Sokto, his face dark, slammed the binoculars to the ground. His expression shifted constantly, filled with inward resentment.
He'd made a mistake; he shouldn't have listened to that old man, and he wouldn't have fallen out with Maine.
He clenched his fist, determined not to let Maine continue growing stronger. Now that they'd found the Wyvern, perhaps soon he could form a bond with the Lion!
Shesen hadn't expected to see Sokto so suddenly. He noticed Maine's hand tightening around his waist unconsciously, and thinking about Maine and Sokto, he couldn't help but worry.
He placed his left hand on Maine's hand, and Maine relaxed slightly, resting his chin on Shesen's shoulder, concealing the coldness in his eyes: "I'm fine."
Shesen teased, "Who said you're fine? I just wanted to touch your hand."
He then said to the black dragon, "Slow down, you'll fall if you go too fast. The Giant Python and the Giant Armored Beast are still down there."
"Okay, I'll go down and find them now," the black dragon said, flying downwards.
As they approached the ground, they saw the giant python coiled up, its head raised, growling softly. The armored beast stood beside it, and opposite them were Huo Feng and the giant wolf beast.
Maine jumped down from the black dragon's back, carrying Xie Sen. Xie Sen looked at Huo Feng in confusion: "Why are you here?
Didn't you say you'd take Xue Yue to a mountain closer to the mining area? This place is far from the mining area!"
Huo Feng jumped off Xue Yue, rubbing her neck. "After entering the mountains, Xue Yue was attracted by energy and came here," he said, his gaze involuntarily falling on the black dragon, unable to hide his surprise. "Is this a flying dragon beast?"
Xie Sen nodded. "Yes," he paused, "I hope you can keep the matter of energy a secret."
Huo Feng said, "Okay, I won't say more."
Xie Sen smiled, glancing at the aircraft flying overhead. "Has Sokto been cleared of suspicion?"
Huo Feng nodded. "He was released this morning. Was he in the aircraft?" Huo Feng asked, puzzled. "What was he doing here? And he turned back so soon after arriving."
Maine sneered, "Probably came to deal with me, but seeing the flying dragon beast, he realized he had no chance and left."
Huo Feng had heard about... Hearing this, Maine, who was familiar with many rumors about the Kex family, wasn't surprised: "What are you going to do? He's cleared of suspicion and will continue to serve as the head of the garrison on A-Mining Star. If he wants to frame you
, it won't be difficult." Maine said, "It was a bit tricky before, and I needed to make more preparations. His coming here in person is perfect timing." A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "We've discovered his hidden gold crystal mine. He's probably here to move it."
Huo Feng was taken aback, but quickly understood his meaning. He smiled and said, "In that case, we need to notify the investigators as soon as possible. If we're too slow, the investigation team may have already left A-Mining Star." Maine nodded in
agreement, opened his bracelet, asked Huo Feng for the contact information of the investigation department, and then sent a message.
Huo Feng looked at Xie Sen: "I tried to contact you before, but your communicators all showed no signal."
Xie Sen said: "Maybe we were underground at that time."
Huo Feng suddenly realized: "Where did you find the gold crystal mine?"
Xie Sen pointed to a mountain not far away: "Under that mountain." He was worried about the network of underground passages and the large amount of gold ore in the Black Dragon's new territory.
He reached out and touched the Black Dragon's scales: "Is there any way to prevent anyone from discovering your new territory?"
The Black Dragon gave them the ore from the old territory, and they could decide how to use it, but there were many interconnected paths underground. When the investigators went to the old territory to check the gold ore, they couldn't help but be curious about the other paths.
If they followed the paths, they would eventually find the Black Dragon's new territory, which was full of the Black Dragon's treasures. If they were taken away, it would be furious and no one could control it.
"That's simple. Have A-Jia seal off all the paths leading to my new territory, and no one will be able to find it." The Black Dragon said casually.
Xie Sen was surprised: "Can a giant armored beast dig a hole and fill it in?"
"Of course! Just pile up the extra soil from digging the hole, right? It's very simple."
His tone, as if stating common sense, made Xie Sen feel his intelligence was being questioned. Seeing the black dragon turn to block the road for the giant armored beast, he had a flash of inspiration and quickly called out to the black dragon: "Wait."
