Global Beast Mastery: Only I Can See the Hints

Charles spat out a mouthful of red wine when he came across a viral video of a streaker screaming in pain as [pepper spray] was applied to his wounds.

He wasn't particularly interested in the streaker, but when he realized the man, pixelated in sensitive areas, was Benjamin, he couldn't help but laugh:

"Is this what they call poetic justice?"

His revenge was silent but fierce.

Over the past week, in between training sessions with Max and Mousie, he'd made trips to the Miller family pharmaceuticals' workshop to tamper with various ingredients.

According to the shipping schedule of the Miller family pharmaceuticals, Charles reckoned that all 54 chain stores were now stocked with his 'spiked' medicines.

"With less than half a month until I head to Cyber Academy, let me quietly enjoy the downfall of Sly and his cronies," Charles murmured, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

After he emptied the stocks of Sly and Kevin, these once-prominent members of the top three families in Lsengard were already weakened, which explained their desperate move to add a 120-times dose of painkillers—truly an unethical act.

And this was just the beginning. Within three days, his concoction, 'Coca-Cola,' would sweep through Lsengard, completely cutting off any lifeline for the Miller family pharmaceuticals.

Soon, under the crushing weight of their debts, Sly and Kevin would find themselves irreversibly doomed.

With Charles's current capabilities, it was still challenging to kill two level-four Beast Masters, and unnecessary—unless, of course, Sly and his cohort pushed him too far. Though he couldn't beat them openly, he was not above using more covert means, like poisoning.

Yawning, Charles rubbed Max's furry belly, getting ready for bed, when his phone vibrated.

[Charles, if you're free tomorrow afternoon, could you please pick someone up at the station?] It was a message from Ezra.

"Pick up who?" Charles replied, puzzled. Aside from his missing parents, he knew no one else outside of Lsengard.

[Hehe, you'll see when you get there.] Ezra sent Charles a photo and then went offline.

"Picking someone up is fine... but what's with sending me a decade-old photo?" Charles couldn't help but complain.

The photo showed a cute young girl with a sun hat and a long blue dress, sitting quietly on a park bench. Her blue eyes looked as pure as lake waters at the camera.

With her light golden hair, she didn't look like she was from Genosha. Charles figured she'd be easy to recognize.

"Cyber Academy only recruits two people from the whole Lsengard region; she must be someone formidable." Sighing lightly, Charles put away his phone and fell asleep with Max.

...

The next morning, as the first rays of dawn touched the misty airs of Lsengard, the city was dominated by a single advertisement.

"Hurt, tired, exhausted, drink Coca-Cola!"

Seeing the advertisement on the shopping mall's glass facade, Thomas scoffed dismissively, then suddenly sneered: "The Blackwood family must really be desperate, resorting to even greater deceptions than our Fenton family pharmaceuticals. We may skimp on alchemy ingredients, but we've never claimed our products to be a panacea."

"After drinking it, wounds heal in one minute, it enhances poison resistance, and if a mystical beast drinks it, it boosts their attack power by 3%."

"Only a fool would believe that, right?"

Thomas turned his gaze away, annoyed, only to find that the damned advertisement was everywhere!

At the entrance of the Lsengard department store, a screen was even playing a short video, drawing crowds of several hundred onlookers.

In the video.

A ferocious beast hunter, covered in blood, was given a swig of Coca-Cola. The blood-soaked wounds on his body visibly healed at an astonishing rate!

A first-level Beast Master, facing a two-horned rhinoceros standing five meters tall—a clear mismatch in combat levels—fed his mystical beast a sip of Coca-Cola and managed a miraculous reversal!

And there were even more outrageous claims—a Beast Master who hadn't advanced in 30 years drank a can of Coca-Cola and suddenly broke through to the second level!

"What exactly is this 'Coca-Cola'? I've never heard of it before. Is it really that miraculous?"

"It's probably a scam, right? Just like the Miller family pharmaceuticals, selling pepper spray for a thousand copper coins!"

"Let me tell you, it's true. The old man next door fell down the stairs and broke his leg yesterday, couldn't afford the hospital, bought a can of Coca-Cola from the Blackwood family pharmaceuticals, and healed in less than a minute!"

"This Coca-Cola not only cures diseases and detoxifies but also eliminates drug addiction. My dad hasn't had the Miller family pharmaceuticals' painkillers in a day!"

"My husband drank a can yesterday, and he kept me up all night!"

"Holy crap! Is it really as miraculous as you say?"

Watching more and more people gather at the entrance of the Lsengard department store, Thomas couldn't help but move closer to see if this thing was really as magical as claimed.

After waiting in line for a long time, he finally snatched a can from the shelf.

Skeptically, he made a small cut on his arm with a knife, and blood immediately began to seep out.

He drank a can of Coca-Cola, smacking his lips, "Doesn't seem like anything special."

However, as soon as he spoke, a tingling sensation came from the wound, then it was enveloped in a pale green wood energy. The bleeding stopped instantly, and the wound healed at a visibly fast pace.

In less than a minute, the wound was as good as new—without even a scar left behind!

Smack!

Witnessing this, Thomas was so shocked that he dropped his half-full can of Coca-Cola to the ground.

