Chapter 58: Meet and Greet

Xie Sen heard Maine humming lightly, and curiously padded over just in time to see the next message from Huo Feng. 

Huo Feng, [Relax, I’m not interested in your man. I just want to ask him about the giant wolf beast.]

Xie Sen remembered the name Huo Feng, as the owner of the robot manufacturing company Maine was working with. When he saw Huo Feng mention the giant wolf beast, he asked Maine, “Is he the ‘Feng’ from the live stream?”

Maine nodded, “Yes, he is a giant wolf beast master.”

Xie Sen thought, No wonder. “He gave a lot of gifts in the live stream. I even asked him to customize an alloy ball.”

“I saw it,” Maine said. “I saw it live.”

Xie Sen was slightly stunned, he hadn’t expected Maine to watch the live stream while he went to kill Julos. Maine’s fingers slid from the side of his face to the side of his neck. His eyes were focused on him. “I want to watch you all the time.”

Xie Sen’s heart twitched, and he couldn’t help laughing. Maine’s earthy words were becoming more and more natural. He raised his hand, grabbed Maine’s hand, then cupped his bones and played with them. He thought for a moment and asked, “How is he? If he’s good, I can help him and ask the giant wolf beast what it thinks.”

He had asked the contract beasts about bonding before, and the main reason they hadn’t bonded was because they couldn’t find a suitable master, not because they were truly repulsed.

Maine said, “Reliable.”

Xie Sen smiled, “Then I’ll help ask tomorrow.”

Maine sent a message back to Huo Feng, [Wait for a reply.]

The two of them chatted for a while, as they continued to watch the news. The Starnet had exposed a lot of Julos’ black information. Even if he was the victim, he didn’t get the sympathy of passers-by, and some people even anonymously replied that they were happy.

[All the big families should take a good look at the consequences of coddling. Raising waste is not only harmful to other people, but also to themselves.]

[Yes, it’s okay for civilians, they can’t afford to make any waves. But the second generation of family members are really scary. It’s a scourge.]

Xie Sen quickly scrolled through the comments, and looked at the rest of the news. He was relieved to see no one was specifically pointing out suspicions about Maine.

He squeezed Maine’s finger, and said reassuringly, “Even though the Starnet is saying this, Julos is a Cox after all. All those who are suspected will definitely be investigated. Have you thought about what to say?”

Maine took his hand in his backhand. “Don’t worry, I’m prepared.”

His tone was sure. Xie Sen looked at him and didn’t continue to ask, just turned the topic to the live stream. “Can you design a title and avatars for the live stream?”

“Yes. There are some features I can do together. Before, with the time rush, there were some things that weren’t done.”

Xie Sen looked at him in surprise. “You hadn’t prepared to open a live website before?”

Maine nodded. If it wasn’t for Xie Sen’s live room suddenly being blocked, he really had no preparations in that regard.

Xie Sen couldn’t help but praise him. “You’re really amazing.”

Maine laughed lightly. He liked it when Xie Sen praised him. He reached out and took Xie Sen in his arms. Xie Sen subconsciously wanted to hide, but was worried about touching his wounds, so he let him hold him. He reminded him, “Don’t force yourself. Be careful of the wounds.”

“It’s okay, it’s a small wound.” Maine didn’t care.

In the evening, Maine wanted to do something more after they were both washed up and in bed, but Xie Sen refused to do anything about it, so Maine became more concerned about the wound.

The next morning, Maine drove Xie Sen to Gold Medal to work and didn’t return to the apartment until Xie Sen disappeared from view. However when he stepped out of the parking lot, two men in police uniforms stopped him.

“Maine, right? We’re investigating the murder of Julos, and you’re a primary suspect.”

Maine was very obedient, and followed them back to the police station. He sat in an interrogation room with two police officers sitting across from him.

“Where were you yesterday afternoon?”

Maine said, “Gold Medal, then I went hunting in the forest.”

“So you were in the forest when Julos was killed?”

“I didn’t know he was in the forest. I didn’t see him. I go hunting in the forest almost every day.” He added after a pause, “to earn a living.”

The two interrogating policemen looked at each other. “We suspect that you have become very angry at Lt. Gen. Meyer because he has only two sons and because of the great difference in treatment between the two of you, so you wanted to take Julos’ place.”

Maine shook his head. “No. I never thought of it that way. I don’t want to be associated with the Cox family. I have no motive to kill him.”

The officer said, “The Cox family is the best motive. Without Julos, you could have been re-accepted to the Cox family.”

