city would later open a dedicated place for pet bloodline purification, but clearly this was not Ao Zi's castle...

If that was the case...

Zhao Nan nodded. Though there was already a hint of it, with a fellow like Ou Li Xi Si, whose growth consumed huge amounts of experience, their next meeting would probably not come for a very long time.

...

...

The pet supermarket in Dong Yuan City had always been a desolate place, but today eight customers arrived all at once.

The sleepy clerk was now serving these eight guests with extraordinary enthusiasm.

"By the way, for wolves, which kind of food is best?"

"Hello, customer. For wolf-type pets, they usually like food with a beef flavor! For example, this one is made from the freshest beef mixed with other special ingredients, and it's extremely nutritious!"

"Oh, then this one. Give me ten boxes... no, make it twenty boxes!"

"And what flavor do foxes like?" Jiang Lun asked, holding two different kinds of food and looking curious.

Who knew what flavor foxes liked... The clerk still wore a professional smile as he carefully introduced the products to Jiang Lun.

Everyone was at a loss, unable to decide which of the dazzling array of pet foods they should choose.

Fei Ni Na suddenly laughed softly and said in a very cheerful voice, "Small box, beef flavor, 50 copper coins... small box, chicken flavor, 50 copper coins... chocolate flavor, 80 copper coins... By the way, Nan, which flavor do you think is better?"

Zhao Nan froze for a moment, touched his nose, and gave an awkward smile.

This was the conversation they had the first time he brought Fei Ni Na into the pet supermarket... He honestly could not remember it. But during the six years of the Heart of Time dungeon, in that final year, their relationship had begun to change, and Fei Ni Na would occasionally bring up that exchange to tease him.

He had not expected that when they came a second time, she would still remember what had happened back then.

"Then let's get a little of each kind and let Sha Ye choose for itself."

Fei Ni Na withdrew at once, then walked ahead in high spirits to pay.

Zhao Nan shook his head and let out a low laugh before leaning by the window to watch the flow of people in the street. Sunlight from above passed through the open glass window and fell upon the small flowerpot by the sill. The petals trembled gently in the breeze.

Zhao Nan raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare, and his gaze once again settled on a spot across the street.

Not far away, several people were continually pulling stacks of leaflets from their hands and handing them out to passersby, whether natives or players.

Each time they distributed a leaflet, they would use the same sentence, merely changing the subject, and call out almost identical words in a loud voice.

"Please support... becoming Dong Yuan City's first lord!"

^^^^^^^^^^^^

PS: As it turns out, only when you actually say it aloud can you do it. Otherwise, with my usual temperament, not getting out of bed in this cold weather and rolling around under the covers would truly be a disservice to that soft, fluffy blanket...

Yes, that's right, this is the promised third chapter.