Starting With Contract Pets
chapter-80

Chapter 80: Sudden Appearance of the Scarlet Badge

Su Bai returned to his room and looked at his Purgatory Tyrant’s egg. He estimated that it could be hatched next week.

He would receive money and the glazed fire crystal as promised from the town on Friday, then he could obtain the remaining volcanic fluid and psychic bones from his master that weekend.

Instead of playing with its phone, Purple Jade was reading a breeding manual about alien flowers while it put compost into the flower pot.

Because this alien flower seedling could not be catalyzed with its wood spiritual power, the cub had to cultivate it little by little according to the method stated on the breeding manual.

Actually, there was another way to make the seed sprout using its wood spiritual power, but the boy did not want to tell the cub this; otherwise, it would not be challenging for it anymore.

Such a challenging task might make it play less on the mobile phone or make it fall in love with raising plants and flowers.

Su Bai lay in bed and talked with his girlfriend via a video-call. Chen Rouxue’s hair was wet from her shower, and she looked even better than usual.

After chatting for a while, he flipped through the book again. The cub, which had finally managed to plant the Purple Screen’s seedling, removed the mud on its body with its spiritual power before climbing onto the bed.

As night fell, the master-pet pair slept soundly.

In his sleep, the boy suddenly felt a cold gust of wind. He woke up suddenly and looked up to see a woman sitting on his windowsill. Her exquisite figure was fully reflected against the moonlight.

“You’re awake?” The woman flashed a charming smile at him.

The cub glared at it, its fur standing on end, ready to attack at any time.

“It’s you? No… No way. Who on Earth are you?” Su Bai glared at the woman on the windowsill.

Her appearance was exactly the same as Wei Ya’s, the captain of Zhang San’s group whom they rescued earlier this afternoon, but her temperament and demeanor were completely different.

“Don’t worry; I just suddenly realized that you’re a good seedling. I came to give you something. Take it.”

The stranger threw a badge onto his quilt. “Remember: Don’t let anyone else know about it, or you’ll have to bear the consequences.”

Another gust of cold wind blew, and he turned abruptly to see that the windowsill was empty. The cub was also sleeping soundly, yet there was now a scarlet badge on his bed. The badge had an Arabic numeral ‘8’ carved on it.

Su Bai first pinched himself, and after confirming that he could feel pain, he quickly turned on the lights and looked around. Nothing had gone missing in his room, and the Purgatory Tyrant’s egg was still unharmed.

He walked over to examine the windowsill. Although the window was tightly closed, it still felt slightly warm, and there was a long red strand of hair exuding a light special fragrance.

The boy stared at the hair. [Introduction]: Human hair. Dyed and shampooed with white orchid flavor. It is useless.

Su Bai: “…”

He turned to examine the badge next. [Introduction]: A badge made by blood monsters with 3,000 skeleton bones. The wearer can be sensed by 3,000 Skeletons within a certain range. The badge contains a bloodline curse, which will react upon touch or when the badge is lost. At that time, the person will suffer the excruciating pain of a thousand ant bites in their heart. There is an antidote…

*****

“F*ck! Someone wants to harm me.” Su Bai stared at the scarlet badge on the quilt, thanking the God he had not touched it.

If not for him being favored by God and possessing a powerful golden finger, he would have fallen prey.

“Wei Ya!” The boy was slightly puzzled. Was that woman the big boss or someone else?

“Could she have been selected by the villain organization because of her outstanding performance?”

He tilted his head in deep thought. From the engraved number on the badge, did it mean that there were others like this?

Were people not afraid of being caught by the Spirit Alliance? It was impossible that nobody dared to expose the badge, right?

Even if it contained, it was not without antidote.

In other words, this was just a method of casting a net widely in hopes of leading some Pet Tamers down the crooked road.

Thinking about it, he wrapped the badge in plastic paper, put it in a box, and placed it in his backpack. He intended to see what this badge would do.

He could not report this matter yet in case he encountered a mole. If he went to tempt fate despite being so weak, was he not seeking death?

“D*mn it. I’ll cover it with a protection spell once I have money.” Su Bai cursed inwardly and leaned on his bed to read. He did not dare to fall asleep tonight.

He would not have been trampled on if he were not poor and weak, so he felt even more motivated to read.

