After dinner, Laurent went to the beast warehouse alone.

The beasts here were all securely locked in cages, and the soft light from the ceiling cast a warm hue on the cold metal bars. Laurent activated a cleaning spell throughout the room containing the beasts, then leisurely stepped into the now spotless space.

Today, twenty-one beasts had been delivered, including two Brain-eating Monkeys, eight Claw Wolves, and five Wind Blade Foxes. Additionally, six different species of beasts were sent likely because Lancelot remembered Laurent saying it would be best to gather any beasts they encountered to facilitate his experiments.

The Claw Wolves were only Level 2 beasts, but the Brain-eating Monkeys and Wind Blade Foxes were Level 3, meaning they had stronger combat abilities and were more aggressive. Especially the Wind Blade Fox, the first beast Laurent received that could perform long-range magical attacks.

This species of beast resembled a slender fox about two or three meters long, with three pairs of beastly eyes aligned on its elongated, blueish face. The Wind Blade Fox could spew out wind blades from its mouth—an invisible blade sharp enough to silently sever a Level 2 knight’s head from their body.

The five Wind Blade Foxes were housed in the same room. Laurent used a "Clear Water Spell" to spray a sleep-inducing potion he had prepared onto each of the beasts. Once he confirmed from a distance that they were all unconscious, he entered the enclosure.

After inspecting their physical condition, he found that out of the five Wind Blade Foxes, three were male and two were female, meaning that three were immediately usable in his experiments. The two females had no immediate use for Laurent, but they could be observed for "breeding simulations."

Aside from the Glazed Icefire Dog, Laurent currently had nine breeding routes in total—1a1b3c2d2e. The Wind Blade Fox was the last step in one of his C-level routes, which would produce a beast pet named "Windbreaker Horse."

This final step required mating a male Wind Blade Fox with a female Giant-eyed Butterfly Tail Fish, combined with the use of a special potion that Laurent had named "Breeding Type-3." He dragged the unconscious Butterfly Tail Fish and Wind Blade Fox into the "Water-type Beast Breeding Room," which he had prepared with a shallow layer of water. Then, he quickly sprayed the Type-3 potion onto both beasts before hurriedly shutting the door.

What followed was something indescribable. After settling the three male Wind Blade Foxes, Laurent moved on to the Brain-eating Monkeys.

The Brain-eating Monkeys were the second-to-last step in one of his B-level breeding routes. Specifically, the two male monkeys needed to mate with a secondary beast he had cultivated called "Flying Grass" to produce a secondary beast known as "Flat-tail Violent Monkeys." Afterward, the Violent Monkeys would mate with another secondary beast, "Stretching Earthworm," to give birth to a B-level beast pet: the "Floating Octopus."

The Floating Octopus and the Glazed Icefire Dog were both B-level beasts, but their evolutionary paths were completely different. While the Glazed Icefire Dog was a classic offensive pet, the Floating Octopus was more of a support pet with unique abilities. In terms of attack, a single Glazed Icefire Dog could easily tear apart a dozen Floating Octopuses.

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However, the breeding route of the Floating Octopus was far more complex, requiring two secondary beasts to mate before it could be born. When Laurent first simulated this pet, he was stunned by its complexity. It truly lived up to its B-level ranking. In fact, Laurent even felt the ranking was a bit low, given that this pet possessed near-human intelligence, which was shocking in itself. To some extent, this meant Laurent had bred an intelligent species.

If not for the fact that the Floating Octopus lacked gender and couldn't reproduce, Laurent's name alone would have been etched into the Pillar of Civilization for creating such a beast.

Laurent promptly drugged and locked the Brain-eating Monkeys and Flying Grass in the breeding room, satisfied with his progress. If all went well, in two months, the Flat-tail Violent Monkeys would be born. After allowing the Violent Monkeys to grow, it would take another two months before the Floating Octopus could be welcomed into the world. As for the Wind Blade Foxes, they only required three months to produce the "Windbreaker Horse."

Regarding the eight Claw Wolves, Lancelot had thoughtfully sent all females, which meant that Laurent’s Glazed Rabbits—who had been quite eager—finally had new "wives." Laurent had witnessed once how the Glazed Rabbits managed to impregnate the Claw Wolves and didn’t want to see it a second time. It was… unpleasant.

Even calculating conservatively, with each Claw Wolf able to give birth to ten Glazed Icefire Dogs, in six months’ time, eighty puppies would be running joyfully in the pet store's backyard. And that would be four million gold coins on legs! Just thinking about it made Laurent giddy with excitement. Not to mention, Lancelot would continue sending more beasts during this period, so there would be an endless stream of new pets entering the store.

The Blue Star Pet Shop was finally on the right track.

After finishing his work, Laurent returned to the semi-open terrace on the second floor of his home, brewed a cup of tea made from the leaves of the Level 3 plant-beast "Red Fragrant Vine," a gift from old butler Peter, and sat down with a book made of leaf paper under the light of a bright magic spell. As he stroked the head of the dog resting on his lap, Laurent let his mind wander and continued running "breeding simulations" in his head.

Of the six new species of beasts delivered today, two were entirely new to Laurent, and he couldn’t make predictions about them. So, he had carefully observed them earlier and consulted various books with somewhat unreliable information. Finally, he could simulate those two as well.

The leaf paper book in Laurent's hands recorded all his simulations. Since there were so many, he needed to jot them down to avoid repeating any of them. Fortunately, the "Bestiary" assigned a unique code to each beast entered into the simulator, so the contents of Laurent's notes were just a jumble of strange codes—some with checkmarks, others with crosses—completely indecipherable to outsiders.

Little Eight, lying on Laurent’s lap as a living desk, was calm and obedient, remaining still. After some time, Laurent estimated that the beasts in the warehouse had likely finished their reproductive activities. He went back to re-drug them, separating the females for observation. Whether any successful pairings occurred would be confirmed in a few days.

The next morning, Laurent woke up naturally, fully rested. Thanks to the magical equipment, he no longer needed to bother cleaning or feeding the beasts every day. As for opening the shop? Well, that could wait until after he’d woken up. After all, why live like the miserable 996 workers if you don't have to?

After enjoying a breakfast lovingly prepared by his mother, Laurent opened the shop, waiting for customers to arrive. Slime returned to the academy to submit his mission and accompanied his mother to terminate the contract with the Knights Academy, officially purchasing the land.

Shortly after opening the shop, while Laurent was in the kitchen getting water, he heard Little Eight let out a warning bark from the storefront. He hurried out to see a middle-aged man standing at the door, looking with interest at Little Eight, who was now standing on two legs behind the counter, alert.

Laurent quickly dried his hands and walked over. "Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, hello. You must be the shop owner," the man said, wearing a bright yellow mage’s robe that made him look like a glowing orb from a distance. His eyes lit up when he saw Laurent, and he quickly approached, grabbing Laurent's arm before he could react.

"You—!" Laurent’s eyes widened in panic.

In the next moment, Little Eight launched a fireball from behind the counter, leaping toward the man, its flame-covered teeth aimed straight for his throat.