Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

After a brief glance at Chopper, Su Zhi turned to Selena beside him.

"Thank you all for your kind offers, Alliance Leaders. I’m truly flattered. But... I’ve actually already made up my mind.

"In the future, I hope to join the Flying Shadow Alliance."

"Are you sure, Su Zhi?"

Shen Zechuan spoke calmly. "In times of peace, the Flying Shadow Alliance provides disaster relief. In times of war, they serve as raid and support units. Theirs is the most dangerous work.

"If you choose the Flying Shadow Alliance, you’ll find it hard to ever lead a peaceful, quiet life again. The vast majority of your time will no longer be your own."

"I’m sure."

Su Zhi replied without hesitation. "I understand the risks, but even so, I still want to join the Flying Shadow Alliance."

"How can you claim to understand without any experience?" Shen Zechuan asked with a faint smile.

Su Zhi faltered, momentarily at a loss for words.

"However, this is at least a decision you’ve made with your current level of maturity. I trust you’ve given it careful thought."

Shen Zechuan looked toward the other four Alliance Leaders.

"Does anyone have any more questions?"

Luo Sen suddenly grinned, revealing blood-red teeth as he walked toward Su Zhi.

Like a startled cat, Su Zhi arched his back and scurried behind Selena. Yu Bao’s brow furrowed, and it moved to shield its Beast Tamer.

Luo Sen waved his hand with a wide smile. "Don’t be nervous. I wouldn’t dare pull anything in front of the Grand Alliance Leader."

’So you’re saying you *can* pull something once the Grand Alliance Leader leaves, is that it?’ Su Zhi didn’t relax his guard, his body remaining tense.

"I’m not a bad guy. Since you’ve chosen the Flying Shadow Alliance, I’ll respect your decision. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for us to cooperate.

"Let’s make a deal, Su Zhi."

Luo Sen slowly raised two fingers and pointed them at the bewildered Yu Bao.

"First, your Yu Dian Dog’s Real-time Energy Value is approaching one-star. I assume you’ve already started preparing for its evolution, haven’t you?

"I can help you complete your Pet Beast’s evolution for free—and I mean completely free. All you have to do is bring him to me; you won’t need to do a thing."

"That’s a generous offer," Su Zhi said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

The evolution process for a Pet Beast was tedious and complex. Even when all the necessary conditions were met, a specific evolution ritual was often still required.

Furthermore, the supplementary resources used during the evolution were also crucial, as they greatly influenced the Pet Beast’s stability and potential afterward.

That was why Beast Tamers usually paid a high price to hire an Evolutionist when their Pet Beast was on the verge of evolving, to ensure the process was as flawless as possible.

And it was no exaggeration to say that every Evolutionist on Blue Star was a disciple of Luo Sen—because he was the founder of the profession itself...

’This was like getting the strongest Evolutionist on the planet to oversee Yu Bao’s evolution for free!’

’Wait, nothing’s ever truly free. Free things are often the most expensive.’

Su Zhi’s gaze instantly grew wary. "You’re not just trying to lure us over so you can use us for your research, are you?"

"Of course. Your Pet Beast’s evolution is indeed part of my research."

Luo Sen made no attempt to hide it.

"But there will be no issues with the evolution process itself. If you’re worried, you can have Alliance Leader Qiao, or even the Grand Alliance Leader himself, accompany you."

"Don’t worry, I’ll go with you," Chopper said, patting Su Zhi on the shoulder.

"Alright then. Thank you, Elder Chopper, and thank you, Elder Luo Sen... I accept!"

Su Zhi blinked. "And the second thing?"

’If the second thing is getting dissected, I’m not doing it...’

Luo Sen grinned. "For the second thing, you just need to send me your daily training logs. That’s all."

"That’s it?" Su Zhi asked, taken aback.

"As payment, I will grant you Level 1 Visitor access. You will be able to borrow an unlimited number of documents below A Level from the archives, and you may borrow A Level and above documents with my approval.

"All areas freely accessible to Divine Strategy Alliance Members will be open to you. All your expenses within all Divine Strategy Alliance facilities will automatically receive a 50% discount.

"Furthermore, all Divine Strategy Alliance Members, myself included, will be obligated to act as your mentors. We are required to answer any and all questions you have, until you run out of questions or we can no longer provide an answer.

"I won’t list every little bonus privilege. You can review them yourself.

"I’m not a fan of making empty promises or speaking in hypotheticals. Everything I just mentioned is effective immediately."

Luo Sen snapped his fingers.

The next second, Su Zhi’s phone screen lit up on its own, displaying a new official message from the Common Defense Alliance—

[Divine Strategy Alliance: Dear Su Zhi, you have been granted Level 1 Visitor access to the Divine Strategy Alliance! Approver: Luo Sen! Click for details.]

’Holy shit...’

Su Zhi was speechless. Finally, he managed to open his mouth. "Th-thank you, sir..."

’These research types are really something else. When he says he’ll give you something, he really means it...’

"What the hell? Is this some new way of poaching people?!"

It finally dawned on Shang Duantie. He quickly clapped Su Zhi on the shoulder.

"Brother Su! Even if you want to spend the rest of your days with the Flying Shadow Alliance, it’s no big deal to come hang out at the Cui Feng Alliance once in a while! I hang out at the Flying Shadow Alliance all the time!

"We at the Cui Feng Alliance don’t have any of that fancy-pants visitor access stuff. If you need anything, just look for me. As long as it’s not too outrageous, I can make it happen!"

"Uh, well, thank you too, Elder Shang..."

Su Zhi chuckled in spite of himself. He suddenly realized the perks he was getting were better than what an official Alliance Member received. ’Isn’t this basically NTR?’ he thought.

