In Locke, beast taming begins with a black pot.

"Then your son must be very rebellious."

Old Han chimed in from behind.

"Don't even mention it."

Speaking of his son, the driver sighed, "That brat is always thinking about becoming a Beastmaster. He doesn't study properly and sneaks off to the Secret Realm to catch Pokémon. As a result, he got stung by a giant Beedrill and spent several months in the hospital."

"And then?"

"Later he behaved himself and went back to school. Now he works as a quality inspector at an elf feed factory, making five thousand yuan a month. It's not much, but at least it's stable."

The driver paused, glanced at Chen Xun in the rearview mirror, and said, "Young man, I see you're also going to become a Beastmaster, right? Let me give you a piece of advice: becoming a Beastmaster is fine, but don't work too hard. You only have one life. You can catch another spirit if you lose it, but if you lose your life, you lose everything."

Chen Xun was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Thank you, Uncle, I'll remember."

The car drove through the streets of the capital, passing through bustling commercial districts and quiet residential areas, before finally stopping on a quiet side street.

A row of old residential buildings lined the street, their mottled walls covered with ivy, looking quite old.

"arrive!"

The driver stopped the car: "This is the address you mentioned, the Elf Hotel on the back street of the Capital Beast Taming Academy, it's eighty yuan a day, breakfast included."

Old Han paid the fare and pulled Chen Xun out of the car.

Chen Xun looked at the gray three-story building in front of him. A crooked sign hung at the entrance, which read: Elf Hotel.

The character "精" on the signboard is missing a stroke, making it look particularly shabby.

"This is the five-star hotel you were talking about?"

Chen Xun turned his head, his eyes capable of killing.

"Uh...it's because we're short on funds."

Old Han chuckled twice: "Let's make do for a couple of days. Once the patent application is approved, we'll move to the presidential suite immediately!"

"I don't believe you for a second."

Chen Xun, carrying the small black pot, followed Old Man Han into the inn.

The hotel owner, a woman in her fifties, was lying in a rocking chair eating sunflower seeds. When she saw the two enter, she lazily raised her eyelids.

"Hotel stay? 80 yuan per day, including breakfast (plain porridge and pickled vegetables). An egg costs 2 yuan more. An extra bed costs 20 yuan more. Check-out time is 12 noon. If you check out late, you will be charged half a day's room rate."

"Book two rooms."

Old Han took out Chen Xun's ID card.

The landlady glanced at the ID card, then at Chen Xun: "Only one room left, a twin room. Do you want it?"

"Stay! Stay! Stay!"

Old Man Han quickly said.

Chen Xun: "...I want to sleep in the same room as you?"

"You want to sleep on the street?"

Old Han retorted confidently, "Besides, it's not just one bed, it's two beds. We can each sleep in our own. What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid you'll snore."

I don't snore.

"You were talking all night on the spaceship; the whole second class could hear you."

"That's...that's because the environment is bad! I'm not playing today!"

Chen Xun took a deep breath and realized that coming to the capital with Old Man Han was a mistake.

But since we're already here, we can't just go back now.

He took the keys, picked up the small black pot, and went upstairs.

The room was at the very back on the second floor; it wasn't big, but it was fairly clean.

Two single beds, separated by a bedside table. The window faces the back street, and you can see someone bathing an elf in the window of the building across the street.

Chen Xun put down his backpack and placed the small black pot on the bed.

The little black pot bounced twice on the bed, rolled to the pillow, and lifted the lid a crack, curiously looking around the room.

"Don't run around."

Chen Xun patted the pot lid: "I'm going to take a shower, you stay in bed."

The little black pot made a "glug" sound and obediently huddled next to the pillow.

Chen Xun went into the bathroom and turned on the tap.

Water gushed out, carrying a rusty smell.

The water quality in the capital is indeed not as good as in Jiangcheng.

He took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes, and walked out of the bathroom.

As soon as I came out, I saw Old Man Han frantically scanning the small black pot with the elf detector, muttering to himself:

"Level 2, blue quality, earth element, mud armor, mud jet... I've struck gold, I've really struck gold..."

"Can't you be normal for once?"

Chen Xun snatched the detector away: "You've been acting crazy ever since you boarded the spaceship, can't you just shut up for a bit?"

"I'm just excited!"

Old Han rubbed his hands together: "Just think about it, if our Dry Rice Upgrade Method is promoted and tens of millions of Beast Tamers across the country pay a patent fee of one thousand yuan per person per year, that's tens of billions!"

"Did your math teacher teach PE? Tens of millions multiplied by a thousand equals hundreds of billions?"

"Almost there!"

Old Man Han waved his hand dismissively: "Anyway, there's a lot of money! More than I can spend!"

"and then?"

Chen Xun sat on the bed, drying his hair: "Even if you can really make that much money, can you guarantee that this technology won't be copied by others? Can you guarantee that other pot-shaped sprites can also upgrade using the same method?"

Old Han was taken aback, and the excitement on his face instantly faded a bit.

"and."

Chen Xun looked at him seriously: "Do you think those big corporations would let go of a technology that allows Pokémon to level up by eating ordinary food? Wouldn't Ma Huateng try to steal it? Wouldn't Ma Shuiyun try to steal it? Wouldn't the Black Tower Organization try to steal it?"

Old Han's expression changed completely.

"Think about it."

Chen Xun continued, "If this technology is really rolled out, what will happen? Who will still farm the Pokémon in the secret realms? Who will still buy Pokémon feed? Will the energy crystal market collapse?"

"If this technology is really promoted, the entire ecosystem of the beast taming world will be overturned."

"By then, will you and I still be alive?"

There was silence in the room.

Old Han sat on the bed, his expression shifting between light and shadow. After a long while, he finally sighed.

"You're right, I was thinking too simply."

"I was too hasty."

He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes somewhat unfocused: "I just... really wanted to prove myself."

"To prove it to Lin Wanqing?"

Chen asked.

Old Han didn't speak, but his silence itself was the answer.

"Actually, you don't need to prove anything."

Chen Xun picked up the small black pot and placed it on his lap: "Whether your research is valuable or not is not up to one person to decide; time will tell."

Old Han looked at Chen Xun, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

He lay back down on the bed, pulled the blanket over his head, and muttered something under his breath:

"Go to sleep. Tomorrow I'll take you to the Beast Taming Academy in the capital."

Chen Xun turned off the light, plunging the room into darkness.

The streetlights outside the window cast a faint glow through the curtains.

The little black pot nestled beside Chen Xun's pillow, making a soft "gurgling" sound, as if it were talking in its sleep.

Silent all night.

Of course, Old Han's claim that he doesn't snore at night is pure nonsense.

Chen Xun was woken up at three in the morning by deafening snoring and almost shoved his pillow into Old Man Han's mouth.

The little black pot was also disturbed and couldn't sleep, so it got angry and sprayed several mud bubbles, which were all smeared on Old Man Han's face.

The old man rolled over, wiped the dirt off his face, and continued snoring, muttering, "Patents...hundreds of billions..."

Chen Xun: "..."

You dream about patents all the time, can't you think of something else?

For example, pay back the money you owe me first?