8: Chapter 8 The Past of the Flameclaw Beast

The Flame Claw Beast lay there quietly, its two front paws crossed under its chin, its orange-yellow pointed head tilted slightly, staring out the window without blinking.

The city's neon lights flowed through the glass, casting shifting, flickering colors across its smooth skin.

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"What are you looking at?"

Lin Chen walked quietly to the Flame Claw Beast's side and followed its gaze outside.

The city was like a sleeping behemoth made of rivers of light and peaks of steel. On a crane of an unfinished skyscraper in the distance, a red warning light pulsed rhythmically like a lonely star.

"Gagu."

The Flame Claw Beast turned its head to look back, its cry crisp.

It felt that this place was more beautiful than its previous home.

Lin Chen, who possessed the Telepathy skill, accurately understood the Flame Claw Beast's meaning and was momentarily stunned.

Its previous home?

He suddenly realized that, having been busy all day, he hadn't had the chance to ask about the Flame Claw Beast's past experiences.

This was definitely a dereliction of duty on his part.

He sat down on the floor, leaning against the cool wall, maintaining eye level with the Flame Claw Beast.

"Flame Claw Beast," he chose his words carefully, "can you tell me about your past?"

"Why did you come here?"

Hearing Lin Chen's question, the Flame Claw Beast lowered its head and fell into a deep silence.

Seeing this, Lin Chen pulled out the picture of WarGreymon from earlier and moved it forward so the Flame Claw Beast could clearly see WarGreymon's majestic and domineering appearance.

The Flame Claw Beast's eyes widened instantly, its gaze burning and its breathing becoming rapid.

Lin Chen crossed his arms and spoke naturally: "Tell me about it. I want to know why you are so desperate to become stronger."

The Flame Claw Beast was no longer silent. It turned to face Lin Chen, and with a low cry, its story officially began.

It turned out that it had lived in a wild mountain range in the south with its tribe since it was young. Its father was the leader of the Flame Claw Beast tribe, which meant it had a noble status.

Wild pets have their own laws of survival. To resist external risks and reduce the pressure of survival, the Flame Claw Beast tribe formed an alliance with the Red-Tailed Foxes living nearby.

As the offspring of the Flame Claw Beast leader, its task was very simple: to be with the offspring of the Red-Tailed Fox leader.

In other words, this was an arranged marriage in the pet world.

The two pet tribes established a closer and more stable alliance through marriage to survive in the perilous wilderness.

The Flame Claw Beast did not resist, nor did it have the power to resist.

Until one day, a human ventured deep into this area. He contracted and took away the exceptionally talented Red-Tailed Fox offspring.

Before leaving, this Beast Tamer also found the Flame Claw Beast and told it that the marriage was over. As compensation, the Beast Tamer left behind some training resources.

"Gagu gagu!"

The Flame Claw Beast's eyes turned red, and it waved its claws, fuming with rage.

This wasn't compensation!

This was an insult!

A blatant insult!

Lin Chen was momentarily silent.

This seemed like a very classic broken engagement trope. The act of the other party giving compensation was seen as extremely insulting by the person involved.

He didn't expect such a thing to happen in the pet world as well.

"So you long to become stronger?" Lin Chen asked.

"Gagu!"

The Flame Claw Beast nodded heavily, its expression filled with indignation.

It wanted to become stronger, to stand before that Beast Tamer and the Red-Tailed Fox offspring, and prove to them that breaking the engagement was the most, most, most wrong decision!

Thirty years East, thirty years West, do not look down on a beast for being poor!

Lin Chen pursed his lips and didn't offer a judgment easily. He just smiled and said, "Don't worry, you will become strong."

"We will do it together."

And to become stronger, the Flame Claw Beast chose to leave its tribe and its comfortable, stable environment.

It didn't want to be a pet in a greenhouse; it wanted to become stronger as quickly as possible through battle.

