Blue and Beika
That little golden beast was naturally Blue, who had followed Beika.
Beika's first reaction upon seeing Blue was surprise, but as soon as he asked the question, he realized something was wrong. Initially, he habitually categorized small beasts like Blue and Tagore as ornamental pets. However, judging from the energy fluctuations around Blue's body, that was entirely different.
"This energy fluctuation is at least at the level of Middle Sequence True God..." Beika thought to herself. "It must be that Senior Sister revealed my love for pet beasts in order to help them. They sent this little beast here probably to take advantage of my weakness and make it impossible for me to refuse. It's even very likely that this idea was given to them by Senior Sister."
Thinking of all this, Beika shifted her gaze away from Blue, pretending not to care, and chose a direction to leave.
Blue had accepted the mission and naturally wouldn't let it go easily. Over the past three years, he and Scarlet had dealt with all sorts of different people. Through long-term observation, he had gained a certain understanding of human behavior and psychology. He could tell that Beika hadn't ignored him, but rather deliberately chosen to avoid him.
"Deliberately avoiding me...do you think that will work?" Blue twitched his beard and leaped after him again.
Beika walked around two intersections and saw another pet shop not far away. Just as she was about to go over and take a look, she found Blue standing in front of the shop, staring blankly at another pet in the window.
Beika examined the pet closely; it was a Scarlet Flame Rat. Scarlet Flame Rat are ornamental pets. Their fur is a gradient of red, and when the wind blows, it shimmers like flames. It also has a fluffy tail, about one and a half times the length of its body, making it very attractive.
These pets are highly intelligent, comparable to a seven or eight-year-old human child, and they generally cultivate to the God-rank, serving as personal guardian beasts. Therefore, they are extremely expensive, requiring tens of thousands of source stones, which, when converted into Universe Crystal in the human Universe Sea, would amount to hundreds of millions.
Moreover, not only are they expensive to buy, but they're also expensive to keep. These Scarlet Flame Rat only eat ores rich in fire attributes. The higher the quality of the ores they are fed, and the more they are fed, the better their fur will look, and the stronger they will be in combat. However, high-quality ores are not cheap; some even cost more than the purchase price of the Scarlet Flame Rat themselves.
Even so, these pets continue to sell extremely well. They're generally bought by very wealthy women. Often, groups of women who know each other go together to buy one, each taking one home to raise. They then meet up occasionally each month to compare the fur colors of their pets, chat about what minerals they feed them, and what intelligent things their pets have done. Some even perform mathematical calculations or draw on the spot.
"Could it be that this little thing didn't come out to spy on me, but instead sneaked out to find its little sweetheart? Oh right, I saw it at the pet store entrance just now, and now it's here again, and it doesn't even glance at me." Beika found it somewhat amusing, seeing Blue as he stared at the Crimson Flame Scarlet Flame Rat in the shop window.
He had no idea that Blue was thinking at that moment was, "Such rich mineral energy, that red guy looks delicious..."
After making the wrong judgment, Beika walked towards Blue.
Noticing someone approaching, Blue glanced back and discovered that Beika, whom he had been following, was actually moving closer to him. Without a word, he turned back and continued observing the seemingly delicious "prey." This tactic of playing hard to get was taught to him by Scarlet's friend; however, what Scarlet had taught Blue was how to woo a female mouse.
But Beika seemed to fall for it. The more Blue ignored him, the more Becca believed that her previous guess was correct—this little guy was indeed out meeting his lover, and it seemed like a coincidence that she ran into him.
"As a pet beast, you have pretty good taste. That Scarlet Flame Rat is indeed very beautiful. It's practically the store's prized possession, and it could easily fetch over 30,000 source stones." Beika stood a short distance away from Blue, arms crossed, looking at the shop window and striking up a conversation.
Blue glanced at Beika, then turned back to look at the "food." He didn't speak, because he knew that people often revealed more about their feelings to pets that couldn't speak.
"Judging from its fur, the shop owner treats this Scarlet Flame Rat quite well. Although it doesn't eat anything high-end ore, it's probably not some scrap or waste material either," Beika continued to comment, clearly quite knowledgeable about pets.
"It's just food, what does its fur color matter?" Blue thought to himself, puzzled. He didn't understand why Beika was bringing up this topic. But he knew he had to do something to get Beika to talk more. So he turned to look at Beika and squeaked twice. He himself didn't know what those sounds meant.
