13: Chapter 13 The Bet Before Development

He returned to the workstation.

He set the Fire Crow aside.

The flames on the Fire Crow had already subsided, leaving behind feathers that were pitch-black, withered, and lusterless. Its head drooped listlessly, and a faint charred smell drifted from its broken wing.

Li Yu checked the Fire Crow's attributes.

[Beast Name]: Fire Crow

[Beast Quality]: Excellent (F)

[Beast Level]: Bronze Level 5

[Beast Attribute]: Fire

[Beast Talent]: Fireball, Flying Feathers

[Beast Introduction]: A crow commonly found in volcanic regions. It was originally a darling of the flames, but due to its crippled wing, it can no longer endure the baptism of fire.

Its quality was only F-rank, which was a bit poor, but that was due to the influence of its broken wing; its inherent foundation should still be decent.

Li Yu slightly curled his fingers as if playing a piano. Wisps of green fluorescent light sprinkled from between his fingers, landing on the Fire Crow. At the same time, a flash of fiery red light, shielded by his hands, merged into the Fire Crow's body.

The crowd watched curiously, but because of his hands blocking the view, no one saw Li Yu's subtle movements.

Supervisor Chen suddenly asked, "Supervisor Song, why is your Breeder's Spirit Probing Hand so low-level? Is the stuff they teach at technical school really that subpar?"

"Stop spouting nonsense!" Supervisor Song retorted rudely.

"Don't be so anxious, I'm not wrong. When the company recruits Interns, the Spirit Probing Hand is a mandatory test. It concerns how well a Breeder understands their beast."

Supervisor Chen looked earnest, but his eyes revealed a hint of cunning as he said, "After all, if a Breeder doesn't have enough understanding of the beast, it's very easy to make mistakes. Mistakes are one thing, but if something goes wrong during evolution and the beast dies, that would be troublesome."

His words seemed unintentional but were filled with implications, spoken at a volume just right for everyone around to hear clearly.

Instantly.

The expressions of the crowd changed.

The two team members who had given up on the breeding process wore expressions of relief, thinking to themselves: Thank goodness it's not my beast being bred.

The captain kept a straight face, revealing little information, though his brow furrowed a bit tighter.

Yang Juan clasped her hands tightly together, her lips turning pale from nervousness.

Song Jiang glared at Supervisor Chen, anxious to the point of scratching his ears and cheeks.

If they weren't at Bright Moon Company, he would definitely summon his beast and give this foul-mouthed guy a few good swipes.

Supervisor Song sensed the wrong atmosphere, glared at Supervisor Chen, and gritted his teeth. "It's not your place to worry. Since I let him breed it, I have confidence in him. Stop trying to poison my client's mind!"

"Supervisor Song really has confidence in him?"

"Of course!"

"Heh heh… it's good that you have confidence."

Supervisor Chen smiled indifferently.

Supervisor Song stared at him for a long while, confirming that he had no intention of speaking again, before letting it go, though a shadow quietly cast itself over his heart.

Others thought this guy surnamed Chen was just passing by by accident to watch the fun.

But he knew clearly that things were definitely not that simple.

One had to know that although both were Supervisors and not in the same hall, they were competitors, but usually they had many reservations and wouldn't make such a big scene.

Like today, uninvited, with every sentence implying something, attempting to sabotage this breeding operation—this had never happened before.

Although he could exercise his authority to ask Supervisor Chen to leave the breeding room he was in charge of, he also knew this guy was just an advance scout.

If he drove him away, the next person to come would probably be someone he couldn't afford to provoke.

"I didn't expect the chain reaction caused by firing Liu Quan to come so quickly. The breeding session has only just begun, and trouble has already come knocking."

Supervisor Song pondered, looking at Li Yu who had finished testing, filled out the list, and was waiting for the materials. He longed immensely for another top-tier breeding result.

A newcomer, top-tier breeding, twice.

In this way, Special Assistant Yang would definitely re-evaluate Li Yu's value, and by then, even if some people wanted to deal with Li Yu, they wouldn't dare to be so blatant.

Thinking of this, Supervisor Song felt a bitter sensation in his heart.

Another top-tier breeding result?

What was he thinking?

The entire Ningyang City only produced one s-rank new species breeding every 3 years; this stuff wasn't some roadside cabbage that you could just find whenever you wanted.

Forget it, let's take it one step at a time.

Even though Supervisor Song was on Li Yu's side, he didn't think Li Yu had the ability to make this breeding session go very well. If he could just complete the breeding smoothly, he would thank the heavens!