The black dragon turned to look at him, and he stroked the black dragon's scales: "Don't touch the new territory. Leave one entrance in the old territory, and block all the other roads, turning that into a single cave. Later, some people will go in to move ore. If they discover other roads, they will definitely be curious and investigate. Blocking the old territory will reduce the workload." As
he spoke, he looked at the giant armored beast: "With such a wide road, won't we be too late?"
The black dragon said: "We'll be fine. A-Jia is very powerful." It turned to tell the giant armored beast Xie Sen's request, and the giant armored beast responded with a soft cry, then turned and walked towards the old territory.
As it walked, it raised its head and let out a long "whoosh...whoosh..." sound.
Soon, rustling sounds filled the air. Xie Sen looked to the side and saw many pangolins suddenly emerge from the soil, rocks, and vegetation, all running towards the giant armored beast.
The giant armored beast led its summoned companions to the black dragon's old territory and soon disappeared from their sight.
Xie Sen exclaimed, "Amazing!"
The black dragon proudly wagged its tail: "The underground paths were all dug by the pangolins."
Less than twenty minutes later, the giant armored beast returned. It roared at the black dragon, then looked at Xie Sen. Xie Sen reached out and stroked its long, pointed snout. The giant armored beast's eyes lit up, and it nuzzled against him, saying, "So comfortable."
Xie Sen said, "Thank you, you've worked hard."
The giant armored beast buried its head in its chest, looking very shy.
"They're here," Maine said.
Xie Sen looked up and saw an aircraft hovering above them, moving very slowly, circling around, presumably looking for a place to land.
Finally, the aircraft landed on a nearby rocky mountain, and four males in black uniforms descended one by one via a traction ladder, jumping to the summit.
The aircraft didn't leave, continuing to circle around.
After landing on the mountaintop, they quickly descended, heading towards the address Maine had provided, and soon met up with Xie Sen and his group.
The four were stunned when they saw the Flying Dragon Beast, the Giant Python Beast, and the Giant Armored Beast: "Oh my god, am I seeing things?!"
"It's actually a Flying Dragon Beast! That's so cool, it's the first time I've ever seen a real one."
After their exclamation, their gazes quickly swept over Xie Sen and the other two, finally settling on Xie Sen, whose wrist was still wrapped in the black dragon beast's whiskers.
"I recognize you, you're a 'Contracted Beast.' You're here, so the live stream is really being broadcast by the Contracted Beasts themselves?"
"Incredible!"
Xie Sen smiled at them, offering no definite answer.
One of the tall, blond men spoke up, asking, "Did you contact the investigation team?"
"Yes," Maine replied. "Soctor came by just now, but he left when he saw us."
He didn't elaborate, but the implication was clear. Why did Soctor suddenly come here? And why did he leave as soon as he saw people? Was it because he felt guilty?
The blond man said, "We met him on the way. Tell us what you found."
"Follow me," Maine said.
The group moved to the black dragon's old territory. Upon entering, Xie Sen was momentarily confused, thinking he had gone to the wrong place. The area, which had previously been dotted with passageways, was now a closed cave, surrounded by walls except for the entrance they had taken.
As a result, the light from the gold crystal ore did not radiate outwards, making it appear even brighter.
The black dragon let out an excited murmur. Xie Sen quickly grabbed its whiskers with a flick of his wrist: "Don't go over there."
If the black dragon went over, it would give them away. Seeing that the black dragon liked the ore, the investigation team could easily link the ore to the contracted beast.
His touch made the black dragon feel exceptionally comfortable, and it obediently lay down next to Xie Sen, rubbing against his arm.
The four members of the investigation team took photos around the area to document the scene, then used their spatial backpacks to pack all the gold crystal ore. The blond man said to Maine, "Thank you for your report. We will continue our investigation, and we may need your cooperation later."
Maine said, "I will cooperate."
The blond man then asked, "Why did you come here?"
Maine looked at the flying dragon, his purpose obvious.
The blond man didn't press him further about how he knew the Flying Dragon Beast was there. The secret to finding contracted beasts was a closely guarded secret, one that no one was willing to share; otherwise, high-level contracted beasts wouldn't be so expensive.
The investigation team worked efficiently, taking the gold crystal ore and asking a few more questions before leaving.
Once outside the cave, Huo Feng asked, "Xue Yue brought me here. I'm planning to call a flying vehicle to pick me up on the way back. Do you want to come along?"
