Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The spectacled man had gotten Dumby totally wrong. He had thought it was just an average joe, but it turns out that Dumby was the complete opposite of that.
The way Dumby smoked really impacted the spectacled man’s spirit. I wouldn’t care if a skeleton wants to smoke. I mean, it might just be a hobby. But this familiar doesn’t even need to light its cigarette to smoke it! That is too outrageous.
The man looked down at his cigarette and went into deep thought. Was he the one who was doing it wrong? Maybe not lighting up the cigarette was the correct way to smoke…
This was a question worth pondering.
“Teacher,” said a voice, bringing him back to reality.
A black-haired girl in a black exercise outfit said to him with a blank expression, “My dad won’t let me participate in the second round.”
“That’s fine. This is completely voluntary. This is much more dangerous after all. There is some risk to this,” said the man, comforting her. She was a girl after all, and as he was a father to a daughter, he could understand why her father wouldn’t want her to join the competition.
“But I want to take part in the competition,” said the black-haired girl.
“What?” asked the man, rubbing his eyes. “So, what you mean is…”
“I don’t need my parent’s approval to join, right?” asked the girl.
“According to the rules, no, you don’t need their approval, but…”
The man was put in a hard position. Of course he understood her father’s position, but it was just a one-sided understanding for him.
But this was not the most important thing. He was a strong-willed man, but he would still succumb under pressure.
She did not require her parent’s consent because she was already 18 years old. She had the power to make her own decisions. If they were close, then he would be in an awkward position.
After the girl finished listening, she nodded, saying, “I want to apply to enter.” She then stood to the side and stayed quiet, gently touching her Black Anaconda’s head.
The man eyes’ hurt a little, so he squinted.
Whatever happens doesn’t concern me! I’m just the handler!
“Okay! You need to sign a release-of-liability form before you start,” the man said and nodded.
He then asked if there was anyone who wanted to withdraw.
Two guys stepped forward, looking very embarrassed. After all, a girl whose family did not want her to enter still entered, but they, two grown man, decided to withdraw. It was so embarrassing!
“It’s fine. It is understandable,” the spectacled man said cheerily.
The two students took their familiars and left.
After half an hour had passed, the spectacled man asked again, “Is there anyone who wants to withdraw?”
The remaining six shook their heads silently. No one left.
“Okay, the airplanes are almost here,” the spectacled man said as he looked up to the sky.
Two fighter jets tore through the sky, leaving white streaks behind them.
The vast plain they were standing on had been cleaned up and partially paved with cement so that the planes could land.
“Split into two groups and get onto a plane. Initially, we were worried that it might be a bit cramped, but now there are only six people left. Three people to a plane. Your familiars need to get on the same plane as you,” the man called out. “Get on quickly.”
“Will it be dangerous?” Gao Peng asked. “Although there aren’t many flying-types, they still exist.”
“Don’t worry. These planes are made with special materials. We will be flying 20,000 meters high. Only Lord tier flying-types are able to reach that high. We won’t meet other kinds of monsters. It is safe, for the most part. Besides, we have the Golden Deity’s feathers. Even if we were unlucky enough to meet a Lord tier flying-type, nothing would happen because Lord tier monsters generally don’t bother each other,” the man answered with a smile.
“Okay.” Gao Peng nodded. The Monster Trainer League and the government probably knew what they were doing.
The plane took off quickly, and the sudden loss of gravity made a few of the familiars uneasy.
After moving around for a while, Da Zi climbed up Dumby’s body and grabbed on tightly like a belt. Stripey held on to the floor with a death grip. Fortunately, there was a thick carpet on the floor of the plane. It was as if they had predicted the familiars’ reactions.
“Most familiars feel uncomfortable when they fly. They will be fine once they get used to it,” the spectacled man said with a smile. He was on the same plane as Gao Peng, seated not far from him.
Gao Peng gave him a nod.
Dumby, on the other hand, was very calm. The loss of gravity did not affect it at all. Dumby looked around with indifference. It lowered its head and softly patted Da Zi’s head to calm it down. Stripey then came forward brazenly and used its head to brush against Dumby. Dumby paused and then stretched out its hand to pat Stripey on the head. This made Stripey so happy that it started to move around excitedly.
“This familiar has such a good psychological quality!” the spectacled man exclaimed in surprise.
He had seen quite a few familiars in his life, but not many like Dumby that had such a good psychological quality.
Was bravery a trait of ghoul-type familiars?
The man thought to himself that perhaps he could go to Fengdu or Xiangxi to search for a ghoul-type familiar that had potential.
“There are so many monsters outside. How are the traffic problems solved? Are those highways not destroyed by monsters?” asked Gao Peng. Since there wasn’t anything to do on the plane, he decided to chat with the spectacled man.
The man thought to himself that this sort of news wasn’t usually talked about, but it wasn’t really a tightly held secret either.
“Actually, there are highways between all of the military cities in the Huaxia Region. It’s just that their conditions aren’t the same as before. I’m not talking about the quality of the roads, but the number of roads. We have a limit to our manpower, so we can only choose to guard a few important routes. Even then, we still run into some trouble sometimes,” the spectacled man said.
Gao Peng was silent. The current road conditions were likely similar to the road conditions during ancient times. The mountains and places with large bodies of water were relatively safer, but meeting monsters on official roads was not a rare occurrence. If one were unlucky, he might even meet beasts such as tiger-type monsters. This depended entirely on one’s luck.
Most of the cars on the highways traveled in convoys, which greatly increased their safety.
Gao Peng remained silent.
A student next to Gao Peng asked the spectacled man, “Sir, how many candidates do you think there will be? Are all the candidates from all over the world coming?”
“Not so many that they are from all over the world. Only all of the candidates from all the military cities in the Huaxia Region. So you guys need to do well to make Chang’an City proud.”
“I will try my best,” said the student, touching his thumbs. He noticed Gao Peng looking at him and extended his right hand with a smile, saying, “Hello, my name is Wang Zhenshan. May I ask your name? I’ve seen you for a while.”
Gao Peng was silent for a bit, but then answered, “Thanks. I’m Gao Peng.”
“Hi. I noticed you because of how cool your familiars look. Don’t get the wrong idea!” Wang Zhenshan said with a laugh.
They started to get familiar with each other while chatting on the plane.
After five hours, the plane started its descent. They didn’t encounter a single Lord tier flying-type throughout the entire journey.
