Chapter 29: Competition

The Cox family? Was that Maine’s family?

Xie Sen looked at the giant lion and asked, “What if more than one giant lion beast master wants to bond with it?”

“The market price of an A class contract beast is 20 million. We will sell to the master who gives the starting price, and has the highest synchronization rate.” Sun Mao said.

Xie Sen’s eyes widened abruptly. 20 million. How could Maine have so much money?

As he was thinking, his communicator rang, he stopped his hand movement to check the communication display. It was Maine. He said to Sun Mao, “I have a friend who is also a giant lion beast master. If I let him come over, can you let him in?”

Sun Mao looked at the giant lion beast that was ready to get up after Xie Sen’s hand left it, and said, “You clean its wounds, I’ll have someone guide him in.”

Xie Sen nodded, got through to Maine’s communicator, and asked him to come in with the people Sun Mao had arranged. After some thought, he was worried that he wasn’t mentally prepared, and said to him, “The Cox’s people are here too.”

Maine wasn’t surprised. “There are three powerful families whose contract beasts are giant lion beasts. They will come when they get the news.”

Suddenly, Xie Sen’s voice subconsciously softened, “The price of the giant lion beast is 20 million, you–”

“Let’s see the sync rate first. If it’s high enough, I’ll find a way.” Maine didn’t seem to be worried, his tone calm.

Xie Sen breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good. You come here first.”

Xie Sen hung up the communication and finished cleaning the wound of the giant lion beast. He was packing up the medicine and cloths, when a teenage voice full of awe came from the door.

“Oh! That’s so cool! I want it!”

He turned his head. A teenager in a well-cut black suit ran quickly towards the giant lion beast, followed by a middle-aged man with a serious face and two burly bodyguards.

The teenager was about 1.93, with blonde curly hair, delicate features, and had a thirty percent resemblance to Maine, except he was a little chubby, with a baby fat face. He looked excited as he ran to the giant lion beast, who seemed to sense something, and stood up from the ground, with a low growl in its throat.

The teenager wasn’t afraid, and was jumping and trying to touch the beast, but was stopped by the serious-looking man, “Julos!”

“Father,” the teenager, Julos, withdrew his hand, stood still, and turned his head to look at the approaching middle-aged man. “He’s repelling me, I can feel it. Our synchronization rate is over fifty.”

The middle-aged man nodded, “Good. Before bonding, the senior contract beast will reject everyone who may become its master, only with the master who makes it obedient, will it willingly bond.” He paused, and reminded, “But before making it obey, you must restrain yourself and not provoke it.”

Julos nodded, “I understand, Father.”

Sun Mao waited for father and son to finish before he stepped forward to greet them. “Lieutenant General Cox.”

Meyer Cox nodded and praised, “As expected of Gold Medal, it’s been a long time since there was a Class A contract beast on the market.” He looked towards the giant lion beast. “How is it doing?”

“Great,” Sun Mao’s eyes glowed. “Physical ability, intelligence, muscle strength, toughness are all perfect. There’s only a little trauma, but it’s been cleaned up, and it will soon recover.”

Meyer nodded in satisfaction, and made a direct decision, “Arrange the synchronization rate test. As long as the synchronization rate between Julos and it exceeds 50%, the bonding ceremony will be performed directly.”

Sun Mao said in his heart, That’s a good calculation, he wants to make the bond quickly so that there will not be competition from beast masters with higher synchronization rate! He put on a standard smile, “The synchronization rate test is ready, but there are still a few giant lion beast masters who have not arrived, so please wait for them, Lieutenant General Cox.”

“It’s enough to test mine, I can bond with it!” Julos exclaimed.

Meyer also looked dissatisfied. Sun Mao smiled and explained, “The sale process of all contract beasts is like this. The higher the synchronization rate the stronger the combat power. The synchronization rate is more important for senior contract beasts. According to the rules, we must choose the buyer with the highest synchronization rate among the bidders.”

“Cox, don’t be so anxious, I’ve brought my brat over to test. If he’s lower than yours, I’ll just take him back.” A cheerful voice came from the doorway.

Xie Sen looked over and saw a dark-skinned, stocky man, followed by a tall, thin young man.

“Lieutenant General Aben.” Sun Mao greeted.

“It’s still the old brothers who are well-informed. I came quickly when I got the news, but I still ended up being the last one to come.” Aben had only taken a few steps forward, when a gruff voice came from behind him. This time it was a tall, sturdy, yellow-skinned middle-aged man who also had a teenager with him.

Sun Mao greeted them again, “Lieutenant General Qiao.”

After Lieutenant General Qiao took a few steps forward, another person walked in, but he didn’t say a word and was very quiet.

