'Huh?'
'For real?'
'Are you sure this isn't a joke?'
Everyone's minds went blank, and they all had the same thought.
'This, this, this... If this is true…'
Just thinking about it made their hearts burn with excitement, beyond words or description.
There were already very few mutated beasts.
And among them, there were also beasts that mutated in a bad direction. Who wouldn't feel heartache seeing that?
They certainly would.
But if what Asher said was true.
["This isn't something you can joke about. Can you take responsibility for what you said?"], Charlotte wasn't doubting Asher because she didn't want to believe him. It was just that the weight of this matter was even heavier than she had imagined.
Even over the phone, Charlotte could hear the inexplicable amusement in Asher's voice, "Of course, I can."
"In fact, I already have a successful case."
Charlotte: "?"
Jasmine: "?"
The eavesdropping crowd: "?"
'Wait, what?'
'This guy just told us about this.'
We're still doubting the authenticity of his words, and now he's telling us he's already succeeded?
The workhorse of the production team… Ahem, no, isn't this level of diligence a bit excessive?
"Hah, just luck, a coincidence," Asher could easily sense their shock.
But for him, this was just another ordinary day.
Sigh.
As if this was the first time they had met him and hadn't been shocked before.
Shouldn't they be used to it by now?
Fortunately, Charlotte and her colleagues didn't hear Asher's inner thoughts. Otherwise, they would have definitely yelled: "Used to it? Just how are we supposed to get used to something like this?"
"It's absolutely impossible to get used to it, okay?"
The shock on the other end of the call didn't affect Asher at all. Instead, he burst into laughter uncontrollably.
He was in a great mood.
["Professor Asher, what exactly is this successful case you're talking about?"], Thankfully, Jasmine hadn't forgotten about this matter and quickly pressed on.
"The one you've seen—Little Raven."
Upon hearing this, Charlotte and Jasmine, who had seen Little Raven with their own eyes, displayed expressions of shock and disbelief.
Some words were getting repetitive, but they still wanted to scream, ["For real?"]
…Forget it.
Both of them took a moment to adjust their mindsets.
Meanwhile, the others who hadn't seen Little Raven showed curious expressions.
What kind of pet beast could make Inspector Jasmine and Team Leader Charlotte so shocked?
"Inspector, tell us about it!"
"Team Leader, stop keeping secrets from us!"
Jasmine and Charlotte turned to look at the few eavesdroppers nearby, their gazes filled with speechlessness.
"Did you all forget something?"
'Huh? Huh? Huh?'
'Forget what?'
Their eyes were full of confusion.
"You guys—"
"—are eavesdropping."
The others: "..."
'Oh, oh, oh!'
'Damn!'
'Professor Asher's words are just too interesting.'
They had completely forgotten about that.
See?
As soon as Charlotte and Jasmine reminded them, they remembered.
But it was too late.
Their faces showed varying degrees of awkwardness.
Ahem… So, uh, if they apologized, could they still get an explanation?
Charlotte sneered and couldn't be bothered to deal with these guys.
She turned back to her phone and spoke to Asher.
["Alright."]
["Professor Asher, keep researching. I got your point."]
Why was Asher bringing this up now?
Obviously.
Asher wanted to express that he didn't care about research results he had already understood. He would keep moving forward, always chasing new goals.
And these new goals would only become more and more thrilling.
Even more shocking.
Affinity evolution?
Never mind that what those people got was only a half-finished product, even if it were a finished product… No, if the real deal got leaked, the internal investigations would be endless.
After expressing his thoughts.
And casually laying the groundwork for the upcoming "atavistic evolution" research, guiding things toward further mutation, he made his point clear.
Asher briefly said a few more words and then hung up the phone.
Naturally, Jasmine and Charlotte had no objections.
Professor Asher's time was precious.
It couldn't be wasted.
He needed to keep researching.
———
Meanwhile.
Standing at the doorway of Charlotte's office, her colleagues, who had gone from sneaky eavesdropping to openly listening, sent her pleading puppy-dog eyes.
'Like, please explain!'
The idea that different mutations in beasts could hold significance… They were practically dying of curiosity just from listening.
Looking at the office door that was now completely blocked, Charlotte rolled her eyes dramatically, "You guys are just taking advantage of the fact that I'm easygoing."
"Hehehe!"
The group chuckled mischievously.
They knew that Team Leader Charlotte was someone who was easily softened.
"Stop grinning like fools. If you keep this up, I'll add more work to your plates," That said, Charlotte still spoke up, "You may not have seen that pet beast, but you should all know about it."
"The one Asher used in the Newcomer Tournament. The bird-type pet beast he used at the end."
With this reminder, everyone instantly recalled.
They were all familiar with the pet beasts Asher had used in the competition.
'Little Raven…'
"Wait? You mean that mutated Oriental Peacock? Wasn't that Oriental Peacock evolving in a better direction?", someone exclaimed.
Little Raven's performance in the competition was unforgettable to anyone who saw it.
Even if they hadn't seen it live, watching the recordings would leave a lasting impression.
Besides Asher's weird-looking cat-dragon, the most memorable was definitely that big bird.
It had forced a Golden Armored Wyvern to bow.
