Ahem!
This isn't… This really isn't a matter of having or not having a moral bottom line. It's just that what Asher brought out completely exceeded their imagination.
Aside from thinking in this direction, they couldn't come up with any other explanation.
"It's not like that, Professor Asher!", The one who asked this question was Pierce, and among those struggling to believe Asher's inquiry, he was the first to loudly explain.
"We just... we just...", Pierce struggled to explain. After rambling for a long time without making sense, he only ended up making it seem like he believed in this idea even more.
"No matter what you are, no matter what you've done, we know your character."
"Your intentions must be good."
"We won't say anything."
Asher: "..."
"Well, thanks, I guess."
Pierce didn't catch the sarcasm in Asher's voice at all. Instead, he just giggled foolishly, "Hehehehe."
Asher was left speechless once again.
Now he finally understood.
Among the people in his research institute, only Pierce was the real airheaded fool who believed anything Asher said.
As for the rest...
Asher's gaze mainly landed on Levi, Sarah and his wife, and the two remaining researchers.
They were all sweating profusely.
Uh...
They were definitely not feeling guilty.
What? Feeling guilty?
What did they even have to feel guilty about?
As for Pierce's reaction… ahem, couldn't that just be his personal behavior?
Asher: (•‿•)
'Go on.'
'Just keep making things up.'
'Let's see if I buy it.'
Asher smiled gently while quietly watching them with an unreadable gaze.
In the end, they were the ones who broke first.
"I'm sorry, we were wrong. We shouldn't have doubted your character, Professor Asher," Before Levi could step forward to apologize, Chase was the first to stand up.
Being stared at like that, his conscience actually started to awaken, making him feel a little guilty.
As the first researcher to join Asher's lab, Chase was also the oldest among them.
Of course.
The youngest was Asher himself, the owner of this research institute.
Chase believed that, whether as the earliest member or as an elder, he should have stepped in to curb the wild speculations about Asher's character.
Looking at Chase, who had his head lowered in deep self-blame, Asher found it funny and waved his hand.
"Alright, alright."
"If you know I'm not that kind of person, then you should also know that I'm not that kind of person," Asher said helplessly.
Enough is enough.
The overthinking before, the over-apologizing now—
"Let's not go overboard, don't overcorrect," Asher cut off the topic, "If you're curious about something, as long as I'm not too busy, you can always come and ask me."
Just as he finished speaking, Asher saw the sudden gleam in Levi and Pierce's eyes.
Asher: "..."
He suddenly felt like he had just lifted some sort of restriction.
Seeing this, Asher quickly added, "If it's something technical, be prepared that even if I explain, you still might not understand."
Everyone nodded repeatedly.
Yes, yes, yes.
They were already mentally prepared for that.
He was a genius, after all.
His thought process wasn't something ordinary mortals like them could easily grasp.
But sometimes, they just had to try and knock on that wall of impossibility.
Who knew?
Maybe, just maybe, they'd witness a miracle.
Seeing their eager faces, Asher didn't bother saying more.
Let them be.
"Professor Asher, what exactly is that red powder? Can you tell us?", Levi couldn't hold back anymore, "That stuff is amazing!"
"If it's not some kind of secret weapon you developed, then is it a rare and special resource?"
"But that doesn't seem right either," Levi stroked his chin, "If a resource like this, which enhances pet evolution, had existed before, we would've heard about it."
"We really can't be blamed for thinking it's your secret weapon, Professor Asher..."
The others nodded enthusiastically.
'Yes, exactly!'
Asher: "It's a newly discovered resource from the Red Soil Forbidden Zone. Its effects and applications are still uncertain, and I'm in the process of testing and developing it."
"But as you all saw, it seems to work pretty well."
The others: "!"
It's more than just useful.
It's extremely useful.
"The only problem is, there isn't much of it," Asher spread his hands, looking a bit helpless, "Last time, I fed an entire chunk to a Silverfang Tiger."
Asher pointed at the first Silverfang Tiger, the one that evolved on the competition field.
"I've only got about ten more pieces left. Using them directly feels wasteful, so I wanted to see if I could grind them into powder..."
Turns out, it worked.
After all, the essence of the Three-Legged Golden Crow's blood didn't change. Only its physical form did.
In terms of effectiveness... The powder was slower than using a whole chunk, but it allowed for better control of dosage and reduced waste.
Everyone simultaneously turned to look at the Striped Thunder Tiger.
Oh wow.
A whole chunk... No wonder it evolved.
Talk about lucky.
"Professor Asher, can you get more of this stuff?", The soldiers from the Silverfang Tiger Corps, who overheard the conversation, were now staring eagerly.
They weren't sure if the red powder worked on other beasts.
But it definitely worked on Silverfang Tigers.
Originally, only one in fifteen succeeded in evolving their Silverfang Tiger through sheer effort.
But after using the powder, three out of five succeeded.
That probability.
That efficiency.
Who wouldn't be tempted?
Well, they sure couldn't resist.
"I don't have any more for now. If you want more... you can contact the Red Soil City Beast Alliance and ask them," It wasn't that Asher didn't have more, but he couldn't just pull them out of nowhere. Officially, he only had this much.
Seeing that Asher didn't mind them contacting the Beast Alliance, the soldiers immediately took action.
———
On the receiving end, Rosa: "?"
Wait.
What?
From the phone, she heard all kinds of shocking things.