Xie Sen’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly ran towards the door. The rest of the people’s attention was on the giant lion beast, so they hadn’t noticed him, but when he suddenly moved, everyone’s eyes turned to him.

“Father, why is he here? Did you inform him?” Julos saw Maine in the direction Xie Sen was going, and looked at Meyer incredulously, as he held back his anger.

“No,” Meyer said quietly, and uttered a warning. “That is not the way you should treat me.”

“I’m sorry Father, I was just so surprised.” Julos bowed his head in apology.

The parents and teenagers of the remaining two families looked at each other with a look of amusement.

“Maine,” Xie Sen met up with Maine halfway through his run. He surveyed Maine, who was still dressed in the same black he had worn that morning, but showed no cuts on his skin. He smiled, “Was it a rush?”

“It was okay.” Maine raised his eyes, and looked in front of him. His steps slightly stalled.

Xie Sen looked at him worriedly, and changed the subject, “Manager Sun said the synchronization rate test is ready. Now that we have all the people, we should be able to start the test.”

Maine nodded, “Okay.”

As soon as the two approached, Julos stepped forward, walked up to Maine and questioned loudly, “Why are you here?” 

Xie Sen scurried in front of Maine. “I told him to come. He’s a lion beast master, why can’t he come?”

Maine hadn’t expected him to stand in front of him, and stared at the top of his black hair in surprise.

Julos glanced down at him, and said disdainfully, “Who are you? A female friend of his? You’re a bad judge of character.”

“You’re the female!” Xie Sen glared at him. “I’m his friend, and I’m a hundred times more discerning!”

Julos tsked, and looked at Maine mockingly. “Friends? I didn’t think you would dare to make friends.”

Maine’s face hardened for a moment, and Xie Sen frowned.

“Julos,” Meyer bellowed, as he gave Julos a warning look.

Sun Mao saw this, and interjected in time. “Everyone, please follow me and do the synchronization rate test,” he said, then looked to Xie Sen and pointed to the upper left corner where a square metal instrument sat. “Xiao Sen, lead the giant lion beast there.”

“Don’t you have anyone at Gold Medal? Don’t let him do this, he’ll just get stomped to death by the giant lion later.” Julos taunted.

Xie Sen glared at him, and Maine took his arm. “I’ll go with you.”

“No,” Xie Sen laughed. “I’m fine. You follow Manager Sun.”

Sun Mao laughed, “This is something only Xiao Shen can do well. The beast masters should come with me to prepare.”

Xie Sen walked over to the giant lion beast, which had been standing because of the stimulation of the beast masters, and was waiting for Xie Sen. When he walked over it looked down at him. Xie Sen jumped and touched its chin, then walked to its front leg, hugged it, then gestured for it to move position with some slight force.

The giant lion beast was smart enough to immediately understand what he meant, and followed his directions to Sun Mao’s designated position.

Lieutenant General Aben, who was waiting for his son to wear the instrument, looked at this scene in surprise and asked Sun Mao, “Who is he?” 

Sun Mao laughed, “He’s our employee. He has extremely strong affinity. All the contract beasts like him.”

“So amazing?” Lieutenant General Qiao rubbed his chin. “I’ve lived for so many years, but I’ve never seen such a well-behaved unbonded Class A contract beast.”

Maine, who was wearing his instruments, heard these words and looked in the direction of Xie Sen. The giant lion beast was lying on the ground, and Xie Sen was rubbing its mane.

Lieutenant General Cox gave Xie Sen a thoughtful look. “Is he the student who was in the hot seat before because of Dean Ma and Dean Mu?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the three lieutenant generals looked at each other, all seeing speculation and surprise in each other’s eyes.

Maine saw these looks and frowned.

After the four giant lion beast masters put on their testers, Sun Mao led them to the metal instrument beside the giant lion beast. He opened the instrument, and a pair of footprints were projected on the ground in front of the instrument. Sun Mao said, “Just stand on the footprints in turn, and you will know the synchronization rate value after ten seconds.”

Several people looked at each other. Lieutenant General Qiao patted his son’s shoulder, “You go first.”

Ten seconds later, the instrument showed the value: fifty percent.

Next came Lieutenant General Aben’s son, with a synchronization rate of thirty eight percent.

Maine stepped forward, but Julos immediately said, “I’ll go first!” He walked quickly to the footprints. His synchronization rate was fifty-eight percent.

He jumped to the side with a smile, but when he saw Maine’s synchronization rate of sixty percent, his smile froze instantly.

Lieutenant General Aben laughed and said, “Cox is still the best.” Although he didn’t explicitly say so, everyone in the room understood that he was referring to the fact that the two people with the highest synchronization rate were both Meyer’s sons.

