Chapter 15: Maine

“Eh, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you think flying dragon beasts are cool?” Long Teng saw that Xie Sen had stopped, and wasn’t saying anything, so he reached out and patted his shoulder.

Xie Sen came back to his senses, and nodded perfunctorily. “Cool.”

He looked at Long Teng, who was smiling brightly, with a complicated expression. Long Teng and the main character in the book were indeed very similar, but Maine…

He hadn’t finished reading the book, and had stopped when the boss villain appeared. At that time, Long Teng was strong enough to guard Star City. He destroyed Maine’s plan, and finally got to the point where he could defeat the boss villain.

He remembered very clearly that the author described Maine’s handsome and unparalleled appearance with heavy ink, which he agreed with. But the Maine in the book was surrounded by a brooding temperament, possessed ruthless tactics, and wasn’t at all like the person he knew.

And…Maine Cox’s contract beast was a flying lion beast. Like the protagonist Long Teng, they were both S class contract beast masters, while the handsome man’s contract beast was a giant lion beast, A class.

Could it be that he misunderstood, and the person A’Meng said was Maine Cox wasn’t the handsome man he knew? There were so many people in the audience that perhaps Maine happened to be standing in the same location as the handsome man, so that he got them wrong.

Xie Sen thought of this, and was inexplicably relieved. Handsome was the first friend he had known, and he didn’t want Handsome to be the bad guy who would bring disaster to Beast Star. Beast Star, when invaded by foreign beasts, was no better than the post-apocalyptic Earth where no matter where he went, corpses were everywhere, people displaced, and those survivors lived in great fear every day.

He liked the peaceful days. He no longer wanted to experience being on edge at all times, and to hear wailing non-stop.

The story in the book hadn’t yet begun. Maine Cox was still in Star City, and those things that would happen could be stopped. Xie Sen made the decision to nip it all in the bud! The first step was to get all the information about Maine Cox.

He asked Long Teng, “Do you know Maine Cox?”

“Of course,” Long Teng’s hands danced. “He’s very powerful. I’ve fought with him, and there was no difference between the winner and the loser. Later on, when I asked him to fight again, he wouldn’t even agree.”

Long Teng’s eyes looked at Xie Sen expectantly. “Do you know him? Ask him to fight me, okay?!”

“Do not know him.” Xie Sen’s face was black. Did this person’s head have nothing else but fighting? He asked more carefully, “Do you know where his home is, and what friends he has?”

Long Teng scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know. He’s always alone. No one who sees him will go near him, and he doesn’t seem to have any friends.”

Xie Sen frowned. There were a total of three people in the audience with no one close. Handsome, Long Teng, and…

“He has long white hair?” Xie Sen remembered the quiet boy who was clear and elegant.

“No, it’s blonde.” Long Teng looked at him confused. “The one with long white hair is Bai Jiao, don’t you remember?”

He finished by jumping on the spot. “I told you! You were so badly injured, there is no way you could be completely fine. The original fall broke your head!”

Xie Sen’s heart burst, and he quickly walked out. “I’m very well. I’ll go home first. Goodbye.”

Long Teng didn’t continue to pester him, just shouted behind him, “Remember to rest well, and find me to fight!”

Xie Sen nodded haphazardly as he walked, and dialed the handsome man’s communicator. The communication was answered after two rings. He didn’t wait for the other man to speak, Xie Sen just quickly asked, “Where are you?”

“The school parking lot.”

“Wait for me. I’ll be there soon. I need to talk to you,” Xie Sen said in a rush.

“You don’t have to pay me back. I followed your bet and made a lot of money.” Maine’s voice had some laughter in it.

Xie Sen thought to himself, How could such a nice person do something to get back at society!

“It’s something else. Just wait for me.”

“Okay.” Maine answered.

Three minutes later, Xie Sen appeared in front of Maine, as he gasped for breath. Maine’s shuttle was parked in the corner. He was leaning against the shuttle, but when he saw Xie Sen’s appearance, he raised his eyebrows. “What’s the hurry?”

Xie Sen slowed down his breath, and stared at Maine for a while. No matter how he looked at this handsome young man, although perhaps he wasn’t as cheerful as Long Teng, he was definitely not gloomy.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

Maine froze, and then answered, “Maine Cox.”

Xie Sen took a deep breath. “How can you be Maine Cox?!”

The faint smile on Maine’s lips faded, and he lowered his eyes. “I thought you knew who I was.”

He had always hated the crowded occasions at school. He had heard people discussing him, and knew that whenever he appeared in front of people, there would always be someone discussing him after he left.

Those words of disdain and pity. Pity disgusted him and made him feel ridiculous. He wasn’t prepared to watch the sparring session, but when the time came, he walked, ghost-like, to the venue to make sure that Xie Sen had won before he left.

Although he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he knew Xie Sen must have heard people discussing him.

“Of course not!” Xie Sen was surprised. He didn’t expect Maine to think that at all. On second thought, he was a little heartbroken. Was it because of this that he had no friends?

He had mixed feelings and no way to explain his shock. How could he say, you will bring disaster to Beast Star later? Now what? Xie Sen was torn. He had made his decision, and Maine was his friend, Handsome. Although it was easier to achieve his goal than with a stranger, how could he do it?

“No?” Maine inclined his head to survey his expression. “Then what do you mean by that?”

Xie Sen laughed to hide his emotions. “You are a campus celebrity. I was too shocked all of a sudden. I just met a student named Long Teng. His contract beast is S class, yet he said he can’t beat you either. You’re amazing!”

Maine’s mouth hooked slightly. “You’re a celebrity, too. A celebrity who made campus headlines twice in a week. Long Teng is very powerful. I’m no match for him.”

Xie Sen spat, “It’s not like it’s a good thing. I don’t want to be famous for those things.”

“Likewise,” Maine said indifferently.

Xie Sen decided not to mention that he was a celebrity in front of him. He was about to say something, when a message beeped on his and Maine’s bracelets, at the same time.

He opened it and saw the balance alert. The forum bets had earned over 230,000, while ten percent commission had been deducted. He said excitedly, “It really paid. It’s like I’m dreaming. The school forum is so fast!” he said. He transferred 4,000 star coins to Maine, while he changed his nickname from ‘Handsome’ to Maine.

Maine received the transfer, and looked at him. “Didn’t I say you don’t have to pay me back?”

Xie Sen laughed. “We’re brothers! By the way, do you have an exam this afternoon?”

“Mn, I’m not done with the exam until tomorrow.”

Xie Sen said, “I’m done with the exam, so I’m going to go home and rest, and I’ll be in touch. I’ll come and play with you when you’re done.”

Maine nodded, and they went home separately.

When Xie Sen got home, he lay down on the couch with a long breath. He thought about Maine’s story, but finally decided to put it aside. He looked up Beast Star’s orphanages and refugee areas on the Starnet.

These two types of places were the easiest places he could think of to get energy.

He had no money before, and even if he went there he couldn’t do much, but now that he had money, he naturally wanted to go and see. He checked for a while, identified one of each place, marked it and then went to take a nap.

While Xie Sen was sleeping, the video of his sparring session with A’Meng was posted on the Starnet, and caused a huge stir.

Xie Sen was woken up by a series of knocks on the door, and a ringing of bells. He squinted at the time, then he scrubbed his face and opened the door. “Who is it?”

There were two middle-aged men standing at the door, one tall and one short. The shorter one raised his hand, and pointed at him as soon as he saw him, his voice sharp, “You money-loser. How dare you open the door only now!”

Xie Sen was confused, “?” He frowned and slammed the door shut heavily. Surely they were knocking on the wrong door.