The Third One

The moment the thought arose, it became harder and harder to suppress.

Qiao Sang immediately took out her phone and searched for the lineup for the next Interstellar Cup match.

Passol versus Chen Mo.

Every Interstellar Cup match was held in a 6v6 format.

Ninety-nine percent of the Pet Tamers who could participate in the Interstellar Cup were S-rank Pet Tamers with seven Pet Beasts, so the lineups before each match were always unknown.

One of the seven Pet Beasts was bound to sit out.

This made things considerably harder for viewers who wanted to analyze the lineups and attributes before placing their bets.

Qiao Sang did not have that problem.

She searched for posters of Passol and Chen Mo with their respective Pet Beasts, then held them up in front of Fire Fang Dog.

"Who do you think is stronger and can win?"

Fire Fang Dog compared them seriously.

That morning, the Little Chubby Dove it had thought would win had lost. The big bird it had pointed to just now had lost too. It was rare for its Pet Tamer to still trust it enough to ask such a question.

This time, it definitely would not let down its Pet Tamer's trust. It would prove itself to her!

"Fang!"

After studying them for a long while, Fire Fang Dog pointed at the more heavily built Passol and barked.

Qiao Sang nodded, then logged into the Interstellar Betting Website and bet 1,000 Alliance Coins on Chen Mo.

July 2.

The screen above the arena was displaying the photos of the competitors assigned to the round of 64-to-32 matches in the Hundred New Tournament.

In the middle seats of Row 9 in Area C—

"It's rare to see you let Gold Splatter Vine out," Qiao Sang said in surprise.

She had run into Bai Yunmiao a few times.

Every time, Bai Yunmiao had been alone. Even after yesterday's match, she had immediately recalled Gold Splatter Vine.

"Didn't I get interviewed yesterday? When I went home and watched the video, my Little Gold saw it. It said I didn't bring it along, and today it insisted on coming out to be interviewed too," Bai Yunmiao said helplessly.

Qiao Sang glanced at Gold Splatter Vine.

The lone tendril on its head now had a pink bow tied around it. It really had come prepared for an interview...

"Enough about me. What's wrong with your Fire Fang Dog? Its face is completely blank. Don't tell me you made it angry?" Bai Yunmiao leaned closer and lowered her voice.

Fire-type Pet Beasts still had quite a reputation among rookie Pet Tamers.

Even though Fire Fang Dog had seemed obedient before, Bai Yunmiao still felt intimidated when it looked even slightly unhappy.

"No. It's because of what you said yesterday about its expression being funny," Qiao Sang explained. "After it went home and watched the recording of its match, it decided expression management was important. So it turned into a deadpan on the way here. It'll be fine once the match is over and we go home."

"Fang."

Fire Fang Dog nodded coolly.

"So cool!" Bai Yunmiao exclaimed.

Fire Fang Dog restrained the corners of its mouth from rising and lifted its head at a forty-five-degree angle.

Qiao Sang: "..."

After the first match began, Qiao Sang looked around and asked, "Why are there less than half as many people here today?"

"Did you watch Ya God's match yesterday?" Bai Yunmiao asked instead of answering directly.

"I only watched the last match," Qiao Sang said.

"Didn't Ya God lose? He made it into the top ten in the previous two Interstellar Cups, but this time he ranked outside the top ten. Most people probably couldn't accept it for the moment and weren't in the mood to come," Bai Yunmiao said.

Qiao Sang understood.

As Dragon Nation's only contestant from Blue Star, Lin Ya carried everyone's hopes. The pain of his loss had to be ten thousand times worse than the national soccer team failing to make it into the World Cup in her previous life.

Not to mention anything else—back then, people had not held much hope for the national soccer team, yet they were still heartbroken and frustrated whenever it lost.

But now, Dragon Nation had placed great hopes on Lin Ya.

"Guo Yiqi won his previous match with ease, but this match has put him in a difficult position," the middle-aged commentator said in a slightly hoarse yet utterly emotionless voice.

His spirits were worlds apart from yesterday.

In the stands, parents who had come to watch their children compete chatted among themselves.

"How much did you lose yesterday?"

"Twenty thousand. You?"

"One hundred thousand."

"And you still felt like coming to watch the matches today?"

"I'm not in a great state right now. I was afraid my wife would find out if I stayed home."

The man asking looked at his bloodshot eyes and nodded in understanding.

"Twenty thousand isn't a small amount either. Does your wife know?"

"Heh. She lost one hundred and fifty thousand herself and cried at home all night."

"..."

"Forget it. Which match is your kid in?"

"Son, which group are you in?" the bloodshot-eyed man turned and asked his child.

"Dad, I already finished competing and came back."

"..."

Today's atmosphere was somewhat gloomy.

Neither the audience nor the commentator had much enthusiasm, but Qiao Sang still recorded everything as usual.

Of the twenty-one Pet Tamers in her memo, only seventeen remained after yesterday's matches.

Qiao Sang deleted the eliminated contestants from her memo one by one. By the time it was nearly her turn, another contestant in her memo had been eliminated.

The Hundred New Tournament did not save contestants with Intermediate Pet Beasts for the end like seeded players.

Instead, it randomly shuffled the order and formed matchups, inevitably making two contestants with Intermediate Pet Beasts face each other early.

In the eleventh match, Qiao Sang took the field.

Her opponent was named Jin Chengxi, one of the contestants still listed in her memo.

"Your Fire Fang Dog is pretty strong."

"But you're unlucky to have run into me. I won't be like that idiot Xie Jianyin and send out a Pet Beast I only contracted recently."

"Don't worry. I won't make you lose too badly."

Qiao Sang said nothing.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Jin Chengxi could not help asking.

"Then I'll thank you in advance," Qiao Sang said.

She was not thanking him for saying he would not make her lose too badly. She was thanking him for sending out his first contracted Pet Beast.

The tactics she had studied for so long could finally be put to use!

Jin Chengxi became embarrassed.

He had not expected her to remain so polite after he had said so many taunting things.

Maybe he should go easy on her later...

The next moment, Jin Chengxi summoned his Pet Beast, Desert Tail Fox.

At the referee's command, Fire Fang Dog split into two and charged forward at the same time.

"Sand Spray!"

Jin Chengxi had not expected Fire Fang Dog to launch an attack without Qiao Sang issuing a verbal command, and he panicked for a moment.

Qiao Sang smiled.

This was exactly the Sand Spray she had been waiting for.

The two indistinguishable Fire Fang Dogs charged straight into the cloud of sand.

Jin Chengxi froze. Who would voluntarily run into someone else's skill?

Sand Spray could not deal decisive damage, but if the dust got on Fire Fang Dog and into its nose and fur, its condition would definitely worsen considerably.

This was the perfect chance to press the advantage!

For a moment, Jin Chengxi forgot all about his decision to go easy on her.

"Use Quicksand!"

"Fox."

Desert Tail Fox cried out as its tail gradually glowed with an earthy light.

The dust-filled ground ahead instantly began spinning, forming quicksand that collapsed inward.

Two red figures struggled amid the dust.

Just then, a third Fire Fang Dog suddenly appeared behind Desert Tail Fox.

Jin Chengxi: "!!!"

Holy crap! When did that get there?!