Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-384

The branch office never imagined that they would have to deal with so many questions and doubts, especially when none of their test devices had made a mistake ever since they were launched on the market.

Soon, the branch office published an announcement on its official website to clarify this matter.

First of all, there was nothing wrong with the device.

The device used to test Su Ping had been recalled and inspected. Nothing was broken and nothing was wrong. A document was attached to the announcement that had many pictures and data charts related to the inspection. Those were proof that nothing was wrong with the device.

Second, a statement was posted on the official website: thus far, no secret skills existed that could fool the test device.

The two statements had made it clear that their test device could not be blamed for anything that happened.

As the company proved the quality of their device, the onlookers came to realize something stunning.

So, the device was fine.

Then…

Su Ping was indeed at the intermediate position of the sixth rank?

That conclusion was inconceivable. Once again, this piece of news raised clamors and comments.

While the onlookers were still discussing and debating, some teachers went there to join in the fun. They began to analyze the possibility of a sixth-rank battle pet warrior beating titled battle pet warriors from a professional point of view.

Whichever way they looked at it, the conclusion was the same. It was impossible!

While the entire Longjiang Base City was talking about the Pixie Pet Store and Su Ping, the major families had remained quiet.

Whether Su Ping was at the sixth-rank or not was inconsequential. Whatever the conclusion was, it would be meaningless to them.

Su Ping’s capacity was strong and that was a fact. He could even subdue battle pets of the ninth-rank. That was enough to frighten and trouble the major families. The priority for the major families at the moment waso deciding whether they should visit Su Ping’s store the next day.

That decision was vital to the future of their families!

That night, the final results of the Elite League were announced.

The champion was Su Lingyue.

The runner-up was Xu Kuang. Qin Shaotian was the third-place winner.

The fourth and fifth place winners were Ye Longtian and Mu Yuanshou respectively.

In this list, the name of Su Ping-or Yan Bingyue’s, who had parachuted to the Longjiang Base City-were nowhere to be seen.

Countless people left comments and asked for an explanation on the website and the official reply was that the two of them had abstained from taking part.

People saw the videos. They couldn’t tell what those people on the stage had whispered but they believed that the pet store owner named Su Ping must have given up voluntarily. As for that Yan Bingyue, he dragged her away. Her life was uncertain. In fact, she had given up.

Even if their names were not on the list, they were still the center of heated discussions.

They had exhibited a strong ability. Many people held that they were the uncrowned first and second place winners.

That night.

In a magnificent base city far, far away in the heartland of the Subcontinent District.

The solemn and magnificent outer wall of the base city was steep and towering, several meters high and tens of meters thick. The dun stones had been refined by special pets, sturdy and sleek. Not even a ninth-rank beast could have cracked the wall!

The base city was vast and boundless.

There were several districts in the base city; each district was quite prosperous, as if it were a city within a city.

Outside the base, the city used underground tunnels that held underground railways which lead to different places. At the moment, in one of the districts

Unique black flags were hung outside some of the landmark buildings in the district; a swirl was printed in them, formed by nine dark blue stars. The dark color of the flag accentuated the stars.

Those were the Star Organization’s flags.

This entire district belonged to the Star Organization! A grand and majestic building was located right in the center of the district. Thanks to certain pets, the materials used in the building were strengthened to the maximum level. As such, the building’s shape was somehow going against physical laws. The building was made of three parts. The bottom part was like a dragon that was lying prostrate on the ground.

The middle part was the dragon’s back with two huge hands extending upward and 10 fingers in a perfectly straight position.

The fingers held a flat structure, like a mirror.

That was how the building looked from a distance. There were over a hundred floors in each “finger” with elevators inside. The glass was transparent; people could overlook the countless “short” buildings in the district when taking the elevators on their way up.

There was an oval office on the third floor of the “thin and flat” building above the fingers.

It was the most important meeting room of the Star Organization!

Inside the meeting room.

Whenever this meeting room was in use, it would mean that the participants were the big potatoes and the topic was a knotty problem.

In this dimly-lit room, seven people sat around the oval table. The center of the table was made up of tempered glass. People could see stars moving about in it thanks to a special projection.

The seven people hid their faces in the shadows, adding to the mystery.

“President Zu, what matter is so urgent that requires all of us to be here?”

“Has the seal been moved there?” Two people posed the questions. One of the voices sounded calm and the other was of a lady. Both sounded to be in their forties.

Sitting at one end of the table was an old man with a hunched back, gray hair, and wrinkled face. Although he didn’t show anger, the others regarded him with awe.

“I have just been informed that a star of our Star Organization has been captured,” the old man slowly said.

“And?”

President Zu’s words astounded the other six people.

The person who previously asked the first question said, “That’s it? I know that educating qualified stars represents a huge investment. But that’s not important enough for all of us to be summoned.”

“Captured by who?” the other person asked emotionlessly. That voice was so hoarse that it could freeze people’s blood.

The others remained silent.

They believed that President Zu would explain the matter.

“Take a look at this video first.”

The old man left the two questions unanswered. He swiped the table. With a flash of starlight, a virtual screen popped out at the center of the table; a video was played on the screen.

It was in a competition venue and a girl was on the stage.

“I remember that girl.”

“Yan something something.”

“Right, from the training camp five years ago. She and her friend killed all the others in the

camp.”

“Hmm, a good kid.”

“Look at the place. Some kind of match? Is this the recent kid’s league?”

“I think so.”

