Chapter 36: The Entire Network Curses

Xie Sen got Maine’s reply, took the anonymity of ‘Details’ and typed in his reply, describing vividly the incident where Maine and Long Teng helped out, and Julos took the opportunity to cut Maine with a poisoned dagger. After typing, he finally wrote, [I’ve never seen anyone so brazen and ungrateful!]

After he wrote it, he checked it, made sure there were no problems, let Maine read it, and then sent it decisively.

[The description is so detailed, it feels very credible!]

[Is ‘Details’ an eyewitness? According to this description, only two teams were present, Maine’s team and Julos’ team, which one are you?]

[Aaaahhh, Maine is so cool… I’m impressed!]

Xie Sen’s hand paused as he scratched the screen, and turned his head to look at Maine, whose expression remained unchanged as if he hadn’t seen it, and raised his eyebrows when he looked over, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Sen pointed at the words, smiled and joked, “You’re so charming.”

Maine stared at him. “Do you think so too?”

His expression was so focused, his eyes so strong, that Xie Sen was inexplicably flustered, and he laughed twice, “Of course. You’re handsome, you can fight, and you’re very attractive!”

Maine laughed lightly. His eyes moved to the screen. Xie Sen hurriedly turned his head, and moved the screen to see the comments below.

[As far as I know, Julos is a Class A contract beast master, and he’s from the Combat Department, right? This kind of behavior is really a disgrace to the Combat Department.]

[This kind of trash, our department does not accept! We fight side by side as brothers, we warriors will never harm our brothers, but will bleed for our brothers instead!]

[Doesn’t anyone think it’s strange that Julos is only a freshman? How did he participate in the graduation league?]

[This kind of thing is not uncommon. With the Cox’s last name, even if he is a freshman student, he would still participate in the same.]

[But to the extent that he is so spoiled, there is no reason to rush to participate in the competition!]

[The Cox family made a deal between Julos and Maine. One of them would be in the top of the league, and whoever ranked first would be contracted with a giant lion.]

[Yes, I know about this. Julos wanted to win, and also paid people to set obstacles for Maine’s squad in the league, but now it seems that it was completely useless.]

[If you say so. I’m more interested in the strength of Maine’s squad.]

[No wonder Julos was going after Maine, so it’s to finish the deed. Julos’s behavior is really despicable. He started with small moves because he knows he can’t beat Maine, right?]

[The Cox family spent a lot of energy, but didn’t they raise a loser, right?]

[If the Cox family does not count Maine as the next generation with the equivalent power, it’s too sad! The Cox family is asking to end!]

[Suddenly excited! Why do I want to witness the fall of an ancient power family?]

[Thinking too much upstairs. At most, he will be pressured by the rest of the family, which is much better than us ordinary people.]

Xie Sen looked to Maine, who didn’t change his expression at all from the comment, but nodded in response, “The comment is good.”

At one point, the comments turned to the powers that be, and then someone questioned, [The winner is Maine’s team and Julos forfeited, so is Maine going to be Star City’s youngest Class A Contract Beast bondsman?]

[Oh, that sounds hot…you can’t have one without the other!]

[Great news! The Contract Beast Information Center has just released a message that the youngest Class A Contract Beast bondsman has appeared!]

[???]

A series of question marks were copied and pasted, [Why is it related to the Aben family? Is there another giant lion beast?]

[No, there’s only one.]

[I don’t see where this is going.]

[Plus one.]

[Move to Gold Medal’s official website to know the specifics.] This reply was followed by a link, which Xie Sen clicked on, and jumped directly to Gold Medal’s official website.

Gold Medal, [This store hereby solemnly declares that it will never again do business with Julos Cox for the following reasons.]

Below was a long note detailing what happened after the giant lion beast came to Gold Medal, with a particular focus on Julos returning to Star City after abstaining, going to Gold Medal after detoxifying, and forcing the giant lion beast to make a contract.

[The contract beasts are our friends, our lifelong fighting partners. I strongly condemn those who use means that harm the contract beast to form a contract. Anyone who harms the contract beasts, the doors of Gold Medal will never be opened for you.]

[In addition, our company will seek compensation by legal means for the damage caused by Julos Cox.]

