Chapter 22: Long-Haired Mongoose

Ronnie's chest had been pierced through, blood flowing from his front and back uncontrollably. However, the trench coat he wore was peculiar; it absorbed all the blood, preventing a single drop from spilling out.

"Mr. Ronnie, how did you sustain such severe injuries? I'll go get a doctor for you."

"No... no, no need..." Ronnie stretched out a hand, laboriously grabbing Duke's sleeve. "I'm being... hunted... calling a doctor... would expose me..."

"Without a doctor, you'll die."

"I'm as good as dead..."

Duke expressed deep frustration, "You've really thrown me into a mess!"

He only wanted to keep a low profile in this transcendent world, bide his time, understand the depths of it, and then plan for the future.

He didn't want to get entangled in trouble now, especially the kind involving killing and death.

But Ronnie couldn't afford to worry about Duke's concerns. He felt he was close to the end and needed to explain things quickly: "I was trying to capture a 2-ring spiritual beast, the Long-Haired Mongoose..."

He had purchased ten arcane cards some time ago for the purpose of capturing the cunning Long-Haired Mongoose.

However, despite Ronnie's careful surveillance, he had still been targeted by someone with malicious intent. Just as Ronnie was about to finish off the 2-ring spiritual beast Long-Haired Mongoose he had severely injured, he fell victim to an ambush.

"It's people from the Venom Fang Gang, the peripheral members of the Black Serpent Family... I managed to kill two of them, but one got away..."

"Venom Fang Gang? Peripheral members of the Black Serpent Family? And one got away?" Duke frowned deeply, gritting his teeth. "That person will definitely inform them. Seriously, Ronnie, do you want me dead that badly?"

"I'm in an unfamiliar place..."

When Ronnie had retaliated and killed two people, he had also been struck by a surge of Qi through his chest. He didn't dare seek help from the town's hospital due to his severe injuries and the fact that the hospital was owned by the Black Serpent Family. 

Since he had come to Snakehead Town to capture spiritual beasts, he didn't know anyone here.

After careful consideration, he thought of Duke.

Whether Duke could be trusted or not was a secondary concern at this point: "The Long-Haired Mongoose won't survive much longer. I couldn't finish it off. The Black Serpent Family will investigate and surely find it. But they don't know... my original goal was never the adult Long-Haired Mongoose... cough... take a look at the package by your side."

"I really don't want to look. It'll only bring me trouble..." Duke sighed, regretting that trouble had already found its way to him, making avoidance impossible.

He then took the package that had fallen from Ronnie's embrace earlier. Inside the package seemed to be something soft. When he opened it, he was greeted by a small creature about the size of his palm, curled up, its fur not fully grown, and its eyes still shut.

He could clearly sense a spiritual aura within the small creature's body.

"What is this?"

"Cough... this was my objective on this trip... a Long-Haired Mongoose cub... hahaha, cough..." Ronnie tried to laugh while coughing up blood. "Compared to adult Long-Haired Mongooses, their cubs are the real treasure!"

Duke was surprised and immediately asked, "Are the cubs easier to tame?"

"It's not just about taming... Long-Haired Mongoose cubs can form a pact with knights and train together. There's a good chance it can evolve into the rare mythical beast category... once successfully evolved, it become 2-ring mythical beast, the Armored Mongoose!"

"Mythical beasts!"

Duke's heart skipped a beat.

In the Seven Pagoda Federation and other countries on the Savage Wilds continent, arcane mages who practiced Spiritual Magic were revered. Knights of the Sea of Blood and Spiritual Plant Masters of the Sea of Qi were merely small branches of Spiritual Magic.

While Knights of the Sea of Blood and Spiritual Plant Masters of the Sea of Qi could touch the transcendent level, their potential was extremely limited, capped at the 1-ring stage.

For example, opening the Sea of Blood could cultivate Qi and become a 0-ring knight, but a knight's peak was still 1-ring Great Knight. Without good fortune, one would remain stuck as a 1-ring Great Knight for a lifetime.

However, if a 1-ring Great Knight encountered an opportunity, they could further their growth.

This opportunity was the Mythical Beast.

Forming a pact with a Mythical Beast allowed a knight to surpass the limits of a 1-ring Great Knight, advancing to a 2-ring Mythical Beast Knight, and even higher to a 3-ring Advanced Mythical Beast Knight.

Hence, for any 1-ring Great Knight, a Mythical Beast was an invaluable treasure, something they would compete desperately to obtain.

Seeing Duke's astonished expression, Ronnie understood that Duke grasped the value of the Long-Haired Mongoose cub. There was a lot of reluctance in Ronnie's eyes, but he eventually let out a sigh of resignation, "Now... it's yours."

Duke wanted to refuse.

However, as he tried to voice his refusal, the words just wouldn't come out.

After a moment, he spoke in a low voice, "Mr. Ronnie, so what's the price?"

"Cough... there's no price, just a request..." Ronnie struggled not to pass out. His injuries were too severe; once he fainted, he might never wake up again. "My real name is Robin, and I have a son named Royce... he's at the Spear Knight Academy in Chenjiao City, undergoing knight training... please help him as much as you can..."

As he spoke, Ronnie weakly pointed at the pocket of his coat.

Duke reached into the pocket and took out an Arcane Dragon Card. "Is this it?"

Ronnie held onto the Arcane Dragon Card and shook it.

Duke understood; he immediately took out his own Arcane Dragon Card and tapped it against Ronnie's. Soon, lines appeared on the cards, outlining a message: "Income: 8 Gold Dragons, 26 Silver Dragons, 18 Copper Dragons... Balance: 10 Gold Dragons, 47 Silver Dragons, 55 Copper Dragons..."

"Help Royce..." Ronnie finished speaking and then suddenly tilted his head.

By the time Duke checked again, Ronnie had already stopped breathing.

"Ah!"

Duke looked at the lifeless Ronnie and then at the Long-Haired Mongoose cub in the package, seemingly asleep. He didn't know how to express his feelings at this moment.

But regardless of his emotions, the priority was dealing with Ronnie's body.

Otherwise, if it was discovered tomorrow, he would really be caught up in trouble.

"I have to dispose of the body!"

He steadied himself, immediately found a snakeskin bag, put Ronnie's body into it, tied the bag securely to prevent any blood from leaking out.

Then he swiftly cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor and checked if there were any traces of blood in the alleyway.

Fortunately, Ronnie was wearing a coat that could contain the blood, so there were no obvious bloodstains on the road. There were only faint traces of blood where he had knocked on the door. Duke quickly wiped those traces away.

He then went home and waited anxiously.

He planned to dispose of the body late at night.

"I didn't kill the man, but I have to dispose of the body..." His heart kept pounding, and Duke had to find something to do to distract himself. He looked at the Long-Haired Mongoose cub.

The palm-sized cub resembled a rat and wasn't particularly attractive.

Quickly finding a cardboard box, Duke then fetched some rags and cotton to make a small nest for the Long-Haired Mongoose cub. He placed it by his bedside.

Watching the peacefully sleeping creature, he didn't know what to feel at this moment.

"If I had successfully opened the Sea of Blood, I would have completed the pact first thing and worked hard to develop you into a Mythical Beast Armored Mongoose... unfortunately, my attempt to open the Sea of Blood failed, and I can't become a knight."

Suddenly, he realized something and directly inquired in his mind, "Xiaoyi, according to the database calculations, can I still open the Sea of Blood?"