Free Web NovelChapter 143: Chapter 129: Selena: "?
"SHHH..."
Not long after the Leo Group dispersed, the rain dwindled to a drizzle.
A bonfire burned in the cave. The two humans and three Pet Beasts sat around it, dressing each other’s wounds as their shadows danced peacefully on the rock wall.
Su Zhi held one of Yu Bao’s paws, aiming the suture needle at the gash. "Hang in there, Yu Bao. This might hurt a little."
"Woof," Yu Bao huffed, shaking his head disdainfully.
’How could a tough guy like me be afraid of a little pain?’
’Even if it did hurt, as a refined and cultured Wise One, I would never let it show...’
The cold tip of the needle suddenly touched the flesh of his wound!
Yu Bao instinctively trembled, let out a "whimper," and buried his face in Su Zhi’s arms, starting to bawl.
"Ooh?" The Little Black Fighting Emperor raised a middle leg to scratch its head.
’My good brother, that ’whimper’ of yours doesn’t sound right.’
Shao Ya covered her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh as she watched Yu Bao. Xiaoyue lay across the girl’s lap, tucking in its paws as it watched the idiot.
Seeing Yu Bao looking like he was about to die from grievance, Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He waggled the needle at him. "That hurt you? I haven’t even pierced the skin yet..."
"Ooo," Yu Bao whimpered, looking pitifully at the needle, then back at the wound on his paw. His button-like black eyes glistened with tears.
’It looks so painful. Can we just not suture it?’
’Just let me rest in the Beast Taming Space and I’ll be fine!’
Su Zhi shook his head. "No. It could get infected before we get to the hospital in the activity zone. A Tier Two Beast Taming Space’s healing effects aren’t that strong yet."
"The healing Effect of a Beast Taming Space on a Pet Beast also varies by its tier."
"Tier One to Tier Three Beast Taming Spaces don’t have any real medical capabilities. They can only speed up the healing of wounds that would have healed naturally anyway, and prevent scarring in some cases."
"Starting from Tier Four, the Beast Taming Space truly possesses a certain healing Effect and can delay fatal injuries."
"Woof..." Yu Bao’s head drooped dejectedly.
’So after all that, you’re saying this wound has to be stitched up no matter what.’
"That’s right." Su Zhi’s true intentions were revealed as he brandished the pet-use suture needle.
"...Woof!" Yu Bao gritted his teeth, shut his little eyes, and resigned himself to his fate.
’Bring it on!’
"Okay, I’m starting."
"..." Watching the glittering needle weave through his wound, Yu Bao’s four paws trembled, and it felt like ants were crawling all over him.
Logically speaking, getting a wound stitched up shouldn’t be as painful as getting pecked a few times by the King Leou. He hadn’t cried when that happened; he had even acted like a total badass and bitten back.
But now, with Su Zhi by his side, Yu Bao felt that even getting a small wound stitched was so painful he wanted to cry.
So, Yu Bao buried his head in Su Zhi’s chest and cried quietly. This way, he could wipe his tears as he cried. When Su Zhi asked him about it later, he could deny everything and maintain his persona as a tough guy and a Wise One.
Feeling the dampness spreading on his chest, Su Zhi chuckled silently and secretly quickened his suturing.
In less than a couple of minutes, he had finished stitching up Yu Bao’s wound.
Field suturing for Pet Beasts was a required skill for high school students. After all, for a Beast Tamer, having a Pet Beast with reduced or lost combat ability was a very dangerous thing.
Fortunately, although Yu Bao’s wound looked gruesome, it hadn’t damaged any muscles or bones. A simple suture would suffice, and once the training exercise was over, they could go to the hospital in the activity zone to have a medical-type Pet Beast treat it.
Su Zhi had used a 95% Earth Element suture thread. Once Yu Bao’s wound healed, there would be no need to remove the stitches; they would naturally be absorbed by his body.
"Alright, it’s over."
"Woof..." Only then did Yu Bao pitifully poke his head out.
’Maybe it wasn’t that painful after all?’
