BANG BANG!
Just as the two were chatting, a loud pounding on the door was followed by Zhou Shi's voice booming through, "Rise and shine, princesses! Time to move out!"
The pair quickly threw themselves together and left the room.
Chen Shu sported a massive military backpack, dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, flashing a smile so bright it could sell toothpaste—who would've guessed this walking ray of sunshine was actually... deeply disturbed?
The hotel desk clerk shot Chen Shu a look that could curdle milk, still nursing that grudge from last night's spoiler incident like it was a family heirloom.
The others looked at Chen Shu with knowing smirks, clearly their minds had taken a scenic detour to Wrongville.
"Xiao Yu, maintain a minimum safe distance from him," Zhou Shi advised, like he was discussing hazardous materials.
Chen Shu scratched his head, utterly baffled. I only gave away a spoiler! Is this really worth a containment protocol?
After leaving the hotel and wolfing down a quick breakfast, the group headed toward the back of town. They had just reached the imposing building there when soldiers blocked their path, shouting, "HALT!"
Zhou Shi—clearly a veteran of this dance—whipped out his ID card with practiced ease.
The soldier scanned it on a nearby device, which after what felt like geological ages, finally produced a synthetic electronic voice:
"ZHOU. SHI. BLACK. IRON. ONE. STAR. BEAST. TAMER. CAPTAIN. OF. THE. SIX. SIX. SIX. BEAST. TAMING. CORPS."
"PFFFFT!" Chen Shu absolutely lost it, doubling over with laughter.
Not only was it called the 666 Beast Taming Corps, but hearing that robotic voice pronounce each "six" like it was announcing lottery numbers? Comedic gold.¹
Zhou Shi's eye twitched violently as he yanked out a bank card to pay everyone's entrance fees, probably regretting every life choice that led to this moment.
Alternate Dimensions were important state-controlled resources, so naturally beast tamers couldn't just waltz in like it was a public park.
Whether pioneering new Alternate Dimensions or standing guard, everything cost money. Lots of money.
The group arrived at the building but didn't enter, instead heading toward the thick fog behind it—the entrance to Qingyuan Forest.
Soldiers constantly patrolled through the dense fog, creating an atmosphere so tense you could bounce a coin off it.
Finally, Chen Shu spotted a faint white glow within the fog, as if reality had left a night light on in another dimension.
The group stepped through.
...
Gentle sunlight caressed their faces and a fresh breeze carried the intoxicating scent of flowers, instantly lifting everyone's spirits and clearing their minds as if someone had hit the refresh button on their brains.
"Is this... a farmstay resort?"² Chen Shu asked, his expression morphing into pure tourist confusion as he looked around.
Before them stood rows of quaint wooden cabins, soft grass-covered earth beneath their feet - it looked exactly like those overpriced "authentic rural experiences" from travel brochures.
Adding to the ambiance, massive birds of prey circled overhead like feathered security cameras, their predatory gazes scanning for troublemakers.
All around, soldiers in crisp uniforms patrolled with their contract beasts, ready to pounce on any dimensional shenanigans.
"Spirit Guards..."
Chen Shu's attention locked onto the soldiers' armbands, which bore the words 'Spirit Guard' in intimidating font.
"I’ll reiterate these are the Spirit Guard forces responsible for defending Alternate Dimensions. Do NOT want to be on their bad side," Zhou Shi warned, staring directly at Chen Shu like he was diffusing a bomb.
"If you break the rules, let's just say your unexpected accident will be very much expected."
"..."
The group left the deceptively peaceful village, passing countless contract beasts along the way, with Spirit Guards lounging in the wooden houses like it was summer camp.
Though the village looked like a rustic getaway, who knew how many beast tamers lurked within - they kept bumping into Black Iron level beast tamers like they were handing out flyers.
Despite the complete absence of visible fortifications, it radiated "mess around and find out" energy.
Chen Shu asked with genuine confusion: "Uncle Zhou, where are all the 'rat-a-tat-tat' blue-laser Gatling guns?"
"..." Zhou Shi gave him a look reserved for particularly slow children, "Modern technology gets nerfed hard in Alternate Dimensions. Beast tamers are the real firepower here."
Chen Shu nodded sagely. So that's why beast tamers had become society's VIPs - without them, humanity would be on the fast track to becoming alien chow if the fierce beasts ever decided to return the favor.
