Monster Pet Evolution

"White Dragon? White Dragon?" shouted Gao Peng from the edge of the lake.

"About what the Silver Dragon Prince said to you... Is it really your son?" asked Gao Peng. "That can't be right, haha. I mean, you're still so young…"

From the surface of the water rose a dragon claw that gave Gao Peng the middle finger.

When night fell, his grandfather came back. He had also brought Uncle Liu with him.

"You've grown so thin since we last saw each other," said Uncle Liu when he saw Da Zi entering the place. "Remember what a chubby little thing you were when you were still under my care?"

"I still think Da Zi looks better with a bit more weight around its waist," he continued while smiling.

Gao Peng stroked Da Zi's head. "Uncle Liu's saying you look better when you're fat."

Clack, clack, clack. Da Zi excitedly clicked its mandibles together. Seriously? Seriously?!

"So did anything happen in Yuzhou while I was away?" asked Gao Peng.

Ji Hanwu and Uncle Liu looked at each other. "Not much. It's no problem we can't handle. However, one slight misstep could cause a lot of trouble. What's troubling us now is a spatial rift that has appeared in Yuzhou. It's located right in the middle of the city. We would have preferred it to be located on the outskirts of the city," said Ji Hanwu, frowning.

A spatial rift?!

Gao Peng was stunned. Even though he had heard about spatial rifts, he was surprised to hear that an actual spatial rift had appeared in the middle of Yuzhou City.

"Is it a permanent spatial rift?" asked Gao Peng.

Only a permanent spatial rift would have made them this concerned.

A temporary spatial rift would only be able to exist for a limited period of time, be it a few days or a whole month. It would naturally disappear after a while. This made it a lot less valuable than its permanent counterpart, considering the latter could exist indefinitely as a portal to another world with resources that were just waiting to be exploited on the other side of the rift.

"There's a high chance it's a permanent spatial rift," said his grandfather, nodding. "However, there's good news and bad news about this. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Let's hear the bad news."

"The spatial rift's not stable. It can't withstand the strain of transporting Lord-tier monsters over to the other side. For now, the White Dragon and your Stripey wouldn't be able to go to the other side of the spatial rift."

Gao Peng frowned. "For now?"

Ji Hanwu thought for a moment, then said, "According to the results we've obtained from our experiments on existing permanent spatial rifts, a spatial rift like this tends to experience exponential growth during the early stages of its formation. Its stability and monster tier threshold will most likely increase each year."

"So what's the good news?" asked Gao Peng. He was a bit let down to hear that Stripey wouldn't be able to go through the spatial rift.

"We're already working with the Yuzhou government to begin exploiting the spatial rift."

It took Gao Peng only a few seconds to grasp the reason behind this collaboration.

The relationship between the base city and the Allied Government wasn't exactly a hierarchical one. Even if the Allied Government had sent someone to become the next mayor of the Yuzhou base city, there was no guarantee that the newly appointed mayor would be able to safely arrive at Yuzhou.

The road to the base city was treacherous. Monsters roamed the mountains and forests around it. A death or two on the road wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

This wasn't just the Yuzhou base city. Every base city around the globe was slowly but surely claiming sovereignty over their own land. The Allied Government no longer had the authority it once had over the base cities.

"Do the people know about this?" asked Gao Peng. He was a bit worried. To him, a spatial rift was a source of joy and wonder. However, to the common folk, it was a well of nightmares...

"They're still being kept in the dark. The area around the spatial rift has been put under lockdown. The official story is that there was an outbreak of a new strain of virus in the Baiye District."

"How was the spatial rift discovered? Are you sure no one knows about it?"

If word of this got out, both the Yuzhou government and the Southern Sky Group would be put under a lot of pressure.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. The spatial rift was discovered in an area of unfinished buildings. Before its discovery, a few cases of assault had been reported in the area. At first, the authorities thought that a few familiars or monsters were running amuck. When nothing turned up in their investigations, they set up a couple of surveillance cameras in the buildings. In doing so, they accidentally captured images of the spatial rift's first appearance. It was fleeting at first, which was why the people in the police department couldn't find anything."

Uncle Liu stroked his chin. "Brother Lee, something's been bugging me for a while now, something I haven't had the opportunity to tell you until now. Do you think... there's a connection between the spatial rift we have in Yuzhou and the one that appeared in Africa half a year ago? They're both characterized by the same black fog."

Ji Hanwu had never been to Africa. He had no idea if the black fog in Africa had anything to do with the one in Yuzhou. Somehow, his mind associated all this talk about Africa with the Golden Hands and how they had tried to assassinate his grandson...

His expression darkened.

He then said to Gao Peng, "Before I forget, Gao Peng, about the abnormality in that place you told me, the Southern Sky Group has already dispatched a couple of teams to take a look at it. However, none of them found anything."

"Do you mean Changping village?"

"Yeah, one would need a Lord-tier monster to see what was going on there. No Commander-tier familiars would be able to get close to that place. Don't worry, I've already sent Xu Heti and Lin Xinrui in with their teams. They should be fine, especially with the sharp senses of Xu Heti's kangaroo. If anyone can bring back whatever's causing the abnormality there, it's those two."

"And what if those two pipsqueaks fail?" asked Uncle Liu. His advanced age gave him every right to call the two grown men "pipsqueaks."

"Then I'll go there myself," said Ji Hanwu resolutely.

...

At Gao Ping base city, a group of people was leaving the city through the northern exit and heading northwest.

There were three people in the party, all in black combat gear. Even their faces were hidden behind helmets.

Five familiars followed close beside them: a Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo, a Crystal Peacock Mantis Shrimp, a huge black ball of fur, what appeared to be a bundle of tentacles, and finally, a Golden-Striped Wise Deer at the back of the party.

A huge blue bird that was bigger than a bus circled above them in the sky. Its wingspan reached approximately 32 feet. Its beak was white and looked disproportionate in comparison to the rest of its body.

Xu Heti, Lin Xinrui, and an unnamed high-level combat officer were the members of this party.

"Six miles until we reach Changping village. Stay alert now. According to the information gathered by the previous two groups, there's a high concentration of Ghoul-type monsters in the region. Let's rub some Ghoul powder on ourselves first. It'll help hide our presence." While saying this, Lin Xinrui took an urn that was plugged with a red cloth out of her backpack.