Beast Tamer: I Can See Evolution Paths

Asher: *...Feeling just a tiny bit exhausted*

Maybe he should just pretend he didn't know anything.

Looking up.

Asher met four pairs of bright, eager eyes.

Oh no.

Add in the Holy Light Sunflower over there… Okay, the Holy Light Sunflower.

Five pairs.

———

[NY City Crescent Club Team]

Returning from Asher's lab to the club's training ground, quite a few people gathered around immediately.

"Hey, hey, hey! You guys went to that young genius professor today—did you get any insider info? That Beast he's working on, is it as amazing as they say?"

"Honestly, I wanted to go too… But I've already contracted my second pet beast, and I'm in the process of choosing my third! Missed my chance, huh?"

"Wait, where's that kid Jameson? He didn't come back with you guys… Don't tell me—"

As the conversation progressed, the group of reserve team members in the training ground fell silent.

Their gazes carried all sorts of complex emotions.

"…Didn't expect it, huh? That guy Jameson, who usually can't even fart out a single word, actually got lucky and was chosen. From now on, he's not exactly—"

"Lucky, my ass." Before the sour remark was even finished, Skyler rolled his eyes dramatically.

Teammates: "?"

Huh?

Everyone's eyes immediately lit up.

They knew Skyler's fiery temper all too well.

This smelled like a juicy piece of gossip.

In an instant, Skyler was surrounded by a crowd. Some were genuinely curious about his and Chubby's trip, while others were simply there for the drama.

Men, huh.

When they gossip, there's no room left for women.

With raised brows and eager whispers, they all pressed in, desperate to hear fresh intel from Skyler. Even Chubby, who had intended to stay out of it, got dragged into the frenzy.

"Hey, hey, hey! Bro! Bro! Big bros, calm down! I'm scared." Chubby quickly raised both hands in surrender. "I signed a confidentiality agreement. I can't say anything until Professor Asher announces it himself."

"My dear brothers, you wouldn't want to see me banned from competing, right?"

Chubby shouted loudly.

The moment the words 'confidentiality agreement' came out, the pack of gossip hounds fell silent.

They looked at Chubby.

Then at Skyler's dark, disgruntled face—one that showed no intention of refuting Chubby's claim.

Alright. So the confidentiality agreement was real.

The crowd was disappointed.

Fine.

No fresh gossip for them today.

If Chubby and Skyler dared to spill anything, they'd have to be ready to face the consequences—probably more than they could handle.

Skyler, aka 'Forgot About the NDA and Was Just About to Spill the Beans but Got a Wake-Up Call from Chubby': "…"

Annoyed.

Frustrated.

And couldn't even blame Chubby for it.

Chubby spoke up to protect him, after all.

After grumbling for a while, Skyler finally managed to spit out a single sentence:

"Anyway, it wasn't anything good. Just wasted my whole morning of training."

"That idiot Jameson… Must've lost his damn mind, believing that scammer. Guy's got serious brain damage!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he got.

The others exchanged glances.

Hmm… something smelled off.

Skyler's impression of this Professor Asher didn't seem very positive?

But no one dared to make a rash judgment about who was actually in the wrong.

After all…

Skyler was sharp-tongued and arrogant, sure, but he was also strong. He had managed to contract a Flame Demon Dragon hatchling purely on his own ability and had even raised it quite well.

Since Flame Demon Dragons were of the dragon attribute and had slow growth cycles, Skyler's dragon had the lowest level among all the reserve team members' pets.

Yet, thanks to his excellent synergy with his Flame Demon Dragon and his skillful use of abilities, Skyler still maintained an impressive 80% win rate in battles.

His insults weren't baseless—they were always straight to the point.

So, if he genuinely couldn't stand someone… it probably meant there were some real issues with that person's abilities.

Which made this whole Professor Asher thing… a bit tricky to judge.

No one dared to comment.

Chubby sighed.

What a mess…

"Don't think too much about it. Brother Sky isn't a pet evolution professor. It's normal for him to struggle with those wild, imaginative ideas."

"Though, to be fair, that ridiculously young Professor Asher does have a bit too much imagination."

As he spoke, Chubby nodded seriously, shifting the focus.

The others thought about it.

Seemed reasonable?

Pet professors did have some pretty bizarre ideas… Considering the strange requirements in some Beasts' evolution routes, this wasn't too surprising.