After reading until the sun appeared in the sky early in the morning, he finally settled on a supposition that the badge was a way for some people to cast a wide net and a small fry like himself was not worthy of being targeted specifically.

F*ck. It was a super sad fact.

“Howl!”

The cub woke up and hugged him, indicating that it was hungry.

“Okay, I’ll wash my face and prepare food for you.” He yawned.

“Howl~”

Suddenly remembering something, the cub jumped up, picked up a measuring cup, and ran into the yard.

Su Bai crawled on the windowsill and watched as the cub collected dew in the yard.

Shaking his head, he went to wash his face first. The cub collected morning dew, a material used for cultivating the Purple Screen.

Just as he finished washing his face, the cub also collected enough morning dew. It poured half a cup into the flower pot and stared at it with round eyes as if it wanted to see the seedling sprouting.

“Buddy, it’s time to eat. The Purple Screen needs twenty-one consecutive days of morning dew to grow,” said Su Bai.

“Howl! Ψ( ̄∀ ̄)Ψ”

Nodding, the cub trotted over to eat breakfast.

The boy waited for his pet to finish eating before he went downstairs with a book for his own breakfast.

“Dad, do you have any extra money? Let’s buy a small energy shield for 100,000 yuan and protect our house; I feel unsafe.”

Su Bai said while eating breakfast.

“Okay, I’ll purchase one later. With precious things like the Purgatory Tyrant’s egg at home, it will be safer to have one.” Father Su thought about it and nodded.

“Okay.” He nodded, too, feeling a little more at ease.

…

In school, his sleepiness got the best of him, and he fell asleep on the table as soon as he arrived.

“Wake up, Su Bai.”

“Ah, is it time for self-study?” He yawned and sat up straight.

Chen Rouxue rolled her eyes. “Self-study class is already over, and the first class is about to start. What did you do last night? You’ve become a big ”

“Hehe! You’ve become a rare animal.” Yang Zhou laughed. “Did you spend all night at an Internet café?”

“Internet cafés are useless; I was just up all night reading.” Su Bai glanced sideways at his friend.

“Hey, let’s not talk about this. When shall we go on an adventure to the wilderness again?” Jiang Yang asked. He missed the joy of making so much money like last time.

“I’m afraid that we can’t go anytime soon. Cannes hasn’t been peaceful lately.” Chen Rouxue shook her head.

“Plus, the reason why we managed to seize so many monsters last time was that they’re all fleeing from the wilderness. They’re usually difficult to find,” said Su Bai while shaking his head.

“You should train your pet hard if you wanna make money, then you go play the simulator. I made more than 10,000 yuan last week doing that.” Chen Tingting shared this info with the androgynous boy.

The simulator was a machine developed by the Spirit Alliance, and its full name was the Pet Combat Simulator. After detecting the various data of pets and Pet Tamers, it would replicate it almost perfectly in a virtual network and make use of VR technology for Pet Tamers to immerse in fights against others thousands of miles away.

Everyone had a free chance to play every day and would obtain certain rewards if they won.

“Oh, we also have it in our town. Isn’t that machine so expensive only the county-level pet center has it?” Su Bai wondered aloud. He had heard of that machine before but was uninterested in the little money it gave. Furthermore, big bosses were involved, and he might not defeat them.

More importantly, too many people were playing it, and they might not have their turn despite queuing for a long time. He also did not want to expose his pet and his data.

The reason why money was given for winning was that the competitions were released for wagering.

“I took a taxi over to experience it, but it has too many people, so you may be unable to play,” Chen Tingting said.

“Forget it; I won’t go then. I don’t wanna be abused.” Jiang Yang chose to give up.

Ding dong…

When the class bell rang, everyone hurriedly returned to their seats. After greeting the teacher, Su Bai started feeling sleepy again.

Chen Rouxue nudged him and glared at him. She wrote on a piece of paper: “Tell me the truth; what did you do last night?”

“I was really reading,” he replied, “but I have something to ask you after school.”

“Okay.” Chen Rouxue nodded. They would talk after school.

The morning classes were all about culture and theories; the boy spent his time dozing off halfway.

“Huh, they’ve deposited the money?” Su Bai looked at this phone notification and saw a deposit of 200,000 yuan. Chen Bo’s speed was really fast. It seemed that the spring festival competition was really very important to the town.

