Through Angel, Asher also learned about this news in one ear: "?"
Asher's face showed an extremely vivid expression of confusion.
"Wait, what?", There was no one around Asher, so he muttered to himself in bewilderment, "This f***ing..."
"Good guy."
"I'm calling 'good guy' out loud."
After processing it, Asher's face was full of shock and indescribable emotions.
'So, these so-called geniuses are actually just hyped-up frauds?'
'And their fraud might even be more complicated than just being fake?'
One person plagiarizing another? But the things they produced were exactly the same.
In short, it was a total mess.
Hard to evaluate, hard to comment on.
'Forget it,' With that thought, Asher waved his hand, 'Just treat it as a fun piece of gossip.'
Due to certain sentimental attachments from his past life, Asher found it quite amusing to watch Eastern Nation's drama unfold.
Drama and scandals. Those are always the best when they happen in someone else's backyard.
Especially when it has absolutely nothing to do with Soren. Asher almost wanted to cheer and clap, 'Fight! Fight!'
If they don't start fighting, it would be a disservice to all the nations they've mocked.
And Soren? Still not part of this mess. Because Soren was universally acknowledged as standing on a different level.
Ahem!
"Right," Suddenly thinking of something, Asher asked, "Do we know what research results they published?"
That, Angel did not know.
There was no clear answer for Asher.
So Asher just listened casually and immediately tossed the matter out of his mind.
After all…
He had something far more important to focus on. His talent skill, [Eye of Insight], had evolved.
72 hours had passed.
When the panel unfolded in front of Asher once again… Well, the UI of the panel hadn't changed much. But when he looked at his pet beasts, he immediately noticed the difference.
Originally, all pet beasts had the same uniform blue panel with black text.
Asher had almost gotten used to it.
But now…
Little Raven's stat panel had turned brilliant gold. Even the panels of Cat-Worm, Little White Snake, and Little Jellyfish were tinged with a faint layer of gold.
Not as dazzling as Little Raven's panel.
Asher: "?"
After some thought, Asher glanced outside at the soldiers training the Silverfang Tigers.
Among the fourteen Silverfang Tigers, only one had a faint golden shimmer on its panel. The other thirteen remained the same as before, blue panel, black text.
Seeing this, Asher stroked his chin.
"Gold, huh...", Asher stood by the window, gazing outside, flipping through his panel while deep in thought.
Very quickly, he understood what this golden color represented.
Atavistic Evolution.
Or rather, pet beasts with the potential for Atavistic Evolution.
Their panels changed from the normal blue to this brighter gold, marking them as different from ordinary pet beasts.
Little Raven's panel being pure gold? That was proof Little Raven had already completed Atavistic Evolution, moving one step closer to the mythical Three-Legged Golden Crow.
As for the other three pet beasts.
"Cat-Worm and Box Poison Jellyfish are within my expectations."
Whether it was the Cat-Worms and Cat Dragons found in the Forbidden Land, or this extraordinary Box Poison Jellyfish. They were all very special.
Only Little White Snake was unexpected.
Its smooth, delicate scales slithered along Asher's wrist and into his clothes. Its now arm-thick body coiled around his arm, causing his heart to race slightly.
Yeah.
Too cold.
A reflexive reaction.
Definitely not because he was startled.
Absolutely not.
Lowering his head, Asher met Little White Snake's golden eyes, which gleamed even in the dim light.
Asher: "..."
Alright.
Little White Snake was just as special as the other three.
As if sensing Asher's thoughts, Little White Snake contentedly stopped moving and lazily rested its now-heavy head on his shoulder.
Asher: *Speechless*
So what could he do?
Just forgive his three treasures, as always.
Asher sighed.
Pretending nothing had happened.
But now, he couldn't wait to see Cat-Worm and Little Jellyfish's evolution paths.
"Hmm… Let me take a look."
He found their evolution paths.
And then…
Asher frowned slightly, "The Atavistic Evolution process is still ongoing?"
