The three-month internship period passed in the blink of an eye.
At the Ice Plains City Pet Beast Breeding Base, in the intern dormitory building, the vast majority of interns were packing their belongings.
This period of internship had brought these interns a lot of gains, but now it was time to leave, and many felt more anticipation than reluctance.
Like Shi Yu, he was quite looking forward to it, because after the internship and obtaining the certificate, he would finally be able to develop freely!
During the internship, Shi Yu was one of the more diligent and hardworking employees, completing his work very well.
While other interns would entertain themselves by playing cards in groups during their free time, Shi Yu was different.
He temporarily assumed the introverted personality of his predecessor, rarely interacting with others.
Of course, Shi Yu wasn't stifled by this; he was lazy about interacting with his fellow interns because he had more important things to do.
Compared to interacting with people, he preferred to chat and bond with pet beasts.
This not only helped him hone his telepathic talent but also provided opportunities to secretly learn skills!
If it weren't for the skill codex having a limit on the number of skills it could store, he felt he could have replicated dozens of skills by now.
Shi Yu found that using telepathy in conjunction with the skill codex was even more effective.
In the future, if he encountered a powerful extraordinary creature, using telepathy to form a bond and the skill codex to exploit it seemed like a good combination...
Well... in any case, he didn't waste these three months.
After smoothly obtaining his internship certificate, Shi Yu left happily.
Although he no longer had a convenient place to replicate skills, he was still quite excited because he could finally go and personally contract a pet beast and use the skill codex.
The more he understood this world, the more he realized that not becoming a Beast Master here had no future.
For the sake of his future living standards, he set a small goal: to become a professional Beast Master within a year.
...
The morning sun shone through the thin clouds onto Shi Yu.
After leaving the Ice Plains City Pet Beast Breeding Base, Shi Yu, with his backpack, took one last look back.
In theory, this place also sold pet beast cubs, and there were many varieties...
However, Shi Yu, who had interned here, knew that the pet beast cubs here were too expensive...
Of course, this wasn't the fault of the pet beast base; it was his problem.
So, the suburban hometown was better.
Although there were fewer pet beast varieties, at least there were discounts for locals.
The city where Shi Yu was now, Ice Plains City, was a second-tier city.
There were over 100 second-tier cities in the country.
Ice Plains City was relatively developed; after all, the only cities that could surpass it in terms of urban construction were the nine first-tier cities.
Everywhere was the same; the more developed the place, the higher the cost of living, so Shi Yu could only go to a less developed area for now.
His hometown was a suburb of Ice Plains City, called Pingcheng District.
Although it was a suburb, it had been rebuilt, and the Beast Master industry was still relatively developed.
Additionally, to support the local Beast Master industry, locals received discounts for registering as Beast Masters and purchasing pet beasts. His predecessor had taken advantage of a promotion to pay the deposit for an iron-eating beast cub.
Now, that batch of iron-eating beast cubs should be ready for collection.
After the internship ended, he returned to school to complete the necessary procedures and obtained all his certificates, then returned to Pingcheng District.
Ten years ago, Pingcheng was hit by a beast tide, destroying many families, including Shi Yu's.
However, after so many years, the area had restored its former order.
In the past decade, Pingcheng, which previously had no defense facilities, had built high walls and established a branch of the Beast Master Association and a Beast Master Corps.
At this time, although Pingcheng wasn't as bustling as a big city, it wasn't particularly backward. At least the transportation and communication were decent, and it was only the entertainment industry that lagged behind.
In the city center of Ice Plains City, there were often various Beast Master competitions.
But in Pingcheng, such events were relatively rare.
Finally returning to Pingcheng, Shi Yu's first goal wasn't to go home.
His destination was clear: one of the three major breeding bases in Pingcheng, the Iron Bamboo Breeding Base.
He had completed all the necessary procedures before returning, so he could immediately obtain his pet beast.
He couldn't wait any longer.
In Pingcheng District, there were three pet beast breeding bases.
All three were jointly operated by individuals and the government, with very few pet beast varieties. The highest level of pet beast was only medium-grade extraordinary, far inferior to the official pet beast breeding base in Ice Plains City.
The Iron Bamboo Breeding Base, where Shi Yu was heading, was a family-operated breeding base.
Located in the dense iron bamboo forest on the back mountain of Pingcheng District, the base housed about 800 iron-eating beasts.
Iron-eating beasts were a specialty of Pingcheng District and the country. Nationwide, there might be no more than 5,000 iron-eating beasts.
Other countries didn't have them at all.
It's worth noting that this world was different from Earth, as most areas were occupied by extraordinary creatures, and there were only seven countries in the world.
The country where Shi Yu was currently located was called the Eastern Glorious Ancient Country by other countries, one of the oldest countries, abbreviated as Donghuang.
Before long, Shi Yu took a bus to the back mountain of Pingcheng District and planned to climb the mountain.
