Even though the special forces were part of the garrison, they were undoubtedly extremely special.
The nature of the special forces was more like a standard militarized force instead of a military organization that maintained law and order.
They were considered the trump cards of the garrison, with their main members being beastmasters.
They were often stationed in the most important areas of Encircle Town or areas that were in danger of being invaded by fierce beasts.
When a major security incident caused by a fierce beast attack occurred in Encircle Town, it was also the special forces that were dispatched to suppress it at the first moment.
As a result, the special forces of the garrison were jokingly called the beastmaster army in the garrison.
Their way of doing things was also quite different from the garrison.
Wang Yong meticulously flipped through Ji An's documents before returning them to him.
Ji An took the documents, thinking that the other party was going to let him in.
However, Wang Yong frowned at him and said in a deep voice, " You've only registered as an Entry-level beastmaster for less than a month? "
Ji An nodded.
"Are you planning to go down alone to hunt for the gray-spotted rats?" Wang Yong continued to ask.
"Yes," Ji An said, brimming with confidence.
When Wang Yong saw Ji An's confident expression, he didn't know whether he should praise Ji An's courage or mock his stupidity.
As the chief commander of the special forces stationed here, his experience of dealing with those rats all year round made him very clear about the danger of those beasts.
Although he was speechless at the other party's reckless behavior, Wang Yong still kindly reminded Ji An when he saw his young face, "I suggest that you wait until you're stronger before going. If you must go, it's best to join a team."
"Uh..." How could Ji An not know that the other party was underestimating him?
The other party was probably afraid that he would be food for the rats when he went down the sewer.
Ji An didn't want to waste any more time on the other party, so he explained, "Captain Wang, don't worry. I heard that the special forces team had worked with a few veteran bounty hunter teams to clean up the rats gathered at the sewers in the western district. That's why I'm here to see if I can try my luck and get a few rats near the entrance."
Bounty hunters referred to the beastmasters in the Beastmaster Association who accepted bounty missions to earn money.
This was also one of the most common professions among independent beastmasters who didn't join any forces.
Some veteran bounty hunters even had the strength of a regular beastmaster force.
After hearing Ji An's explanation, Wang Yong's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little, "It seems that you didn't accept this mission on a whim, but did some special research too. However, to be honest, your strength is still not enough."
"How about this, you come back in the afternoon. A bounty hunter team I know with a good reputation is going down in the afternoon. I'll add you to their team temporarily and let them take care of you," Although Wang Yong's words weren't pleasant to hear, he was indeed warm-hearted.
Ji An didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this.
"Captain Wang, thank you, but I still want to try it myself," Seeing that explaining was useless, Ji An cut to the chase.
Seeing that the boy in front of him didn't appreciate his kindness, Wang Yong was quite annoyed.
However, he couldn't be bothered.
With a wave of his hand, he let the boy in.
After Ji An thanked Wang Yong, he hurriedly walked toward the entrance of the sewer.
With the approval of Commander Wang Yong, the two beastmasters blocking the way had their familiars move the roadblock away, opening up a path for him.
Ji An, who was carrying a small bag on his back, walked toward the sewer with heavy steps.
When he reached the sewer entrance, Ji An hurriedly put down his luggage.
Besides two liters of sweetgrass milk, there were only four heavy iron rings in the bag.
That's right, to not attract attention, Ji An didn't let Ping An wear the gravity rings and follow him.
Instead, he put Ping An into his soul domain and walked over with the gravity rings on his back.
A beastmaster's soul could only contain contracted living creatures, which were their familiars.
As for foreign objects like wondrous items, they naturally couldn't be stored inside.
Ji An was exhausted after walking all the way with the heavy luggage on his back.
Fortunately, as Ping An's level increased to its sixth Morphing, not only had Ji An's soul power risen to the level of a rank five Entry-level beastmaster, but even his physical body had received a huge upgrade thanks to the power feedback.
Otherwise, he might not have been able to carry these four gravity rings.
Seeing that he had already walked out of the guards' line of sight, Ji An hurriedly summoned his winter bear cub, Ping An.
