Worthless Profession: Dragon Tamer

Chapter 189, The Great Secret of Star Strip Country

Translator: Silavin

Upon returning to camp, Lu Fan discovered that it was now more bustling than when he had first arrived.

In the dormitories and canteens, laughter and chatter could be heard. It was clear that during the blizzard, most had returned and were gathered together, biding their time by drinking and chatting.

Lui Fei needed to go to the intelligence department to inform his colleagues about the results of their four-man exploration and complete the map of the Extremely Far North Ice Plains.

Lu Changkong was complaining about being hungry and tired, saying he needed to quickly go back to eat something good and then sleep for a whole day and night.

As for Shen Cai, she had all the Monster materials that everyone had collected while hunting. She wanted to hand them in to exchange for more Military Merits for everyone before returning to the girls’ dormitory to rest.

Lu Fan touched the red string on his wrist, thinking of Senior Sister. So he called out to Shen Cai, “Sister Shen, wait a moment.”

“What is it? Is there something else?” Shen Cai indeed stopped and turned back to look at Lu Fan.

Lu Fan smiled and asked, “Sister Shen, if I remember correctly, among the materials we collected, there are several pieces of Never-Melting Ice, right? Could you give me a piece? I have a use for it.”

“What do you want it for?” Shen Cai asked, puzzled. “Are you going to sell it? With how strong you are, you shouldn’t be short of money, right?”

Lu Fan smiled and said, “It’s not for selling. I promised a friend that when I returned from the Extremely Far North Ice Plains, I would bring her a piece of Never-Melting Ice as a gift.”

“Oh…” Shen Cai noticed the red string on Lu Fan’s wrist and immediately understood. An ambiguous smile appeared on her face, “A girlfriend, eh?”

“No, just a regular friend.” Lu Fan was greatly embarrassed, not knowing how Shen Cai had come to that conclusion.

Shen Cai’s smile grew wider as she quickly added. “It’s okay. No need to explain further. I understand.”

As she spoke, she began searching through her Inventory, saying, “Originally, all materials are supposed to be handed in. But since you want to keep one secretly, and it only being one, it won’t be much of a problem.”

“Here, you can keep this piece of Never-Melting Ice.” Shen Cai handed a piece of Never-Melting Ice to Lu Fan.

This Never-Melting Ice was only as big as a fingernail, translucent and exquisite. Although it was a piece of ice, it looked more like a gem. It did not feel bone-chillingly cold to the touch, just a cool sensation.

Lu Fan took the Never-Melting Ice and smiled at Shen Cai. “Thank you, Sister Shen.”

“These are all the materials you collected, why are you thanking me?” Shen Cai smiled back and then said, “But I think giving just a piece of Never-Melting Ice directly might be a bit crude. There’s a blacksmith in our military camp called Old Zhu. He is really skilled. You can ask him to carve this Never-Melting Ice into something nice for you. It would make it a more presentable gift.”

“Really? Thank you so much, Sister Shen!” Lu Fan was delighted to hear this. After saying goodbye to Shen Cai, he went to the military supply department to find the blacksmith, Old Zhu.

After Lu Fan left, Shen Cai watched his retreating figure with a complex smile appearing on her face.

This smile was very complicated, showing both contentment and a hint of bitterness.

After a while, she pulled out a necklace from her collar. Strung on the necklace was, surprisingly, a piece of Never-Melting Ice about the size of a fingernail. This piece of Never-Melting Ice had clearly been well-polished, now resembling the most exquisite artwork. It was truly beautiful.

Shen Cai gently kissed the Never-Melting Ice, then put it back inside her collar, letting it rest against her chest, before heading to the logistics department to hand in the materials, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Fan followed Shen Cai’s instructions and indeed found the blacksmith, Old Zhu.

Blacksmith Old Zhu had a Lifestyle Specialised Profession, but his Level was not low, comparable to Lu Fan’s.

He was short and stout, looking rather scruffy, but upon learning of Lu Fan’s intention, he became quite romantic. He kept the Never-Melting Ice and told Lu Fan to come back in two days, saying he would turn it into a gift that women would love.

After leaving the blacksmith, Lu Fan returned to Tu Jing’s villa. The soldier on guard duty, upon seeing that Lu Fan had finally returned, immediately informed him that Tu Jing had ordered him to directly report upstairs upon his return.

Learning that Tu Jing wanted to see him, Lu Fan did not dare dally. Without even returning to the study, he immediately went to the second floor to find Tu Jing.

Since Lu Fan had occupied Tu Jing’s study, Tu Jing’s office had been moved to an empty room on the second floor.

After knocking and entering, Lu Fan saw that Tu Jing’s desk was piled with documents, with two computers running simultaneously. He was clearly dealing with some matters.

Seeing Lu Fan arrive, Tu Jing put down the document in his hand and laughed heartily, “You little rascal, you’ve finally returned! Didn’t Old Lui tell you that in the Extremely Far North Ice Plains, during blizzards, it is almost a Forbidden Area? Let alone your exploration route, which was on ‘that thing’, if I hadn’t had faith in your strength, I would have gone out to look for you myself, to see if you had perished in the blizzard.”