Julos gritted his teeth, pointed at Maine and said loudly, “He doesn’t count. He can’t even afford to pay!”

Sun Mao looked inquiringly at Maine, who said, “Can you give me a few days?”

Xie Sen looked at him in surprise. Give him a few days, and he could come up with 20 million?

“Didn’t we say we have to choose among those who can afford to pay? He can’t even afford it like this!” Julos was dissatisfied.

Sun Mao ignored him and looked at Meyer with difficulty. The two people with the highest synchronization rate were both named Cox. If Meyer agreed with Julos, and said that Maine couldn’t afford to bid, Gold Medal couldn’t do anything about it.

Xie Sen couldn’t help but say, “What’s wrong with giving it a few days? Do we have to pay full price now?”

Maine patted him on the shoulder, and proposed to Sun Mao, “I can give half of the deposit up front.”

“You have 10 million? Where did you get that much money?” Julos was shocked. He looked at Meyer suspiciously, “Father, you–”

“Shut up!” Meyer’s forehead pulsed. He looked at Maine, and asked the same thing as Julos, “Where did you get your money?”

Maine dropped his eyes and didn’t reply. Xie Sen was the only one who knew that the way he made money was hunting, but the price of a large meat supermarket was ten star coins a pound, so the price of selling hunting directly must be even cheaper. How much had he sold to save up 10 million?

Step back, even if 10 million was gained from hunting, he couldn’t say it out loud. Maine’s method was to illegally leave town!

Julos was quiet for a moment, then spoke again, his tone full of understanding, “It must be Uncle who gave it to you, right? I’ll contact my uncle and forbid him to pay you. Even if you pay half now, you won’t be able to pay the rest!”

Maine didn’t say anything, just looked at Sun Mao inquiringly.

Julos was about to say something else when Meyer’s communicator rang. The people next to him all quieted down to listen to him give the other side the current situation, then he hmmed and hung up the communication.

As soon as he hung up, Julos asked, “Was it Grandfather’s communicator? What did he say?”

Meyer looked at Maine. “I will arrange for Julos to participate in this graduate league. Whichever one of you ranks higher will be contracted to it.” He paused. “If you win, the 20 million will be paid by the Cox family.”

“Father!” Julos was displeased.

“This is your grandfather’s wish.” Meyer looked at him, then said to Sun Mao, “The money will be paid by my assistant later. No matter who wins, the contracting ceremony will be held after the league on the 9th. Take care of the giant lion beast. The fee will be negotiated with my assistant.”

“Okay.” Sun Mao nodded his head.

Several lieutenant generals left with their sons. Xie Sen looked at the silent Maine, very heartbroken. He was clearly able to tie the deed directly! He looked up at Maine and waved his fist, his tone firm, “We will win the championship. It will be your contract beast!”

Maine stared at him for a while, smiled abruptly, and couldn’t help but rub the top of his hair. “It’s okay, actually…” He lowered his voice a bit. “Sixty percent, it’s a bit low,” he said helplessly. “But senior contract beasts are too rare. It’s lucky to meet one with more than fifty percent, and if you miss it, you may never meet it again.”

Xie Sen’s heart moved. He remembered that in the book, Long Teng and Maine, those two had S class contract beasts with a synchronization rate that was extremely high, more than eighty-five percent, so their combat power was very OP.

His eyes fell to Maine’s chest. Could Maine be looking at the wrong contract beast tattoo?

“What are you thinking in broad daylight?” Sun Mao’s left hand patted his shoulder, and he smiled with an ambiguous expression. His right hand held his chin and said, “It’s also true that for male as small as you are, you’re unlikely to find a female, so it’s only right to find a male!”

“Don’t worry, we don’t discriminate against homosexuals,” Sun Mao said, looking at Maine, “Xiao Sen is good-tempered and hard-working. Except for not being able to give birth, he’s much better than females, so you should consider him. He likes you a lot, just now he couldn’t wait to tear the clothes off your chest with his sight.”

Xie Sen was black-faced and inexplicably embarrassed, as he slapped Sun Mao’s hand down. “Manager Sun, don’t be ridiculous, we…We’re not gay.”

Maine’s eyes fell on his slightly red ears, silently rubbed his fingers and nodded his head in a serious manner, “I’ll think about it.”

Xie Sen glanced at him speechlessly. “What the hell are you doing?” He looked at the time. “I still have an hour and a half. You go home first!”

Sun Mao’s eyes were bright. “Oh…So you live together?!”

“Manager, I’m going back to the maintenance department. Don’t look for me in the future,” Xie Sen said and walked out.

