My Pet Beast is Super Fearsome
Chapter 396 - Chapter 396 Chapter 395 Above the Two-Stage Reaction

Chapter 396: Chapter 395: Above the Two-Stage Reaction (Combined) Chapter 396: Chapter 395: Above the Two-Stage Reaction (Combined) “Cheers!”

In the collapsed depression, the magma had slowly cooled, but the interior was still continuously emanating residual heat.

Cang Haiyuan and Yang Qi each held a paper cup and clinked them together.

The campfire crackled, occasionally spitting out sparks that flickered in the wind, casting a red glow all around.

They had brought alcohol on this trip, but to save space, they did not bring much.

Today, because they had discovered a new group of mutant creatures, Cang Haiyuan suggested having a drink to celebrate, which led to the scene before them.

Shao Zifeng sat on the edge of the deep pit, his feet on the cooled magma rock; he did not join in.

Partly because he indeed could not hold his liquor, and he also deeply suspected that even the smell of alcohol could get him drunk.

To prevent a repeat of the incident in Yundu City, he simply stayed far away.

Holding Qiuqiu in his arms, he took out some fire-element dry food made by the nutritionist from the school and fed it to it.

“Ying~”

Since the little guy had no teeth, it was quite a struggle to eat the chunky dry food, so Shao Zifeng carefully broke it into smaller pieces before feeding it.

Qiuqiu, not blinking its eyes, watched the dry food, and whenever Shao Zifeng reached out his hand, it clung tightly with its two little paws, much like how a baby clutches at a milk bottle while feeding.

Watching the smiling Shao Zifeng, Qiuqiu suddenly remembered something, climbed up, and took a piece of dry food from the bag.

Standing on Shao Zifeng’s lap, its little paws raised high.

“Ying Ying~” (“Dandan eat”)

Shao Zifeng hesitated for a moment; this thing should be edible, right?

Since he had bought the ingredients himself at that time, there seemed to be nothing odd about them, plus it was a little gesture from the creature, so after hesitating for a moment, Shao Zifeng bit into it.

Soft upon entering the mouth, a soothing throat…

was nonexistent.

After just chewing a couple of times, Shao Zifeng’s body instantly stiffened, his face turning crimson.

Spicy!

Extremely spicy!

And there was an indescribable paralysis tingling his tongue!

His mouth continuously secreted saliva, and without time to think further, Shao Zifeng grabbed broken ice from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth.

Hisss–

The ice cubes instantly evaporated in his mouth, billowing white smoke pouring out of his mouth and nose, some of it rushing into his lungs.

“Cough cough cough…”

Shao Zifeng clutched his neck, coughing loudly, tears and mucus flowing uncontrollably.

“Ying Ying!”

Qiuqiu immediately panicked, climbing up to Shao Zifeng’s shoulder, constantly patting his back with its little paws.

It remembered that when it choked on food before, Dandan had also patted it like this.

“Cough cough… I’m fine.”

After a moment, Shao Zifeng lay on the ground, coughing while gesturing to Qiuqiu with his hand.

Fortunately, because he sat quite far away and upwind, the others by the fire did not notice his embarrassing state.

As the irritation in his throat subsided, Shao Zifeng slowly straightened up, gasping in the cold air.

He had survived.

“Ying Ying!”

Qiuqiu lay in his arms, its large eyes tearful.

, ,Ts^Ts,,

“It’s not your fault.”

Shao Zifeng’s voice was a bit hoarse, holding little Qiuqiu in his hands.

“But still, I have to punish you.”

As he spoke, he blew several times on Qiuqiu’s little belly, and Qiuqiu instantly started to play with Shao Zifeng like a little child, happily wrestling with him.

The celebration did not last long, as accompanying the discovery of a new species involved more than just naming it; they had to collect as much data and information as possible in this short time, all of which would be crucial for certification by international organizations in the future.

Besides that, Wei Yibo apparently wanted to tame a Snow Calf, chillingly luring the little calf with a sleazy smile, frightening it into retreating continuously into the herd with panicked eyes.

Fortunately, without the Snow Bull King, the Ice Rock Snow Bulls were truly mild, though slightly restless, they showed no excessive behavior.

At that moment, Chen Yixin glanced his way, then walked over to him.

“Zifeng, give me a hand.”

Chen Yixin, dressed in bulky protective gear and faced with the steep crater formed by the battle, tried twice, then helplessly reached her hand out to Shao Zifeng.

Climbing out of the crater, Chen Yixin looked at the vast ice plateau and stretched lazily: “Really don’t know when the next sunny day will be, it’s always cloudy, feels like we’re all getting depressed.”