[In this note, Maine Cox himself voluntarily gave up the right to create a bond. Our company contacted the next eligible beast owner, Jay Aben, according to procedure, and we congratulate him for successfully completing the bond.]

This official statement soon had a lot of comments. The top comment was from Jay, [I believe that every contract beast owner wants to have their own contract beast, so I feel heartbroken for Maine’s situation, and at the same time deeply appreciate Gold Medal’s help. Thank you!]

[Gold Medal is awesome and dominant!]

[Julos gives me a new way of perceiving males; incompetent, petty, scheming, poisonous. It’s really scary.]

There were many replies to this comment, [Don’t talk nonsense, we males are not like that!]

[He’s nothing. He doesn’t represent us males!]

There were three major trends in the comments. One praising Gold Medal for being tough and daring to take on the powerhouse; one scolding Julos and despising him; and one sympathizing with Maine and praising him.

Xie Sen was very happy to see it, but at the same time he was surprised. He knew the Cox family was very strong, but it seemed that Brandt Star’s speech was still very free.

Suddenly, a comment was posted, [President Mu has spoken on behalf of the Institute of Contract Beasts!]

Xie Sen clicked on the President Mu icon behind the comment and jumped to the official website of the Institute of Contract Beasts. The message at the top had just been published a minute ago.

[I, Mu Lin, speak on behalf of the Institute. After an investigation, Julos Cox was found to have used unconventional means to force a senior contract beast to form a contract, causing the contract beast to recoil, go mad and get injured. This also caused four Gold Medal staff to be injured, and now their circumstances are bad. The Institute, as the representative of the contract beast side, will take legal measures against Julos Cox. I hope all the beast owners love their contract beast, otherwise, the Institute will not let you go!]

[Seeing the last sentence, I believe this is the speech of President Mu.]

[Plus one, President Mu is handsome! He’ll protect the contract beasts!]

Xie Sen silently gave Mu Lin a like, and at the same time liked all the replies that scolded Julos.

The sound of soft laughter came from his side, and Xie Sen’s ears reddened slightly. He stopped his liking, closed his bracelet and gloated, “Serves him right. He’s getting a bad rap this time.”

Maine’s eyes flashed coldly, and he rubbed the top of his hair. “Cheer up. He should still be lying in a hospital bed.”

As Maine said, the damage of a backlash was enormous, not to mention the fact that the object of the bond was an A class contract beast!

Julos was lying on an exquisite large bed with a number of medical instruments around him, and four doctors were standing by the bed. His face was pale, his hair was wet with sweat, his eyes were tightly closed and he kept unconsciously crying out in pain.

“He’s in pain, do you see! Don’t let him be in pain!” To the left of the bed stood a delicate looking man with messy, mid-length, blond hair. His face was full of pain as he shouted at the doctor.

“I’m sorry, his brain is stimulated. We can’t use medicine. We can only try to let him recover.”

Even the giant lion beast went crazy from the backlash, let alone a human.

“Then hurry up!” the man urged.

“Soria, calm down,” Meyer Cox came in through the door, black-faced. “They are all famous doctors in Star City, and more professional than you. What’s the use of shouting? I told you to educate him properly, and not to let him do anything. Otherwise how would this happen?!”

“Meyer!” Soria’s voice rose so high that the ‘er’ broke. “What else can you do but accuse me? If you hadn’t lost control of yourself and had that bastard son, would Julos be like this?”

Meyer’s face darkened. “Don’t bring everything into this. It has nothing to do with Maine.”

“How can it not? If it wasn’t for him, Julos wouldn’t have had to play in the league. He would have just completed the bond!”

Meyer asked in a quiet voice, “And then what? He has no skills at all, only evil ways, and being devastated.”

Soria’s chest rose and fell as he blocked him. He sneered, “What? Did the bastard win the championship, so you don’t like Julos anymore?” He raised his voice, “Did you deliberately find fault with Julos, and now want to take advantage of the opportunity to bring back the bastard?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Meyer scolded in a low voice. “Where do I need to find fault with him? If you keep pampering Julos and letting him do whatever he wants, he’ll be ruined one day!”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and the housekeeper came in. “Lieutenant General. Madam. The case investigation team is here, and the Admiral wants you to go to the living room.”

