Chapter 55: Monitoring

Xie Sen clicked into the hot post which was full of discussions about Contract Beasts live. The poster posted many screenshots, praised the contract beasts like crazy, and all were like the fanatic fans of a model.

[Holy shit, what kind of amazing live room is this? Gimmie the room number!]

The top reply was almost screened by this sentence, and within the same second came a bunch of [faster], that urged the poster to post the room number. The poster was fast, and posted the link on the following floor.

But soon, the later posters replied with a confused look, [? You’re kidding. This channel is not open live, ah!]

[These pictures must be fake! A few days ago, the contract beasts were at the edge of the forest, P. I wondered how senior contract beasts could be so obedient together. Are they being treated as pets?]

[Do not say that, P is quite good. Find who P, contact information to leave. Put me also P up, also considered to fulfill my dream of close contact with A class contract beasts.]

After a series of questions, the poster appeared, [I did not cheat. These are my screenshots, angry! The data in the live room of the anchor was too good, and it was mistakenly thought to brush data thus got blocked. What a garbage assistant! So angry!] His reply was followed by a video.

Xie Sen clicked on it, and it was a recording of his live stream, but not the full one. It started from when the giant elephant beasts performed their water spraying to the sudden closing of the live stream.

[Ahhhhh, this is too cute!]

[Adorable! Giant lion beast and giant wolf beast can actually applaud. Too smart!]

[Hahahaha! It’s too funny that they reacted after hearing the reminder of the gift giving! Listen carefully, I can hear the anchor huffing and puffing in shock.]

[Listened again, and yes, it is, it’s too funny, isn’t it!]

Xie Sen was watching when a soft laugh came to his ears. Xie Sen zoomed in and re-listened to the sound, then pointed at the screen and said, “It’s not that I’m timid, it’s that they sounded so suddenly!”

Maine laughed softly. “Mn, you’re not timid… Are you, like, able to talk to them?”

Xie Sen didn’t hide it. “Yes. I can only communicate with them when I’m in contact with them, but they can understand what we say.”

Maine said, “You’re very good.”

Xie Sen smiled. “It has to do with the thing I went to the forest to find earlier. It was an energy that they were all affected by, and now that the energy is in me, I can communicate.”

Maine inquired, “Are the rest of the things you need to find also energy?”

“Yes,” Xie Sen replied. He scrolled the screen down, and continued to read the post.

[Ahhhhhh, curious what’s next in the show?]

[Curious plus one. Trill’s assistant has a problem, right? This kind of live, even if it is a newbie, it is normal to have high popularity! So curious to know when to start the broadcast, ah!]

[Collective squat live!]

[Is no one curious about the identity of the anchor? The person who can make senior contract beasts perform a show, must not be simple!]

[Could it be someone from the Contract Beast Research Institute? The voice is not President Mu’s. Exclude President Mu.]

Netizens began to guess the identity of the anchor, and pulled out the people from the Institute of Contract Beasts one by one to discuss the possibilities.

Xie Sen thought about it, bookmarked the post, and decided to come here to inform them when the broadcast started again to attract popularity.

In Trill’s headquarters office, a middle-aged man in a suit was also brushing the web after dinner. He leaned back in his seat in a very leisurely posture, and smoothly clicked into the top hot post. After a short while, his body suddenly leaned forward and his fingers quickly scratched the screen. He saw the news about Contract Beasts live, and learned that it was live in Trill’s. His eyes emitted a very bright light of excitement, and his hand trembled slightly.

Their company was going to have another super popular anchor!

He didn’t continue to look down, just immediately checked the information of the anchor ‘Contract Beasts’ through the backstage management. After being an anchor for less than twenty-four hours, the attention of Contract Beasts was already almost 300,000!

He was excited, but with a sweep of his gaze, he saw the status of ‘Contract Beasts’: applying for termination of contract.

What’s going on? Do you think the treatment was bad?

He opened the communication and directly contacted the ‘Contract Beasts’ live assistant, 808. Before the greeting voice on the other side could finish, he spoke in an excited tone, “The ‘Contract Beasts’ anchor you are in charge of. Why did he apply for termination?”

808’s heart shock, his voice was nervous, “I. I don’t know.”

“Don’t know? Do you know what he is? This kind of anchor won’t appear every hundred years. No, even in a thousand years it’s also rare to see. Can’t you coax him? I don’t care what method you use, you must not let him cancel his contract!”

808 thought of Xie Sen’s affirmative tone of refusal to reapply, and whispered, “Manager, I approached him and asked him to think about it, but his attitude is very firm.”