He read the message. The adult said that the glazed fire crystal was available, and he would have to get it from his office.

“My money has been deposited, too.” Chen Rouxue grinned.

“Ah, this is too difficult. Why is earning money so simple for you guys?” asked Jiang Yang frantically.

“Hey, my dad also gave me 500,000 yuan yesterday to train my pet.” Yang Zhou flaunted.

“No way; I’m going crazy.” The androgynous boy was somewhat speechless.

“Let me tell you a way. Just debut in women’s clothing, and you’ll never worry about money again.” Yang Zhou chuckled.

“Debut? Can I really earn money by crossdressing?” he asked.

On that day, a crossdressing master was born.

Su Bai and the others glanced at Yang Zhou in distaste. He had completely convinced Jiang Yang onto the road of crossdressing, and there was no going back.

“Okay, we have to go to the town center. We’ve received our money, but I need to fetch something. You guys eat first.”

Su Bai nodded at them and walked out with Chen Rouxue, then he sent a text message to the group: “Use the money to train well. By then, each of you will have to carry at least five rounds.”

Wang Er: “What will you do then?”

“I’ll be watching. Otherwise, why would I waste 100,000 yuan on you?” he asked matter-of-factly.

The three people went speechless.

What the f*ck.

“Rouxue, let me ask you something: Have you seen a scarlet badge these days?”

Su Bai asked while on the scooter.

“No, what’s wrong?” asked his girlfriend, puzzled.

“Are you sure? Don’t lie to me.”

“Why would I? I’m telling the truth.” Chen Rouxue rolled her eyes.

“Then remember not to touch it if you encounter one and tell me about it at once.” He gave caution.

“Did it have something to do with you not sleeping last night?” The girl blinked her eyes.

“Yes, it did, but I’m fine, so don’t worry. I just want you to remember the danger.” Su Bai cautioned her again.

“Don’t worry; I promise you.”

…

“Thank you.” Su Bai accepted the thirty-centimeter-high hexagonal glazed fire crystal.

The glazed fire crystal’s body appeared to be made of colored glaze, but it was actually a kind of fire crystal.

“It’ll be the biggest thanks if you win the game,” said Chen Bo.

“Don’t worry; I’ll try my best.”

The boy was delighted to receive the fire crystal.

When he returned home, his father had already installed the shield.

After having lunch with Chen Rouxue, they returned to school.

That afternoon, they had two Pet Tamer training lessons, with the remaining three hours spent on pet training. Such classes were a tad boring, and other than honing their skills and battle instincts, their lessons were one-on-one fights, melees, or Pet Tamer’s reaction ability enhancement.

While the pet rested, Su Bai and the others exercized, training their flexibility and so on.

Once a fun thing became repetitive, it was boring and dry, and it became difficult to persist.

This was true for both humans and pets.

However, this was the only way to survive when they encountered enemies and monsters in the future. Su Bai also understood this fact, so he constantly trained the cub and also forced himself to make progress.

“Ah… so comfortable…”

Whenever lessons ended, those with wood attribute pets became the most popular people in the classroom. A group of people lying or squatting on the ground waited for wood attribute pets to heal their sore bodies with spiritual power.

Two days passed in a row like this. Su Bai, who now had money, bought all the other ingredients for the Purgatory Tyrant egg’s incubation. He even purchased more food for the cub.

According to his observation, the cub was not far from evolving.

Its body was already slightly larger than that of a tabby cat, and it was almost as big as an arctic fox.

…

Soon, Saturday came. Su Bai woke up very early, full of excitement.

Today, he would be helping out at his master’s place, and that would let him obtain the last two materials for the Purgatory Tyrant egg’s incubation.

“Howl~”

The cub poured half a cup of aura-filled dew into the flower pot and patiently observed it. Su Bai put his pet’s breakfast on the side, caressing its soft fur.

Purple Jade seemed to have become obsessed with caring for the seedling these days. It had read the handbook on alien flower species cultivation several times and even had gotten itself a notebook to record the seed’s progress.

“Eat first; we have to set off soon.” Su Bai caressed it and waited, having already finished his breakfast.

“Howl~ Ψ( ̄∀ ̄)Ψ”

The cub nodded and enjoyed its more abundant meal, pleased by its owner’s touch.