Skyler shot Chubby a glare.

Always smoothing things over.

"Hmph! That scammer said he'd show results in a month, right? Fine. I'll wait. Let's see what he actually comes up with!"

Even with Chubby's attempts to mediate, Skyler was Skyler—an untamed wild horse that Chubby had no hope of holding back.

Chubby: '…Ah, whatever.'

He was just a cute little guy who wanted world peace and friendly relationships between people.

Why did they have to make things so hard for him?

Besides… Asher had indeed promised a one-month timeframe.

Which gave Skyler the perfect excuse to latch onto.

Chubby decided not to intervene anymore.

Let it be.

As long as Skyler was happy.

And if Professor Asher failed to deliver results in a month…

Well, that wouldn't be his problem to worry about.

The teammates, seeing that there was no more gossip to be had, gradually dispersed.

Oh well.

It was just a month. They could wait.

———

The Next Few Days…

Day One: Skyler randomly dissed Asher a few times and called Jameson an idiot.

Day Two: Skyler continued his relentless dissing. By now, everyone in the Crescent Club had heard about the incident and was curious.

People kept coming up to Skyler, asking about his love-hate relationship with Asher.

Since he couldn't reveal NDA-protected details, he could at least explain how he and Asher became enemies, right?

But he just ended up insulting them instead.

"Who the hell are you? Why should I tell you anything? You think you're important? Go get some damn keys made or something."

Skyler's verbal attacks had no concept of friend or foe.

Or rather, he saw anyone who approached him as fair game.

Day Three: Skyler and Jameson shared the same dorm.

But with Jameson gone for the past few days, every time Skyler looked at the empty bed across from him, he was reminded of those two Beasts Asher had shown them.

And of Asher's calm, confident words that had "tricked" them.

Skyler's irritation doubled.

During training, he started pushing his attack speed faster, taking out his frustration by beating down his opponents.

Then… he made a mistake.

His opponent caught a small flaw in his movements and turned the tables, giving him a proper thrashing instead.

His Flame Demon Dragon hatchling let out pitiful "Awooo awooo" cries.

In the end, instead of venting his anger, he just ended up even more pissed off.

Skyler: (╬￣皿￣)

If only he hadn't gone to Asher's lab that day.

If he hadn't known about any of this, he wouldn't have let his emotions mess with his performance for days straight.

Day Four:

Just as Skyler thought this mood would last a full month…

That morning, he heard the dorm door unlocking from the outside.

Skyler: "?"

Skyler: "!"

He snapped his eyes open.

And locked gazes with his long-absent roommate, Jameson.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and Skyler found himself staring straight into the eyes of his roommate—Jameson, who had been missing for three days.

"Hmph!" Skyler was stunned for a moment, then let out a disdainful snort from his nose. "Only a few days, and you're already back? What, did you finally realize how ridiculous that fraud of a professor's words were?"

Then, Skyler sat up straight on his bed, his messy red hair still unkempt. He crossed his arms, his expression cold as he said, "Coming back to train?"

"You've missed quite a bit of training. Since you've figured out he's a fraud, hurry up and—"

"Uh…" Jameson scratched his cheek with his finger, looking awkward as he spoke in a small voice. "Uh… I'm just here to grab some clothes. I'll be staying in the lab for a few more days."

As Skyler's face darkened, Jameson slipped into his own room like a thief and frantically rummaged through his wardrobe.

He didn't dare to lift his head even once.

Feeling Skyler's burning gaze on his back, Jameson felt like he was about to be roasted alive through the fabric of his clothes.

Jameson: 'Awkward. This is really awkward.'

After quickly packing up his things, Jameson grabbed a large bundle of his belongings and turned to leave.

Before stepping out of the dorm, he glanced back at Skyler.

Under Skyler's raised eyebrow, Jameson quickly spoke.

"Brother Sky, you should… stop badmouthing Professor Asher."

"Professor Asher's experiment has already succeeded. Next, I'll be assisting him in testing the Beast formed from the fusion of Bean Flower and Dream Soul Spirit."

After dropping those words, Jameson didn't even give Skyler a chance to ask questions. Like he was stepping on a banana peel, he slipped away at lightning speed.

Skyler: "?"

