Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

The Doppelganger Puppet being a rank higher than Little Treasure is a separate issue.

At present, only its limbs are here, and each one is fitted with fake human prosthetics. The doppelganger hasn’t even assembled its true form.

Without sensory stimulation, three of Little Treasure’s skills, Lick, Hypnosis, and Dream-Eater, are rendered useless.

The remaining skills are Barrier, Telekinesis, and Teleportation.

Of these, only Telekinesis has any offensive capability, and if it can’t control all four limbs at once, the unrestrained limbs will likely take the chance to attack Little Treasure.

After all, Teleportation and Telekinesis can’t be used simultaneously.

This is tricky...

For the first time, Qiao Sang felt that Little Treasure’s skill set was lacking.

However, if the goal isn’t to defeat the doppelganger but to shake it off, there might still be a way.

“Toss them in different directions!”

Little Treasure hesitated upon hearing the command, dodging the limbs as he disdainfully glanced at the bloodstained prosthetics.

He pouted, but his resolve soon hardened.

This was the Beastmaster’s order, after all.

Worst case, he could always clean himself off on the Beastmaster’s head later.

"Xun!"

Little Treasure quickened his teleportation, constantly shifting positions.

Seizing the right moment, he teleported behind one of the doppelganger’s feet, caught it off guard, and carried it on his shoulder, disappearing from the doppelganger’s sight with consecutive teleports.

The remaining two hands and one foot were left dumbfounded.

Or more accurately, the hidden head in the darkness couldn’t process what had just happened.

The Doppelganger Puppet’s eyes widened in shock, watching as the Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost vanished with one of its legs.

“Doppel!”

The doppelganger was furious. Usually, people would be terrified of it, their reactions amusing it endlessly.

But today!

First, it got kicked in the face, and now its own hands were being treated with disdain!

Previously, the voice in its earpiece had barely kept it calm, but now, the voice was gone, and it had no reason to hold back.

After all, its Beastmaster had told it to follow the earpiece instructions.

“Doppel!”

The doppelganger glared at where Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost had disappeared, completely forgetting the others’ presence. It quickly summoned its remaining hands and feet to chase after it.

Qiao Sang watched the floating head and the remaining limbs follow Little Treasure but didn’t rush; she remained calm.

She had already suspected that the doppelganger’s head was here, so she wasn’t surprised.

Its limbs couldn’t have independent thought. They were like a doppelganger but not quite, after all, aside from moving, the limbs couldn’t use any abilities.

Plus, the limbs were being controlled by the doppelganger itself.

If the limbs were doppelgangers, then the head was the true body, overseeing everything from the shadows.

Otherwise, the limbs wouldn’t have been able to perceive Little Treasure’s teleportation.

Sure enough, the head had now appeared.

As for why the doppelganger hadn’t assembled its head and limbs, that was easy to guess.

It was missing the connecting torso.

The Doppelganger Puppet had left different body parts at different checkpoints; the torso was probably elsewhere.

“Qiao... Qiao Sang, the Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost will be okay, right?” Fang Sisi came up beside Qiao Sang, dazed.

She had always known Qiao Sang had become powerful after her brain domain awakened, not only contracting Fire Fang Dog but also winning the Bai Xin Competition with it.

It wasn’t that Fire Fang Dog wasn’t strong, but winning against Beastmasters much older than them seemed impossible.

After all, some of those Beastmasters had mid-tier evolved pets, while Fire Fang Dog was still in its basic form.

Just when she thought they were cornered in the second chamber with no chance of summoning the Flame Hound, Qiao Sang’s second contracted pet, Treasure-Seeking Ghost, swiftly dealt with Baby Shell and lured away the doppelganger...

It felt surreal...

Like they were supposed to be slacking off together, but Qiao Sang had somehow turned into an overpowered genius.

“It’ll be fine.” Qiao Sang said, watching where Little Treasure had vanished.

“That... that skill Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost was using to keep changing positions, what’s it called?” Fang Sisi asked curiously.

“It looks just like teleportation.”

“It’s called teleportation.” Qiao Sang replied.

Fang Sisi: ?!

“Say that again. What’s the skill called?!”

