Global Beast Mastery: Only I Can See the Hints

Actually, Charles was also filled with confusion regarding the three people who had been following him earlier. If this had happened in Genosha or Calivia, it would have been understandable to have someone trailing or monitoring him. However, he had just arrived at Central City in the Haunted Marsh, and he hadn't offended anyone or gotten into any significant conflicts he'd only had a bit of competition with that Calista person.

"Could it be because of what happened at the auction? But wasn't it him who raised the price first, trying to annoy me?" Charles thought, utterly puzzled.

The underground black market was bustling with people, and there were many stalls. It was a place where one could find all sorts of things well crafted weapons, alchemical materials that looked impressive, and all kinds of items at various price points.

Of course, everything in front of Charles was accompanied by an information prompt, making it easy for him to assess the items. He casually stood by a stall, glancing over the goods, instantly able to identify what was genuine and what was fake. It seemed to be a characteristic of the black market.

As Charles strolled around, keeping an eye on the crowd, he was hoping to spot the three individuals who had followed him earlier. He knew that to uncover who was targeting him, he would need to gather clues from these three. Now that Charles had shaken off their pursuit, it was likely they would contact others. Once that happened, he would have a clearer picture of everything.

Soon, while stopping by a stall, Charles suddenly caught a familiar scent in the air. His mind stirred, but he maintained a calm demeanor, showing no sign of change in his actions.

"Let's go, there's nothing to see here. We're here to do business, not to wander around," someone nearby muttered softly.

Charles discreetly glanced over, immediately recognizing two familiar figures. Their masks, clothing, height, and body shapes there was no mistaking them. The two were the very individuals who had been trailing him earlier!

One wore a white rabbit mask, while the other sported a green dog head mask. The person who had just spoken was the one with the green dog head mask. Charles kept a straight face and walked closer.

"This looks interesting," said the person wearing the white rabbit mask slowly.

"What's so interesting about it? It's just a mystical beast, a long eared rabbit with good self healing abilities. Other than being cute, it's useless," the one with the green dog head mask responded, sounding extremely bored. He was keeping an eye on the people around them, seemingly anxious, and continued, "Let's go. If we don't finish this, we won't get Cassian's recommendation, and we'll never meet Calista."

Cassian? Calista?

Charles overheard their conversation, surprised that, without even trying to investigate, they had revealed so much.

Were the people tracking him really this unprofessional?

Not a shred of competence!

Charles then considered that they probably hadn't realized he might reverse track them. Perhaps they simply thought he was just a regular Level 4 Beast Master.

At this moment, the long eared rabbit mystical beast, which had been staring at the small cage on the stall, suddenly spoke up:

"How much for this one, boss?"

"This long eared rabbit is a top tier specimen," the stall owner replied with a smile. "You don't need to worry about it getting sick or anything. Its self healing ability is so strong that even if it gets severely injured, it will heal itself without needing any care."

"Well then," the stall owner continued, "since you seem sincere about wanting it, I'll let it go for just five gold coins."

Before the person wearing the white rabbit mask could say anything, his companion the one wearing the green dog head mask interrupted with a sarcastic remark:

"Are you out of your mind? It's just a pet mystical beast! It's so weak that it can't even be contracted by a human, and you're asking for five gold coins? Are you crazy?"

The stall owner opened his mouth to defend himself, but before he could respond, the person wearing the white rabbit mask simply said one sentence, leaving everyone else frozen in place.

"I just want to know, if I skin it, will its fur grow back?" The person in the white rabbit mask asked, reaching a finger out to gently stroke the adorable long eared rabbit in the cage, his tone filled with curiosity.

The stall owner was taken aback by the question. He swallowed nervously and, unsure, replied, "Well... I think it should... as long as it doesn't lose too much blood, it should..."

Hearing the stall owner's response, the person in the white rabbit mask's eyes lit up instantly. He excitedly said, "That's good to know. I'm sure I won't make such a small mistake as letting it bleed too much."

Without hesitation, he pulled out five gold coins and tossed them to the stall owner.

The stall owner quickly picked up the coins from the ground and, carefully lifting the cage, handed it over.

The person wearing the green dog head mask quietly moved his body away to a distance, then spoke up:

"Let's go. We need to find a place to contact Cassian and see if there's another way... sigh..."

