Lost.
Helpless.
And unable to refuse.
With a flip of its hand, it stabbed the giant axe into its back, then turned around and began silently moving bricks with its two enormous bear paws.
Cough! Couple!
The people and President Robb, who had been watching, couldn't hold back their laughter.
The Sky-Shaking Bear's massive ears twitched. As it continued moving bricks, it slowly turned around, its dark eyes sweeping over every person who had laughed.
All the humans who had laughed: "…"
'Cough!'
This wasn't very pleasant.
'Actually, some things could just be ignored, right?'
Some looked up at the sky, some covered their faces—anything to avoid making eye contact with the Sky-Shaking Bear. As if, by doing so, they could pretend nothing had happened.
The squinting Sky-Shaking Bear: 'Hah! Humans!'
The successful evolution of the Violent Bear was, overall, more joy than sorrow.
Even if it had accidentally racked up massive debt, as long as one worked hard, there would still be a day to pay it off…
Abella looked at the bill in her hands, her voice trembling as she spoke,"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions… Why are there so many zeros!"
One more zero, and she'd be in nine-digit debt.
Her promising life hadn't even started yet, and it was already about to end.
"The construction materials for Professor Asher's research institute cost around a million. Actually, it's not that much. The main issue is that a lot of equipment got damaged too, and that part can't be reimbursed…", Sarah gave Abella a sympathetic look. But sympathy was one thing—accounts had to be settled properly, and there was no trace of mercy in his tone as he read out the bill.
"I did get some of it covered as regular consumables through the Alliance's reimbursement. Everything is clearly listed on the bill—definitely didn't overcharge you."
Abella's eyes dulled completely, losing all their light.
After a full minute of silence, she lifted her head and looked at Sarah with a determined gaze, "Can I use the evolved Violent Bear to pay off the debt?"
The Sky-Shaking Bear, which had just heard this: "?"
Sarah: "…"
Cough! Cough! Sarah raised a fist to his lips and coughed lightly. "If you really want to, it's not impossible. But look at your evolved Violent Bear—be honest with yourself, can you bear to part with it?"
Abella turned to look at the evolved Violent Bear.
That perfect physique.
That powerful build.
Alright.
She couldn't bear to.
If a mere ten million could exchange for such a beast… If word got out, countless people would fight to take her place.
Sigh! Abella's shoulders slumped. She sighed deeply and said, "I was just joking. Just joking. I'll work hard and pay off the debt."
As for not paying it back… That never even crossed her mind.
Asher had helped her research a new evolution path for the Violent Bear—an unbelievable stroke of luck. Not to mention that all the resources and materials came from Asher's research institute. What had she done?
She had merely happened to own a Violent Bear.
At least she could distinguish that much.
"Work! Work! let's work hard together," Abella turned and patted the fur on the Sky-Shaking Bear's leg.
"Grrrr—", The Sky-Shaking Bear responded with a low growl.
'Understood, understood.'
What else could it do?
The Sky-Shaking Bear officially transformed into a construction bear. Forget about creating a new world—its most important and irreplaceable task now was just to do its daily work at the construction site.
———
[Heavenly River City]
'Cough! Cough!'
Escorted by a strange creature with seven or eight gleaming green tentacles, a figure walked out of Heavenly River City's Forbidden Zone with a straight posture, as if striding down a red carpet.
The staff members stationed at the outermost perimeter of the Forbidden Zone had been on high alert all this time. The moment they spotted the figure, three to five of them immediately stood up and rushed forward.
"Miss Lucy, are you alright?"
"Miss Lucy, what exactly happened inside?"
"Move aside, let me check if Miss Lucy and her beast are injured."
Voices clamored in unison, creating a lively scene like a bustling marketplace.
The woman called Miss Lucy appeared youthful, though her exact age was unclear. Her hair was styled like a jellyfish, with the long strands at the back braided into two soft, fluffy fishtail braids. However, the left one was longer than the right, and upon closer inspection, the right side had visible cut marks.