“What case?” Soria froze.

Meyer looked at him. His face tightened as he headed for the door. When he reached the housekeeper, he asked, “When did my father return?”

“Just now,” the housekeeper replied. “He and the investigation team arrived one after the other.”

Meyer turned back to Soria. “Leave Julos to the doctors. You and I will go see Father.”

Soria looked at Julos worriedly, then went out of the bedroom.

When the two arrived in the living room, Han Zheng Cox, the current head of the Cox Family, was sitting on the main seat of the sofa in the living room, and three members of the investigation team were being escorted out by underlings.

Han Zheng’s face was serious, and his eyes were sharp as he looked at Meyer. “You’ve raised a good son! Even an investigation team has come to the door. Really good!”

Soria couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”

Han Zheng gave him a look. His tone wasn’t as harsh as Meyer’s, but there was no emotion, “Just look online.”

Soria opened his personal terminal, and saw that almost the entire network was cursing Julos. His face was getting ugly as he said angrily, “How dare they!? How dare they curse Julos! I want to ban them all!”

Meyer turned his head to glare at him, while the corners of Han Zheng’s mouth turned down. “Is that your reaction?”

“Lawlessness, audacity…” Han Zheng said in a deep voice, word by word, as he looked coldly at Soria and Meyer. “You are all spoiled.” He stood up. “This time you will not interfere in the matter. However the court sentences Julos, he will be punished.”

“How can that be?!” Soria said anxiously. “Julos hasn’t come to his senses yet.”

“Why didn’t you think about it when you were doing something?” Han Zheng’s tone was stern. “This time he has brought the Cox family’s reputation into disrepute. Not using the family law is already for the sake of his injury.” He walked towards the study, and stopped after two steps. “You are not allowed to interfere with the comments on the Starnet. I will find someone to suppress them.”

Neither Meyer nor Soria dared to contradict him, and after he entered the study, Soria grabbed Meyer’s arm. “You really don’t care about Julos?”

Meyer said, “He’s going to be sixteen soon. He needs to know how to pay for the mistakes he makes.” He warned, “Don’t do anything. Father will be angry.”

He finished, and left the Cox residence.

Soria stared at his departing back, then turned to Julos’ room.

In the study, Han Zheng sat in a reclining chair and commanded, “Send in Sokoto.”

Soon, a tall uniformed man was brought to the study by the housekeeper. The man was handsome, a trifle similar to Soria, and he gave a military salute to Han Zheng. “Admiral.”

Han Zheng pointed to the seat opposite. “Sit. This is a private matter.”

Sokoto’s jaw unconsciously tightened, and he sat down on the stool.

Han Zheng stared at him closely. “You personally brought Maine back in the first place, right?”

“Yes.”

Han Zheng said, “Later Julos was born, and others didn’t like him. I was worried that there was a gap between the two brothers, and let him go out to live alone. He trusted you, so I was comfortable giving you the task of surveillance.” Han Zheng sneered at him. “Your reply was that he is of mediocre ability. But he managed to win the league championship despite Julos’ mischief. Is that still the answer you will give me?” He sharply increased his tone, “What mediocre ability?!”

A fine sweat broke out on Sokoto’s forehead. “Admiral, it was an oversight on my part.”

“It’s not an oversight, it’s a deliberate failure to report!” Han Zheng said in a deep voice. “You placed a location tracker on him. How could you not know that he’s been hunting out of the city alone for the last three years?”

Sokoto’s head was covered with sweat that slipped down to the corners of his eyes. He blinked, not daring to reach out and wipe it.

Han Zheng slammed the table. “You’re afraid that I would know he is capable, and value him over Julos, so you’ve been deliberately hiding it, haven’t you? You’ve been in the military for so many years, but you actually have the same lack of vision as your brother. Have you not thought that with Julos’ skills, if the Cox family were given to him in the future, Maine wouldn’t have the ability to resist?”

Sokoto didn’t dare say a word.

Han Zheng slowed down his tone, “It may be too late to mend the relationship, but it is always necessary to try. The Cox family’s reputation has been tarnished by Julos this time, and a lot of it is related to Maine, so we need to find a chance to restore our reputation.”

