What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

The day after the Young Eagle Cup ended, in the office area on the second floor of the Qingyang Town Criminal Investigation Station.

The air was thick with the dullness of a typical workday, mixed with the smells of paper, ink, and coffee.

The sounds of keyboard typing, telephone ringing, and low conversations intertwine to create background white noise.

Until Li Heng came in.

He moved back and forth in the aisle between workstations, gesturing wildly and talking animatedly, passionately recounting his outstanding performance during this period and the exciting moments in the competition to everyone.

He didn't miss a single detail.

Many of his colleagues were amused by him, listening to his boasting with a smile, and occasionally asking him a few questions. Zhang Zhi leaned back in his chair, listening with great interest, and occasionally asking a few questions.

Lin Chen was focused on perfecting the breeding and training plan for the Songsong dog, completely ignoring Li Heng.

Just then, a cacophony of voices and footsteps approached from afar, creeping up the stairs.

The first to appear at the stairwell were three middle-aged men in matching uniforms, with the words "Distant Mountains" and a simple mountain peak embroidered on the left chest of their uniforms.

The leader was a man around forty years old, with a healthy dark complexion from years of exposure to the sun and wind. He was lean, but stood upright with sharp eyes.

Wei Shan glanced around the somewhat noisy second-floor office area, his gaze lingering briefly on Li Heng, who was giving a passionate speech, before turning to the workstation closest to the stairwell and politely speaking:

"Hello, we are from the Yuanshan Club and we need to register to enter the mountain. Where do we complete the registration process?"

The clerk who was asked the question paused for a moment, looked up at the three people in front of her, and pointed to the other end of the corridor: "Oh, the entry procedures for the mountain, go to the first office on the right at the end of the corridor."

"OK, thanks."

Wei Shan thanked him, then turned around and called out to the bottom of the stairs, "Come on up, let's get the paperwork done upstairs."

As he spoke, more rapid footsteps echoed down the stairs.

A dozen or so young people filed up, men and women, mostly wearing windproof jackets or sportswear suitable for outdoor activities, with bulging backpacks on their backs, their faces showing expressions of excitement, curiosity, or feigned composure.

The sudden appearance of this young team caused a moment of silence in the second-floor office area, and everyone's attention was instinctively drawn to them.

Li Heng's voice also stopped abruptly. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and his gaze fell on the group of young people who had just come upstairs.

At the same time, a figure suddenly stepped forward from the crowd, eyes wide open, staring intently at Li Heng, and blurted out:

"Is it you?"

Zhou Ming stared at Li Heng directly in front of him, his face full of surprise.

Damn it, how did I run into this guy here?

Li Heng recognized the person who had arrived, and especially laughed when he saw Zhou Ming's expression.

He put his hands back in his pockets, raised his chin slightly, striking a nonchalant pose, and slowly replied in a drawn-out tone:

"Oh—who do we have here? It's just your defeated opponent."

Upon hearing this, the entire office area fell into a deathly silence.

The crowd's gazes bypassed Zhou Ming and landed directly on a tall figure behind him. They looked surprised and whispered amongst themselves.

"Hey, isn't that the champion of this year's Young Eagle Cup?"

"The champion and runner-up are all here, oh, and Zhou Ming, who is in the semi-finals, is also here. We're just missing the third place to complete the team."

"What are they doing here? Going into the mountains?"

"I should probably get some experience before school starts, but things haven't been peaceful in the mountains lately..."

At the same moment,

"you!"

Zhou Ming blushed as Li Heng retorted, and subconsciously wanted to retort, but he noticed a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

His face immediately lit up with joy, and he even forgot to argue with Li Heng. He raised his voice, his excitement undisguised: "Brother Chen!!!"

"What are you doing here?"

The sound echoed throughout the office area, and Lin Chen looked up blankly.

Looking around, familiar figures came into view: Zhou Ming, his face full of excitement, Su Qingyuan and Zhang Xiaoxiao beside him, and several other very familiar faces.

He quickly realized that today was the offline team building day of the "Qinglan City Beast Tamer Talent Reserve Base".

