Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A Strange Sub-Beast

The next morning in the Crimson tribe, everything carried on as usual, with everyone tending to their respective tasks.

Aside from the tribe welcoming a new life, there were no major changes.

Near noon.

The magical beast forest, in the peripheral area about a three-day journey from the center.

Walter pointed at Anthony and scolded continuously, completely lacking the demeanor of a Sub-Beast. The cause stemmed from Anthony ignoring his advice to save a strange Sub-Beast.

This was the middle of the magical beast forest; anyone with eyes could see how bizarre it was for a Sub-Beast to suddenly appear here. The entire group had agreed to pretend they saw nothing. However, the moment that Sub-Beast tripped and the magical beast chasing him leaped up to finish him off, Anthony lost his mind and rushed out to save the stranger.

"I should have blown a hole through your head right then and there along with that magical beast!" Walter was so furious he was on the verge of tears, completely unable to comprehend the thought process of this idiotic tiger.

Feeling immensely wronged by the scolding, Anthony continuously ruffled the hair on his head: "But that is a Sub-Beast..."

"I don’t care if he is a Sub-Beast or a beastman, do you even know where we are? The magical beast forest, it is the magical beast forest! A frail Sub-Beast running all the way here, do you think that’s normal?"

"But he said he was fleeing a blizzard with his clan members, right? We also went to check the place he mentioned, and there really were many dead people there. He wasn’t lying..."

"I don’t know, and I don’t care. You had better pray that he is an innocent Sub-Beast and not a second Moharm!"

Walter irritably brushed past Anthony and returned to his resting spot. His sharp gaze indifferently swept over the strange Gray Rabbit clan Sub-Beast, terrifying the newcomer so much that he shrank back, his body trembling like a leaf.

The group of beastmen from the tribe didn’t dare utter a single word. Even though they secretly agreed with Anthony’s life-saving actions, they still didn’t dare to contradict Walter. Despite the fact that he was just a Sub-Beast, his status within the group was second only to the level 3 beastman warrior, Zale.

Zale calmly sifted through the plant seeds everyone had collected with his hands, sorting them into separate small cloth pouches. He swept his gaze over where the other beastmen were sitting before casually retracting it. That single look was enough to make the beastmen shudder inwardly, significantly sobering their minds.

Indeed, what Walter said made perfect sense no matter how you looked at it.

Caleb noticed the way the Crimson tribe beastmen looked at him was beginning to change, carrying a scrutinizing intent. He slightly lowered his head, a glittering tear hanging on his long eyelashes. His shoulders trembled as if he was suppressing a sob, making him look incredibly pitiful. A wave of sympathy welled up in the hearts of the beastmen, instantly suppressing the slight suspicion that had just surfaced.

Anthony walked over, squatted down beside him, and said softly, "Caleb, don’t worry. Walter just has a sharp tongue, but he is very kind-hearted. Does your leg hurt less now? We have to hit the road soon; will you be able to walk?"

Caleb replied in a tiny voice, "Y... yes, I can..."

Anthony looked at the beautiful, petite Sub-Beast in front of him, finding him more appealing the longer he looked. After all, there was no longer a need to strive to become the young Chief; both he and Wofu had the right to choose partners outside the White Tiger clan. Anthony suddenly thought that having a soft Rabbit clan Sub-Beast as a partner wasn’t impossible. Wasn’t his younger brother, Wofu, currently pursuing Draven?

"I will carry you on my back later. You don’t mind, do you?"

Caleb’s face flushed slightly pink. An unmated Sub-Beast riding on the back of an equally unmated beastman was an embarrassing thought no matter how one looked at it. He said softly, "That... doesn’t seem very appropriate."

As he spoke, he seemingly cast an unintentional glance toward Walter, who was engrossed in fixing his slingshot. The moment Anthony offered to carry Caleb, the hands Walter was using to tie the slingshot paused slightly, only to resume a second later as if nothing had happened.

Following Caleb’s line of sight, Anthony looked over at Walter. His body stiffened slightly before he stammered:

"You’ve misunderstood. Walter and I... we don’t have that kind of relationship..."

"Ah." Caleb covered his mouth in slight surprise. His eyes widened, and because they were still misty, they looked as if sparkling with starlight. He continued in a hushed voice, "Then why does he always ride on your back?"

Anthony was a bit flustered, unsure of the proper way to answer. Should he say that because he had carried Walter so often, the synergy between the two of them was the best in the entire team? Or that carrying Walter had become such a habit that he simply couldn’t break it right away? Anthony had never thought about these issues so deeply before.

"Swoosh!"

A piercing sound sliced through the air right past everyone’s ears as a black streak flashed by like an afterimage. The stone from Walter’s hand was shot out at breakneck speed, tearing through the foliage and embedding itself directly into a nearby tree trunk. The trunk shuddered violently, scattering the birds resting on the branches, and a bird’s nest was shaken loose, plummeting to the ground.

Walter casually stood up, picked out the intact eggs from the fallen nest, and stuffed them into his animal skin pouch. Kaelen hadn’t had a good appetite these past few days, so he planned to bring some bird eggs back for him. After all, Kaelen had already said that his baby would accept him as a godfather. He had to find plenty of delicious food to nourish Kaelen, lest his future godson end up malnourished.