Sokoto said, “He might not listen to me since he found out about the location tracker I put on him.”

“You’ll find a way,” Han Zheng said. He waved his hand, and gestured for him to get out.

Xie Sen and Maine went online to read the negative news about Julos. After they read it, it was almost 5:30. Xie Sen got up. “I’m going to make dinner. I should have two more potato pieces in my backpack.”

“I put them in the fridge,” Maine replied, puzzled. “Are they potatoes too? They seem much bigger than the ones sold in limited quantities.”

Xie Sen nodded vaguely. “It tastes pretty much the same, so just call it whatever you want.”

Maine looked at him, smiled and didn’t ask questions as he followed him into the kitchen. “I’ll handle the meat.” Just as he finished speaking, his communicator rang.

Xie Sen looked back at him, and met his eyes. Xie Sen wondered, “Why didn’t you answer?”

Maine lowered his eyes. “I’ll go out and answer it.”

Maine had already thought of the worst possible outcome, hadn’t he? Even if it was what he thought, there was nothing to fear. He still had him!

He glanced at Xie Sen, turned around and went out of the kitchen. Not long after, he entered the kitchen again and said to Xie Sen, “Don’t make my dinner. I’m going out.”

Xie Sen couldn’t help but be curious. This was the first time Maine went out on short notice. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m going to meet someone.”

Xie Sen was even more curious. Didn’t Maine not have any friends?

“Who are you meeting?”

“Uncle.” Maine said.

Xie Sen thought of the person who put the tracker on Maine’s body without Maine’s knowledge then gave the location to Julos. He had no good feelings for that person. “Will it be dangerous?”

“No, I’ll be back soon.”

After Maine left, Xie Sen was left trying to recall the plot of the book. He tried to recall whether there was a plot related to Maine’s uncle. But apart from the persona of the protagonist and the villain boss, the fragment of the protagonist’s upgrading process, and the description of Star City being invaded by foreign beasts, he couldn’t get the specific plot to come to mind.

He silently lamented that his memory was so bad!

Maine walked into a luxuriously decorated restaurant, and was led by the waiter to a private room. As soon as he entered, Sokoto, who was sitting in his seat, immediately stood up and looked at him with a concerned face.

Maine avoided his eyes slightly, and took his seat.

Sokoto said with relief, “It’s great that you’re okay. Seeing that your position hadn’t changed since last night, I was so worried. If not for an urgent mission, I really wanted to fly to Yu Chu Island to see you in person.”

His expression and his tone were sincere, as if he was worried about the younger generation.

Maine’s face twitched slightly. “So you don’t deny that you put a location tracker on me?”

Sokoto showed an awkward smile. “I’m sorry. But you know, I can’t help but worry about you. You live alone, and I was afraid you would be in danger, so I used this stupid method.”

Maine’s cold attitude eased a little, and there was a moment of silence. “Why did you give the location to Julos?”

“What?” Sokoto looked at him in surprise. “How could I give it to him?”

Maine looked at him without saying anything, and Sokoto’s face hardened. “That Julos! I wondered why he was acting so good that day, asking for news about you, then later saying he wanted to see your picture and flipping through my bracelet!” Sokoto asked with concern, “He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” 

“I’m fine.” Maine said lightly.

Sokoto sighed and spread his hands. “No wonder you were so cold today. I’m sorry for my behavior, but God knows, I just wanted to make sure you were safe.” He paused with a sad look. “I see you as my own nephew, and like you more than Julos. Your suspicion really kills me.”

Maine pursed his lips. “I knew you were disappointed when you planted the location tracker on me.”

Sokoto leaned forward, and stared at him. “Son, I was only doing it for your safety. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t have been hiding the fact that you were out of town illegally. You know, Julos and his dad have been trying to get a hold of you. If I told them that, they’d find a way to exploit things and send you to jail.”

Maine’s tone softened as he twitched his fingers. “Thank you.”

It was because he had doubts about this, that he was willing to come out to see Sokoto. He had to say, he was glad to hear the answer he had hoped for, but was afraid to think about.

The atmosphere for the rest of the meal was good. Sokoto was a good conversationalist, so Maine only had to listen and nod occasionally, while he alone was able to heat up the atmosphere.