Yesterday, Zhang Xiaoxiao suggested in the group chat to join a wilderness training group to train in the edge of the Duanshan Mountains. It seems she came to the detention center to complete the formalities.

Qingyang Town is located next to the Duanshan Mountain Range, and it is one of the entrances to the mountains. Therefore, in order to enter the mountains smoothly, you must first go to the police station to complete the entry procedures, clarify the purpose and time of your entry, and submit personal information, etc.

After all, the Duanshan Mountains do not belong to the territory of the Donghuang Federation. The border between the two places involves a wide range of issues, and there are border patrol teams patrolling day and night. It is necessary to clarify the personal information of those coming and going.

After a moment's thought, Lin Chen nodded to the crowd as a greeting.

Zhang Xiaoxiao glanced at Lin Chen, then turned to look at the excited Zhou Ming, her brows furrowing slightly, her face full of doubt: "Zhou Ming, are you very familiar with Lin Chen?"

If she remembered correctly, Lin Chen was a lurker in the group; he would never speak unless contacted first.

When did Zhou Ming and Lin Chen get together?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming grinned and said, "If it weren't for Brother Chen's help during this period, I wouldn't have been able to improve so quickly."

Zhang Xiaoxiao reacted quickly: "Is Lin Chen the sparring partner you mentioned in the post-match interview?"

"Forehead......"

Zhou Ming's face stiffened as he suddenly realized that he had unintentionally said something inappropriate.

"Why don't we go and complete the formalities first? There are a lot of us, so it might take a while."

Wei Shan looked at the group of people who were chatting enthusiastically, coughed lightly, and chose to interrupt.

"Okay, okay." Zhou Ming snapped out of his daze, looked away, and followed Wei Shan to complete the formalities.

After half an hour,

"Finally finished." Zhou Ming walked out of the office and looked eagerly toward Lin Chen's workstation, but Lin Chen was nowhere to be seen.

Old Liu took a small sip of tea and said slowly, "Xiao Chen went on patrol and won't be back until noon."

"Alright," Zhou Ming replied helplessly.

The group walked through the office area and headed towards the first floor. Zhang Xiaoxiao came to Zhou Ming's side and asked in a low voice:

"Zhou Ming, is Lin Chen really as amazing as you say?"

Zhou Ming nodded decisively: "If it's him, I think it's really worth it to..."

At this point, Zhou Ming glanced cautiously at Su Qingyuan through the window, then winked at Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Let's compete with her."

Zhang Xiaoxiao immediately laughed: "Great, everyone wants to compete with Yuanyuan for the championship."

"Li Heng also said in the interview that his friend is very good and can compete with Yuan Yuan for the championship."

"How about we have Lin Chen compete against Li Heng's friend and see who's better?"

Zhou Ming raised his head and said decisively, "Of course it's Brother Chen!"

Su Qingyuan overheard their conversation, her eyes flickering slightly.

If she wanted, she could win ten more championships.

Whether it's Zhou Ming or Li Heng, or even Lin Chen and Li Heng's friends whom they claim are very powerful, they are all too low-level to her.

If she had enough time, she might be able to offer help as they grew up and provide some assistance to herself.

But time is too tight. Even if they are given four years and given their own help, they can only become professional-level beast tamers at most. Even if they encounter an extraordinary opportunity, they will stop at master-level beast tamers.

She doesn't have that much time to wait for them to grow up, just as the global crisis won't wait for her to become a legendary beast tamer and save the world.

Even with knowledge and intelligence about the future, she couldn't become a legendary beast tamer within four years.

However, she can quickly acquire growth resources through future knowledge and leap to a higher level.

This wilderness experience is an opportunity.

As the group returned to the first floor while chatting, they saw Li Heng leaning against the door, staring intently at Zhou Ming.

The two looked at each other.

Li Heng walked slowly forward, hands in his pockets, until he reached Zhou Ming's side. He leaned close and spoke in a very low voice:

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you something."

"Brother Chen has been helping me train during this time."

"He's the sparring partner I was talking about."

"Yes, that's it."

After saying that, he patted Zhou Ming on the shoulder and turned away gracefully.

Zhou Ming stood there, as if struck by lightning.