'So, their evolution paths hasn't fully formed yet?'
Asher locked eyes with Cat-Worm's chaotic, messy eyes… then tried to lock eyes with Little Jellyfish.
Little Jellyfish doesn't have eyes.
"This is ridiculous… Little Raven didn't have any issues when it evolved!", Asher complained loudly.
Little Raven: (￢_￢)
Little Raven shot him a look that spoke volumes.
'No issues?'
'I spent two whole years in that breeding facility!'
'TWO YEARS!'
Asher: "..."
'Almost forgot about that.'
Indeed.
For Little Raven, those two years were when its mutated bloodline was slowly transforming. By the time Asher found it, its bloodline transformation was already complete.
New problem: "Back then, my skill shouldn't have been able to detect Atavistic Evolution, so why did I see Little Raven's evolution path?"
Asher carefully compared the panels of his four pet beasts.
Specifically, the differences between Little Raven and the other three.
By focusing on Little Raven, he quickly pinpointed the key issue.
A special buff that only appeared when viewing Little Raven's past evolution path.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[[Evolution Method]: If the Beast Tamer and pet share a strong enough bond… it will successfully evolve into 'Three-Legged Golden Crow' (must complete the entire process within 400 days after initiating evolution; otherwise, this evolution path will be lost permanently).]
[Note: The evolution of fire-type mythical creatures can be observed through special means. Furthermore, their evolution process can be accelerated (the bodily fluids of fire-type mythical creatures possess similar properties).]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asher: "!"
*Shocked*
'That explains everything.'
At the same time, Asher took out the Three-Legged Golden Crow Blood Crystal he had obtained from the Red Soil Secret Realm.
"Fire-type mythical creatures… The Three-Legged Golden Crow itself is a fire-type mythical creature."
Little Raven's buff applied to itself.
Then… Asher suddenly remembered the Blood Crystal he had fed the Silverfang Tiger during the Jin City competition.
Asher: 'I see.'
The clue had been right in front of him all along.
But without the intuitive data from his talent panel, he had lacked the final key to connect everything together.
"This is good stuff," Asher stared at the Three-Legged Golden Crow Blood Crystal in his hand with genuine admiration.
Absolutely incredible.
Versatile functions.
Multiple uses.
And most importantly—its final ability: It could help other pet beasts undergo Atavistic Evolution.
Thinking about it… it actually made sense.
Fire-type mythical creatures' flames always carried special properties.
Like the Three-Legged Golden Crow's Sunfire.
Other legendary flames included Samadhi True Fire, Departure Fire, etc.
Fire burns away the impurities in the bloodline, making it closer to its original mythical form… Sounds reasonable.
Anyway, Asher had convinced himself.
Next.
Asher turned his head to look at Little Raven, as if staring at a massive natural treasure trove.
Little Raven: *Afraid*
Not afraid of the heavens, not afraid of the earth, no matter what beast it faced, Big Sister Little Raven could confront them head-on.
Yet under Asher's fiery gaze, which was even hotter than its own flames, Little Raven silently took a step back.
Little Raven: 'This is not fear! Just expressing a bird's respect for its Beastmaster!'
'Yes!'
'That's all!'
'Absolutely no other reason!'
Whether Asher believed it or not was another matter.
"Don't be scared," Asher smiled, gently stroking Little Raven's sleek and glossy feathers, his face carrying a warm smile, "Little Raven is my precious treasure. How could I possibly do anything crazy to you?"
Drawing blood or anything like that—
Asher hadn't even considered it.
'Isn't there still the Red Soil Secret Realm?'
There were plenty of Three-Legged Golden Crow blood crystals inside.
And last time, due to time constraints, he hadn't fully explored the entire Red Soil Secret Realm.
Maybe there were even more treasures related to the Three-Legged Golden Crow?
No rush.
The "gate" was in his hands now, so Asher truly wasn't in a hurry.
Little Raven believed him.
Little Raven pretended nothing had happened and hopped back toward Asher, rubbing against his palm a few times.
