Chapter 288

Chapter 288

Scattered on the nest's floor were a few human weapons and the toughest bones of some surviving beasts.

These items hadn't been consumed by the beasts, and even after their owners had perished, they remained relatively intact, leaving traces of those people or beasts in this world.

Lorant’s face grew somber as he stared at the great swords and shields, lost in thought.

"Fa Meng, bring all these things back," Lorant said, pulling the reins of the Windbreaking Horse and turning away.

This world’s beauty isn’t found in a sheltered princess’s chamber but in a queen wielding a sharp blade with pride. Lorant, however, was not willing to be confined to an ordinary world forever.

Mastering power would turn this world into paradise for him.

The sight of the Bloodsucking High Spider’s nest didn’t disappoint Lorant, who had eagerly awaited it. However, what Lorant felt more deeply was the thick, unresolvable sorrow that permeated this world.

Once the Bloodsucking High Spider’s nest was fully cleared, the outpost knights swiftly moved into the Dark Bamboo Forest to secure it.

The dense black bamboo here was too thick and extensive, dangerously close to the outpost camp. If other beasts took over after the Bloodsucking High Spiders left, it would remain a major issue.

So, Baqi decisively included the Dark Bamboo Forest within the outpost camp's jurisdiction.

Once the knights set up magical barriers around the Dark Bamboo Forest, the threat diminished significantly.

The haul from the beast pet shop was even more impressive: 157 adult Bloodsucking High Spiders, 32 sub-adults, and seven breeding chambers.

Returning to the beast pet shop to review his haul, Lorant felt much better seeing the breeding chambers Fa Meng had already organized.

For one, these "breeding chambers" are monstrous beasts. Although their appearance is terrifying, for Lorant, it is much less disturbing compared to a human birthing chamber.

For someone like Lorant, who could be considered an executioner when facing beasts, there is nothing inappropriate about it.

Secondly, the first time he encountered these breeding chambers was not in a terrifying nest, but in a brightly lit and familiar place—the beast storage that Lorant knew well.

In familiar territory, people always feel more confident.

"Cut open these breeding chambers," Lorant examined the oddly-shaped beast in front of him but still couldn't identify its original species. He stepped back two paces from the large operating table and spoke to Kongyi standing next to him.

This operating table was modeled after a doctor's surgical table. Generally, it was used to handle certain beasts that required careful, fixed-point operations.

Now, what was fixed on it was a breeding chamber.

The lumpy beast eggs inside this beast had already been piled up to the limit, expanding it to the point where only a thin layer of skin remained.

Every part of its body was alarmingly thin, always giving the impression that it would burst open at any second.

Lorant frowned as he looked at this somewhat repulsive beast.

Silently, he pondered why the Bloodsucking High Spiders, which could lay hundreds of eggs at a time, were so scarce.

Considering their breeding habits, Lorant found it surprising they hadn't gone extinct. He attributed it to the fact that their overall numbers were still large enough, allowing them to find plenty of breeding chambers to prey on.

The beast eggs of the Bloodsucking High Spiders needed to absorb nutrients from a living host to develop and grow.

This meant that the breeding chamber functioned as a surrogate mother.

How much energy the surrogate mother could provide determined how many of the eggs could survive.

From what can be observed from the sub-adult Bloodsucking High Spiders that Fa Meng brought back, it's not hard to see that there are only three to five Bloodsucking High Spiders of the same size in each batch.

This means that out of the hundreds of beast eggs in a single "incubation chamber," only a few are lucky enough to survive.

In terms of loss rate, this is undoubtedly a huge waste.

Lorant couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration for them. If every beast egg could hatch normally, the Bloodsucking High Spiders would have long dominated the Black Forest with sheer numbers, and he wouldn't have to struggle so much to track them down.

Now that these beast eggs were in Lorant's hands, he naturally took great care of them, not wanting to waste a single one.

This way, he could obtain a batch of healthy live beasts capable of breeding strong Dream Weavers.

Unlike Lorant, Kong-1 had no qualms about handling the creature. Lorant, who suffered from trypophobia, stepped back, unable to bear looking at the bumpy creature any longer, but Kong-1 didn't hesitate and stepped forward to slice it open from head to tail with one slash.

In an instant, a large number of milky-white Bloodsucking High Spider eggs with a thin "nutrient tube" poured out from the operating table.

It looked like a smooth omelet being cracked open in an instant.

Lorant swallowed hard, "Kong-2, Kong-3! Get these into the nutrient solution, quick!"