As Skyler snapped back to reality, he repeated Jameson's words in his head, his face full of confusion.

Wait.

Hold on.

What did Jameson just say?

Did he mishear?

Did Jameson really come back today?

Or had he been too angry the past two days, making him hallucinate a weird daydream?

Skyler felt like his brain was overheating.

Nope.

System crash.

With a red-hot dazed expression, Skyler lay back down, pulled the blanket over his head, and closed his eyes.

Mm.

He must still be asleep.

One more nap should fix everything.

————

[Bluestone City Beastmaster Alliance]

"President Desmond, the funding approved this time is way too little."

In the office, a tall man frowned as he looked at Desmond, the president of the Bluestone City Beastmaster Alliance, who was seated at his desk. His face was full of impatience and arrogance.

Desmond, with his refined appearance, also frowned upon hearing this. "You should have some self-awareness. Look at the project you applied for."

"A new evolution route for the Ancient Bird Monster?"

"Let's not even talk about anything else. Just tell me—how many beastmasters do you think have contracted an Ancient Bird Monster?"

The Ancient Bird Monster was an extremely rare Beast. It had no juvenile stage and was born directly as a ruler of the skies.

Defeating one was no easy task.

Let alone researching a new evolution path for it… As far as was known, the most famous Ancient Bird Monster beastmaster was the eighth-rank beastmaster, Lord Krasser.

The second was the seventh-rank beastmaster, Lady Lenny.

Other than that—

There were no known beastmasters who had contracted an Ancient Bird Monster.

After all—

The untamed Ancient Bird Monster had a habit of eating its defeated opponents.

Whether human or pet beast, the Ancient Bird Monster devoured them without discrimination.

Fierce and savage.

Anyone without absolute skill wouldn't dare to gamble their life on such a risky endeavor.

Researching Ancient Bird Monsters? With what? Their lives?

"I approved an eight-million budget for your research only because your last project had some decent results. Otherwise, I would've rejected it outright," Desmond said coldly. "Know when to stop, got it?"

"Got it? No, I don't." The man leaned back on the sofa, arms crossed, his expression displeased. "What's wrong with researching an Ancient Bird Monster? As long as there's money, we can hire more people. Worst case, just get a seventh-rank beastmaster—surely we can capture one."

"If Lenny, a woman, can do it, why can't I hire a few more seventh-rank beastmasters and get it done?"

Desmond felt a vein throb on his forehead.

A seventh-rank beastmaster and a seventh-rank ancient bird beastmaster were not the same.

Did he think Lenny was just an ordinary seventh-rank beastmaster?

She came from an aristocratic family with eight generations of top-tier beastmasters, cultivators, and pet beast professors.

How many resources had been poured into her without restraint—before she finally succeeded in contracting an Ancient Bird Monster?

And what did they have to compete with her?

Desmond rolled his eyes. "By your logic, even if I approved eighty million, it still wouldn't be enough!"

No joke.

Eighty million would barely be considered a high-priority research project.

Generally speaking, the best-funded projects in the region started at nine figures.

"Eighty million is too much, but at least thirty million is necessary." The man waved his hand and shamelessly said, "I've pulled some strings. I can hire two seventh-rank beastmasters at a reasonable price, and I've already found an Ancient Bird Monster to target."

"No matter how strong an Ancient Bird Monster is—even if it's born a ruler of the skies—its strength will drop significantly during childbirth, right?"

"If we strike at the right moment, there's an 80% chance we'll succeed in capturing it."

He spoke with absolute confidence.

Hearing this, Desmond hesitated… That actually made some sense.

Maybe this project wasn't total nonsense.

"Thirty million is impossible. Twenty million is my limit," Desmond finally said after some thought.

"Hah? It's just ten million more. What's the big deal? You tell me—what difference does it make whether I get thirty million or twenty million?" The man scoffed. "Since when did our alliance start pinching pennies over a mere ten million?"

Desmond opened his mouth, about to say something.

But before he could, the man continued, "I've heard through my sources that NY City is researching Bean Flower again? And they've even included Dream Soul Spirit in the project?"

"And their alliance president actually approved it!"

"President Desmond, are you telling me you're worse than the president next door?"

Desmond: "!"

'Bean Flower?'

'Dream Soul Spirit?'

'Damn it.'

Desmond's face immediately turned black.

