Astral Pet Store (WN)

After thinking it through, Su Ping instantly went to Tang Ruyan and Zhong Lingtong’s school. He asked them to stay there since he was going to take a trip.

He didn’t explain much.

Once he got back to the shop he summoned the Inferno Dragon, the Dark Dragon Hound and the Purple Python from the advanced nursing pens. He certainly had to be fully armed for a hunt outing.

He prepared everything and closed the shop. He was new to the place anyway, so he wouldn’t be missing much income even if he closed the shop for a day.

Let’s go!

Su Ping used his Lord Badge to log in to the local shuttle platform and called a vessel to his current address.

The Lord Badge was quite convenient; it was essentially a portable, intelligent butler that could take care of his every need. It also had high ranking permissions and could hide his real information.

A flying shuttle arrived at Su Ping’s address soon after.

Su Ping touched the door with his finger; his fingerprint was scanned and his identity was confirmed. He didn’t need to say anything to the driver. In fact… there wasn’t one.

It was an automated shuttle that would take him to the address he had entered.

Even though it was his first trip on Rhea, he had already memorized some of the basic information thanks to the system’s earlier scan. He was in Woffett at the moment, one of the seven most prosperous cities on the Kamp Continent.

There were altogether thirteen continents on planet Rhea, which was forty-eight times larger than the Blue Planet. Nine of the continents were suitable for humans to live on, and Kamp was one of them. Its economy wasn’t bad; it usually ranked fifth or sixth.

The other four continents had rough environments which were populated by beasts. The only humans living there, except for a few normal citizens, were the planet pioneers who were hunting on those wild continents.

The Rumbling Thunder Continent was one of those four continents, home to the Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons which were famous in all of Zeruprun. The continent was the second largest and the least populated among the thirteen continents. Even the planet pioneers rarely stayed there; they would usually live in other places and take military planes to the continent when necessary.

It was said that an enormous barrier had isolated the Rumbling Thunder Continent from the outside world.

The Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons were active in groups all across the Rumbling Thunder Continent. They attained the complete combat abilities of their kind the moment they reached adulthood and could potentially cause significant damage to human settlements if any of them ran loose.

Su Ping was currently taking the shuttle to the airport that scheduled flights to the Rumbling Thunder Continent.

The final destination of those flights was Kroline Island. Most of the visitors on the island were hunters who were there to try their luck.

They could sell a Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon for a billion if they ever caught one, which was enough for most people to enjoy the rest of their lives worry-free!

Half an hour later, Su Ping reached the nearest airport.

It was vast, new, spacious, and looked like a spatial base. Everything was new to Su Ping.

What attracted him the most was the super telescope on the ceiling, inside the airport. He could see the starry sky when he raised his head!

He didn’t know whether it was a projection or the real sky, but it was splendid and awe-inspiring.

After following the omnipresent signs, he found a waiting line to buy a ticket.

The ticket to fly from that place to Kroline Island had a cost of a hundred and eighty thousand astral coins. Although the average income was higher on Rhea, a tier-3 planet, most workers were unable to earn such an amount in an entire year!

As expected, the ticket alone had shut the door to the poor.

Su Ping paid for the ticket without any hesitation and later went to the corresponding waiting area. There were VIP chambers that charged extra, but he chose not to get one. He had also bought an ordinary ticket; a first-class ticket would have cost him five hundred and eighty thousand coins.

In any case, it was the same destination. It wasn’t a lot of money for Su Ping, but he preferred frugality whenever possible.

He would have flown there on his own if personal flying wasn’t banned on Rhea.

Su Ping saw all kinds of people in the waiting area. All of them were human beings, but the Federation was too far-reaching and had colonized too many planets. Given the different planetary circumstances, the skin, eye and hair colors of those people had evolved differently.

Apart from the locals of Rhea whose hair was purple, Su Ping had seen people with brown hair, golden hair, black hair, pink hair, and even green hair.

Green hair was quite an unforgettable color.

Su Ping recognized that some of those people were from other planets, all thanks to the compiled information he had acquired from the system scanning. He had noticed that he was also being observed when he found a seat.

He looked around and soon realized why: his appearance was quite special too, as nobody else had the handsome face of a person from the Subcontinent District.

The plane arrived soon after.

Su Ping had his ticket checked and boarded on the plane along with the other passengers.

His seat was in the middle of the plane. There were five seats in the row; such a plane was bigger and more comfortable than the ones he remembered.

Two guys and two girls took the seats next to him moments after he sat down. One of the girls seemed to be around eighteen, and the other was twenty-five or so. The two guys were of a more mature age; one of them was in his thirties, while the other one had a short beard and appeared to be close to forty.

All of them started talking as soon as they sat down.

They spoke in a language unknown to Su Ping. It was definitely not the Common Tongue; it could be their local dialect.