...

In a few minutes, with a clattering sound, the materials Li Yu had requested were spat out from an opening in the workstation and landed in a basket.

"Little guy, lie down properly. Don't move around, don't breathe fire. I'll make you better in a moment."

Li Yu soothed the Fire Crow's emotions and took a fingernail-sized green berry from the basket, feeding it to the Fire Crow.

The Fire Crow gulped it down and let out a croak, which translated to two words: "Thank you."

Li Yu smiled and turned to process the materials.

Time ticked by second by second.

Half an hour later.

As all the materials were processed, Li Yu held a needle and a vial of red potion in his hands.

Everyone perked up.

It's here!

Evolution potion!

Among all breeding methods, potion evolution is the most common and stable. After ingestion, using a laser to stimulate evolution can trigger the effect.

The energy conversion rate is high, and it's efficient.

When Li Yu approached with the Fire Crow, the potion, and the needle, the crowd cleared a path to the incubation pod. But just as Li Yu was about to enter, a figure flashed over and blocked his way.

"Hold on," Supervisor Chen said with a grin.

"Something up?" Li Yu asked.

Supervisor Song also hurried over, scolding, "You surnamed Chen, what exactly are you trying to do!"

"Nothing much, I just want to have a wager with you. I wonder if you dare?" Supervisor Chen looked at Supervisor Song, still wearing that grinning, yet somewhat sleazy expression.

"What kind of wager?"

Supervisor Song understood in his heart that this wasn't Supervisor Chen's idea, but the idea of those people above.

"Since this Intern is so confident in this breeding session, we might as well raise the stakes."

"Go on!"

Supervisor Chen said, "Breeding boils down to two outcomes: success or failure. If he fails the breeding, you, Supervisor Song, must apologize to me in front of everyone at the next monthly report, admitting that your skills are inferior to mine. At the same time… this guy named Li Yu will belong to our department."

As soon as these words were spoken, Supervisor Song's face darkened instantly, his eyes filled with anger and apprehension.

He had no doubt that the so-called apology at the monthly report was just a requirement the guy surnamed Chen had added on the fly; the latter part was the real point!

Once Li Yu went to their department, the Starlight Wolf King breeding route would become their department's achievement.

Most importantly, once the person fell into their hands, who knew how many traps and troubles awaited this innocent kid.

He knew their methods all too well.

Supervisor Song swallowed hard, lowering his voice and his rage. "You bastard, don't even think about it! You can't be unaware that this person is registered in front of Special Assistant Yang; you can't afford to provoke her!"

Supervisor Chen said, "You can't put it that way. Special Assistant Yang only told you to report it if the breeding is successful; she didn't say you had to report it if the breeding failed. If he fails the breeding, it has nothing to do with Special Assistant Yang. Besides…"

As he spoke, he suddenly leaned in and whispered to Supervisor Song, "Old friend, who do you think they are actually targeting?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Supervisor Song's pupils constricted.

"You guys are crazy!"

"Heh heh… it has nothing to do with me, I'm just a messenger. Just tell me whether you agree or not."

"Impossible!"

"Old friend, you'd better think about yourself. I'm doing this for your own good. You have a family to support too; if you can't make it in Ningyang City, it would be too ugly."

Supervisor Song's face was grim, his eyes glaring fixedly at Supervisor Chen.

The tense, sword-drawn atmosphere made the laboratory seem to fall into a state of low pressure. Song Jiang and the other team members held their breath, looking at each other, none daring to make a sound.

Song Jiang glared angrily at Supervisor Chen, and the Starlight Wolf King let out a low growl.

At this moment, Li Yu spoke up.

"Then what if…" he asked, "I succeed in the breeding?"

The oppressive atmosphere suddenly disintegrated; everyone looked at Li Yu, surprised by his composure.

Supervisor Song, however, looked anxious and signaled Li Yu with his eyes, the meaning simple—don't agree!

But Li Yu turned a deaf ear, continuing to look at Supervisor Chen.

From the moment he entered the breeding room, this guy had kept jumping out to stir up trouble, exposing shortcomings, provoking, and poisoning the client's mind.

Before, Li Yu was busy processing materials and could only temporarily suppress it. Now that the breeding was about to start, he jumped out again to cause trouble at the last minute.

Since that was the case, Li Yu wouldn't be polite anymore.

How to put it?

He had already used the Flame evolution card; Li Yu really couldn't find a reason to refuse.