“No need,” Maine looked at the other man without averting his eyes. “If I wanted to go back to the Cox family, Julos wouldn’t be a hindrance.”

“You’re so confident? From what I know, you and Julos had a confrontation at Julos’ birthday party, then you were removed from the Cox family. Obviously he was much more valued than you are.”

Maine said, “I don’t want to be valued. I’m used to living outside. Have been since I was a kid. I don’t want to have any connection with the Cox family.”

“How can you dare to say that? Even if you wanted it, the Cox family may not value you. I doubt that you are trying to clear your name. You should know that your words have no credibility at all.”

Maine looked at him, lifted his hand and slowly unbuttoned his coat. One officer immediately chided him. “What are you doing?”

Maine said lightly, “Adding credibility.” He stopped when the white skin of his chest was revealed.

In a few moments, the two officers simultaneously opened their eyes wide. They looked incredulously at the beast pattern detailed on his chest. “Aren’t you a giant lion beast master?”

Maine buttoned up his shirt. “Second awakening.”

The officers looked at each other in amazement. It was a second awakening! A legendary Beast God’s favored beast master!

Maine said, “You should know what being a flying lion beast master means to the Cox family. If I wanted to be taken seriously, I didn’t have to go after Julos at all. Just reveal my identity,” He said with a light snort. “I wouldn’t kill him if I really hated him. It would be torture for him to go back to the Cox family, and let him watch me be taken seriously.”

This was indeed the best way to deal with Julos, to keep him jealous every day, and slowly torment him. But Julos didn’t deserve it. He didn’t desire to circle the Cox family for Julos. He hated the Cox family.

The two officers were silent. Maine had a point. His words completely dissolved his motive to kill. The importance of the flying lion beast master to the Cox family couldn’t be overstated. In fact, all S class beast masters that were born were valued in their family.

Although Maine’s motive for killing Julos couldn’t be established, the two officers carefully questioned him about the time he spent in and out of the forest, as well as the amount of hunting material sold and the people he had contact with during that time.

“We will investigate further. If there is any doubt, we can always come back to you.”

Maine said, “I will cooperate with you.” He paused. “Can I ask you to keep my secret?”

His attitude struck a chord with the two officers. When they heard his request, they couldn’t help but sympathize with him when they thought about what had happened to him. “We will do our best to keep it a secret, but it may not be possible to hide it.”

“Thank you.” Maine thanked them anyway, and left the station.

After he left, one officer shrugged. “Look. This is what happens when you have a fling! I’ll have someone check to see if what he said is true. If it is, with the amount of time he was in the forest, plus the amount of hunting he was selling, he didn’t have time to do the rest.”

“I didn’t think he was suspicious after I saw his beast mark.”

“Suspicious or not, the investigation must be discreet. Let’s see who the next suspect is and continue.”

When Xie Sen clocked in to work, Sun Mao had been standing at the clock for a long time as he waited for him. As soon as he saw him, he immediately came over. His eyes sparkled as he grabbed his shoulders. “I watched your live stream. Fantastic!”

Xie Sen smiled, “The contract beasts are really popular.”

“About that. I have several friends who want to come and see them. Is that okay?” Sun Mao looked at him expectantly.

“Ones who want to make a contract?”

“Well, senior contract beasts are so rare that they dream of bonding, especially after having seen the live broadcast. They have a good feeling about contract beasts, and since they know that you are in Gold Medal, they asked me for help.”

Xie Sen thought for a moment and asked, “Are you sure these people are reliable? If someone tries to tamper with the beasts and pisses them off, I can’t be sure they’ll be safe.”

“Reliable. I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise. They are only three good friends. One is over forty years old, and he’s been looking for a contract beast for a long time.” Sun Mao said.

Xie Sen asked, “What kind of beast master?”

“The giant rhinoceros beast.”

Xie Sen thought of the Yan Qi family’s flying rhinoceros beast and wondered, “Are there very few rhinoceros-like beasts?”

“All S and A class contract beasts are rare. While A class beast masters aren’t quite as rare. That’s why many people are extremely excited to see senior contract beasts. Before this batch of contract beasts came, I’ve seen less than ten A class contract beasts in total before.”

Sun Mao said with a sigh, “A class beast masters are now in an awkward position. Although the bottom is good, no contract beasts have bonded. Their strength isn’t as good as the bonded B class beast masters, and there are numerous B class contract beasts compared to A class beasts.”

It finally came to Xie Sen. No wonder the popularity of the live stream was so high.

