In the end, the withered vine was finally lifted up by his fingernail.
“This thing is useless; why keep it?”
Ruan Shu opened her mouth, just about to say something, when the vine suddenly “came to life” again. In the blink of an eye, it flew into her hand, coiling around itself into the shape of a bracelet.
Ruan Shu blinked in surprise, while Almer narrowed his eyes dangerously.
He had been confident that this thing had no attack capabilities, which was why he dared to pick it up. Yet, he hadn’t expected it to move so quickly, nor to act… so fawningly.
Odd as it sounded, he truly saw a sense of flattery in the vine’s movements.
Almer fell silent for a moment.
Was it the vine that was strange, or…?
He looked over at the little one, her mouth still slightly open, looking thoroughly stunned.
She clearly hadn’t expected this, either.
Almer poked the vine-turned-bracelet with his fingernail, his expression and tone filled with disdain.
“Black, ugly.”
It had even stained his little lucky charm’s wrist.
The blackberry vine: %#@!
Never mind how a plant even knew curse words—it just wanted to!
Ruan Shu looked at Almer with wide eyes. “Then… what should I do with it?”
“Just keep it.”
Afterward, the two of them went to gather up the scattered blackberries on the ground, ending up with around thirty berries in total. Unfortunately, Almer’s fire had been too powerful; many of the berries had either been roasted or reduced to ash.
“I blame my own strength. This guy should have had quite the stash.”
Ruan Shu: “…”
Blackberry vine: “…”
His narcissism was so natural that it left them at a loss for words, unable to come up with a fitting way to retort.
But, admittedly, he wasn’t wrong.
Ruan Shu held a blackberry the size of an egg, slowly lifting it to hand it to Almer, when suddenly, the vine on her wrist moved.
It gently patted her wrist, then pointed its tip in a certain direction.
Ruan Shu glanced at it, asking softly, “You want me to go over there?”
The blackberry vine nodded.
Ruan Shu pressed her lips together and asked in a small voice, “Can I bring Almer along?”
She was still cautious—what if there was danger waiting? Even if the vine didn’t seem to mean her any harm…
Hearing Almer’s name, the blackberry vine shook wildly from side to side.
No, no, it absolutely didn’t want to let that ferocious guy get its treasure for free.
Just as it was trying to act cute, a hand grabbed it and lifted it up. “Ha, this ugly thing has quite the mind of its own. Let’s toss it.”
Blackberry vine: Profanity, profanity, profanity…
Of course, as a plant with no mouth, it couldn’t actually say anything, but that didn’t stop it from cursing in its mind.
“No, don’t!” Ruan Shu tugged on Almer’s sleeve, looking up with a pleading face to defend the blackberry vine.
“It’s well-behaved and means no harm.”
Besides, it looked quite pitiful, already beaten up like this.
After she finished speaking, Almer flicked her smooth little forehead. Ruan Shu blinked in surprise—it didn’t hurt, though.
What she didn’t see was that a dark smudge had appeared on her forehead, left by his finger.
Almer rubbed his fingers together, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes as he looked at the mark on her forehead.
“Want to save it?”
Ruan Shu glanced at the blackberry vine, which had curled up miserably.
She nodded, answering in a soft voice, “Yes, I do.”
“Alright, then first, transform into your Star Beast form.”
Ruan Shu had a feeling he was up to no good, but she still wanted to save the vine, so she obediently transformed into her ragdoll cat form.
Almer’s smile deepened as he dropped the twisted vine, then scooped up the little cat.
The next second, he buried his face in her fur and took a deep, satisfied breath.
Ruan Shu: “Meow, meow, meow!”
If she were human, her snow-white cheeks would surely be blushing red.
This person—no, this dragon—why was he so obsessed with sniffing the kitty?!
Her little paw pushed against his handsome face. Unlike before, when her paws were clean and pink, this time they were dirty from the ash on the ground. With one press, a tiny paw print appeared on his face.
Emboldened, Ruan Shu stomped her paws on his face a few more times.
In no time, Almer’s face was adorned with several adorable little paw prints.
“What are you doing?”
Almer grasped her small paws, his golden eyes half-narrowed.
Ruan Shu instinctively tried to curl up her paws, feeling caught. She… she hadn’t done anything!
But her attempt to retract her paw didn’t escape Almer’s notice. Soon, he had her paw firmly held in his hand.
With a quick flip, Almer exposed her little black paw pads.
The kitty grew even more flustered, wriggling in an attempt to escape.
“Still trying to run?”
Almer chuckled, smearing his fingers on a dark tree trunk before openly doodling on the little cat’s face.
Ruan Shu: Caught in the act on her very first attempt at mischief!
In the end, both of them ended up dirty, so it seemed only fair that neither could complain about the other.
The little vine, having watched the scene unfold, eventually returned to Ruan Shu’s side and continued to guide her towards the treasure.
They lifted a stone a bit further away, revealing a small hole in the ground.
There was no way a dragon could fit inside, but a kitty could easily slip through.
Both Ruan Shu and Almer leaned in to peek inside, only to be stunned by what they saw.
The hole was indeed hiding a trove of goodies. Besides blackberries, Almer spotted bones from an Agubone Beast—a high-tier beast whose bones could be crafted into flexible armor for Star Beasts, useful for added defense on the battlefield.
Apart from the Agubone Beast bones, there were the tusks of a colossus, which fetched high prices in trade markets, the fur of a Snowbud Beast, scales from a Firesnake, and various fruits and roots from other mutated plants…
Altogether, the collection was impressive and would sell for a significant sum.
Almer was utterly astonished—not because he needed such treasures, as an emperor who lacked for nothing, but because he was genuinely lucky enough to stumble upon a treasure trove!
He turned to Ruan Shu, patted her little head, and with a satisfied smile said, “You truly are my lucky charm.”
Ruan Shu: “???”
Why was he always saying odd things?
Naturally, they couldn’t just leave the treasures hidden away. Standing tall, Almer looked down at Ruan Shu and said, “Stand back. Don’t let the mud splatter on you.”
Though, admittedly, if he’d said “Don’t let the dirt stain you,” it would’ve sounded more impressive, like a veiled boast.
Still, Ruan Shu obediently stepped back.
“Go all the way behind the tree,” Almer instructed.
She did as told but kept peeking around, curious about Almer’s “big move.”
She then watched as he transformed into a pitch-black dragon, digging his claws into the hole to start… digging.
As he dug, his tail swayed happily, sending dirt flying in all directions.
Ruan Shu: “…”
Now she understood why he’d told her to stand behind the tree.
From a distance, that dragon really did look like an overgrown puppy digging enthusiastically!