Sun Mao reached out, and pulled him back, “Why are you still annoyed? You are an incompetent employee. Leave the maintenance department alone. You’ll be looking after the giant lion beast for two days. It’s best to let it get used to staying here in case there is trouble when you participate in the league, there will be no issues!”

Sun Mao finished. His communicator rang, he connected, and then instructed Xie Sen with a few words, and left Zone 4.

Maine said, “I’m fine today. I’ll wait here for you to finish work.”

Xie Sen sat cross-legged on the ground, stroked the giant lion beast’s fleshy paws and waved at him. “That’s fine, you can just get more familiar with it. I heard that even if the synchronization rate is enough, it’s not easy to make him obey the bond.”

“Yes, it’s the nature of beasts to submit only to creatures that are stronger than themselves.” Maine said as he sat next to him. He sized up the giant lion beast, tilted his head in disbelief and reached out to touch the giant lion beast’s fleshy paws as Xie Sen had done.

The giant lion beast lifted its eyes to look at him, and started to squint again.

“Huh.” Xie Sen thought about what he had heard before, and couldn’t help but wonder. “Didn’t they say that the contract beast would reject people who might become the beast’s master? It doesn’t seem to reject you.”

“I think it’s strange too.” Maine wrinkled his brow, and guessed after half a second. “Could it be because of you?”

Xie Sen wasn’t sure, though he was more inclined to think Maine had gotten his contract beast wrong. He blinked, and couldn’t help but be curious. He pointed at Maine’s chest. “Can I see your contract beast tattoo?”

Maine’s eyes changed slightly as he looked at him and whispered, “Do you know what you’re talking about?”

Xie Sen nodded. “Of course. I’m curious.”

Maine looked at his black and white eyes, and an indefinable disappointment rose in his heart. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “You’ve forgotten a lot of things. Don’t say such things to others in the future.”

Xie Sen realized that something was wrong, but without waiting for him to ask, Maine spoke up and explained, “These are the words of a female confessing his love for a male. The beast pattern is the symbol of a male, and for a female to make such a request means that he has fallen in love with a male.”

Xie Sen was stunned, and waved his hands. “I didn’t know…And I’m not a female. I wouldn’t say that even if I confessed!”

What was he thinking? How could he ever confess to someone when there were all men here?

Maine laughed lightly, and asked with a raised eyebrow, “Then what would you say if you confessed?”

Xie Sen met his eyes, and his heart beat inexplicably faster. He looked away. “Just say I like them!” He changed the subject. “Can I take a look? I’m curious.”

Speaking of which, he suddenly remembered that he had seen Maine undress!

“No,” He looked at Maine in surprise. “Are you actually a female? The last time you changed your clothes, there was no beast pattern on your chest.”

If it weren’t for the conversation, he wouldn’t have sensed that something was wrong. In his mind, it would have been normal not to have a beast pattern.

Maine’s mouth curled, and his voice was low and dangerous. “You think I look like a female?”

“No, no, no,” Xie Sen hastily waved his hands. “Curious, just curious.”

Maine said, “Haven’t you noticed that your contract beast pattern doesn’t usually show up? It only shows up when you’re in the heat of the moment, or under deliberate control.”

Where did he have any beast pattern?

Xie Sen let out a dry laugh. “I didn’t notice.” He looked at Maine expectantly. “Can I see it?”

After he listened to Maine’s explanation, he felt more and more that Maine might have made a mistake about the contract beast.

The flying lion beast, and giant lion beast. While the two names were very similar, and they looked alike, he still remembered the description in the book. The flying lion beast was a lion with wings.

Maine hesitated for a moment, lifted the hem of his shirt and quickly took off his pullover T-shirt. His skin was white, but not frail, his muscles were strong, and he looked like he contained great strength.

Xie Sen stared at his chest. Gradually, right in the middle of Maine’s white chest, the emergence of a roaring lion’s head. The lion’s eyes were severe. Xie Sen looked at the beast pattern and it was as if he could hear the lion’s roar. Powerful and tough.

Xie Sen looked for a while, but didn’t find any difference with the giant lion beast. Could the wings be white and hidden by his skin?

Xie Sen thought so, and propped his hand up close to the head. He wanted to look more closely.

Maine’s body subconsciously tensed up. Xie Sen was too close. Maine even felt his breath. Each time his breath hit the skin, it tickled, as if it was moving from his skin into his heart.

When he saw that Xie Sen was getting closer and closer, Maine couldn’t help but reach out and pinch the back of his collar. He was about to pull him back, when a surprised voice came from the doorway.