She wore a tight black-and-white tactical suit under a warm work jacket, paired with black knee-high boots. A strange combination, but with her icy expression and blade-sharp gaze, there was no sense of discord.
In fact, the longer one looked, the more they could appreciate a unique kind of charisma.
"Quiet."
A man in his thirties, wearing rimless glasses and exuding a polished, elite air, stepped forward. His gaze swept over the surrounding crowd, "Lucy has been inside for days and is injured. What she needs now is rest."
"I understand that everyone is anxious, but please wait until she has rested before questioning her."
As he spoke, the man adjusted his glasses, his cold and authoritative demeanor instantly silencing the surrounding staff.
Lucy Diaz took a small breath and nodded at the people around her, "Mm."
With things settled, the staff naturally didn't press further and made way for her to board the departure vehicle.
The moment Lucy sat in the front passenger seat, her previously upright posture and icy expression collapsed completely.
"Aaah… I regret it. I never should have gone… Waaaah…"
The driver, her manager Julian, remained unfazed.
"You agreed to go in yourself. What happened in there to make you look this regretful?", Glancing at Lucy, who was now slumped like a puddle of melted slime, Julian casually ignored the slimy, wet, green tentacle monster wriggling in the backseat.
He was used to it.
Nothing surprising anymore.
Routine.
"My head hurts… The situation inside wasn't what I expected… I regret it… I never should have gone in…," Lucy muttered, ignoring Julian, "Not only did Flying Flower and Wood Spirit's conditions not improve, but I feel like they've gotten worse… Waaaah—"
As she spoke, she let out a long, strange wail.
"I'm just a worthless piece of trash…"
Julian, driving calmly: 'Heh!'
'A Rank 7 trash?'
"There's something you might be interested in," he said, "That girl who went into Heavenly River Forbidden Zone earlier—the one whose Violent Bear was injured and couldn't recover."
"It's healed."
"Hm?", Lucy immediately sat up straight, returning from a puddle to her normal form. She turned to Julian, eyes full of curiosity.
"It's healed? How?"
But Julian didn't answer right away. Instead, he continued, "Two hours ago, a friend from NY City messaged me. Apparently, something unexpected happened at Professor Asher's research institute."
"A creature that looks very similar to a Violent Bear—but not quite the same—demolished Asher's research institute."
"He even sent me a blurry photo," Julian pulled out his phone and tossed it to Lucy, "See for yourself."
The phone screen wasn't locked, and as soon as Lucy tapped it open, she saw the appearance of that beast—it no longer looked like a Violent Bear. Anyone with eyes could see that this was an evolved form of the Violent Bear.
And it was a brand-new, unknown evolutionary path that had never been discovered before.
"This is—", Lucy's eyes widened sharply.
"That girl is a student at Bluewind University. I have reason to suspect that this Violent Bear is the same one that emerged from the Forbidden Zone in Heavenly River City, " Julian said. He hadn't conducted a deeper investigation—time was limited—but based on the available clues, he had pieced together a rough conclusion through a mix of speculation and reasoning.
Julian: "I'll take you home to rest first, then I'll head to NY City later to investigate."
"If that genius, Professor Asher, really discovered a new evolutionary path for the Violent Bear, it would mean that he does have some research on the Phantom Mist. At that point, you can decide whether you want to—"
"Rest? What rest?", Lucy nearly jumped out of the passenger seat. The only thing keeping her in place was the seatbelt restraining her movements, "Go! Now! Immediately! To NY City!"
Julian slammed on the brakes.
Once again, it was the seatbelt that limited Lucy's actions. Otherwise, she would have slammed headfirst into the windshield.
"What?", Julian turned to look at Lucy beside him, only to see that her previously sluggish and dispirited demeanor had completely vanished. She was suddenly full of energy, her voice brimming with vigor, and her light brown eyes seemed to glow.
Where was the slightest trace of the lazy couch potato from before?
