5 The Mutant Appraisal Bureau

First Meeting Cafe.

This famous coffee shop in Sucheng University was located along the pedestrian street in the university's territory.

Shao Zifeng had passed by the place many times but never gone in for a drink before.

After all, the cafe reeked of couples from its signage to its posters, and it did not seem friendly to a single person like him.

He really did not know why the snake buyer would choose such a place.

Ding ding ding...

After he pushed the glass door open, the shaking wind chimes emitted a pleasant melody.

Perhaps it was not a weekend, so the entire cafe appeared empty.

Shao Zifeng glanced around and saw a tall young man sitting by the window.

As he heard the wind chime, the young man looked toward the door. "Hello, I'm Wang Hao of the Combat Training Faculty's senior class. Are you Junior Shao Zifeng?"

A row of shiny white teeth appeared as he opened his mouth.

They were dazzling.

"Hello."

Shao Zifeng took his seat and looked at the young man before him.

Hiss...

This senior, Wang Hao actually had a very unique appearance.

He had yellowish spiked hair and was about 1.9 meters tall.

There was a trace of acne on his dark face, and the only bright point on his whole body was his mouthful of big white teeth.

"Gentlemen, ready to order?" A waitress's soft voice rang out as she walked over and looked at the two with a strange gaze.

"Just order whatever you want to drink." Wang Hao laughed heartily.

Shao Zifeng looked at the waitress who was standing beside them with the drinks menu and awkwardly asked, "Can you add goji berries into your coffee?"

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment as the young waitress's gaze on him became even more peculiar. "Sir, we are a cafe here."

"Hahaha, it was just a joke." Shao Zifeng laughed and ordered a latte.

"Looks like you are well-versed in taking care of your health at such a young age. It's good though, health maintenance," Wang Hao said as he touched the acne mark on his face.

It was as though he was recalling his youthful years. Looking at the pale, handsome face before him, he suddenly felt a little jealous.

Shao Zifeng felt rather uncomfortable under his gaze. "So, Senior, what did you call me out for today?"

"Oh." Wang Hao snapped back to reality and organized his thoughts as he said, "It's like this; the National University Cup is about to be held, and the faculty is preparing to hold a team selection at the end of the year to form a team to join the regional qualification tournament.

"I have an idea, so I've been looking for rare mutant creatures recently." As Wang Hao said that, she put down the coffee spoon in his hand and took a sip of his coffee.

"You know the situation in Daxia; any mutant creature that's slightly rare is basically kept in the reserve. Plus, it is extremely difficult for a small establishment like us to obtain the rights to enter the reserve. Hence, I used my connections and sought many people before I found Fatty Zhang who is in Sucheng's reptile circle."

The Fatty Zhang whom Wang Hao had mentioned was that same greasy uncle who handled the inventory when Shao Zifeng first joined the reptile circle.

"Your latte."

"Thank you."

After Shao Zifeng received the latte from the waitress, he stirred it with his coffee spoon and motioned for Wang Hao to continue.

"I also understand that you folks in the reptile circle like to conduct artificial cultivation. I'm not interested in those with genetic defects, but I still wanted to try my luck. However, Fatty Zhang had unknowingly retired.

"Nonetheless, he told me that he once left you an egg of what should be a rare creature. It should be hatching anytime soon, right?"

As Wang Hao spoke, he looked at Shao Zifeng expectantly. "So, can you follow me to the Appraisal Bureau to appraise it? If the pet beast has an outstanding aptitude, it will definitely fetch a satisfying price for you."

Hey, the acne marks have become clearer.

Shao Zifeng leaned back calmly, digesting Wang Hao's words.

All of a sudden, he snapped back to reality.

Egg?

No, I remember I was left with a hatched Daboia viper, so why is it an egg here?

Shao Zifeng tried to recall, and his vision suddenly blurred as series of images flashed quickly before his eyes.

In the end, the images came to a halt, revealing a snake egg that was in a cylindrical shape (Snake eggs were not uniformly oval, and they were very soft).

An egg...

It turned out to be a snake egg in this timeline.

Shao Zifeng frowned.