“I’ll go to check their status at noon. if it’s good, I’ll arrange it.” Xie Sen said.

When it was almost lunch break, Xie Sen went to Zones 4-5, and asked the contract beasts for their opinions, “Do you want to meet these beast masters and try the bonding?”

“I want to meet.” Xie Sen was surprised and looked at the giant wolf beast. He hadn’t expected  it to be the first one to take a stand. The voice of the giant wolf beast continued to ring in his mind, “My race is used to living in packs. Later, when our mental state gets better, we will be separated. I don’t want to stay alone, I want to try to find a partner.”

“I also want to try,” said the giant tiger beast. “The forest is boring. If there is a suitable beast master, I will choose to bond. If not, can I continue to stay here? But I would like to go into the forest once in a while.”

Xie Sen said, “It doesn’t have to be here, but if you want to stay, we can arrange a place for you.”

The giant tiger beast, “That’s great! I’ll try it out and see if I can make a contract, depending on the beast master’s ability.”

The giant spotted leopard beast, “I don’t want to make a contract, I want to stay with my brother.”

Giant black leopard beast, “No bonding. Once my mental state turns good I’ll go back to the forest. There are no trees here. I want to climb them. We will come back to see you.”

Giant rhinoceros beast, “I’m fine with anything.”

Giant lion beast, “If it’s right, I’ll make a contract. I’ve heard many glorious deeds of my ancestors and fellow humans who fought in blood. Now that there is no war, it’s good to do something else.”

The two giant elephant beasts, “If they have grass to eat and are strong enough, we can make a contract.”

Xie Sen wrote down their words one by one. Except for the two giant leopard beasts, the rest of the contract beasts were basically considered to have casual attitudes.

“Then I’ll arrange for some people to come and see. If the synchronization rate is less than fifty percent, there’s no need to try.”

As they were talking, the soft pad and bathtub ordered yesterday arrived.

The soft pad was five meters square and five centimeters thick. When pressed down it gave a sense of sinking, and was extraordinarily comfortable. Little Spot immediately jumped up to lie down, and then rolled around.

The staff was startled, and moved back several steps. Only when they saw that it didn’t attack, did they breathe a sigh of relief.

The giant black leopard beast, and giant tiger beast eyes’ glowed. They began to push each other, as they tried to occupy the cushion, and not long after that the giant lion beast also joined them.

Xie Sen thought about it, then discussed it with the giant rhinoceros beast, and opened the live broadcast.

As soon as the viewers who set the broadcast with a special reminder opened the live stream, they saw several big cats fighting with each other for the soft cushion, as they squeezed around, and made all kinds of small movements, but there was no real fight.

[Wow! Suddenly opened the broadcast. Happiness!]

[The anchor is stingy. Buy a few more soft cushions, ah. They are squeezed thin!]

Xie Sen casually looked at the pop-ups, smiled, and walked to the big bathtub.

The staff, who were being followed by the two giant elephant beasts, installed the bathtub with fear and trepidation, and they were relieved at Xie Sen’s approach, “Here is the connection pipe you want. Hook it to the faucet, and you can directly fill it with water.”

Xie Sen said thank you, sent the staff away, connected the pipe, and started to fill the bathtub. Xie Sen was standing next to the bathtub with a glum look on his face. He couldn’t see clearly how much water had been put in.

He gave up, and touched the thigh of the giant elephant beast. “How much water do you want?”

As he finished, the giant elephant beast dropped it’s trunk, then curled it around his waist. “I can lift you up,” the giant elephant beast said. Xie Sen’s body was abruptly lifted.

He was startled, and hurriedly held the trunk of the giant elephant beast. The other giant elephant beast stretched out its trunk underneath him and let him sit on it. “Don’t be afraid, you won’t fall down.”

Xie Sen sat peacefully, with the trunk curled around his waist like a solid backrest. He abruptly put his mind at ease, and looked at the bathtub. The water inside was less than a fifth of the way full.

[Ahhhhh…The anchor is too happy, right!]

[I want to be lifted up high too!]

[Anchor develop a ride. Let them play with us!] A bunch of envious voices on the pop-up screen.

The giant wolf beast looked at the cushion, then at the bathtub, and finally ran to Xie Sen’s side. It looked down at the bathtub, and stretched out his paw to explore inside. The water level didn’t take long to rise and its paw got wet, so it hurriedly withdrew its paw and lowered its head to take a few sips of water.

Xie Sen patted the elephant’s trunk. “I’ll turn off the tap.”

