"Barely, I suppose..."
Chen Shu chuckled, a hint of reunion's joy in his eyes.
Just then, the door to Chen Shu's house was opened.
Their playful scuffle alerted his parents in the living room.
"Son! You're back?!"
His father, Chen Ping, was visibly moved, his eyes filled with relief and a great weight lifted.
His mother stepped forward and pulled Chen Shu into a hug, a few tears welling up in her eyes.
The others regarded Chen Shu with immense admiration, seeing him as a hero who had shouldered the burden.
But his mother's heart held only worry, wishing only for her son's safety.
Even his father, Chen Ping, felt a flicker of doubt. Though he hoped his son would bear responsibility, his own heart had been clenched tight when danger loomed.
"Mom... it's okay... Sister Fang Si is watching..."
Chen Shu was touched, but seeing Fang Si nearby, he wanted to maintain a bit of his fearsome bandit demeanor.
"Little Fang Si is here too. Come in, everyone."
His parents finally noticed Fang Si, inviting her warmly into their home.
His mother released Chen Shu, tidied his clothes, and said,
"Your Sister Fang Si was terribly worried during this time. She even went out to sea several times to find you and bring you back."
"Auntie..."
Fang Si tried to interrupt, her usually bold nature touched with a hint of shyness.
Chen Shu was also taken aback. He hadn't expected Fang Si to brave the beasts' stronghold to search for him, a near-death endeavor!
"Sister Fang Si... you really didn't have to do this for me..."
Chen Shu sighed, looking directly at Fang Si.
Fang Si was slightly stunned, then said firmly, "I felt it was necessary!"
"No, I mean..."
Chen Shu scratched his head and said, "If you get into trouble later, I'll have to find a way to save you..."
"???"
Fang Si's expression faltered, and she shot him a glare before sitting on the sofa.
"Sister Fang Si, what's wrong..."
Chen Shu leaned in and said, "Isn't it better for us to do things within our capabilities?"
"I... I want to hit you!"
Fang Si pursed her lips, gritting her teeth.
She had expected Chen Shu to be moved to tears, but she had misjudged the Southern River Bandit.
"Sis, can we be more rational from now on?"
Chen Shu continued to drone on, trying to brainwash Fang Si.
In truth, he was deeply moved but didn't want his loved ones to take risks.
Especially those with weaker strength; rationally speaking, it would only be counterproductive.
As evening fell,
After Chen Shu's afternoon of brainwashing, Fang Si's soul had been touched, and she went home to ponder his words...
In reality, Fang Si was usually quite rational, unlike other young girls who acted impulsively.
However, when it involved Chen Shu or Zhang Dali, she always wanted to step forward, perhaps due to lifelong habits...
"Let's sort out my gains..."
Chen Shu returned to his room to review the escort mission.
The most important reward was undoubtedly the illustrated guide to magical potions.
While it didn't offer immediate combat power, its potential was immense, even helping him at the legendary tier.
Next were the rewards from the two legendary beast tamers:
Old Qiao's bloodline bead and the elder's drop of blood.
As for Old Qiao's [Domain of Small Space], it had already been consumed by the Space Rabbit.
Besides these, there were the system's rewards:
A large amount of beast-taming power, a random skill upgrade, a 30% boost to the Explosive Potion effect, and the unlocking of the Berserk Potion recipe.
But the most crucial was the 'Skill Cooldown' that the system rewarded the Sprite with for Chen Shu poisoning Shark Emperor!
[Skill Cooldown (Non-upgradable): Reduces the cooldown time of all skills for contracted spirits of the same level by 15%.]
The skill's description was simple, but its effect was significant.
For Erha, at least, it was a substantial improvement.
The only pity was that its effect was a fixed value, with no skill levels and unaffected by the Sprite's attributes.
"So now I can achieve infinite cloning..."
Chen Shu murmured. Erha's own skill cooldown was already short, and with the Sprite's assistance, the duration and cooldown of [Clone] could be made equal.
This meant Erha could maintain its peak combat power at all times, unless a clone was prematurely defeated.
"And two more treasures..."
Chen Shu looked at the bloodline bead and the ancient blood in the bottle, his eyes filled with thought.
He currently had four contracted spirits and needed to consider who would use them.
He ruled out the Slime first...
As it had already consumed a bloodline bead, and its potential rating was S+, its base attributes were already quite good.
He had to be fair to all!
"The Space Rabbit is S-class, and Erha is the main damage dealer. It's best for them to consume these..."
Chen Shu pondered, but he also worried about the Sprite throwing a tantrum.
While other contracted spirits would obediently follow their master's orders,
The Sprite, being an extraterrestrial bully, might act out if displeased, even going so far as to buff enemies...
"I need to give it some consolation rewards too!"
Chen Shu's eyes glinted, an idea forming in his mind.
As night fell,
Three iron basins were inverted on the table before Chen Shu.
With a thought, he summoned Erha, the Space Rabbit, and the Sprite.
"Little Chen, what are you doing? You actually forcibly recalled me again!"
The Sprite, hands on its hips, questioned Chen Shu.
When Chen Shu had fallen into a deep sleep and lost consciousness, his contracted spirits naturally returned to their own dimension.
"Special circumstances..."
Chen Shu smiled and said, "You all worked hard during this mission. Here are special rewards for you!"
"Three iron basins. You each get to choose one!"
"I'll choose first!"
The Sprite's eyes instantly lit up, and it approached the three basins.
It took out a cigar, took a couple of puffs, and twitched its nose, a sly glint in its eyes.
"I'll take this one!"
It licked its lips, drool even trickling down, and said,
"Little Chen, you're too naive. Can you hide anything from my nose?"
Chen Shu's expression was neutral. "What about you two?"
The Space Rabbit casually sat on one of the basins, signaling it had made its choice.
"Awooo!"
Erha charged forward and began gnawing on another basin, appearing extremely excited, clearly mistaking it for a reward...
"..."
Chen Shu rubbed his forehead. Such a purebred Erha...
He sighed and said, "Alright, you can open them!"
*Clang!*
The Sprite directly swung a spiked club, sending the basin flying. Inside was a bowl of fragrant thick soup!
"As expected of me!"
The Sprite giggled, burying its entire head in the soup and finishing it in a flash.
"Burp~~"
It patted its belly and said, "This was cooked by Big Zhang, right? And with King-tier ingredients, it's so satisfying!"
But just then, its gaze flickered, and its smile froze!
The Space Rabbit had opened its bottle, and the aura of the ancient blood instantly spread, making the Sprite's soul tingle with excitement.
Simultaneously, Erha also opened its bottle, revealing the bloodline bead, which held a fatal attraction for contracted spirits!
To prevent the Sprite from detecting it, Chen Shu had deliberately used a system bottle to store the bloodline bead...
"???"
The Sprite stared at the astonishing rewards of the other two contracted spirits, its mind utterly blank.
It only got a bowl of soup?!
Its gaze fixed on Chen Shu, demanding a rational explanation!
Chen Shu shrugged and said, "Boss, you chose it!"
"..."
The Sprite's eyes widened. "Little Chen, maybe I'm not human, but you're a real dog!"