Recalling yesterday's events today, Shao Zifeng concluded that the two timelines seemed to be following the same main mission, but they were filled with very different side missions.

The general direction was the same, but the details had changed.

Sh*t, this is not good.

If this goes on, is there any hope left to obtain my jackpot winnings?

How much can I earn by selling the Daboia viper? The jackpot is...

Oh, right...

He had no idea how much a Daboia viper with three-star potential would fetch him.

The situation was really awkward.

"Junior?"

Noticing that Shao Zifeng was a little absentminded, Wang Hao waved his hand before Shao Zifeng's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I get lost in my thoughts easily. What is this Appraisal Bureau you're talking about?"

Shao Zifeng came back to his senses and saw Wang Hao leaning halfway on the dining table.

He was so close that his acne scar was extremely clear.

Shao Zifeng then quietly moved his seat backward.

He was a little apprehensive about the Appraisal Bureau, which Wang Hao had mentioned.

If the so-called Appraisal Bureau had mastered appraisal technology, his hack would be pretty much useless.

He thought hard about the Appraisal Bureau, but there was no such memory in his mind. Also, he could see that the him in this timeline knew very little about the appraisal of mutant creatures.

"You don't know about the Appraisal Bureau?"

"Nope."

"Oh..."

With Wang Hao's explanation, Shao Zifeng gradually understood what the so-called Appraisal Bureau was all about.

"Over the past 20 years after the Unknown Revival Event occurred, the technology has not been adequate to accurately identify mutant creatures. There were those that could detect a mutant creature's energy level, but they were useless for juvenile mutants."

Basically, the energy levels in most juvenile creatures were roughly the same.

So, after more than ten years of searching, the people there had come up with other methods of appraisal.

One method was to use the number of skills mastered by a mutant creature to distinguish its level of aptitude.

Although the aptitude of a juvenile mutant creature with many skills would not necessarily be high, one without any skill would definitely have a lower aptitude.

After all, Shao Zifeng had seen too many rejects without even a single skill.

If it was appraising the potential of mutants, it could be done privately and did not need the setting up of a separate organization.

In fact, the full name of the Appraisal Bureau was the Mutated Creature Appraisal and Registration Bureau, but folks called it the Appraisal Bureau for short.

For the people of Daxia, it was not easy to contract a mutant creature as their pet. Aside from appraisals, they also needed to undergo a rigorous and tedious review process, on top of a meticulous registration process.

After all, some countries without any registration and management system in place were already in a mess as various organizations sprung up like bamboo shoots after the rain.

Shao Zifeng felt a chill as he thought about it.

As a man born and raised under the red flag, he had followed the guiding principles of the five disciplines, four graces, and three loves. Thus, he still could not accept a country in chaos.

Once he arranged a time to go to the Appraisal Bureau with Wang Hao, he got up to leave.

Shao Zifeng hurried home after he bought dinner and double color balls from the roadside.

There was still a group of big "bosses" waiting to be fed.

After Shao Zifeng returned to his rented place, he breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the snakes and lizards in the cabinet. It felt like a heavy burden had been relieved from his shoulders.

He smiled at everyone outside. It was because of his childhood experience that he learned to show others a smile.

However, deep down in his heart, he rejected any close contact with anyone.

Like his interaction with Wang Hao today, every time he pushed his chair back, it was not because of how ugly the latter was...

All right, that was part of the reason.

Excluding that tiny factor, it was mainly because he was not used to coming into close contact with people.

Perhaps, that was why he had no friends.

After dinner, he called a courier to send albino corn snakes to a customer.

Six hundred yuan in his pocket...

After Shao Zifeng reconfirmed that there were no more orders, he began to feed the little "bosses" in the snake cabinet.

Since he could not find his notebook, he had to power through the high-latency screen display to feed them.

As time passed, the night breeze moved the curtains and brought a hint of coldness into the room.

The radio show on his cell phone was coming to an end.

"My dear listeners, it is now time to say good night. As always, before that, I, Xiaoxin will announce the winning numbers of the double color ball. The winning numbers of this draw are..."