Xie Sen asked the black dragon, who replied, "I want to be next to you."
Xie Sen pointed at the black dragon and said, "We don't need the flying vehicle anymore; it will take us back."
Xue Yue nuzzled Huo Feng, "I'm not tired. I want to go back with them. I want to chat with them."
So none of the three called for a flying vehicle. Xie Sen and Maine sat on the back of the black dragon, which flew overhead, while Xue Yue carried Huo Feng below, traveling alongside the giant python and the giant armored beast.
The three of them moved very quickly, chatting happily as they went.
The black dragon would occasionally fly over to them and chime in, before returning to the air.
"The live stream Xueyue was talking about sounded really fun!" Black Dragon asked excitedly. "It said there are lots of intelligent contracted beasts there. Can I play with them?"
"Of course," Xie Sen laughed. "If you appeared in the live stream, the audience would be amazed."
"I want to go!" Black Dragon said immediately.
Xie Sen said, "They're on Brant Star. If there's nothing else, we can leave tomorrow."
At this point, Xie Sen was a little worried. With their large size, the spaceship that brought them could barely fit them, but their space would be very limited. He didn't know if they could stay still for eight hours.
However, if Long Teng could successfully form a contract and put the flying dragon beast in the space capsule, it would take up much less space.
The group caused a huge commotion when they returned, as the flying dragon beast was extremely conspicuous in the air.
Soon, a large crowd gathered around their lodgings, all there to see the high-level contracted beast. Among them were miners on leave and military personnel, all with expressions of excitement and envy.
"Who are they? They've only been here a day and they've already found an S-rank contracted beast and two A-rank contracted beasts!"
"I don't know. The contracted beasts in the mountains are all wild and difficult to deal with. It's unbelievable that they're so docile around them."
"If I had known there were flying dragon beasts in the mountains, I would have gone in to look for them too. Maybe one of them would have been mine."
"Forget it. If you went, you might not even be able to save your life."
Xie Sen looked at the three big guys and asked Huo Feng, "Is there a bigger place?"
Huo Feng nodded, "There's a basement."
The basement was well-lit, as bright as day. The three were easily settled in the basement. They were used to living underground and didn't feel any discomfort.
The black dragon kept its whiskers wrapped around Xie Sen's left wrist. Xie Sen was a little worried. The flying rhinoceros beast had formed a contract with him immediately after he recovered the energy, and the black dragon beast had also been greatly affected by the energy. He felt that the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be.
He reached out his right hand and touched the scales on the black dragon's head: "I'll call my friend over. The sooner you form a contract, the better for you."
"I don't want a beast master who's too weak." The black dragon said the same thing again.
Xie Sen smiled: "The contract is a choice made by both parties. If you're not satisfied, no one can force you."
The black dragon rested its head on the ground: "Let him try."
Xie Sen activated his bracelet and contacted Long Teng. Long Teng answered quickly, his voice light and cheerful: "Ah Sen, what's up?"
Xie Sen switched the voice communication to a video call, enlarging the virtual screen so Long Teng could see the entire basement scene: "Main and I are on A-Mining Star right now. Do you have time to come over?"
"Ahhh..." Long Teng saw the black dragon's head at a glance, jumped up from the sofa, pressed his face against the virtual screen, his eyes shining brightly, too excited to speak for a moment.
"A-Teng, what's wrong with you?" A deep voice came, followed by a gentle voice, "Yu, be gentle with your son. Something must have happened, otherwise A-Teng wouldn't be calling like that."
Xie Sen was both amused and helpless, and asked directly, "A-Teng, do you have a way to get a pass to A-Mining Star? If not, I'll try to take them back tomorrow."
"Sure!" Long Teng snapped out of his daze, his gaze fixed on the black dragon. "It's so perfect! I'll get there as soon as possible, I'll definitely be there today!" As he spoke, he kept staring at the screen, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Father, I want to go to A-Mining Star, I'm going right now!"
"You brat, you're so impulsive! Where are you going to move stones? I'm not making any arrangements!"
A handsome man appeared behind Long Teng, his hand on Long Teng's shoulder. His voice was gentle: "A-Teng, don't get so close to the screen. What are you going to A-Mining Star for?"