After the meal, they said goodbye, and Maine went home, only to receive a message from Sokoto, [Oh, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you won the league. I would have bought you a gift if I had known.]

Maine’s eyes flashed with a smile. He looked at Xie Sen who was sitting on the sofa as he brushed his light interface and replied, [Okay.]

Xie Sen looked at Maine’s relaxed look, and was very surprised. His guess had been that he, and the uncle who was monitoring him, would at least be unhappy, not happy, right?

“Was it something good?” Xie Sen asked.

Maine smiled and told him about the meeting. His tone was light and cheerful, and he was obviously in a good mood. When he finished, he said, “I misunderstood Uncle, and thought too badly of things.”

Xie Sen listened, and felt happy for him. He knew that Maine cared for few people, and that each one had a heavy weight in his heart. It was just that he still had some concerns. Even though Sokoto’s reasons were good, as a military officer, it was unreliable to let Julos copy the location from his bracelet so easily.

Maybe because he was defenseless, and while Julos was combat scum, some aspects of his ability weren’t bad?

When he saw that Maine was happy, Xie Sen smiled and did his best to look on the bright side. Maine didn’t have the location tracker on him anymore anyway.

Xie Sen summoned the chili pepper bush and potato plant to train. Two hours later, he washed up and went to bed.

The next day the two went out at the same time. Maine went hunting, and Xie Sen went to the company. After two days of settling down, Xie Sen’s colleagues rarely made jokes about him and Maine, and Xie Sen couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

He became more and more familiar with Gold Medal’s work, and had a good relationship with his colleagues. He became a famously enthusiastic person in the maintenance department, and whenever he was free, he would definitely help out if someone encountered a difficult problem.

At around 10:00 a.m., Xie Sen received a congratulatory message from the university, informing him that the awards ceremony would be held tomorrow, Saturday morning, in consideration that the graduates were in their internship period. He closed his bracelet, and decided to go back to Maine in the evening to ask him about the details.

Several couples came to the Gold Medal that day, so Xie Sen was able to get energy much faster, and collected a total of about thirty energy in one day.

He came home in a good mood, and asked Maine at dinner about the details of the ceremony. “How long will it take so I can take off work?”

He had already used up his double vacation time during the competition.

“It will be over in the morning,” Maine frowned, and looked at him worriedly. “After the awards ceremony, there will be a challenge session. You can admit defeat, but you can’t refuse.”

With the championship trophy in his hand, Xie Sen stood on the temporary awards podium in the arena, and listened to the school leader talk about the rules Maine had told him about last night as he silently bit his lips.

After the leader said ‘you can’t refuse,’ he continued, “The league champion represents the highest level of this year’s graduates, so if you want to challenge them, hurry up and enter the school forum’s arena. Click on the sign up, and after one minute, one student will be randomly selected to go on stage.”

After the leader finished this sentence, he handed the microphone to the host.

Xie Sen looked at the arena. Almost everyone had their bracelets on.

Long Teng was so excited that his trophy had been put into his space pack, and he waved with his two empty hands. “Pick me, pick me!”

Bai Jiao leaned back against the fence with his arms around his chest. “No male would seek out a female for a challenge. I’m sure I don’t need to be here, so go for it.”

Maine reached towards Xie Sen. “I’ll hold the trophy for you.”

Xie Sen handed over the trophy. Maine took it, and the next moment it disappeared into his hand.

Xie Sen showed his hand towards Bai Jiao, “I have a bad feeling that you and I are probably the two extremes. Long Teng and Maine are so popular that not many people will dare to challenge them.”

Bai Jiao looked at Maine. “Not necessarily. Recently Maine has been very hot on the Starnet. As a way to become famous in one go, challenging him is the best choice.”

Maine said, “If you don’t want to fight, just admit defeat. It’s okay.”

Xie Sen looked at the forty-plus energy value in the System, and the four potatoes that were useless for redemption. He smiled and shook his head. “I’ll try.”

He had been training every day, but had no real-world experience, so he would use this opportunity to try it out. What’s more, he didn’t want to be called a loser who had held on to his teammates’ thighs to win the title.

As he was talking, the first chosen challenger came into the arena, a tall boy with very dark skin. His voice was loud, “I want to challenge Xie Sen!”

