Chapter 67: Institute of Exotic Beasts

Xu Han turned his head to look.
A figure in fiery red rushed over from the distance.
She came to the side of the Skeleton Warlord.
With tears blurring her eyes, she supported the corpse of the Skeleton Warlord, her voice choked, "Skeleton Warlord! My Skeleton Warlord! How could you leave me like this?"
"I haven't even had a good look at you, how could you leave so soon...!"
Xu Han stared in confusion at the woman before him.
Who was she?
The Skeleton Warlord was dead, so why was she so grief-stricken?
Could she be someone from the Abyssal Church?
A sense of caution rose within Xu Han, and he fixed his gaze on the woman.
The woman stood up, wiped her tears, and grabbed Xu Han by the collar, gritting her teeth as she said, "Was it you!"
"It's all your fault for killing the Skeleton Warlord! My research subject is gone! You must compensate me!"
Xu Han was utterly bewildered.
"Research subject? What research subject?"
He had never heard of anyone studying exotic beasts.
The woman nodded. "I'm from the Institute of Exotic Beasts! The Skeleton Warlord was my research subject!"
"Now it's gone, and it'll take at least a month for a new one to appear!"
"Tell me, how will you make it up to me?"
The people nearby exchanged glances, each drawing a sharp breath.
"This woman is actually from the Institute of Exotic Beasts?"
"That kid is really unlucky, running into such a tough character."
"So, should we still try to snatch it?"
"Snatch? Are you crazy? Didn't you see that this kid's got the Institute of Exotic Beasts' lunatic after him? If you try to steal from her, you're asking for trouble!"
The woman's brows arched as she turned to glare at the group. "What are you muttering about?"
"Who are you calling a lunatic? Hmm?"
The group shuddered in fear.
They hurriedly put on smiles and explained,
"No...no, miss, please carry on, we won't disturb you."
"That's right, we were just planning to have a drink at Maple Leaf Bar. Miss, you seem busy, we'll be on our way."
With that, the group hurriedly slipped away.
The woman glared at Xu Han and said, "Speak! How will you compensate for my loss?"
Xu Han replied, "I have a question. What is the Institute of Exotic Beasts?"
The woman snorted coldly, "You don't know that?"
"The Institute of Exotic Beasts is part of Dragon University, a branch within the university."
"We specialize in researching information about exotic beasts."
"For example, all the knowledge about beast habits and basic information you learned in high school comes from our research."
Suddenly, Xu Han understood.
He had always thought this information was readily available.

It turned out that everything had been painstakingly researched by others.
He recalled that in the Gourmet's Compendium, any beast he had devoured came with detailed information.
After pondering for a moment, he said, "If your goal is to obtain information on the Skeleton Warlord, what if I provide it to you directly?"
The woman was taken aback.
"You have information? Did you actually observe the Skeleton Warlord?"
Xu Han frowned, "Do you want it or not?"
The woman eyed him up and down, her gaze filled with suspicion.
Xu Han continued, "If you don't want it, then you'll just have to wait another month."
A hint of struggle flashed across the woman's face.
At last, she nodded, "Tell me what you know."
"But don't think about deceiving me. I already have some basic info on the Skeleton Warlord."
"If what you say differs greatly from what I have, you'll see what happens!"
She raised her fist, her face full of threat.
After saying this, she released Xu Han.
Xu Han said, "I'll go over there to organize my thoughts. Don't peek."
The woman, though puzzled, nodded.
Xu Han walked into the woods, making sure she couldn't see him.
Only then did he open the Gourmet's Compendium and locate the Skeleton Warlord.
The information within was extremely detailed.
It included not only the Skeleton Warlord's skills and weaknesses, but even its background and habits were thoroughly recorded.
Xu Han rubbed his chin, reviewed the information, closed the compendium, and walked out.
The woman, arms crossed, stared at Xu Han impatiently. "Are you ready to talk now?"
Xu Han nodded, and began to recite the details from the Gourmet's Compendium as if pouring beans from a jar.
"Skeleton Warlord, Gold-ranked leader, level 35."
"Skills: Rampaging Sweep, Undead Body, Weakening Curse, Undead Summoning..."
The woman's expression gradually shifted from suspicion to astonishment.
So detailed!
Incredibly detailed!
He could even describe every skill and its effect.
Had he really observed the Skeleton Warlord so closely?
Xu Han continued, "This cemetery was once the Skeleton Warlord's tomb. Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Sorcerers were his subordinates."
"Due to a past calamity, the Skeleton Warlord was resurrected from the grave and now haunts this place..."
Now,
the woman's expression changed completely.
She had heard some tales of the Skeleton Warlord's origins.
But all that information came from ancient texts, now sealed away in the Institute of Exotic Beasts' archives.
How did he know all this?

"That's all I have. Can I go now?"
Xu Han said helplessly.
"Wait a moment."
The woman examined Xu Han and asked, "You must be a student at Dragon University, right?"
"You're a new face."
"Are you interested in joining the Institute of Exotic Beasts?"
"If you're willing, I'll speak to your dean!"
Xu Han was speechless.
"No need, I'm not interested."
With that, he quickly headed toward Maple Leaf Town.
The woman's eyes sparkled as she watched Xu Han leave. "This boy is a promising candidate for a researcher!"
"I must find a way to recruit him!"
"If nothing else works, I'll have to ask the professor to step in!"
...
"Achoo..."
Xu Han sneezed.
He had no idea he was already on someone's mind.
Over an hour later,
Xu Han returned to Maple Leaf Town.
At night, the town was ablaze with lights.
Noisy voices spilled from every bar.
A few drunken men even broke into fights on the spot.
Xu Han casually found an inn to rest.
The next day, he continued hunting monsters to level up.
Most of the ones he encountered were Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Sorcerers.
Venturing deeper, he finally discovered new exotic beasts.
Skeleton Knights and Skeleton Mages.
The Skeleton Knights rode skeletal warhorses.
Even in the forest, their speed was undiminished.
Working in tandem with the Skeleton Mages,
they became twice as difficult to deal with.
But Xu Han had little trouble.
He used Shadow Flash to cut to the backline and easily slew the Undead Mages.
Without the mages' firepower,
the threat of the Undead Knights was greatly reduced.
After devouring both the Undead Knights and Undead Mages,
his attributes surged yet again.