World-saving Plan: The Only Savior

Zhang Xiaoman's first thought was to open a pet hospital, but after thinking it over, he realized that the idea was not feasible.

Although his current ability was well-suited for pet care, it was rather unrealistic for someone completely inexperienced like Zhang Xiaoman to enter the industry.

Firstly, he lacked veterinary skills and could not treat animals even if he could understand the voices of cats and dogs. Secondly, opening a pet hospital required a substantial initial investment, and the return on investment was slow.

Not to mention the rent for the shop, which could amount to hundreds of thousands; just the prolonged decoration and cost recovery... by the time he could make money from it, he would probably have already ascended to the heavens or burrowed into the earth through the System.

By then, who would need the meager income from a pet hospital? Besides, he did not envision spending his days in a clinic treating pets—he felt he was not destined to be a protagonist of a daily life genre.

Moreover, Zhang Xiaoman found out that his ability seemingly allowed him to grasp what animals wanted to express, yet he could not understand what they were actually saying.

This statement might seem contradictory, but it was actually easy to understand.

Animals, in fact, have no language; their cries can only express their emotions and cannot convey specific meanings like humans.

Add to that their limited intelligence; when they try to express themselves, it is mostly from their own perspective, which means the things they can convey are often very simple and vague, and sometimes even incomprehensible.

For example, his own dog's nickname for Xiao Hua was "Fur Ball," and another time, Zhang Xiaoman heard a street dog referring to a sedan as a "monster" while he was setting up his stall; these interpretations stem from their viewpoints and cognitive abilities.

So although Zhang Xiaoman's ability might seem extraordinary at first glance, as it stands, its practicality on animals was not as significant as imagined, let alone using it to rapidly accumulate funds.

Thinking this, Zhang Xiaoman couldn't help but look up at the yellow street dog lying across the road dozing off; it was this fellow who had suddenly yelled, "Monster! Monster!" scaring Zhang Xiaoman, who was engrossed in making sushi, nearly causing him to hastily teleport back home.

"I really hope to draw a piece of gold next time."

Zhang Xiaoman gave a wry smile and shook his head. Having owned the System for quite some days, he had drawn several Extraordinary Items and Abilities, yet he still hadn't found a way to significantly improve the quality of his life.

"Should I find a wealthy individual and tell him that there really are monsters in this world, then sell him a bottle of Holy Water for eighty to a hundred thousand?" Zhang Xiaoman pondered the feasibility of this idea.

"Hmm, that would probably end badly…"

...

In the afternoon, a few clouds drifted over, shading the skies above the old district and offering the busy people below a rare cool respite from the summer day.

Zhang Xiaoman was also in a very cheerful mood, perhaps due to it being the weekend, as his sales today were much higher than usual.

Looking at the new hundreds of dollars in his wallet, Zhang Xiaoman felt a pleasant surge of joy.

Although these funds had not yet had the costs deducted, the sense of earning money by working for himself was highly motivating.

Checking the time, it was nearly evening; some shift workers or those on duty would also be getting off work soon, and Zhang Xiaoman felt his achievements for the day could still increase significantly.

"Soul Absorption Technique!"

Zhang Xiaoman silently activated the skill, targeting a small tree not far behind him.

"Still no reaction…" Feeling no feedback, he shook his head in disappointment.

Over the past few days, during his free time, Zhang Xiaoman had been trying this sole active Skill he mastered on his surrounding environment.

Although he had never successfully activated it, he continued his attempts with a mentality of "there's no cost, so why not use it."

During this period, he even remembered to try using the Skill at the jade and antique markets as he had read in novels, to see if it would work there.

But what made him immensely frustrated was that there were simply no such legendary places in Qionghua City, a third-tier city.

Until now, Zhang Xiaoman had not used it on anyone else, the most he had ever done was to unleash the skill on a mouse that happened to pass by. Unfortunately, for these living creatures, Zhang Xiaoman still felt no response whatsoever.

The skill entered its cooling time, and Zhang Xiaoman sighed in dismay, originally thinking he had drawn a powerful active skill, only to find it was a useless chicken rib.

"A monster! There's a monster!"

Across the street, the yell of a yellow earth dog rang out again.

Zhang Xiaoman continued playing with his phone nonchalantly, already too lazy to look up again.

Needless to say, it must have been another car passing by; he had heard that silly dog across yell "monster" a dozen times that afternoon.

"Master!? Master!?" suddenly, a voice called out.

Zhang Xiaoman looked up upon hearing it and was startled.

At the side of his small stall stood three men in black suits, with a luxury car parked beside them. Zhang Xiaoman couldn't make out the specific model, only recognizing it as a Bentley.

"What is this, a scene from 'Black Empire'?"

"Master, we finally found you! Our boss has specifically asked for you to come to Su Zhuang to help with a ritual, please come with us!" said the lead man in the black suit.

Zhang Xiaoman was completely baffled. Why are you also calling me master? Why has everyone been calling me 'Master' these past few days!

Also, what's this about a ritual? The more I hear, the more confused I am!

Seeing his confused expression, the man in the black suit said anxiously, "Master, don't just stand there, hurry up and get in the car with us. Are you really going to pass up business that comes knocking at your door?"

"No, no, hold on a second, what exactly are you here for? For sushi? I know my sushi is delicious, but you don't need to come to the door for freshly made sushi, right? And you want it French-style too; I've only heard of Japanese-style sushi, but I definitely don't know how to make French-style sushi!"

Zhang Xiaoman thought these people were utterly bizarre.

The man in the black suit looked at him with an expression that said, "What kind of bird language are you speaking?" Then, pointing at the side of the small car, he asked, "Aren't you the half-immortal Master Pei?"

Zhang Xiaoman walked over to take a look and finally slapped his forehead, understanding why these past few days everyone had been calling him master.

It turned out that on the side of his food cart, because there was no money for new signage, he still had the old sign that Master Liu previously used, which really read in bold characters:

"Half-immortal Pei – Fortune Telling!"

Beneath it was a line in smaller print:

"Eight Diagrams Divination, Feng Shui Inspection, Exorcism, 20% off for members."

At the very bottom was an even smaller line of print:

"Homework completion for grades five and below, mobile phone credit top-ups, naming and renaming, fake documents, fixing faucets, unclogging drains, tire repairs, locksmith services, nail fungus treatment, cat washing, dog washing, wall painting, rat poisoning, regular watering of plants, weeding, babysitting…"

Zhang Xiaoman's eyes twitched continuously as he read this.

"I didn't expect Master Liu to be quite the jack-of-all-trades…"