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Da Hui's full name is Gray Night Totoro. Despite being a powerful pet beast, it's known for its docile temperament and is commonly used for heavy labor, like transporting goods. Although it boasts great strength—able to lift objects weighing several tons—it lacks any unique or outstanding abilities. The Gray Night Totoro race is also widely recognized as having no known evolutionary path on Blue Star, making it an unpopular choice for most beastmasters.
Ye Bai first discovered Da Hui on a stormy night, battered and bruised in a garbage dump. At that time, its fur was not gray, but snow-white—an indicator that it was a heterochromatic pet beast, which would fetch a high price on the black market.
Ye Bai glanced at Da Hui and saw it was covered in wounds, the most serious being a deep gash in its abdomen, with some of its intestines exposed. Shackles had left marks on its wrists and ankles, and a collar resembling a dog tag hung around its neck.
Lying in the trash, seemingly dead, Da Hui suddenly grabbed Ye Bai's ankle when he tried to leave, its large blue eyes filled with a desperate will to live. That look of determination touched Ye Bai. Despite the risk, he used the only beast storage card he had left to take Da Hui in. He then carefully erased all traces of his path and deleted surveillance footage along the way.
Based on the dog tag and the scars on Da Hui, Ye Bai suspected it had escaped from a private research facility. The heavy rain helped erase evidence, and once Ye Bai brought it back and released it from the beast card, Da Hui appeared lifeless—except for the faint rise and fall of its belly.
With only basic medical supplies at his disposal, Ye Bai stitched up Da Hui's wounds and gave it antibiotics. He also disabled the self-destruct mechanism in the collar and confirmed Da Hui had already destroyed the internal tracker.
Ye Bai braced for a rough recovery, but to his surprise, Da Hui's wounds began to heal within a day. Within three days, its snow-white fur turned gray, its injuries fully scabbed over, and its once bright blue eyes changed to turquoise—only occasionally reflecting their original color.
Da Hui also lost much of its memory. It only remembered being abandoned and had no recollection of its escape or the cause of its injuries.
Worried, Ye Bai hid all traces of Da Hui's presence. As expected, strangers began appearing in the neighborhood, looking for something. But because Da Hui's appearance had changed and Ye Bai had forged identity records by hacking into the system, they never discovered the truth. Eventually, they gave up the search.
For three peaceful years, Ye Bai and Da Hui lived quietly. Perhaps because of its own experience, Da Hui sympathized deeply with abandoned pet beasts. Most of the pets it brought back had defects:
Thunder Pig, once capable of releasing powerful electric currents, was abandoned due to malfunctioning organs.
Chameleon, a once-popular beast with camouflage abilities, was discarded due to a fault in its invisibility mechanism.
To cancel a pet contract, beastmasters must use a rare and expensive item called Styx Water, which starts at 50,000 alliance coins. Abandoned pets that sever their contracts voluntarily cannot form new ones for two years. As a result, Ye Bai's breeding house had essentially become a shelter.
Once a carefree student, Ye Bai now struggled to make ends meet. The monthly cost of feeding the animals was staggering. He considered finding adoptive owners for the pets, but because of their defects, no one was willing. Worse still, word spread about his shelter being full of flawed beasts.
If not for a unique, powerful potion Ye Bai developed and sold, the Fangyuan Nurture House would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Ye Bai looked at Da Hui's sheepish expression and sighed.
"Dahui, how many times have I told you... Our shelter is already running at a loss. Why did you bring back another one?"
Despite his stern tone, Da Hui wasn't fazed. Instead, his eyes sparkled with joy. He knew Ye Bai had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. That's why he kept bringing more abandoned beasts back—even though he got scolded every time.
This time, Da Hui pulled out a cardboard box from behind. Inside was a newborn Lightning Cat—a rare Thunder-type pet beast, typically golden or black in color. This one was entirely golden.
Pet beasts on Blue Star are typically categorized by attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Thunder, Ice, Wind, Light, Dark, Poison, Fighting, Dragon, and Ghost.
But as Ye Bai looked at the Lightning Cat, he was stunned. A cold current passed through his eyes, and a holographic screen appeared in front of him, displaying the Lightning Cat's data:
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[Pet Name]: Lightning Cat
[Gender]: Male
[Attribute]: Thunder
[Personality]: Lively
[Level]: Lv2 (Stage 1, Level 2)
[Skills]: Charge, High-Speed Movement, Claw Strike, Electric Discharge
[Evolution Route 1]: Lightning Leopard — requires 1 Electric Soul Core, 3 Electric Soul Grasses, and must be struck by lightning during a storm. Evolution possible upon reaching Stage 2 peak power.
[Evolution Route 2]: Lightning Civet — requires 3 Electric Soul Cores, 2 Ghost Grasses, and Stage 2 peak power.
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"This guy actually has two evolutionary paths... Wait! That's not the point. Why can I see a pet beast's evolution route?"
He turned to a mirror and gasped. His pupils had turned blood red—like glittering ruby crystals.
"When Li Weiyang used the Eye of Insight... her eyes also turned red."
"Could this be connected?"