A flat path had been built in the mountain, and it also served as a tourist attraction at fixed times.
However, it didn't seem to be an open day, and the surroundings were deserted.
After a few steps, Shi Yu arrived at the guardhouse of the Iron Bamboo Breeding Base, the only access point, surrounded by a fence. He glanced at the nearby pavilion and walked over.
At the window of the pavilion, an old man with a sparse head of hair and wearing a blue coat was reading a newspaper. Upon noticing someone approaching, he pushed up his reading glasses, trying hard to see who it was.
Shi Yu: "..."
So, this guard is serious?
Forget it, don't judge a book by its cover...
Maybe someone who looks unreliable can summon a giant dragon with a snap of their fingers.
"Hello, I previously reserved an iron-eating beast cub here and plan to complete the collection procedures soon. I came today to take a look first."
Shi Yu spoke loudly, fearing that the old man might not hear him.
"Oh." The old man, although looking disheveled, was not confused.
Upon hearing Shi Yu, he immediately understood.
"Wait a moment, I'll notify the breeder to come over." The old man replied and dialed the landline on the table.
After explaining the situation over the phone, Shi Yu began to wait.
He didn't have to wait long. A figure nearly two meters tall, with a black and white appearance, a plump and round body, and a short head and tail, walked out from the breeding area.
Shi Yu watched this waddling figure and fell into deep thought.
Then, this figure, which looked like a standing panda, opened the gate from the inside and approached Shi Yu.
It pointed to a badge on its chest.
It read: "Staff."
"Hello." It/He/She rubbed its bear paws and spoke in a low, gender-neutral voice.
Shi Yu: "???"
Can't you send a normal employee?
"You don't have to be surprised; this is just a life-sized iron-eating beast costume." The staff member explained.
It's because you're wearing a costume that I'm surprised. Who wears a costume in hot weather?
"I am the staff here, Lin Xiuzhu."
"I am Shi Yu." Shi Yu said, "But won't you be hot in this outfit?"
"There's no choice; it's all to better understand the feelings of the iron-eating beasts." Lin Xiuzhu said, "To raise them well, you must fully understand them."
"It's the most basic skill for a breeder."
Shi Yu: "That makes sense."
Sure, sure, whatever you say.
As long as you're happy.
"I remember from the records that Mr. Shi Yu, you are also a graduate of the breeding program, no wonder you can understand me."
There shouldn't be many people reserving iron-eating beasts recently, yet the staff member knew Shi Yu's information just from his name.
"Yes, but I'm still a beginner, far from the level of Senior Lin."
Although the name was masculine, Shi Yu could tell the voice was female and deduced that she was also a graduate of the breeding program.
This "Senior" title immediately brought them closer, hoping for a discount later.
Lin Xiuzhu: "You flatter me. Anyone can try this method. After you collect your pet beast, I can offer you two sets of costumes at a discount."
Shi Yu: "???"
It's a discount, but not a complete one.
Are you a business genius?
I don't want it!
Shi Yu didn't say it out loud, planning to refuse after picking his pet beast...
Bundling food sales is one thing, but selling costumes as well?
Next, the staff member, Lin Xiuzhu, led Shi Yu into the nearby pavilion.
She began to take off the costume.
At this moment, Shi Yu saw what the person under the costume looked like.
Under the costume was a woman in her mid-twenties.
She had a delicate face, a tall and slender figure, and a head of beautiful black hair, which was a bit messy from the costume.
However, she didn't seem to care, with a very casual expression.
Shi Yu really wanted to ask, how much do you love pandas?
Because the clothes under her costume were also iron-eating beast themed.
It was a pair of white shorts with black spots, a black and white hoodie that was slightly puffed up, and a cap with panda ears.
Are you going to sell me a set of these clothes too?
"Let's register first. By the way, do you have all the necessary documents?" She took a deep breath and asked Shi Yu.
The procedures for purchasing and collecting a pet beast from the breeding base were quite complicated.
Especially for someone like Shi Yu, who needed a loan to buy a pet beast.
The breeding base needed all the necessary certification materials.
This process would take a while.
Fortunately, Shi Yu had already obtained all the certificates in Ice Plains City, so his documents should be complete.
"I have them all."
Next, with Lin Xiuzhu's help, Shi Yu registered and verified the relevant documents one by one.
After verification, Lin Xiuzhu nodded and said, "You should be able to collect your pet beast today."
"Today?"
"Can I go and choose one now?" Shi Yu was surprised.
The deposit he had paid earlier did not specify a particular individual.
So, the specific iron-eating beast cub had to be chosen by the Beast Master, and the mutual connection was important.
Lin Xiuzhu shook her head, "If you had come earlier, you might have had a choice."
"The current situation is that only one iron-eating beast cub from this batch remains."
"Moreover, this one has some issues with its constitution and personality..."
"..." Shi Yu was taken aback. What's going on? Is this plot twist... Am I the one who's the fool?