IMC Chapter 57

Fu Qing, being a top-tier figure, did not take offense despite his somewhat pretentious speech. Lan Qing and Shu Bao responded amicably, “Okay, similarly not-so-ugly companion.”

Fu Qing: “…”

After forming a friendly team, the three motivated companions gathered to research the tasks. However, before Shu Bao could speak, Fu Qing took the lead. “Before we dive into the tasks, I think we need to address the issue of resource allocation. Clear property distribution will benefit efficiency and cooperation in our future actions. My suggestion is to allocate resources based on looks. What do you think?”

Lan Qing blinked. Although Fu Qing did have an impressive appearance, his fluffy teammate wasn’t bad either. Just as Lan Qing was about to agree, Shu Bao raised his paw to speak.

“I disagree. Even if you have a pair of enchanting antennae, they’re not practical and cannot be eaten. I suggest that resources discovered and contributed by all should be split equally, while those discovered and obtained individually should belong to the individual!” Shu Bao firmly opposed.

Lan Qing looked at Fu Qing’s two antennae, not understanding how they were related to enchanting people. Nevertheless, he cooperatively lifted his tail tip. “I support the latter.”

Shu Bao clapped his paws together. “Two to one, it’s settled. Next topic!”

After a few rounds of this, Fu Qing’s proposals were repeatedly voted down two to one. The normally assertive Fu Qing was quite frustrated. It seemed that the decision would continually be two to one. Moreover, no matter what Fu Qing said or if he tried to sow discord, the snake kept nodding in agreement like it had no mind of its own.

“I can offer convenient aerial transportation, so I should receive a larger share of the resources,” Fu Qing persisted in trying to secure more for himself.

Shu Bao tilted his fluffy head and responded seriously, “I can provide double the convenient aerial transportation.”

Fu Qing: ???

In the end, after a heated discussion, the allocation issue was settled according to Shu Bao’s decision. The three then moved on to the main topic and began discussing the specific tasks.

According to Shu Bao’s plan for the tasks, Lan Qing would first make the feather loss and hair growth potions. Then they would go find the Fire Phoenix, secretly give it some of the feather loss potions, and collect the feathers it sheds. Once they had enough feathers, they would use the hair growth potion.

After that, they would set off to find the Golden Snail. Since fire can overcome metal, the Fire Phoenix’s feathers might come in handy. They would then proceed according to the elemental interactions: first seeking the Qingmu Dye, then the Thick Earth Crystals, and finally the Sunken Ice Crystals.

According to the simple map Lan Qing had provided, these locations were quite far apart. Since they would be traveling by dragon, the exact length of the route was less of a concern.

After finalizing their plans, Lan Qing went into the newly opened lab behind the tavern to work on the feather loss and hair growth potions. Meanwhile, Shu Bao and Fu Qing had some free time. Fu Qing went to the Chaotic Swamp to try his luck and see if he could find some valuable magical materials.

Shu Bao stayed behind to help look after the tavern. Thus, after a snake, the tavern guests saw another collector of payments, this time a mouse.

Unlike Lan Qing, who used his tail to sweep coins into a small bag, Shu Bao would jump onto the table, open a small bag he carried on his back, and let the guests drop their coins directly into it.

Shu Bao paid close attention to the sound of the coins falling, his big eyes focused on the silver coins as they fell, counting them one by one.

Perhaps finding it amusing, the tavern guests were not impatient but instead quite cooperative.

As the temperature outside dropped, the chaotic world entered the late night. The tavern guests began to leave one by one. Soon, Shu Bao was the only one left in the tavern. He cleaned the tables with a cloth, putting all the cups and utensils into the sink.

The sink had a cleaning potion prepared by Lan Qing. After soaking the items for a while and taking them out, they were completely renewed.

After tidying up, Shu Bao dragged his small money pouch to the table and poured out the coins with a clatter. The mouse showed great patience while counting the money, even taking a clean handkerchief to wipe the dirty coins as he counted.