With no enticing curves or delicate waistline, that lazy stretch in Shao Zifeng’s eyes looked like a bucket had suddenly bent, stirring no emotions inside him.

He looked up at the lead-gray clouds, endless and oppressive: “Yixin sister, how much longer until we reach ice dome A point?”

“Why, homesick?” Chen Yixin sat beside him, teasing, “Or do you miss my brother and sister-in-law?”

Shao Zifeng glanced at Chen Yixin, always feeling it odd to hear such things from her.

“Qiuqiu is here too.” After sitting down, Chen Yixin cheerfully greeted Qiuqiu.

The little creature never liked Chen Yixin and liked her even less after being disturbed.

It grunted unhappily a few times and crawled into Shao Zifeng’s protective suit to hide.

Chen Yixin’s mouth twitched, was its dislike so obvious?

But she didn’t feel awkward or anything, as creatures already bonded usually found it hard to feel affection for anyone other than their owner.

Though that might be true…

Qiuqiu’s attitude toward her was indeed very clear!

“Why are you sitting here, something on your mind?”

Shao Zifeng shook his head: “These past few days, it’s been nothing but rushing or fighting, hardly any time to play with Qiuqiu. Rare moment of free time today, wanted to spend some time with the little guy.”

Upon hearing his words, Chen Yixin suddenly fell silent.

Before coming to Antarctica, she had thought it was going to be a normal expedition like usual, albeit in harsher environments, but nothing too dangerous as long as they followed the planned route. Yet who could have expected continuous mishaps along the way, ending up relying on Shao Zifeng to fight desperately, which made Chen Yixin feel very guilty.

“I’m sorry.”

Hearing Chen Yixin’s words, Shao Zifeng looked at her in surprise, “Why say this all of a sudden?”

Chen Yixin hesitated, and ultimately didn’t say anything more. She looked around and asked, “Where’s your pet beast?”

“Are you talking about Lingling?” Shao Zifeng smiled, “That little guy was too noisy, so I sent him back to the beast space.”

Seeing the smile on Shao Zifeng’s face, Chen Yixin genuinely remarked, “You two have a great relationship, although it always seems like Qiuqiu has something against me.”

“Is that so? Not really,” Shao Zifeng laughed it off.

Chen Yixin didn’t dwell on this issue and instead turned to seriously look at Shao Zifeng.

Last year, shortly after the breakthrough in prehistoric creature recovery technology, she had a conflict with the older generation of researchers over research directions. Not only was her proposed topic rejected, but her proposal to utilize the Great Xia’s Twelve Pillar National Beasts for research was not even passed internally at the institute.

Therefore, she returned to her hometown in Su City and applied for a laboratory at Su City University to work independently. Later, the unique physique and Elemental Power of Qiuqiu, which were different from other armadillo lizards, caught her attention.

Eventually, she used some dishonorable methods and struck a deal with Shao Zifeng. Unexpectedly, Shao Zifeng brought her such a big surprise. She had her suspicions before, but now she could confirm that Qiuqiu was undergoing ancestral evolution.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t had the time to start relevant research since then because of the issues with the Ice Plateau Saber-Toothed Tiger.

Looking at Shao Zifeng, Chen Yixin’s mouth curved into a faint smile.

She vaguely remembered that when she first met him, he was a cautious and sensitive young man. It was unexpected that over the course of the year, he had also become reliable.

“Ahem…”

Shao Zifeng cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable under Chen Yixin’s gaze.

“By the way, Sister Yixin, is there something you needed me for?”

“Can’t I find you just to chat?” Chen Yixin playfully blinked her eyes.

Shao Zifeng was speechless.

“Just kidding,” Chen Yixin chuckled, “Do you remember what I told you about the ‘second-stage reaction’ before?”

“Second-stage reaction?”

Shao Zifeng paused, vaguely recalling it, but he hadn’t paid much attention to what Chen Yixin had said as he was completely focused on controlling his Elemental Output at the time.

“Yes, the ‘second-stage reaction’.”

“You know about the ‘Bonding reaction,’ a very rare phenomenon that occurs during a contract, allowing a Combat Training Master’s body to be enhanced, and some can even gain the ability to control elements,” she explained.

“This ability was coveted in the early stages of the ‘Unknown Recovery Event,’ considered a symbol of the ‘Chosen One.’ However, in recent years, there has been no progress in developing the ‘Bonding reaction,’ so it gradually faded from public attention.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Shao Zifeng, counting the Ice Horned Whale, had made four contracts in total.

Except for the Mirage Beibei, who, for some reason, did not share its Elemental Power, the other three had shared their Elemental Powers with him. Though sometimes these powers could be incredibly useful, most of the time he found them quite ineffective.