The moderator asked, “Can you tell us why?”

“I’m curious about his ability, and want to know if he won the championship on his own merit.”

The host invited Xie Sen to the middle of the arena while he stepped back.

The dark-skinned boy made a ready gesture to attack. “Please.” After he said that, he rushed towards Xie Sen.

Xie Sen quickly summoned the potato plant, and took a few steps back. The dark-skinned boy hadn’t taken two steps, when his knees were hit by two potatoes. He lunged forward, and halfway twisted his body to try to stand.

While his body was still half-twisted, and his forehead was facing upward, a potato fell from overhead and hit him on the forehead. He cried out in pain, and fell to the ground directly on his back. His forehead, which had been hit by the potato, instantly bulged into a big bump. He covered his forehead, then shook his head, while stars appeared in front of his eyes, and he didn’t regain consciousness for half a day.

Xie Sen was shocked. He recalled the potato, and hurriedly knelt down to ask, “Are you okay?”

The weight of a single potato wasn’t heavy, but when it fell from a high altitude, the greater the height, the greater the force generated. Xie Sen knew this, that’s why he used this attack. However, he wasn’t quite sure how high the potato could fall from and withstand the force, so he hadn’t let the potato go too high because of that concern.

Just now, it seemed that the height was still a bit high?

“No, it’s okay.” The dark-skinned man shook his head. Xie Sen reached out to help him, but he pushed Xie Sen away from his head, and dry heaved as he got up.

Xie Sen called out to the school nurse who was on standby. The school nurse came over, and examined him. His expression was calm. “It’s fine. It’s a concussion. Just lie down for a few days.”

When the audience heard this conclusion, they burst into an uproar.

“What’s going on? He obviously didn’t move!”

“I’m confused. I’ve seen him fight twice, and I still don’t understand.”

“Did his mimic beast just simulate another kind of plant? Can anyone recognize it?”

“Is there a Plant Department person here to explain it?”

“Heh, you know to look for the Plant Department at a time like this?” The man mocked, then jumped up and shouted, “Xie Sen, you’re a bully!”

Long Teng also jumped on the stage, and shouted, “That’s awesome!”

The dark-skinned boy was carried away by the school nurse, and Xie Sen returned to the preparation area where Maine was standing.

Long Teng took him by the shoulders, and his eyes were amazingly bright. “Your contract beast is so powerful. How about a fight with me?” he said, while he shook Xie Sen’s shoulder.

Xie Sen shook his head, and flatly refused, “No.”

He didn’t understand what kind of damage different heights would cause before, so he didn’t quite dare to try the move he just used on Long Teng. Now he was worried about accidents. But without that move, his current attack power wasn’t quite enough to be Long Teng’s opponent.

Long Teng pouted. Maine reached out, and pulled him off of Xie Sen. “I’ll fight you sometime.”

“Really?” Long Teng looked at him with surprise.

Maine nodded. His physique had changed slightly after his second awakening, and he needed someone to spar with.

Long Teng smiled happily. “I’ll move in with Grandpa for a while so I can fight with you every day.”

At that moment, a second challenger was chosen. He challenged Maine. Maine took one look at the man, walked to the middle, and within two minutes, the fight was over.

“Holy shit, that was too fast! I didn’t even see his moves clearly.”

“I’m convinced. Both fights ended in three minutes. No wonder their team won the championship.”

After that, a dozen more challengers were chosen, and Xie Sen’s team won all of them beautifully, except for the last one that Xie Sen fought, which had a small problem.

Xie Sen lowered the height of the potato, and when it hit his opponent’s head, he screamed in pain, but didn’t fall to the ground. He reacted quickly to grab the potato that hit his head, and pulled it off of the root system.

Xie Sen felt the pain, and raised the height to let another one hit him again. The man looked stupidly at the potato in his hand, didn’t dodge, and was smashed in the eye.

Xie Sen quickly ran over to him. “Give it back to me!”

“No!” The man stuffed the potato into his clothes, covered his chest with one hand, his head with the other, and shouted at the school nurse, “Take me to the infirmary.”

Xie Sen watched speechlessly as the man was carried away, and returned to the rest area. Long Teng grabbed his arm, and said with shining eyes. “This is what the wall became, right?”

