They really weren't any kind of strange people. Clearly the strangest one should be Asher.
"The temper of a pet beast... Sigh! Better not even mention it."
"Exactly, exactly! The more powerful they are, the more bad-tempered they usually are."
Kloster and Vicky were chiming in one after another, and as they spoke, their eyes met with mutual understanding, as if seeing a kindred spirit.
Wuwuwu! Thank goodness there was at least one person here who understood them. Otherwise, in this situation, they'd feel even more wronged.
Professor Jorge had a completely disbelieving expression.
"In the past, my wife got along just fine with a Noise Flower."
Vicky's face showed a bit of doubt.
He'd heard of this beast called Noise Flower, but had never actually seen one.
He simply assumed it might be an easygoing beast.
Kloster was different. He hadn't just heard of the infamous Noise Flower, he had seen it with his own eyes.
Just how Noise and troublesome a Noise Flower could be...
'Tsss!'
Just thinking about it made Kloster's face twist with a bit of pain.
"…Sister-in-law is a true hero," Kloster gave Professor Jorge a big thumbs-up.
Then Kloster snapped out of it.
He'd heard some things about Professor Jorge too. Including some discussions about Professor Jorge's family.
Kloster had a rough idea of what kind of situation Professor Jorge's wife was in.
That previous comment had just slipped out subconsciously.
Once he realized, Kloster quickly checked Professor Jorge's expression.
Thankfully, he didn't look particularly angry.
Kloster finally let out a breath of relief.
He hurriedly changed the topic, "But you're really pretty amazing too."
After all, Professor Jorge's wife couldn't hear how Noise Noise Flowers were, Professor Jorge, on the other hand, could.
Upon hearing that, Professor Jorge waved his hand, "I was just…"
Before he could finish, Professor Jorge shook his head with a smile.
The thoughts he'd had back then… even now, he found it hard to describe.
That was a feeling that only existed in that moment.
Since Professor Jorge wasn't giving Kloster and Vicky that creepy stare anymore, his gaze and attention shifted completely to Asher, who wasn't far off.
While they were talking, Asher was still digging through the pile of goop that the Nightmare Flower had vomited out.
Through Asher's persistent effort, he finally managed to dig out an item from that black, gooey mess.
Asher held the Cat-Worm and stood up.
He first took it to the side to clean the claw that had been used for digging.
Then he put the Cat-Worm down.
Regaining its freedom, the Cat-Worm whooshed away from Asher.
Cat-Worm: (ー`ー)
Brow furrowed.
While rubbing its claw, the Cat-Worm looked like it kind of wanted to return to Asher's side again.
And then… it got pinned down on the rump by Little Raven's much quicker paw.
Little Raven: (*￣︶￣)
'Hehe~ You were taunting the bird earlier, weren't you, little underling?'
'Well now, it's payback time!'
'Take this!'
As the great battle between Little Raven and the Cat-Worm began—
Bird flying, cat jumping—
Kloster, Vicky, and Professor Jorge couldn't help but shift part of their attention over to the spectacle.
Only Asher, remained perfectly calm, calm to the max.
What was there to be surprised about? Stop them? Even less reason to.
Tch! Whether it's Little Raven or the Cat-Worm, they were probably already used to this level of roughhousing.
Totally normal, nothing unusual.
Asher didn't pay them any mind and instead picked up a clean cup of water, turned, and walked over to the object he had unearthed.
He rinsed it repeatedly with water, and only after confirming that there was no residue from the Nightmare Flower's stomach (probably stomach?) fluids, did Asher bend down and pick the item up from the ground.
Just as Asher had expected, there wasn't even a trace of shock or surprise on his face.
It was nearly identical to the fragment Asher had spent eight million on before.
The reason it's "nearly" is because this was also a fragment.
Very similar to the one Asher already had in his hand.
Judging from size alone, it was slightly bigger than the one he currently held.
Vicky came over when he saw this.
"Whoa!", Vicky couldn't help but exclaim, "Such a big piece. If someone tried to sell this to you, they could easily get eight to ten million for it."
Asher: "..."
Asher shot Vicky a look.
'Go play somewhere else.'