The giant elephant beast put him down, and he ran towards the faucet. The giant wolf beast turned its head to watch, and ran after him. It quickly overtook him, and swept its big fluffy tail over his body.

Xie Sen wiped his face, and grabbed it by the tail. It stopped, turned its head towards Xie Sen and barked softly.

The white and fluffy fur on its tail was particularly beautiful, and Xie Sen couldn’t help but touch it a few times. There were a bunch of envious screams on the screen, [Let it go. Let me do it!]

“Is the water flowing from there?” The giant wolf beast raised its paw, and pointed at the faucet.

Xie Sen nodded, and led the beast over to the faucet. He closed the faucet. and removed the connection tube, while he explained to the beast what the faucet and the connection tube were for.

After he put away the connection tube, he patted the front legs of the wolf beast, “Go back and play with them. I’ll buy some more soft pads. They seem to like them.”

“I want a big bone shaped toy to sharpen my teeth.” The giant wolf beast blinked its beautiful turquoise eyes at him. “Can I?”

Xie Sen said, “Yes. I’ll see if there’s a good, tough material product.” He walked towards the big cats that were fighting.

The giant wolf beast turned its head to look at him, and then turned its head to look at the faucet, raised its fleshy paw, and the next moment, stretched out a sharp, thin claw, and gently touched it.

The water suddenly flowed out from the faucet, splashed on the ground, instantly wetting the front half of the giant wolf beast’s fur.

Xie Sen turned around when he heard the commotion, and saw the beautiful giant wolf beast’s head and neck and the hair on its front legs was wet and drooping. Now, it looked like a regular wolf. He ran over and turned off the faucet. The giant wolf beast barked lowly at him, and lowered its head while its tail hung down in a pitiful manner.

[So cute! The anchor is not allowed to be mean to it! It’s just a bit curious.]

[Yes, don’t be mean to it!]

The gift broadcast, “‘Feng’ gave the anchor a watermelon rain.” After the gift effect pop-ups, it said, [Don’t be mean to it!]

With special effect pop-ups followed by the gift announcement, Xie Sen’s mouth twitched as he heard it.

He patted the front leg of the giant wolf beast and said comfortingly, “It’s okay, it’s just a waste of water.”

“I’m ugly.” The giant wolf beast said in a low voice, “Am I ugly like this?”

Xie Sen, “…” Are all animals with fur face cons?

“It’s not ugly. It’ll be fine after a bit of sunshine.”

The giant wolf beast still kept its head down. Xie Sen thought about it and said, “Wait. I’ll blow it for you.”

He took a hairdryer from the bathing area. It didn’t take long to dry the white fur of the giant wolf beast, who finally raised its head and rubbed Xie Sen affectionately.

[It’s so cute!]

[I know how to use a hair dryer too, let me do it! Rub me!]

The giant wolf beast finished rubbing, and then ran towards the bathtub. But before he could run in, he saw two giant elephant beasts were spraying water to play, and rushed away, afraid of being splashed by the water.

Little Spot was very fond of it. He stook up from the cushion and scurried around the giant elephant beasts. Meanwhile, the giant rhinoceros beast had been lying beside them for a long time, as it enjoyed the feeling of getting wet. Xie Sen looked at the time. It was time for food. He and the contract beasts said goodbye. He asked for their opinions, and chose not to close the live feed for the time being. After all, there were always people sending gifts.

He was about to leave when the giant black leopard beast plopped down on the cushion and wrapped its tail around his calf. He stopped in his tracks, and turned his head to look at it, “What’s wrong?”

“Receiving money!” The giant black leopard said. “The people who come to see us are the equivalent of a fan meeting. There is an admission fee! Buy another cushion! One is not enough.”

Xie Sen lost his smile. This was simply a wealthy way of thinking. The giant rhinoceros echoed, “Yes, we have to charge money. The bathtub is better on a flat surface where I can lie down in it, and there are other things to buy. We need a lot of money.”

Xie Sen thought about it, “Well, if you know friends, you can charge for the tickets, but if you charge for the tickets for the live audience, there will be too many people coming. So let’s do it another way.”

He said to the audience, “In order to thank the audience’s support, this Saturday, that’s the 9th, a meeting will be held, as of zero on the 9th. The top eight fans automatically get tickets. In addition there will be two draws to choose two random viewers, to make a total of ten for a fan meeting.”

All of a sudden, the gift broadcast sounded non-stop. Xie Sen inexplicably felt like he was a money cheat.

