Monster Pet Evolution

After the offenders were brought down, Gao Peng casually propped an old rocking chair right in front of his gates. He wanted to see if there were any stragglers with ill intentions still out there.

It was actually pretty exhilarating, even more so than some extreme sports; nothing quite beat a headshot from a rifle to the temple.

Now that he actually thought about it, a shower of bullets actually sounded like a fun idea.

Before taking a seat, he hung small signs on himself, Flamy, Goldie, Da Zi, and Dumby.

The wooden sign hung around Da Zi's neck said "3,500." The one hung around Flamy's neck said "2,800," and the sign hung around Goldie's neck said "2,000."

Maybe it was because Da Zi was lying on the floor, but the sign lay flat on its head, almost as though it was wearing a helmet.

Within moments, Da Zi was bouncing off to Goldie, peering at its sign. Its math skills were elementary at best, so it could only do some simple addition.

The sign on Da Zi's head read "3+5=8"; Goldie only had a "2."

"Poor Goldie only has two." Da Zi chuckled with pity. "Looks like I'm still Gao Peng's favorite."

Satisfied, Da Zi went over to look at Flamy's sign and paled immediately.

Two… Eight...

Da Zi quickly did the math with its recently acquired skills.

Two plus eight equaled 10.

Boom!

Da Zi was thunderstruck.

Flamy lowered his head to look at the stunned Da Zi. It could tell that Da Zi was on one of its whimsical trips again. Not today. Flamy merely shook its head and flapped away.

...

"The Southern Sky Group is just ahead. Do you see the Pearl Tower? That's Southern Sky's landmark new building in the new downtown area." Someone pointed vaguely in the direction of the tower.

"Brother, are you really going to challenge Gao Peng?"

"Of course. He's the best in the Huaxia region. I've actually seen his fights in person before, and he's definitely as good as they say he is. However, I now have a Holy-type Lord-tier familiar that matches really well with his Ghoul-type. If I can beat him, I'll be famous!" The brown-haired teen in the lead had a cocky smile on his face.

The sky darkened slightly as they drew closer to the main entrance. They couldn't see clearly if it was Gao Peng inside; they thought it might just have been a security guard.

"Hello. We're from the Da Ying district. I'm here to challenge the strongest trainer in the Huaxia region—Gao Peng," said the brown-haired teen in halting Chinese.

For some reason, there was a weird tension in the room after he said that.

"Sure!" Gao Peng slowly put down his tablet. "You brought a rifle with you?"

"..." The brown-haired teen was puzzled. What the hell was a Barrett?

After giving the teen a quick once-over and determining that he wasn't a threat, the expression on Gao Peng's face grew kinder. "You want to challenge me, boy? Why don't we discuss that over a hot meal?"

The brown-haired teen had to pinch himself to make sure that he was actually talking to the Gao Peng. He followed Gao Peng rather submissively into the adjacent room, where they had a long, animated chat.

Thirty minutes later, the brown-haired teen stumbled out of the room in a daze. Without a word, he left Southern Sky with his brother, clutching what appeared to be a certificate.

"Brother, who won? What is that?" His younger brother took the certificate from him.

The certificate was bright red and had golden letters across it that read "Certificate of Achievement." Beneath it were a few tiny rows of English words.

These teens weren't really familiar with Chinese culture, so they were rather taken aback. Back home, certificates were usually nothing more than a sheet of paper. This was actually the size of a brick...

As he flipped through the certificate, he saw a half-page picture of Dumby on the left and a short paragraph written in English on the right.

Contestant Abigail,

On March 10th in the 4th year of the New Federation, you have successfully defeated the Skeletal Tyrant. Let this certificate honor your achievement.

Awarded by: Gao Peng.

At the very bottom was Gao Peng's signature, both in Chinese and pinyin. Right next to it was a QR code.

"Brother." Abigail's brother's face fell. This...

"Who's going to believe this? There's no evidence but this lousy certificate." Abigail's brother didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had thought his brother was way sharper than this.

"Have you seen the QR code?"

"I saw it."

"Try scanning it."

Abigail's brother did just that. It led him to a battle video that featured his brother's familiar—the Sacred Unicorn was dueling with Gao Peng's Skeletal Tyrant. It was an ugly fight that left both familiars battered and bruise, but the Sacred Unicorn eventually triumphed.

His mouth was a large "O" as he stared in confusion.

It seemed fine, but something felt off!

"Gao Peng is the strongest trainer I've come across! Aside from the Skeletal Tyrant, he has six other Lord-tier familiars. He told me that I could come and challenge him any time I wanted. I'm going to do it! I'm going to get all seven certificates from him!" Abigail's eyes brimmed with competitive fire.

The golden-haired blonde's jaw dropped.

"By the way, Claw, do you have any change on you? Can you lend me some?" Abigail tapped his brother on the shoulder.

...

"Master Gao, there's a situation. I found out that these men are from the Golden Hands," Zheng Tie reported.

Hand of White Gold...

It looked like they were old acquaintances after all. He should have taken care of them when he had the chance.

He really wanted to just let it all go, but it seemed like his foes didn't feel the same way.

"Got it. Take care of these men here and make sure not to leave any loose ends. When you're done, take a few men with you and follow me to Peach Bay."

Peach Bay was a buzz of activity, what with the military setting up a compound and all. They had to set up trenches, bunkers, barricades, and more.

"The moment those creatures from the water come ashore, they'll be closest to this area. Even though this area is very shallow, and it'll be very easy for them to come onto land, it's surrounded by impenetrable cliffs. We don't need to build anything else because that's our best line of defense."

As they watched the construction take place in front of them, the other trainers were familiarizing their familiars with the terrain.

This was a war for Yang Cheng, a war between men and beasts. Since it was going to be war, picking the right location was paramount.

Fighting the marine creatures in the sea would be the pinnacle of foolishness. Fighting them on land would be a different story entirely.

"The question is, will they take the bait? Will they actually fight us on land?" a man in a black jacket asked loudly.

Behind the man prowled an enormous Crimson Saber-toothed Tiger. The tiger's tail and ears were like wisps of scarlet flames. The jet-black markings on its forehead and the razor-sharp ridges on its back struck fear into anyone foolish enough to cross it. It was licking its chops in anticipation of what would be a bloody conflict.