Chapter 57: The Suspect

Xie Sen was oblivious to what Maine was doing as he rubbed the giant tiger beast’s fleshy paws, and soothed its frustration at not getting the toy it wanted right away. Then he clicked on the live stream friend request, saw the 999 alerts and immediately went to the pop-ups.

Almost all of the pop-ups were copy and paste, [Add me as a friend!]

Xie Sen set the friend application to reject all, blocked the applications then actively added ‘Feng’ as a friend. He estimated in his head. The giant tiger beast was more than three meters tall so the ball must be at least three meters in diameter to play.

He then thought, if it was really three meters of solid iron ball, it would be almost a hundred tons, so even the giant tiger beast could not play with it! He asked Feng, [Hello. Is there any alloy with low density and high hardness? What’s the price?]

Feng, [Yes. You say what you want, I’ll make it for you. No money.]

[How can I do that? I can’t take advantage of the boss. If you don’t want me to pay, I’ll find another company.]

Feng, [One ton for 30,000.]

Xie Sen, “…”

Even if it was alloy, a solid ball would be nearly twenty tons. He originally thought he had made a lot of money, but now he realized that he was still very poor. It wasn’t enough to buy what the giant tiger wanted. He thought about it and asked, [I need the least dense alloy made into a sphere, but with walls thick enough so they can’t be damaged by the giant tiger beast. How much would it weigh if it was hollow in the middle, and the walls were exactly a safe thickness?]

Feng answered after a while, [A little over three tons.]

Xie Sen gritted his teeth and made a decision. [Let’s order it. How can we settle the payment?]

[We’ll settle after you inspect the goods.]

Xie Sen, [Okay.]

He started to buy the toys he wanted for the rest of the contract beasts. The big bathtub and cushions went well, but they weren’t cheap, and cost more than 30,000 in total.

“How much did it cost?” The giant rhinoceros beast asked.

Xie Sen hesitated, but said honestly, “Thirty thousand.”

“That’s expensive!”

“The money is still not enough!”

The giant rhinoceros beast said, “Let’s not buy the rest until we make money.”

In this aspect of money, the giant rhinoceros beast was the representative of the contract beasts. When they heard it say so, the rest of the contract beasts echoed the statement. Xie Sen thought about it. It was okay since the other contract beasts also hadn’t said exactly what they wanted.

He nodded, “Fine, you can think about what you want while you make money.”

He closed the online shopping interface, and the pop-up screen immediately exploded. [Why not buy? The giant black leopard beast hasn’t bought anything yet!]

[The anchor is biased. The giant wolf beast and giant lion beast…No purchase!]

Except for the giant tiger beast, the giant spotted leopard beast and the two giant elephant beasts that bought something, the rest of the contract beasts had people who were fighting for their lives.

Xie Sen was about to speak when there was a message alert in the bottom left corner of the live screen. He opened it and Feng said, [What does the giant wolf beast like? I’ll buy it for it.]

So he was here for the giant wolf beast!

Xie Sen’s screen was always facing the audience, so when the audience saw Feng’s message, they sent pop-ups saying that they wanted to send gifts to the contract beasts that didn’t buy anything. Xie Sen asked the contract beasts in his mind what they wanted, and left it to them to make their own decisions.

“I want to earn money to buy it myself! I don’t eat soft food!” The giant black leopard beast grunted lightly, and said proudly.

“Me too. They are not my beast master. I don’t want them to buy anything.” The giant lion beast followed.

The contract beasts all said they wanted to earn their own money to buy. Xie Sen smiled, and refused the audience’s kindness. He left the contract beasts free to play as he moved to sit in the dead center of the camera, while he thought about what else they could do to perform.

The contract beasts were lying together happily discussing something, and only after a while did they disperse. Some played a scene together, and some went back to their nests to lie idly.

Xie Sen kept an eye on the popularity of the live stream, and found that it was rising all the time. The viewers were always posting pop-up comments or compliments when they saw what the contract beasts were doing.

He suddenly realized that what the audience wanted to see was only the contract beasts. Their performances were only items that added to the charm, and weren’t necessary for the audience.

When he realized this, he thought of the good-looking anchors he had seen before. They would chat with the audience, and you felt that even if they didn’t put on a show, it didn’t matter. Senior contract beasts were comparable to pandas in the eyes of the audience. Even if they didn’t do anything, there were still people who liked them.

He sat down against the wall, and thanked the audience for their gifts from time to time, but there were so many gift-givers that later he simply turned on the Voice Thank You System and thanked only the audience members who gave a watermelon rain in person.