Fang Sisi’s eyes widened, disbelief filling her voice.

“Teleportation.” Qiao Sang repeated.

Fang Sisi stood frozen. Though she considered herself a bit of a slacker, she knew that teleportation was a skill exclusive to psychic-type pets. But wasn’t Treasure-Seeking Ghost a ghost-type?

Could it be...

“Just as you’re thinking.” Qiao Sang answered before Fang Sisi could even ask.

Fang Sisi fell silent.

After a while, she said, “Qiao Sang, do you remember the school exams, when I risked getting caught to write cheat sheets for you? Or that time when you were punished to run laps, and I stayed with you on the field? And every time you went to the bathroom, I was always there with you, remember?”

Qiao Sang blinked, recalling, “Yes, I remember. One time, you altered a few of the answers to avoid suspicion, and I ended up ranking fifth to last, while you dropped to third to last and got your allowance docked for a month.”

Fang Sisi twitched.

Qiao Sang continued, “And that time on the field, I was running while you ate an ice pop. You saw your crush holding hands with another girl, and before you could finish the ice pop, you ran to the bathroom to cry.”

Fang Sisi: ...

“As for the bathroom-”

“Enough!” Fang Sisi cut her off, worried she might suffer a heart attack if this went on.

“Are we friends?” Fang Sisi asked, switching tactics.

“Yes.” Qiao Sang nodded.

“We’ve been friends for years. Don’t you think it’s time our relationship grew even closer?” Fang Sisi cleared her throat, adopting a serious tone.

“What do you think about evolving my Cotton Bug into Phantom Butterfly and having it marry your Treasure-Seeking Ghost to produce a pet with extraordinary potential?”

Qiao Sang: ...

“Don’t worry about whose pet it would belong to afterward. Whether it’s a Cotton Bug or a Treasure-Seeking Ghost, I’ll treat it well.”

“Get lost!”

“...”

In the world of Beastmasters, it wasn’t just the Beastmasters who held an advantage in the matchmaking scene, pets with great potential were highly sought after, too.

Many Beastmasters would arrange marriages for their pets with others of high potential, like a kind of arranged marriage.

Pets didn’t need to be of the same species to mate. As long as they were compatible, pets of different types or sizes could pair up.

The resulting pet would hatch as one of the parent species.

“Treasure-Seeking Ghost and Cotton Bug have different growth cycles. He’s only a month old. Don’t even think about it.” Qiao Sang warned.

A month old... Fang Sisi immediately abandoned the idea.

Ghost-type pets at one month old were basically like newborns who still needed to be bottle-fed. They couldn’t do much yet.

By the time the Treasure-Seeking Ghost matured, her Cotton Bug would already be old...

After the warning, Qiao Sang refocused on Little Treasure.

She estimated he had gone far enough by now. Just as she was about to perform the hand signs to summon him back, she realized she was still holding Black Sludge.

“Hold this for me.” Qiao Sang said, handing Black Sludge to Fang Sisi before making the hand signs.

Tossing the limbs had only been a diversion to lure the doppelganger away. Once Little Treasure was far enough, she could summon him back, and the doppelganger wouldn’t be able to follow.

If a pet was nearby, a simple thought or wave could bring it back to the Beastmaster’s Codex. But if it was out of sight, summoning hand signs were required.

After completing the hand signs, Qiao Sang quickly summoned Little Treasure back.

“Xun!”

The little ghost happily floated back to his designated spot, rubbing his paws on her head before floating to a side, no longer resting on his Beastmaster’s hair.

Qiao Sang didn’t notice anything strange, turning to praise, “Well done.”

“Xun~”

The little ghost’s eyes squinted in joy. To him, this was all just fun and games.

“Let’s keep moving.” Qiao Sang said, ready to step forward.

She had just lifted her left foot when Fang Sisi grabbed her excitedly.

“Didn’t you realize you just summoned the Little Treasure-Seeker Ghost?!”

Qiao Sang blinked, realizing the implication. Her heart raced as she quickly performed the hand signs to summon Yabao.

It failed...

"Give it a try." Qiao Sang turned her head and said.

"Okay." Fang Sisi handed the black mud to Qiao Sang and then began to form seals.