"That bastard Robb is up to his nonsense again!" Desmond slammed the table, his entire face dark with rage. "Just because he had some minor results last year, he's getting arrogant this year?"

The more he spoke, the more gritted his tone became.

Why is he being so stingy even with this ten million funding?

Isn't it because NY City took the his city's share.

The funding allocated by the higher-ups to each province's Beastmaster Alliance is limited. If one province gets more, the neighboring ones might get less.

Unfortunately, Bluestone City's Beastmaster Alliance ran into such a situation.

Originally, the results and achievements of Bluestone City and NY City were about the same each year. On a 100-point scale, both scored around 60 to 70 points—fluctuations existed, but not by much. As a result, their annual funding was also roughly equal.

One year, you get a bit more.

The next year, I get a bit more.

Of course.

Neither side was happy about it. If given a chance, they would definitely try to suppress the other.

Then... at the end of last year, NY City suddenly produced a rising-star genius out of nowhere.

NY City surged ahead.

From barely scoring 60 to 70 points on the test, they suddenly jumped to 90.

Meanwhile, Bluestone City was still at 60 to 70.

How could things remain the same?

NY City instantly received a massive funding boost.

Conversely, part of Bluestone City's funding was reallocated to NY City.

Desmond: *Annoyed*

Annoyed as he was, Desmond couldn't find any faults to pick.

Everything Asher had done was laid out plainly for all to see.

That heartfelt thanks from Professor Damien on the Spring Festival Gala? That wasn't something mere connections could earn—it was solid proof of Asher's strength.

Desmond could only stew in silent frustration.

Why couldn't Asher be a beastmaster from Bluestone City?

If he were, then he'd be the one grinning from ear to ear this year.

And then…

Listen, listen, listen?

What the hell is that bastard Robb up to now?

"Put your matters on hold—I'm contacting him right now!" Desmond couldn't wait even a second longer. He slammed his desk and stood up.

After taking two steps, he stopped, turned, and looked at the man sitting on the sofa. "Do you have more concrete evidence?"

"To prevent that kid from denying it later, this matter must be taken seriously."

"How can the alliance's resources be wasted like this."

"Concrete, solid human testimony." The man lazily replied, "I'll give you the contact details. Once you confirm this, there won't be an issue approving my funding, right?"

Desmond thought for a moment and agreed. "Submit all the relevant data, and also include details about that ancient bird you found pregnant. I'll approve it."

"So much hassle." The man grumbled.

Desmond took the contact details without paying any mind to such trivial complaints.

Wanting to trouble President Robb was one thing, but proper procedures had to be followed—rules were rules.

———

If Skyler only felt like he was dreaming—

Then, after being called over by Asher and hearing that the research had succeeded, President Robb was downright questioning reality.

His eyes nearly turned into question marks.

He immediately drove his Snow Wolf through the city at breakneck speed, rushing to Asher's lab as fast as possible.

President Robb examined Asher from top to bottom, left to right, front to back—like he was inspecting some reincarnated deity or descended saint.

It had only been a few days.

Counting from when Asher returned from Bluestone City's Forbidden Zone—distributing flyers, then the final selection—the total span was at most a week.

A week?

And he'd already developed a brand new attack method?

Impossible!

But then, remembering the person standing before him was Asher, President Robb suddenly found it a little believable.

Because Asher had never let him down before.

Right now, President Robb's heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and lungs were all itching.

He could not figure out how Asher managed to take a mere one million in research funding and, in just a week, actually develop a new evolutionary method for the Bean Flower Dream Soul Spirit.

"Did you really do it?" Since he had raced here at full speed, President Robb was still panting. "Let me see—hurry, let me see!"

Panting heavily, he reached out his trembling hand toward Asher, looking as if he might keel over at any moment.

No amount of thinking would do—

He had to see it with his own eyes.

Asher: "...Prepare yourself mentally."

President Robb: "?"

"What mental preparation?" President Robb frowned. "Is there a problem with the evolution?"

Asher shook his head and waved to Jameson. "Release the Holy Light Sunflower."

As soon as Asher spoke—

Among the people present, apart from President Robb, who had never seen the Holy Light Sunflower, the other four researchers and Jameson all had complex and strange expressions.

President Robb silently added another question mark in his mind.

What kind of reaction was this?

Why did they all look so weird?

