The worse you are, the stronger you become: My summoned beast is a photographer.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Valerius's face was grim, his brow furrowed, and his four hooves tapped nervously on the floor of the wagon. He trusted his daughter's character, but seeing his beloved little cabbage being "taken" by a stranger still made the anger in his chest rise in waves, impossible to suppress.

Aura recounted everything that had happened at the academy. After she finished, she lowered her eyelashes, weakly raised her eyes, and unconsciously twisted the hem of her skirt with her fingertips, awaiting her father's judgment.

What she feared most wasn't the annulment of the engagement itself, but rather rejecting the duke's daughter and publicly acknowledging her F-rank summoned beast as her man—she worried it would upset her father. Seeing her parents fall silent, as if the air itself had frozen, her heart sank lower and lower.

After a long while, Valerius finally let out a heavy sigh, raised his thick arm, and gently patted his daughter's head: "Fine, let's call it off. As for the Duke of Ainbo's daughter... apologize if you can."

"However—" he changed the subject, his thick brows furrowing, "You have an S-rank blessing crystal, so you should at least be able to summon an S-rank summon beast. How come it's only an F-rank?" That crystal cost him most of his fortune to buy from the Duke's family, and every time he thought about it, his heart ached. "The blessing crystal can't be fake. Even if it were, as the Duke, giving it a B-rank or C-rank would be better... An F-rank? That's unlikely."

Aura nodded repeatedly, her little face full of seriousness, and recalled, "I also found it very strange. When he touched the Awakening Stone, a huge pillar of light clearly shot up—an F-rank shouldn't cause such a big phenomenon."

After saying that, she seemed to suddenly remember something, her gaze falling on the unidentified black box on Ming Luochen's chest: "This black box appeared after the pillar of light disappeared. Could it be... that the truly powerful thing is actually this?"

Valerius leaned closer to his daughter's summoned beast, his towering centaur body hunched over, carefully examining the black box. Judging from its structure and shape, it was exceptionally exquisite; the metallic shell gleamed with a cold, lustrous sheen, unlike anything ordinary—yet it didn't resemble a weapon like a knife or hammer either. He scratched his chin: "Could it be… a magical weapon?"

"In history, there have indeed been instances of summoned beasts that were not biological," Aura's mother, Marina, slowly stepped forward, carefully examining the black box, her tone calm. "Last year, someone summoned a plant—an S-rank carnivorous plant. I don't think the Duke would lie to us. If the blessing crystal is real, then this magical weapon... is at least S-rank."

Ming Luochen was surrounded by three and a half centaurs, six eyes fixed on the SLR camera in his arms. His social anxiety kicked in, and he retreated step by step to the corner of the carriage until his back pressed against the wooden planks, leaving him nowhere to go. He awkwardly pointed to the camera—they seemed incredibly curious about it—and asked dryly, "You...want to take pictures?"

Four pairs of eyes stared at each other, and the air was silent for three seconds.

Valerius turned to look at Aura: "Your summoned beast... can talk?"

Aura frowned at her father, looking helpless: "The problem is... I can't understand it either."

"It doesn't seem to be our language." Marina seemed more interested in Ming Luochen, her eyes filled with the excitement of studying a rare species. She said to Aura, "Try telepathic communication with your summoned beasts."

Aura laughed awkwardly, "I just summoned it... the school hasn't taught me about telepathy yet."

What else could he say? Valerius opened his mouth, unable to criticize his daughter for not having the habit of previewing her lessons—this girl always learned whatever the school taught, except for military affairs and martial arts, where she was a natural talent. He waved his hand dejectedly: "That's enough for now, let's go home and take it slow."

Seeing their disappointed expressions, Ming Luochen knew that communication had failed. He thought for a moment, then raised his camera, pointed it at them, and said, "I can't get through to them."

"No, what are you doing!" When Valerius saw the round "cannon muzzle" pointing at him, he instinctively shrank his neck and quickly dodged to the side.

