Starting with the Broken-Winged Frost Butterfly: Beast Taming

Zhongdu University, 15th floor of the Experimental Building.

The heavy, superalloy doors slid open slowly to both sides.

The air, thick with the smell of disinfectant, hit us.

You have entered Intermediate Laboratory No. 1505

[Given your expertise in "Species Evolution," you are entitled to free access all day.]

Instructions for use:

Please supervise your pets yourself and do not damage walls, observation screens, or feeding devices.

*Laboratory waste liquids and pet feces must be disposed of in designated sealed recycling bins; indiscriminate dumping is prohibited.

*In case of an emergency during the experiment, please press the alarm button immediately...

Hehehe.

This huge lab is for me to use all by myself? So extravagant, so incredibly extravagant!

Zhu Ran toured the room. Inside the spacious and bright space, rows of cultivation chambers stood neatly arranged, the workbenches were spotless, and various experimental tools, droppers, and reagent containers were placed in order... everything was in perfect order.

very good!

The stage is set up!

The rest are "dancers".

Zhu Ran looked at the broken-winged frost butterfly and solemnly instructed it:

"Xuexi, lie down and rest obediently. Tonight, success is the only option; failure is not an option!"

"Ee?" (๑•̌.•̑๑) ? ?

Xuexi landed and lay on a corner of the control panel. Her slender tentacles, like nimble fingers, scratched Zhu Ran's arm.

I am an insect, but not a roundworm.

What are we supposed to do tonight?

You finished your work yesterday and went straight to sleep, sleeping like a dead bug, without explaining anything!

Zhu Ran poked its belly instead.

Mysterious Path:

"Do you want to be a deformed child for the rest of your life?"

"Yesterday's training was merely a reversal of fatal flaws, helping the planes to resume flights."

"Unless you completely resolve the bloodline distortion, you'll always be in danger, and one day you might close your eyes and never open them again..."

(ᯣ_ᯣ)

really?

Xi is three years old this year, she's still a baby, don't scare me!

"Who scared you?"

Judging from the frequency of the antennae's swaying, Zhu Ran realized that Xiao Die Die still wasn't taking it seriously enough, and said sternly:

Do you know how low the probability is of an evolutionary error reaching its natural end?

Do you know why the evolution of errors is considered an omen of bad luck and disaster?

"Don't be fooled by your current lively and energetic state, and your good appetite. You don't seem to be in any obvious abnormal condition."

"Perhaps you originally had a lifespan of more than ten years, but now you only have a few years or even a few months!"

"Perhaps you won't have a tomorrow!"

━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━

No, playing around is playing around, and making a fuss is making a fuss.

Can you please stop cursing your pet?

Xi is dead. Hello, you contracted stupid chicken, right?

This is by no means an exaggeration!

Zhu Ran's spirit was passionate and stirring, like a soldier about to go to the battlefield:

"Energy out of control, physical deformities, loss of reason, disordered talents, ineffective skills... there are countless ways to go wrong!"

"Weakness, excruciating pain, amnesia, berserk behavior, sudden death, premature organ failure, epilepsy, illness, disability... There's bound to be one or two individuals who fit this description!"

"But even after we resolve your broken wing issue, you will still have countless blood vessel cracks remaining on your body."

What does this tell us?

"Think about it carefully!"

Xuexi stopped shaking its antennae, its head, which had been held high, slumped down, and its thin, ice-crystal-like wings stretched out with a layer of cold, matte white light.

Xi... is she going to die?

Weren't we just enjoying a lavish fruit feast?

Isn't it an ambitious goal to become a blogger with millions of followers?

Could it be that the pet they're going to film isn't Xi...?

Yes, why does it have to be Xi? Xi is just a worm, not irreplaceable...

If there were only ten hours of light left, what should a worm do...?

[Status: Blood Veins Twisted/Full of Food/Sadness/Loss/Confusion]

Huh?

Etc., etc!

Does that seem a bit much? Why the sadness, loss, and confusion?

I just want to emphasize that we should not underestimate the power of error in evolution, and we must work together to overcome this challenge!

Zhu Ran tilted her head to one side, her eyes clear.

Unconsciously, his fingertips scratched the back of his neck, and a forced, guilty smile appeared on his lips.

It's not that it's impossible.

Rather than forgetting the pain once the wound has healed.

Only by remembering our pain can we forge a resilient character.

However, this cannot continue; too much of a good thing can be bad…

Zhu Ran coughed twice, interrupting Xiao Die Die's reverie.

Seeing that Xiaodie had raised her head again and her attention was drawn to him, Zhu Ran suddenly smiled:

"but!"

"What other beast tamers are helpless to do, your master has a different way of dealing with!"

"What do you think I brought you here for today?"

Xuexi's cloudy compound eyes suddenly brightened.

Yes, if you really don't want it, why beat around the bush!

The owner wants to continue correcting its bloodline defects and restore it to its original appearance!

So that's what "only success is allowed, failure is not an option" really meant; it misunderstood its owner!

[Status: Blood Veins Twisted/Excited/Shy]

Why is she shy again? Little Butterfly's thoughts are just as hard to fathom as her female classmates'...

Zhu Ran muttered to himself, making sure the little guy was really not sad anymore, before taking out his phone and scanning the QR code in the lower right corner of the control panel.

The materials for the second-stage reversal have not yet been fully completed.

The laboratory building has a hidden perk—by renting a laboratory, you can enjoy Chung-Du University's exclusive procurement platform.

Let's do an experiment. Who doesn't need consumables?

All materials listed on the platform, whether common or rare, are 2% off.

It's a pity we couldn't get our hands on controlled goods, otherwise we wouldn't have been ripped off by black market dealers... Zhu Ran still felt a pang of heartache when he thought about the 180,000 that had evaporated.

"Ee?" (｡◕ˇ∀ˇ◕)

Xuexi is already resting obediently.

But since it concerns its own future, it also wants to know more.

So when Zhu Ran opened the purchasing platform, it huddled to the side, observing carefully.

Zhu Ran also wanted to help the little guy learn more about human society, so he naturally explained to it what purchasing and discounts were.

We'll start teaching them to read, beginning with numbers.

Little Butterfly suddenly realized.

Then.

Like discovering a hidden Easter egg, the tentacles reached out to Zhu Ran's purchase order.

Didn't you say there was a 98% discount?

Why is your profile picture frame gold and it says "9% off" below?

"Didn't I say I was a regular member?"

A hint of cunning lurked in Zhu Ran's eyes, but he feigned innocence and said:

"Other students, starting from their freshman year, hang out in bars, gyms, and arenas..."

"I spent three years in the lab."

"Otherwise, how do you think I acquired the ability to concoct evolution potions without a spiritual eye, this meticulous judgment, and these rock-solid hands?"

「Eh?」꒰ঌ(˚ᆺ˚)໒꒱

Xuexi paced slightly on the smooth table with her three pairs of chest feet, her compound eyes veiled in a hazy, bewildered light.

Isn't the master penniless?

If it weren't for his wealthy older sister treating him to lunch, would he have been willing to buy those high-end spiritual fruits?

What's most infuriating is that they're so poor they don't even have a mount, yet they complain that their mount is too weak to pull them!

Excuse me, do you have a pilot's license?

So what if it flies?

Hmph! Just wait until Xi gets stronger, then you'll be paying your fines! Every day you pay, we'll all be sleeping on the street!

Somehow, a lie started running through my little brain.

Once she came to her senses, Xuexi immediately waved her antennae, resorting to a combination of torture (and cuteness) to extract a confession—

Master, you have no money.

Where did the experimental consumables for three years come from?