[Long Teng gave the anchor a watermelon rain.]

Xie Sen was stunned and hurriedly voiced his thanks, while he viewed the special effect text behind the gift, [Congratulations for opening the live stream!]

[Aben gave the host a watermelon rain.]

[Qiao Shao gave the host a watermelon rain.] 

[Yan Qi gave the anchor a watermelon rain.]

The live streaming room could use real names or anonymous, and since they all used their real names, it was obviously deliberate to let him know who the gift giver was.

[Wow! Who is the host? Why are there suddenly so many celebrities sending gifts?]

[I can understand that Qiao Shao came for the giant tiger beast, but I don’t understand the rest of them. Especially the youngest S and A class beast masters. They have already bonded, why are they still coming to the show?]

[Long Teng is the Prince of Gold Medal. These contract beasts are in Gold Medal, so it’s normal for him and the anchor to know each other.]

[I was just guessing, but after this, I probably know who the anchor is!]

[No wonder these contract beasts are so obedient.]

Xie Sen looked at the pop-up screen, and shrugged helplessly. He had long known that he would be recognized, he just hoped that it would be a little later. Now it seems that his hopes were doomed.

As he was thinking that, an angry voice came from the door, “Sen! Why didn’t you tell me you were going live?!”

He looked towards the door. Long Teng ran towards him like the wind, and reached him in a second. Long Teng also appeared in the live feed for a moment, and then disappeared into the dead corner. Long Teng’s face puffed out in discontent. “Grandpa told me about this when he saw the headlines. I just watched the recording posted online.”

Xie Sen laughed. “They will perform again in the future, so you can watch them next time they’re live.”

“Really?” When he saw Xie Sen nod, Long Teng immediately smiled brightly, revealed his shining white teeth, turned and ran towards the giant tiger beast. “I’ll go play with them.”

The contract beasts were familiar with Long Teng. They didn’t react to seeing him come over, they just continued to play their own games. The giant tiger beast was lying in place as it wagged its tail, and Long Teng jumped up and directly onto it. He hugged its fleshy neck as if he was holding an oversized stuffed animal.

The pop-ups immediately exploded again, [Ahhhhh, let go of it, I want to hug it too!]

[It’s good to be rich. If I were so rich, I could play like this!]

[Wake up. You can’t do it even if you have money. Do you think the owner of the gift has no money?]

Long Teng hugged the giant tiger beast, his eyes full of expectation. “You’re great! I saw your attack performance. So handsome. Fight with me again!”

The giant tiger beast roared lightly, looked at Xie Sen and shook his head.

“Let’s fight, let’s fight!” Long Teng rubbed his hand on its neck.

Long Teng was completely unprepared, and was knocked to the ground. He lay on his back and shouted at Xie Sen, “A’Sen, will you let him fight me?”

Xie Sen looked at the giant tiger beast that was lying in front of him, and rubbed its paws. Immediately the voice of the giant tiger beast appeared in his head, “He’s so nosy.”

Xie Sen suppressed his smile and shook his head at Long Teng, who looked disappointed. He was about to jump up when a big head looked down at him from above. It was the giant spotted leopard beast.

Long Teng’s eyes lit up. He jumped to his feet, looked up and said, “Will you fight me?”

The spotted leopard shook its head, raised its paw and pushed his shoulder with his paw. Long Teng didn’t move. It cocked its head, and pushed again. Long Teng was shoved violently backwards, but he reacted quickly and with a backflip he stood firm.

Xie Sen frowned. Little Spot had always been soft and cute. What did this mean?

Little Spot raised its paw, and continued to push Long Teng, who fell to the ground this time. Little Spot’s tail wagged happily, and it used its paw to nudge Long Teng, who rolled on the ground while Little Spot chased him, very happily.

Long Teng laughed out loud, rolled for a while, then got up and pounced on Little Spot, who made a mess with him.

Xie Sen, “…” He really had worried for nothing. They were two childish ghosts.

[Ah, so envious, anchor. I also want to go play!]

[Anchor, let’s have a fan meeting! I want to rub the neck of the giant tiger beast!]

[I want to rub the tail of the giant wolf beast!]

Xie Sen looked at the pop-up screen and smiled. Before he opened the live broadcast, he hadn’t been prepared to hold a meeting. If he really did it, many people would certainly take advantage of the idea of contract beasts, so it was too dangerous. Not long after, he received a message from Maine. Since he was live, Maine didn’t come in directly, just sent a message to tell him that he was waiting for him at the door.

Xie Sen looked at the time. It was almost five o’clock so he said, “Everyone, that’s it for today’s broadcast. Thanks for your support.”