Bai Jiao held his forehead. “After watching so many scenes, you just now realized it?”

Although the potatoes weren’t the same size, the leaves that connected the potatoes were all the same.

“Wow! It’s a loss,” Long Teng rolled up his sleeves. “That guy just took one. I’ll go get it back.”

Xie Sen grabbed him with amusement. “Don’t go.”

Maine had a worried look in his eyes. “Is this okay?”

Xie Sen shrugged. “It’s okay. Unless I don’t do it all the time, people will know about it. Not to mention, my contract beast is a mimic. Disguising it as a plant is a good skill.”

The man who just took the potato had a shocked face, but didn’t shout out and hid it. Apparently he wasn’t willing for it to be publicized.

It was just that his attitude was giving Xie Sen a bad feeling.

Xie Sen’s hunch wasn’t wrong. After the awards ceremony, the four members of the team had lunch together, he went back to the office for a break, and then went to work. After work, he met the man who took the potato in the parking lot.

The boy was very tall and strong, and his eyes glowed when he saw Xie Sen. “You hit me!” Xie Sen’s mouth twitched, and he walked around him, but the boy stopped him again. “How about a sparring match?”

“No fighting, no sparring, and if you keep pestering, I’ll call security!” Xie Sen warned.

The boy looked at him aggressively, and left.

Xie Sen returned to his apartment. Then he received an invitation from Jay, who was hosting a bonding banquet the following night and was inviting him to attend.

After he read the message, Xie Sen flipped through his notes with a torn look on his face. There were quite a few names written on it, all of which he had thought of for the giant lion beast before he slept and during his gap at work, but they didn’t seem good enough.

When Maine came back, he was still pondering. Maine wondered, “What’s on your mind?”

“I’m thinking of a name for the giant lion.” He held his chin. “Doughnut? Hairy? They’re cute, but they don’t seem to have much oomph.”

Maine flashed a smile, and pondered for a moment. “He has a golden mane, and was bonded at Gold Medal. How about Gold?”

Xie Sen’s eyes lit up. “That’s a good idea. Let’s call him Gold as his nickname, and Gold Yao as his first name, right?”

“Yao. Sunshine. Health.” Maine smiled. “Good.”

Xie Sen happily typed out the name, and sent it to Jay, who quickly replied, [Thank you. He and I both love it. Please join us at the party tomorrow night.]

“By the way, Jay also invited me to the bonding party tomorrow night. Are you going?” he asked as he inclined his head.

Maine said, “I’ll go if you do.”

Xie Sen said, “I’ll go. Gold Yao is my friend, and it’s a happy day. I have to go.”

The two decided to attend the party, so after dinner, they went online and rented two suits, which was Xie Sen’s idea.

The next day, Xie Sen went back to the apartment to shower and change into his suit. Maine came back earlier than usual, and the two of them arrived at the Aben family’s residence before seven o’clock.

They both wore blue suits of the same style. Xie Sen’s was a light blue, and Maine’s was peacock blue, and they stood together in a particularly striking way.

Jay was dressed in a straight black suit to receive the visitors, and raised a smile when he saw them. “Welcome. Gold Yao is in the backyard. You can go see him.”

Xie Sen knew he was busy, and didn’t say much, just followed the underlings to the backyard. On the way, Xie Sen listened to Maine’s explanation and discovered that staying in space was not conducive to recovery if the contract beast was injured.

He smiled. “Jay is quite attentive.”

Maine looked at him, and said in a warm voice, “You can rest assured.”

Xie Sen nodded. Gold Yao had given him the decision to choose his beast master, so he was actually very uneasy and worried that Gold Yao had a bad time, but now he knew he was very lucky. Jay was a good beast master.

The Aben family residence covered an enormous area, and was almost the size of a castle. The backyard was a large field of green grass. Gold Yao was lying in the middle, and lazily wagged his tail. There were many guests around to watch it, their eyes envious.

“Jay is so lucky. Gold Yao is simply perfect.”

“Yes, what a powerful body! What strong muscles! You see, no one dares to go near it. I want such a contract beast so badly.”

