Monster Pet Evolution

When he was done giving his orders, the man in the sunglasses briskly turned around and left the room with his men. A skinny, dark-skinned man at the back of the party paused for a moment to look at where his boss had been pointing moments ago.

They keep saying that it’s a city, but… why does it look like a maze? That’s impossible, there’s no way a maze that big exists, he thought, smiling dumbly at the table before turning around to join the others.

Back in the Lusaka base city, they began preparing their things, which included a modified all-terrain vehicle, rocket launchers, machine guns, hand grenades, and other fun toys.

Most of them were experts in their own fields, handpicked by the Black Wolverine Organization to participate in this mission. They now stood armed and ready.

“The Black Wolverine Group may not be as great as the Crimson Leopard or the Nine-headed Lion, but what we have here is an opportunity,” said the black man in sunglasses.

“But Ciwey, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” said a portly black man in a suit and tie. “That’s another world we’re talking about. We still haven’t done a complete reconnaissance of the place. Aside from the fact that the monsters there are a couple levels higher than the ones on this planet, who knows what other dangers are lurking in there?”

“My Black King isn’t weak,” said Ciwey coldly.

The Black Wolverine Group was named after his familiar. He and his brother, Cilow, had built this organization from the ground up with their own bare hands.

Even though Ciwey was the trainer of a Lord-tier Black Wolverine, thanks to the pressure exerted by other major companies, Ciwey’s organization had never been able to grow as he wanted it to.

“But this is an opportunity.” Ciwey was growing impatient. His brother was a good man and had always treated Ciwey well when they were little. His kindness was also the reason why he had let Ciwey take charge of the company while he himself continued to be his second-in-command. The only thing Ciwey couldn’t stand about him was his cowardice!

Of course, Cilow would never call it cowardice. He would simply say that he was being cautious.

“If we don’t seize it now, when will we grow as an organization? When will we show those Nine-headed Lion fools what we’re truly made of?” said Ciwey, shaking his fist. “There’s a new, never-before-seen world out there. Do you know what this means?”

“But we just can’t go all in like this. This isn’t poker,” said the portly man, Cilow, with a sigh. “How about this—I’ll contact whoever’s in charge in Zimbabwe so that we can form a joint force dedicated to the investigation of the ruins that you’ve just discovered. What do you think?”

Ciwey’s face stiffened as he sulkily nodded in agreement.

…

“At first, we thought that there would be a whole new world waiting for us on the other side of the Spatial Rift. Instead, what we found was a labyrinth,” said Gao Peng, sounding somewhat disappointed during a high-level meeting in the Southern Sky Group.

“The only way we can hope to extract any profit from this labyrinth is by clearing it,” he continued, pointing at a diagram of the labyrinth.

“We have two options here. First, we could gather all the trainers in the Yuzhou government for a joint operation to kill or restrain all the Labyrinth Watchers. Once we have the labyrinth under our control, we’ll able to conduct an investigation of our surroundings from there.

“The other option is, we do what the Labyrinth Watchers suggested. We’ll wake up their master and strike a deal with it… Of course, what happens after that is anyone’s guess.”

When Gao Peng finished his speech, he came down from the platform and began listening in on the ensuing discussions among the audience.

“Will it be that easy to kill the Labyrinth Watchers?” someone asked uncertainly.

“I don’t think so…”

It soon became apparent that everyone was polarized between the two suggestions. Some reckoned that it would be easier to clear the maze of its current occupants and then claim the place as their own, while there were others who hoped that a deal could be struck peacefully with these creatures.

Both sides were adamant in their positions.

Someone asked for Gao Peng’s opinion on it.

“The Labyrinth Watchers told me that their master doesn’t exactly hate humans,” said Gao Peng. “I think we should at least see what the labyrinth’s master is like before we make a decision.”

“Young Master, that’s too risky.”

“Way too risky.”

“It could be a trap.”

“Relax, I have a few aces up my sleeve. Some of my familiars aren’t that big. They could probably pass through the Spatial Rift with me. I won’t be going in empty-handed.” Gao Peng suddenly felt thankful for the fact that he still had a couple of medium-sized familiars with him.

Excluding Stripey, an untriggered Goldie, Flamy, Da Zi, Dumby, the Treasure Sniffing Rodent, Silly, and Xiao Cao could all come with him through the Spatial Rift, even though the last three would probably serve as nothing more than fillers for his team.

“I’ll go with you, Young Master,” said Xu Heti.

Uncle Liu wanted to offer his help, but he decided against it. His Shadow Japalura and Blood Eye Bearded Vulture were way too big to enter the Spatial Rift.

Suddenly, he said, “I’ll let Softy go with you. Softy recently reached Lord-tier, but I think it could be of some use to you in your mission.”

Softy was Uncle Liu’s Nightshadow Cat. It had already been at Level 40 back in Changping. However, it couldn’t level up any further due to it being stuck in the Excellent grade back then. Only after Gao Peng helped it improve its grade was it able to hit Lord-tier.

Gao Peng nodded, accepting Uncle Liu’s offer. The more familiars he had, the more confident he felt about coming out of the labyrinth alive.

He now had eight Lord-tier familiars coming along with him: the Nightshadow Cat, Xu Heti’s Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo, Da Zi, Goldie, Flamy, Dumby, the Winged Thunder Monkey Skeleton, and the King Eel Skeleton.

The Wood Peacock Skeleton and the King Centipede Skeleton were too big to fit through the Spatial Rift.

Both Goldie and Dumby were Legendary-grade, while Da Zi was Epic-grade. The rest could serve as support. With eight familiars by his side, dealing with eight Labyrinth Watchers wouldn’t be a problem.

The only thing troubling him was the fact that the levels of these Labyrinth Watchers were extremely high. Seven of them were Level 49, while one of them was Level 50. It was noteworthy that single level differences in the later stages of a monster’s growth could make a world of a difference in its power level. While some of Gao Peng’s own familiars could stand a chance against these watchers in one-on-one combat, the same couldn’t be said about the rest.

The next day, Uncle Liu was already waiting for Gao Peng outside the company’s headquarters early in the morning. Beside him stood the Nightshadow Cat, which was clearly bigger than a black panther.

“I won’t be going with you. I’ll let Softy go with you. Don’t worry, it’ll listen to your every command,” said Uncle Liu with a chuckle.

“Meow…” The Nightshadow Cat gazed at Gao Peng and let out a soft mewl.

Xu Heti had brought his Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo with him as well, though he was also coming along with Gao Peng.

Soon, a car drove them straight to the Baiye District, which was still on lockdown. They would have to make timely reports concerning the Spatial Rift to the Yuzhou government. Even though the Baiye District had been blocked off for the past few days, the government was still not prepared for this.

The soldiers stood aside to make way for Gao Peng and company, letting them pass through until they reached the Spatial Rift. A new building was being erected on the foundations of the abandoned building that had been housing the Spatial Rift all this time.

This was Xu Heti’s first time entering the Spatial Rift. He gawked at his surroundings curiously as he walked through it alongside Gao Peng.

On the other side of the Spatial Rift was the Black Fog World. A couple of Black Jacket Geckoes were playing around in a corner, but as soon as they heard the footsteps of Gao Peng and his familiars, they quickly scattered in all different directions.

Just then, a dull, yet familiar set of footfalls echoed in the distance…