[Don’t turn off the live stream. The anchor doesn’t need to be here. Just leave it on like this.]

[Yeah, don’t turn it off, I’m just checking it out.]

Xie Sen went to the contract beasts and asked them what they thought. They knew the live broadcast would be profitable, and said to turn it off later. So Xie Sen didn’t turn it off immediately, and agreed to turn it off at 9 pm. He called out to Long Teng, who said he had to play for a while, so Xie Sen let him go and left first.

As soon as he went out, Maine reached out and grabbed him. Maine took a deep look at him, then led him out.

Xie Sen felt the suggestive glances of the security guards at the entrance. He blushed slightly, coughed a little and waved goodbye to them.

When they got into the shuttle, Xie Sen sat down in the passenger seat while Maine, in the driver’s seat, twisted close to him and put one hand against the back of the seat. He encircled him in the seat, lifted his chin with one hand, and kissed him.

Xie Sen opened his lips. He felt his emotions, and was somewhat puzzled. He raised his hand and caressed the back of Maine’s head in a soothing gesture.

After a long time, there was pain in his lips. He hissed lightly as he gasped for air, and pulled back his head. Maine’s eyes were deep, and as his thumb rubbed the edge of his broken lip, his brow furrowed in frustration.

Xie Sen gave him a helpless and amused look. “It’s only been three hours or so. Why are you so excited?” He licked the wound. “I’m going to be teased by my colleagues again tomorrow at work.”

Maine stared at the wound, his voice dark. “Don’t do that, I can’t help it.” He lowered his head, and gently took the corner of his wounded lips.

Xie Sen reached out and pushed him, but because of his position, he pushed his arm. “Why are you so clingy? Let’s go home first.”

Maine reflexively retracted his hand. His expression changed slightly. His eyebrows wrinkled, then soon returned to normal. Xie Sen’s eyes were on his face the whole time, and took in his expression clearly.

“What’s wrong?” He immediately noticed that something was off.

“Nothing.” Maine sat back down, set the route home and started the shuttle.

Xie Sen stared at his delicate jade-like face, then at his arm. When he saw that the shuttle was moving steadily, he grabbed Maine’s right hand, squeezed it with one hand, and pulled his sleeve up with the other.

Xie Sen glared at him. “What did you do this afternoon? How did you get hurt?”

Even if he hadn’t seen the specific wound, he knew Maine must have been injured from Maine’s reaction.

Maine pursed his lips and didn’t answer. Panic flashed in his eyes.

A’Sen was so kind. Would he hate him if he knew he had killed someone? Fear him? Be disgusted with him? Would he want to…leave him?

Maine felt a painful tightness in his chest just from thinking about it. He held Xie Sen’s hand, backhandedly, and it was so tight that Xie Sen couldn’t help but huff. “Be gentle. It’s going to break!”

Maine immediately let go. “I’m sorry.” He turned his head, and stared at Xie Sen. His eyes held nothing but Xie Sen, as he said steadily, “You are mine.”

Xie Sen sensed his unease, and was surprised. He nodded, “Mn, I am.”

“You said you would stay with me forever. You can’t leave me!” Maine looked deeply at him, with a heavy unease in his eyes.

Xie Sen nodded, and couldn’t help but continue to ask, “Did something happen this afternoon?”

Maine’s jaw instantly tightened. He looked at Xie Sen for a while, but didn’t say anything.

The shuttle soon landed in the parking lot of the apartment. Xie Sen kept trying to guess what was going on, but had no clue.

The two of them had gotten off the shuttle, and were headed out of the parking lot. They had just passed a shuttle when a voice inside exclaimed, “What do you mean? Master Julos of the Cox family has been killed?”

Yes,” another voice said. “Look at the news. It hit the headlines as soon as it came out. Admiral Cox is furious and has ordered a thorough investigation.”

Xie Sen’s footsteps stopped, and he looked at Maine with wide eyes. Maine gave the shuttle a cold look, took Xie Sen’s hand and continued walking to the apartment.

Xie Sen let him pull him. His head was in turmoil because of the first thing he thought of when he heard that Julos had been killed, and after he saw Maine’s reaction. However, he couldn’t be sure without asking.

Maine pulled Xie Sen into the apartment. The moment he closed the door, he turned around and pinned Xie Sen against the door as he said anxiously, “You said you would stay with me forever! Don’t hate me! Don’t leave me!”

Xie Sen looked up at his flustered appearance, and asked, “When did you plan this?”

