What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

Twelve days after Lin Chen defeated Li Heng.

The rain has been falling for several days in a row. At first, it was a gentle drizzle, but today it has turned into a downpour.

Large raindrops pounded against the tall, narrow glass windows of the training room, making a rapid, pattering sound, and water cascaded down the glass like a waterfall.

The outline of the distant Broken Mountain Range was completely hidden behind the thick curtain of rain, leaving only a deep, unsettling shadow.

The training room remained eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the torrential rain outside. The only sounds were the heavy breathing of the Flameclaw Beast, the sharp screech of its claws tearing through the air, and the muffled thuds of energy striking specially designed targets.

"Okay, take a break."

Lin Chen raised his hand to wipe the fine sweat from his forehead and called out to stop.

"Ga-gu-"

The Flameclaw Beast immediately stopped moving, its chest heaving violently as it gasped for breath.

It walked to the edge of the field, took the energy cube handed to it by Lin Chen, and swallowed it without hesitation.

The cube melted in the mouth, turning into a warm current that quickly spread to every part of the body, replenishing the energy it had been expending and slightly soothing the muscle soreness.

Lin Chen watched as the Flame Claw Beast squinted its eyes contentedly, making gurgling sounds in its throat, while silently calculating in his mind.

This is the last power block.

After more than a week of intensive training, the three energy cubes I had purchased were completely used up.

The Flameclaw Beast's energy absorption efficiency far exceeded his expectations.

Raising pets is indeed a bottomless pit that devours money.

This is just the most basic daily consumption; the subsequent skill training, pet evolution, and in-depth nurturing...

Which of these doesn't require a massive amount of resources?

Lin Chen felt a headache coming on; the thickness of his wallet could never keep up with the speed of increasing demand.

We must find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, or seek more economical alternatives.

Fortunately, the investment did not come without a return.

With the relatively regular schedule and training facilities at the detention center, Flameclaw Beast's progress has been remarkable.

Although its growth level remains stable within the first tier and is still some distance from breaking through, the Flameclaw Beast is much more solid than it was a week ago in terms of strength, speed, endurance, and control over fire energy.

This is an overall improvement brought about by the accumulation of quantitative changes.

In terms of skills, the progress is even more visible.

After repeated practice and several real-world tests, my mastery of the "small-scale explosion" technique has far surpassed the initial awkwardness I felt when I first learned it.

The Flameclaw Beast can now complete a relatively stable energy compression and release within two to three seconds, and its power control and shooting accuracy have made great progress, truly becoming its most formidable trump card.

The basic skill [Flame Breath] has seen its proficiency increase rapidly, perhaps due to a feedback effect from the understanding of [Small Explosion].

Lin Chen estimated that his proficiency with [Flame Breath Bullet] should reach the proficiency level in the next few days.

These advancements are not only due to the Flameclaw Beast's own efforts and Lin Chen's targeted training, but also largely thanks to the hard-won "double experience cards".

Over the past week, Lin Chen has earned several "double experience cards" by completing the daily tasks issued by the system.

Without hesitation, he focused all his efforts on the Flameclaw Beast, making its training twice as efficient.

Although double experience cards can be used to improve meditation efficiency, leveling up a Beastmaster is not something that can be done overnight.

Generally speaking, it takes three months to break through from an apprentice beast tamer to a junior beast tamer, while a genius beast tamer can shorten it to two months.

However, considering that improving the Flameclaw Beast's immediate combat power is more urgent at present, he temporarily gave the Flameclaw Beast priority in using the experience cards.

The stronger the Flameclaw Beast is, the more confident he will be in facing all kinds of situations.

You can't expect a trainee beast tamer to charge up and fight the opposing beast one-on-one with his bare hands, can you?

Just as Lin Chen was planning the next training focus, the door to the training room was pushed open with a "bang," bringing in a gust of damp steam.

Zhang Zhi strode in, his dark blue uniform soaked through at the shoulders by the rain. His usual relaxed expression was gone, and his speech was much faster than usual: "Achen, we have a mission, urgent deployment!"

Lin Chen frowned slightly, gesturing for the Flame Claw Beast to follow while quickly asking, "Another mission? Brother Zhang, what's the situation this time?"

He looked out the window at the torrential rain that almost formed a continuous curtain of water, and his heart sank slightly.

For the past week or so, Qingyang Town and even the entire northern suburbs of Qinglan City have been quite unsettled.

For some reason, incidents of wild pets attacking the edges of human settlements have suddenly become more frequent.

Reports from local police stations poured into the municipal bureau like snowflakes, leaving these grassroots officers running around, exhausted and overwhelmed.

Lin Chen himself handled at least five incidents of pets disturbing residents.

Although most incidents ended without serious harm, the frequent alarms and mobilizations created a sense of impending doom for everyone.

Is another wild animal attacking a town?

Zhang Zhi had already turned and walked out, gesturing for Lin Chen to follow: "We'll talk on the way. Change your clothes first; the car is waiting downstairs."

"By the way, Lao Liu will be coming with us this time."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow, immediately realizing the special nature of this mission.

For more than a week, he and Zhang Zhi went to work together, while Lao Liu, as a senior employee, basically stayed in the office.

The two quickly returned to the office area and changed into duty jackets with a waterproof coating and rain boots.

The rain was so heavy that ordinary uniforms would be soaked through instantly if you went outside.

The Flameclaw Beast shook its fur, somewhat displeased with the weather, but still followed Lin Chen closely.

The official vehicle broke through the rain and drove out of the detention center's courtyard.

The windshield wipers swung wildly from side to side, barely managing to clear a brief glimpse of the windshield, only to be quickly covered by new rain.

The streets were eerily empty, with hardly any pedestrians in sight. Only a few vehicles with their fog lights on moved slowly through the flooded pavement.

The whole world seemed to be enveloped in this noisy and cold gray-white vapor. The outlines of distant buildings and mountains were blurred, and the sky hung low, as dark as dusk.

Inside the car, only the roar of the engine and the dense thud of raindrops hitting the roof created a somewhat somber atmosphere.

"Brother Zhang."

Lin Chen fastened his seatbelt, greeted Lao Liu first, and then looked at Zhang Zhi, who was gripping the steering wheel and staring intently ahead: "Where is this incident from? Another wild animal?"

"Um."

Zhang Zhi nodded, his voice sounding somewhat muffled in the rain. He paused, then asked, "Do you remember Uncle Wang from our first field mission?"

"Remember."

Lin Chen nodded, and the image of the dark-skinned man heartbroken over the ruined crops immediately came to mind: "His house was ravaged by wild pets again?"

This time, Zhang Zhi remained silent for a few seconds.

The rhythmic swishing sound of the windshield wipers was exceptionally clear in the quiet car.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his tone was unusually low and solemn:

"This time... is different."

He kept his eyes fixed ahead, as if trying to see through the heavy curtain of rain, his voice low:

"He called to report that his family's cotton sheep had died."

"They weren't driven away, they weren't eaten... they were killed."

"Judging from the marks, he was brutally killed by some kind of highly aggressive wild pet."

The air inside the carriage seemed to drop several degrees in temperature the moment those words were spoken.

Only the relentless roar of the torrential rain outside the window continued.