Is this supposed to be a beverage? This is a miracle cure!

Naturally, the surrounding crowd witnessed this scene, clearly recognizing the medical miracle happening right before their eyes—definitely not computer effects.

"My God, this Coca-Cola seems really powerful! I saw his wound heal in less than a minute; that's something usually only seen with Tone Reproduction miracle drugs that cost over 10 silver coins! This stuff is way better than the Miller family pharmaceuticals' healing medicine, and it only costs 100 copper coins!"

Word spread quickly from one to ten, ten to a hundred; the entire department store was abuzz.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands of people flocked to the store...

Even many ferocious beast hunters ran out of the Miller family's drugstores to join the queue.

Why bother with the highly addictive healing drugs from the Miller family when a single beverage can heal wounds and offer various other miraculous benefits?

In the frenzy, Thomas was nearly crushed by the crowd.

He never imagined that his unintended action would become the best advertisement for Coca-Cola!

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...

"Damn, this stuff really seems to be powerful!"

In the high-level conference room of the Miller family pharmaceuticals' building, Axel stared blankly at the caramel-colored drink in his cup that Thomas had brought back, utterly stunned.

As a competitor, he was naturally inclined to nitpick, but Kevin, after much scrutiny, couldn't find any fault either!

His recently cut hand had already healed, and if not for a few drops of blood left on the table, who could have believed he was just injured?

Even the 3% increase in power was confirmed through a test field; within minutes of drinking Coca-Cola, his strength had indeed increased by over 100 kilograms!

The conference room was eerily silent, and at the front, Kevin's hand trembled slightly as he held the can of Coca-Cola.

Following yesterday's pepper spray scandal, the Miller family pharmaceuticals' healing medicine was already unsellable, impacting sales of other drugs in the store, and their overall sales had plummeted by 50%.

Originally, he had wanted Thomas to shoot a video exposing the Coca-Cola as a fake, but instead, it backfired, solidifying the product's genuine reputation!

"Glug—" Kevin gulped down a mouthful and felt an incredible change within his body, his eyes widening in disbelief: "This thing, even if it cost 5 silver coins, I'd say it's worth it. How can it only be 100 copper coins? The Blackwood family must have really invested a fortune to crush our Fenton family pharmaceuticals!"

The high-level executives and alchemists of the Miller family pharmaceuticals present were speechless. Having practiced alchemy for years, no one knew better than them how ludicrous it was to reduce the cost of this product to under 100 copper coins.

The level of alchemy technology was perhaps more than 30 years ahead of the Miller family pharmaceuticals...

The entire Fenton family pharmaceuticals could very well falter because of this single product.

Many were already secretly considering switching to the Blackwood family pharmaceuticals.

Bang!

Sly's face contorted with veins bulging as he punched the can of Coca-Cola, only to be sprayed with carbonated foam, leaving him in a total mess.

"This has to be Raj's dumping strategy. A miracle drug like this selling for only 100 copper coins, is that possible?" Sly wiped his face with a tissue, seething: "Starting tomorrow, all our Fenton family pharmaceuticals' miracle drugs will go on sale at a 90% discount. Let's see who runs out of steam first!"

Hearing Sly's words, Axel's expression shifted slightly, looking at him with some difficulty: "Brother Zhao, our Fenton family pharmaceuticals just got off the ground recently. We borrowed a lot for the alchemy equipment, and the creditors are already pressing us. This 90% discount..."

"It might just break our cash flow!"

As the most powerful family in Lsengard, the Taylor family, though severely weakened, was still mightier than a horse as a skinny camel, and almost equivalent to the chairman of the Miller family pharmaceuticals.

At this moment, the executives and investors of the Miller family pharmaceuticals were all waiting for Sly's next move.

Collecting himself, Sly wiped the sweat from his forehead and gritted his teeth:

"Hmph, just Charles. I'll take out another loan of 100 gold coins tomorrow, and sell all our drugs at a 90% discount! I don't believe Raj can last much longer."

A bead of sweat rolled down Sly's cheek. In his decades of doing business in Lsengard, he had never felt fear like he did today. It seemed that this time, he really had crossed someone he shouldn't have.

From his son's death in the ferocious beast mountains, to his warehouses being emptied, to the Taylor family's near bankruptcy, and now almost at a dead end—it seemed that these past three months, nothing had gone Sly's way...

Now buried in debt, there was no turning back for him; if he couldn't bring down the Blackwood family pharmaceuticals, Sly would be left with nowhere to lay to rest.

The conference room was filled with sighs, as it seemed their only option was to keep borrowing to outlast the Blackwood family pharmaceuticals.

Bang—

Suddenly, the conference room door was slammed open. An employee stumbled in, tumbling towards Axel:

"Mr. Axel! Just now, the president of the Beast Master Guild, Perceval, came by and said our healing medicine contains sedatives at 12,000% over the legal limit. The Beast Master Guild has just issued a ban! All Beast Masters registered in Lsengard are prohibited from purchasing any products from the Miller family pharmaceuticals or providing any alchemy ingredients to us!"

"For a period of... five years!"

Boom!

Sly felt a whiteness before his eyes, nearly unable to stand...