While those people were discussing, all of a sudden, the image began to tremble as if attacked by something. Then, the lens changed to the edge of the stage. A person was standing in the air and the seal was cracked open!

“What?”

The casual expressions disappeared from their faces.

If this was a venue from the Elite League, then the seal should have been set to the highest standard.

He could break the seal?

That was to say, he shouldn’t be much weaker than them.

No one was talking anymore. All of them were gazing at the image.

The video went on…

A long while later.

Half an hour later.

The video ended. A hush fell in the meeting room.

The silence lasted for about half a minute before someone asked in a low voice, “The rings that looked like made up of dark iron were able to pull in a battle pet at the peak of the ninth rank. Have you ever seen that type of thing before?”

No one replied to that question.

No one had ever seen anything like that. As no one answered, the meeting room became even more silent.

A moment later, President Zu continued. “I have learned that this place is a second-tier base city called Longjiang in the south. The video was sent over by a certain cross-city private company in that base city. I’ve sent people to pry for information. The video is authentic. This actually happened, and the event was public. Finding out the details is not that hard.”

He looked around and posed a question, “What can you tell about the person in the video?”

One of the six answered, “I have experience related to training in physical skills. I don’t think this young man is a titled battle pet warrior. Besides, he must have learned a certain kind of physical skill as well. I can tell from that outburst of strength.”

“True. I find this person’s attack mode strange. It’s not like what titled battle pet warriors would use. Also, I don’t think Yuan Sheng Group’s test devices could go wrong several times in a row. Mr. Yuan is the one behind the Yuan Sheng Group. He has collected many secret skills. The likelihood of a skill able to fool the test device to exist is very low.”

“This man may very well be a rare talent that we had never found out about.”

“A promising yet terrifying star.”

“He is more than that. He can be more powerful than many titled battle pet warriors. He must have used some special energy when he cracked the seal if you ask me. It’s a pity that the video didn’t catch that. But I think the young man’s own strength is at the intermediate position of the titled rank, tops.”

“The most terrifying thing about him is his battle pet, the skeleton!”

“Agreed. I have never seen a skeleton like that. It should be an unknown kind. Judging by its strength and the skills the skeleton used, it should have strength at the peak of the ninth rank. But the legendary-rank skill the skeleton used to teleport is a tricky one. The skeleton can use that skill and easily kill average titled battle pet warriors, unless the titled battle pet warrior masters a legendary skill as well. But such titled battle pet warriors are few and far between, like us.” “A sixth-rank talent who practices physical skills but is able to launch an attack with strength close to the peak of the titled rank, who also has a skeleton and an Inferno Dragon that seems to be just as terrifying, which has gone through special training. How can such a person remain in a second-tier base city?”

President Zu listened to their comments for a while before he said, “I summoned you not because of the young man, nor the skeleton, but… the person behind him.” The six changed expressions.

He was right.

The young man was outstanding. Were it not for the video that had captured everything, they wouldn’t have believed the story. That being said, the person they should be afraid of was the one behind the young man.

Could it be that a legendary battle pet warrior was supporting and helping this young talent?

Still, as far as they knew, no legendary battle pet warrior of this Subcontinent District would go to that base city to train.

They knew all the talents that the two legendary battle pet warriors meant to cultivate and they had warned their people not to mess up with those talents.

As for legendary battle pet warriors from other Subcontinent Districts, it was unlikely that they would visit this Subcontinent District. Even if they wanted to, the two legendary battle pet warriors wouldn’t allow it.

“President Zu, are you saying that one of us should go and sound him out?” a person asked.

The others seemed to be surprised by the question.

But President Zu nodded. He looked around and said, “The young man and the skeleton alone are not enough to scare us, but we’ll have to suffer in silence if there’s a legendary battle pet warrior behind this. On the other hand…”

A glint of coldness glowed in his eyes. “Anyone who humiliates the Star Organization must be punished with death!”

The others agreed in silence.

The young man dragged Yan Bingyue away. That was a slap on the Star Organization’s face.

They believed that this news would spread out quickly and other major forces would find out. The legendary battle pet warrior who founded the organization had passed away. When such news broke out, other major forces probably belittled the Star Organization.

But if a legendary battle pet warrior were supporting this young man, it would be another story altogether.

That would make it a business between legendary battle pet warriors.

No one would laugh at the Star Organization even if they dealt with the situation in a cowardly manner. After all, a legendary battle pet warrior was not someone to be provoked.

“The young man killed all the others, leaving merely the Yan girl alive. He must be ready for us to pay him a visit,” a middle-aged man said.

“Let’s find out more first.”

President Zu glanced over the six and landed his gaze on one of them. “King of Arms, you’re always able to keep calm. How about I let you take care of this matter.”

The man called King of Arms was bulky. He nodded. “No problem,” he answered after thinking for a moment.

President Zu breathed in relief. “If there were a legendary battle pet warrior involved, apologize. We will acknowledge defeat. If not, do not rush into anything, either. This young man alone can compete with you. We have yet to see him display his full strength. Maybe he is hiding something else, or maybe there’s someone like him lurking around.

“You can send a message back. When our Star Organization goes for the kill, our actions must be overwhelming and we have to have the upper hand. Do you understand?”

“President Zu, don’t worry. I know what to do.” The King of Arms nodded.

“Uh-huh.”

The old man nodded. He was very reassured after letting the King of Arms handle the matter.

The rest of them only added words of caution for the King of Arms.

They spent the remaining time talking about something else.

The meeting ended an hour later and everyone went their separate ways. They all had “jobs” of their own.