Chapter 206 - 202: Successful Contract
Upon seeing Bai Qi’s excited look, Bai Qiucha was left speechless. He pushed the Spirit-Control Orb back and said, “Forget it, this isn’t really suitable for me.” Although he was interested in contracting with another pet beast, having to shout that embarrassing slogan was too much for him. He preferred to stick with his skeleton dragon till the end.
“Cough, then you can just toss it out.”
Bai Qi scratched his head and said, “Shouting a slogan makes it seem more imposing, doesn’t it?”
Upon hearing Bai Qi’s words, Bai Qiucha begrudgingly accepted the Spirit- Control Orb. He examined the button filled with runes at the border where red and white met on the orb and said, “So, I have to inject my spirit power here, right?”
Bai Qi nodded and said, “The spirit power stored won’t last long, so it’s best if you inject it when you find a beast you like.”
Bai Qiucha nodded in response and then tried to infuse the orb with his spirit power. The runes of the Spirit-Control Orb lit up with complex symbols, storing his spirit power within.
“You really have created a mechanical device that can store spirit power?”
Bai Qiucha looked at Bai Qi in surprise and said, “I’ve only heard that treasures can have this capability. Can the Mechanical Engineering Department do it, too?”
Bai Qi shrugged and explained, “Actually, from a certain perspective, treasures are just ancient mechanical engineering. The underlying principles are similar. And with the necklace as a reference, mine is more of a copy.”
A copy? There were numerous mechanical engineers around, but he had yet to see anyone else making copies.
Bai Qiucha shook his head with a bitter smile. Being with Bai Qi, he was always encountering unexpected surprises. Even if Bai Qi said the extra contract might not be successful, just having a device that could store spirit power was shocking enough.
Moreover, Bai Qiucha had the feeling that this Spirit-Control Orb that Bai Qi had tinkered with might work.
Fearing a further encounter with a beast from the Black Python Tribe, Bai Qi and Bai Qiucha decided to proceed in the opposite direction. Along the way, they encountered numerous ferocious beasts, but Bai Qiucha showed no sign of taking action.
“Cha, this is just an experiment. Why not just pick one randomly?”
Bai Qi helplessly watched as Bai Qiucha continued to observe the ferocious beasts. He used to think that Bai Qiucha was just a bit rigid, but now he realized that this wasn’t rigidity—it was chronic indecision!
“That won’t do. What if it actually works, and I don’t like the beast selected? I need to choose carefully.”
Bai Qiucha flatly rejected Bai Qi’s suggestion with a serious face and resumed his selection.
“Or we can just wait until we’re back at headquarters and try it with Old Lady Fan. After all, mine is only the first version, and there’s still a lot that needs to be changed.”
Right after he finished speaking, Bai Qi heard a loud boom from the front, and an orange Thunder Rat appeared before the two.
[Name]: Thunder Rat
[Nature]: Lightning Attribute
[Bloodline Level]: Mid-Level Elite
[Description]: True to its name, the Thunder Rat is small but extremely bad- tempered. It is known to occasionally attack its companions with electrical currents. Some Beast Masters have even wondered if this is the Thunder Rat’s way of showing affection.
“I’ve decided on this one!”
The moment the Thunder Rat appeared, Bai Qiucha’s eyes lit up. He injected all his spirit power into the Spirit-Control Orb and threw it at the Thunder Rat.
As expected, he missed.
Bam!!!
The Thunder Rat, seeing Bai Qiucha blindly throwing things at it, was immediately filled with electricity. It was clearly irritated.
“Brother, hold it down before you throw it.”
Bai Qi sighed helplessly at the sight. Bai Qiucha realized his mistake, promptly activated his Bone Armor mode, defused the electricity around the Thunder Rat, and held it down.
“And then what do I do?”
Bai Qi paused and said, “Inject spirit power and then strike the Spirit-Control Orb on the Thunder Rat.”
Bai Qiucha did as instructed. He took the Spirit-Control Orb and lightly hit the Thunder Rat with it. The Spirit-Control Orb immediately split open, projecting an array on the Thunder Rat.
Bam! Bam!
Feeling the array cover it, the Thunder Rat instinctively felt something was wrong and started struggling frantically, causing the projected array to wobble.
Soon, the spirit power inside the Spirit-Control Orb was completely depleted and the orb closed up again while the array disappeared.
“That’s it?”
Bai Qiucha looked at the still struggling Thunder Rat in front of him, tried to sense for any changes, but found no signs of a contract between him and the Thunder Rat.
Bai Qi took the Spirit-Control Orb from Bai Qiucha and checked it.
There was no problem with the structure. The projected array was correct, but the Thunder Rat was too resistant, causing excessive consumption of spirit power, making it unable to maintain a contract.
“I suppose it makes sense in games to beat the pet into submission before contracting.”
Bai Qi sighed, his eyes on the Thunder Rat that, despite being immobilized, continued to struggle. He then relayed his thoughts to Bai Qiucha.
“So, incapacitate it before trying again?”
