C9 Jaylee!

Moments later, Symas managed to quell his excitement.

Even if he could forge contracts with over a dozen pets, the real challenge was whether he could afford to care for them all.

Right now, his top priority was to train his Charmander to level up quickly and reach the Overlord tier.

Otherwise, in three years, the horde of formidable Overlord Level creatures lurking beneath Littlewell would emerge from the SS level pet relic, transforming the base city into a battlefield.

He had less than six hundred thousand federal coins remaining.

Symas glanced at his account balance and let out a wry smile.

Just yesterday, it was two million.

Tomorrow, he'd sit for the pet breeder exam. With that certification, he could open a small pet breeding shop and start earning money.

Moreover, with the breeder certification, his admission to Farhaven University was virtually in the bag.

At his age, becoming a certified pet breeder was exceedingly rare.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

While Symas was deep in thought, his communication phone began to vibrate.

It was a video call from Jaylee.

Despite the wilderness teeming with monsters, the Trintis Dukedom ensured uninterrupted communication within its borders.

A century ago, the Dukedom invested heavily in deploying elite-level auxiliary pets and communication bugs among the base cities.

These communication pets functioned similarly to miniature satellites, facilitating signal exchange.

Each communication satellite worm was guarded by a Void Jellyfish, capable of cloaking itself in the void.

Only specialized scouting pets could detect the Void Jellyfish's whereabouts.

With the aid of numerous support pets, technological advancement had surged beyond the pre-star pet era.

Jaylee's icon popped up on the 'FeiXin' app, the official communication software of the Trintis Dukedom, bobbing incessantly.

The phone continued to tremble.

Symas answered the call.

A beautiful girl with sparkling eyes and a radiant smile appeared on the screen, her black, silky hair cascading over her shoulders.

"Symas, is the summoning ceremony over?" her soothing voice inquired.

"Yes, it's finished. I've summoned a Fire Vine with three-star aptitude."

"Uncle Callahan still doesn't know; he's yet to return from outside the base city," Symas replied.

"Three-star aptitude, that's impressive!"

"Do you have a particular Beast Tamer University in mind?" Jaylee inquired.

Symas and Uncle Callahan's deep friendship stemmed from a life-saving act by Symas' father, who risked his own life and limb, enduring a broken arm and a dark magic poison that left him with a chronic ailment, to rescue Callahan and his daughter from danger.

Symas' parents had perished in battle within the city. Uncle Callahan harbored guilt, suspecting that the hidden illness from the rescue contributed to their ultimate sacrifice.

Since the loss of Symas' parents, Jaylee and Uncle Callahan had been his pillars of support, guiding him through his grief.

Back in his high school days in the base city, Symas had been targeted by local bullies. Jaylee, fiercely protective, had taken a baseball bat to them, teaching them a lesson they wouldn't forget. From that day on, everyone at Third High knew that Symas was under Jaylee's wing, and he was left untroubled, especially after Jaylee's admission to Farhaven University, which only bolstered her formidable reputation.

Graduates from Farhaven's Beast Tamer University were destined to become at least elite beast tamers, with mentors of the overlord level. The mere mention of an overlord level beast tamer was enough to command respect; Littlewell itself only boasted two.

Symas' eyes flickered with reminiscence before snapping back to the present. "Yes, Farhaven's Beast Tamer University!"

"Sis, you can stop worrying. I've even contracted a black iron six-star support pet, the Remex Spiritual Plant. It all started when I offhandedly mentioned something seemed off about Idod's mansion steward. Turns out, he was actually with the Dark Order..."

Symas then recounted the story he had prepared, explaining how Baegla had given him the pet store gift card.

"Dark Order..." Symas caught the shift in Jaylee's demeanor. The moment he brought up the Dark Order, her eyes transformed from those of a gentle kitten to a fierce wild white lion, her aura changing drastically, if only for a second.

Symas was acutely aware that as students of the Beast Tamer University, they were marked by the Dark Order, with substantial bounties on their heads. Jaylee herself had survived an assassination attempt, and after a costly fight, she had slain her attacker and claimed a hefty bounty.

"It's far too risky. The Dark Order has its people infiltrated everywhere, and the Mckinney family might still have other spies lurking around. They may not lay a hand on you, but there's still a significant risk."

"The City Guards patrol this area every day. Dark Order spies wouldn't risk their necks for someone as insignificant as me. It's just not worth it."

Symas was pragmatic, speaking nothing but the truth.

"Still, you've got to admit, you're pretty fortunate."

"Pfft, fortunate? I figured it out through analysis. It was all about smarts," Symas said with a laugh.

"Even though this is your second pet and the bonding might not be as strong as with the first, it's not a problem. You've met the threshold."

On the other end of the screen, Jaylee's lips curled into a smile.

"What's this? I'm off to become a Pet Breeder tomorrow. Soon, everyone at Beast Tamer University will be pleading for me to join them."

"Dream on. I've got other things to handle. Just be extra careful from now on."

"Let me know when my dad gets back to the base city. Send me a message."

In that moment,

Jaylee's warm demeanor cooled off as soon as she ended the call.

She immediately reached out to a junior from the City Guards in Littlewell.

"Hey, Xue Tong, I could use your help."

A tall woman clad in snug black armor, with long hair flowing down her back, answered Jaylee's call from within the Littlewell base city.

She and Jaylee were contemporaries at Farhaven's Beast Tamer University and hailed from the same city.

They had both been admitted to Beast Tamer University and on one occasion, during a mission to a pet relic site, Jaylee had saved her life. Their friendship was deep and solid.

Zhang Xue Tong was in Littlewell to join her academy team in securing some dog skull gold skulls from a level D pet relic site.

These skulls, brimming with potent metallic energy, were key in enhancing the metal attribute of black iron level pets.

"Could you ask the City Guards to increase patrols near Valengor Residence? Symas has gotten a bit entangled with the Dark Order."

"The Dark Order?"

"Yeah, I'm on it. You can count on me."

With a few words exchanged, the call ended.

Zhang Xue Tong, who was the deputy commander of the City Guards, knew that deploying an extra patrol team to a neighborhood was a minor task.

The patrol teams already conduct routine surveillance in designated areas. The only change is a slight adjustment to the regions where the Dark Order has gone undetected. This shift should have minimal impact.

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