"Holy Light Sunflower… That's the name you gave to the Beast after combining the Bean Flower and the Dream Soul Spirit?" President Robb was intrigued. "Why call it Holy Light Sunflower? Shouldn't it be called Sunshine Sunflower after evolving?"

Though it was a fusion evolution of the Bean Flower and Dream Soul Spirit, President Robb had some idea of what was going on.

This was likely a backtrace of the Sunshine Sunflower evolution line.

Labeling it as a fusion evolution was just an excuse to get Asher more funding.

But…

President Robb suddenly realized—maybe that wasn't the case?

"Uncle Robb, you'll understand when you see it." Unlike his subordinates, who were still struggling to accept reality, Asher's expression was calm, without a hint of abnormality.

He motioned to Jameson again.

Jameson understood immediately.

Without hesitation, he released the evolved Holy Light Sunflower.

The next second—

President Robb stared at the creature before him.

Pitch black.

Like a demon that had crawled out of a dark forest.

The Beast wobbled its massive faceplate, its deep purple, nearly black leaves swaying as it waved at him.

From the center of its flower plate, a ghastly face grinned—making an even scarier expression.

President Robb's brain felt like it had been struck by a one-ton hammer.

A total blank.

Dizziness.

After a long pause, President Robb finally found his voice again. "...You're telling me… this is called… what?"

With a trembling finger, he pointed at the demonic Beast in front of him, his voice weak.

"Holy Light Sunflower."

Asher's expression remained serene. His voice was calm, unwavering.

That rattled him?

Asher wanted to perfectly recreate the crushing moment he experienced last night when bombarded by endless "light, light, light" descriptions.

Unfortunately—

Further research on the Holy Light Sunflower hadn't begun yet, so he couldn't explain how he knew about it.

For now, he had to endure.

He had to wait until the public unveiling of the Bean Flower and Dream Soul Spirit's fusion evolution—

And then he'd shock them all at once.

President Robb fell silent.

Then, he exploded.

"Holy Light Sunflower?" His expression contorted wildly as he pointed at the creature. His teeth turned into shark fangs as he roared, completely losing control. "This? Holy Light Sunflower? Where's the holy light?"

"The holy light is in your heart." Asher's face remained impassive.

President Robb: "Hey, hey! Enough with the memes already."

"I'm not joking—the holy light really is in its heart." Asher gave Jameson a look. "Let it restore Snow Wolf's stamina."

Before President Robb could shout, "Don't do anything weird to my beast"—

"Holy Light Dispel."

The Holy Light Sunflower bounced up.

Its movements made it look like a stiff-bodied zombie hopping around. When it was about a meter away from the Snow Wolf, the bright yellow petals surrounding its massive face—the only part of its body that didn't seem poisonous—trembled slightly... then began to glow.

The large ghostly face at the center of its broad, flat head turned toward the Snow Wolf and began to spit out puffs of blackish-purple, smoking... holy water.

Snow Wolf: "..."

The Snow Wolf wanted to retreat.

But that golden holy light seemed to have a restraining effect. Under its illumination, the Snow Wolf found itself completely unable to move.

Its eyes were filled with an unmistakable mix of disgust and despair as it watched—powerless—as the blackish-purple liquid... oh no, not saliva, but holy water—splattered onto its sleek, flowing fur.

The Snow Wolf's soul left its body.

Snow Wolf: ＿|￣|○

It was dirty.

Utterly defiled.

But in the very next second... the blackish-purple "holy water" was rapidly absorbed, disappearing without a trace, leaving behind not a single blemish.

On the contrary, the Snow Wolf now looked even more energetic, its fur smoother and glossier than before. The whole wolf seemed to glow.

President Robb: "?"

President Robb blinked.

He blinked again, hesitated, then finally couldn't hold back: "...Is this... a miraculous saliva bath?"

By the time he finished speaking, he had already closed his eyes in pain.

"What saliva bath? This is the Holy Light Sunflower's dispel skill. It uses holy light to cleanse negative effects from other pet beasts, including, but not limited to, fatigue and poisoning." Asher laughed heartily. "There's probably more to it, but we haven't had time to test everything. We'll figure it out as we go."

President Robb opened his mouth, his expression complicated.

He really wanted to tell Asher to stop tormenting Beasts.