The manager propped his hand on the desk. “Does it mean that he suddenly doesn’t want to be an anchor anymore? But his total live time is only ten minutes. Even if it’s for fun, it’s too wrong.”

808 was even more nervous, as he pondered. He didn’t know how things turned out this way. He also saw the hot post, and lying was too easily detected now. That was simply a crime plus one.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault!” He thought about it, and the only way was to honestly admit his mistake. “His data was too good yesterday. I thought he was brushing, and blocked his live stream.”

“What? Are you an idiot? You didn’t go to his live room to see?” The manager yelled loudly and violently.

808, “I was in Yueyi’s live room. He’s popular, and I was helping him with some things. I was using the backstage assistant to look at the real-time data of each anchor. The way he rose so much wasn’t normal anymore, I–”

“Shut up!” The manager gasped. “Even if he was brushing, you should have gone to see what content he was broadcasting! You are a huge failure, and actually blocked his live room. If he really terminates his contract, you can get out of the company!”

“Manager,” 808 hurriedly said. “I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Go talk to ‘Contract Beasts.’ If he has any requests, as long as they aren’t too excessive, agree to them all! If I see the news of his termination, then I will also see the news of your resignation!”

808 looked at the hanging communication, and regret turned his intestines green. How could he have known that a new anchor would actually be so powerful? Originally he just wanted to warn him. He didn’t expect to lose his job.

Xie Sen finished reading the posts, then lay in the back seat of the shuttle, ready to take a nap, when he received a message from 808, [I’m really sorry. It’s all my fault. Please, you must forgive me. Do not cancel the contract! If you have any requirements, just mention them. Also the salary share ratio can be negotiated.]

Xie Sen looked at it. [No request. I have decided to terminate the contract.] After he replied, he added 808 to his blacklist to avoid being bombarded with messages.

Maine held him in his arms. The back seat wasn’t very spacious, and with the two people squeezed in together it was almost completely full. Xie Sen patted Maine’s hand. “Why don’t I go to the front seat so you can be comfortable.”

Maine rubbed against the side of his neck, put his foot over Xie Sen’s foot and wrapped his whole body around him. “No, this is good. The bed in the bedroom is too big.”

Xie Sen was speechless. The bed wasn’t small, but it was no different from a crib. Maine slept next to him every day, and a large part of the bed was empty. He moved uncomfortably, as he tried to adjust to a comfortable position, Maine’s breathing next to his ears suddenly became rapid, and the breath that spread in his ears got hot.

Xie Sen immediately stopped moving, helpless and amused. “You have too much energy!”

Maine nibbled lightly on his ear. Xie Sen’s body shuddered uncontrollably. His head moved forward as he covered his ear, and his breath was unsteady. “Stop it. I have to rest, I need to go to an orphanage this afternoon.”

Maine’s hand around his waist was slightly stronger. His head buried in the side of his neck, as he barely restrained his urges, his voice was low, “Why are you going to the orphanage?”

Xie Sen thought of an appropriate way to say it. He pointed to his right shoulder. “It likes the gratitude that people give back after helping people. It strengthens its ability, and the stronger it is, the faster it can find the rest of the energy I need.”

Speaking of which, he couldn’t help but hold Maine’s hand. Since he and Maine had established a relationship, Maine would give seven energy to him every day, which was very rare for a person with a full value of ten energy.

It was for this reason that he never doubted Maine’s feelings for him.

Maine mused, “Helping people? It’s easier to do that in a poor area.”

Xie Sen shook his head. “Not necessarily. I’ve been to the slums to deliver food, and the results are mediocre. Not everyone is grateful. Don’t worry, in a few days we’ll know where the next energy is.”

The two took a nap, and went to an orphanage before returning to the apartment for dinner, after which they each went back to their bedrooms to take care of their own business.

Maine sat on the chair, expressionless, and pulled out a palm-sized audio receiver, plugged in his headphones, and leaned against the seat.

Soria’s voice came through. He was asking about Julos, scolding the underlings, and then there was the slight clink of dishes and spoons.

“Baby, I heard you didn’t eat last night. I brought you soup. Eat some.” The sound of the door opening and closing came one after the other, followed by Soria’s worried voice.

“Dad.” Julos’ voice was angry and anxious. “I heard that Father brought a young man by today. Who was it?”

Soria’s voice dropped coldly, “It’s Cuomo.”

“The Cuomo who was on second grandfather’s lips all day?” Julos’ voice rose sharply in trepidation. “What does Father mean by this? Is he going to give up on me and train someone else to take over the Cox family?”