Maine’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. “After the parking lot.” He reached out, and caressed the side of Xie Sen’s face. “He used the lion beast to test your ability. He wanted to capture you to help him form a contract.”

No wonder Rohat kept saying that the lion beast was more abnormal that day, but thought it was because the beast master wasn’t around.

“How did you kill him?” he asked.

Maine didn’t hide it. “Led him to the forest. I wore clothes covered with blood, and pretended to be injured. He was bent on killing me, and chased after me. I brought him to the location of a signal shield, stopped suddenly and stabbed him,” he said with cold mockery at the corner of his mouth. “He wasn’t yet worthy to fight me.”

Xie Sen looked at him. So that was the easy way to finish Julos off?

“Where is the knife?”

“Left it at the scene. It was his own knife. I picked it up in the parking lot at the time.” Maine said. He was still looking down at him with unease. “You don’t hate me? He deserved to die.”

Xie Sen sighed softly, and reached out to wrap his arms around his waist. “Mn, I don’t hate you.”

He was shocked when he heard that Maine had killed someone, but he accepted it because the other party was Julos. The one who wanted to kill Maine, and capture him. If he hadn’t spent time in the post-apocalyptic world, he might have been sanctimonious, and found it hard to accept. After all, he grew up in a society governed by the rule of law, and was more inclined to use legal actions.

But he had also experienced the end times, and in the end times, he had seen too many people who died because of being gentle-hearted. Some people let go of people who wanted to kill them, and were still killed later.

You might let the enemy go, but the enemy may not let you go.

Maine hugged him tightly. “A’Sen, you are so kind.” 

Xie Sen nudged his foot. “Go to the sofa.”

Maine hesitated for a moment before he put him on the couch, and then lay down and stretched out his entire body on top of him.

Xie Sen braced against his shoulder, and put a little distance between them, “Take off your clothes, and let me look at your wound. How did you get hurt?”

According to Maine, Julos had no chance of hurting him.

Maine gave him a look. “He had two bodyguards with him. They were both Soria’s men.”

Xie Sen clenched his fist, then abruptly released his grip on Maine’s hand and said cautiously, “Julos wanted to kill you. I don’t care that you killed him, but you must promise me that you won’t kill innocent people indiscriminately, or I–”

“I promise you!” Maine hurriedly said. “Don’t say it! Even if it’s just hypothetical, I don’t want to hear it from you!”

Xie Sen didn’t finish the rest of his sentence, he just looked at Maine. “Remember what you’ve promised me. Don’t forget it.”

“I won’t forget.” Maine said firmly.

Xie Sen was slightly relieved. The Maine in the book didn’t stop at anything in order to get revenge, and dragged everyone in Star City to be buried with him. He just was afraid that Maine despised the lives of others.

“Let me see your wounds.”

Maine took off his T-shirt. There were bandages wrapped around his abdomen and arms. The bandages on his arms were oozing blood. Xie Sen frowned. “I thought you were good at trauma. Why didn’t you take care of it?”

Maine unwrapped the bandage, then took out some medicine from his backpack. “I was in a hurry.”

Xie Sen helped Maine re-bandage the wound, then Maine changed into a clean T-shirt and reached out to hug him, but he reached out to grasp Maine’s shoulder. “Don’t move. Did you leave any traces?”

As he said that, he opened his bracelet and went to the Starnet. The front was full of news about Julos’s murder.

He and Maine sat side by side, with his hand on his shoulder. “Cleanly handled, but Soria should know. Gold Medal’s surveillance should have recorded the scene of me picking up the knife. Before destroying the surveillance, he most likely saw it.” He grunted. “Even if he hadn’t watched it, he would have realized how it appeared on his body, but he has no evidence to accuse me. The only surveillance that he had was disposed of by himself.”

“Is there really no way to recover the surveillance?” Soria’s eyes were red, and his tone was full of hate.

“There is no way. According to Madam’s instructions, the irreparable pulverization method was used.”

Soria ended the communication. His body fell limply onto the sofa, while his fingers scratched heavily on the leather sofa. His nails and the surface of the sofa rubbed with a harsh sound. He had never imagined that the surveillance he had ordered destroyed would now be evidence against Maine, but the surveillance could no longer be restored.

Maine! Soria gritted his teeth hard. You dared to lay your hands on Julos. I will make your life worse than death!

He pulled open the door and ran out. He rushed into Meyer’s study and shouted, “It’s Maine! It’s definitely him! Arrest and execute him!”

Meyer looked tired. He wrinkled his eyebrows heavily. “Shut up. When we just learned the news, you said it was Cuomo.”