Asher carefully wiped the fragment clean and compared it with the one he already had.
Seeing this, Professor Jorge walked over too.
"This is…"
Unlike Vicky, who already knew the backstory, Professor Jorge had no idea about either of the fragments in Asher's hands.
At most, he only knew that one of them had been fished out of that pile of goop.
Asher held up the larger one, "This was just vomited out by Hua Hua."
Then showed the other one, "I bought this at the Clove City market."
Professor Jorge's eyes moved back and forth between the two fragments in Asher's hands.
They were nearly identical. Could be pieced together.
But even pieced together, there was still a missing section, about one third to one quarter.
"This thing… is there some problem with it?", Professor Jorge frowned. After hesitating a moment, he still voiced his biggest concern.
What exactly was this thing? Would it negatively affect Hua Hua's body?
Asher chuckled.
How should he put this?
Professor Jorge's focus was… a little off.
But it was also very much in line with the Professor Jorge that Asher knew.
Compared to anything else, he was more concerned about Hua Hua's condition.
Asher didn't hide anything, "I'm not entirely sure what this thing is or what it's used for, but it probably doesn't have any negative side effects."
"Mm…"
Saying this, Asher pondered for a moment and continued.
"Hua Hua might have some issues with her body. That fragment might have been helping suppress it to some extent."
Seeing the anxious and flustered expression on Professor Jorge's face, Asher quickly added, "But this piece that Hua Hua just vomited up is now useless to her."
Professor Jorge froze when he heard that.
What did he mean it's now useless?
Professor Jorge wasn't a fool.
A real fool could never become an excellent pet beast evolution research professor.
His mind turned slightly.
Recalling the strange behavior Asher had shown earlier, Professor Jorge instantly understood.
He gave Asher a grateful look.
Professor Asher… truly was his benefactor. A great benefactor.
Professor Jorge didn't say anything aloud about this.
It was understood.
As long as the two of them knew, that was enough.
"Thank you, Professor Asher," Professor Jorge said with heartfelt gratitude, "You mentioned that Hua Hua might have some issues, what exactly do you mean?"
Kloster had also walked over.
Listening to the conversation between Asher and Professor Jorge, he felt half-confused and half-understood.
"Power," Asher didn't mind Kloster coming over.
This wasn't something that had to be kept secret anyway.
Just a quick comparison would make the issue clear.
"When Hua Hua evolved from Noise Flower into Nightmare Flower, her power went directly from Tier 7 to Tier 8, low level."
"Although that's a bit exaggerated, given the special form of evolution, it's not incomprehensible."
Vicky, Kloster, and Professor Jorge all nodded.
That made sense.
Evolution, for beasts, was essentially a huge leap in all aspects. A little exaggeration was understandable.
"But now, Hua Hua's power is Tier 8, high level."
Professor Jorge: "???"
Vicky: "???"
"What the heck!", Vicky couldn't hold back anymore, "Did she eat concentrated fertilizer or something?"
No need for anyone to answer, Vicky shook his own head, "Even if she ate fertilizer, it wouldn't go up this fast."
"One year? From low-tier to high-tier? And it's still Tier 8. This is practically riding a rocket."
The strength of a pet beast was originally harder and harder to improve the stronger it got.
Whether it was a wild beast or a contracted pet beast of a Beast Tamer, this was an unchanging rule.
But Hua Hua's situation… Was a bit beyond their normal understanding.
Kloster at the side: "?"
"No way?"
"From Tier 8 low-level to Tier 8 high-level?"
"How is something like that possible."
Kloster let out a gasp of disbelief.
'Fake! This must be fake!'
He couldn't believe that something like this could actually exist.
'Damn it! Why can't my own pet beast improve that fast?'
Kloster swore, he wasn't envious, he really wasn't envious. Just a tiny, tiny bit of shallow jealousy.
That's completely normal, right?
Professor Jorge also realized the seriousness of the issue.
"Strength increased too quickly...", Professor Jorge murmured, his eyes involuntarily filled with some panic and helplessness.
Professor Jorge looked at Asher as if asking for help.
Asher patted Professor Jorge on the shoulder, "Calm down, it's not as serious as you think. At least Hua Hua's condition looks fine for now."