“Take it easy,” Soria advised. “You are your father’s son. He won’t give up on you.”

“Liar! Dad, I have to do the deed soon. Only when I get stronger will Father really not give up on me.”

Soria said, “Well, I’ve already got someone to investigate. A giant lion beast recently appeared in the eastern part of the forest. As soon as I find it, I’ll have it brought back.”

“I remember that Cuomo is also a giant lion beast master. If I bring it back and Father finds out, will Cuomo be allowed to bond with it?” Julos couldn’t help but worry. “No. I have to go out and bond with it. I can’t let Father know.”

Soria said, “That’s fine. There’s just no chance to get at Xie Sen. Without him, even if you find the giant lion beast, you won’t be able to bond with it for a while.”

“No, Dad,” Julos said. “Did you forget there’s medicine?”

“No!” Soria immediately retorted. “You scared me to death with the backlash last time. I can’t let you do that again.”

“Last time I didn’t have enough medicine to stop it from getting reversed. Dad, prepare for this with both hands. Focus on looking for the giant lion beast, but be ready to take Xie Sen and catch him. In case you don’t catch him before you find the giant lion beast, then use the medicine.”

Soria pondered for a moment. “Okay.”

Maine’s expression was cold as he stared at the receiver. His eyes were slightly red, and his hands were clenched into fists. He would not let go of anyone who wanted to take a shot at Sen!

Xie Sen finished training the plant then showered. When he came out of the bathroom, he was picked up by Maine who still had wet hair and put on the bed. He was startled, but before he could say anything, he was greeted with a stormy kiss. His neck tilted slightly, his fingers twisted lightly in Maine’s blonde hair, as he kissed him back.

Both of them were young and vigorous, and the kiss was even a little fierce, as their breath soon became hot and heavy. Xie Sen’s hands slid down from Maine’s head and hugged his back.

Maine’s hand around his waist got tighter, to where Xie Sen couldn’t breathe. He grunted and Maine pulled back slightly. He looked at him intently and passionately. “What’s the matter?”

Maine licked at the corner of his lips. “You’re mine.”

Xie Sen raised an eyebrow. This person, why did he repeatedly say this phrase?

The kiss gradually moved down, and Maine said, “You said you would stay with me for the rest of your life. Nothing can happen to you.”

Xie Sen realized that something was wrong. He reached out to cupped his chin, and locked eyes with him. “What’s wrong?”

Coldness flashed Maine’s eyes. “Nothing.”

Xie Sen frowned. “Someone wants to touch me?”

Maine’s face sank, and his voice took on a fierce tone, “No one can touch you!”

Xie Sen put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him to the side, which reversed their positions. He lay on top of him, and stared into his eyes. “I told you, I can protect myself. You don’t have to worry.” He looked down, and nibbled on Maine’s chin. “So insecure?”

Maine’s eyes darkened abruptly. He raised his hand to press his head down, and kissed him hard. He couldn’t control his worry. The closer he got to Xie Sen, the more he was afraid of losing him. The slightest malice towards Xie Sen made him feel like killing.

He was afraid that the malice would hurt Xie Sen when he wasn’t looking. His hard-to-get baby, the only light in his life, and the one person he had. He couldn’t afford to lose him at all.

He kept reminding himself that he was ready and safe, but he couldn’t help but worry.

Maine’s exploration of Xie Sen was very cooperative since Xie Sen was very loose in the matter of sex. After they messed around for a while his body was tired, but he felt very happy. He had no previous experience, and he’d been eating it up a bit these days. He lay on his back with Maine behind him, as he nuzzled and nibbled him. He was so used to Maine’s actions that he let him have his way, as long as he didn’t disturb him at bedtime.

Maine kissed Xie Sen intently. Xie Sen played with his fingers, while he thought about the contract beasts’ live stream. He wasn’t familiar with live streaming, he just felt that the content of the show he had come up with before was a bit small, and the content would have to be richer if he was to go live every day.

He came up with quite a few ideas, but was a little unsure if they would work. He decided to take the time and let the contract beasts try.

Maine nibbled all the way to his shoulder, then gave him a kiss on the side of his face. His eyes fell on his face with a hesitant look.

Xie Sen glanced over at him. “What’s wrong?”

Maine lowered his eyes and took out a red rope from his space pack. It had a silver metal ball hanging on it.

“It’s for me?” Xie Sen reached out and picked it up, immediately a crisp bell sounded in his ears. It was so soft that it would have been nearly inaudible if the room hadn’t been so quiet at night. He turned the metal ball and found that it was hollow. He shook it and the crash of the bell came again. He laughed. “How delicate. Such a small ball is actually hollow inside, and it seems that there is another ball inside.”