After sorting the copper, silver, and gold coins, Shu Bao found that the tavern’s earnings for the day were substantial: 2 gold coins, 850 silver coins, and 22,550 copper coins. The day’s earnings almost surpassed the total income Shu Bao had earned from running around for a while.

Fortunately, the money pouch was a magical item; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to hold all the coins. Shu Bao sorted the coins into the designated places as instructed by his snake teammate and prepared to find a corner on the table to rest.

Just as Shu Bao was about to fall asleep, a loud explosion suddenly came from the lab behind the tavern, accompanied by a strong flash of light. Shu Bao was instantly jolted awake, jumped off the table, and rushed to check what had happened.

Shu Bao pushed open the door and saw Lan Qing, who was covered in dirt and looking disheveled. Seeing Shu Bao enter, Lan Qing quickly adjusted his hat with his tail, making sure it was not damaged before speaking, “It’s nothing serious. Failures in potion mixing are common. Generally, even if such a potion fails, it won’t be very dangerous.”

Seeing the little black snake in front of him, Shu Bao realized that during his busy time in the tavern, his snake teammate might have had many failed attempts. This time the failure was just more severe.

The mouse touched his heart and felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps he shouldn’t have given the apothecary talent book to the snake teammate; the apothecary was not only tiring but also dangerous.

“Just wait outside for me. There’s a lounge on the second floor,” Lan Qing said, nudging Shu Bao out of the alchemy lab with his tail.

Shu Bao knew he wouldn’t be of much help staying there, so he went upstairs to the tavern’s second floor. He found the lounge, which had soft, cushy beds. The mouse immediately jumped onto the bed and nestled into the pillow, falling asleep within three seconds despite his pangs of guilt.

Since arriving on this planet, Shu Bao had not yet encountered cotton, and he had not fulfilled his dream of a soft bed. It was unexpected that he would find such comfort here.

Shu Bao guessed that the lounge was likely the original owner of the bar’s, which was why it was so comfortable.

Of course, Shu Bao felt incredibly comfortable as he slept and was reluctant to wake up.

“Shu Bao! Shu Bao!”

It sounded like his snake teammate’s voice. Shu Bao lazily cracked his eyes open a little, then quickly closed them again.

“Grasshopper! Grasshopper!” The familiar voice came again.

Shu Bao’s eyes flew open, and he jumped up, looking around, “Where’s the grasshopper?”

Lan Qing, who had already cleaned up, pointed downstairs, “I caught a few mutated grasshoppers yesterday. We can roast them to eat later. The grasshoppers are in the warehouse.”

Shu Bao’s drowsiness vanished. He quickly hopped out of bed, making his way downstairs with a brisk trot.

After a satisfying breakfast, Shu Bao lay sprawled on the table, patting his little belly. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him. He opened his eyes to see Fu Qing with a mask, standing above him. The mouse lazily waved his paw and greeted, “Good morning, not-so-ugly friend.”

Fu Qing: “…”

Once Fu Qing finished his breakfast, Lan Qing also tidied up the tavern.

Seeing this, Fu Qing curiously asked, “Have you finished making the potions?”

“Yes,” Lan Qing replied, pulling out several test tubes. “This white one is the feather loss potion. This black one is for hair growth. The others are hair-dyeing potions.”

Fu Qing: “…” The hair-dyeing potions were a bit superfluous. Just then, the mouse, who had been lying flat on the table, did a sit-up and exclaimed, “Wow! Lan Qing, you’re amazing! You made so many potions in just one night.”

Lan Qing, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched his chin with his tail. “It’s nothing. These aren’t very difficult potions. I just made a few improvements. You’re pretty impressive too, getting the tavern so clean.”

“We’re both amazing!”

“That’s right!”

Fu Qing, who was completely ignored, watched the exchange of compliments between the snake and the mouse: “…”

After the praise session ended, Lan Qing tidied up a few more items before stepping out of the tavern.