Corruption, what kind of Corruption?
Asher actually had several guesses.
He had seen many Corruption sources.
Not all Corruption sources were harmful to pet beasts.
For example, the most likely one right now… Asher guessed it was mythical energy.
Yes, mythical energy that had leaked out was also a kind of Corruption to ordinary beasts.
If they endured it, they could gain benefits. If they couldn't… then death was the final outcome.
Calling it a type of Corruption was definitely not wrong.
Rapid strength increase was also brought by mythical energy.
However...
Asher's gaze once again fell on the fragment in his hand.
'Can this thing suppress the negative effects that mythical energy brings to beasts?'
Asher couldn't help but feel surprised.
He knew, he had seen what happened to those beasts who absorbed mythical energy but couldn't truly control or use it.
If Hua Hua ended up like that... Asher showed a somewhat headache-inducing expression.
Better not to think about it.
The more he thought, the more he troubled himself.
But if it really was mythical energy, this matter didn't seem that troublesome to Asher.
After all, he had even seen remnants and afterimages of actual mythical creatures.
Among his contracted pet beasts, there were those already advancing toward the direction of mythical creatures.
Whether it was Little Raven, or World Tree Lily, that was the case.
As for the evolution direction of the other pet beasts… Asher didn't think they wouldn't also be headed toward the path of mythical beings.
Asher's gaze swept around the room and finally landed on World Tree Lily.
World Tree Lily, who suddenly felt like her little branches were bearing weight that didn't belong to her: "?"
'Wait a second? Why are you looking at me?'
World Tree Lily shook her branches.
The others just instinctively followed Asher's gaze and looked over, and then they saw a thing that looked like a potted plant. Their eyes looked even more confused than World Tree Lily's.
"What is this?", Vicky couldn't hold back his curiosity and leaned over close to World Tree Lily, even poking it with his finger a couple of times.
As expected.
Something unexpected happened.
Vicky was smacked twice, hard, by World Tree Lily's shaking branches.
"Ow ow ow!", Vicky clutched his fingers and yelled, "Pain pain pain!"
"What the heck?"
Vicky's face twisted in pain as he stomped his foot and looked toward Asher, his voice full of disbelief, "This is your pet beast?"
It wasn't just Vicky who was surprised. Kloster and Professor Jorge also looked quite shocked. Even Hua Hua tilted her head.
'Huh? Pet beast? This isn't just a potted plant? Wood-type pet beasts don't usually look like this, right? Isn't the disguise a bit too good?'
"What kind of beast is this?", Professor Jorge pulled out a pair of glasses from the pocket of his lab coat and put them on, staring at World Tree Lily with eyes full of academic curiosity.
Asher said helplessly, "Professor Jorge, weren't we talking about Hua Hua's condition?"
"Oh oh oh!", Professor Jorge, who had already taken a few steps forward, suddenly snapped out of it like he just came to his senses.
"Seeing a novel beast, I just couldn't help myself for a moment... ahem!"
As he said this, even Professor Jorge felt a little embarrassed.
He had invited someone over. But ended up getting distracted by the other party's pet beast and even wanted to personally study it.
Just what kind of situation was that.
"No worries," Asher shook his head.
What else could he do?
Forget it. Occupational habit.
He just had to understand a bit.
"Hua Hua's problem, I should be able to deal with," Asher said, and before Professor Jorge could get happy, Asher continued.
"But no onlookers allowed," As he spoke, Asher looked toward Professor Jorge.
Kloster and Vicky's opinions weren't important.
Professor Jorge didn't expect Asher to say that, and his expression looked a bit complicated.
After thinking carefully a few times.
Professor Jorge still nodded in agreement.
"As long as it's good for Hua Hua...", Professor Jorge's voice sounded a bit difficult, "Then there's no problem."
Asher smiled slightly, "Don't worry."
"I'll do my best to return you a Hua Hua you can take home safe and sound."
So now—
Clear the field! Cooperate a little!
The situation was just as Asher had thought.
The Corruption on the Nightmare Flower's body did indeed come from mythical energy.
But this made Asher even more curious about the fragment that Hua Hua had vomited up.
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