The chestnut-haired boy, one of the four people Qi Shao and Xie Sen had met in the forest,
laughed heartily at Xie Sen's words and glanced at Rui Luo. "It was Rui Luo who recommended this shop for Leomon to be bathed. This is my friend's contracted beast, and it really doesn't like baths. My friend had something urgent to ask me for. I didn't expect to run into you."
Xie Sen thought, no wonder. Gold Medal had declared that it wouldn't do business with Rui Luo. His presence here, it turned out, was just for company.
Seeing the chestnut-haired boy's bright smile, Xie Sen raised an eyebrow. Was he just nervous or was it just a coincidence?
"Rohat, what are you talking about?" Rilo frowned impatiently. "Leomon is practically tearing this place apart! Why don't you get them to help him bathe?"
The chestnut-haired boy, Rohat, seemed accustomed to Rilo's attitude and didn't seem to mind. He looked at Xie Sen and said quickly, "By the way, can you help me? I wonder if it's because the beastmaster isn't here, but it's resisting baths even more than before."
Xie Sen watched the lion, which ran and roared like a madman, and followed its path. He then stepped back, making sure he wouldn't hit it but was still within reach.
A moment later, the lion ran past him. He reached out and touched its hind legs in time. The lion continued running, pausing briefly before continuing on.
Xie Sen frowned. Aqiang said, "It seems it really hates baths."
He had seen all sorts of difficult contracted beasts become docile after Xie Sen's touch, but this was the first time he had seen Leomon resist so much.
After passing them, the lion didn't continue its circling lap. Instead, it turned to their right and charged directly at the gate—the one they had entered through not long ago.
"Whoa, Xiao Ha, calm down!" Rohat, startled, hurried to the lion's side and urged him, "If you don't want to wash, forget it. Just don't hit it."
Xie Sen quickly approached the lion's tail, carefully maintaining his distance. He reached out and touched its hind leg, cautiously observing its reaction, ready to retreat at any moment.
The lion's pounding on the gate slowed down, gradually stopping. It seemed puzzled, turned its head and glanced back, swiping Xie Sen's wrist with its tail.
Seeing it quiet down, Xie Sen breathed a sigh of relief. He touched its hind leg, then stepped forward and exerted a little force to pull its leg back.
The lion quickly realized his intention and retreated, following his force, all the way to the bathtub. Though larger than many giant lion beasts, it was still quite large. Its entry into the water sent a cascade of water all around, soaking Xie Sen's body.
He didn't really care; this kind of thing was common in the bathing area. He'd just go to the drying room and it would be dry in a few minutes.
"You're amazing," Rohat exclaimed.
Aqiang took out a sterilization pill and smiled, "Asen is the best caregiver in our department."
Xie Sen placed a soothing hand on Leomon and shook his head, "That's exaggerated. I'm just very approachable. I still have a lot of professional knowledge to learn."
Leomon leaned its large head against the shore, its clear, beautiful eyes gazing at Xie Sen, occasionally moving its neck to rub against his palm.
Xie Sen was washing it with a long, soft brush, while Aqiang also had one, washing it from the other side.
"Rui Luo, let's go sit over there for a while. Even though it's so well-behaved, it'll take at least twenty minutes to wash," Rohat said.
Rui Luo's gaze lingered on Xie Sen for a few seconds before he nodded and sat down in the owner's rest area, glancing at Xie Sen from time to time.
Rohat raised his eyebrows: "Why, are you interested in him? Didn't I tell you that he seems to be a couple with Maine. They behaved very intimately in the forest before."
"Oh, you are a hypocritical male with no vision." Rui Luo said sarcastically.
Rohat looked at him strangely: "Weren't you very interested in him before? You kept asking me about him in the forest."
"I just thought what you said was unreliable, so I asked a few more questions." Rui Luo said coldly.
"That's right," Rohat raised his hand to support his chin, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. I'm really not exaggerating at all. Yan Qi tried to form a contract at that time, but failed once and tried again before he succeeded. The only difference between the two times was that Xie Sen was next to the contracted beast on the successful occasion. You said, I doubt that he can make a beast master who has not made the contracted beast surrender form a contract. Isn't it reasonable?"
Rui Luo curled his lips and whispered, "It is indeed reasonable."
Rohat lowered his voice: "Mr. Qiao, don't tell anyone. If you hadn't been curious about what happened to me in the forest, I wouldn't tell anyone. Don't tell anyone."
