Hearing the others' conversation, the staff member in charge of coordinating with Professor Asher's institute, that is, the senior employee who previously spoke with the new staff. had an expression of complicated entanglement and mixed emotions on his face.
Others: "?"
"Not what?"
"Did Professor Asher's institute say something…"
"Lily, you're keeping secrets from us. Spill it quickly."
The last speaker was fiercely glared at by the senior employee, "Shut up! Do you still want me to speak or not?"
This senior employee was named Lee Lee.
Whether it was his surname or his given name, they both looked extremely ordinary when seen separately. But when combined, they appeared Lily, he had unwillingly gained a cute English name among classmates, roommates, good bros, and even enemies.
Lee Lee himself resisted it.
He even considered changing his name at one point.
But considering that he met his girlfriend, now his dear wife. because of this name, Lee Lee ultimately didn't change it.
That didn't mean he liked anyone other than his wife calling him by that shameful English name.
"Call me Brother Lee, got it?", Lee Lee's sharp gaze swept across everyone in the office.
Faced with Lee Lee's murderous glare, everyone except the new employee went about their business, completely unafraid.
Afraid of what? Hehehe!
Honestly, Lily's little glance was pretty spicy.
Lee Lee: "..."
"Professor Asher agreed to our interview. It's the day after tomorrow."
A thunderous bombshell was dropped.
The group that had just been laughing and thinking about how to start over all froze in place.
'Huh?'
'Did we… did we hear that right?'
The office fell into silence.
Even the sound of wind could be heard clearly.
No one spoke.
The new employee reacted first, "Brother Lee, how did you do it? Brother Lee, you're amazing!"
The young new employee excitedly gave Lee Lee a thumbs up.
It wasn't flattery.
It was genuine admiration for Lee Lee's strength.
"It's nothing, really," Lee Lee modestly waved his hand, "It's not my credit. If we're being honest, it's actually your achievement."
Saying that, Lee Lee smiled at the young new employee in front of him.
'Isn't it really thanks to this young man.'
'If it were us, we wouldn't have even thought about bravely inviting Professor Asher in the first place.'
This achievement definitely deserved to be recorded.
"Hehe, senior, um…", The young new employee scratched his head shyly, a bashful expression on his face.
The others finally came to their senses.
Everyone swarmed in like a tide.
The speed and coordination, didn't even give the new employee or Lee Lee a chance to react.
The two were instantly surrounded.
"Yay!"
"Amazing!"
"Brother Lee, you rock!"
"Little Trevor also did a great job!"
"Our Asuka is totally going to explode in popularity this time!"
At the end of the workday, the office was filled with excited cheers. Everyone genuinely felt overjoyed.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Work overtime and get the interview draft written!"
"Yes! We can't be sloppy with this! It's best to let Professor Asher's side preview it so they can prepare, and we avoid asking questions that might upset him!"
"Let's all work together! Let's try to get a first draft out tonight!"
"Okay!"
———
At 8:30 p.m., the boss, who had finally finished his outside work, returned to the company and was surprised to find, 'Wait, why are the lights still on?'
'Something seems… off?'
'Did everyone forget to turn them off after work?'
'That doesn't seem right either.'
Their company's staff were super frugal. Turning off lights and unplugging things after work? They were meticulous about that, never forgetting.
Thinking that, the boss walked toward the office, figuring maybe they really had just forgotten?
It wasn't a big deal.
He could just turn it off.
He didn't expect—
"Whoa!", As soon as he opened the door, the boss was shocked by the scene of the entire office working overtime.
The boss's eyes widened. He looked at them in disbelief, "What's going on here? You should've been off work long ago, right?"
While speaking, the boss even pulled out his phone to check the time.
'Yep, 8:38 p.m.'
'This is definitely not a normal work hour at our company.'
"You all are…", After hesitating for a while, the boss spoke in an uncertain tone, looking at the staff in the office.
From senior staff to new hires, everyone turned their heads in unison toward the boss.
Their eyes sparkled with excitement.
Like cats hunting their prey.
The preyed-upon boss: "..."
"Boss!"
"Good news!"
"Big news!"
"We invited Professor Asher for an interview, and he agreed!"
Boss: "Huh?"
A confused look.
An exhausted body.
The boss radiated a silly and adorable aura from head to toe.
He stared at his hand for a while, then at the lights in the office, finally sweeping his gaze across each employee.
Finally, his face showed a look of sudden realization.
"I get it!"
"I must not have woken up yet. I'm dreaming!"
Otherwise, how could he be hearing something so ridiculous.
"Must be because working is too tiring. Maybe I'll take a day off tomorrow… though that's not ideal either. Taking time off means losing my attendance bonus…", The boss muttered as he turned to close the door and walk out.
Lee Lee quickly gave new employee Trevor a look.
"Go!"
"Hold the boss back."
"Good news must be shared together."
"Got it!", Trevor saluted, then rushed over and yanked the boss back inside.
The boss who was suddenly choked by the throat of fate: "?"
'Almost suffocating! Wait!'
'Why haven't I woken up if this is a dream?'
The boss's eyes suddenly widened.
He finally realized, 'I might actually not be dreaming.'
'What I heard might really be true!'
Boss: "!!!"
———
"This Asuka New Media is really quite attentive," The next day, having already received the interview outline from Asuka's preview draft, Asher chuckled as he read the carefully written and formatted questions.
Asher nodded.
It looked like this chosen media partner wasn't bad.
If things went well, he could consider continued collaboration.
Though…
This was still an era of relatively free speech. Having Angel to help Asher manage online commentary and filter rumors was one thing.