Soria bit his lip. He had only felt that on impulse. His first thought was that Julos had a conflict with Cuomo in the forest. But he knew it was Maine when he learned that Julos had died under his own knife. He had given that knife to Julos. It was a special custom-made one, and the only one he had. Which Maine had picked up.

“The killer is Maine,” he said stubbornly.

“For what reason? Just because they had a confrontation? Do you know how many people Julos has offended?” The veins in Meyer’s forehead jerked as he spoke, “Almost every major powerhouse family has been offended by him, as well as countless civilians. Why do you think Father didn’t order the arrest of all the suspects?”

“I originally just thought he was spoiled by you into a young master’s temper. I didn’t expect him to be so lawless. Go online to see for yourself. It’s a hue and cry. The Cox family’s face has been disgraced.”

“He’s your son! He’s been killed. Are you speaking human words now?” Soria’s eyes were wide, his voice was raised and very sharp, “You’re actually thinking only of the Cox family’s reputation now! You’re not ashamed to let the killer go free?”

Meyer’s expression sank. “The murderer will be caught. The authority of the Cox family cannot be questioned.”

Someone dared to attack the first son of the Cox family, so he clearly didn’t care about the Cox family.

Soria looked at him with cold eyes, but he only had a cold heart. This person, there was no heart, no feelings, his eyes were only on the Cox family.

“Then you go get Maine. He’s the murderer!” he exclaimed. “Are you trying to cover up for him?!”

“For what reason? He’s not a Cox, and he never fought with Julos, so why would he do that to Julos?”

Soria bit his lip fiercely. The surveillance was ruined, but even if he said it, it would provoke questions and expose Maine’s identity. Now that Julos was gone, if Maine’s identity as a flying lion beast master was exposed, they would protect Maine even more.

“He hates Julos, and he hates us. He knows his dad didn’t die in a car accident. He was killed by us, and he’s taking revenge!”

“You did this,” Meyer corrected. “The bodyguards following Julos are your people. You should know their abilities well. Do you think Maine can get rid of them so silently?”

Soria gritted his teeth, “He can.”

Meyer, “When he was attacked by Sotoko, he didn’t escape, but you think he’s that good?”

“That’s because he didn’t hide at all.” Soria’s patience ran out, and his eyes glowed red. “Do you not want to catch him? Fine. I’ll get someone to catch him, and I’ll never let him go!”

“Stop,” Meyer barked as he walked out the door. “The police will investigate. What’s the point of you sticking your nose in? You have given Julos so many things, now all of that has been revealed. The Starnet has rumors that the Cox family was bullying and ignoring the law. How many people are now looking at the Cox family? If you take action now, it will prove that they are right. That the Cox family has its hands in the military and police departments. Won’t we be lawless then?”

Soria looked at him with hatred. “I don’t care what people say. I won’t let Maine go.”

“Who are you looking for? If Maine is really the murderer, the Cox family won’t spare him.”

“What about Sotoko?” Soria snapped back.

“He’s only just taken office, and he’s been reported for embezzlement. Mining Planet A’s resources are half of what they were last month, and April’s profits are plummeting. You should ask him what he’s done!”

Soria hastily dialed Sotoko’s communicator. The communication prompt stated that an investigation was in progress, and he could not be contacted.

“He wouldn’t do that. Have someone transfer him back.” Soria’s lips trembled. First Julos’ death, now Sotoko’s situation. The successive blows made his face extra ugly.

“The relevant departments are investigating, and he can’t return for the time being. Go rest first.” Meyer rubbed his brow. He was tired from the successive incidents and Soria’s noise.

Soria gritted his teeth, and turned around to leave the study.

Xie Sen looked at the row of names on the Starnet after ‘Julos’ murder suspects’ and the summarized events after each name, and lamented, “He was too good at offending people, wasn’t he?”

Maine sneered. “Had to get whatever he wanted, and hated for it to get away. He would do whatever had to be done. He grew up that way. When he was a child, he mostly hated toys and pets, but when he grew up, he couldn’t get rid of the haters, so he had to toss them.”

Xie Sen sighed again. “The reporters are really good, too. They actually exposed all these things so quickly.”

The corners of Maine’s mouth hooked up a little. Of course it was fast, he had been preparing for a long time.

At that moment, a message beeped on his bracelet, and he clicked on it. It was Huo Feng. [The materials needed for the finished product are insufficient. The first batch is less than half of what was expected. I want to find a time to discuss it in person.]

Maine grunted lightly. He knew at first glance that Huo Feng’s purpose wasn’t pure, [Declined.]