What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

The official car drove smoothly on the country road on the return trip, and the fields and distant mountains outside the car window were tinged with a warm golden edge under the sunlight.

Zhang Zhi gripped the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, but his mind kept replaying the scenes from the forest clearing.

Clear and concise commands, swift and precise combos, and a battle that ends in a mere minute.

His movements were fluid and calm, unlike that of a novice beast tamer who had just entered the world of combat. Instead, the fact that the battle only lasted three minutes made him seem like a greenhorn.

He finally couldn't resist and, while waiting at a red light, turned to look at Lin Chen in the passenger seat:

"Hey Ah Chen, did you really only become a Beast Tamer the day before yesterday?"

Lin Chen met Zhang Zhi's probing gaze and nodded: "Really, I'm a complete beginner."

Zhang Zhi opened his mouth, then subconsciously glanced through the rearview mirror at the Flameclaw Beast sitting in the back seat, constantly trying to fasten its seatbelt.

He had seen it clearly before; this Flameclaw Beast, like its Beastmaster, showed no nervousness or fear of its first battle, but was instead unusually excited.

After dealing with the baby swamp boars, they even continued forward excitedly, wanting to get involved in the battle between the swamp boars and the blue-green hounds.

This Flameclaw Beast is incredibly brave.

The little guy noticed the gaze, looked up, waved its paw, and its eyes showed a fierce look.

Zhang Zhi withdrew his gaze and sighed silently.

He looked at Lin Chen again, his tone much more serious: "To be honest, your performance doesn't seem like that of a complete newcomer."

Before Lin Chen could answer, Zhang Zhi, his eyes burning, continued:

"A single battle, especially the first real battle, can reveal a lot about you."

"The timing of commands, the instantaneous reading of the battle situation, the mental fortitude on the spot, and the almost instinctive tacit understanding with pets."

"Many beast tamers might not reach your current level even after a month or two of training. I've seen far too many newly awakened newcomers in this position."

He paused, seemingly recalling some amusing or frustrating scene, and shook his head:

"When faced with a charge of wild beasts, some people's legs went weak, some shouted and gave wildly incoherent commands, and some were so scared that they recalled their beasts back to their taming space and ran away on their own... There were quite a few."

"But you are different."

Lin Chen smiled slightly: "Brother Zhang, I can't accept that. I still have a lot to learn from you."

"I can handle it."

Zhang Zhi waved his hand, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, which beast-taming academy did you get into?"

"Qiming Beast Taming Academy," Lin Chen replied.

"Qiming Beast Taming Academy..."

Upon hearing the answer, Zhang Zhi tilted his head back slightly and said in a complicated tone, "That's the top-notch Beast Taming Academy in our Donghuang. The worst graduates there are all advanced Beast Tamers."

Lin Chen remained noncommittal.

Zhang Zhi glanced at the time, then turned the steering wheel: "Let's go, let's take our future advanced beast tamers to try the special barbecue of Qingyang Town."

"Gaku!"

The Flameclaw Beast in the back seat couldn't understand their conversation, but it keenly grasped the most crucial word: barbecue.

The Flameclaw Beast struggled to its feet, restrained by the seatbelt. Its pointed head almost reached the front row, staring intently at Zhang Zhi, who had offered to treat it, while simultaneously extending its claws.

Zhang Zhi noticed the Flameclaw Beast's sharp claws resting on his shoulder out of the corner of his eye. He swallowed hard and whispered reassuringly, "Calm down, calm down."

He had a strong intuition that if he shook his head and refused now, the outcome would be dire.

It's terrible, it's terrible.

It was already 4 p.m. when I got back to the detention center.

Zhang Zhi took Lin Chen directly to Li Haotian's office to report the situation.

"...That's roughly the situation, Director Li."

Zhang Zhi briefly recounted the incident and its handling in the northern suburban farmland: "The two wild boars left the scene after being driven away and returned to the Duanshan Mountains."

"We have made preliminary records and assessed the losses of farmer Wang Fugui, and he can apply for compensation according to the procedures."

After finishing his report, Zhang Zhi paused, a hint of hesitation on his face. He glanced at Li Haotian's calm expression and carefully chose his words to add:

"Director Li, there's a detail that I find a bit strange."

"Even after being defeated and clearly signaled to leave, they seemed hesitant, even fearful, and were reluctant to return to the Broken Mountain Range."

"It's like they're afraid of something in the mountains and are too scared to go back?"

Li Haotian's hand holding the teacup paused almost imperceptibly for half a second. His eyelids lowered slightly as he watched the tea leaves swaying in the cup, his eyes flickering, but he quickly regained his composure.