Like when he was without his Tang Sword and went all out with Thorny Halo and the enhancement from his fervor, he couldn’t cause substantial damage to the third-tier Rock-eating Rat, only managing to knock it away.

Chen Yixin shook her head, “That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about something beyond the ‘second-stage reaction’.”

“Something beyond the ‘second-stage reaction’.”

Shao Zifeng mulled over her words, still unclear about what the “second-stage reaction” entailed, let alone something beyond it.

“Yes, at the onset of studying the ‘Bonding reaction’ around the world, it was divided into several stages. Initially, upon contracting, one could draw upon a small part of the elements, but there would be no changes to the Combat Training Master’s own body, which was called the ‘initial reaction’.”

“As the bond deepens, when the Combat Training Master uses Elemental Energy, some features of the contracted pet beast start appearing on their body, such as eye pupils, hair color, skin tone, and so on. Since only one feature changes, this stage is called the ‘first-stage reaction’.”

“After that, just like you experienced before, there were changes to your eyes and ears, and you could control more Elemental Energy. This is the ‘second-stage reaction.’ Of course, each person’s reaction is different; I’ve seen a Contractor of the Drilling-toothed Warthog whose nose and ears changed…”

At this, Chen Yixin couldn’t help but laugh.

Shao Zifeng thought about the appearance of the Drilling-toothed Warthog and couldn’t help but smile too.

“These are the three known stages of the ‘Bonding reaction’ so far.”

“However, these are all old concepts that were proposed over a decade ago. As various countries ceased their research on the ‘Bonding reaction,’ and since even the ‘second-stage reaction’ has no significant changes, whether there are stages beyond the second stage remains unknown.”

Hearing this, Shao Zifeng felt somewhat puzzled, “Isn’t it said that the ‘second-stage reaction’ allows for the control of more Elemental Energy? Why do you say there are no significant changes?”

“More does not mean stronger, just as the difference between striking someone with one pound of cotton versus two pounds of cotton isn’t substantial. Without compression, one can only hope that quantity leads to a qualitative change.”

“But that’s easier said than done; no one knows how to further enhance the stages of the ‘Bonding reaction.’

“Having said so much, it’s mainly because I see something different in you. Today, when you used the ice element, you jumped directly from the ‘initial reaction’ to the ‘second-stage reaction,’ so I’m guessing whether there might be stages beyond the second one.”

Thinking over Chen Yixin’s words and combining them with the changes in his own body, Shao Zifeng began to understand her meaning.

Even though he was already at the second stage of the ‘Bonding reaction,’ if you were to ask him how to advance further, he wouldn’t know, and he didn’t even know if it was possible to advance in the future.

Gradually, a trace of confusion appeared on Chen Yixin’s face.

“The more I know, the more I realize how ignorant I am, especially after meeting the old dragon, this feeling has grown even stronger.”

“I often wonder, besides the system of Combat Training Masters, could there be other systems in existence,-like what level the ‘Bonding reaction’ could reach if it continued to be developed.”

As Shao Zifeng twirled the ring on his finger, which was attached to the pumpkin lantern, he didn’t know how to answer these questions, especially since he also had such feelings, particularly after learning of the existence of witches.

Chen Yixin didn’t expect Shao Zifeng to answer her; she muttered dreamily, “I always feel that in places we can’t see, there is a greater crisis lurking.”

“But those old men always feel the crisis has passed… perhaps twenty years ago was just the beginning.” Saying this, Chen Yixin gave a bitter smile and shook her head, “Why am I telling you all this, no one would believe these words if I spoke them aloud.”

At this moment, Chen Yixin shed her surface composure and decisiveness, giving off a vulnerable aura.

“I believe you.”

Shao Zifeng said earnestly to her.

Because he had a cheat, Shao Zifeng knew some things that others didn’t.

Chen Yixin looked at him in surprise, a smile spreading across her face.

She didn’t think Shao Zifeng would actually believe everything, but his words made her feel more at ease internally.

“Look out!”

Just then, a disturbance suddenly came from afar.

All the Ice Rock Snow Bulls started to move restlessly back and forth, occasionally letting out cries.

Chen Yixin stood up, pressed a button on her helmet, and her facial expression returned to its competent demeanor, “Yang Qi, what’s happening on your side?”

“Professor, I don’t know either, the herd just suddenly started acting like this.”

At that moment, Shao Zifeng felt a sudden jolt in his spirit. He turned his head to look into the distance.

He saw a small figure at the edge of the vast snowfield, running towards them at an extremely fast pace.

Shao Zifeng was stunned, watching as a dense mass of creatures followed behind the figure, his eyes slowly widening.

(PS: Monthly ticket request)