Ming Luochen was both amused and exasperated—this was clearly dealing with barbarians, who were even afraid of cameras. He had no choice but to point the camera out of the carriage, snap a picture with a "click," and then turn around and show it to them.

"That's quite amazing." Marina's eyes lit up as she watched the small screen suddenly display the large trees outside the carriage, with distinct light and shadow. She noticed a few words on the sides of the screen: Replica, Modification, Precision, Fast Forward, Replay, Collection.

Driven by curiosity, Marina stretched out a finger and gently pressed "fast forward"—no response. She then tried pressing a few other words.

suddenly--

"boom!"

A large tree suddenly burst forth from inside the carriage, its thick branches tearing through the wooden planks in an instant. The carriage was overturned, and the horses neighed in alarm. Aura reacted quickly, pulling Ming Luochen into her arms and shielding him with her own body, only to be thrown to the ground and roll several times by the force of the impact.

Dust flew everywhere, and sawdust flew in all directions.

Ignoring her own injuries, she quickly grabbed Ming Luochen's shoulders and checked him over thoroughly to make sure he wasn't hurt before letting out a sigh of relief. The other three, along with the coachman, stood frozen in place, staring dumbfounded at the large tree that had crushed the carriage.

"Holy crap!" Ming Luochen was also dumbfounded—he had just witnessed the camera lens directly "project" a huge tree. He quickly looked down at the DSLR and vaguely felt that this thing... was definitely not simple.

The Aura family also realized that Ming Luochen's black box was no ordinary object.

"This is definitely an S-rank or higher magical artifact." Valerius's eyes lit up as he excitedly ran to Ming Luochen, staring intently at the artifact that could conjure trees out of thin air. He couldn't imagine the true power of this black box—if a giant rock were placed over an enemy base, how many people would it kill? He turned to Aura, his tone full of delighted surprise, "Aura, you really struck gold! You summoned such a powerful magical artifact."

"Keep a low profile for now, let's go home and study this carefully." Marina quickly pressed her husband's arm down and lowered her voice. They needed to confirm whether this magical artifact could be used by others—if there were no restrictions, it would be too dangerous and easily stolen.

"Yes, let's go home first." Valerius snapped out of his daze, a bright smile spreading across his face. He picked up Ming Luochen and gently placed him on Aura's back.

"Father—" Aura blushed crimson. To be ridden in front of her parents, and even to be carried on her father's back—this meant that her man had been accepted by her family.

"He's ridden before, what's he shy about? Let's go home." Valerius urged, eager to see the other abilities of the black box—perhaps, the Raven Crest family could be promoted to a marquisate because of it.

Ming Luochen didn't dare to touch Aura at first, his hands hovering in mid-air. But when Aura suddenly accelerated, he was startled and instinctively leaned forward, tightly wrapping his arms around her slender waist.

Aura trembled slightly. The moment her waist was wrapped around her, her entire body flushed red from her neck to her ears, and she almost tripped over the horse's hooves. She couldn't help but glance back at the summoned beast on her back, her heart pounding wildly, a strange, inexplicable feeling welling up inside her. She didn't resist; instead, she ran even faster—and her waist was held even tighter.

The centaur's running speed was comparable to that of a car. In no time, Ming Luochen arrived in front of a manor: with ancient Greek columns as its framework and Baroque gilding as its soul, the off-white marble columns reached straight into the clouds, and gilded reliefs flowed across the dome, every inch of which was filled with the ultimate luxury and solemnity of this other world.

After being led to an empty square, the DSLR camera in Ming Luochen's arms was snatched away by the middle-aged centaur. Just as he reached out to take it back, the camera was indeed back in his hand.

This camera is awesome!

Valerius felt the weight of the black box in his hands suddenly disappear. He looked down—his hands were empty. He was stunned for a moment, then felt more at ease: "Looks like it's a personal magical artifact. Then I don't have to worry about it being stolen."

Marina moved closer to Ming Luochen, knowing he wouldn't understand anything she said, so she simply started gesturing with her hands.