Three seconds later.

A cotton bug covered in red liquid, its appearance indistinguishable except for its round, wide eyes, appeared in front of them.

"Ji?"

The cotton bug tilted its head, confused as to why it had suddenly changed locations.

"Miànmiàn!" The moment Fang Sisi saw the cotton bug, she pounced on it, holding it tightly in her arms, her voice choking with emotion.

"Wah... I... I thought I would never see you again..."

"Ji-ji."

The cotton bug blinked in confusion, not understanding what had just happened.

Qiao Sang stood nearby, frowning as she fell into thought.

Everyone had been unable to summon their pet beasts outside the chamber, but inside, it seemed to work.

It must mean the issue was with the outer layer of the chamber, not inside. But why couldn’t she summon Yabao?

Qiao Sang grew anxious, unknowingly tightening her grip.

At that moment, the black sludge slowly opened its eyes, awakened by the pain.

"Hei!"

The black sludge transformed into a stream and flowed down from Qiao Sang's hands, reforming its original shape as it cautiously looked around.

"Hei! Hei!"

Qiao Sang's eyes lit up. Finally awake! It wasn’t for nothing that she carried it around for so long!

"I'm the Beast Master of the Flames Hound. You’ve seen it before, the pet beast with white and red fur."

Qiao Sang asked urgently, "Do you know where it went? What happened just now? Why did you faint?"

The black mud froze, as if it had remembered something. It opened its mouth, and its belly suddenly swelled. From inside, it spat out a pet beast covered in bits of black mud.

"It's the Flames Hound!" Fang Sisi exclaimed while holding her cotton bug and looking over in shock.

Qiao Sang stared blankly for a while, dumbfounded at the pet beast that had just been spat out onto the ground.

What the heck? Isn’t this Yabao!

She had imagined all kinds of scenarios, but never had she expected Yabao to be inside the black sludge’s stomach!

She had spent all that time searching, and it turned out Yabao had been with her the whole time in a roundabout way!

Yabao lay on the ground with his eyes closed, drooling at the corner of his mouth.

Qiao Sang: ...

She had been frantically searching for him, and he had been napping the whole time?

Qiao Sang couldn’t hold back. She crouched down, tugged Yabao's ear, and shouted, "Wake up! Water Luriana is back!"

"Yap!!!"

Yabao's eyes snapped open, and he immediately jumped up, his fur standing on end, ready for battle.

"Yap!"

"Yap!"

Yabao frantically looked around. Where? Where? Where’s Water Luriana?

Qiao Sang: ...

Not bad, at least he’s not hurt, still in good spirits...

---

Ten minutes later, Qiao Sang had pieced together the rough sequence of events.

Yabao had caused a fire during the first stage, so the black sludge activated its emergency Plan B to use its special ability to carry Yabao to the next stage. But just after it absorbed Yabao, it inexplicably fainted.

"Qiao Sang, I have a bad feeling about this place." Fang Sisi said as she held her still-confused cotton bug and looked to Qiao Sang for her opinion.

In the world of Beast Masters, strength ultimately ruled.

In the past, if Fang Sisi had found her cotton bug, she would have made her own decision about whether it should return to work in the third-stage chamber or leave with her.

But now, she instinctively deferred to Qiao Sang's judgment.

"We should leave for now." Qiao Sang replied.

There were too many strange things going on here. It made sense that Yabao couldn’t be summoned back while inside the black sludge’s stomach.

But the other Beast Masters couldn’t summon their pets from outside the chamber either, and their pets weren’t inside the black mud. That was the first strange thing.

The second was that Yabao had clearly fallen asleep before entering the black sludge’s stomach.

Otherwise, if he had been awake when swallowed, there was no way he could have slept.

And not just Yabao, black sludge, the NPC under the stone slab, and the masked specter at the passage entrance were all asleep too.

Thirdly, where were the chamber staff?

Logically, there should have been surveillance inside. As soon as she and Fang Sisi broke in, they should have been seen, but no staff had shown up so far.

Qiao Sang and Fang Sisi began walking in the direction they came from.

At that moment, the ambient lighting in the waterway flickered, and a pet beast with purple skin, three sharp horns on its head, and blood-red eyes appeared before them.

