Chapter 135 - 127: Turns Out to Be a Great Treasure

Chapter 135: Chapter 127: Turns Out to Be a Great Treasure

Mutant beasts had spiritual power, too, and could naturally sense its presence.

What Tang Mo didn’t know, however, was whether they also understood the concept of taming.

If the intelligence of mutant beasts could reach such a level, could a mutant beast with sufficiently strong spiritual power even tame humans?

This world would be a little too terrifying, then.

Seeing that Tang Mo had finally understood its meaning, Jingjing began to nod its head frantically.

"Alright, I’m starting."

Tang Mo’s expression grew serious. Taming was no small matter; she had nearly died in the forest last time while taming that monkey.

This time, she had to ensure that both she and Jingjing remained safe.

But even though she was mentally prepared, Tang Mo was still shocked when she guided her spiritual power into Jingjing’s sea of consciousness.

She had entered the little monkey’s sea of consciousness before. The light there had been about the same as an ordinary person’s—far weaker than a Spiritual Ability User’s.

But the light inside Jingjing’s sea of consciousness was dazzling.

Tang Mo roughly estimated that its spiritual power was a bit weaker than her own, but it was likely on par with that of an average Spiritual Ability User.

If a mutant beast like Jingjing hadn’t willingly submitted to being tamed, Tang Mo would’ve stood no chance of succeeding with her current spiritual power.

Fortunately, Jingjing’s spiritual power remained docile and obedient within its sea of consciousness. Tang Mo could even faintly sense an affinity from it.

This taming was exceptionally smooth. With hardly any effort, Tang Mo established a connection with Jingjing’s spiritual power, completing the entire process.

Once the taming was officially complete, Tang Mo withdrew her spiritual power and silently called out to Jingjing in her mind.

’Jingjing, can you hear me?’

Tang Mo didn’t open her mouth to speak; this was a technique she had read about in the research documents at S Base.

After a mutant beast was tamed, its greatest benefit—aside from one-hundred-percent loyalty—was its ability to form a deep, telepathic bond with its master.

So, Tang Mo decided to give it a try.

’Momo, I can hear you.’

A somewhat childish voice echoed in Tang Mo’s mind.

’So, Jingjing, you’re a girl...’

The voice sounded like that of a five- or six-year-old girl. It was the first Tang Mo had heard of mutant beasts having genders.

’Of course I am! Momo, you didn’t even know that? I’m not talking to you anymore!’

Jingjing stomped its foot, spun around, and turned its back to Tang Mo, sulking.

Tang Mo chuckled to herself for a moment before opening her ID Watch.

The watch could normally only detect basic information about a mutant beast’s attributes, but it was a different story for one that had been tamed.

Sure enough, at the very bottom of her ID attributes, Tang Mo found a "Beast Pet" section.

Tang Mo tapped on it, revealing detailed information.

Crystal-eating Beast: A Growth Level mutant beast that strengthens itself by devouring Crystal Cores.

Current Level: Level 5.

These two lines were what caught Tang Mo’s attention the most!

A Growth Level mutant beast?

Whether it was a beast or an abnormal treasure, once the "Growth" designation was attached, it was guaranteed to be extraordinary.

Jingjing hadn’t demonstrated any special abilities so far, so Tang Mo had just treated it as an ordinary mutant beast. Discovering it was a Growth Level mutant beast was a delightful surprise.

All those Crystal Cores she’d fed this little one hadn’t gone to waste after all.

’I’ll have to hunt for more Crystal Cores to feed it from now on,’ Tang Mo secretly decided.

Since it was called a Crystal-eating Beast, Crystal Cores obviously wouldn’t hinder its growth the way they could for humans.

However, Tang Mo wasn’t yet sure what "Level 5" actually entailed.

But she wasn’t in a hurry. She hadn’t tamed Jingjing because she wanted a powerful mutant beast; it was all a matter of fate. Jingjing could just grow at her own pace.

All she could do as its master was provide a steady supply of Crystal Cores.

’Why does it feel like I’m the one getting the short end of the stick...’

Tang Mo mused silently.

Although the taming was complete, Tang Mo didn’t notice much of a difference for the time being.

Jingjing’s Level 5 was probably still too weak. Despite being a "Growth Level mutant beast"—which sounded very impressive—it seemed that for now, aside from being easier to talk to, she wasn’t very useful.

The novelty wore off after a short while for Tang Mo and Jingjing, and the human and beast went about their own business.

With nothing else to do inside, Tang Mo went to bed early, wanting to conserve as much energy as possible.

Just after midnight, while sleeping soundly, Tang Mo was jolted awake by a persistent ringing.

The only people who would call her were Lin Yi and Qin Ling, and neither of them would ever phone her in the middle of the night.

A call at this hour had to mean something major!

Tang Mo jolted, shaking off her drowsiness as she sat up, now wide awake.

"Hello? What’s wrong?"

Tang Mo’s voice was so calm, she didn’t sound like someone who had just been woken from a deep sleep.

"Are you okay?"

It was Qin Ling on the other end, his voice filled with unconcealed concern.

"Me?"

Tang Mo had thought something had happened to Qin Ling or her family; she hadn’t expected him to be asking about her.

’Does he know I’m trapped in the desert in B City?’

’No, that’s impossible. Not only can no one track my ID Watch’s location unless I enable it, but even if they could, they shouldn’t know my exact circumstances.’

’Unless they’ve planted a tracker on me.’

Tang Mo thought for a few seconds.

"I’m fine. Everything’s great. Why do you ask?"

Tang Mo already had a plan in mind. Her current predicament wasn’t a dead end, and she didn’t want to make Qin Ling worry.

"Have you seen the new icon that appeared next to your name on the rankings page?"

Given his position, Qin Ling had a daily habit of checking the rankings before he went to sleep.

The first thing he did whenever he opened the rankings was look for Tang Mo. He was always relieved to see her rank had fallen, as it meant she wasn’t blindly absorbing Crystal Cores just to climb the leaderboard.

Only then would he check his own rank, followed by the ranks of his acquaintances and others.

But today, when Qin Ling opened the rankings, he panicked the moment he saw a small, golden, indescribably-shaped icon appear next to Tang Mo’s name.

Although the ID Watch was developed by the people at S Base, it ran on an evolving AI system.

With all its updates, many of the watch’s programs were no longer under human control, instead being run autonomously by its advanced AI.

Even someone like Qin Ling had no way of knowing what that golden icon actually represented.

’Is she injured? Poisoned? Or...’

At that moment, Qin Ling’s heart leaped into his throat. Forgetting all about his own rank, he immediately called Tang Mo.

Tang Mo had been sound asleep; she hadn’t had time to look at any rankings.

Besides, her rank was dropping every day. It was just frustrating to look at, so she hadn’t checked it in days.

Hearing Qin Ling’s words, she finally opened the rankings page and found her name.