“Sorry to bother you! You guys go on!” The visitor looked in shock at the scene of one person topless, and another person throwing his arms around him.

Xiao Sen’s posture was like, like he was sucking…

Stop! The visitor placed the food bucket he was carrying by the door, and quickly said, “Xiao Sen, this is food for the giant lion beast. Remember to feed it before you leave work.”

The word ‘feed’ still rang out, but he had already disappeared and the door was tightly closed.

Xie Sen was dumbfounded by his actions, it was as if he had pressed the fast-forward button. It was only when he looked back that he realized something was wrong. Why was he so close to Maine? His eyes darted to the left and Maine’s hand was on his shoulder. A hug?

“You…” He looked up in surprise, and his forehead brushed against Maine’s chin.

Xie Sen instantly realized that he had just misunderstood, and backed away with a red face.

Maine’s eyes swept over his red face. “You’re too close. Did see clearly? I’ll put on my clothes if you saw clearly.”

“Yes, I saw clearly.” Xie Sen nodded in embarrassment, but couldn’t help but look puzzled when he thought about the beast pattern, which was no different from the giant lion beast.

“Something wrong?” Maine saw that his expression wasn’t right, and asked as he put on his clothes.

Xie Sen thought about it and then asked, “Could there be two contract beasts with the same pattern? For example, a giant tiger, and a flying tiger, or some other tiger-like beast?”

“No. Each contract beast’s pattern is unique. At most they are similar,” Maine heard his question, and probably knew what he was thinking. “You suspect that I have the wrong contract beast because the giant lion beast doesn’t reject me?”

Xie Sen rubbed the back of his head, and snorted. “I’m just thinking.”

Maine laughed. He liked Xie Sen thinking about him. It made him feel warm. No one had ever done that for him. He laughed, but then Julos’ mocking look came to mind when he said ‘how dare you make friends,’ and he lowered his head, his smile fading.

Xie Sen didn’t notice as he got up and patted his pants. “I’ll go get the food. He was injured earlier, and I don’t know if he’s hungry or not.”

Xie Sen walked to the door, looked at the modern wooden bucket that could be used as a water tank, and was full of helplessness. He tried to lift it, but couldn’t, so he pulled on the edge, and moved backwards slowly as he dragged it.

“I’ll do it.” Maine walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder.

Xie Sen let go of his hold, and watched with envy as Maine lifted the barrel with ease. He hurriedly followed, and let Maine put the barrel next to the trough. When Maine put it down, he took the big clamp, and put the meat into the trough.

Maine grabbed his wrist, “Don’t do it. I’ll do it. You take a few steps back.”

Xie Sen did as he was told. Maine held the bottom of the bucket and lifted it up, as he poured all the animal food in the bucket into the trough at once.

Xie Sen’s face was full of admiration. This friend’s strength was simply explosive, ah! He gave a thumbs up to Maine. “Great, if you come here to work, the feeding department can reduce a lot of people.”

Maine laughed as Xie Sen ran to the giant lion, and rubbed its mane, then pointed to the trough. “Are you hungry? Go eat something.”

The giant lion tilted its head, rubbed his hand, then stood up and went to eat at the trough.

“You like the contract beasts?” Maine inquired.

“Yes. My affinity is high, and I like them too,” Xie Sen raised a smile, looked at the giant lion beast that was eating, thought of Sun Mao’s words and frowned. “If it doesn’t submit, there is also a way to force the bond with the beast master, right?”

“Yes,” Maine said, “But I won’t force my contract beast. A beast master who can’t make the contract beast submit isn’t worthy of contracting with the contract beast.”

Xie Sen’s brow unfolded. “That’s very kind of you.” He looked at the giant lion beast worriedly. “If you don’t bond with it, it’s Julos’ turn. He’ll force the giant lion beast if he can’t get it to submit.”

“Confident of winning the title?” Maine asked with a smile.

“Of course,” Xie Sen instantly raised his eyebrows. “With you, Long Teng and Bai Jiao, who are the most recognized combination in the forum, we can definitely win the championship.”

“Then you don’t have to worry, I will make it submit.” Maine was extraordinarily confident.

Xie Sen shrugged helplessly. He still felt something was wrong. It didn’t make sense that everything was the same as in the book, but Maine’s contract beast wasn’t right.

Maine was silent for a moment, then spoke again, “You like to look at the forum?”

“Not really. I usually look at it only when I have questions and need answers,” Xie Sen couldn’t help but smile when he thought of the neat replies on the forum. “You guys are recognized as the strongest group, but they all think you can’t possibly team up. I’m really looking forward to their reaction when they know you’re teaming up.”