But the effects of that holy light... and, okay, holy water... were truly irresistible.

What did it mean to dispel fatigue and poison?

Fatigue was a negative state affecting both mind and body.

Poisoning was direct physical damage.

A single [Holy Light Dispel] could heal both?

Used properly, this was nothing short of a divine skill.

It might not seem impressive in an ordinary battle.

But in a beast tide war... this would be a game-changer for their side.

...Though the method of application was a bit unsettling.

Just a little.

Really, just a teeny-tiny bit.

Overcoming this slight psychological and visual discomfort... shouldn't be that hard, right?

After completing its dispel, the Holy Light Sunflower dimmed the holy glow radiating from its bright yellow petals. Its thick stalk swayed left and right, cheerfully rocking its huge face.

Finally free to move, the Snow Wolf shook itself frantically...

It was useless.

The holy water had been perfectly absorbed.

The Snow Wolf's face darkened.

"Uncle Robb, you should check Snow Wolf's condition. I guarantee it's at its absolute best right now." Asher smiled. "Or you could put it on the instruments for a more direct analysis."

President Robb waved his hand. "Put it on the instruments, then."

The Snow Wolf gave President Robb an incredulous look.

'Are you serious? Not letting me wash this off is bad enough, but now you're sending me into a machine? What the hell, bro?'

"Come on, Wolf King, this is for the future of the pet beast community. Stop dragging your paws and get in there."

With no regard for honor, President Robb kicked the Snow Wolf straight into the testing device.

The Snow Wolf had wanted to protest.

But as soon as it turned its head, it met the Holy Light Sunflower's massive face—wrapped around that eerie ghostly visage.

The bright yellow petals opened and closed, while the two large leaves on its stalk flapped excitedly like arms waving.

"Nya~"

'Oh my~'

'Your beast master kicked you?'

'I'll heal you!'

Snow Wolf: "..."

The Snow Wolf scrambled into the testing device as fast as its uncoordinated limbs could carry it.

"Pfft—" President Robb couldn't hold back a laugh.

The Snow Wolf shot him a look.

'Take a good, long look.'

'Remember this, old man.'

Next time, we're both going down together.

President Robb quickly raised his hands in surrender.

But then, the test results came in, and what he saw on the screen shocked him to his core.

"These numbers..."

President Robb's eyes locked onto the readings.

The data clearly indicated that the Snow Wolf was in peak physical condition, even surpassing the results of rest, treatment, and specialized care.

He let out a deep, stunned exclamation:

"Holy sh—!"

This dispel effect was beyond incredible.

It had somehow pushed the Snow Wolf's body to its absolute best state in an instant?

Forget saliva—that was pure holy light.

It was holy in his eyes, holy in his heart.

Asher shot President Robb a knowing look.

President Robb returned the gesture with a hand sign.

Understood.

Completely understood.

Understood so well it couldn't be understood more.

"Can we confirm this as a viable evolution method?" President Robb asked impatiently.

"I don't see any issues on my end," Asher replied. "The real problem is that Dream Souls are in short supply. Whether we can find a whole group of them in Bluestone City's Forbidden Zone is the key to continuing this experiment."

"Then just spread the word about this fusion evolution between Beanflower and Dream Soul." President Robb declared. "See if people take the bait."

"No rush." Asher waved a hand. "There's still a lot more to uncover about the Holy Light Sunflower's abilities. First, we need to locate Dream Souls in the Bluestone Forbidden Zone. Meanwhile, I'll keep refining our findings."

"Then I'll write a full research paper on it."

"Once we secure more Dream Souls, we can immediately conduct new confirmation tests."

"Got it." President Robb had no objections. "I'll make some calls for Bluestone City."

He paused for a moment.

Asher glanced at him. "Uncle Robb, is there a problem?"

"Ah..." President Robb chuckled. "Nothing major, just... my relationship with the Bluestone Beastmaster Alliance's old dog is... a tiny bit strained."

He waved dismissively. "No big deal."

"This isn't just my personal issue. It's a matter of national importance, affecting tens of thousands of beastmasters and civilians."

"Even if that old dog wants to screw me over, he wouldn't dare pull any tricks after hearing the full detail.!"

President Robb stood tall, brimming with confidence.

Don't ask.

If you must ask—it was the soft power of Asher's genius backing him up.