As the person in the white rabbit mask, holding the cage with the long eared rabbit, walked past Charles, he suddenly paused for a moment. He glanced at Charles, his eyes filled with a trace of excitement.

His companion thought he had discovered something and quickly became alert. However, after carefully scrutinizing Charles, they noticed the color of his mask was different, and his clothes and shoes didn't match. Out of curiosity, the companion quietly asked:

"What's up?"

The person wearing the white rabbit mask didn't answer. He simply looked at Charles a few more times before walking away with his companion.

After they had walked a bit farther, the person in the white rabbit mask spoke up:

"That person earlier was very interesting."

"Interesting? We've got important business to attend to. Don't stir up trouble," his companion responded, sounding somewhat exasperated.

"The way he looked at me I didn't like it. There was disgust in his eyes," the person in the white rabbit mask said slowly, his voice quiet. He paused again and continued, "When I stopped earlier, his first instinct was to casually glance at my throat and heart. Only someone with battle awareness similar to mine would do that."

"Always alert to everything around him, always ready to fight."

"He's the kind of opponent I'm looking for!"

"Absolutely!"

The person in the white rabbit mask, now named Skylar, became visibly excited. He gripped the cage with the long eared rabbit in his right hand and, with his left, began nervously chewing on his nails. His whole body trembled, as if he couldn't contain the excitement building inside him.

His companion, sensing the situation was getting out of hand, quickly muttered under his breath, "Skylar, your sister told you to listen to my orders. Have you forgotten?"

"You're not allowed to act recklessly. We still have business to finish!"

At the mention of his sister, Skylar stood still for a moment, then, with some regret, lowered his left hand and nodded silently.

Just then, the long eared rabbit inside the cage started to move restlessly. Skylar glanced at the rabbit but couldn't shake off his thoughts about the person they had just encountered, and he suddenly felt quite disinterested.

With a heavy sigh, he released his grip on the right side of the cage, and it immediately fell to the ground. Skylar then calmly raised his right foot and slowly stepped down.

Crunch, squish!

The sound of bones breaking and flesh being crushed filled the air as the once lively long eared rabbit was instantly reduced to a pile of mush.

...

"Useless! You can't even handle this little thing? I already told Wind, I'm waiting for you to embarrass Charles, and now you're telling me you lost track of him?" In a secluded corner of the black market, Cassian raised a finger and cursed angrily.

He had initially thought three people would be more than enough to handle Charles. Eager to succeed, Cassian had immediately told Calista about it.

Calista had seemed to scold him on the surface, but Cassian, who knew her well, could easily tell from her subtle movements that she was secretly pleased.

He had thought everything would go smoothly, but when he received the call, he could no longer sit still. He immediately rushed to the black market.

"Cassian, this wasn't our mistake. That guy, he really..." The person wearing the green dog head mask tried to explain, but Cassian immediately cut him off.

"Shut up! If you don't teach that guy a lesson and ease Wind's anger, you can go back to Kingston!" Cassian shouted furiously.

"Cassian, there's another way we could block him at the hotel entrance, but if we do that, the city's patrols and law enforcement will come to stop us..." The person wearing the green dog head mask only got halfway through his sentence before stopping.

He noticed that Skylar's behavior had suddenly changed, and something wasn't right.

"Skylar, what's going on?"

Following Skylar's gaze, the person in the green dog head mask saw a figure standing not far away it was the person Skylar had wanted to fight earlier!

Charles stood in the distance, slowly extending his hand to remove his mask, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his mouth. He even waved the mask in his hand, as if greeting them.

He already knew who had sent these people. Since he hadn't been able to find the items on his material list, why not take the opportunity to deal with these people?

Charles had a general understanding of Calista's intentions. It was likely that Calista had sent them to follow him to maintain face, or perhaps to preserve her perfect image in the eyes of others.

Another reason, though, was the name Skylar. He had heard of him before Skylar was said to be Kingston's most talented genius. Since the upcoming genius contest between Kingston and Genosha was fast approaching, it wouldn't hurt to meet an opponent ahead of time.

This way, Charles could not only show Calista that he wasn't someone to be messed with, but also gather some information on his enemy killing two birds with one stone.