Ming Luochen was also very curious about just how powerful this camera was—at least it could turn what it photographed into reality, so could it conjure up people? He tried taking a picture of Valerius and then clicked "reproduce".

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of the SLR camera lens—a one-to-one replica of a middle-aged male centaur, exactly like Valerius.

"This is amazing, it's practically a carbon copy." Marina excitedly leaned over and touched the replica—it even had the same body temperature, and the mole on the back of its neck was exactly the same.

However, the centaur replicated by the camera was like a statue, completely motionless. Ming Luochen didn't know how to make it move. After some testing, he found that only the "shoot" and "replicate" functions were currently working; the others were temporarily unusable.

Marina guessed that Ming Luochen's level might not be high enough.

As the sun dipped westward, the light of day turned from bright to dark, and the magnificent manor was draped in a soft twilight.

Ming Luochen sat awkwardly at the enormous dining table. The manor was exceptionally large, both in terms of rooms and furniture. Sitting in his chair, looking at the bowls that were as big as basins, he felt like a child.

Dinner was very vegetarian, with almost no oil in sight. The centaurs didn't eat grass, but rather a variety of vegetables—lettuce salad, boiled carrots, and peeled and chopped apples, each portion being quite generous.

Ming Luochen was full after eating only two apples, while the centaurs ate by the basin, with at least ten apples in each basin.

After spending an afternoon together, the Aura family was able to communicate with Ming Luochen using sign language... Marina gestured for him to eat more, but he shook his head.

Aura's parents exchanged a glance, their gazes lingering on Ming Luochen for a long time. Although this summoned beast couldn't speak, the composure and perceptiveness in its eyes clearly indicated a high level of intelligence. Valerius felt a new layer of worry churning within him—today at the academy, the duke's daughter had also taken a liking to this summoned beast, and so many nobles had witnessed their daughters being ridden by this human… If word got out, Aura's reputation would be completely tied to this summoned beast.

He hesitated for a long time before finally putting down the bowl of apples heavily and breaking the silence:

"You two should just get together. Get married as soon as possible."

Aura, who was holding a water glass, trembled upon hearing this, spilling half the water. She froze, her cheeks flushing red.

Marina immediately realized her daughter wasn't resisting, but rather shy. She smiled, her tone light but firm: "You've already let him ride you, and you're still embarrassed? I think you should just make it a done deal—you two should sleep together tonight, so he doesn't get snatched away by someone else."

Aura was so embarrassed she wanted to bury her head in her chest. She secretly glanced at Ming Luochen, then immediately looked away, her heart pounding.

Valerius's lips twitched; he was still somewhat displeased—his beloved daughter, whom he had raised, had been taken advantage of. What father would be happy about that? But he didn't refute his wife's words, only saying in a low voice, "I think your mother is right. He's quite intelligent, clearly a human—the first human in history to become a summoned beast. Today, so many nobles in Herma saw you being ridden by him; there's nothing shameful about it anymore."

"The wedding should be held as soon as possible to prevent him from being coveted by others and causing unnecessary trouble."

Ming Luochen couldn't understand a single word, but he felt the atmosphere had suddenly become strange. He looked up at the group and found them all staring at him, so he silently lowered his head again and continued to eat the apple in his hand.

"This son-in-law is quite easy to take care of; two apples are enough to feed him." Valerius completely approved of this son-in-law. Anyway, it was his daughter's own choice, and he has his own magical artifacts, so his future potential is immeasurable. Perhaps he can help his daughter have a better future.

Observing the centaurs' lives up close, Ming Luochen noticed that they had very few chairs in their homes, which were mostly used to entertain guests, and the whole family stood while eating. Many pieces of furniture were also custom-made for them—the sofas and mattresses were almost indistinguishable, and the beds were more like ten-centimeter-high couches, but five or six meters wide.

Night deepened. Ming Luochen was led to a bedroom by the centaur girl. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but he saw her blush and quickly turn and leave, forgetting to close the door properly, leaving it ajar.