"So that's how the red crystals work?", Rosa's eyes widened in disbelief as she got the full story from Bellick.
This… This function completely exceeded her expectations.
Bellick: "?"
["Wait, isn't this stuff from your Red Soil Forbidden Zone? You didn't know how to use it?"], Bellick was shocked.
Bellick found it hard to believe.
If only they had known earlier...
"Hehehe," Rosa heard the disbelief in Bellick's voice but just laughed happily. Then, in an overly grateful tone, she said, "Thank you so much, Commander Bellick."
"This red mineral was only recently mined. We were also exploring its uses."
"But now…"
Now, they had been handed a user manual.
Even though it wasn't complete.
It was still infinitely better than knowing nothing.
And even if this red crystal only worked for Silverfang Tiger evolutions, it would still be wildly sought after by Beast Tamers.
But if it could be used for more… then its value would skyrocket past all other Red Soil resources, making it the city's top product.
Either way, Rosa was about to strike it big.
Rosa: 'Thank you, Professor Asher!'
'As expected, he is the savior of Red Soil City!'
Just as she was celebrating, Bellick's voice came from the phone again.
["…Damn, what a miscalculation!"]
["Anyway, since you know how useful this is now, can you provide more? We're open to negotiation!"]
Rosa: "..."
Uh... she just remembered something important.
These red crystals weren't from the Forbidden Zone itself.
They were from the "Red Soil Secret Realm," a spatial rift deep inside the Forbidden Zone.
To get them from Asher last time, she had to pay a hefty price.
Now.
The opportunity to make bank was right in front of her.
But she couldn't grab it.
Thinking about this, Rosa felt her heart bleed.
And Bellick was still pushing.
Rosa: "..."
"I think we can discuss this a bit more?"
———
Asher didn't know… Well, actually, he did expect it. The Beast Taming Alliance in Red Soil City probably had a love-hate relationship with him.
A lucrative business delivered straight to their door.
And it might even turn into a long-term deal.
But if they really wanted to go through with it, it wouldn't be that simple.
All in all, it was quite the dilemma.
Sigh.
There's always a trade-off.
Asher was also considering how to bring certain hidden resources into the open. But for now, he wasn't in a rush.
Let others be the anxious ones first.
To Asher, the mystery of the Silverfang Tiger's evolution had already been solved.
Atavistic Evolution… As a professor of pet beast research who wasn't aware of the existence of mythical creatures, Asher wasn't in a position to openly discuss the concept of "atavism."
But it wasn't entirely impossible either.
Just like when Asher had… uh, let's not call it misleading, after all, it wasn't really misleading, when he had explained over the phone that beasts mutating in the so-called "reverse direction" was, in itself, a form of atavistic behavior.
Unlike the Silverfang Tiger's hidden, prerequisite-based "atavism," beasts that mutate in the opposite direction do so naturally, due to certain conditions, undergoing a spontaneous "atavism" process.
"If that's the case…", Asher shifted his gaze from those beasts that had mutated in the opposite direction to those said to have mutated in a more powerful direction.
For example—
Like Little Raven.
Back then, Little Raven was the smallest among the Oriental Peacocks. It couldn't fly, couldn't make a sound, and from both appearance and abilities, it didn't seem to have gained any advantages from its mutation.
In the eyes of ordinary beast tamers, this was a textbook example of a failed mutation. Either an opposite-direction mutation or a total failure.
Later, Asher had also looked into other beast tamers who had contracted Oriental Peacocks.
One of them had a mutated Oriental Peacock under contract.
Unlike Little Raven, that Oriental Peacock had mutated into a lightning attribute. Its feathers turned blue and purple, making it look more majestic and striking.
And its lightning attribute prowess wasn't inferior to naturally born lightning-attribute beasts.
Plus, since Oriental Peacocks could fly, even if it didn't have a suitable evolutionary path, even if it couldn't evolve, that lightning-attribute Oriental Peacock still had a huge advantage in battle.
This was what most beast tamers considered a successful, stronger-direction mutation in an beast.
Asher had thought the same before.
As for why Little Raven ended up with an evolutionary path toward the Three-Legged Golden Crow… Maybe it was fate's gift? Or just a coincidence?
Asher hadn't really thought too deeply about it.
Until he learned about "atavism."
"Atavism, huh…"
'What an interesting topic.'
Silverfang Tiger?
No, no, no.
Asher's attention had completely shifted from the Silverfang Tiger to all mutated beasts.
However… applying for a research project like this would be much harder than studying a single beast's new evolutionary path.
But was Asher afraid of challenges?
Nope.
Would the project application fail?
That wasn't a problem either.
Asher was sure—
Compared to him, President Robb would be even more eager to see this project take off.
Results, achievements…
What defines a city's accomplishments?
This was it.
And just as Asher had predicted, when President Robb saw the latest project application Asher submitted, he practically sprinted to Asher's research institute.
"For real?", President Robb was holding the application Asher had just had someone write up, his gaze at Asher filled with disbelief.
Before Asher could answer—
President Robb had already started pacing the room with his hands behind his back, "I know. Since you brought it up, that means the likelihood is extremely high."
"But this project…"
Excitement.
Hesitation.
Repeated contemplation.
Asher smiled, "As long as they're beasts that mutated in the opposite direction, no matter the species or attribute, I want them all."
"That should be even easier than studying a single species of reverse-mutated beast, right?"
President Robb: "..."
"You little brat, just a few words from you, and now I'll be running around like crazy."
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