“Don’t dream, Jay is also lucky that the Cox family infighting cheapened him. It’s just a pity that Gold Yao hasn’t recovered yet, and repels people who come close. Otherwise I would really like to pet it.”

Xie Sen saw Gold Yao. His eyes instantly lit up, and he ran towards the middle of the grass without thinking.

The underlings who were guarding the backyard were anxious, since the guests arrived at six o’clock, there were already some guests who hadn’t listened to advice and tried to approach Gold Yao. Three guests had already been scared and cried, and one was scratched.

“Don’t go, it’s dangerous!” Seeing Xie Sen’s move, one of the nearest subordinates hurriedly shouted.

Damn, we have to bother Young Master Aben to come over to save people again! He raised his hand, and was about to contact the subordinate in the front yard to have him deliver the message, when he saw the scene in the grass and froze.

The expected roar did not come, nor did the flying lunge.

Gold Yao, who was incomparably fierce to everyone except his beast master, was now wagging its tail more happily, while it lowered its head to allow the visitor to rub it, and occasionally inclined its head to rub against the visitor.

“Who is he?” Many people raised questions.

Some people who had been to Gold Medal recognized him. “He is a caretaker at Gold Medal.”

“No wonder!”

Xie Sen was unaware of the discussion. He stood on his tiptoes to observe the wound on Gold Yao’s forehead, found that it had already scarred, smiled and touched its chin. “Great. You will recover soon.” 

Gold Yao rubbed his hand.

Not long after, Jay came over. He smiled, and rubbed Gold Yao’s neck. “I have to take him out to meet the guests. You guys also go to the front to watch the ceremony!”

Xie Sen and Maine followed Jay to the front yard. As they were walking, Xie Sen noticed Maine’s footsteps stiffened slightly. He followed Maine’s line of sight, and saw Meyer not far away with a fine looking man beside him. He tugged on Maine’s arm. “Let’s leave after the ceremony.”

Maine looked down at him. “It’s okay.”

Xie Sen looked around. Suddenly he felt that the layout was somewhat like a wedding venue, with a wide carpet in the middle, a vows table at the front and guests standing on either side.

Except for the fact that the carpet was gold, not red, and several times wider than a wedding carpet, the wedding layout was almost identical. He was inexplicably a little embarrassed and touched, because it showed that a bond was a significant and sacred event.

“See, of the Cox family, only the Lieutenant General and his wife came to observe the ceremony. Master Julos did not come!”

“You are too ill-informed, Julos was sued by Dean Mu. After a thorough investigation, they found he hurt the contract beast, so he was put in the guardhouse.”

“President Mu is really ruthless, but I remember Julos isn’t yet 16 years old, right? With the Cox family’s ability, how could he be locked up?”

“The Cox family didn’t make a move. I heard it was Admiral Cox who sent word to deal with it impartially.”

“Tsk. Said to be fair. Who dares to really do that? But it’s only for three days.”

“It’s not bad. I heard Julos was hurt, and taken away before his illness was cured.”

“So, he forced the giant lion beast that’s Jay’s contract beast, right? It is said that the contract beast hasn’t fully recovered. Even if he wasn’t imprisoned, he wouldn’t have the face to come to the ceremony!”

Xie Sen listened to the whispers around him. He secretly thought that gossip really was everywhere. Now that he knew that Julos was imprisoned with injuries, he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.

The music started, and Jay and Gold Yao came through the entrance side by side. A lot of whispers spread, all praising Gold Yao. Xie Sen was very happy to hear this. 

Jay walked to the oath-taking platform, and officially announced to the guests, “My contract beast. Gold Yao.”

Gold Yao raised his head and opened his mouth to roar. The roar was deafening, and a strong killing aura came out. The audience was quiet for a moment, and then there was the sound of shouting Gold Yao’s name.

Xie Sen looked at Gold Yao, and suddenly felt an intense emotion that hadn’t dissipated when they returned to the apartment.

Maine reached out, and put his hand on his shoulder. “You’re also going to observe my ceremony.”

Xie Sen gave him a smile. “Of course!”

Two days later, Xie Sen returned to the apartment from work, and was surprised to find Maine was sitting on the couch with a frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Maine whispered, “Uncle asked me to go to the Cox residence tomorrow for Julos’ 16th birthday party.”