Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

As soon as Zachary stepped inside the beast barn, he saw Ryder pacing anxiously inside.

"Ryder," Zachary called out as he came closer.

"Manager Harley, you're finally here! Something terrible has occurred!" When Ryder saw Zachary showing up, he rushed up to him in utter desperation.

"What happened?" Zachary asked, confused. He thought Ryder had summoned him because the remaining treasure beasts he selected earlier already produced treasures.

"A treasure beast was about to produce treasures. However, it suddenly fell ill yesterday, and its body festered rapidly. The vet from the Xiao Clan came to examine it, but the findings showed nothing wrong. If this beast produced treasures successfully, we would achieve our goal. I never expected such a thing to happen at this critical time!" Ryder narrated in a concerned tone.

"Really? Bring me to it," Zachary ordered calmly.

Soon after, Ryder guided Zachary to the sick treasure beast's stable. As they neared, the enclosure gave off a disgusting stink, like the stench of a rotting corpse. Ryder, who was standing behind Zachary, immediately covered his nose using both hands and retreated.

Zachary lifted his gaze and saw a treasure beast lying weakly inside the stable. Infected sores covered its body and it seemed almost featherless. It was a Red-eyed King Bird, a precious and rare flying beast. It was a rather good treasure beast compared to the others in the beast barn.

"When did it get sick?" Zachary asked, his eyes full of dismay.

"I suppose it began yesterday. It was doing great two days ago, and could have produced treasures then," Ryder responded.

"Except for the disciples who came to work, did anybody else enter here yesterday?" Zachary continued to ask.

"There is none, I think. Only those Imperial Level warriors whose beasts are raised in here would come. But I can't remember any of them arriving here yesterday," answered Ryder, shaking his head.

"I see. Thank you. You can go out first. I have to check its condition. If Master Jaxon and the others arrive, please ask him to wait for a while," Zachary instructed, motioning for Ryder to leave.

"I got it," Ryder nodded and quickly made his way out of the beast barn. He couldn't bear the foul smell anymore.

After Ryder was out of sight, Zachary shut the door of the beast barn and took the Red-eyed King Bird into the system.

"Mimi, please check the condition of this Red-eyed King Bird for me," Zachary ordered.

Several targeting laser beams fired out and scanned over the Red-eyed King Bird. Not long after, he heard Mimi's charming voice reporting, "This beast got injected with a toxic poison, and normal procedures can't detect that."

"Poisoned? I knew it." Zachary's eyes flared, his face showing a serious

ull up two chairs for Jaxon and Anthony to sit on, while Shaw and the other warriors could only stand at the side.

After fifteen more minutes, the Imperial Level warriors gradually turned restless and started to discuss among themselves.

"Manager Harley must have figured out the seriousness of his mistakes, so he dares not to show himself."

"If it is indeed an infectious disease, it is very plausible that all the treasure beasts staying inside the beast barn could contract the illness."

"I agree. I entrusted my treasure beast here! If it is infected as well, I must ask Manager Harley to pay me for damages!"

At this point, Anthony abruptly stood up from his seat and said, "Is it possible that Harley has sneaked away after he realized the gravity of the matter? If my memory serves me right, today should be the deadline of his promise. Ryder, did half of the treasure beasts in the beast barn produce treasures this month?"

"There is still one treasure beast short," Ryder admitted.

"So, Harley fails to keep his promise, right?" said Anthony with a cold sneer.

"Short by just one? That's good enough," Jaxon said, somehow surprised. Even though it didn't entirely correspond with Zachary's promise, it was enough to prove his excellent potential.

"But Father, a promise is a promise. Now that he can't keep up with his commitment, he must resign from the managerial position. Besides, he didn't do a great job in handling the beast barn. It's his accountability that the infectious disease spread in the beast barn. He deserves punishment," Anthony said with a satisfied smirk on his face. He refused to believe that Zachary could turn everything around after this incident.

The other Imperial Level warriors nearby also revealed a mean and triumphant look. They all concluded that Zachary would end up in great distress!