Su Ping saw that their hair was bright gray and their eyes were brown, indicating that they were non-locals. Aside from their common features, the younger girl stood out since she had dark golden circles in the middle of her clear, brown eyes.

Su Ping felt awkward. Those people sitting next to him on both sides obviously knew each other, while he was right smack in the middle. It was really uncomfortable!

However, he had been through a lot before. As long as he wasn’t embarrassed, the others would be.

Su Ping sat calmly. The men and women flanking him had to lean forward in order to see and talk to each other.

The middle-aged man seemed to have told a joke, and both girls on Su Ping’s left side giggled.

The plane took off moments later, and the younger man on Su Ping’s right side looked at him and chuckled. “Brother, you look quite impressive. Are you going to the Rumbling Thunder Continent too?”

He was speaking the Common Tongue.

“You’re also going?”

Su Ping came back to his senses after indulging in random thoughts. He looked at the strangers and realized what was going on.

He had not paid much attention to them earlier, but after checking he found that they were at the Ocean State even if they were actively concealing their auras. The middle-aged man in particular was a well-hidden Void State expert.

They were a strong team; it was only reasonable to guess they were going to the Rumbling Thunder Continent.

“Hehe, we’re just going to try our luck. Brother, you must be going for the Thunderous Dragon Tide, aren’t you? May I know your name?” said the young man with a smile.

Stumbling upon chatty travelers was basically inevitable whenever you were out on a trip.

Su Ping wasn’t bothered. However, he was indeed slightly confused by what the latter had said. “My name is Su Ping. You can call me by my name. What’s that Thunderous Dragon Tide you mentioned?”

“Su Ping? That’s a special name,” said the young man. He was surprised by Su Ping’s confusion and asked, “You don’t know?”

Su Ping shook his head.

The young man was dazed and instinctively looked at his partner. Then, he said to Su Ping again, “Brother Su Ping, you seem quite young. Are you going to the Rumbling Thunder Continent alone? You don’t have any partners?”

Su Ping shook his head again.

The young man was rendered speechless. He said with a bitter smile, “Brother Su Ping, the Thunderous Dragon Tide is the mating season for the Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons which happens every eight years. It’s the easiest window for anyone to catch them, given that they’re significantly weakened by childbirth. We’re all here to try our luck.”

Su Ping understood. The reproduction period for dragons was at hand..

“You don’t know about the Thunderous Dragon Tide, and still you’re going there alone? What are you planning on doing?” asked the younger girl with a weird look.

The other woman glared at her and said, “Karina, don’t be rude!’

He understood what she meant; the girl implied that he was playing dumb. He didn’t explain, simply saying with a smile, “I’m also going there to hunt, just like you. I’m told that they’re very valuable.”

The young man was stunned; he had covertly checked Su Ping’s aura during the beginning of their conversation but didn’t detect anything, probably because the man had a secret technique or a special treasure to conceal his aura. He didn’t scan further, since he could be discovered or come off as offensive.

“Well, if I may ask, are you an Ocean State warrior, Brother Su Ping?” asked the young man suspiciously.

Those who went to that wild continent by themselves were Ocean State warriors at least, if they didn’t want to get themselves killed. There were exceptions, like gamblers who hunted with drugs they had bought on the black market. However, it was very risky, and their odds of success were extremely low!

“Yes.” Su Ping nodded. He had nothing to hide, so he never minded telling other people his level unless he was going hunting in the wild.

As for his aura, it was simply because he was practicing the Fog Concealer Technique that his father taught him; he wanted to become more familiarized with it.

All of them were stunned for a moment after seeing Su Ping nod. The young man chuckled and said, “Brother Su Ping, you’re so young and yet you’ve already reached the Ocean State. What a genius! Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Harry, he is Benson. She’s my cousin Annalisa. And as everybody knows, this is the naughty Karina.”

After hearing his presentation, the girl named Karina stuck out her tongue and said angrily, “Cousin, stop talking like that! I’m not naughty!”

Harry smiled and said to Su Ping. “Feel free to come with us if you don’t have partners…” Then, he remembered something and looked at the middle-aged man named Benson. He added, “If it’s fine with you, Brother Benson.”

Benson frowned slightly and sized up Su Ping, obviously considering.

Su Ping had already shaken his head before the other answered. He then said, “No, my destination is probably different from yours. Besides, I’m used to hunting alone; thank you for your kindness.”

Benson stopped thinking once he heard that response; he then stared at Su Ping, but he soon withdrew his gaze and turned his head the other way without saying anything.

Harry was dazed for a moment. He too realized something upon seeing that Su Ping seemed serious, so he didn’t try to persuade him anymore.

After all, they were total strangers; they knew almost nothing about each other. Harry found it understandable that Su Ping would decline his invitation to hunt together.

After all… not all the hunters who died on the Rumbling Thunder Continent were killed by the beasts.