"Dad," Long Teng turned his head, revealing the screen. Xie Sen, hearing his address, immediately recognized the man and greeted him quickly, "Hello, Uncle."
An Ming, seeing the black dragon beside Xie Sen, paused for a moment before replying, "Hello." He turned to Long Yu and said, "Long Yu, quickly arrange for Ateng to go to A-Mining Star."
Long Yu's deep voice was filled with dissatisfaction: "A-Ming, you called me by my full name for this brat!" As he finished speaking, he also moved closer.
Xie Sen marveled at the good genes of the Long family and greeted them again, "Hello, Uncle."
Long Yu's eyes lit up as he looked at the black dragon, then after a while, he shifted his gaze to Xie Sen: "Hello." The next moment, he disappeared from the screen, and Xie Sen heard him ordering the preparation of the spaceship and permits.
"Ateng, did you bring the S-Class Contract Beast Space Detachment with you?" An Ming asked.
Long Teng nodded: "Yes."
Xie Sen laughed. It seemed Long Teng's father had a lot of confidence in him! Long
Teng stared at the black dragon for a while before turning to the other two contracted beasts. He couldn't help but say, "So cool! Xie Sen is amazing! You must call me when you go out next time! I want to go on adventures, but my father and the others won't let me go alone. I've sneaked away a few times but they haven't caught me. Ahhh, it's such a pity I didn't get to meet the flying dragon beasts with you guys."
Seeing his annoyed expression, Xie Sen couldn't help but laugh. The book started with Long Teng going on a trip, and he had indeed sneaked out, getting into quite a few dangerous situations because of his terrible sense of direction.
He nodded, "Okay, I'll tell you next time. If you have time, you can come with me."
Long Teng smiled brightly, staring at the black dragon's forehead for a long time, "What's this?"
Xie Sen didn't hide anything and told him about the black dragon. Long Teng had witnessed the entire process of red energy recovery and instantly understood the black dragon's situation. He turned to An Ming and said, "Dad, where's the shiny thing?"
"I'll go prepare it."
Long Yu's subordinates were very efficient. Twenty minutes later, Long Teng was personally taken to the spaceport by Long Yu and An Ming to board the spaceship and depart.
It was lunchtime. Xie Sen spent some time with the black dragon before going to lunch with Maine.
The black dragon lay quietly on the ground, staring at the shiny ore on its forehead, its mood peaceful.
After lunch, Xie Sen checked on the contracted beasts, making sure they were all normal, then went back to his bedroom to take a shower and prepare for a nap. Maine pulled him into his arms, his fingers gently stroking his face. He grabbed Maine's hand: "Stop fooling around, last night was chaotic enough. Rest for a while, and go check on the black dragons when you wake up." "
Don't worry, they're very powerful, no one can hurt them." Maine lowered his head and kissed his forehead, holding him tightly. "Go to sleep."
Xie Sen closed his eyes, then opened them again after a while, and sure enough, saw Maine still looking at him. He asked helplessly, "What's wrong?"
Maine was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "Nothing."
Xie Sen's thoughts shifted: "Did seeing Sokto make you think of something?"
Maine hugged him tightly, and said in a deep voice, "You're not him...you can't be him, you wouldn't lie to me."
Xie Sen hugged him back, feeling uneasy. He hadn't told Maine the whole truth; he had concealed his origins and identity.
"I like you," he said, "and I want to stay with you forever. Just remember that."
Maine loosened her grip slightly and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Yes, I will always remember. Go to sleep."
Xie Sen was awakened by a scream. He opened his eyes abruptly, sat up, and Maine patted his shoulder. "Don't panic, let's go see."
Xie Sen calmed himself and went out with Maine. They met Huo Feng at the stairwell, and the three of them went downstairs together.
"Mr. Huo," a mercenary standing at the door called out, looking nervous, "Someone has sneaked in and been dragged out by the giant python."
Xie Sen rushed to the door and saw a person wrapped around the giant python's tail, waving in the air. The person wrapped around it was screaming shrilly; he had just been awakened by this sound.
Tuan Tuan was jumping around on the giant python's head, chirping incessantly, like a cheerleader.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the door, many of them looking terrified.
Xie Sen hurriedly called out, "Amang!"
The giant python turned its head to look at Xie Sen, then flew around and landed on his shoulder, chirping lightly.
