"Cat Boss..."
Looking at the photograph in the pendant, Xu Ran fell silent for a moment.
Having given Cat Boss a thorough grooming, he was naturally familiar with its physical features.
Even among Fury Battle Cats, individuals differed greatly.
So he was certain that this Fury Battle Cat was Cat Boss.
That made the identity of the unfamiliar man standing in front of it all but obvious.
He was Cat Boss's Beast Tamer, who had already died.
Xu Ran had never actively looked into Cat Boss's former Beast Tamer, but he had learned a little from the occasional snippets Zhang He Nian mentioned.
Cat Boss's Beast Tamer had not been a Commander Level Beast Tamer, but an Elite Level one.
Before losing its Beast Tamer, Cat Boss had remained at the peak of the Elite Rank for a long time, unable to advance because of the second-tier Contract Power.
During a mission outside the city, Cat Boss's Beast Tamer and several other Association members had suffered a sudden attack by a Beast Tide. To cover his companions, Cat Boss's Beast Tamer had led the charge and ultimately died in battle.
Another Contract Beast, contracted later, had died with him, while Cat Boss, which had contracted with its Beast Tamer earlier, had survived.
This was not because Cat Boss feared death and clung to life, but because its Beast Tamer had deliberately arranged it.
The moment its Beast Tamer died, Cat Boss's restraints vanished. It instantly broke through to the Commander Rank, unleashed greater power, tore an opening through the Beast Tide, and brought the other Beast Tamers out alive.
Zhang He Nian had been among those Beast Tamers.
From then on, Cat Boss, having lost its Beast Tamer, had wandered Qingzhou City alone, becoming the boss of the city's stray