What he didn't expect was that the moment he called, the guy on the other end immediately went off on him.

As soon as the call connected, President Robb was bombarded with a hurricane of verbal abuse.

President Robb: "?"

"The hell, Des? Did you swallow gunpowder or something?"

Desmond, on the other end, was just as unfazed.

He glanced at the young man named Felix beside him, recalling the shocking news he had just heard. His voice brimming with righteous fury, he declared:

"I was about to call you myself. What the hell is wrong with you, agreeing to this ridiculous Beanflower evolution research?"

"And Dream Souls?"

"Has your brain been chewed up by a dog?"

President Robb: "Huh? Where did you hear that from? Everyone on my side signed a confidentiality agreement."

President Robb blinked, unable to understand where the information had leaked from.

On the other hand, Asher showed a thoughtful expression.

The beastmasters invited by NY City had all signed confidentiality agreements, but it wasn't like there weren't former companions from before.

Narrowing it down further, Asher instantly guessed the true identity of the leaker.

"Good grief, I didn't expect you to actually admit it." Desmond was shocked, his eyes widening.

Even as he spoke words of disbelief, his hands moved quickly to activate the call recording function. "First of all, setting aside the fact that Dream Soul Spirits have been extinct for several hundred, nearly a thousand years—even if they did appear, they wouldn't hold much research value."

"And the whole fiasco of studying Bean Flower's new evolutionary path—haven't you seen enough of that?"

"How much money has the alliance thrown into researching Bean Flower's evolution? Let me ask you, have you even heard a splash?"

"Not one! Not a single one!"

"Yes, the alliance hasn't explicitly banned research on Bean Flower, but you're still throwing money at it. What, do you have so much funding you can't spend it all?"

Desmond had a great time scolding.

He firmly believed every word he said was justified and had absolutely nothing to do with taking the chance to get back at President Robb.

Beside him, Felix's face also showed a satisfied expression.

'Yes!'

'Just like that!'

'Let them all be utterly disgraced.'

On the other end of the call, President Robb rolled his eyes.

Ah… He glanced at the eye-searing Holy Light Sunflower nearby, then looked at Snow Wolf, who was still curled up in the testing device, refusing to come out.

President Robb felt complicated.

Somehow, his brain still had time to get distracted—hmm, before this, Asher always let his two beasts out wherever he went. Now, he wasn't doing that. Could it be because he was afraid of Holy Light Sunflower's holy light saliva bath attack?

It made sense. With sound reasoning and evidence, President Robb felt like he had discovered the truth.

As President Robb got momentarily distracted, the nonstop stream of Desmond's nagging continued over the phone.

"…Even if the one applying for this project is that little genius from NY City, what you're doing is still wrong."

"This is blatant favoritism."

"If you don't repent, don't blame me for reporting you."

"I'm telling you, you shouldn't be indulging young people like this. At their age, what they need most is proper guidance, not indulgence. What you're doing will only harm him and yourself."

President Robb rolled his eyes.

So what if he indulged Asher?

If anything, he wished he could indulge him even more.

"If you're jealous, just say it outright. Don't sit there yapping—I'll just think your jealous face is really ugly." President Robb shut down Desmond's long-winded rant with a single sentence.

Desmond was silent for three seconds.

Desmond exploded.

"Did you even hear what I just said? This isn't jealousy! This is about attitude, about awareness."

"If you have time to research something that's impossible to study, why not invest more time and effort into something actually useful? Stop wasting—"

"Oh, no need to worry about that." President Robb's face turned cold as he cut off Desmond's lecture. "The research has already yielded results."

Desmond: "?"

Desmond: "???"

"YOU MESSING WITH ME?" Desmond roared on the other end of the phone.

The volume made President Robb's ears hurt.

President Robb held the phone a little further away, rubbed his ear, and then, instead of putting it back to his ear, just put it on speakerphone and set it on the table.

"Why would I joke about this? I'm serious—the research has produced results." President Robb crossed his arms, his voice calm yet tinged with seriousness, making Desmond on the other end hesitate.

No… No way, right?

"This experiment hasn't even been going on that long. Has it even been a month?" Desmond asked in an uncertain tone, hesitating.

It shouldn't have been, right?

No matter how out of touch he was, there was no way he could have been so out of the loop that it took him over a month to hear about this from other professors.

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