Xie Sen approached the python, and someone cried out, "Don't go any closer, it's dangerous!"
Xie Sen ignored them, and the dangerous scene the onlookers expected did not occur.
The python's head was close to Xie Sen's, its tail still swinging back and forth over the man it was holding. The man's screams grew weaker and weaker.
Xie Sen stroked the python's head: "Let him go, he might die if he goes any further."
The python's tail drooped to the ground, releasing the man. The man's legs gave way and he fell to the ground, then quickly scrambled to his feet and ran outside, only to be caught by the mercenaries hired by Huo Feng and thrown out the door.
The giant python curled up, instantly reducing its footprint. Xie Sen asked, "What happened?"
The python replied, "He drugged me, trying to do something bad!"
Xie Sen frowned and quickly asked, "Are you alright?" "We
're fine. A-Jia has a very keen sense of smell; he detected it as soon as he sprayed the drug."
Xie Sen was relieved and quietly relayed the python's words to Maine.
Maine walked up to the man, who was pale with fright, and without hesitation stepped on his ankle, bent down, grabbed his collar, and swiftly stripped him naked.
Maine tore off the spatial backpack from the man's neck, operated the bracelet for a moment, unlocked the backpack, and took out its contents: a 500ml spray can and an A-grade contracted beast spatial clasp.
"Give it back!" The man, shirtless, tried to snatch his belongings back.
Maine kicked him away without hesitation, opened the spray, and sprayed him: "Want to use it on contracted beasts? Why don't you try it yourself?"
"No!!!" The man hurriedly covered his face, "I'll die!"
Xie Sen said irritably, "You're using this on contracted beasts? Don't you think about whether they'll be hurt?"
"They'll just be unconscious, they'll be fine," the man hurriedly said.
Maine's fingers held a spatial clasp: "Want to knock them unconscious, then put them in the spatial clasp and take them away?"
The man shrank into a ball, not daring to answer, but the facts were right in front of him, and there was no point in arguing.
Xie Sen didn't expect anyone to obtain contracted beasts in this way, and was furious: "Contracted beasts are our companions, protected by law, how could you do this?"
At this moment, the military arrived: "I heard that a contracted beast injured someone?" He pointed at the man shrank into a ball, then looked at the giant python, "What happened?"
Xie Sen quickly explained the situation. The military questioned the surrounding people and checked the building's internal surveillance footage, confirming that the man wanted to steal the contracted beasts, and took him away.
Xie Sen returned to the hall, still unable to contain his anger and worry: "Are there many people who treat contracted beasts like this?"
Maine replied, "Not many. This is the method of contracted beast dealers, the most dangerous practice. Contracted beasts are powerful, and accidents can easily happen. Although they won't attack humans unless provoked, they will fight back without hesitation if attacked. Those discovered have almost no chance of survival."
Xie Sen stroked the giant python curled up beside him: "Is it because of us that they didn't kill anyone?"
"Yes," the giant python replied gently.
Xie Sen praised, "Very clever."
He went to the basement to check on the black dragon and the giant armored beast. The two were lying on the ground, quietly communicating, looking very relaxed.
Xie Sen stroked their scales one by one, praising the giant armored beast. The giant armored beast rubbed against his hand, burying its head in its chest, still very shy.
At seven o'clock in the evening, Long Teng arrived at Mine Star A. He had been urging the driver along the way, taking an hour less time than Xie Sen and the others.
Xie Sen and Maine went to the spaceport to pick him up. When they saw Long Teng emerging from the exit, Xie Sen's lips twitched. This was too flashy!
Long Teng wore a gleaming gold chain around his neck, and diamond bracelets wrapped around his wrists and elbows. His clothes were cartoon-patterned and covered in jewels, sparkling as he moved.
"Are you... afraid people won't know your family is rich?" Xie Sen couldn't help but tease.
Long Teng scratched the back of his head, flashed a bright smile, revealing eight gleaming white teeth: "Didn't you say that dragon beasts like sparkly things? I was even thinking of wearing silver reflective glasses, but Dad was afraid I'd fall and hurt myself, so he wouldn't let me."
Xie Sen thought to himself that it was a good thing he wasn't wearing it. Noticing the stares from all around, he grabbed Long Teng's arm and pulled him outside, saying, "Let's go quickly."