The first thing Su Ye felt was the smell.
It was a thick, pungent cocktail of ammonia, rotting meat, and the metallic tang of dried blood. It was the kind of smell that didn't just sit in your nose; it coated your tongue and settled deep in your lungs.
The second thing he felt was a sharp, stinging pain in his ribs.
"Get up, you waste of rations! If you play dead again, I'll feed you to the Iron-Back Wolves!"
Su Ye gasped, his eyes snapping open. The fluorescent lights of the city zoo were gone. The comfortable break room chair was gone. Instead, he was lying face-down in dirty straw, surrounded by damp, grey stone walls that stretched high into darkness.
Memories, sharp and foreign, drove into his skull like a railroad spike.
Beicang Kingdom... The Myriad Beast Hall... Su Ye, eighteen years old... Indentured servant... Rank: Dung Scooper.
"I... transmigrated?" Su Ye muttered, clutching his throbbing head. "And I'm not a prince or a genius swordsman? I'm a glorified janitor?"
"Stop mumbling!"
A heavy boot slammed into his side again. Su Ye curled up, coughing. He looked up to see a man with a face like a compressed dough ball, wearing the grey robes of a steward. This was Steward Liu, the man in charge of the logistical operations of the Beast Hall's West Wing. In other words, the man in charge of the poop.
"The Thunderfire Lion is acting up again," Steward Liu hissed, his small eyes darting nervously toward the massive iron gates at the end of the corridor. "Master Mo is already there. He needs bait—I mean, assistants. Move!"
Su Ye struggled to his feet. His body felt weak, malnourished, and stiff. In his previous life, he was a senior zookeeper at a world-class safari park. He knew animals. He loved animals. But in this world, beasts weren't animals; they were monsters capable of swallowing a tank whole.
ROAAAAR!
A sound like a bomb detonation shook the dust from the ceiling. A wave of heat blasted down the corridor, singing the ends of Su Ye's messy hair.
"It's going to breach!" someone screamed in the distance.
Steward Liu grabbed Su Ye by the collar of his ragged hemp tunic and dragged him toward the chaos. "If that beast breaks out, the Hall Master will have our heads! Go and be useful!"
They rounded the corner into a cavernous underground arena. The sight that greeted Su Ye made his breath hitch.
In the center of the arena was a cage made of Blacksteel, inscribed with glowing blue runes. Inside the cage was a nightmare.
It was a lion, but the size of a dump truck. Its fur wasn't just gold; it was wreathed in flickering purple flames and arcs of blue lightning.
Its claws were digging furrows into the enchanted stone floor, and its eyes... its eyes were blood-red pools of pure, unadulterated madness.
Thunderfire Lion - Maturity Phase - Savage Beast 6-dan
Standing safely outside the rune barrier was a group of people dressed in pristine white robes. The leader was an old man with a long, wispy goatee that he clearly spent too much time grooming. He held a glowing whip in one hand and a jade compass in the other.
This was Master Mo, a 1-Star Beast Tamer. In the Beicang Kingdom, Beast Tamers were nobility. They controlled the monsters; they controlled the power.
"Master Mo!" Steward Liu shoved Su Ye forward, bowing so low his nose nearly touched the dirt. "I brought the filth... I mean, the labor!"
Master Mo didn't even look at Su Ye. His eyes were fixed on the thrashing lion. "Useless," he spat. "The beast's Spirit Sea is in chaos. It has clearly been poisoned by Fire Toxin. Bring the Ice-Heart Water! Pour it on the cage!"
"Yes, Master!"
Two other servants struggled forward with a heavy vat of steaming, icy blue liquid. They splashed it through the bars.
HISS!
The water hit the lion's flaming fur. Steam exploded outward.
But instead of calming down, the Thunderfire Lion stiffened. Its pupils contracted to pinpricks. It let out a sound that wasn't a roar—it was a high-pitched shriek of agony.
BANG!
The lion slammed into the bars with terrified force. The runes on the cage flickered and died. The iron bars groaned, bending outward.
