[You lost one life.]
Pretty soon, Rocky’s new body materialized behind the wall of the arena.
Rocky sighed as he glanced at the rune in front of him.
He had lost one of his nine lives... but it didn’t matter. He still had plenty left, after all.
Rocky quickly transformed into his cat form and walked sneakily through the arena gate. His current intention was to spy on the deepest part of the Stephens Clan’s castle.
He didn’t worry too much about his big sister. Anyway, Scarlet would protect her and send her to the Plant Association.
After he was done with his business here, he would return with his sister.
Rocky ran at high speed, sliding through the constructions of the buildings. Thanks to his tiny shape, no one could perceive him.
Just like that, 30 minutes went by.
Rocky stood on a window ledge of the main castle. His face twisted as a disgusting scent gripped his nose.
He jumped down and continued following the scent to its source..
(The basement of the castle?)
Rocky frowned. He gritted his teeth and lunged forward.
He glanced around, trying to find a door, but there was nothing that could even be called a door here.
But the disgusting scent behind that wall was real.
Rocky changed his approach. He observed his surroundings before looking for an air duct. He was certain there was a duct running through the wall.
After 10 minutes, he smiled faintly and crawled up through the air duct.
Soon, the scene of the basement appeared before his eyes after he brushed the spiderweb off his face.
In just the blink of an eye, the disgusting scent became more terrifying than ever.
Countless containment tubes stretched across the basement. They lined up in a long row to the point he couldn’t see the end.
More importantly, parts of beasts floated in the colorless liquid inside the tubes.
Beheaded heads, severed torsos, brains... and more.
His eyes widened as he witnessed the horrible scene.
He walked across the rows of containment tubes, gazing at them like a curious gamer who had wandered into a horror game.
He gulped, not out of fear of the gruesome sight, but at how brutal and barbaric that branch clan had been to those pitiful beasts.
(It seems they’ve been researching something?)
Ten minutes later.
He finally arrived at the door of a vast room.
He rubbed his chin before opening it. Yet at that moment, his face turned completely soulless.
In the next second, the veins on his body bulged as he clutched his head in rage.
He clawed at his own furred face, struggling to keep himself from going insane.
He staggered and groaned, his eyes filled with tears.
(I’ll kill them!... Those cursed bastards must die!)
It was only natural for him to react like that, because what stood before him was the most terrifying scene he had ever seen.
His parents’ beasts... yet now they were no different from the beheaded heads floating inside the containment tubes.
Their eyes were still wide open in terror, even though they were already dead.
He couldn’t imagine what they had suffered at the hands of the branch clan.
Why?
Why did they have to die in such a horrible way?
They used to play with Rocky and his siblings in the past. To him, those beasts were his best friends, but now...
(W-Why?)
He couldn’t stop himself from crying.
(W-Why?... Damn it!)
He groaned while chewing the pills nonstop, trying to calm himself down.
(Stay calm...)
Suddenly, a voice rang out in the room, causing Rocky to frown. He quickly ran to a nearby containment tube and hid himself.
"Did you hear about Young Lord Jeff losing a cat?" the tall guy said eagerly.
The short guy clicked his tongue.
"I knew it. He and his beast lost a house cat from the Black Zone."
The tall guy smirked.
"It’s quite hilarious... Sigh. What bad luck... If only I could’ve stayed there to watch that match."
The short guy shook his head.
"Alright, we’ll talk about that later. Let’s focus on the job. The dissection subject is a unique beast... a beast capable of helping others level up. If he succeeds, our clan will become the strongest."
’’My beast and your beast will benefit from it.’’
The tall guy chuckled.
’’That’s right... Hahahaha!’’
Just like that, they stepped into a nearby door.
Rocky clenched his jaws in fury when he heard that.
(Those scumbags will use my sister’s beast like Father’s beast?)
He could tell his thoughts would come true.
At this moment, he wasn’t surprised by how the Branch Clan operated anymore. He sneaked toward the door, following them.
***
Bang!
A beast’s head slowly rolled across the ground before hitting a big box.
Blood poured from the long table like a waterfall.
A muscular man focused on hacking and cutting the beast into pieces. He gripped a cleaver and brought it down evenly over the carcass.
Blood kept spraying into the air, staining his merciless face.
His face twisted in contentment as he dragged a heart out from the beast’s chest.
He licked the heart, but a few moments later, he casually tossed it behind him.
His beast—a chimera with the heads of a lion, a wolf, and a tiger—quickly jumped up and caught the heart.
The three heads struggled over it, even though they shared the same body.
’’Be quiet!’’
The muscular man yelled before continuing to lick another heart. He licked his lips for a moment, then smiled psychotically.
’’That’s tasty.’’
He tossed the heart into his mouth and chewed it like a premium meal. Then, he walked to a lab table and put on a lab coat.
He cleared his throat.
’’Carry that beast here.’’
...
’’Yes, sir!’’
...
A group of men quickly commanded their beasts and dragged a gigantic deer into the vast room.
The deer roared and struggled to break free from the other beasts’ restraints. Yet it could only collapse helplessly as the chains tightened around its neck, dragging it onto the slaughter table.
A/N: Hopefully you hate that family enough already. If so, please leave a comment here...Don’t forget to give me a power stone, or anything like that.