Chapter 13: Chapter 13 Neko Maid Cafe_1
"So, between the Grass Attribute Fruit and the Wind Attribute Fruit, which one is more valuable?"
After confirming Mr. Husky's attribute, Lu Ran asked again.
"Hm?"
The Little White Dragon hadn't expected Lu Ran to suddenly ask this question.
"Although the Wind Attribute is also good, the Grass Type has more functionality. Apart from combat, there are many auxiliary effects. Moreover, most flying beasts are of the Wind Attribute, but Grass Attribute Pet Beasts are relatively rare, so the market price for Grass Attribute Fruits is more expensive," he said.
"Why are you asking about this?"
Lu Ran said, "My beginner's reward includes a Grass Attribute Fruit. Although Attribute Fruits are scarce now, I should be able to exchange it for a Wind Attribute Fruit, right? Can you tell me where is best to make the exchange?"
"Should be no problem..." The Little White Dragon nodded, but the next instant, his pupils shrank.
Sister Hua beside him also had her pupils shrink in surprise as they both looked at Lu Ran in astonishment.
"What? What did you say? Your Novice Secret Realm completion reward included a Grass Attribute Fruit?" The Little White Dragon exclaimed.
"Correct." Lu Ran, having chatted with the Little White Dragon and learned that advanced resources were only rare for the newcomers and not so much in Infinite City, casually took it out and asked without feeling much pressure.
Among his three completion rewards, the Beast Training Technique should be the most valuable.
"You reached a D rating?" the Little White Dragon continued asking.
As soon as he finished, the gazes of the wild boar youth and others fell on Lu Ran.
It came as a surprise how he achieved a D rating with just a Husky.
"E and F ratings don't come with a resources reward, just the basic crystal coins. It's not until a D rating that you get rewarded with advanced resources," Creative Writer commented.
"You actually reached a D rating... and had such luck to get a Grass Attribute Fruit." The Little White Dragon had not anticipated that he had misjudged the situation.
Quickly, a smile appeared on his face, and suddenly he lost his appetite for the meal, grabbing Lu Ran and saying, "Come with me."
"I know a place where you're definitely going to find a Wind Attribute Fruit."
"Uh..." Seeing the Little White Dragon's enthusiasm double, Lu Ran was reluctantly dragged away by him.
Before leaving, with a thought, the troubled Mr. Husky turned into a flash of white light and was recalled back into the Contract Card.
"Sister Hua, I've got something to take care of, I'll be taking off first."
Excited, the Little White Dragon didn't forget to bid his colleague farewell.
Seeing this, Creative Writer adjusted his glasses and watched Lu Ran and company leave, smirking and saying, "Look how happy the kid is."
"Sister Hua, is the Grass Attribute Fruit very rare?" the wild boar youth asked.
"It's one of the rarer high-level resources. The chance of getting a Grass Attribute Fruit with a D rating is not high. His rating might have even reached C," she responded.
"C rating? That's the same as me," the wild boar youth was surprised.
He was at a C rating himself and knew how difficult it was to achieve that rating in the Novice Secret Realm, encountering several dangerous situations many times.
To think, his Pet Beast was a boar that had mutated into an extraordinary wild boar after the contract!
In the natural world, boars are also incredibly tough to handle, nowhere near comparable to Huskies.
"I'm also curious how he managed to achieve a rating above D with just a Husky..." Sister Hua mused. "Perhaps they are very talented. I forgot to tell you, some seemingly weak animals, like chickens, ducks, or insects, can sometimes become an extraordinary race as soon as they bond with a Beast Trainer if their compatibility is exceptional. Situations like this are rare and sought after. Maybe he's just such a case..."
"Some people are born to be Beast Trainers."
"Regardless, that 'Passerby A' is quite impressive. If you run into him again, you should try to have a deep conversation and make friends. After all, there are many Secret Realms that one person can't conquer alone. Having a powerful partner can make things much easier."