"It's not working!" a disciple screamed. "Master, it's getting stronger!"
"Impossible!" Master Mo's face went pale. He cracked his whip. Snap! The whip, imbued with spiritual energy, struck the lion's nose. "Beast! Submit! I am a 1-Star Tamer! My will is law!"
The strike only fueled the fire. The lion swiped a paw, and the shockwave alone sent the vat of water flying, knocking the two servants into the wall. They slumped down, unconscious—or worse.
"It's Berserk!" Master Mo shrieked, backing away. "Everyone, retreat! Seal the blast doors! Leave the servants as distractions!"
Su Ye froze. Distractions? You mean snacks?
Steward Liu was already sprinting for the exit, his fat frame moving with surprising speed. "Su Ye! Block the door! Don't let it follow me!"
"You old turtle egg!" Su Ye cursed.
He was trapped. The heavy stone doors were beginning to grind shut, but he was on the wrong side. The lion, sensing the fear, turned its massive, burning head toward Su Ye.
It took a step forward. The ground trembled. Saliva, hissing with electricity, dripped from its jaws.
Su Ye's heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. Think. Use your zookeeper knowledge. Aggressive posture? No. Eye contact? No. Play dead? It eats dead things.
The lion lunged.
It wasn't a full attack; it was a test. A paw the size of a dinner table slammed down inches from Su Ye, crushing the stone. The impact threw Su Ye backward, and his head cracked against the metal bars of the cage.
Vision blurred. Darkness encroached.
Is this it? I crossed worlds just to be a chew toy
As his hand slipped, it brushed against the fur of the lion's paw that was pinning him down.
Zzzzt.
A static shock, unlike electricity, jolted through his fingertips and shot straight into his brain.
Suddenly, the roaring of the lion faded. The screaming of Master Mo faded. The world turned grey and silent.
And then, a voice spoke.
It wasn't a human voice. It sounded like grinding tectonic plates, deep, ancient, and incredibly arrogant.
"PATHETIC."
Su Ye blinked, looking around. "Who?"
"LOOK AT HIM," the voice boomed, echoing inside Su Ye's skull. "LOOK AT THIS DISGRACE OF A DESCENDANT. HE LOOKS LIKE A WET DOG."
Su Ye's vision cleared, but he wasn't seeing the arena anymore. In his mind's eye, overlapping with reality, he saw a ghostly figure standing over the Thunderfire Lion.
It was a lion, but... majestic. It was translucent and colossal, wearing armor made of constellations. It had three tails and eyes that looked like burning suns. It was looking down at the real Thunderfire Lion with a mixture of profound disappointment and second-hand embarrassment.
"I, the Golden-Eyed Heavenly Lion Emperor, conquered galaxies! I ate stars for breakfast! And my great-great-great-grandson is rolling around in the mud because of a STOMACH ACHE? Disgusting!"
Su Ye's jaw dropped. I'm... hallucinating? No. I'm hearing... its ancestor?
"OI! You! The two-legged monkey!"
The giant ghost lion suddenly turned its burning eyes toward Su Ye.
Su Ye pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes, you. You can hear me? Finally! I've been screaming for three hundred years!" The Ghost Lion snorted, blowing spectral smoke into Su Ye's face. "You look weak. Frail. But you have the Spirit Medium talent. Good enough. Tell that idiot in the white robe to stop throwing water! It's making the gas worse!"
"Gas?" Su Ye stammered.
"GAS! FLATULENCE! WIND!" The Ghost Lion roared. "The boy isn't Berserk! He ate a fermented Void-Root by mistake. It's blocked in his lower intestine! Every time he tries to roar, the pressure builds up and pushes against his meridians! It hurts like the Nine Hells!"
Su Ye stared at the terrifying, lightning-wreathed monster in front of him. It… it just has gas?
"He needs to release it! But these idiots keep whipping his nose, making him tense up! If he doesn't fart in the next thirty seconds, his Spirit Sea will implode and kill everyone in this room. Including you, monkey."
The connection snapped. The world rushed back in with noise and heat.