He nodded, his tone as usual: "Yes, I understand. Well done, handled cleanly and efficiently."

"I will keep an eye on the routine patrol reports for the edge of the Duanshan Mountains. Thank you for your hard work."

Then, Li Haotian turned his gaze to Lin Chen, who had been standing quietly behind Zhang Zhi, a warm smile spreading across his face, a stark contrast to his serious demeanor during the report:

"Xiao Chen, how's your first day at work? Are you adjusting well?"

Lin Chen stepped forward and answered earnestly, "Uncle Li, it feels great, I've learned a lot. Brother Zhang has also taken good care of me and taught me a lot of practical things."

A smile appeared on Zhang Zhi's face at the right moment.

Li Haotian nodded slightly.

Sending Zhang Zhi to take Lin Chen was a well-thought-out arrangement.

Zhang Zhi has good talent and is a promising talent that the institute is focusing on cultivating. He is expected to become a senior beast tamer within a few years.

He is an upright and flexible person. Having him take Lin Chen under his wing can ensure Lin Chen's safety while also exposing him to relatively standardized and high-level practical experience.

In retrospect, this arrangement has worked well.

Take today's situation, for example. The report said that Lin Chen defeated the young swine pigs of Rongya Mountain on his own, but Li Haotian knew that this was definitely inseparable from Zhang Zhi's care and guidance.

For novice beast tamers, the difficulty and pressure of battling wild beasts are far greater than those of domesticated beasts.

"Oh, right."

Li Haotian suddenly remembered something and laughed, "My son is coming to the station tomorrow. He's a bit impulsive, so keep an eye on him."

Lin Chen's eyes lit up.

Uncle Li's son, Li Heng, was the same age as him. They grew up together and had an extremely close relationship.

"You young people should interact more then."

Li Haotian smiled and waved his hand:

"Alright, you must be tired today. Go home and get some rest."

"Yes, Director."

Zhang Zhiying said, and left the office with Lin Chen.

Back in the second-floor common office area, Zhang Zhi plopped back down at his workstation and breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Chen, seeing that it wasn't time to leave work yet, went straight to the training room.

Old Liu, a long-time employee, leaned over with a slightly mischievous smile on his face:

"Xiao Zhang, how's it going to be mentoring the new guy?"

In the eyes of most veteran employees, mentoring new employees is definitely a thankless and arduous task.

Newcomers have little experience, limited understanding, and weak capabilities. If they are obedient and compliant, that's fine. But the problem is that they are highly self-aware and have their own ideas without realizing it. They cause a lot of trouble while carrying out tasks, leaving the senior staff to clean up their messes.

Lin Chen encountered a situation where wild animals were harassing farmers on his first visit to the office. In addition, Zhang Zhi was not a long-time employee, so the two of them probably did not have an easy time resolving the situation.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhi leaned back in his chair and stretched languidly, then grinned at Old Liu, revealing a set of white teeth:

"Brother Liu, he's different."

"How is it different?" Old Liu became interested and leaned forward slightly.

Zhang Zhi recounted the entire battle to Lao Liu, leaving out no detail.

Old Liu squeezed the teacup in his hand, took a small sip of tea, and waited until the steam fogged his reading glasses before slowly speaking:

"To be able to do this well in your first match is truly impressive; you have real talent."

After a brief pause, he changed the subject: "But such geniuses are not uncommon every year; it's just that they are rare to find in our police station."

Zhang Zhi shook his head and emphasized again, "No, he really is different."

"Oh?" Old Liu put down his teacup and looked at Zhang Zhi with great interest.

Zhang Zhi's eyes flickered, and he chose his words carefully: "Brother Liu, you used to play games, right?"

"I played it when I was young," Old Liu nodded.

"Do you know how players view the monsters in the game?" Zhang Zhi asked.

"Um?"

Old Liu frowned slightly, clearly not expecting Zhang Zhi to suddenly ask such an unrelated question. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his tone somewhat uncertain:

"How should we view monsters? Of course, we should treat them as NPCs, trying to defeat them to get rewards and level up."

Zhang Zhi nodded, his tone enigmatic: "I feel like he's a player, and that tufted boar is like a monster in the game."

"He's so relaxed, it's like he's playing a game where he's leveling up by defeating monsters."

"Have you ever seen a new beast tamer with this kind of mentality?"

At this point, he shrugged: "Of course, he's not a player, and that tusked boar isn't a monster from the game."

"only."

He paused, his gaze intense: "I have a strong feeling that he really is different."