BXBX NOVEL Chapter 68 - 68: Are you Xu Ran?! _1
“No… Nothing.” Xu Ran shook his head, suppressing the odd feelings welling up inside him.
Ziyun, tucked in his arms, had buried her face in the crook of his elbow, trying her hardest to keep her emotions under control lest Hu Zhong caught wind of her panic.
“Don’t be afraid.” That misunderstanding made Hu Zhong believe that Xu Ran was feeling worried about the competition. He reassured him, “There’s a saying —you can’t catch two hares with only one hand. We’re all Transcendent Stage pet beasts, and no matter how strong that conman is, he can’t possibly beat all of us.”
“Once we eliminate all four of them, we can rest easy and go about eliminating other teams.” Hu Zhong patted his chest, “Although only four spots are available for advancement, other participants will also receive rewards. The later they are eliminated, the better the reward.”
“If you follow me, Brother Hu, I assure you’ll get a great reward!”
“Thank you for that.” Xu Ran managed to keep his odd feelings under wraps, revealing a warm smile, “It’s wonderful to have you here.”
If it weren’t for this fellow right in front of him, he would have been completely unaware of just how targeted the four of them had become by the other participants.
It was absolutely absurd.
“Ha, it’s nothing!” Hu Zhong laughed, looking around confidently, “I see that the other participants are almost ready. The rematch will begin soon.”
“Once all the pet beasts enter the competition area, they have five minutes to disperse freely. Once the time is up, the battle-royal will begin.”
Xu Ran lifted his head and looked around, indeed seeing more participants trickling in.
Apart from himself, he spotted three other participants who had scored a thousand points.
The team of Su Xiaoxiao and Duan Anxun stood next to Gu Ling, apparently Lin Yue hadn’t made it to the next round.
The sight of Xu Ran’s attention directed toward them led the three girls to glance back and acknowledge him with a nod.
As for Lyu Guang and Xu Jiujiu, they stood alone.
Their well-known identities meant that everyone knew who they were, making it less likely for others to team up with them. It seemed that the two of them had no intentions of fighting together either.
The rest of the participants stood in groups of three to five, clearly indicating their team formation.
Without any further delays, the host walked briskly over with several staff members responsible for maintaining discipline.
“Participants, apologies for the wait!” The host’s face was bright with a friendly smile. “The rematch will begin shortly. We will now roll-call to ensure that all participants are present. Once that’s complete, everyone’s pet beasts will enter the competition area.”
“After entering the competition area, pet beasts will have five minutes to disperse across the competition field. After five minutes, the competition will formally commence.”
“Now, let’s begin the roll call!” The host abruptly pulled out his list of participants. “Pei Jin!”
“Present!” One of the participants promptly raised his hand to signal his attendance.
“Guan Ting!”
“Present!”
II II
As each participant was called, the others began associating names with faces.
“Right, I think I forgot to askyou…what are you doing?” It suddenly occurred to Hu Zhong that he didn’t even know the name of his new partner. He turned to ask, then was instantly baffled by what he saw Xu Ran doing.
“Dressing my pet beast. I don’t want it to get cold.” Xu Ran leisurely took out a suitably sized cat outfit from his bag and started dressing Ziyun.
The cat outfit bore clear letters that read, “Starfire Foster Care Shop.”
“Meow-”
Ziyun squirmed a bit, unfamiliar with the feeling of wearing clothes.
However, if it meant attracting more customers to the Foster Care Shop, it was more than willing to bear the discomfort of wearing clothes as a form of advertisement!
“You…” Hu Zhong’s eyes grew wider and wider.
He had a feeling that he had heard about this somewhere before.
“Xu Ran!”
The host’s roll call had just reached Xu Ran’s name.
Thus, Hu Zhong watched in disbelief as his new partner calmly raised his hand. “Present!”
“You!!!”
Hu Zhong’s eyes bulged out. He recoiled a step back in shock, staring at his new team member as if he were looking at a ghost. “You’re Xu Ran? That conman?!”
“That was all a misunderstanding!” Xu Ran declared righteously, waving his hand. “I run my business fair and square. How can you call me a conman? That’s just too much.”
“It’s really you!”
After Xu Ran’s admission, Hu Zhong gasped in surprise.
Recalling how he’d pledged earlier to take down Xu Ran in alliance with Xu
Ran, he had the distinct sensation of wanting to die on the spot from embarrassment.
“So…are we still teaming up?” Xu Ran asked with a teasing grin.
“…We are!” After only a moment’s hesitation, Hu Zhong gritted his teeth and agreed.
He could already imagine the severe situation he’d face being part of Xu Ran’s team, as the other participants closed in on them for an attack.
However, at this point, the other participants had already finalized their teams. If he didn’t team up with Xu Ran, he’d have to fight solo, which would result in his elimination early on anyway.
Since things have come to this, he might as well give it a shot.
“A wise choice.” Xu Ran patted Hu Zhong’s shoulder, reciting an advertising slogan almost reflexively. “Just like choosing Starfire Foster Care Shop.”
Hu Zhong:”…”
This guy even started advertising to his own teammate?
“By the way…Brother Xu, what should we do in the competition?” Hu Zhong cleared his throat discreetly, naturally taking up the position of the little brother in the team.
“Well…” Xu Ran pondered for a moment before nodding slightly, “Your titano monkey can absorb most of the attacks, while my pet beast will focus on offense.”
“We’ll take them down like water dousing fire!”
Although he’d jokingly told Ziyun earlier that the other pet beasts couldn’t catch up with her, Xu Ran never intended to rely on evasive maneuvering in this competition from the start.
The star of today’s promotional campaign wasn’t him, it was Ziyun.
To have more chances to be on camera, she needed to learn how to steal the spotlight.
How to steal the spotlight? Of course, through sheer strength!
Since the other participants had done so much preparation in order to take them down, they certainly couldn’t complain if he wasn’t gentle.
With his assertive words, Hu Zhong’s spirit was immediately invigorated.
“Okay!” Hu Zhong shouted affirmatively, “We’ll join hands and wipe them all out!”
As they whispered to each other, the roll call came to an end.
All participants had arrived.
“Now, you can send your pet beasts into the competition area.” The host held up a device that looked like opaque swimming goggles. “This is an Association Contract Resonance Amplifier. It can amplify the connection between the Beast Master and the pet beast.”
“With its help, Beast Masters can not only communicate with their pet beasts at any time, but also obtain their pet beasts’ field-of-view and some perception, achieving the effect of remote command.”
“Once they wear it, you can direct your pet beasts in battle without having to see them.”
“After the pet beasts enter the arena, the participants should come up on stage in an orderly manner to receive their Contract Resonance Amplifiers!”
“Good luck!” Xu Ran stroked Ziyun’s head gently, encouraging her quietly.
“Meow-” (Watch me shine!)
Realizing that it finally had a chance to show off its Electric Pursue, Ziyun was quite excited. She lightly jumped from Xu Ran’s arms to the ground, gave a glance to the titano monkey, then let out a light call to get it to keep up with her pace.
Although much larger than Ziyun, the titano monkey was obviously on its best behavior, sensing a powerful aura from Ziyun. It followed Ziyun obediently like a sidekick, walking into the competition area with her..