"Well, I won't tell anyone." Rui Luo stared at Xie Sen and responded casually.
Rohat glanced at him a few times: "I say, you insisted on coming to the Gold Medal with me today. In fact, it was not to accompany me, but to take the opportunity to see Leomon, right? Seeing that you look absent-minded, do you want to go and see it now?"
Rui Luo pondered for a moment: "Okay, I'll go and see, and contact you when I leave."
Rohat nodded: "Okay."
Rui Luo looked deeply at Xie Sen who was bathing Leomon, left the bathing area, and went directly to the feeding area.
After passing through the third area, he was stopped. The security guard at the gate said, "I'm sorry, the area at the back is not open to the public."
Rui Luo looked at him sarcastically, "Not open to the public? Do you know who I am? Can't I go in and take a look?"
"Master Kes," the security guard knew his identity of course. He had been on the hot list for several days some time ago, but there was an order from above that no unrelated personnel were allowed to enter. His voice was not weak at all, "I'm sorry, this is a decision made by the top of our company. No one can enter without the boss's permission."
Rui Luo stared at him, "What if I insist on going in?"
The security guard frowned slightly. He had a particularly bad impression of this person who affected his work, but because of his identity, he had to restrain his temper, "I'm sorry, if you want to force your way in, we have no choice but to notify our colleagues to ask you to leave."
Rui Luo's face was particularly ugly. Seeing that they were unmoved, he said in a cold voice, "I wonder how long your gold medal can be open?"
The security guard watched his back as he left and complained to his colleagues, "Does he think he can do whatever he wants just because his family is powerful? He wants to touch the gold medal, but he doesn't even look at who our boss is."
"He's just a spoiled fool," his colleague replied with disdain.
While Xie Sen was bathing Leomon, he'd been keeping an eye on Rui Luo's behavior. As soon as he saw him leave, he contacted Sun Mao, telling him to keep an eye on Areas Four and Five.
Not long after, Rui Luo returned. Xie Sen noticed he looked grim, and guessed he might want to go see Gigantomon, but was stopped.
Twenty minutes later, Leomon finished his bath. Xie Sen led him to the left side of the pool, where he and A Qiang used a hairdryer to dry his body and mane. Five minutes later, Leomon was a squeaky-clean lion with a flowing mane.
"Handsome!" Rohat rubbed Leomon's neck and praised him, then looked at Xie Sen. "This is the first time I've seen him behave so well in the bath. Thank you so much."
Xie Sen said politely, "You're welcome. This is our job."
Rohat left with Leomon. Rui Luo glanced at Xie Sen and followed him out.
After Xie Sen finished bathing Leomon, he didn't receive any work for a while, so he went back to the break room to rest. He asked Sun Mao why Rui Luo had left earlier, and the answer he got was what he'd suspected.
Around noon, he joined the feeder from Area 45. The two of them, carrying food buckets, went to Area 45 to see the high-level contracted beasts.
The feeder said cheerfully as they walked, "They're so smart! When I got the job, I was worried about getting hurt, but it's easier than feeding a D-rank contracted beast. I even think they understand everything I say."
Xie Sen said, "High-level contracted beasts are naturally very intelligent. This kind of situation should be common, right?"
"No," the feeder shook his head. "It's different. They're the smartest I've ever seen. With the high-level contracted beasts before, I just had to gesture to get them to understand me, but now with Area 45, I don't have to do anything, just talk, and they understand."
He smiled sheepishly, "Sometimes when I talk to my colleagues, they look at us. I even think they're listening to our gossip!"
Xie Sen's lips curled slightly, thinking, "That's not just a guess, that's absolutely true."
The feeder swiped open the gate to the merged area of Areas Four and Five, and the two of them entered together. The feeder whispered, "Look, they're all different species, gathered together, growling lowly, almost like they're having a conversation."
Xie Sen asked, "Can't contracted beasts communicate?"
"Not really. Isn't there a saying that there can't be two tigers in one mountain? The stronger the creature, the more territorial it is. Any one of them is considered a top-tier creature in the forest. They're all so harmonious together. It feels like watching a children's movie."
Xie Sen couldn't help but laugh. He'd seen children's movies before. They were similar to cartoons, often featuring cute versions of contracted beasts. The plot was about them going on adventures or living together, so children could learn about contracted beasts through them.