"But if that's the case…", Asher's gaze shifted from his own pet beasts to the group of Silverfang Tigers and their Beast Tamers outside.
Promoting the Silverfang Tiger's atavistic evolution path was going to be a challenge.
Promoting atavistic evolution for other pet beasts would face similar problems.
Asher could understand, why atavistic evolution had never been discovered before.
Atavism.
This one key factor alone eliminated countless pet beasts.
A singular case could never serve as a reliable example.
"Even so… I feel like I should do something," Asher rubbed his chin, beginning to ponder.
'Could atavistic evolution be popularized?'
'Hmm…'
'Difficult.'
Just the concept of "atavism" alone would be hard for people to accept.
But what if he approached it from a different angle?
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through Asher's mind.
He thought he could give it a try.
Not long after leaving the research institute, under the puzzled gazes of other researchers, Asher threw himself into another round of research.
He could do it.
Give him some time, and he could make up anything.
———
[Star City]
[Bar]
Finally on vacation, Charlotte was eager to drag Jasmine to every possible fun spot.
She even started checking how many accumulated vacation days she had left, considering whether to use them all at once for a trip.
But before Charlotte could decide—
A breaking news notification instantly disrupted her plans.
Jasmine watched as Charlotte took out her phone, glanced at it, and her expression suddenly changed.
Jasmine: "?"
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Charlotte's grim face, Jasmine asked with concern.
Charlotte quickly skimmed through the message on her phone.
As if unwilling to accept it, she read it again.
But neither the message nor the attached file had changed.
Charlotte weakly propped her arm on the table.
"What the hell just happened…? I f***ing—", Mid-sentence, Charlotte slammed the table and shot up in rage.
Instantly, everyone in the bar turned to look in her direction.
Charlotte didn't care in the slightest. She started cursing loudly, spouting a long string of words that would absolutely get censored.
The onlookers immediately averted their gazes.
Mm.
Definitely not because they were scared of Charlotte's furious expression.
They were just… simply uninterested in this kind of woman.
"…This dogsh*t nonsense!", After swearing non-stop for ten minutes, Charlotte finally sat back down, still fuming.
Jasmine could easily judge his state. Seeing that most of her anger had been vented, she finally asked again.
"What happened? Can you tell me?", Jasmine knew some things at the Alliance Headquarters couldn't be casually disclosed.
But judging by Charlotte's reaction…
"I can tell you," Charlotte sneered, "At least, I can definitely tell you."
"It's all because of those two *** from Cold Nation and Eastern Nation!", She opened her mouth but eventually waved her hand, "Too complicated to explain. Just see for yourself."
"Your department should be receiving related updates and missions soon anyway."
Charlotte pushed her phone toward Jasmine.
Jasmine frowned and read through it quickly.
Then—
Just like Charlotte earlier, her brows furrowed more and more.
"What the—?"
The urge to swear was right at the tip of her tongue. At this moment, Jasmine completely understood why Charlotte had reacted like that earlier.
'What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this?'
'What did I just read?'
The file on Charlotte's phone wasn't anything else. It was the so-called "research findings" from those two geniuses in Cold Nation and Eastern Nation.
And it wasn't even a completed product, just a half-finished report.
A proposal related to the "Extreme Project."
The most crucial element, also the key to Soren's success in the "Extreme Defense" project, was affinity.
But in these two half-baked research papers, it wasn't directly named "affinity." Instead, they described it as "a unique connection between Beast Tamers and their pet beasts" or "the special love between Beast Tamers and their pet beasts."
Upon reading this—
Jasmine wanted to type a big question mark.
Was she overthinking it, or was she overthinking it?
Something about this phrasing just felt off.
Maybe it was just foreign wording and sentence structure?
Jasmine ignored that part, it wasn't important.
The real issue was—
"I don't believe they came up with this on their own," Jasmine's voice was icy, and her delicate features were covered in a frosty aura, "I don't believe in this kind of coincidence."
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