After being enveloped in that brilliant light, Lip’s spherical body elongated, sprouting wings from its sides and becoming covered in light gray feathers.
Seeing the update on his Beast Tamer device, Su Zhi’s eyes widened in surprise—
[Pet Beast: Lip (Leo)
Attribute: Wind Element, Electric Element
Race: High Level Extraordinary Race
Real-time Energy Value: 1500]
Yu Bao’s eyes widened too, its tongue flicking in and out with excitement.
’That glutinous-rice-ball-like Pet Beast became a Leo. I don’t know how it happened, but I have to admit, it’s a pretty good transformation.’
’It looks like it would be really fun to beat up!’
"This is Thousand-Change Clay’s Racial Skill, Perfect Mimicry. It simulates a Pet Beast it’s familiar with at the cost of a slight drop in its Real-time Energy Value," Samika calmly explained to Su Zhi.
Just then, the battle ring finished materializing. Samika walked to the opposite side.
"I’ll have Lip attack just like a Leo would. You just stick to your own strategy—don’t hold anything back!"
Samika gave Su Zhi a thumbs-up.
"Don’t worry about hurting it. Thousand-Change Clay is very tough."
"Hmph," Lip huffed, rolling its eyes at its master as if this was a regular occurrence.
"Alright! Please, give us your best shot!" Su Zhi nodded and had Yu Bao get ready to counter.
Lip flew high into the air like a wild Leo, then beat its wings and dove, rushing toward Yu Bao with a crackling current of electricity...
"Yu Bao! Furious Sand Blade!"
"AWOO!"
Wind and sand swirled across the ring...
By the time Selena arrived at the Battle Hall, Yu Bao and Lip were in the middle of testing each other’s defenses on the ring.
Lip, in its Leo form, launched dive attack after dive attack at Yu Bao, but each one was deftly neutralized by Yu Bao’s versatile Skills.
While maintaining an active defense, Yu Bao continuously counterattacked, pursuing Lip with a combination of its Sand Manipulation Technique and Furious Sand Blade.
Selena’s tense nerves eased slightly.
She wasn’t close with the man on the stage, Samika, but she recognized him. She’d met him a few times when the Flying Shadow Alliance was renovating its equipment, and he’d left a decent impression.
Samika hadn’t used his Main or Sub-Pet, opting instead for his third pet, whose strength was comparable to Yu Bao’s. The Thousand-Change Clay even deliberately revealed openings now and then, giving Yu Bao a chance to show off.
’As long as it’s a normal spar, it’s fine.’
’If this bunch of researchers dared to use this as an excuse to bully her boy, she’d smash every single lab in the Divine Strategy Alliance.’
After observing a while longer and confirming that neither Samika nor his Pet Beast had any ill intent, Selena breathed a sigh of relief.
She found an empty seat in the spectator stands and sat down to wait, crossing her long, slender legs.
Seeing Su Zhi’s Pet Beast handle itself so effortlessly on the stage, the Cold and Refined Beauty couldn’t help but jiggle her leg, feeling a little smug.
’He’s not losing ground against an experienced, senior Alliance Member. In fact, he’s even gaining an edge. As expected of the kid I’ve taken a liking to~’
It was a shame that the Divine Strategy Alliance didn’t have much of a Pet Beast Battle culture. The Battle Hall was usually deserted, with no one around to spectate.
’Otherwise, I’d really show these researchers a thing or two!’
Lost in thought, Selena glanced around absentmindedly, only to freeze. In the stands across the way, a pair of eyes hidden in the shadows was quietly emitting a red glow...
·
"AWOO!"
Yu Bao grew bolder as the fight went on. It combined its Sand Manipulation Technique with a Skybound Strike, kicking Lip and sending it flying several meters.
However, just before it was about to fall out of the ring, Lip would always manage to stabilize itself with an odd posture before beating its wings and flying back toward Yu Bao.
—Even though it had turned into a Leo, Lip was still fundamentally a Thousand-Change Clay. Its offense might have been lacking, but its Defense Power and stamina were still excellent.
Yu Bao was thrilled. ’An opponent you can beat up but not knock out in one hit is the absolute best!’
It unleashed its various Skills on Lip one after another, beating it into a sorry state time and again, only to wait for it to recover and come back for more. It was having a blast.
Across the ring, Samika glanced at the red eyes in the shadows. Without a change in his expression, he lightly tapped his right ear.
"Alliance Leader, we’ve seen pretty much all of Yu Bao’s Skills. Are you satisfied?"
"Very satisfied... This trip was well worth it!"
A hoarse but incredibly excited voice replied through his hidden earpiece.
The slender, red-glowing eyes slowly rose and stepped out from the shadows—
It was a man of average height with a slender build. A white lab coat, adorned with glowing light-green patterns, was draped loosely over his shoulders. Its wide cut and long sleeves concealed his body and hands, making him seem even thinner.
