I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 440: Pet Contract

Song Jian’s lips curled into a slight smile. He had noticed that most of Zhang Hong’s attack methods carried negative effects, but their actual damage wasn’t high.

For ordinary players, these constant negative effects were like a nightmare. With Song Jian’s unique skill “Thick-faced”, his immunity to negative effects had reached an unimaginable level. Once he pits against Zhang Hong, if Zhang Hong doesn’t use his trump card escape skill, Song Jian is confident he can finish him in less than five minutes.

Under Zhang Hong’s skill restrictions, the lion-eagle beast seemed like a strong and bulky yet slow-moving giant, toyed around by the two players. After half an hour, the lion-eagle beast was bathed in blood, covered with wounds, and one of his front claws had even fractured. Its enormous body lost its balance and collapsed, stirring up countless pebbles and dust.

The lion-eagle beast was on the brink of death, unable to stand up no matter how hard it tried.

Its vitality points had already dropped below 10%. For Zhang Hong, this was an optimum opportunity to recruit.

“Good job!” Zhang Hong cheered with a full face of smiles, but a flash of fear appeared in the depths of his eyes. Song Jian’s damage was incredibly high, volumes higher than any typical player of his level.

Zhang Hong leaped forward, came before the lion-eagle beast, and bowed. He muttered, “In the past you have been trapped in bitterness, today, I will help you free yourself!”

With a hop, Zhang Hong climbed onto the lion-eagle beast, pressing his hand against its head.

“Hahaha, my beast defender, you’re mine now!” Zhang Hong couldn’t hold back his excitement; he was on the cusp of success. His laughter echoed under the sky, his face full of unrestrained joy.

The lion-eagle beast grew furious sensing Zhang Hong on its back. It let out angry roars and attempted to shake Zhang Hong off. Unfortunately, its injuries were too severe, barely lifting its wings before they dropped down weakly.

From his bag, Zhang Hong pulled out a scroll emitting a silver radiance, pressing it against the back of the lion-eagle beast’s head.

“A Pet Contract Scroll!”

Song Jian watched the energy-rich scroll with a slight smile at the corner of his lips.

Ordinary shops only sell low-quality Pet Contract Scrolls and those can only be used on common beasts. Unique creatures like the lion-eagle beast, especially one that’s an elite boss at level 30, couldn’t be captured by a low-quality scroll. A higher-quality scroll is required for that.

The silver-level Pet Contract Scroll that Zhang Hong held was worth at least 100,000 Doomsday Coins. This was a rare item and the price was beyond what many beasts were worth. It was something ordinary players had only heard about but never seen.

Song Jian watched Zhang Hong use the scroll, and shook his head slightly.

“What a waste. If Zhang Hong was also level 30, then using this silver-level Pet Contract Scroll could have had a capture success rate of over 80%. However, currently at level 18, the level gap with the lion-eagle beast is just too wide. Even with this high-quality scroll, the capture success rate won’t be more than 30%…”

Such level disparity was something every player hoping to capture a beast needed to consider. Either Zhang Hong has forgotten it in his excitement, or he’s taking his chances, ignoring the level gap.

After all, encountering a lion-eagle beast opportunity is rare and once lost, there may not be another chance to find such a unique creature.

At this moment, a look of excitement crossed Zhang Hong’s face. With trembling hands, he pressed the Contract Scroll closely against the lion-eagle beast’s head and began reciting the contract’s chant.

As he recited the chant, the scroll emitted a dazzling light and began to slowly disintegrate, transforming into countless silver runes that embraced both Zhang Hong and the lion-eagle beast. If the contract fails, all the runes would vanish and the high-quality silver scroll would be wasted.

Zhang Hong anxiously watched the silver runes around him, fearing they’d disappear at the next moment.

Bang!

A blinding silver radiance burst from the runes, driving Zhang Hong into fits of laughter. This signified the first step was successful, which was the most important step. If the runes assembled into a contract formation next, he could force the lion-eagle beast into signing the contract and becoming his beast.

The silver light continued to circulate as the silver runes gradually coalesced, forming a strange contract array adorned with intricate patterns and mysterious symbols.

“Come now, become my beast defender. Under the Buddha in the future, you will enjoy endless glory!”

Zhang Hong murmured to himself. From the contract array, a milky-white light emerged, heading straight into Zhang Hong’s forehead. This light outlined all the clauses in the contract like a legal agreement in the real world, demanding strict adherence once signed.

Another white light shot out towards the forehead of the lion-eagle beast, leaving a faint black mark on it.

This was the beast-mark. Once the lion-eagle beast submits, this mark would accompany it for life.

The contract obligations were laid out in both Zhang Hong’s and the lion-eagle beast’s minds. Zhang Hong was not unfamiliar with this, he chose to agree without hesitation.

On the other hand, the contract’s terms were displayed in a way that the lion-eagle beast could understand. The stringent conditions instilled a profound sense of humiliation. It knew that agreeing to the contract would save its life but its freedom would be lost forever. The lion-eagle beast struggled, resisting the white light from entering its forehead and rejecting the black mark on its forehead.

“Hurry, hurry, submit to me!” Cold sweat dripped from Zhang Hong’s forehead as he watched the struggling lion-eagle beast impatiently. After activating the Pet Contract Scroll, he needed to maintain it using his mental strength. Given the vast power gap between him and the lion-eagle beast, maintaining this contract was strenuous.

“Submit to me, and you will rank under one and above all, forever…” Zhang Hong shouted ferociously. His face twisted, veins bulged on his forehead, his expression no longer calm and peaceful.

The lion-eagle beast let out a piercing shriek, the whitelight from the formed contract finally entered its forehead. Zhang Hong’s face twisted into an ecstatic grin.

“I made it!” Zhang Hong roared.

Just then, something unexpected happened. The lion-eagle beast seemingly regained its strength, abruptly standing up and throwing Zhang Hong off its back.