When he looked up, he saw Su Zhi watching him with an expression that was both reproachful and pained.
"If I had known this was how you’d execute the tactic, I should have stopped you."
Su Zhi’s face was stern. "We’ve fought so many matches, you should know better, right? Going head-to-head with a One-star Exotic Beast is by no means a wise move."
"Woof," Yu Bao mumbled, lowering his head and licking his lips.
’I knew I might get hurt, but it was the only way we could win. I wanted to create an opportunity for Big Brother Xiaoyue and the Little Black Fighting Emperor.’
"And what if you had been injured more seriously?"
Su Zhi looked into Yu Bao’s eyes. "If you were severely injured, what would be the point, even if we had defeated those Leos?"
"Field training is full of unknowns. Even without those Leos causing trouble, we might still have ended up empty-handed."
"This isn’t an arena; it’s a real battlefield. Sacrificing everything for a win like you would in a ring is absolutely not worth it, and it’s not something I encourage!"
Yu Bao had already decided not to cry anymore, but after Su Zhi’s scolding, his eyes welled up with tears again, and he buried his face in Su Zhi’s chest.
"Woof!"
Yu Bao’s sobs echoed from his embrace. He was wrong. He would never be so reckless again!
Su Zhi had a couple more criticisms ready, but Yu Bao’s crying made him forget them. He could only give a helpless smile and ruffle the little guy’s head.
"Anyway, I’m just glad you’re okay. Don’t do it again."
Yu Bao nodded.
Su Zhi let out a sigh of relief, but when he turned his head, he flinched.
The white-haired, blue-eyed girl was glaring at him, her small face stern and her delicate nose slightly wrinkled.
"Hand," Shao Ya forced out the single word stiffly.
Su Zhi held out his right hand to Shao Ya. From repeatedly punching the King Leou earlier, the entire back of his hand was a bloody mess.
The girl took his right hand and studied it for a moment before glaring at him. "And you were lecturing Yu Bao? You’re an even bigger idiot."
"Ah, I’m probably a little better than him, right?"
"Woof?"
Su Zhi and Yu Bao tilted their heads in sync.
"Bullshit! What kind of Beast Tamer personally gets into a fistfight with an Exotic Beast? Is your fist harder than a Leo’s head?"
The girl’s throat bobbed slightly. "What if it still had the strength to counterattack? Did you really think you could handle it? One peck from that thing and your hand would’ve been gone!"
Su Zhi lowered his head and took the criticism.
Sensing her tone was a bit harsh, Shao Ya bit her lip and didn’t say any more. She just held his fist in both hands, stroking it carefully for a moment.
"Does it still hurt?" she asked softly.
Su Zhi replied instantly, "It was a little painful, but it’s much better now..."
"You and your smooth talking."
Shao Ya efficiently took out some medical disinfectant and poured it onto his wound.
Su Zhi let out a "HISS," his right hand instinctively flinching back before quickly returning to the girl’s palms.
Shao Ya smiled gently and finished wrapping his hand with gauze.
Su Zhi’s injury wasn’t serious, just scraped skin from using too much force. A little disinfectant to prevent inflammation would be enough.
"There, all done." Shao Ya blew a puff of warm air onto his fist and slowly let go.
"Anyway, I’m just glad you’re okay. Don’t do it again!"
She said, imitating the tone Su Zhi had used to lecture Yu Bao.
Su Zhi looked at Yu Bao, and they both started laughing. The atmosphere instantly lightened, and even the dancing bonfire seemed to burn a little brighter.
"Ooh!"
Just then, the Little Black Fighting Emperor’s cry came from outside the cave.
The two Beast Tamers and their Pet Beasts looked outside in unison and saw the Little Black Fighting Emperor returning, carrying the King Leou’s remains on its horns.
For a Black Fighting Emperor, even lifting an object several times its own size was an easy task!
"Ooh ooh!" The Little Black Fighting Emperor waved at them with a middle leg.
’This one is huge! We can roast it and eat for a long time!’