As the scholar among the Alliance Leaders, Jing Shouxi remained composed and dignified, not losing his cool over his failure to recruit Su Zhi.

He just casually mentioned:

"The Boya Alliance’s classes are open to all dedicated students. You’re welcome to attend anytime."

The other Alliance Leaders covered their mouths, trying to stifle their laughter. Their amusement made Jing Shouxi’s face flush red, and the Battle Hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

"Um..."

After a moment, seeing that the great leaders seemed to have no further comments, Su Zhi tentatively raised his hand. "I have some personal business to attend to. May I be excused?"

Shen Zechuan nodded. "Since this matter is successfully concluded, you may leave."

"Right, right! Goodbye, everyone!"

Su Zhi jogged out of the Battle Hall.

After he left, the Alliance Leaders’ faces grew grim as they looked at their phones.

After speaking privately with Shen Zechuan, Luo Sen had sent a summary of their conversation to the other three Alliance Leaders.

"I’m telling you, Old Luo, are you for real...? Seeing you pull out all the stops like that, is it really this serious?" Shang Duantie asked, scratching his head in disbelief.

Jing Shouxi heaved a heavy sigh. "I wish it were false. But Luo Sen’s reliability in his research makes it hard for me to be optimistic."

"So, I invite you all to abandon any illusions~"

Luo Sen said in a drawn-out voice, grinning again to reveal his crimson teeth.

"It’s not all bad news. At least everything is calm for now, isn’t it?"

The other Alliance Leaders remained silent; Luo Sen’s dark joke had failed to lighten the mood.

"Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter. Whether things are calm now also doesn’t matter. What matters is that we remain prepared at all times."

Shen Zechuan’s voice was as calm as ever. "Regardless, we are the Common Defense Alliance."

The other Alliance Leaders sighed, then nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which, why was Brother Su in such a hurry?" Shang Duantie asked curiously. "What could possibly be more important than us?"

Chopper, who had already gotten the full story from Selena, gave a funny grin. "When did you get the deluded idea that you’re more important than a guy taking a girl shopping?"

Jing Shouxi: "Xiaoqiao, you can’t expect someone to understand something they’ve never experienced."

Luo Sen: "From a probabilistic standpoint, some people are destined to never understand."

Shang Duantie: "Damn it."

The ever-composed Shen Zechuan didn’t join the conversation, merely giving Shang Duantie a look that said, ’They have a point, you know.’

The Alliance Leaders all burst out laughing, filling the Battle Hall with a joyful atmosphere once more.

Just then, Chopper glanced at the time. "But it’s already ten P.M. Aren’t the shops closing by now?"

"A trivial matter. The Divine Strategy Alliance commercial street won’t be closing tonight."

Luo Sen casually sent a notification to a work group chat, then grinned, revealing two rows of blood-red teeth.

"Just think of it as bait for the little lab rat. Once I gain Su Zhi’s trust, I can conduct more... in-depth research."

The other Alliance Leaders couldn’t help but shiver. Chopper, in particular, became even more determined to accompany Su Zhi the next day.

The little lab rat was still unaware that all gifts bestowed by fate come with a price tag secretly attached...

·

Divine Strategy Alliance Commercial Street—

Shao Yun came back from the line holding two ice creams, one matcha and one cherry.

"Xiaoya, here!"

"Thanks, Dad~" the girl said, taking the pink one.

"Thanks, Da—uh, no, Uncle..."

Su Zhi accepted the ice cream from Shao Yun, flattered and flustered. His face flushed red from his slip of the tongue.

While Shao Yun was looking down to deal with a message, Su Zhi quickly leaned toward Shao Ya’s ear and whispered, "Why is your dad here??"

Shao Ya tilted her head, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "Is it really that strange to run into a Vice Alliance Leader at the Common Defense Alliance Headquarters?"

"...I guess that’s true."

"Haha, it’s been a while! Xiaosu has grown into quite a handsome young man!" Shao Yun finished his business, put away his phone, and patted Su Zhi’s shoulder with a smile.

"You’re still as charming as ever... uh, I mean, you’re still in your prime..."

Su Zhi shrank back and muttered to himself, not daring to meet Shao Yun’s eyes.

The last time he had seen Uncle Shao was over a year ago, at a parent-teacher conference in his last year of middle school.

Because Shao Yun was an important official in the Common Defense Alliance, teachers often invited him to give speeches, so Su Zhi had come to recognize him over time.

Back then, he and Shao Ya were still strangers.

’Who would have thought that just over a year later, things would be like this...’

"Haha, that’s great, just great. As long as you two are happy, I’m happy."

After a round of kind inquiries, Shao Yun put an arm around Su Zhi’s shoulders and nodded in satisfaction.

Su Zhi’s forehead was beaded with sweat as he struggled to maintain a smile, looking like he was about to drop dead. Watching him, Shao Ya was trying so hard to stifle her laughter that she smeared her ice cream all over her mouth.

"Xiaoya talks about you all the time when we’re on the phone! She tells me how amazing you are in your matches, how hard you train, how you stay strong even when things are unfair..."

This time, it was Shao Ya’s turn to freeze as if she’d been struck by lightning.

The girl stared blankly for a moment before looking up, right into Su Zhi’s teasing eyes. Her face instantly turned into a ripe tomato, practically steaming.

"There was one time you missed dinner or something, and she went on and on about it to me on the phone all night..."

"Dad, stop talking!"

Shao Ya cried out and threw herself into Shao Yun’s arms, shoving her ice cream into his mouth to shut him up.

·

·

Daily 10k words, day (20/20) +3 days!

We cannot summon the stars, but we can burn as torches.