A tiger roar was heard, and soon a gigantic giant tiger beast ran in front of Xie Sen. The feeder was startled, "What...what's wrong?"
Yesterday, when he was feeding them, these contracted beasts lay still, and he was secretly glad they were doing it. Why were they suddenly so excited today?
Xie Sen grasped the giant tiger's raised front paw and said with a smile, "It's okay. It's saying hello to me. We're quite familiar with this forest."
The feeder, looking at the giant beast so close, dragged the animal food towards the stone trough, keeping his distance. "It's really stressful to stand in front of this guy. You plant-type beast masters are really amazing. Your contracted beasts are so popular."
Xie Sen smiled, "It's just that you have a high affinity."
He listened carefully to the giant tiger's description of the accommodation: "It's nice here. We all like it. But except for the meal time, there's no other creature besides us. It's a bit boring."
Xie Sen was curious: "So how did you guys spend your time before?"
The giant tiger tilted its head: "Rest from hunting... Hmm, that's strange. I didn't feel bored before. When I rested, my mind was always blank. Now I'm always thinking about all sorts of things. Last night, everyone had shared their experiences, and the conversation turned to stories of their ancestors."
Xie Sen's mouth twitched: "Don't you guys need to rest?"
"Rest," the giant tiger beast said. The contracted beasts lying in the same spot called out to them a few times, "They're calling us over."
Xie Sen and the giant tiger beast went to the group of contracted beasts. The eight contracted beasts formed a tacit understanding and lay down in a circle, with their heads facing inward. Xie Sen sat in the middle of them.
Xie Sen thought, thankfully, these were all intelligent contracted beasts he knew. If it were wild beasts, he would have fainted out of fear.
He touched their paws and asked each one about their situation. Each one gave the same response: boredom, and each one said this was something they had never experienced before.
Xie Sen thought about it and figured it had something to do with their increased intelligence. They could understand many things they hadn't before, their minds had broadened, and their memories were mostly from their daily lives. Moreover, now that they didn't even have to hunt, it was normal for them to feel bored.
He said, "Is there anything you want to do?"
The giant tiger said, "I want to listen to people chatting. Human life is so colorful."
The black giant leopard said, "I also want to watch the news. The feeders always start their chats with 'Have you seen the news?' The news must be very interesting."
The spotted giant leopard said, "I want to watch whatever my brother wants to watch."
The two giant elephants said, "I want to watch it too."
The giant wolf said, "And there's TV. They're even discussing the plot of the TV show."
The giant lion lay on the side and shook its tail, "All of them."
Xie Sen looked around, his sight finally stopping at the left wall not far from their nest. He suggested, "How about getting a projector and projecting news or TV onto the wall for you to watch?"
The giant rhino, who had been silent, said in a steady tone. It said: "This will cost a lot of money, right? Yesterday the feeders said, 'What is the boss thinking? So many high-level contracted beasts are left here and not sold, and food is delivered every day. Isn't this a waste of money?'"
It blinked its big black eyes, looking particularly intelligent: "Although we only need to eat one meal a day, we have a big appetite, and food costs a lot of money every day, as well as labor costs and other equipment costs. We thought too simply before, thinking that we can just pay double the food after we recover."
It paused: "But your human society is different from the forest. Living here not only consumes food. If these expenses are added to the projector, it will cost a lot of money, right?"
Xie Sen looked at it in surprise. He didn't expect that a beast could think so much.
The giant tiger beast said, "Yes, the flying rhino beast was really thoughtful."
The giant wolf beast said, "Then what should we do? We should find a way to earn money to pay it back?"
Xie Sen laughed, "Are you thinking of forming a pact with someone else?"
The giant rhino beast said, "The chances of meeting a beast master who is both agreeable and willing to submit to me are incredibly small."
The others nodded in agreement. Xie Sen smiled and touched their paws, "Don't overthink it. You're paying back double the food, and the extra money will barely cover your other expenses."
Each of them needs to eat at least thirty or forty kilograms of meat, which adds up to nearly three hundred kilograms. Large meat costs five star coins per kilogram, so the daily food cost is fifteen thousand yuan, and the rest of the expenses are about the same.
"Ah Sen!!!" Just as he was speaking, the feeder's voice suddenly rang out. He shouted so loudly that the word "Sen" was almost broken, and his voice was trembling, as if he was extremely frightened.