“We’ll see tomorrow,” Maine said. “Tomorrow the squad registration closes, and a list of all squad members will be announced. The final distribution of prizes will be according to the list.” After he finished his reply, he looked at Xie Sen. “They should have listed the reasons why we won’t form a squad. You saw that, right?”

Xie Sen thought of the words about Maine. His smile slightly converged, he looked at him and said in a sincere tone, “You don’t care. People can’t choose their own life. They have nothing to do with you.”

He laughed and gestured, “They don’t know you. You’re great, better than anyone I know. Good looking, good fighter, good money maker, has a plan, and very kind!”

Maine stared at him for half a second, laughed lightly and whispered, “I hope you’ll always think that.”

Xie Sen blinked, and hurriedly said, “As long as you stay like this, of course I will always think like this!”

No going black, and no joining the beasts in attacking Brandt Star.

The two chatted casually, and soon it was time to leave work. Xie Sen asked Maine to wait for him at the door while he went to swipe his off-duty card. Along the way, he felt that his colleagues were looking at him with very subtle expressions. He looked down at his clothes, but there was nothing wrong with them.

When he finished swiping his card, Sun Mao suddenly appeared from behind him, patted his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. “Great, you got him so quickly. But you have to know how to be moderate. Also, pay attention to the occasion and time, so restrain yourself at work.” He laughed with a teasing face. “Anyway, since you are living together, you can do whatever you want to at night.”

Xie Sen was confused at first. He didn’t understand what he was talking about, but when he heard that, he finally knew. He grabbed Sun Mao’s arm, and said through clenched teeth, “What are you talking about? I said we are just friends.”

“Do I look like a fool?” Sun Mao stretched out his index finger, pointed at himself, and shook it from side to side. “This is still to coax the children. Now everyone in the company knows that you are doing loving things with a handsome man on the grass in Zone 4 during working hours.”

Xie Sen’s voice almost came out of his teeth, “Everyone?”

“Yes, this is a matter of evidence,” Sun Mao laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. The brothers won’t laugh at you, they praised you. You look like a female, so they didn’t expect you to act quite fierce, so cool!”

Xie Sen covered his face. “What the hell! Nothing happened! What nonsense!” He let go of his hand, and gritted his teeth, “What is the name of the man who brought the beast food to the giant lion beast? You tell me. I promise not to kill him!”

Sun Mao shook his head. “The company forbids internal fighting. Your face is full of peace. I can’t tell you. Get some thick skin. It’s not a big deal.”

Xie Sen looked at Sun Mao’s smiling face, with really itchy hands. Before he made a move to beat up his boss, he waved goodbye cleanly, and jogged to the door.

“Someone bullied you?” Maine’s voice was slightly cold as he looked at his depressed and angry appearance.

Xie Sen looked up at him. He thought about the rumors, embarrassed and amused, and couldn’t help but laugh, “No one bullied me, but I seem to have accidentally ruined your reputation.”

“Mine?”

“Mn,” Xie Sen coughed lightly, a little embarrassed. “I was looking at your beast pattern when someone saw it. He misunderstood that we…and spread the word.”

Maine’s eyes flashed with a smile. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

Xie Sen thought to himself, It’s true that he is still too thin-skinned. Two big men, what’s the fear of a little misunderstanding!

However, the next day, he felt very uncomfortable when he received all kinds of stares from his colleagues, including teasing, surprise, appreciation and ridicule. At lunch, he met Yang Shun, who was as gentle as ever, and they ate together without a word of banter from Yang Shun.

After the meal, when they were about to separate and go back to their respective lounges, Yang Shun said in a concerned tone, “I sent you a web site that I think you might need. You’re a male, so you need to pay more attention than us females.”

Xie Sen returned to the lounge with a puzzled look on his face. What did he need to pay more attention to than the females? He opened his bracelet, clicked on the link Yang Shun sent him, and then his face was filled with black lines.

Lubricants, condoms, aftercare creams… What the hell is all this stuff?!

How could he possibly use them?

With a red face, Xie Sen cleared Yang Shun’s messages, and deleted all the web browsing, then opened the school forum.

As soon as he entered the forum, he saw a hot post with a fire symbol was floating at the top, [Shock! They’ve actually formed a team!]

He clicked in, and on the main floor was a list of the league squad members, with one group highlighted in red and bold. It was their group.

[I can’t believe it, didn’t they just go solo?]

[I’m curious, how did Scrap Xie get mixed in?]

[Didn’t anyone notice that the guys were isolated? I’m guessing they’re using each other.]

[Maybe it’s just to win the title? The remaining three abilities needless to say, with Scrap Xie’s suicide attempt before awakening the mimic beast, his ability is questionable. But his fight with A’Meng was won fast and easy. I have a feeling that he is not weak.]