Julian: "…"
"My dear ancestor, my esteemed lady, can you stop being so impulsive?", Julian felt a headache coming on, "I shouldn't have told you this in advance. Otherwise, you wouldn't be this excited."
"Besides, most of what I just said is still speculation. It needs time to be verified—"
"No need to verify," Lucy waved her hand grandly, "My sixth sense tells me it's correct!"
"My sixth sense tells me—the sooner, the better. Ideally, I'd be in NY City within an hour!"
Julian fell silent again.
He wanted to complain.
But then he thought about how accurate Lucy's sixth sense usually was…
"An hour is impossible. I'll arrange for you to go there as soon as possible," Julian paused again, as if feeling uneasy, "Actually, forget it. I'll call ahead and make an appointment with this Professor Asher first. It's more polite that way."
Lucy, now a nodding machine beside him, 'Mm-hmm! Good, good, good! Just like that! I'll listen to you! Whatever my dear old father says is right.'
———
Asher, upon receiving the appointment call: "?"
"Seventh-rank Beastmaster Miss Lucy…?",.Listening to the description over the phone, Asher's voice carried a trace of hesitation and doubt, "You want to book an appointment for this afternoon? Ah… to see me?"
"Alright… fine… you guys aren't scammers, are you?"
After triple-checking over the phone, Asher reluctantly believed it and hung up.
Abella, who overheard the conversation, curiously looked over at Asher.
President Robb had already left.
The evolution of the Violent Bear was certainly a surprise to him, but as the president of NY City's Beastmaster Alliance, he had many other responsibilities to handle, so he had to leave first.
The research institute had been partially damaged, but some areas were still functional. The overall structure had turned into a mix of semi-open and semi-enclosed spaces, giving it a breezy yet oddly stylish feel.
"I think I just heard a familiar name?", Abella said, his expression uncertain, "Was it Miss Lucy?"
Asher nodded.
"Someone claiming to be Lucy's agent called me… I suspected it was a scammer, but it seems unlikely?"
Hearing this, Abella's eyes suddenly lit up.
The four researchers who were busy organizing and uploading data also perked up and turned to look at Asher.
"Miss Lucy? The real Miss Lucy? The actress from Beastly Bonds, My Pact with the Flame Dragon, Thunder Queen?", Sarah's voice shot up several octaves, almost loud enough to peel paint off the walls.
Asher: "?"
'Wait!'
'What the hell are those bizarre movie titles?'
"Probably…? Actually, I'm not entirely sure," Asher only had a vague impression of the name. He seemed to recall that she was in the entertainment industry or something, but he didn't know much else.
As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with five pairs of disapproving eyes.
"I'm not familiar with the entertainment industry," Asher explained.
Abella: "I can't believe there are people who don't know Lucy. Even if you haven't watched her movies, you must've seen her public service ads."
"She's literally everywhere, cycling through all sorts of billboards every day."
"Hmm… maybe I've seen them?", Asher rubbed his chin, "But I never connected them to a real person. I just thought she looked nice. I never looked into who she was."
Abella didn't want to talk anymore.
The other four researchers exchanged glances.
Fine.
After all, the person standing before them was Professor Asher—a genius in pet evolution research and a formidable beastmaster.
If he spent all his time honing his expertise instead of following entertainment news, wasn't that understandable?
"Well, well, suddenly I feel better about myself," Chase suddenly said.
Everyone, including Asher, turned to look at him, confused about what he meant.
"Looks like geniuses aren't just born overnight," Chase raised his index finger and earnestly poured himself a bowl of motivational chicken soup, inviting the others to join in. "Professor Asher simply spent all the time we use for entertainment on refining his professional skills."
Abella, Sarah, and the other two researchers: *Enlightenment*
'Alright, alright!'
'We'll drink this chicken soup!'
'We believe it!'
'Our mindset is now balanced.'
Asher: "Uh… is it possible that I'm just not interested in the entertainment industry?"
"Shut up! We don't want to hear it!"
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