"Hahaha, that's really impressive..." The boar-rearing youth scratched his head, noting down Lu Ran and Mr. Husky, a bit envious. He was looking forward to seeking advice and getting to know them in the future.
...
The Little White Dragon sped off with Lu Ran in tow.
Along the way, the Little White Dragon even rented a shared motorcycle with a swipe of a card, taking Lu Ran towards the central district.
"Where are you taking me—" Lu Ran couldn't help asking under his helmet.
"You won't find a Wind Attribute Fruit just by going to various shops now, but the place I'm taking you, there'll definitely be no problem," the Little White Dragon replied.
Beep beep beep——————
As the motorcycle raced forward, Lu Ran saw many people along the way, though there was no interaction between them.
Eventually, the Little White Dragon stopped in front of a shop with a "second-generation" decor.
When the bike halted, Lu Ran turned his head to look at the cutesy shop name and fell into thought, his mouth twitching.
It read imposingly: Neko Maid Cafe!
"This is where you're bringing me??" Lu Ran asked, glancing at the Little White Dragon who licked his lips eagerly with suspicion.
"Yes, the Neko Maid Cafe. It's an information hub established by a very powerful Second Generation Beast Trainer. They have many branches in all the major Infinite Cities. It seems like a cafe, but it's actually a central hub for information. If you want to know anything in the future, coming here is definitely the right move."
"Instead of aimlessly going from shop to shop looking for Wind Attribute Fruit, just commissioning here can be much more efficient."
"Welcome!" While the Little White Dragon and Lu Ran were talking, the door to the cafe opened, and a woman dressed in black and white maid attire with cat ear and tail accessories stepped out. At her feet, there was also a very cute pet beast that looked like a stuffed toy cat complete with a bowtie.
"Ah, it's Mr. Little White Dragon." The cat ear maid saw Wave's Little White Dragon and immediately greeted him with a beaming smile.
"Hehe, Xiao Ling." Little White Dragon chuckled, dressed in a suit; he looked exceedingly like a cultured brute: "Brought a newbie to have a look around."
At that moment, Lu Ran was utterly at a loss for words. He saw Little White Dragon's barely concealed grin and couldn't help but criticize internally.
Initially, he had thought Little White Dragon was a diligent office worker, but unexpectedly, he was also a clandestine lecher.
It made sense, after all, who would choose the name 'Wave's Little White Dragon' if they were proper?
Men, huh.
Given his familiarity, he must have frequented this kind of place often.
Lu Ran was skeptical about whether this place was indeed an intelligence agency.
"A newbie? Welcome, welcome." The cat ear maid gave Lu Ran a warm smile.
"Hello." Lu Ran took off his helmet and greeted.
"Let me introduce you, Windy Feather, also became a Beast Trainer about a month ago. In general, we can all be considered fourth generation Beast Trainers; however, we started almost a month before you. She's currently working here. If you ever want to acquire special information in the future, you can come here to purchase it. Don't underestimate this coffee shop; it's currently the second-largest intelligence agency in Xia Country, second only to official ones."
"Xiao Ling, this is the newbie who passed the trial today, his beginner reward included a Grass Attribute fruit. However, his Pet Beast is of the Wind Attribute, and he would like to exchange for a Wind Attribute Fruit, is that possible?"
The cat ear maid named Xiao Ling brightened up at the news and glanced towards Lu Ran, saying, "It's not easy to find a Wind Attribute Fruit elsewhere now, but you've come to the right place."
"Please come in first."
The maid coffee shop's interior decor had a classical style, with bookshelves filling the room on all sides.
Rather than a coffee shop, it felt more like a cat house; besides Xiao Ling's pet cat, there were several other Pet Beasts of different races sprawled all over the place.
The most eye-catching was what seemed to be a statue being worshipped at the center of the shop.
That statue was also of a cat, but compared to those pet cats, it looked much nobler, with jewel-like pupils observing everything around it.
"It's quite late already, the shop is empty. You can sit anywhere you like." After bringing Lu Ran and his party in, Xiao Ling brought out a menu and handed it to Lu Ran with a smile: "What would you like to drink?"