It had instantly crushed other powerful pet beasts.
They had assumed Asher had discovered a special Oriental Peacock evolution path. And since it was clearly evolving in a stronger direction, even though he hadn't shared the path, they could understand.
After all, not every Oriental Peacock could meet those conditions.
However, there were also plenty of people privately speculating about what kind of experiments and research Asher had done with his pet beasts.
Ahem!
Asher's pet beasts were just too strong.
Not to mention, he carried the title of "Genius Professor of Pet Beast Evolution Research."
Maybe?
Just maybe?
But they never expected…
"Well, thinking about it now, I guess it makes sense… That Oriental Peacock's evolved form was indeed a bit smaller than other evolved Oriental Peacocks."
"I didn't think too much about it back then and just assumed it was a special evolution path, but now…"
That Oriental Peacock was probably originally very small.
No wonder they said it had mutated in a bad direction.
It all connected.
That said.
The more they thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
How could such an absurd person exist in this world?
———
[Imperial Spire]
"Idiots."
Dr. Veyl, after seeing the fiasco in Cold Nation and Eastern Nation, didn't hesitate to comment.
It was idiocy, plain and simple.
A tiny bait, he barely even had to do anything, and those two countries jumped at it.
Why Cold Nation and Eastern Nation? The former was a small country desperate to gain international influence.
If it had been a smarter or more passive country, getting their hands on a half-baked research report that looked real but wasn't fully developed might have made them hesitate.
Would they even be able to use it in the end?
But for the desperate Cold Nation, that wasn't a problem. They would only see it as an opportunity.
Even if they knew it was a trap, the prospect of real research results and international status was enough to make them dive in headfirst.
As for Eastern Nation?
Dr. Veyl simply found them annoying and decided to mess with them for fun.
If they took the bait, great.
If they didn't, no loss.
But unexpectedly, Eastern cooperated so well that the whole situation became even more amusing.
However…
Something about Soren's reaction was off.
They should've made some moves by now.
Why were they still so quiet?
Did they not care?
Or… were they truly not worried?
Based on Dr. Veyl's understanding of Soren, the likelihood of the latter option was quite low.
But just the thought that it might be possible made Dr. Veyl inexplicably angry.
If Soren truly didn't take this seriously… then they couldn't blame him for digging into their foundations this time.
Soren Beast Tamer Alliance: "?"
———
"Achoo—", Asher sneezed, rubbed his nose, and casually waved his hand under the concerned gazes of the other researchers.
"It's nothing."
It was either someone talking about him or someone thinking about him.
Either way, there was no way it was because he caught a cold.
Asher was already quite used to this kind of situation.
Wasn't it just because his brilliance was too dazzling, making people unable to stop discussing him?
'Stay calm, stay calm.'
'Let others say what they want; I still have plenty of things to do.'
"Professor Asher, this powder really works," Pierce looked at the latest comparative experimental results in his hands, his face breaking into an excited smile as he turned toward Asher.
Asher nodded.
Not too surprising.
Half of it was within his expectations.
The Chase couple and Levi also gathered around, carefully examining the latest evolution state of the Silverfang Tigers.
Previously, there had only been one successful evolution of a Silverfang Tiger. Among fifteen Beast Tamer soldiers, only one person's Silverfang Tiger had successfully evolved.
This made the new evolution path of the Silverfang Tigers somewhat uncertain.
Just when Levi and the others were still struggling to figure out what had gone wrong. Whether there was a missing step preventing the other Silverfang Tigers from evolving, or if the two successfully evolved Silverfang Tigers had some undiscovered special trait—
That was when Asher took out a special red powder, carefully selecting five Silverfang Tigers for testing through comparison and reference.
An astonishing scene unfolded.
Among the five Silverfang Tigers, three successfully evolved.
Everyone could swear, this was definitely not a coincidence. It was undoubtedly related to the mysterious red powder that Asher had taken out.
"Professor Asher…", As he spoke, Pierce's gaze suddenly became a little tense as he looked at Asher.
Asher: "?"
"Well, um…", Pierce stammered as he spoke, occasionally glancing at the Chase couple and Levi.
The people he looked at all quickly averted their gazes, looking as if they weren't guilty at all, despite clearly acting guilty.
Asher narrowed his eyes.
If he didn't know for sure that his research institute would never allow bullying to happen, he might have suspected that Pierce was being threatened.
"Uh…", Seeing that no one would back him up, Pierce finally closed his eyes, steeled his resolve, clenched his teeth, and loudly asked: "Professor Asher, is that red powder your secret weapon?"
"Something you've been privately researching?"
"Is it really okay to just give it to us like this?"
Pierce's shout echoed throughout the research institute.
Even the nearby Beast Tamers turned their heads toward them.
Asher: "…"
Asher fell silent.
His gaze slowly swept over everyone present.
Although they really didn't want to meet his eyes, the moment Asher looked over, they all gave him an expression that clearly said: "We know this is wrong, but we still choose to stand by you, Professor Asher."
Asher was speechless.
"…Forget about outsiders, but you guys have been following me for so long and still don't know what kind of person I am?", Asher covered his forehead with one hand, truly astonished by the way their minds worked.
"No? In your eyes, am I really someone with no bottom line?"
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