The bus swerved slightly.
The driver tried to keep a calm demeanor as he drove, but the sweat trickling down his forehead gave him away.
"How long until the next stop?" a voice broke the silence first.
"About 5 minutes." someone answered.
Then the bus fell silent again.
"Could you let the Fire-Toothed Dog sniff you? Perhaps it can tell where that thing is," Qiao Sang suddenly spoke up amidst the silence.
Before the female student could respond, the square-faced man next to her sneered, "Even if there really is a wild Spectral Series extraordinary creature on the bus, are you sure you want to find it while we're driving? What if it gets angry and causes trouble, can you take responsibility?"
"Yeah, let's wait until the bus arrives at the next stop and then decide."
"We should contact someone from the patrol department to handle this, let's not complicate things."
"Right, what's the number for the patrol department? I'll call."
"I think it's 669."
"...That's the control department."
The passengers on the bus discussed back and forth.
"It's not a Spectral Series," Qiao Sang said.
"How do you know it's not?" someone asked.
"You're the one who said there was something moving, and you're also the one saying it's not. Are you playing with us?" the square-faced man shouted.
Qiao Sang looked at him directly and smiled, "Uncle, I feel like you've been targeting me from the start."
The square-faced man's eyes bulged as he roared, "I'm only 24 years old!"
"Uncle, your voice is a bit loud," Qiao Sang said as he fiddled with his ear.
The square-faced man glared fiercely at Qiao Sang, his expression vicious. If it weren't for the Fire-Toothed Dog in front of Qiao Sang, he probably would have started a fight the next second.
"Why isn't it a Spectral Series?" the female student then asked.
"That auntie's pet beast is a Magnetic Hamster. If there were a Spectral Series extraordinary creature around, its tail would be lightning-shaped, but right now its tail is hanging straight down," Qiao Sang explained, pointing at the pet beast on the shoulder of the auntie sitting next to them.
The female student was startled for a moment, then remembered that it seemed to be the case...
Magnetic Hamsters react to magnetic fields and can sense unusual magnetic disturbances.
Indeed, the distinctive magnetic field surrounding a Spectral Series extraordinary creature would unconsciously stimulate the Magnetic Hamster's temporal lobe, causing its tail to form a lightning shape.
But textbooks are textbooks; she had never thought to connect such obscure content to reality...
"Right, right, my Magnetic Hamster is indeed like that," the auntie next to her nodded, agreeing after a moment's realization.
Hearing this, the female student hesitated no longer and said, "Go ahead and sniff."
Qiao Sang nodded at the Fire-Toothed Dog.
Obeying the command, the Fire-Toothed Dog moved closer to the female student to sniff.
Qiao Sang noticed the square-faced man beside them tense the muscles in his face instantly.
The Fire-Toothed Dog sniffed around, then took a few sniffs at the air before barking at the square-faced man.
"What are you barking at, you damned dog!" the square-faced man snarled.
"Tooth!"
The Fire-Toothed Dog's fur bristled, its limbs tensed, and its sharp fangs were prominently exposed, clearly enraged by the man it faced.
The square-faced man was taken aback but still stubbornly refused to back down.
He turned to look at the young girl holding the Fire-Toothed Dog, hoping she would control her pet beast, but then he saw that the girl was looking at him with an expressionless face, her eyes cold, which somehow seemed even more terrifying than the Fire-Toothed Dog...
Qiao Sang felt an extraordinary calmness at that moment; she slowly stroked the Fire-Toothed Dog's back, trying to calm its agitated fur.
She couldn't strike first, as the Alliance explicitly prohibited Beast Tamers from using their pet beasts to attack ordinary people; even if they needed to attack, it couldn't be done so overtly, not with a bus full of people.
There was definitely something off about this man. He had been the most agitated when she mentioned that the Fire-Toothed Dog had sensed something, and it had also picked up the same scent on him that was on the female student.
But to say that something could appear on someone else and then disappear just as quickly wasn't something he could do by himself.
Playing tricks on the bus could be for money or for lust.
That thing made the Fire-Toothed Dog unable to sense anything all at once, and the female student didn't notice anything either. There would definitely have been a reaction if it touched her body.
It wasn't for lust.
So, it was for greed.
"Did you lose anything?" Qiao Sang turned his head and asked the female student.
The female student was stunned for a moment, then started checking her bag and pockets, and after two seconds.
"Damn, my phone is gone!"
As expected, Qiao Sang thought to himself.
Seeing this, the other passengers also began to check their personal belongings.
"My phone is gone too!"
"My wallet as well!"
"And the necklace I bought for my girlfriend is missing!"
"My height-increasing insoles are gone!!!"
"My Pet Beast's Sand Sand Fruit, ah!!!"
Upon checking, one-third of the people on the bus discovered their belongings were missing.
Qiao Sang keenly noticed that those who said their things were missing were all seated in the middle of the bus.
Qiao Sang looked at the man with the square face, his suspicion growing stronger.
The square-faced man, seeing Qiao Sang looking at him, had an extremely ugly expression. Clenching his teeth, he said, "My phone is gone too!"
Qiao Sang: "..."
"Hey, I can't be separated from my Pet Beast for even a moment..."
Right at that moment, a loud ringing sound came from the square-faced man.
The man: "..."
All eyes were instantly thrown his way.
The square-faced man laughed awkwardly and said, "Turns out it was on me, I just couldn't find it before."
Qiao Sang asked, "You're a Beast Tamer, aren't you?"
The man's face darkened, not sure how to answer.
"He is, he's even wearing a Beast Tamer's badge!" the female student, realizing the abnormality of the square-faced man, exclaimed excitedly.
Beast Tamers registered with the Alliance would be issued corresponding badges. An F-rank Beast Tamer, for instance, would have a white base with the Beast Taming Alliance's emblem on it, plus an 'F' symbol.
Some like to wear it, some do not, and those who don't like to wear it are generally the low-ranked Beast Tamers.
The square-faced man in front of them was wearing a gray E-rank Beast Tamer's badge on his chest.
This indicated that he had at least two mid-level Pet Beasts.
"Would you mind letting us all see what kind of Pet Beast you have?" Qiao Sang asked kindly.
The square-faced man wanted to refuse, but all eyes on the bus were fixed on him.
"Show us your Pet Beast!"
"Yeah, what's there to be afraid of?"
"Weren't you acting all tough just now? Say something."
"Do you have some kind of shameful Pet Beast?"
The square-faced man's expression grew uglier, his already twisted features squeezing together even more, and the sweat on his back made his gray vest stick to his body.
Just as he didn't know what to do.
"Yonglin station has arrived, please take your belongings and exit through the rear door."
The electronic announcer's voice sounded.
The doors opened.