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, the cameras covering the first and second rooms came back online.

---

Hangang City.

Police Station.

Many people bustled around a desk, reporting their progress.

"Captain Liu, Target No. 10 has appeared at No. 99, Tongshang Road."

"Captain Liu, Target No. 6 has been captured under the Qianshan Bridge."

"Captain Liu, there’s a report from No. 27, Kuantun Road, someone’s child suddenly ate ten bowls of rice in one night. We suspect Target No. 12 is there."

"Captain Liu, No. 231, Qinsha Road has reported that a customer couldn’t summon their pet beast, and the staff inside can’t be contacted either. We suspect Target No. 2 has gone in."

The man, who had been looking over files, raised his head and asked, "Is Target No. 2 the Dreamless Doll?"

"Yes, Captain Liu."

"Has the patrol team been notified?" The man asked.

"We’ve already contacted them."

The man flipped through the files again and said, "Among the pet beasts that came out of the rift this time, the Dreamless Doll and the Three-Eyed Phantom Cicada are the most dangerous. Send more people."

"Understood, Captain Liu."

"Wait." The man suddenly stopped, no longer flipping through the documents. He looked seriously at the person reporting, his expression grave.

"When the Dreamless Doll appeared, Qian Song from the guard team fought it. He didn’t notice it had the ability to prevent pet beasts from being summoned."

"What if it’s not the Dreamless Doll in there, but Target No. 1, the Three-Eyed Phantom Cicada? I’ll go with you."

---

Inside the chamber.

In the sewer.

Fang Sisi swallowed nervously as she looked at the pet beast in front of them.

She turned her head, nudging Qiao Sang's arm and whispered, "That’s not one of the NPCs from the chamber. It doesn’t look friendly. What do you think? Can we beat it?"

Qiao Sang glanced at her and said, "It’s a Dreamless Doll, a high-level ghost-type pet beast. You want to give it a shot?"

Fang Sisi chuckled awkwardly, "Well, maybe it’s not here to cause trouble. It could have been sent in by someone outside to check the situation."

Qiao Sang asked, "You’ve been here for a few days. Do you know anyone who’s contracted a Dreamless Doll?"

Fang Sisi shook her head in despair.

Qiao Sang sighed. What rotten luck. It seemed like the strange occurrences in the chamber were caused by this Dreamless Doll.

"Hei!"

At that moment, the black sludge stepped forward and called out to the Dreamless Doll.

Just when Qiao Sang thought the Dreamless Doll might at least try to communicate, its red eyes glowed, and in the next second, the black sludge’s eyes closed.

It collapsed.

Qiao Sang: !!!

The Dreamless Doll attacked without warning or provocation, completely unlike any pet beast she’d ever encountered!

At least Yabao would strike a pose or give a threatening smile before a fight.

This Dreamless Doll had acted without hesitation, launching an attack out of nowhere.

"Little Treasure, ambush! Yabao, attack from the front!" Qiao Sang quickly gave her orders.

Fang Sisi stood frozen, terrified. How had things escalated to a fight so suddenly?

She had only ever seen small skirmishes or battles in arenas. She had never experienced such an unpredictable situation where they had no idea who or what they were up against.

"Get behind me." Qiao Sang said, pulling Fang Sisi behind her.

Fang Sisi, still holding her cotton bug, teared up as she stared at Qiao Sang’s back. Such a strong sense of security!

The first to follow Qiao Sang’s command was Little Treasure.

He immediately vanished from sight. The Dreamless Doll’s red eyes darted around before it suddenly raised its right claw, forming a black shadow ball and hurling it toward the front-right corner.

"Xun!"

Little Treasure, startled to see the shadow ball only a fraction of an inch away, froze and forgot to dodge.

Just as the shadow ball was about to hit Little Treasure, he suddenly disappeared from sight.

"Dream."

The Dreamless Doll paused, turning its gaze toward the pale human standing before it.

Qiao Sang's heart pounded. Of course, the ghost-type pet beast could see through its invisible counterpart.

That was close, just a little closer, and the shadow ball would have struck the Little Treasure.

If hit by a high-level pet’s shadow ball, Little Treasure might have fainted on the spot.