The look could have been that of a dedicated artisan, but the bizarre features of his face lent him an air of madness. His real eyes were covered by a mask; the slender, glowing eyes from the shadows were merely light patterns on it.
His long, light-gray hair was tied into nine braids that draped over his shoulders. A short chain was attached to the end of each braid, and a small, intricate lock hung from the end of each chain.
The moment he stepped out of the shadows, a spotlight illuminated his dark gold Alliance Member badge:
Name: Luo Sen
Alliance Member ID: 00000423
"That’s enough~ Stop now," the strangely dressed man said, clapping as he approached the ring.
Samika nodded at Lip to stop, and the spar came to a halt. Yu Bao trotted happily back to Su Zhi’s side, curiously sizing up Luo Sen.
Luo Sen stepped onto the ring and grinned at Su Zhi, revealing a mouthful of crimson-red teeth.
"Young man, do you know who I am?"
"You’re... the Alliance Leader of the Divine Strategy Alliance, Luo Sen?!"
Seeing his Alliance Member badge, Su Zhi bowed, somewhat overwhelmed. "It’s an honor, sir!"
Even though this was Su Zhi’s first time visiting the Divine Strategy Alliance, he had long since heard the legends about this eccentric man—
Across all of Blue Star, an average of 132 A-Level or higher academic papers were published each year. The Divine Strategy Alliance’s Leader, Luo Sen, single-handedly accounted for 13 of them, with most being S-Level.
He was the fastest Alliance Member to be promoted to Alliance Leader, the creator of the standard-issue Beast Tamer device, and the only legendary Beast Tamer to become an Alliance Leader with only a Tier One Beast Taming Space!
Su Zhi was a bit stunned.
’What have I done to attract the attention of such a major figure?’
"No need for formalities in the Divine Strategy Alliance. Even if you greet us properly, we’re usually too lazy to respond."
Luo Sen said jokingly. His voice was deep and raspy, yet it held a strange, magnetic quality.
"Long story short, your performance on the ring absolutely fascinated me. Your philosophy on Beast Taming is truly one of a kind!"
Luo Sen’s voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"You’ve chosen so many seemingly unrelated Skills, yet you’ve managed to reassemble them into a self-consistent system. Even if that system still has its share of problems..."
"When setting up your Pet Beast’s Skills, you didn’t follow the standardized training system, did you? Your approach definitely isn’t based on the Core Skill system! I knew it! The conceptual unification achieved by the Boya Alliance at the end of the Classical Era was never the only way forward!"
Su Zhi’s eyes lit up. "Were you the one who wrote that paper on Skills and evolution?"
At this, Luo Sen began to tremble even more violently, and the red light on his mask brightened by several shades. "You read that paper, too?
"Excellent! You truly are the one I was looking for!"
Luo Sen patted Su Zhi on the shoulder and shook his hand vigorously. A tongue, far longer than a normal person’s, snaked out to lick his crimson teeth, making him look like a viper.
Su Zhi gave an embarrassed smile. "You’re too kind..."
Although Luo Sen’s facial expressions were a bit bizarre, Su Zhi was secretly thrilled.
’To have earned the recognition of an Alliance Leader Level figure—and Blue Star’s top researcher, who can answer so many of my questions, at that! I’ve hit the jackpot!’
"Alright, that settles it. Samika, take him to go through the Alliance registration procedures."
Samika: "Roger."
Su Zhi: "?"
"Wait, why are we fast-forwarding to me joining the Alliance?" Su Zhi snapped out of his daze just as Samika took his hand and started dragging him off the stage.
"It’ll be more convenient to proceed with our work once you’ve joined," Luo Sen said nonchalantly. "Don’t worry, your job is simple. Just keep raising your Pet Beast as you have been. Leave the research side of things to me. We’ll go on a rampage together."
Su Zhi: "Wait, are we just becoming test subjects??"
Luo Sen: "Isn’t it obvious?"
Su Zhi: "Hold on, uh, you’re not going to haul us off for dissection, are you?"
"Don’t worry, it won’t be that frequent."
Luo Sen grinned. "Besides, it doesn’t hurt that much. I do it to myself all the time."
"FUCK! I refuse! Let me go!!!"
"You’re already here and you think you can leave? Dream on."
Su Zhi struggled with all his might, but while Samika looked slender, his hands had the grip of hydraulic clamps and didn’t budge an inch...
Just as Su Zhi fell into despair, a biting cold wind suddenly swept past—
The Cold and Refined Beauty appeared before Samika with her arms crossed, her beige trench coat whipping in the wind.
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Daily 10,000-word update, day (20/20) + 2! Let’s go!