Maine pursed his lips. “Inside is the locator. The outer layer is for waterproofing.” He hugged Xie Sen tightly. “This is an ankle ring. You take it with you, okay? I want to be able to know where you are at all times.” His voice was dry from nervousness. “I’m not trying to monitor you, I’m just worried. Really worried. Even if you don’t want it, don’t hate me for it, okay?”

Xie Sen froze. Maine’s state was too different from usual. He suddenly thought of Maine’s expression when he learned that he was being monitored by Sotoko. Probably because of the Sotoko incident, Maine was more sensitive to things like surveillance, and more worried that he would resent it.

He thought about it. Even if he brought it with him, it was just to let Maine know his real-time location. There was no need to hide it.

He smiled. “I don’t hate it. I’ll bring it,” he looked at the nervousness in Maine’s eyes, and rubbed the top of his hair with some pain in his heart. He pushed his shoulder. “Get up. I’ll put it on now.”

“I’ll help you.” Maine’s eyes glowed, and he gave him a heavy hug. He got up quickly with the anklet, and carefully brought it to Xie Sen’s left foot.

Xie Sen looked at the 1 energy prompt in front of him, and couldn’t help but smile. It seemed that Maine really wanted him to wear it, and today Maine had already given eight energy to him.

Maine lifted Xie Sen’s foot, and gave him a kiss on the back of his foot. Xie Sen subconsciously curled up his toes, and wiggled his ankle. “Will the red rope break?”

“No,” Maine hugged him, and looked much more relaxed than before. “It’s made of special material, very tough.”

The next morning, as soon as Xie Sen finished his breakfast, he received a reply to his application for termination of contract. Because the information was complete, the contract was automatically terminated in twenty-four hours. He immediately opened the contract Maine had sent him yesterday, signed it with his fingerprints, and smiled at Maine. “Boss, please give me more advice from now on!”

Maine laughed lightly. “What time slot are you going to live broadcast in? Do you want me to find an assistant for you?”

Xie Sen shook his head. “For the live time, I have to discuss that with the contract beasts. An assistant isn’t necessary now, and may not be needed.”

The two of them finished breakfast, bought some children’s toys and then went to the orphanage together. They played with the children until noon.

Before the lunch break, Xie Sen opened the previous favorite post, and replied to the comment, using the anonymous ‘Contract Beasts.’ [I am the anchor of Contract Beasts. Because of the last live event, I changed my live platform to Three Trees Live. This afternoon at two o’clock on the dot, I will stream. Thanks for your support.]

Xie Sen didn’t read the comments, just posted, then turned off the bracelet and took a lunch break.

After the lunch break, Maine dropped him off at Gold Medal Zones 4 and 5. He said at the door, “I’m going to take care of some things, and come pick you up tonight.”

The group of senior contract beasts were here, so Xie Sen’s safety was not a concern at all.

Xie Sen nodded. Three Trees had only just been established, and would certainly be busy. “Okay. If I don’t have time, I can go back on my own. My shuttle is still in the parking lot!”

“No,” Maine insisted. “I’ll pick you up. You just wait for me here. Don’t go out.”

Xie Sen knew he was still upset about being stopped by Julos last time. He didn’t want him to worry, so it was good to stay here with the contract beasts. He nodded. “Okay. I’ll be in touch.”

Maine hugged him and kissed him on the lips before he left.

The security guard standing at the door joked, “A’Sen, you and your boyfriend are really close.”

Xie Sen blushed slightly and smiled in greeting before he walked into Zones 4 and 5. The contract beasts immediately got excited when they saw him and ran towards him. The ground shook from their running.

Xie Sen looked at the contract beasts flying over. He mused that if he hadn’t been familiar with them, he would have been stunned on the spot. All kinds of claws, tails, and noses rubbed against him, as various voices floated in his head.

“A’Sen, can we continue the live broadcast now?”

“A’Sen, you’re finally here.”

“A’Sen, go live! Go live!”

Xie Sen smiled and soothed, “We can go live, but we’ve changed companies, so we’ll go live later as we did yesterday, and we’ll repeat the show with the giant elephants.”

The two giant elephant beasts screamed with excitement. “Happy! I can still do it a hundred times!”

Xie Sen lost his smile. This was too dedicated!

He brought them in front of the camera, had them lay down in the same formation as yesterday, and then explained to them the gift system in Three Trees Live.