’Has it already forgotten it just had dinner three hours ago?’ Su Zhi was dumbfounded for a moment, then chuckled. He took a closer look, only to see a point of light flickering on the King Leou’s chest.
’Could it be a resource?’
Besides naturally occurring field-type and plant-type resources, many powerful Exotic Beasts could also generate resources.
For example, a Leo would generate a crystalline, golden octahedron near its heart—the Tier Two Wind and Electric Element resource, the Cyan Thunder Cone!
At this thought, Su Zhi rubbed his hands together in excitement.
’No wonder this Leo suddenly broke through to One-star. It was because it had grown something.’
Although they couldn’t use a Wind and Electric Element resource, who would ever complain about having too many resources? At worst, they could take it back and trade it with someone else for something good.
There were quite a few people at school who had contracts with Cyan Feathered Falcons, and the Cyan Feathered Falcon’s next stage was the Thunderbolt War Falcon, which required a Wind and Electric Dual Attribute resource for the transition.
Similarly, Yu Bao also needed to absorb an Earth and Fire Dual Attribute resource in advance to prepare for his next evolution.
They hadn’t found a suitable resource yet, but if they took this Cyan Thunder Cone back to trade, maybe they could get one?
The two of them walked over to the King Leou’s corpse.
However, when they got closer to inspect it, they discovered it wasn’t a Cyan Thunder Cone at all, but a pitch-black sphere with faint, glowing blue patterns.
"What kind of resource is this? Why isn’t it in the codex?"
Su Zhi asked curiously, looking at his phone as the scan failed to find a match.
The specialized Beast Tamer device had 239 common natural resources loaded into its database, but this black sphere couldn’t be identified. Su Zhi had never seen anything like it in his textbooks either.
"I don’t know, I’ve never seen it either."
Shao Ya shook her head. Seeing Xiaoyue cautiously poke it with a vine, her eyes glinted. "But it doesn’t look dangerous."
"Alright."
Su Zhi reached out and plucked the black sphere off.
’Might as well.’
·
「One minute later. Activity Zone Command Center, the plaza in front of the main gate.」
A swift, ice-blue shadow streaked across the sky, like a mythical glacier appearing in the Current World, accompanied by the faint cry of a phoenix.
Then, the icy shadow vanished.
A woman in a sharp, beige trench coat landed steadily. Her ice-blue hair whipped around in the fierce wind before settling messily over her shoulders.
The person in charge, Yang Guannan, who had just stepped outside, hurried forward to greet her. "Captain Sai? I didn’t expect you to be so fast..."
"Clearing out a few Two-star Exotic Beasts that were in the way delayed me by a few seconds."
Selena didn’t stop for a moment, striding quickly toward the command center. "This unusual activity doesn’t seem to be a beast tide. The Divine Strategy Alliance is still investigating the specific cause."
"Currently, the Flying Shadow Alliance and the Cui Feng Alliance have entered a Level 2 combat readiness state and have increased border patrol density. There’s no need for you to be nervous."
"Yes..." Yang Guannan followed behind her, secretly wiping away a bead of sweat.
The Cui Feng Alliance was the strongest combat division among the Nine Great Alliances, functioning as a professional army. The fact that even the Cui Feng Alliance had been deployed meant this matter was far more serious than he had imagined.
The good news was that this level of seriousness probably wouldn’t affect Huai City.
"How are the two students who were attacked by the Leos?" This was Selena’s main concern.
Even though she had been informed that a supervising teacher was monitoring them the whole time and that the two students were temporarily safe, she still felt uneasy.
It was, after all, a One-star wild Exotic Beast, not something two high school Beast Tamers could handle.
Selena felt it would be best to see for herself to be sure.
And then...
She saw a King Leou that had been turned into a corpse.
"Um, you’re too late," a technician whispered, starting the replay for her.
"???"
After watching the replay of the battle, Selena stood frozen in place. Her mouth hung open, and the cowlick of ice-blue hair on top of her head seemed to curl into a question mark.
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