Without the lights on, the closed tavern had disappeared. When the three of them stepped outside, the tavern was nowhere to be seen. Shu Bao rubbed his eyes and even reached out to touch the spot where the tavern had been. All that remained was a patch of ordinary open ground.

Seeing this, Lan Qing explained, “This tavern is quite magical. It seems to recognize its owner and has a hiding function. If the tavern owner is away and there are no staff present, the tavern will disappear and hide. Besides me, no one else can see or touch it.”

So Lan Qing had stayed in the tavern earlier, fearing that the kind-hearted owner might return and not find the tavern.

Shu Bao nodded, thinking the tavern was very impressive and could be a great asset for focusing on developing his snake companion’s business in the future.

Not far from the tavern, a massive black shadow suddenly descended from the sky, crashing heavily to the ground.

Lan Qing was startled, quickly wrapping around Shu Bao, leaving only Shu Bao’s eyes visible.

“Don’t be afraid. This is our aerial transportation tool. Yes, I’m Fuqing, one of the people who took the dragon eggs from the Chaotic Swamp some time ago!” Fu Qing removed his mask and tilted his chin slightly. “Maybe we should reconsider the distribution issue?”

After the sudden shock, Lan Qing quickly composed himself; after all, this wasn’t his first encounter with dragons.

At that moment, two more enormous black shadows descended from the sky, whipping up a fierce wind around them. Lan Qing hurriedly used his tail to hold down his hat to prevent it from being blown away.

Two giant dragons gracefully landed, one on each side of Shu Bao.

Seeing these two dragons, Fu Qing was momentarily stunned, his expression turning to one of shock.

Shu Bao began to speak, “Don’t be afraid. This is the double the number of aerial transportation tools I mentioned. Yes, I’m Shu Bao, the person who took two dragon eggs from the Chaotic Swamp recently! There’s no need to reconsider the distribution issue.”

Lan Qing, holding down his hat, cheerfully added, “I’m Lan Qing, the friend of the person who took two dragon eggs from the Chaotic Swamp. I support Shu Bao’s proposal.”

Fu Qing: “…”

“Beautiful friend?” After a while, Fu Qing still seemed unable to believe it. A mouse equating to a beautiful friend? Shu Bao equating to a beautiful friend equating to a door-pushing mouse?

Shu Bao promptly transformed into his human form and greeted Fu Qing, “Hi, beautiful friend.”

Fu Qing was silent for a longer time this time, finally saying, “Understood, let’s divide the resources equally. Even the not-so-ugly one can participate in the sharing.” Since they were beautiful friends, it didn’t matter if they were equally attractive; dividing equally was acceptable.

Shu Bao glanced at Lan Qing and agreed with pleasure, “No problem.”

Lan Qing, confused, looked back and forth, feeling that he might have just been discriminated against.

While Fu Qing and Shu Bao were getting acquainted, the three dragon hatchlings were also busy recognizing each other. They had their own senses to accurately distinguish each other’s birthdates and soon sorted out their hierarchy.

The largest one was still Jinzi, followed by Fu Qing’s dragon, and then Yinzi.

After the three dragons had a friendly chat, they lowered their bodies slightly according to Shu Bao and Fu Qing’s request, allowing the passengers to mount.

As they were boarding the dragons, Shu Bao suddenly asked with curiosity, “What’s the name of your dragon?”

Fu Qing calmly replied, “It’s called ‘Lai Fu.’”

Shu Bao: “…” Indeed, the naming talent of the mouse seemed slightly superior. ‘Lai Fu’ didn’t quite match a dragon’s aura; it should have been something like ‘Baoshi’ or ‘Zuanshi’.

However, Shu Bao didn’t comment on the beautiful friend’s naming style because, in the moment when a strong wind blew, he noticed under the hat that Lan Qing was wearing, a half-spherical lump was exposed. That was clearly a sign of the dragon transforming!

The snake companion was growing horns! Shu Bao was thrilled, “Lan Qing, Lan Qing, you’re growing…”

Lan Qing quickly pressed down his hat, “No, no, I’m not bald and pimpled!”

Shu Bao: ???

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