"Kill it!" Master Mo was screaming from the safety of the doorway. "Archers! Shoot it in the eyes!"
Guards were rushing in with crossbows. The Thunderfire Lion, in absolute agony from the abdominal pressure, crouched low, preparing a suicide lunge.
"STOP!"
The shout tore from Su Ye's throat before he could stop it.
The entire hall froze. Master Mo, Steward Liu (who was peeking through the crack in the door), and the guards all looked at the ragged, dirty dung scooper standing inches from the beast's claws.
"What did you say?" Master Mo's face twisted in rage. "A servant dares to command me?"
Su Ye's legs were shaking, but the Ghost Lion's voice was still ringing in his ears. Implode. Kill everyone.
"Don't shoot," Su Ye said, his voice trembling initially before he steadied it. He stood up, dusting off his filthy robes. "Master Mo, with all due respect... you are an idiot."
Gasps rang out. Steward Liu looked like he was about to stroke out. "Su Ye! You court death!"
Master Mo's eyes bulged. "You... you call me an idiot? I am a 1-Star Tamer! I studied at the Royal Academy!"
"Then the Academy failed you," Su Ye said, channeling the arrogance of the Ghost Lion he had just met. He took a step toward the lion. The guards flinched, expecting him to be eaten.
The Thunderfire Lion growled low in its throat, its red eyes locking onto Su Ye.
"Tell him to spread his back legs!" the Ghost Lion's voice boomed in Su Ye's head again. "And press the Qi-Point three inches below the floating rib! DO IT NOW!"
Su Ye swallowed hard. He looked the lion in the eye.
"You're in pain, aren't you?" Su Ye whispered.
The lion blinked. The lightning around its mane dimmed slightly. It sensed... something. Not a threat. A translator.
"I know what you ate," Su Ye said softly, walking past the deadly claws. "Fermented Void-Root. Nasty stuff. Gives you cramps that feel like knives."
The lion let out a whimper—a sound so un-lion-like that the guards lowered their crossbows in confusion.
"Su Ye! Get away from there!" Steward Liu yelled. "It will bite your head off!"
"Shut up," Su Ye snapped, not looking back.
He reached the lion's flank. The heat was intense, singing his eyebrows. The beast tensed, ready to snap his spine.
"Easy, big guy," Su Ye murmured. "Uncle Su is here to help. Just... relax the glutes."
"LOWER! YES! THERE! THE KNOT!" The Ghost Lion directed from the ether.
Su Ye saw a faint, dark patch on the lion's skin, invisible to the naked eye but glowing slightly to him now that the Ancestor pointed it out.
He didn't caress it. He didn't use gentle energy.
Su Ye made a fist, wound back, and punched the lion in the stomach as hard as he could.
THWACK!
"HE PUNCHED IT!" a guard screamed. "HE'S INSANE!"
Master Mo sneered. "He has a death wish. Watch the beast tear him apart."
The Thunderfire Lion's eyes went wide. Its body went rigid. For a second, time seemed to stop.
And then...
PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT.
A sound, profound and resonant, echoed through the stone chamber. It was long. It was loud. It had bass. It vibrated the very floorboards.
A visible cloud of green gas shot out from the lion's rear, blasting a hole in the straw bedding behind it.
The silence that followed was deafening.
The Thunderfire Lion's red eyes turned back to their natural, calm amber. The lightning stopped crackling aggressively and began to purr softly around its mane. The tension drained from its massive body, and it slumped to the floor, letting out a long, contented sigh.
It looked at Su Ye, then nudged him gently with its massive head, licking his hand with a tongue like sandpaper.
"Hah! That's better!" The Ghost Lion cheered in Su Ye's head. "Good job, monkey! My descendant is no longer constipated!"
Su Ye wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned around.
The scene behind him was a masterpiece.
Master Mo's mouth was hanging open, his beard twitching. Steward Liu had fallen on his butt. The guards were staring at the lion, then at Su Ye, as if he had just grown a second head.