But having a practical, reliable partner was even better.
Asuka appeared at just the right time.
Looking over the questions, Asher had no major objections.
They were standard questions, avoiding comparisons or romance. The only slightly sensitive ones were related to his family and views on marriage.
After a moment of thought, Asher didn't cross those out either.
"This will do," Asher set down the document, ready to begin another day of work.
Yesterday, Little Raven was beaten so badly by Flame Dragon Flame Emperor that he couldn't even fight back… well, maybe just a little, but overall Flame Emperor was clearly holding back for Little Raven's sake.
The power gap between a Tier 9 beast and a Tier 6 peak wasn't as simple as three levels.
More condensed energy.
Strength closer to legendary level.
A quantitative change that leads to qualitative change.
Plus, rich experience and mastery of techniques applied in diverse ways… Flame Emperor beating Little Raven was like Little Raven slaughtering a newbie village, effortless and almost too easy.
Little Raven was nearly knocked senseless.
Thankfully, Little Raven held on.
Not only did she hold on, she was incredibly persistent.
Having lacked fighting spirit for a long time, Little Raven now showed renewed vigor.
"Chirp!"
Early morning, just as dawn broke, Little Raven was already urging Asher to get up.
'Training!'
'Meditation!'
'The bird must beat that big guy today!'
Little Raven: OvO
'Bird can do it!'
'Bird will succeed!'
Asher: "..."
"…You really are my little ancestor," Asher looked at Little Raven with helpless eyes.
Could Little Raven do it? Obviously not.
Anyone with a bit of intelligence knew that just one night wouldn't let Little Raven suddenly defeat Flame Emperor the next day.
Did people really think a Tier 9 beast was for show?
But since Little Raven had the thought and the drive, Asher didn't want to crush the kid's enthusiasm.
"Alright then," Asher got up, cleaned up briefly, had breakfast, and began training with all his contracted beasts.
Before leaving, he brought the little sapling out of the room and placed it on the balcony to soak up some sun.
Seeing Little Raven charging ahead, the round little Catworm was also filled with enthusiasm, also known as being mischievous.
"Still a cat at heart," While jogging, Asher looked at his two beasts, one flying ahead, one chasing behind, and couldn't help but sigh.
Although Catworm had dragon traits, with a pair of dragon horns on its head, Asher still felt, 'Yep, way more cat-like.'
As soon as it met Little Raven, the two would spark strange chemical reactions.
Hard to describe.
But as long as Catworm and Little Raven were happy, that was fine.
"We three just keep our regular pace," Saying that, Asher looked at the little white snake, the little jellyfish, and Angel beside him.
Technically, Angel didn't need training, but to make the household look more harmonious, Asher brought it along anyway.
Don't say you're already experienced. What should be trained, practiced, or reviewed, still needed to be done.
Angel: …
'Alright then.'
In this aspect, Angel wasn't that difficult to talk to.
———
When Freya and Clyde got up, they found…
"Professor Asher is up so early?", Freya said in surprise, "Why does something feel… off?"
Looking at the group of beasts surrounding Asher, Freya rubbed her chin in confusion.
She thought for a long time but still couldn't figure out what felt wrong.
At that moment, Clyde walked over and said sharply, "You feel off because Professor Asher looks way too much like a normal beast tamer right now."
Beast professor.
Beast tamer.
In common perception, there was a wall between the two.
Yesterday, during Little Raven's battle with Flame Emperor, since there weren't many beasts around Asher, the contrast wasn't that strong.
But now it was different.
A six-beast team missing just one for full capacity.
And each one looked lively and energetic, wasn't that clearly abnormal?
Was this a normal beast professor?
Was this really a normal beast professor?
Freya suddenly understood: "Oh!"
"No wonder!"
"Now that I think about it, it really does feel that way."
"Seeing him like this, Professor Asher looks super powerful."
Freya exclaimed in admiration.
Clyde, realizing his sister still missed the point: "..."
Forget it.
He knew her intelligence level.
Why make things hard for himself?
As long as it looked okay on the surface.
'Good enough.'
Clyde's gaze swept across Asher's beasts one by one.
Although it wasn't possible to precisely judge their strength from appearance and aura alone, with Tier 6 peak Little Raven as a comparison, Clyde could roughly estimate the others.
The most eye-catching one was clearly a mechanical-type beast.
But also the hardest to gauge.
Given that it was recently contracted, its strength likely wasn't that high, around Tier 3.
Then the one chasing Little Raven, chubby and round, blue with what looked like a pair of dragon horns on its head, the Catworm… its strength should be just a bit below Little Raven's.
Even if not Tier 6, it should be near the threshold.
Next, the entirely white Jade-Silver Snake, whose scales shimmered with soft rainbow light under the sun.
A very unique color.
Even though most Jade-Silver Snakes were white, this one still seemed unusually special.
Its aura was gentle and calm, almost unnoticeable.
But its golden eyes were quite striking.
Strength-wise, it was probably around Tier 4 or 5.
Finally…
Clyde's gaze landed on the small jellyfish floating midair, pulsing steadily.
Clyde: *Brain has stopped thinking*
Clyde's eyes said: 'This little thing looks kind of familiar, doesn't it?'
Clyde's brain said: 'Looking familiar isn't that unusual, right? It's a jellyfish. They all look like this.'
Eyes: 'Think more carefully. Familiar! Very familiar!'
Brain: 'No! I don't think it's familiar at all.'
Eyes: 'Do I need to give you a hint myself?'
Brain: 'What are you saying? I don't understand!'
Eyes: 'Box jellyfish!'
Brain: 'Hey hey hey? I've gone offline!'
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