Fortunately, Qiao Sang was quick enough to summon Little Treasure back into her Beast Taming Codex

After all, the Dreamless Doll's reflexes far exceeded those of Little Treasure.

Qiao Sang glanced at Yabao, who was bristling with anger and glaring at the Dreamless Doll.

Even though the encounter had only lasted a few seconds, Yabao’s usual attack speed should have had him striking by now.

So it’s true... Yabao has been affected by the ghost-type pet...

Qiao Sang formed a hand seal and summoned Little Treasure once more.

"Xun!"

Little Treasure had lost his playful grin.

"Dream."

Just then, the Dreamless Doll's eyes glowed red again, this time targeting Qiao Sang.

"Damn! It’s a wild ghost-type pet!" Fang Sisi screamed from behind.

Whether a pet is wild is determined by whether it attacks humans without reason, if it does, it’s most likely a wild pet.

Qiao Sang instinctively locked eyes with the Dreamless Doll’s red ones, but her vision was suddenly blocked by a red-and-white figure.

Qiao Sang’s face paled, and she shouted, "Yabao, close your eyes!"

Three seconds later, Yabao was still standing.

Qiao Sang let out a sigh of relief.

"Yap!"

After the close call of nearly having his master attacked, Yabao opened his eyes again, with no trace of fear toward the ghost-type pet, only anger.

He raised his head slightly, gathering a bright red energy ball.

The Dreamless Doll paused, as if realizing something, and its eyes glowed red again. This time, a multicolored beam shot from its eyes, directly toward the still-charging Yabao.

"Dodge quickly!" Qiao Sang shouted, her eyelid twitching.

Yabao had no choice but to abandon his energy ball and dart to the side.

The beam hit where Yabao had been, causing no damage to the ground.

Qiao Sang's expression grew serious. That was a strange light, a skill only ghost-type pets possess.

It causes confusion in the opponent. If it hit Yabao, not only would the energy ball be interrupted, but Yabao would fall into a state of confusion as well.

"Use your clones to surround it."

Upon hearing his master's command, Yabao summoned his energy, and together with his sixteen Flame Hounds, surrounded the Dreamless Doll.

In the next moment, sixteen Flame Hounds fired red flames, each the size of a basketball, from their mouths.

The fire sparks, mastered to the peak of their skill, seemed to burn with a life of their own.

"Dream."

The Dreamless Doll, surrounded by fire, felt a sense of crisis.

Just as it was about to move, an invisible force halted it for a second.

Boom!!!

Sixteen massive fireballs collided in the same direction, creating an earth-shattering explosion that drowned out the Dreamless Doll's screams.

The fiery blast swept through the entire sewer.

Qiao Sang squinted against the blinding firelight.

"Did we succeed?" Fang Sisi’s trembling voice came from behind.

Qiao Sang pursed her lips without answering.

"Xun." The blue light around Little Treasure dissipated.

Although he had only controlled the Dreamless Doll for a moment with his psychic power, the energy difference between them was vast. Little Treasure was clearly exhausted.

From the smoke caused by the collision of flames, a purple-black figure slowly emerged.

The Dreamless Doll hadn’t fallen. It was gasping for breath, but Yabao didn’t give it a chance to rest. Several peak-level fire sparks once again shot toward it.

"Xun!"

At that moment, Little Treasure suddenly glanced behind his master, his eyes widening in shock. He instinctively teleported.

Qiao Sang felt her mouth go dry, realizing something.

She stiffly turned her head and looked up, only to see a cicada-like pet with transparent wings, gray all over, and three narrow, squinting eyes, along with Little Treasure.

"Xun!"

In the next second, Little Treasure let out a cry and fell from mid-air.

Qiao Sang reached out to catch him and saw that he had already fainted. Looking up again, she noticed that the pet was staring at her too, a black energy ball forming in its mouth.

She recognized this pet.

The Three-Eyed Ghost Cicada, a high-level pet, was a ghost-type supernatural creature that loved absorbing life energy.

-----

T/N: Only one chapter update today. I realize this chapter was double the word count of a normal chap. Since I'm still doing some school stuff, figure I'll just do this one for now.

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