"Ping An, it's time to put them on. The training effect will definitely be better with the gravity rings on," Ji An pointed at the unzipped backpack.
Ping An took out the four gravity rings from the bag and put them on itself.
The winter bear cub, who was once again wearing four gravity rings that looked like shackles, smiled.
It had been wearing these four gravity rings almost all the time, except when it was hibernating in the soul domain. As such, it had long been used to wearing them.
Rather, it was not used to taking them off.
Just as Ji An had said, it was only right for the bear king to carry a heavy burden as it advanced!
"Let's go, Ping An! The rats in the sewers are in trouble!" Ji An looked at the high-spirited Ping An and encouraged it again.
"Roar!" Ping An was immediately filled with ambition. It strode forward with its short legs and rushed to the end of the sewer's entrance as if it would not return until it resolved the rat's nest.
Ji An hurriedly chased after it.
As Ping An familiarized itself with the gravity ring's pressure, its speed was now so fast that he could barely catch up.
Even though the winter bear cub was not good at speed, nor did it have any skills that increased its speed, as a familiar, the strength of its body was not something humans could compare to.
The deeper they went down the sewer, the stronger the stench.
Ji An wasn't the only one who had to reach out to cover his nose. Even Ping An's speed slowed down as it covered its equally sensitive nose in disgust.
Fortunately, Ji An was prepared. He pulled out two masks and gave one to the bear.
The adult mask fit Ji An's face perfectly but looked very small on Ping An's round face.
It looked amusingly like an adult wearing a child's mask.
However, to Ping An, it didn't matter as long as it could cover its sensitive nose.
The man and the bear, who were wearing masks, quickly walked through the entrance passage.
Just as they were about to walk out of the passage, Ji An and Ping An's hearts subconsciously tightened.
At the end of the entrance tunnel, a twisted shadow was staring at them.
Just as armor began to form on Ping An's body and it was about to enter battle mode, a human figure appeared behind the twisted shadow.
It was an extremely unkempt young man.
The young man with puffy hair smiled at the nervous Ji An and said, "Don't be nervous, little brother. I'm Lu Hong from the special forces. This is my familiar, mud tank."
The mud tank that the other party was referring to was the figure that was twisted like a pile of mud.
Even though it didn't look good, it was a genuine intermediate-class Extraordinary-level race.
In terms of race level, it was even higher than the winter bear and wind-chasing dog.
Judging by the size of the three-meter-tall mud tank before him, it had already matured and evolved to the Extraordinary-level.
The young man with puffy hair in front of the mud tank was wearing a dark green uniform. It was covered in black mud and sewage, making it almost impossible to see the original style of the clothes.
However, the epaulet on his shoulder still proved his identity.
At least, Ji An believed him.
"Mud tank, say hello," Lu Hong said.
The dazed mud tank slowly extended an abstract mud hand and waved at Ji An.
As it waved its hand, a few drops of muddy water splashed onto Lu Hong's face.
Ji An looked at the familiar and the comical scene before him. He smiled and waved back.
Lu Hong nonchalantly wiped off the muddy water from his face. It was obvious that this was how he got so dirty. He said helplessly, " Just because my mud tank isn't afraid of the stench, the captain has put me in charge of guarding this place."
"Brother, you're so pitiful," Ji An looked at the other party's appearance and sighed with heartfelt emotion.
"It's all to make money. I get more allowance if I stay here. Since it's to earn money, it's nothing to feel pitiful about," Lu Hong said as if they were familiar with each other.
"Yeah, it's all to get by with life. Familiars burn money," Ji An agreed. Since the other party was a special forces member, he was at least an Extraordinary-level beastmaster. It wasn't a loss to spend some time getting to know him.
Lu Hong agreed.
Then, he chatted with the other party for a while before Ji An continued on his way with Ping An.
As Ji An gradually walked further away, Lu Hong put away his frivolous look and muttered to himself in a low voice as he watched the former's back with interest, "A winter bear trained with the gravity rings... That's rare."