The Representatives of the Corporations

When Kent saw Long Buyu, he was taken aback. The guy looked completely exhausted, as if he had traveled a long distance without stopping.

"Why do you look so awful?" Kent asked before Long Buyu could even speak.

Long Buyu coughed heavily, his voice strained. "Boss, I didn't fail in my task. I've fulfilled your instructions. The representatives from major corporations and big enterprises will start arriving tomorrow. As for why I look so disheveled… well, it's a long story."

He made a face, as though there was something he couldn't say. Kent frowned slightly. Was this guy trying to earn credit for both his hard work and struggles? Didn't he think this act was a bit too obvious?

Still, Kent responded, "If it's a long story, just keep it short."

Long Buyu hesitated a bit more, and when Kent started to show impatience, he finally spoke. "Before, with the Fire Kylin, I might have gotten a bit too confident. So, I accidentally offended a monster. You know how things are—when enemies cross paths, they don't part easily. This time, I unfortunately got blocked by it. We fought on sight, and it wanted to tear me apart. Boss, you know my current strength isn't great, so I had to make a strategic retreat."

"But, to my surprise, this monster was hell-bent on killing me. It chased me all the way, and no matter what tricks I tried, it wouldn't let up. I hid in caves, submerged in water, but it always found me. To be honest, it's a miracle I'm still alive and able to meet you."

He looked shaken, as though still haunted by the encounter.

Kent couldn't help but smile mockingly. This must be what "schadenfreude" felt like.

"Boss, I look like this, and you're laughing at me?" Long Buyu frowned, clearly upset. He had nearly risked his life to meet Kent, and yet Kent was enjoying his misfortune.

Seeing Long Buyu's irritated expression only made Kent laugh harder. "Haha, this is interesting."

Long Buyu, seeing Kent showing no sign of stopping, was about to turn and leave.

"Wait," Kent called, grabbing him. "Don't be so petty. Life is a joke. Either you laugh at me, or I laugh at you. Why take it so seriously?"

Long Buyu's face darkened even more, and he nearly roared, "But you're laughing so seriously. How do you explain that?"

"Well…" Kent scratched his nose, looking slightly guilty. "There are all kinds of laughter. Everyone expresses it differently."

When he couldn't explain it any further, Long Buyu seemed to have had enough and started walking away.

Kent stopped laughing. "Alright, I won't laugh. It's not easy for ordinary people to make me laugh. By the way, was the monster chasing you an Earthstar beast?"

Long Buyu's mouth twitched as he reluctantly answered, "Yes, it's an Earthstar beast, and a high-ranking one. It's at the peak of the Heaven-level."

Kent was shocked. Earthstar mutated beasts were typically low-ranked, and Heaven-level beasts were extremely rare, let alone high-ranking ones.

"What kind of monster was it?" Kent asked, now genuinely intrigued.

Long Buyu looked at Kent, seeing his indifferent expression, and said, "You probably won't believe me, but it was a green snake."

"A green snake?" Kent was taken aback. Being from Earthstar, he had heard of the legend of the White Snake, where the White Snake had cultivated for a thousand years, and the Green Snake had cultivated for five hundred years.

But on Earthstar, whether or not the White and Green Snakes existed in their original form, there were definitely mutated snake monsters. Several types of green snakes and white snakes existed, and both were Silver-level monsters. Among the countless monsters on Earthstar, even among Silver-level beasts, the Green Snake and White Snake were quite ordinary and unremarkable.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me, but I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, I can take you to see it," Long Buyu said seriously.

"No need, I trust you on this one," Kent waved him off, his eyes deep in thought. "But how did a Silver-level green snake become a peak Heaven-level beast? That doesn't make sense…"

Unable to figure it out, Kent decided to ask for more details.

Long Buyu explained, "The green snake isn't very large, only about five or six meters long, but it's a King-level monster, probably around level 45. It has some very strange abilities. It can exhale a breath like dragon fire, turning into gusts of wind—cold, hot, and even poisonous. Its eyes can shoot out different colored beams: red that can melt metal, green that absorbs the life force of trees, blue that can pierce through darkness, and purple that causes explosions with great power."

Hearing this, Kent's shock deepened. He didn't expect a mere green snake to possess such a wide range of bizarre abilities while also being at the peak of the Heaven-level. It was certainly tempting.

However, after thinking for a moment, Kent decided against pursuing the idea. He already had three contracted beasts, and each one required an enormous amount of resources and effort to cultivate. Plus, as his power grew, he found the allure of a peak Heaven-level monster less enticing than before.

"Long Buyu, are you interested in this green snake?" Kent asked, glancing at him.

A peak Heaven-level Earthstar beast was still a rare find, though not as strong as those from other dimensions, but on Earthstar, it was definitely a valuable creature.

"Of course, anyone would be interested in a peak Heaven-level beast. But beast contracts can only be made when they're level 1, right after birth. This green snake is already level 45, so it's impossible to contract," Long Buyu shook his head.

Kent was momentarily stunned. He hadn't thought of that and realized his mistake.

However, with his own evolution system, he believed that even a King-level beast like the green snake could still be contracted. He wasn't sure about the specifics yet but decided to keep it in mind for later. Once everything here was settled, he could look into meeting the green snake.

"Go rest for now," Kent waved at Long Buyu, letting him go.

The next day, as expected, representatives from large corporations and enterprises arrived to inspect the area. They had already heard about the Red Fire Ore and were amazed at the rich fire energy within it, considering it a superior energy resource, even better than oil and natural gas.

Their visit was to confirm the existence of the Red Fire Ore vein, assess its reserves, and check for any competitors.

After their inspection, the representatives would write up reports and send them back from areas with signal coverage.

Kent didn't get involved with hosting the representatives. Li Wan Feng and Qian Zhen Qian were more than capable of handling it. They were only here to keep an eye on things, while Kent, as the owner, didn't want to waste his energy on psychological warfare with the representatives. Everything was left to Long Buyu to handle, and Kent enjoyed his time off.

That same day, some of the representatives sent their reports back and found places to stay.

Kent wasn't worried about it. The value of the Red Fire Ore vein was far higher than he had originally estimated, and he had no doubts that he would be able to handle it well.