The group left the Spirit Guard base behind.
Ancient trees towered before them like nature's skyscrapers, each one at least dozens of meters tall and probably older than your grandmother's grandmother, while around them lay only massive stumps where the Spirit Guards had given the forest a very aggressive haircut.
Zhou Shi and the others went from relaxed to DefCon 3 in seconds, summoning their contract beasts with the urgency of people who'd seen some stuff.
Zhou Shi's contract beast was a massive black wolf, over four meters of "I eat people for breakfast" energy, complete with fangs that could double as kitchen knives.
As a Black Iron level beast tamer, he naturally had two contract beasts, but kept his backup dancer waiting in the wings.
The rest of the beast taming corps also summoned their contract beasts like they were calling in the cavalry.
A black crow immediately went airborne, appointed as the group's eye in the sky.
There was also an iron-backed beast that looked like a lizard on steroids, a blue-tailed butterfly so gorgeous it belonged on a postcard, a flame bird doing low-altitude reconnaissance...
Though Qingyuan Forest was rated as a normal-level Alternate Dimension, "normal" was clearly relative - like calling a shark a "large fish."
Even a basic Ice Field Rabbit here could end your whole career.
Experienced beast tamers knew to deploy their partners early, because "better safe than sorry" beat "sorry and dead" every time.
"Wow, are we really going for maximum dramatic tension here?"
Watching everyone switch to battle mode, even Chen Shu felt a twinge of nervousness. His response? Pull out a family-size bag of potato chips.
"Stop snacking... summon your contract beast!" Zhou Shi whipped around, his expression suggesting he was rapidly aging.
This kid was really just going to munch chips while they were entering a death trap?
Chen Shu offered helpfully: "Uncle Zhou, my contract beast has a defect..."
Old Deng cut in: "As long as it can do SOMETHING, we'll take it. Defective is fine."
"Oh... okay then."
Chen Shu nodded and a golden slime about a meter tall materialized out of thin air.
"Zzzzzzz..."
The slime appeared with its eyes sealed shut, mouth hanging open, a string of drool making its grand debut.
"..."
The silence was deafening.
"Wake. It. Up," Zhou Shi managed through gritted teeth.
Chen Shu mentally poked the slime, dragging it from whatever slime dreams it was having.
The slime's eyes cracked open a millimeter, looking like someone had interrupted its beauty sleep.
"Gooji...?" it blinked slowly, clearly wondering if room service had arrived.
"Let's move. The Spirit Guards have sanitized this area - no fierce beasts around," Zhou Shi announced, taking point as they officially entered Qingyuan Forest.
Only once they started moving did Zhou Shi discover the slime's spectacular defect: this thing moved like molasses going uphill in January!
It barely managed to keep pace with the group's leisurely stroll, and within minutes was literally falling asleep mid-bounce.
"Xiao Chen, is your contract beast even trying..." Zhou Shi sighed like a man who'd seen too much. "You know what? Just put it away."
Chen Shu obediently recalled his narcoleptic blob into his beast space.
Old Deng massaged his temples: "Xiao Yu, have your flame bird cover you two. The rest of us will handle any actual fighting."
The team's pace immediately returned to normal. Despite being a forest, a clear main path had been on the ground as generations of beast tamers made their way- apparently even interdimensional death traps needed proper infrastructure.
Qingyuan Forest had existed for decades, explored by countless beast taming corps. Where many people walked, a path naturally formed.
The group pressed forward through the verdant scenery.
Warm sunlight filtered through the canopy like nature's mood lighting, occasional insect songs provided the soundtrack, the air was so fresh it could be bottled and sold to city folks, and the scenery looked like it had been ripped from a Studio Ghibli film.
"Our team has two main objectives: capture three Green-Eyed Snakes - alive, unfortunately - and collect Grade 2 Iron Core Fruits," Zhou Shi explained while maintaining his vigilant watch.
The snake-napping mission came courtesy of some lab in Nanjiang City that apparently needed fresh nightmare fuel.
The Grade 2 Iron Core Fruits were wanted by a company trying to brew Black Iron level defense potions, because apparently regular armor wasn't cutting it anymore.
"After we finish playing zookeeper and fruit picker, we'll grab any shiny materials we find and maybe hunt some mutant-level fierce beasts for street cred."