"Is everyone done resting? Let’s hit the road."

Zale called out loudly as he securely tied the large bag of seeds to his waist. The entire group of beastmen shifted back into their beast forms, and Walter strode toward Anthony. Anthony’s entire body went rigid, his whiskers twitching slightly as he struggled to figure out how to tell Walter that he would be carrying Caleb.

As Walter approached, Anthony opened his mouth to say, "Walter, I..."

He hadn’t even managed to get a few words out before he saw that Walter didn’t stop in front of him. Instead, the Sub-Beast nonchalantly brushed past him and approached a massive Striped Tiger beastman in the back. Anthony’s beast pupils suddenly shrank into narrow slits.

Andrew’s entire tiger body stiffened. Meeting Walter’s sharp gaze, the fur all over his body stood on end. He instinctively lay down on his stomach, allowing Walter to climb onto his back. He firmly believed that if he didn’t do so, the next thing to get a hole blown through it would be his head, not a tree.

Anthony stared blankly as Walter climbed onto Andrew’s back. A sudden, overwhelming wave of displeasure hit him—he felt extremely unhappy. Standing nearby, Caleb saw this and called out softly, "Brother Anthony..."

Only then did Anthony remember that there was someone beside him waiting to be carried. Feeling utterly vexed, he lay flat on the ground to let Caleb climb onto his back. Zale took all of this in and silently shook his head. Another idiot.

As the Crimson tribe’s hunting party once again set off to explore the magical beast forest, back on the other side, Kaelen was also discussing a crucial matter with Sane.

"No!" Sane said in a tone that left no room for negotiation, tightly gripping Kaelen’s hands to prevent him from speaking further.

Kaelen was anxious to death. He had only just started discussing with Sane about testing a new training method on Theron, but he was immediately interrupted. Why? If his method succeeded, wouldn’t the tribe become even stronger?

Knowing that Kaelen wasn’t convinced, Sane said sternly, "Have you forgotten why Obsidian ended up in this state?"

A sudden chill ran down Kaelen’s spine. He had been so focused on enhancing the clan members’ strength that he forgot doing so would put a target on the tribe’s back. Cipher had spent so many resources, so why couldn’t they exchange them for a beastman warrior training manual, instead resorting to robbing Obsidian? Did they not have enough authority to make the exchange?

That wasn’t it. The Divine Temple bestowing a low-tier training manual was both to elevate Obsidian and to shackle their tribe—or, more accurately, to control the Southern Continent.

They would not allow a powerful faction to exist among the remote tribes of the Southern Continent, as it would threaten the interests of Beast City. The reason the Obsidian tribe had so many beastman warriors yet could never become an Intermediate tribe was that their level 3 beastman warriors could never advance to level 4.

The fact that Sane had almost died from a bodily explosion when trying to advance was enough proof that there was a problem with the training method. If they could see it, how could other large tribes like Crimson or Cipher not see it? Faced with the signal from the Divine Temple, Crimson chose to ignore it, while Cipher followed it without hesitation. That was the reason why both Obsidian and Crimson were now shattered.

Kaelen understood the hidden agendas involved, but he was unwilling to accept it. Were they supposed to let the Divine Temple hold them by the throat forever? The Divine Temple tolerated Cipher sweeping across the Southern Continent simply because Cipher’s Chief, Nathan, had chosen to submit to them. As Cipher grew increasingly stronger, they would eventually target the intermediate tribes and cities on the Southern Continent; by then, the balance between the North and the South would completely tilt to one side.

And in the Divine Temple’s process of seizing power, he and his clan members would be nothing more than insignificant stepping stones.

Kaelen didn’t believe Sane didn’t understand this. Would someone with as much ambition as Sane resign himself to being a nameless stepping stone?

Sane was indeed unwilling to accept it, but he didn’t dare gamble with his Kaelen. If it were in the past, he wouldn’t have hesitated to let the Sub-Beast showcase his knowledge. But now, having brushed against the center of power, Sane fully grasped how terrifying it was. He was terrified that he wouldn’t be able to protect his partner and children.

"Kaelen, I know my own limits. I don’t have the confidence to protect you and our child. No matter how great my ambition is, it only stops at catching the bastard couple who killed my Daddy and skinning them alive; I have never thought about going any further. Kaelen..." Sane kissed his lips and said in a deep voice, "Once is more than enough. I cannot afford to lose you again."

Seeing Sane’s helpless demeanor, Kaelen felt both a bitter ache in his heart and a surge of anger. He violently headbutted Sane’s chest, and taking advantage of Sane being slightly stunned, he broke free from the beastman’s grip, turned around, and marched straight back home.

Sane, you are such an idiot. The current things like refined salt, bricks, pottery, ceramics, woven cloth... which of them wouldn’t attract the eyes of others? With so many things already drawing attention, what difference does adding one more training method make?

*Coward, I don’t want to be your partner anymore. Go find whoever you want to mate with, I don’t care!*