"You..." Master Mo stuttered, his face flushing red. "What... what dark magic did you use? Why is the beast calm? You must have used a sedative drug!"
Su Ye patted the lion's head, scratching it right behind the ear (as instructed by the Ghost). The terrifying beast rolled over onto its back, exposing its belly like a house cat.
"No drugs," Su Ye said coolly, staring Master Mo down. "Just diagnosis."
"Diagnosis?" Master Mo sputtered. "I diagnosed Soul Deviation! Chaos of the Spirit Sea!"
"It was gas," Su Ye said flatly.
"Gas?"
"Indigestion," Su Ye clarified. "You were treating a stomach ache with ice water and whips. Imagine if you had a stomach cramp and someone dumped ice on you and hit you in the face. You'd go berserk too."
A ripple of snickers went through the guards. Master Mo's face turned purple.
"Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! A mere beast scooper dares to lecture me on Beast Taming theory?" Master Mo marched forward, raising his whip.
"Get away from the beast! I will inspect it myself! You clearly damaged its internal organs with that strike!"
He stormed toward the cage.
The Thunderfire Lion, who was enjoying Su Ye's scratching, opened one eye. It saw the man with the whip coming back.
"Tell him," the Ghost Lion's voice dropped to a dangerous, icy growl in Su Ye's mind, "That if he takes one more step, I will instruct my grandson to bite his left testicle off."
Su Ye smiled. It was a genuine, dangerous smile.
"Master Mo," Su Ye said politely. "The beast says it finds your face offensive. If you come closer, it will bite... well, let's just say you won't be having children."
"You...!" Master Mo froze. He looked at the lion. The lion bared its teeth—just a flash of ivory daggers—and let out a low, warning rumble.
Master Mo halted. His instincts as a tamer, however dull, told him the threat was real.
"Fine!" Master Mo whipped his sleeve, turning around to save face. "The beast is temporarily exhausted. That is all! Steward Liu, lock this servant up! He violated safety protocols and endangered the Hall! I will decide his punishment after I report to the Elders!"
"Wait," Su Ye said.
He didn't shout, but the authority in his voice—borrowed from a galaxy-conquering lion god—made everyone stop.
"I just saved the Hall's most valuable asset," Su Ye said, leaning against the massive lion like it was a recliner. "If the Hall Master finds out that you almost caused a Tier-6 Beast to explode because you couldn't tell the difference between a Soul Deviation and a fart... who do you think will be punished?"
Master Mo froze.
His back went stiff.
He slowly turned around. The contempt in his eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating fear. He realized that the servant was right. If the true nature of the incident got out—that he, a Master, was outshined by a dung scooper—his reputation would be ruined.
"What do you want?" Master Mo hissed, his voice low so the guards wouldn't hear.
Su Ye smirked. He patted his empty stomach.
"Well, for starters," Su Ye said, "I'm starving. And this lion... he tells me he hates the dry pellets you feed him. We'd both like some roast chicken. And maybe a promotion. Dung scooping is bad for my back."
"And tell him I want a gold statue!" The Ghost Lion added. "A big one! Right in the lobby!"
Let's not push our luck, Su Ye thought at the ghost.
"Just the chicken for now," Su Ye said aloud.
Master Mo grit his teeth so hard they audibly cracked. He glared at Su Ye with pure venom. "Fine. Liu, take him to the Servant Quarters. Feed him. We will... discuss his placement tomorrow."
As the antagonist stormed off, humiliated and plotting revenge, Su Ye slid down the side of the lion, his adrenaline finally crashing.
He looked at his shaking hands. He looked at the giant monster that was now nudging his pocket looking for treats.
He had survived.
"Not bad, monkey," the Ghost Lion's voice yawned in his head. "You have guts. But don't get cocky. My grandson is the weakest thing in this Hall. Wait until you meet the Old Turtle in the East Wing. That guy is a chatterbox."
Su Ye closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
"Greatness," the Lion Emperor replied. "Now, scratch behind the left ear again. Harder."
Su Ye sighed, reached up, and scratched.
"Yes, your Majesty."