[That’s the end, the champion does not have to think.]

[You have a dream upstairs, you dare to think about the championship?]

[I am now curious to know the strength of Scrap Xie. Being able to team up with the three of them is not simple.]

[Plus one, I’m also curious. With Long Teng’s character, he must have fought with him. Since he teamed up with him, his strength is definitely recognized.]

[The more I say, the more I think Scrap Xie is unfathomable.]

Xie Sen couldn’t help but laugh out loud. But also unpredictable! Would you guys have too big a brain? The team with Long Teng doesn’t need to be equal in strength, just know the way.

After he finished laughing, he chose to remain anonymous and replied to the comment, [Xie Sen won a sparring match against A’Meng and graduated first in his major. The people chatting on the forum are the top students in each department in the school, right?]

He posted a shy emoji, [I feel great to be on the forum with you guys who are so good!]

After his reply was sent, the thread seemed to freeze for a moment. Originally there were ten replies a minute. It took two minutes after this one appeared for someone to finally reply.

[I can’t believe it, Xie Sen actually has a supporter now, this thick tone of mockery!]

[Isn’t it a joke that the Plant Department is number one?]

[… Am I the only one who thinks it makes sense? It’s really not a good idea to call it that now.]

[I think he is Scrap Xie himself. The first place in the Plant Department has no gold. If you want people to change their name, it’s easy, just go to the dueling stage and win. All the people who look down on him, if you can’t even beat Scrap Xie, the name of scrap can change.]

Xie Sen gave a light hum and replied, [So, A’Meng, who has already lost to Xie Sen, will be called a fierce scrap in the future?]

[A’Meng: Whoever calls me that, see you at the sparring arena!]

[Wow, A’Meng has appeared.]

The comments Xie Sen wanted to post were already posted. After he saw the surprised reactions of his classmates, he looked at the time and realized that there wouldn’t be enough time to sleep without resting, so he closed the forum and started his lunch break.

The afternoon’s work was still taking care of the giant lion beast. Only occasionally would he help in the maintenance department, which made his energy collection slow down a lot. The total value at the end of the day was only thirty-five.

When he got back to his apartment, he was opening the door when Grandpa Xu Da came over to return the food box. “You’re so good, it’s so delicious. The box is clean, I didn’t return it to you in time yesterday.”

“It’s okay,” Xie Sen took the box, pushed the door and walked in. Grandfather followed him inside. Xie Sen turned back. “Is there anything else for Grandfather?”

Grandfather smiled, “I want to ask you something. Let’s sit down and talk.”

Xie Sen led the man to the living room. He secretly guessed that he was going to ask him how he got the potatoes, and prepared to answer with his luck.

However, Grandfather’s words directly blocked his answer. Grandfather opened the door. “Where did you get your potatoes? I checked the buyer information of the potatoes from the rich supermarket. There is no you, and the rest of the buyers have no connection with you.”

Xie Sen was surprised and asked, “How did you find out the buyer’s information?”

Grandfather laughed, “I know the boss.” He winked, and said in a lighter voice. “I thought you were a plant beast owner, and the contract beast was a chili pepper bush, but suddenly potatoes came up. I just don’t understand.”

Xie Sen wasn’t surprised that Grandfather guessed his identity. Last time Grandfather gave a lot of hints. He knew then that Grandfather guessed his identity.

He spread his hands. “Just think of it as something I picked up on the road!”

Grandfather was very perceptive. As soon as he heard this, he knew he wasn’t willing to tell the truth, and he laughed, “Not going to find an excuse to lie to me?”

Xie Sen was helpless. “Does it work?”

Grandfather smiled and his eyes narrowed. “I just asked you to try. A little secret is normal, I find you have other things.” His smile tightened, and he looked serious. “At present, only rich supermarkets sell potatoes on the market. Those potatoes are the products of Plant Research Institute’s research labs. The production is small, the size is small, and the taste is not as good as the potatoes you gave me to eat. I know Ma Qun, and I know something about potatoes. They can be cut and cultivated. Can you give me a potato so I can take it to the Plant Research Institute for research?”

Xie Sen’s heart was slightly moved. He actually wanted to grow potatoes, but he just didn’t want to spend energy to exchange them because he was going to the league soon, and he didn’t have a suitable place to grow them. He had never seen open ground on Brandt Star, and even if the potatoes redeemed by the System were extremely viable, they wouldn’t be able to grow in the rocks.

Grandfather saw that he didn’t say anything and continued, “I will keep your secret if you don’t want to be exposed.”