He left Zones 4-5, bought three more soft pads while eating lunch, then cut to the live stream interface. The contract beasts were eating, so he turned off the live stream and took a lunch break.

On the other side, the police had investigated Maine, determined that he wasn’t lying, eliminated him from suspicion and informed Meyer of the results.

Meyer looked briefly at Soria, who kept making noise about investigating Maine. “That was news from the police. The suspicion about him was ruled out.”

“How can that be?!” Soria shouted. “It’s all rubbish. He is obviously the murderer! How can he be ruled out?” He grabbed Meyer’s hand and arm, “You let me talk to them!”

Meyer pulled his hand away, and said in a dark voice, “For the last time.” He dialed the communicator.

As soon as the call came through, Soria immediately questioned, “How can you rule out Maine as the killer?”

“We’ve investigated his itinerary that day, and it’s consistent with what he said. There is no motive for the crime.”

“How can there be no motive? He hates us. He’s a bastard, and he was jealous of Julos! He’s a dark-hearted devil!”

The officer said, “Killing Julos wouldn’t have done him any good. That’s just speculation, and besides, if he was really jealous, there were other ways to do it. No need to commit a crime.”

Soria screamed, “Rubbish! Why are you all speaking for him? He’s the killer!”

Meyer gave Soria a warning glare, and spoke to the officer, “I’m sorry, Julos’ death was a big blow to him. He’s not in a good state of mind. But what did you mean when you said other ways?” The officer hesitated for a moment, and Meyer said seriously, “I want to know all the reasons to exclude him from suspicion.”

“He is a flying lion beast master.”

Meyer’s fingers clenched into a fist. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. If he wanted to be taken seriously by the Cox family, he could have just revealed his identity, and Julos would have suffered even more. We believe that he has insufficient motive.”

“Nonsense, he’s not! He’s a giant lion beast master!” Soria exclaimed, and looked flustered.

Meyer said, “Thanks, for your hard work.” He ended the communication, and looked at Soria sharply, “When did you know about this?”

“I didn’t know he was a flying lion beast master!” Soria gritted his teeth. His heart was extremely hateful. What he had been most worried about was still known by Meyer. He knew very well that now Meyer wouldn’t make a move against Maine.

If he had known, he wouldn’t have let Maine, the bitch, grow up!

Meyer gave him a look, got up and walked out. As he left, he instructed his adjutant to gather all the information about Maine and pass it on to him.

As soon as Xie Sen got on the shuttle, he was kissed by Maine against the seat for a while. He panted lightly against Maine’s shoulder, “Are your wounds healed?”

Maine’s voice was slightly muffled, “It’s fine.”

Xie Sen was heated by his burning eyes. He coughed lightly, and pushed him away, “Go back first. I’ll check and see.”

Maine gave him a deep look at him, and sat back down.

Xie Sen opened the live room. The contract beasts were resting, but when he looked at the anchor panel, he saw the bounty income listed, and was stunned.

His finger tapped one number after another, counting back and forth several times to make sure he was counting it correctly. He couldn’t help but marvel. “There were actually more than two million bounties today.”

Maine had been following the live stream, so he knew exactly what was going on. “They’re fighting for the top eight spots.”

Xie Sen looked at the fan list. The first fan, ‘Feng,’ was worth more than ten million, which meant he alone had sent more than one million gifts.

Next was ‘Qiao Shao’ with a fan value of more than five million.

These two accounts were a large part of the reward.

Maine added, “There are still people who are waiting and watching. The peak time for sending gifts is near the deadline.”

Xie Sen, “…I don’t think someone will report me for cheating, right?”

“No, if the contract is successful, this amount of money isn’t much of anything.”

Xie Sen thought about the price of A class contract beasts, and stopped thinking about it. He just went online to customize an oversized bone-shaped toy for the giant wolf beast.

On the morning of May 7th, Xie Sen was sitting in the shuttle on his way to work at Gold Medal, when he received a communication from Ma Qun, the director of Plant Research Institute.

Ma Qun sounded excited, “The peppers have sprouted! All the seeds germinated successfully, and a few days earlier than expected!”

Xie Sen instantly thought of delicious chili stir-fry and gulped, “That’s great!” He then remembered the tomatoes Li You had brought back. “Where is the tomato?”

Ma Qun sighed, “They didn’t work out. Part of it was frozen and preserved, the other continues to be researched.”

Xie Sen frowned. It was reasonable to say that with the red energy, all red plants could be planted, ah!

Ma Qun ended the communication after he informed him of the good news. Xie Sen pondered for a moment, and paged Adam.