Lu Fan chuckled and said, “Senior Tu, you worry too much. Brother Lui did indeed warn that during blizzards, this place is extremely dangerous. But, because I was confident in my own strength, I decided to continue exploring for a while longer, only returning when our supplies were exhausted.”

As he spoke, Lu Fan briefly recounted his exploration experiences with Lui Fei and the others over the past few days, not concealing the fact that Xiao Ye possessed the Black Dragon Perception Skill.

Learning that Lu Fan’s Black Dragon had such an overpowered Passive, Tu Jing nodded and said. “The Dragon Race is indeed powerful. With this Skill alone, you can be fearless even in the blizzard. But, Old Lui and the others don’t have such an ability. In the future, you should be more careful. They are all Brothers and Sisters of our Griffin Legion, don’t let your blind confidence put them in danger.”

Lu Fan promised. “Don’t worry, Senior. Brother Lui and the others treat me well, I would never let them be in danger.”

Tu Jing nodded and said, “It’s good that you’ve returned. There are some things I want to show you.”

After a pause, Tu Jing added, “Before that, should I let you rest for a while? After all, you’ve been exploring in the blizzard for ten days without proper rest.”

Lu Fan replied. “That’s unnecessary, my stamina is still quite good. It’s just that my Black Dragon has been quite hungry these past few days. Does our military camp have meat for her to eat?”

Tu Jing chuckled. “That’s simple. We might not have much of other goods, but we have plenty of meat.”

Only Monsters near the body of the Blood Moon’s owner would turn into Fallen Corpse Puppets. The flesh inside the Fallen Corpse Puppets had solidified into a mass and was inedible. However, other Monsters in the Extremely Far North Ice Plains were unaffected. After killing them, they could be brought back as rations for the military camp.

In short, there was no shortage of meat here. Just that due to limited seasonings, the cooked meat typically did not taste that great.

Once Tu Jing notified his adjutant to bring in some roasted meat from the canteen, soon, over a hundred kilograms of meat was carried over by two soldiers, along with an entire table.

Xiao Ye, who had been hiding under Lu Fan’s uniform, smelled the meaty aroma and rushed out without Lu Fan’s command. She sprawled on the table and began devouring the meat ravenously, not caring that the taste of this roasted meat was far inferior to Han Ke’s cooking.

It was clear that Xiao Ye had truly been starving for these past few days.

Tu Jing watched the Infant Form of Xiao Ye eating so exaggeratedly for quite a while before saying to Lu Fan, “Your Pet Dragon has quite the appetite….”

Lu Fan was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry. “My little girl has always been quite unrestrained when eating. After being hungry for so long, she certainly no longer cares about upholding her ladylike image.”

“Little girl? Haha, you’re really interesting.” Tu Jing laughed heartily and beckoned Lu Fan to come to his desk, “Let your Pet Dragon eat first. I have some things to show you.”

Lu Fan came to Tu Jing’s desk and sat down. Tu Jing then handed the documents on the desk to Lu Fan.

Lu Fan took a look and immediately felt a thick sense of eeriness come over him. He had not read the contents of the document in detail yet, but the photos on it, one by one, were filled with oddities.

In the photos was a Human skeleton. However, to call it a Human skeleton was not quite accurate.

This skeleton was lustrous and clean, emitting a faint golden light. On its back were three pairs of wings that had completely decayed, leaving only golden bones.

The three pairs of wings were left with only bones, but one pair was emitting a strong golden light, clearly showing that flesh was beginning to grow.

It seemed as though this skeleton was gradually coming back to life, starting from one pair of wings.

Such a skeleton did not look human, but more like an angel. What made Lu Fan’s scalp tingle the most was that this skeleton was incredibly huge!

The occasional people appearing in the background looked like ants in comparison, almost invisible. Of course, in comparison, this skeleton, which was no smaller than a large mountain.

In fact, it was indeed so. The skeleton was lying on a huge mountain, with most of its body buried in soil. There were many people at the scene, clearly engaged in excavating this skeleton.

“What… is this!?” Lu Fan did not look at the other photos because just the first few were already quite bizarre.

Tu Jing picked up a nearby wine jug and took a swig, chuckling. “This is something kept top secret in Star Strip Country. My spy happened to see it and took pictures for me. Interesting, right? Originally, I had my spy keep an eye on the representative of Star Strip Country – Charles. But a couple of days ago, news came that Charles was urgently summoned by his Family to the border of Star Strip Country. He had been summoned to a new area called the Holy Mountain Ruin.”

“Charles comes from the Moore Family of Star Strip Country. The Moore Family is powerful, one of the strongest Noble Families in Star Strip Country. They have always been dedicated to developing Wilderness resources. That Family calling Charles back must mean that they’ve made a huge discovery. I had my spy follow them closely, and sure enough, discovered their earth-shattering secret!”