In reality, there was no need for his command. The nearby floating octopuses knew exactly what to do and were already working efficiently.

Lorant took a deep breath, grateful that the air purification system was working perfectly. The viscous fluid from the beast's body didn't emit any terrible smell.

Even so, Lorant decided it was best not to push himself.

He quietly left the operating room, hurried down the bright corridor, and headed to a nearby cleaning room to cast a few cleansing spells on himself. Only then did he feel comfortable enough to reach the central resting area.

This was the new beast storage located in the center of the Beast Pet Shop.

According to Lorant's request, the entire beast storage was built underground in the shop.

The central area of the first underground level had an elevator and a circular resting area, with "breeding rooms," "mating rooms," "work areas," and "laboratories" scattered around—previously all concentrated in the beast storage.

As for the beasts, they were all housed in the lower regions.

The beasts ready to give birth were in the second underground level, while the others were in the third.

The construction team had only built the basic framework of the first underground level. The rest had been completed by Fa Meng during its free time.

With such a convenient ability, Lorant was very confident in the stability of his beast storage.

After assigning the Bloodsucking High Spiders to a few floating octopuses, Lorant didn't slack off. He took the mechanical elevator to the second underground level.

The moment the elevator doors opened, Lorant felt refreshed. While magical teleportation arrays were interesting, whenever he used them in the Beast Tower to travel between floors, Lorant always felt like something of a ceremonial aspect was missing.

From this perspective alone, he was still a firm believer in mechanics.

After exiting the elevator, the second-level beast storage also had a resting area in the middle, though it appeared more spacious than the first level, with only a few tables and chairs.

Around it was a full circle of brand-new beast cages.

The design here was inspired by the beast cages in the Beast Tower, with additional optimizations made by Lorant.

The beast cages around this circle were all empty, with floor-to-ceiling windows that made them look bright and transparent. The clean, reflective white walls gave the space a cool, sterile feel.

Lorant walked to a workstation between a few sofas in the resting area and placed his hand on the nearby operation panel.

The crystal operation panel displayed the entire cross-section of the second-level storage, with numerous beast cages radiating outward from the central elevator.

There are more than a thousand in total, and they have all been occupied by different beasts.

These are all beasts ready to give birth, and each cage on the crystal panel is marked accordingly.

Tapping on the labels lets you view detailed information about each beast, including when the last check-up was conducted, the specific details of the examination, the expected due date, and more—everything is detailed and comprehensive.

Lorant's finger swiped back and forth on the panel, feeling quite pleased, like he was swiping through a tablet.

This convenient information is the result of several floating octopuses who worked diligently for a long time.

Incidentally, the second batch of floating octopuses that Lorant bred have also been successfully hatched.

A total of fifty-three baby floating octopuses have been taking lessons with the orphanage kids, learning important basics.

They also help out with manageable tasks in the backyard of the beast pet shop, just like the earlier batch of floating octopuses did.

Even though floating octopuses are naturally intelligent, they still need to study what they should know properly.

As for the underground beast storage, Lorant has entrusted it to the larger floating octopuses that showed interest in beast pet breeding.

On a daily basis, they handle data collection here and are responsible for tasks such as preparing various nutrient solutions at set times.

Now, the floating octopuses are in full charge.

Lorant has given them his full trust.

Lorant checked the condition of the beasts for the day and, seeing nothing that required special attention, swiped the screen to move the Floating Giant Duck cages to the front.

With a flash of white light in front of the large glass beast cages, a large semicircle of beast cages appeared instantly before Lorant.

This is a new usage method that Lorant set up for his beast storage using Fa Meng's abilities.

From the crystal panel, he can move any cage from the second floor directly to his front.

Rather than searching for the cages, they come to him.

This is the kind of beast storage Lorant wanted.

The beasts that were moved in front of Lorant seemed completely unaware of the change.

It's not that they are too dull to sense the teleportation.

For one, these cages are specially designed with a double-layered inner shell that makes them feel almost no change during teleportation, and the outer glass is all one-way.

From the outside, you can see in, but from the inside, it's opaque.

This effectively prevents the beasts from becoming agitated by the sight of humans and possibly hurting themselves by crashing into the cages.

If they were ordinary beasts, Lorant wouldn't bother so much about their well-being, but the beasts on the second floor are extremely precious, each carrying valuable monster eggs in their bellies.

Just like the sharp-toothed pigeons lounging in the cages before him.