Xie Sen patted the giant tiger beast's paw. The beast stood up and stepped back, making room. A gap opened in the circle of the siege. Xie Sen stepped out through it and waved to the feeder, who was standing not far from the trough. "What's wrong?"
The feeder breathed a sigh of relief, steadying himself on the food bucket. "Scared! I was terrified! I thought they'd surrounded you and eaten you."
He distributed the food to the trough, but when he turned around, Xie Sen was gone. Instead, he saw the eight contracted beasts gathered together, their heads bowed toward the center, practically as if they were eating.
His first thought was that they'd eaten Xie Sen, and he was terrified.
"Nonsense! How could we eat Asen? He's our friend!" the giant tiger beast roared at the feeder.
"I'm a vegetarian," the two giant elephant beasts said simultaneously.
"What nonsense! We don't eat people!" the other contracted beasts yelled at the feeder, expressing their displeasure at his nonsense.
The feeder was just frightened by his own wild thoughts, and now he was frightened by their uniform roars. His legs were as weak as noodles, and he could hardly stand up straight while holding the food bucket.
"What...what's wrong?" the feeder was puzzled. "Are you hungry? The food's ready. Don't be mad at me!"
Xie Sen smiled and shook his head, then walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay. Probably because you're blocking their feeding area."
"Oh, oh," the feeder hurriedly twisted the wooden bucket and headed out. "These aren't enough. We have more."
"I'll help you," Xie Sen said.
The two of them carried five buckets of food in total. After distributing them, they were both exhausted and panting.
"Luckily, except for the giant elephants, they only eat once. Food for the giant elephants is also difficult to find. We even have to go to the forest to find grass," the feeder sighed.
Xie Sen and the feeder watched the contracted beasts finish their food, making sure they were eating normally before leaving.
After leaving Areas 4 and 5, Xie Sen contacted Long Teng directly to discuss the projector installation. He then said, "How much are their daily expenses? I'll transfer them to you!"
The placement of the contracted beasts had been ordered by Long Teng's father himself. Manager Sun and the others certainly wouldn't ask the boss for money, but the expenses were real.
"No need," Long Teng said. "Father's not short of money anyway. I'll have the projectors installed right now, so I'll be there to play with them this afternoon."
Xie Sen shrugged helplessly, looking at the disconnected call. Long Teng's personality was truly impetuous.
He was just about to turn off the call when it rang again. Looking at the contact, a smile crossed his face. Just as he answered, Maine said, "Did you take a break?"
Xie Sen checked the time. "Yeah, I just got off work. How about you?"
"We've finalized the deal. I had lunch with the other party," Maine said, pausing. "I missed you, so I called you under the pretext of going to the bathroom."
Xie Sen's ears flushed slightly, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up. "Didn't we just meet this morning? You weren't so clingy before."
"You're mine now," Maine whispered. "You weren't before. I had no say."
Xie Sen blinked, not expecting Maine to think that way. "We were friends before."
"I don't want you as a friend. You said you could have many friends, but I don't want many," Maine said flatly.
Xie Sen thought to himself, still thinking the same thing as before. Now that their relationship was established, there was no need to dwell on such matters.
He smiled and said, "Don't you have lunch with your partner? Don't delay too long. I'm going to eat too soon and take a nap. I'll go straight home after work."
"Okay," Maine said, not hanging up the call. Xie Sen had no choice but to turn it off.
The gold medal was incredibly fast. After Xie Sen finished lunch and woke up from his nap to hear that the projector had been installed.
He took advantage of his free time to visit Areas 4 and 5. As soon as he entered, he heard a commotion.
A giant tiger beast and a dragon were fighting nearby, while the other seven lay on the ground, watching the news on the projector, occasionally turning their heads to discuss with their companions.
He couldn't help but smile. Watching a group of giant beasts watching TV was fascinating.
He looked at the battle between the man and the beast. The giant tiger beast was huge and agile, and its strength was even more terrifying. Every time it pounced on Long Teng and was dodged by Long Teng, he felt the ground shake.
He watched with trepidation, fearing Long Teng might accidentally get hit.
Luckily, the fight didn't last long before the giant tiger beast stopped. Long Teng laughed and rubbed its neck, "Awesome!"
Xie Sen walked over, rubbed the giant tiger beast's front legs, and looked at Long Teng, "Don't fight anymore. What if you get hurt?"
Long Teng smiled brightly, "It's okay. I just want to experience the power of an A-rank contracted beast."