But just after leaving the tribe and reaching the edge of human civilization, while it hadn't fully left its cub stage, it encountered a powerful pet. After a brief, fierce battle, it was injured and fell into a coma.

When it woke up again, it was in a Nursery, receiving treatment and waiting for a human contract.

Speaking of this, the Flame Claw Beast lowered its head, its gaze wandering.

Lin Chen couldn't help but laugh.

Such a bumpy road to becoming strong.

But with the broken engagement plus leaving home to get stronger, and having a name related to fire... this plot felt a bit familiar.

Because it was habitually brawling in the previous Nursery, the Flame Claw Beast was sent to Qinglan City recently. Only then did Lin Chen and the Flame Claw Beast have the chance to meet.

The human and the pet engaged in a deep conversation on this topic. After a while, the Flame Claw Beast became immersed in observing the night view outside the window again.

Only, that figure seemed to shrink a bit in the dim light, revealing a sense of loneliness from suddenly leaving a familiar home and being in a strange environment.

Lin Chen's heart stirred, and he was about to say something to comfort it.

After all, this child had left home at such a young age.

But before he could speak, the Flame Claw Beast suddenly turned back. That slight gloominess from just now vanished without a trace, like mist blown away by the wind.

Its eyes became bright, as if filled with all the neon colors from outside the window, and its small claws waved excitedly.

"Gagu!"

But it's very interesting here!

The Flame Claw Beast drew out its tone, its smile widening to reveal its tiny pointed teeth:

"Gagu gagu gagu!"

There are many delicious things here, and skewers are the most, most, most delicious!

The comforting words at the tip of Lin Chen's tongue got stuck in his throat.

Looking at the Flame Claw Beast's excited, dancing appearance, he suddenly felt that his bit of worry was somewhat redundant.

This child wasn't as unapproachable as it first seemed; its ability to adjust its mindset was very strong.

It was full of vigilance when leaving the Nursery, but after just half a day, it had already regained its lively nature.

He suddenly remembered the scene of the Flame Claw Beast bullying the Flame-Fire Dog: "By the way, why did you bully the pets in the Nursery?"

He originally wanted to say "bully," but he changed the word as it reached his lips.

"Gagu?"

The Flame Claw Beast blinked, looking bewildered.

It didn't bully other pets.

Lin Chen changed to a simpler explanation: "Then why did you beat it up so badly?"

"Gagu?"

The Flame Claw Beast's expression became even more confused as it scratched its head with a small claw: "Gagu~"

I just wanted to make friends with them and gain experience to become stronger through battles.

"Make friends?"

Lin Chen was stunned, suddenly remembering the Flame-Fire Dog being pinned down by the Flame Claw Beast and hiding timidly behind the receptionist: "Are you sure that's the way to make friends?"

"Gagu!"

The Flame Claw Beast looked completely righteous.

In the wild, in the place where it grew up, if you wanted to make friends with other pets, you had to have a fight.

Pets that are too weak cannot make friends.

"Hmm?"

Before it could finish, the Flame Claw Beast looked up blankly—Lin Chen was pressing his hand on its head, a gentle smile on his face:

"But this isn't the wild."

"Here, you only strike hard against enemies."

"And if you want to make friends, you only need to do this." As he spoke, Lin Chen looked at the Flame Claw Beast and extended his right fist.

"Gagu?"

The Flame Claw Beast's gaze was puzzled, but it subconsciously extended its claw and bumped his fist.

Under the moonlight, the human and pet bumped fists.

"Now, I am your first friend here."

"Gagu!"

"By the way, Flame Claw Beast, I'll call you Er Huo from now on."

"Gagu?"

"Because there was a predecessor of yours who also had his engagement broken, but in the end, he successfully washed away the humiliation through his own efforts and even became a powerhouse admired by thousands."

"His name had two 'fire' characters in it."

"You must learn from him, become like him, until you surpass him."

"This name represents my expectations for you."

"Gagu!!!"