Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon

As soon as the three-day deadline was up, everyone teleported back to Jinshui Lake right away.

Since there was an agreement beforehand, Wei Wufu took away a large batch of battle helmets, battle clothes, and pet launchers.

The share allocated to Lin Shen mostly went to Wei Wufu as well, except for one mutant pet—the legion commander’s evil dragon.

Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon: Mutated Crystal-based Creature (evolution capable).

Strength: 41.

Speed: 41.

Hardness: 41.

Toughness: 40.9.

Base Mutation Talent: Mutant Evil Dragon Body, Mutant Rock Transformation, Hell’s Undying Demon Curse.

The attributes and talents of the Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon are enough to rival those of the Frost Swordsman, but the two are incomparable.

The Frost Swordsman is an attack-focused pet while the Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon is a mount with high defense and health, also serving as a meat shield type pet, fulfilling a different purpose.

The Mutant Evil Dragon Body gives it a stronger physique, enhancing its attributes all around; Mutant Rock Transformation increases its defense.

Hell’s Undying Demon Curse is actually a type of regeneration ability, allowing the Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon to rapidly regenerate its body after sustaining injuries.

As a mount and meat shield, the Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon is almost perfect at the level of base mutation, and its attack power is not weak either. If not for the Dragon-killing Talent of Jiweis casting a deterrence on it, it would indeed be troublesome.

What surprised Lin Shen was that the Ouyang Family also donated a share to Tiancheng, which was not just the portion Ouyang Yudu had received, but also included some contributions from the Ouyang Family’s own pocket, with a value not less than the gains of Wei Wufu.

“I’ll come to Tiancheng to find you,” Ouyang Yudu left these words before leaving.

“Why is he going to Tiancheng to find you?” Lin Shen asked Wei Wufu curiously in a low voice.

“Don’t know,” Wei Wufu replied with just three words.

Wei Wufu directly escorted the goods back to Tiancheng. Lin Shen parted ways with him midway, and when he was preparing to sneak back to Dark Bird Base, he realized someone was following him.

“Could it be that the freak has found me?” Lin Shen felt someone was trailing him, but when he looked back, he saw nothing.

But even if the freak came looking for trouble, Lin Shen was not afraid anymore. In the battle at Sky Star Slope, Lin Shen’s Sacrificial Halo had accumulated a terrifying amount of sacrifices, able to provide Lin Shen with an attribute boost that exceeded one hundred.

What does an attribute value exceeding one hundred signify? It is said that the attributes of normal Ascenders range from 41 to 80, which means that, in terms of attributes alone, Lin Shen with the boost from the Sacrificial Halo is stronger than the average Ascender, by a lot.

If the freak dares to come looking for trouble again, Lin Shen wouldn’t mind letting him test just how hard his punch is.

Lin Shen didn’t spot anyone and turned around to continue on his way, but was startled.

In front of him stood a person who hadn’t been there before, but it wasn’t a freak—it was just a bald middle-aged man, wearing work pants and a vest, with an ancient SLR camera hanging around his neck and an even older video camera on his shoulder.

“Who are you?” Lin Shen stared blankly at the bald man in front of him.

Though he seemed quite ordinary, even a bit overweight, Lin Shen didn’t think he was truly ordinary. At least, an average middle-aged overweight bald man definitely couldn’t appear silently within two to three meters in front of him.

“Hello, Tian, my name is Zhu Jianqiang, and this is my business card.” The man took out a business card and handed it to Lin Shen in a friendly manner.

“People still have business cards these days?” Lin Shen took the business card with suspicion and glanced at it, only to see “Nightmare Group’s Mother Planet Branch Star Scout Zhu Jianqiang” written on it.

“Star Scout? I’m not interested in being a star,” Lin Shen said, getting ready to leave.

“No no no, you’ve got it wrong, this star scout is not that kind of star scout. What we do is search various planets for promising young people and then invite them to join our Nightmare Group. I think highly of you, so I want to invite you to join,” Zhu Jianqiang said with an emphasis and an expression that suggested it was an immensely proud affair to become a member of the group.

“Nightmare Group? What Nightmare Group?” Lin Shen had figured it out by now; this man must be a member of some alien family, coming to the mother planet to scout for promising young warriors.

However, he hadn’t heard of any Nightmare Group, nor had Tian Xin mentioned such a group.

In fact, Tian Xin hadn’t mentioned much about humans in the universe. For a race that didn’t rank highly like the humans, it was good enough that Tian Xin knew they existed at all, let alone expecting him to know what forces they have.

“You… haven’t heard of the Nightmare Group? That’s not important. You just need to know that the Nightmare Group is the most powerful human force on alien worlds at present, full of countless strong beings inside the group, not just humans. There are also many strong individuals from alien species under its flag…” Zhu Jianqiang spoke as if the Nightmare Group was a super-large interstellar conglomerate.

“Thank you for your appreciation, but I have no plans to leave the mother planet,” Lin Shen felt this guy wasn’t very reliable and wanted to leave quickly.

“Tian, do you know what it means to join the Nightmare Group? As long as you can pass the test, you won’t need to worry about the various resources you need for your cultivation. Someone will bring the best resources, evolution skills, battle techniques, pets, and women to your doorstep. Food, clothing, and housing will all be top-notch, something you definitely can’t enjoy on the mother planet. Cute girls from the Celestial Race, charming older sisters from the Witch Clan, holy female cultivators from the Starshine Clan—they’ll all accompany you to soak in hot springs, serve you wine… As long as your talent is good enough and your strength strong enough, you can take as you wish, and have anything you desire…” Zhu Jianqiang’s description was flashy and over the top.

The more Lin Shen listened, the less reliable it sounded, and he couldn’t help feeling that this spiel was eerily familiar.

Upon closer thought, weren’t these the same grandiose promises his elder sister often used when making ‘pie in the sky’ offers to her staff?

Of course, his sister could indeed deliver what she promised, but it came with a condition: you had to create more value for her; otherwise, you shouldn’t think of taking anything from her.

“How about this, if you have something important, go find Wei Wufu in Tiancheng. Whether or not I can join the Nightmare Group is not up to me to decide, Wei Wufu has to agree. I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t chat with you any longer, goodbye.” Lin Shen summoned the Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon, mounted it, and flew off into the sky.

“Don’t go… Let’s talk some more…” Zhu Jianqiang called out, but unable to keep Tian from leaving, he could only watch dejectedly.

“What am I going to do about my quota now!” Zhu Jianqiang caressed his nearly bald head, sighing with worry.

Lin Shen rode the Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon into a mountain range, found a secluded spot to land, stowed away his pet, and crawled into a cave.

In the cave, Lin Shen activated the teleport function of his watch and arrived in the grassy slope area. Seeing no one around, he finally reverted to his true appearance, changed his clothes and guise, wandered around the slope for a day, killed some mutant poisonous insects, and then returned to the cave.

After making certain once again that no one was nearby, Lin Shen confidently took a detour back to Dark Bird Base.