The giant tiger beast said, "This little fight is fine. I'm just playing with it. If he can't dodge, I'll stop."
Xie Sen praised, "Excellent."
After making sure the contracted beasts were satisfied, Xie Sen didn't stay long. He received his work assignment and left.
The afternoon passed quickly. Near the end of his shift, Xie Sen took on a difficult job, leaving twenty minutes later than usual. When he reached his closing time, he texted Maine, saying he would be leaving later to avoid worrying Maine.
After finishing his work, he went straight to the parking lot. As he was heading towards his shuttle, someone suddenly stepped out from the side and stopped him.
"Rui Luo?" Xie Sen frowned. "Something?"
Rui Luo stared at him and went straight to the point: "Be my partner!"
Xie Sen looked at him as if he were a fool. He didn't understand this man's train of thought at all. He pouted: "Impossible."
Rui Luo didn't expect to be rejected so rudely. He pointed at Xie Sen and said disdainfully: "You are just an adopted son. You have no power, no influence, and no money. If it weren't for the fact that you are a plant-type beast master, I wouldn't even look at you. Don't play hard to get with me, otherwise I might change my mind when you regret it."
Xie Sen rolled his eyes at him: "Change your mind now! Besides, I really don't want to see you at all."
"You!" Rui Luo sneered, "Is it for that useless illegitimate son of Maine? Think about it carefully. You will have nothing if you follow him. I will inherit the Kes family in the future."
"How dare you call others useless?" Xie Sen looked at him in disbelief. "Don't you feel embarrassed saying that?"
Rui Luo's face darkened. He took a few steps forward and waved his hand at Xie Sen. "Who do you think you are? It's not your turn to mock me."
Xie Sen took two steps back and quickly summoned watermelon vines to bind him. "Are you crazy?"
Rui Luo's movements were stopped by the binding. The only free movement he could make was his raised right hand. His face was gloomy, and a strange light flashed in his eyes. "You are indeed a plant-type beast master."
He said this, and with his right hand, he pulled his sharp knife from his backpack and tried to cut the watermelon vine. He couldn't cut it instantly, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. Then, with a strong pull, the vine broke and fell to the ground.
Xie Sen felt a sharp pain in his flesh. His watermelon vine!!!
He summoned the vine, and the ten-meter vine was split into two, about 30% and 70% divided.
Rui Luo approached Xie Sen again, sneering, "If you don't accept my toast, you'll have to pay me back." He reached for Xie Sen's collar. Xie Sen directed three-meter-long vines to bind his hands. Rui Luo was on guard this time. The moment he saw the vines, he backhandedly slashed them with his knife.
He realized that even if they broke, they would still serve Xie Sen well. He cut them short with a sharp movement and continued to reach for Xie Sen.
Xie Sen stepped back, leaning back, allowing another three-meter-long vine to bind his right hand, while seven-meter-long vines bound his feet.
As he leaned back, his slender neck was exposed. Rui Luo glanced over and saw the red mark on it. He said disdainfully, "So Maine has touched him." The corner of his mouth curled up. "Doesn't he always dislike people getting close to him? It seems he cares about you. I suddenly have a better idea."
Xie Sen knew from his gloomy expression that he had no good ideas. Taking advantage of the fact that he was tied up, he kicked him in the waist. "You big-headed ghost, get out of here!"
Rui Luo fell backwards and rolled on the ground. He switched his knife to his left hand and, with a fierce look on his face, cut the vines on his right hand and then went to cut his legs.
Xie Sen saw that this was not right. He didn't want to waste any more energy on him. While his legs were tied, he ran towards the shuttle. As he ran, he thought, he had to find a way to deal with Rui Luo. At the very least, he couldn't let him stay in Star City. This man was like a traitor.
Rui Luo's A-level beast master foundation is really good. He runs very fast. When Xie Sen was about to reach the shuttle, he caught up with Xie Sen and reached out to grab Xie Sen's shoulder.
Xie Sen was about to exchange vines and then summon, when Maine suddenly walked out from the side of his shuttle, stretched out his hand to hold him in his arms, raised his foot sideways, and kicked Rui Luo with great force.
Rui Luo stopped in time, leaned back to avoid his attack.
Maine frowned, and took Xie Sen behind him: "Wait for me here." After he said that, he walked towards Rui Luo with a gloomy face.
Rui Luo's brows were full of hostility. He took a knife in his right hand and swung it at Maine: "You came at the right time, go to hell!"