"My reputation is linked to robbing a vault?"
Ansheng looked at the snail with a forehead full of question marks, somewhat disagreeing with their description.
"Yes, we've all heard about it. When the Spirit Beast Gang was first established, funds were tight. Master Fuli dared to rob even that big iron hunk so that the brothers wouldn't go hungry. There's nothing on land that you can't rob."
"Our brothers can be the pretty faces, while our hard shells can block cannonballs..."
The two snails nodded confidently. Although they lived deep in the ocean, the armored gastropods didn't live in isolation.
Like the lantern fish that surface daily, and other creatures often chat and share gossip.
Such as whose big iron hunk is stalled or whose warship's sewage system exploded, or who went out for food today.
Such gossip spreads surprisingly fast in the quiet environment of the seabed.
Just like when the orcas call for recruitment, the news spreads across all oceans and some regions.
Along with the recruitment news, Master Fuli's reputation also resounds around the ears of aquatic creatures everywhere.
The armored gastropods have made up their minds that if they successfully join, the whole clan will split into two teams, one working on Qingao Island during the day selling cuteness, while the other rests.
At night, the workers go home, and the rest can join Master Fuli in robbing vaults.
Or the white jade snails could perform art, while the black-shell snails all practice martial arts, wielding knives and guns.
"Your idea is very good, but I suggest you temporarily don't think about it."
"What legitimate spirit beast takes robbery as its main business? We are serious businessmen. How much can a single vault provide? Those in the know would surely go for the Landlord."
Ansheng, with a face full of black lines, rewarded each snail with a fox paw, making their heads shrink into their shells.
In this day and age, still thinking about robbing vaults and jewelers, not even mentioning the cumbersome nature of it all, just the omnipresent surveillance makes it difficult to avoid accountability.
If you truly want to make big money, you should aim to blow up the Landlord's gold coins, grab them all, tie them up, and have them invest the ransom into the spirit beast enterprise.
Anyway, if you have the guts, go ahead and report to the Security Bureau, claiming you've been robbed of billions by a protected animal, and see if the officer makes a call to the psychiatric hospital.
"Buzz....."
The two big snails, somewhat understanding, nodded. They knew about kidnapping, but funding was beyond them.
But the general idea, they understood, meant low risk and high return.
"Alright! You guys go register at the Security Bureau, and I'll contact my accounting team later."
Ansheng scrutinized the two big snails, realizing that judging by the environment of the Security Bureau hospital, their whole family consumes a lot of energy. Without a temperature-controlled warm-water pool, they'd be uncomfortable.
However, considering their handsomeness, Ansheng prepared to help them settle in Qingao Island.
The specifics on salary would be handled by the punchy accountants of the Huhu Ecological Foundation.
"Now, let's head out!"
With a face full of joy, Ansheng jumped up and squatted on the snail's rugged-looking shell, raising a hand to point forward and said, "I'll take you out to shop and introduce you to Ah Qing and the others, but mind your mouths!"
"We don't steal or rob, and there's no plan to raid any vaults. We're all about being cute for food."
"Alright, Master Fuli."
The two big snails received orders, one after the other, quickly crawling out of the hospital room.
Though they moved slowly, it's only compared to the spirit-morph fishes like the orcas.
On land, at full speed, they could match the speed of a 25-mile-per-hour electric bike.
"So... what were they talking about just now?" The internal staff at the Security Bureau, looking puzzled, planned to send the recorded tape to the deciphering department to translate and archive.
"Ah Qing! Come quick! There's a big snail!"
Ansheng, riding on the snail, descended the stairs, joyfully chirping towards the office.
"Whoa!?"
Tang You on the couch instinctively looked at the direction of the chirp from the little fox and exclaimed, "Whoa", eyes widening in disbelief.
Ah Qing and Momo turned their heads, faces full of shock.
The Lingren were dumbfounded, who would have expected this snail's shell to be nearly two meters big.
If the snail hadn't slightly turned sideways, it wouldn't have been able to carry Master Fuli out the fire door.
"S-s-snail?"
Ah Qing, stunned, sat up looking at the little fox on the snail's shell and stammered.
"Yes! Armored big snail! Protected animal..." Ansheng patted the snail he was sitting on and began introducing to Ah Qing:
"I talked to them, and they said there were nasty things causing trouble back home, so they came over to us for a meal."
"Such a big snail..."
Ah Qing exclaimed, reaching out to poke the armored gastropod, feeling a cool touch, as if touching a steel pipe outdoors in winter.
Moreover, what surprised Ah Qing even more was that her pocket keys were flying towards the snail's shell.
This snail shell was magnetic.
"Xiaolan..."
Momo circled the snail twice, tapping its iron-clad shell, amazed yet remembered the agenda discussed on the meeting table earlier.
Momo raised her arms towards the little fox on the snail shell, making a gesture wanting a hug.
"What's up? You want a ride on the snail too, right? Riding a snail out is better than a supercar.... huh!?"
Without any warning, Ansheng pounced forward, climbed onto Momo's lap, placing his forepaws on her shoulders, and used his hind legs to stabilize himself on her back.
Just as Ansheng landed stably, before he could introduce the new ride to Momo, he felt a sudden mosquito bite-like sting on his butt.
Ansheng turned his bewildered face around, looking at Tang You holding a Spirit Particle Potion poking his butt, slowly raising a question:
"What are you guys..... poking my butt for?"
"Don't worry, little fox, it doesn't hurt at all....." Momo wrapped the little fox in an embrace soothingly:
"We just heard from Shasha that spirit beasts wanting to accelerate their evolution should get more Spirit Particle Potions. The more you get injected, the quicker you'll get an ID."
During a chat with Shasha, Ah Qing and the others learned a fairly secret information.
The larger a spirit beast's body, the more spiritual particles it can store, accelerating its evolution.
With such a two-hundred-ton weight, diving deep into the ocean daily, they can siphon a massive amount of spiritual particles, hence the evolution speed far exceeds that of similar spirit beasts.
Through Shasha's reminder, Ah Qing and the others realized one thing.
The little fox used all the Spirit Particle Potion he earned from working to help them with the spiritualization, never having injected himself, not even tasted Spirit Plants.
Five women at a drama stage, the more they pondered, the more they felt the little fox's twenty-some pounds was due to malnutrition.
They decided to supplement the little fox, even though the channels for acquiring Spirit Particle Potion were scarce, the Xinxing Agricultural Science College happened to be one of the source factories.
Ah Qing and friends could still obtain it via professors.
According to Shasha, a little fox like this would need two units a day for a balanced nutritional ratio, which means two injections.
"Two units of Spirit Particle Potion daily?"
"Wait... wow! Ah Qing, your little fox is flying at us with the needle!"
"I told you, little fox doesn't like injections....." Ah Qing discreetly hid behind the snail, poking her head out.
Little An drinks cola, takes his deworming medicine, but he's never had any anti-parasitic or vaccine injections.
Ah Qing saw at night how the little fox carried the vaccine to the bathroom, disposing it in the trash, even tying a beautiful bow to lay it to rest.