Beast Tamer: I Can See Evolution Paths

Iris shrugged, not denying President Robb's words.

Who could argue?

If she'd discovered this in her lab, she'd be writing a paper for the top journals in no time.

"This is a major breakthrough."

She pointed to the surveillance footage.

"If we can confirm this evolution path is real and reproducible…"

President Robb followed her line of thought.

'That would absolutely shake the Beast Master community to its core.'

"As long as evolved honeybugs reach the low-grade, low-tier level, they'll draw countless Beast Masters eager to raise them."

Every pet beast raised by a Beast Master requires an enormous investment of time and money.

The former could be sustained with enough dedication.

But the latter? That was a natural barrier.

Especially for families with ordinary incomes whose children had just awakened their Beast Master abilities.

Parents were often reluctant to send their children out to capture wild extraordinary creatures, as it was dangerous and costly.

But on the market, even low-grade, low-tier extraordinary creatures cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions.

And that's not even counting special pet food, examination fees, medical expenses, and more.

The state and the Alliance do what they can to support Beast Masters from average backgrounds.

But for most ordinary families, becoming a Advance Beast Master is nearly impossible.

Some particularly talented or lucky individuals might advance to become Intermediate Beast Masters.

As for those who rose to Advance Beast Master status from humble backgrounds? They were one in a thousand, if not rarer.

But if honeybugs could be proven to evolve—

This reality would change.

Not drastically, but it would make a real impact.

"So, are you planning to shift your research on pet beast evolution to focus on honeybugs?" President Robb asked, having grasped the subtle yet significant implications.

"Absolutely. Since this discovery, my research will now focus on that direction," Iris replied with a faint smile.

"And given that I already have a hypothesis, it's just a matter of time."

As she spoke, Iris frowned. "Come to think of it… finding a bold honeybug is going to be a challenge."

President Robb laughed heartily.

Exactly!

Trying to find a courageous honeybug… it'd be a miracle to find one in ten thousand.

After some discussion, Iris received a message from Asher.

Ivy had agreed to bring her Fairy Butterfly to the Alliance for a routine examination.

"At last, I'll be able to see an evolved honeybug with my own eyes. I can't wait." Iris exclaimed.

Neither she nor President Robb could contain their excitement.

Wait for the girl to come on her own?

No way!

They were going to pick her up themselves.

———

At the Aspengrove Village Pet Beast Service Center.

When the door opened again, Asher's expression was a bit surprised.

'Huh?'

'Two days in a row with visitors at the service center?'

'Are that many Beast Masters coming to town lately?'

The record before this was eleven straight days with no visitors.

Then, Asher saw Iris walk in with a middle-aged man and Ivy trailing behind them.

His face was full of questions.

'What is going on?'

"Hello, you must be Asher? I'm Robb, the president of the NY City Beast Master Alliance. Just call me President Robb." The middle-aged man—President Robb—greeted him with a warm smile.

Asher stood up and shook hands. "Hello, President Robb. What brings the three of you here together?"

"It's all about Ivy," Iris replied, ignoring President Robb's uncharacteristically big smile.

Seeing Asher's confusion, Iris explained.

"With Ivy's permission, we brought her and her evolved honeybug to the Alliance for further examination."

Through thorough and comprehensive testing, Iris and President Robb's views had drastically shifted.

This wasn't just a major event for the Beast Master community.

It was a meteor crashing down.

It left them utterly stunned.

After assessing the evolved honeybug's various abilities, the Beast Master Alliance had classified it as Low-Grade Extraordinary, High Tier.

Were it not for the honeybug's abundance and the ease of capture, they would have immediately classified it as a mid-grade creature.

Asher nodded in understanding.

'Still…'

'If the Fairy Butterfly is classified as Mid-Grade Extraordinary, Low Tier by my talent, there has to be a reason for the difference.'

But either way—

A leap from being unranked to nearly mid-grade extraordinary?

No one doubted it.

Once news of honeybug evolution was announced, they'd immediately become the most popular pet beast among Beast Masters.

Asher agreed with their thinking.

'Absolutely!'

'The evolved honeybug isn't just powerful—it is also beautiful.'

Just looking at the Fairy Butterfly by Ivy's side, it seemed too beautiful to be real.

"So…?" Asher still couldn't quite understand why they were all here together.

Iris smiled. "I plan to conduct more in-depth research on the honeybug's evolution path and publish a paper."

"I invited Ivy to join me, but she feels this achievement is due to your efforts."

Hearing this, Asher was momentarily speechless.

He was… both surprised and pleased.

It made him even more grateful that he had helped Nene evolve.

"I only did what I felt was right," he replied with a gentle smile.

Asher understood clearly.

He had simply acted at the right time.

If someone else had helped remove the honey sac from Ivy's honeybee, it would still have evolved.

The person Ivy should truly be grateful to was herself.

It was her love that had helped Nene survive after losing the honey sac.

"No… that's not it."

Ivy stepped out from behind Iris and President Robb, the dreamy, radiant Fairy Butterfly fluttering beside her.

With a loud voice, she said, "If it had been anyone else, they might not have saved Nene! I… you…"

Her face flushed with anxiousness, but sweat beaded on her forehead as she struggled to find the right words.

Asher's expression remained a bit puzzled.

However, Iris and President Robb understood Ivy's feelings.

'Sigh!'

The thing was… because honeybugs were so inexpensive and lacked any offensive abilities, even regular people could keep them as pets.

When honeybugs got injured, very few Beast Masters would bring them in for treatment.

It was even rarer for ordinary people to do so.

Honeybug injured? Spend tens of thousands on treatment without the Alliance subsidy?

Might as well just get a new one.

Even if a person had a strong bond with their honeybug and wanted to bring it in, many pet service center staff would refuse treatment.

The reason? honeybugs were too low-grade to qualify as extraordinary creatures, and the center's medical equipment was for extraordinary beasts only. They'd suggest taking the honeybuh to a regular pet clinic instead.

But the real reason? Well… let's not even go there.

So Ivy's gratitude toward Asher was heartfelt.

And Iris and President Robb agreed.

Thank goodness she'd met Asher.

Otherwise, it might've taken fifty or even a hundred years before the Beast Master community discovered that honeybugs could actually evolve.

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