Lu Ran thanked her again and looked over the menu.
When he saw the prices of the coffees that cost more than entering a Secret Realm, his fingers twitched involuntarily, not wanting to waste money right away and looked up, saying, "No, thanks."
"Don't just look at the high prices, the ingredients for the drinks here all come from Secret Realms, and they all come with bonus effects after consumption; the high price is reasonable." Next to them, Little White Dragon explained with a chuckle, as if he had noticed Lu Ran's concern.
"Let's talk business first." Lu Ran said, not knowing much about prices and not in the mood for drinks.
At that time, Windy Feather had already pulled out a tablet-like device and stood beside Lu Ran.
"Wind Attribute Fruit, right? And you'd prefer to exchange items for it." She was apparently using the tablet to look up the information Lu Ran needed.
"Got it."
"We have information on three Wind Attribute Fruits."
"The cheapest and most suitable information for you costs 50 crystal coins."
"That cheap?" Lu Ran was surprised.
After all, his beginner completion reward had been 10,000 crystal coins.
And 50 crystal coins were even cheaper than the small change spent on coffees and milk teas.
"Typically, if the information is cheap, it means it's not too hard to come by and there is a high likelihood of acquiring it through other sources as well. Do you want to consider it?" Windy Feather asked.
"I do." Lu Ran responded; 50 crystal coins were nothing for the sake of convenience.
Windy Feather smiled slightly and said, "There's a place to swipe your card on the table, just place your hand on it."
Lu Ran looked at the sensor screen on the table.
He stretched out his hand and placed his palm on it.
The next moment, a voice popped into his mind, and a string of text appeared before his eyes.
[Neko Maid Cafe requests the deduction of 50 crystal coins, do you agree?]
"Agree." Lu Ran said.
The next moment, cat ear maid Xiao Ling tapped on the tablet and said, "Alright, the information is now unlocked. It has been sent to your communication mailbox as an email."
The identity card's communication functions allowed emailing, calling, and video chatting.
Lu Ran started checking his mailbox and immediately saw an email from the Neko Maid Cafe.
[The Beast Trainer Guild 'Medicine Pavilion' located in Infinite City No. 6 is acquiring Grass Attribute Fruits indefinitely, supports crystal coin transactions and item exchanges. Currently, on their public resource exchange list, there is a Wind Attribute Fruit.]
"Infinite City No. 6? Medicine Pavilion Guild?" After receiving the information, Lu Ran did not keep it to himself and immediately read it out loud.
Obviously, he still needed an explanation for this piece of information.
"Hmm..." The cat ear maid pondered for a moment and said, "We are in Infinite City No. 3, Infinite City No. 6 is located in the southwestern region. You have to use the Teleportation Array or physically reach the corresponding area in reality to enter. As for Medicine Pavilion, it's a Beast Trainer Guild."
"Beast Trainer Guilds are groups of Beast Trainers, originally established to conquer Abyss Difficulty Secret Realms together. Most are created by non-official Beast Trainers. I've heard of Medicine Pavilion; it's a guild founded by a second-generation Beast Trainer, containing many supportive and healing Beast Trainers. There are many life-skilled Beast Trainers who specialize in making medicine within it, making it a semi-commercial guild-like pharmaceutical company. So the information you received is that they have Wind Attribute Fruits and need Grass Attribute Fruits, right?"
"Right." Lu Ran nodded and said, "So, it seems I still need to go to Infinite City No. 6 to make the exchange?"
"No, your Grass Attribute Fruit is actually more valuable than the Wind Attribute Fruit. Since you're a new customer at the Neko Maid Cafe, I'll give you a little benefit: I'll contact the Medicine Pavilion's personnel for you. They will come over with the Wind Attribute Fruit to exchange with you. Since the Grass Attribute Fruit is more valuable, I will also try to get you some extra resources as much as possible." Windy Feather said, "Just remember to give me a five-star rating, okay~"