Observers Behind the Screen

Outside the small town, a massive military camp, guarded as heavily as a frontline command post, stood in silence. Unlike the bloodshed and despair in the ruins far away, this place was filled with an atmosphere so calm it bordered on cold.

In a command room spacious enough to house several mechs, dozens of giant high-definition screens were arranged in an arc. They presented everything happening inside the abandoned factory in real-time, high-definition, and from multiple angles—from the cruel tests conducted by the Blood Wolf Mercenaries to the terrified expressions of every young descendant, and even the reactions of every battle pet, whether loyal or treacherous.

The air was filled with the faint hum of high-end filtration systems and the stimulating scent of a mixture of cigars and strong coffee.

Sitting in the core position of the front row was a middle-aged man with two gold stars on his shoulders and a face as resolute as if carved from granite—Qin Zhan, a Lieutenant General of the Northeast Base City garrison. His back was straight as an unbending spear, his hands crossed on a desk covered in dark green velvet. His sharp gaze swept across every screen without a hint of emotional fluctuation.

To his left, right, and behind him sat dozens of figures with imposing auras. The heads or core elders of the five major families of the Northeast Base City were almost all present. Wang Qingtian was among them; his expression was calm, but his hands resting on his knees tightened unconsciously from time to time. In addition, there were high-ranking officers in various military uniforms, as well as representatives from massive organizations like the Limit Martial Hall and the Thunder Martial Hall.

On the desk in front of everyone lay a classified document titled "Preliminary Observation Report on the Feasibility of the 'Beast Tamer' System and Extreme Stress Testing of Battle Pet Loyalty," along with a tablet computer that refreshed data in real-time.

The tablets clearly displayed the species, rank, and physiological fluctuation charts of every tested battle pet, as well as detailed data such as the facial analysis, heart rate changes, and verbal records of their owners when facing extreme situations.

"Bang!" The head of the Li Family, a hot-tempered old man with a red face, slammed the table. Pointing at the screen where a young girl from his family had fainted because her Tracking Hound chose food over her, he roared, "Enough! General Qin, and Wang Qingtian! Look at this! Is this what you call an 'extreme stress test'? Look at how terrified these children have been made! Look at the battle pets of my Li Family descendants—one by one... what kind of trash are they! I've lost all face!"

His beard trembled with rage; he was clearly extremely dissatisfied with the performance of his family's descendants and their battle pets, and even more furious at this method of testing.

Wang Qingtian picked up the teacup in front of him, blew the foam away gently, and said in a flat tone, "Brother Li, calm down. Jade must be carved to become a useful object. Flowers in a greenhouse cannot withstand the wind and rain of the wilderness. Letting them see the true nature of their battle pets within a controllable range now is better than being stabbed in the back on a real battlefield of life and death in the future."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Lin Mo, who was shielding Wang Keke on the screen, and a hint of imperceptible satisfaction flashed deep in his eyes. This mutated Winged Tiger had surprised him once again.

"Brother Wang is right." A bald, burly man wearing the iconic purple combat robe of the Thunder Martial Hall chimed in with a muffled voice. He pointed at the Iron-Claw Wolf on the screen that was attempting to turn on Wang Xiao, "Look at that. They bragged to the high heavens, claiming it had pure bloodlines and fierce combat power, but what happened?

It forgot who its master was at the slightest hint of pain!

With a battle pet like this, even if you raise it to the Beast General Rank or Lord Rank, who would dare to entrust their back to it?

"The brothers in our martial hall would rather have a loyal Beast Soldier Rank mongrel than this kind of 'genius' that might turn on us at any moment!"

His words drew nods of agreement from many officers and martial hall representatives. For them, who fought monsters year-round, reliability was far more important than strength.

"That may be true, but isn't this test a bit too... cruel?" A middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a scholarly temperament pushed his glasses up; he was the representative from the Base City Research Institute. "These children's minds are not yet fully mature. Such intense stimulation could leave serious psychological trauma.

Furthermore, is it even ethical to test loyalty using this... method that borders on deception and torture?"

"Dean Zhang, you are being a bit pedantic."

A fat man with a shrill voice, wearing luxurious silk robes and fingers covered in gemstone rings, spoke with a sarcastic tone; he was the vice president of the Base City Chamber of Commerce Alliance. "Reality is the cruelest examiner!"

"We are investing massive resources to cultivate these battle pets to create a new force to fight monsters, not to raise pets! If they can't even withstand this bit of 'acting,' it proves that they and their battle pets are unqualified. Eliminating them early saves resources, doesn't it?"

He was more concerned with the return on investment; clearly, in his eyes, those battle pets that performed poorly on the screen had already become bad assets.

General Qin finally spoke. His voice was not loud, but it instantly suppressed all arguments, reaching everyone's ears clearly: "Gentlemen."

The command room fell silent immediately, and everyone's gaze focused on the general who held great military power.

"Data does not lie." Qin Zhan pointed to the tablet in front of him, which was summarizing all test results in the form of charts. "As of now, twenty-seven battle pets have participated in the test. Only three cases have shown clear, firm behavior of protecting their masters. Five cases showed partial intent to protect but with hesitation or lack of ability. The remaining nineteen cases include indifference, fear, and even tendencies to turn on their masters."

He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the room like a hawk: "What does this mean? It means that the 'battle pets' we have relied on in the past, built through bloodlines, resource stacking, and simple taming, have an extremely fragile foundation of loyalty! They are vulnerable in the face of real pressure, temptation, or pain!"

"As for these three excellent cases," he paused and pulled up the corresponding footage, with the shots of Lin Mo and Wang Keke being magnified, "especially this mutated Winged Tiger from the Wang Family. The wisdom, restraint, and firm will to protect its master it displayed far exceed its peers. This proves that 'Beast Taming' is not impossible, but it puts forward brand new, higher requirements for our existing cultivation models, contract methods, and even the selection standards for battle pets."

He looked at Wang Qingtian: "Patriarch Wang, it seems your daughter's eye is indeed unique."

Wang Qingtian nodded slightly without saying a word, but the tight line of his jaw seemed to soften a fraction.

Qin Zhan continued: "The code name for this joint exercise is 'Loyalty Trial'. The purpose is to tear away the veil of tenderness and see the most real, most cruel underlying truth."

"We need to know what kind of bond can truly connect humans and beasts, creating comrades to whom we can entrust our lives, rather than weapons that might explode at any moment."

His gaze returned to the big screen, fixing on the terrified and helpless young faces in the cages. His tone remained cold and hard, yet it carried a hint of imperceptible depth:

"Pain will make them remember the lesson, and fear will make them recognize reality. If they can't even pass this hurdle, then when they face the overwhelming beast tides of the future, or those cunning and cruel high-level monsters, they and their battle pets will only die faster and more pointlessly."

"As for psychological trauma..." A cold arc curled at the corner of Qin Zhan's mouth. "Only the living have the qualifications to talk about trauma. The dead are just a string of cold numbers that need to be written off."

The command room fell into silence. Only on the screens did the "performance" of the Blood Wolf Mercenaries continue. The despair in the factory ruins and the calm analysis in the monitoring room formed an incredibly eerie contrast.

Everyone understood that this seemingly cruel test was about exploring a brand-new possibility for humanity to fight against monsters in the future. And these young lives trapped in cages, along with the battle pets beside them, were the first batch of "samples" for this grand experiment.

Wang Qingtian looked at his daughter and the white tiger clinging to each other on the screen, silently thinking: Keke, Mimi, hold on. This is just the beginning... the real test is still to come.