Bai Qiucha was startled as he looked at the Thunder Rat in his hand. A burst of dragon aura directly exploded onto him, causing the Thunder Rat to immediately roll his eyes and faint.
Subsequently, Bai Qiucha infused his spirit power again, repeating the previous operation.
This time, thearray was firmly imprinted on the top of the Thunder Rat’s head, quickly forming a complete contract rune.
At the same time, Bai Qiucha felt a certain special link had formed between him and the Thunder Rat. He could slightly sense what the Thunder Rat was thinking, but he couldn’t understand as clearly as he could with the Skeleton Dragon.
However, it really felt very similar to after forming a contract!
“Bai Qi, I think I can really sense the consciousness of the Thunder Rat now.”
Bai Qiucha’s face was full of surprise. He immediately deactivated his bone armor and carefully examined the state of the Thunder Rat.
Although his talent as a Soul Communicator allowed him to cross the double level and contract the Skeleton Dragon, he was naturally envious of others who could make contracts with multiple beasts.
“Did it work?”
Bai Qi’s eyes lit up. Cha didn’t have any contract slots, neither now nor in the future. If they could contract successfully this way, didn’t that mean the Spirit- Control Orb was truly successful in their research?
He was indeed a genius!
“However, it seems that I only have a simple connection with the Thunder Rat.
I can’t control it to do anything else, and I can’t sense its state.”
Bai Qiucha sensed for a while, but he couldn’t check the Thunder Rat’s state freely like he could with the Bone Dragon.
“Ahem… Strictly speaking, the Thunder Rat didn’t make a contract with you, but with this Spirit-Control Orb.”
Bai Qi referred to the Spirit-Control Orb in Bai Qiucha’s hand and said, “I set the core of the array on the Spirit-Control Orb. All you did was provide spirit power.”
“The reason why you can sense the consciousness of the Thunder Rat is also because the spirit power driving the array is yours.”
Bai Qiucha was taken aback and said, “So, if someone else activates this Spirit- Control Orb, the Thunder Rat may listen to him.”
“Not likely.”
Bai Qi denied this directly, Bai Qiucha then sighed with relief. But before he spoke again, Bai Qi’s next sentence almost caused him to spit blood.
“Because I worried about problems, the structure of the contract was very simple. Even if a contract was made with the Thunder Rat, it could potentially runaway.”
After listening to Bai Qi, Bai Qiucha sighed quietly and said, “I don’t care anymore. I’m already satisfied that I could contract another beast. If I train it slowly, it will always listen to me.”
“By the way, were there any other problems?”
Bai Qi thought for a while and said, “There should be no more…right?”
Bai Qiucha realized what he meant. Just as he was about to check the state of the Thunder Rat, it suddenly awakened. He blankly stared at Bai Qiucha, who had formed an unknown connection with it, for a long time without any action. Seeing this, Bai Qiucha’s eyes immediately filled with a doting expression. He carefully put his hand on the Thunder Rat’s head, gently patted it, and softly said, “Little guy, you’ll be my pet from now on.”
Rat?
The Thunder Rat obviously didn’t quite understand Bai Qiucha’s meaning. Before it had figured it out, it suddenly felt a terrifying consciousness enter its mind along with Bai Qiucha’s spirit power, but it quickly withdrew.
Despite this, the Thunder Rat was still startled and instinctively released protective electricity. Bai Qiucha, who was holding it, was also covered by the electricity, and his originally floating black hair instantly turned into an afro. Bai Qi carefully poked Bai Qiucha, who was smoking from the electricity, and said, “Erm, Cha, are you okay?”
“Ahem, I’m fine. The Thunder Rat was probably scared by the Skeleton Dragon, so it was a bit out of control.”
Despite the strong sensation of numbness on his body, Bai Qiucha gently patted the Thunder Rat. Soothed by Bai Qiucha, the Thunder Rat slowly calmed down.
This man and rat, in this way, formed their initial friendship.
“This scenario, why does it look so familiar to me? Divine possession?”
Bai Qi, speechless at the sight of the man and the rat getting more familiar, coughed twice to interrupt this warm scene and said, “Cha, can you describe exactly how you feel about the Spirit-Control Orb now? I need to make some targeted modifications.”
“No problem.”
Bai Qiucha, who had finally contracted his second pet, nodded repeatedly. Just as he was about to put away the Thunder Rat, he found that he couldn’t put the Thunder Rat into the Beast Control Space like the Bone Dragon.
“Bai Qi, how do I put away the Thunder Rat? It can’t enter the Beast Control Space without the Rune Mark, can it?”
“Put it away?”
Bai Qi was stunned when he heard this and said reluctantly, “Sorry, I haven’t come up with a way to collect these pets. Why don’t you just throw it into your secret realm?”
“… What did you make it hollow for?”
Bai Qi shrugged and said, “Isn’t it just for aesthetics? Are you planning to stuff the Thunder Rat into this small ball? And then set up a two-bedroom and one living room?”
“Forget I asked…”
Bai Qiucha was left speechless. He could only silently put the Thunder Rat into the secret realm. Afterwards, he discussed the use of the Spirit-Control Orb with Bai Qi.