But as a human Beika saw Blue barking at her and had a guess. "You want me to buy it for you? That won't do. You're not my pet. If I buy it and your owner doesn't agree to keep this Scarlet Flame Rat, it will be abandoned."
"Squeak..." Blue made two more meaningless squeaking sounds, but what he was thinking was, "Weren't we going to buy it to eat? Why are we raising it? Are we going to fatten it up before eating it?"
Beika, guessing something from Blue's cries, continued, "You, a pet that's been fattened up by humans, wouldn't know how pitiful abandoned insect beasts are. They have to learn to forage for themselves, and they must be vigilant at all times to prevent attacks from other wild pets, and they might even be hunted by humans. If you really want to buy one, I can take you back and talk to your owner for you, and have them buy it for you."
"Squeak..." Blue squeaked twice more, but a thought began to creep into his mind, "As long as I make this sound, similar to other rodents, this guy seems to keep talking. So, if I keep calling out, he should tell me more, and we'll gradually become familiar with each other..."
Poor Beika was unaware that he had been tricked by a rodent. Hearing Blue's calls, he assumed Blue was trying to talk to him and made his own guesses. "I know," Blue said, "You mean I should buy it first and then go back to your owner to pay. But what if I buy it and your owner doesn't agree to keep it? Am I supposed to keep it myself? That won't do. I want a powerful, fighting pet. This kind of ornamental pet isn't my type."
"Squeak..." Blue continued to squeak, finding it amusing to tease the creature in front of him, which seemed to be constantly trying to decipher the meaning of his cries. In reality, however, he was merely imitating the sounds made by other rodents.
"You mean, give it to my senior sister to raise? She'll definitely love it, but it's so expensive to keep. The amount of minerals it eats every day is probably more than my and my senior sister's combined daily expenses. You know, humans are different from you. We need to spend money on many things, like staying in hotels, eating, and buying things... But you pets, you just need to be cute and you get everything. Now that I think about it, fate is really a bit unfair. Why do we humans have to live such a tiring life..."
"Squeak..."
"Okay, you're probably calling me a penniless wretch, unable to even afford a pet beast. Well, let me tell you the truth: right now, forget 30,000 source stones, I can't even afford 300. A few days ago, my fellow disciples and I were on the same spaceship when, for some reason, the wormhole tremor caused the ship to be destroyed. Senior Sister Diliya and I were lucky; we were thrown into this Reverse Current Space. However, our storage equipment malfunctioned during the wormhole tremor, and we can't even retrieve a single piece of clothing. It took us several days to find this inhabited planet. We planned to stay here temporarily, save some money, and then search for our other fellow disciples. But, based on my guess, the other disciples are probably all dead. I personally witnessed several of my fellow disciples behind me turn to dust in the wormhole tremor..."
Seeing the sadness on Beika's face, Blue remembered something someone had said, "Humans are actually quite simple. When someone confides in you, they definitely consider you a friend, at least for that moment. So, when you're alone with a beautiful woman and she's talking about something particularly sad, you don't need to say anything. Just pull her into your arms. If you can learn even a trick or two from me, you should be able to pick up quite a few female mice."
"Why soak it? Does it taste better after soaking? It must be! Humans really know how complicated food processing is. Now I finally understand why Tagore always hung out with Bigge. He was so wise. I must become good friends with the chef in the future." This was Blue's thought at the time.
But these words did have some effect. Blue leaped onto Beika's shoulder, reaching out his paw to give him a hug, when he suddenly remembered, "Wait, this guy seems to be male. Will this method work?"
Just as he was stunned, Beika turned her head and looked at him. He only saw Blue on his shoulder, waving his two little paws.
"Are you telling me not to be sad? You're such a sweet little thing. It seems your master has really raised you very well." Beika's eyes were a little moist as she reached out and patted Blue's head.
Beika clearly knew how to pet small animals, Blue felt very comfortable being petted.
After removing her hand, Beika was about to say something when she saw Blue pointing his two little paws at her chin, his two big blue eyes blinking.
He immediately laughed, extending two fingers to gently stroke the fur on Blue's chin. "You know how to enjoy yourself."
After scratching his chin, Blue pointed his two little paws at his back, and Beika continued to massage him.
"You're quite cute. A pet's temperament is usually closely related to its owner's temperament. It's clear that your owner is a pretty good person." Beika continued chatting with Blue.
"Actually, my refusal to help them rescue people wasn't because I was targeting them. My senior sister is kind-hearted, but she's very perceptive. The fact that she can get along with your master shows they aren't bad people. I refused to help because..." (To be continued~^~)