“What if they ask you where it came from?” Xie Sen felt that secrecy wasn’t a good idea.

Grandfather laughed and said, “I brought it back from an alien planet. My family are interstellar businessmen. I have discovered many new species, so no one will suspect it.”

Xie Sen thought about his words, said so lightly, and concluded that he must not be a normal businessman. He said, “I can agree, but if the breeding is successful, you have to provide me with potatoes for free every week.”

This way he wouldn’t have to use energy to make potatoes, and he wouldn’t have to put in the effort to grow them himself.

“No problem!” Grandfather agreed in one breath.

Xie Sen went back to his room, exchanged one energy for a potato, took it in his hand, walked to the living room and handed it to Grandfather. He was full of joy, as he turned the potato over, looked at it, came close and smelled it. “This is so much better than what the Institute has cultivated!”

Xie Sen looked at his face and said, “If you eat it, you won’t have any.”

Grandfather coughed dryly. “I still know the importance of things,” he said and got up. He was about to leave, then thought of something, sat back down, and looked at Xie Sen expectantly. “Can I have a pepper too?”

Xie Sen thought about it. The potato had been given, and the chili pepper also had nothing to hide. If it really could be cultivated, he also didn’t have to worry about this food. He went back to his room to exchange a pepper. When he was ready to pick it, he had an idea and went out to the kitchen instead of going to the living room.

When he came to the living room again, his eyes and nose were red, and he was holding a small paper packet in his hand, which he handed to Grandfather. “This is the seed of the pepper. It’s just right for cultivation. Don’t touch it directly with your hands, it’s too spicy.”

Grandfather carefully took the paper packet, and looked at Xie Sen with glowing eyes. “Where’s the rest?”

Xie Sen raised his eyebrows proudly, and smiled without saying anything.

He thought that since it would cost him one energy to redeem the chili peppers anyway, he might as well make the best use of it, so he directed the chili pepper to keep the seeds, and fry the rest into powder. Then he gave the seeds to Grandfather for the research, and kept the powder to make spicy jerky.

Fortunately, the chili pepper bush listened to his command, otherwise his own hands would have to separate the parts, and his hands would definitely be swelling. The league started tomorrow, so it was time to make some spicy jerky to take with them to eat. The food in the field was too unstable.

He didn’t say anything, but Grandfather could also think. “Are you going to make spicy jerky? Sell me half a catty. Not for free, I want to buy it!”

Xie Sen laughed, and nodded in agreement. “I’ll send it to you later.”

Grandfather left satisfied, and soon Maine came back. Xie Sen told him to take a shower first, and he went to the kitchen to make dinner. After dinner, he went back to the kitchen, made four pounds of jerky, then saved half a pound for Grandfather and divided the rest into four portions for four food boxes.

After he was done, he took Grandfather’s half pound next door, then borrowed a duffel bag from Maine and packed the rest in it.

The next day, he carried the duffel bag as they took Maine’s shuttle, and headed to school.

The participants were sent by the school to the southernmost part of Yu Chu Island, then at ten o’clock all the participants left together, their destination, the northernmost part.

When they arrived at the school, Xie Sen was very excited. “I’m looking forward to meeting my teammates.”

Maine, who was walking side by side with him in long black sleeves and pants, understood his mood. “It’s not like you don’t know them.”

Xie Sen said, “How is this the same as usual? Not to mention, I haven’t even spoken to Bai Jiao yet!” He said with a different  tone of voice, and looked around. “Do you think…Do you feel that…our classmates are not looking at us right?”

Maine wasn’t affected at all, “It would be weird if they weren’t.” He was used to all kinds of eyes.

“Over here!” As soon as they arrived at the playground, they saw Long Teng as he jumped and waved to them. Beside him stood the white, long-haired, clean-cut boy, Bai Jiao.

The four of them met. Xie Sen raised his smile, and said to Bai Jiao, “Hi, I’m Xie Sen.”

Bai Jiao’s tone was clean and pleasant to the ear, “Hello, I’m Bai Jiao.”

“Haha,” Long Teng laughed. “You two are too formal!” he said as he put a hand on Xie Sen’s shoulder, and looked into his backpack. “Grandpa said you made some good food. Is that in your backpack?”

Maine twisted his collar and pulled him away. Bai Jiao looked at Maine. “The situation isn’t good. Someone paid a high price, and bought off many teams to stop us.”

Xie Sen frowned. He immediately thought of Julos, and said with displeasure, “Don’t the organizers care?”

Maine said, “This kind of thing isn’t easy to investigate, and the organizers encourage the participants to set obstacles for their opponents.”

“What are you afraid of? Who will fight who!” Long Teng jumped in place, full of excitement.