“There are five types of gifts. small watermelon, watermelon, big watermelon, super watermelon, and a watermelon rain, which are 1/10/100/1000/10000 star coins.”

He couldn’t help but laugh when he thought about it. Maine really liked watermelon!

To make sure they understood, Xie Sen filled the bucket with water, and the giant elephant beasts carried the bucket to the side and then plopped back down.

Xie Sen looked at the time. It was almost two o’clock. He opened his personal bracelet and clicked into his live stream, then looked at the popularity. More than 1.6 million. He was shocked. Three Trees popularity was also one to ten, so that was equivalent to 160,000 people watching the live stream.

He began to wonder if Maine had bought him a brush!

He couldn’t help but be a little nervous. As he stood against the wall, he thought to himself that it was a good thing he didn’t have to be on camera. Otherwise he would have only been more nervous. It was the first time he had seen such a crowded scene. He looked at the contract beasts with their wide eyes and waving tails, and pressed on. He sighed and felt that they were ignorant and fearless. He split the virtual screen in front of him, so the viewer’s perspective was on the left to watch the live broadcast, and the anchor’s operating interface and pop-up assistant were on the right.

As soon as two o’clock arrived, he opened the live broadcast, and the figures of the contract beasts appeared on the left screen. The pop-ups slid across the top of the screen like phantoms, words next to words, and it was hard to see them clearly.

He looked at the pop-up assistant on the operating interface. The pop-ups were scrolling very fast and many of them were repetitive. He opened his mouth to read the opening statement, “Welcome to the live broadcast. I will introduce you to the main characters of the live broadcast, the giant tiger beast.”

“Roar!” The giant tiger beast raised its big head, and roared with great vigor.

Xie Sen set the pop-up mode while it roared, and chose to intelligently organize it without looking at the repetition, so that it could always be seen clearly.

Xie Sen shook his head. Comments really were the world of the copy party.

[It’s actually true! I thought I was joking, what with this Three Trees Live, I’ve never even heard of it.]

[Wow! Oh my god, I’ve really seen the senior contract beasts! They’re so perfect! Look at the muscles, look at the body, look at the shiny claws. Power beauty coexists! Heart!]

Xie Sen continued to introduce the contract beasts, while each one very cleverly gave a response to the audience to get to know them.

During the process of introductions, many people sent small watermelons, and the gift assistant constantly broadcasted it. The contract beasts had the previous day’s experience now, and although excited, in the end they stayed calm, they just couldn’t help wagging their tails more and more cheerfully.

When the two giant elephant beasts performed, there were more people giving gifts. When the first big watermelon broadcast appeared, the spotted giant leopard beast didn’t hold back and gave an excited shout and rolled. Then, when it realized what it had done, it thought it had made a mistake, so it stood up confusedly and gave a soft bark towards Xie Sen. It lowered its head as if it was being lectured.

Xie Sen couldn’t help but say, “It’s okay, just stay down.”

The spotted leopard beast wagged its tail happily, looked up and gave another soft bark at Xie Sen, then lay down next to the black leopard beast, buried its head in the black leopard beast’s neck, and raised its front paws to block half of the side of its face.

[It’s so cute!]

[Oh my god, so smart! He can actually fully understand. I wonder if the anchor made some kind of gesture to it.]

[Ah! I want a big leopard, if not with a contract, can be it raised? So well behaved, you can raise it right?]

When the giant elephant beasts’ performance was over, the giant lion beast and the giant wolf beast were very cuddly and excited, and gave low calls together with applause.

The gift-giving period was at a peak, and the pop-ups started to brush like crazy. [Smart!] [Adorable!] [Cute!] The comments were all like this, and many people were confessing their love for the giant wolf beast.

Xie Sen lost his smile. People were really visual animals. The giant wolf beast was huge and muscular, but at the same time, it was extraordinarily good-looking. It was simply universally accepted by both sexes.

[‘Feng’ gave the anchor a watermelon rain.]

The gift voice reminder was accompanied by the special effects of watermelon rain on the interface of the live broadcast room, along with a platform-wide announcement.

“Roar!”

“Awoo!”

“Moo!”

“Woo!”

“…”

The contract beasts that were lying on the ground instantly forgot what patience was, and screamed wildly with excitement. Xie Sen’s head was shaking as he listened to the live and streamed version of the duet.

He subconsciously raised his hand to turn off the left side of the live broadcast. Only he didn’t turn it off, and the right side anchor operating interface automatically became full screen. He was careless, the live broadcast shut down…

He rubbed his forehead. Was his live room feng shui bad? Every ten minutes, there was a situation!