236: Chapter 236 The Sincere Black Rose

Chen Yi and Black Rose were locked in a tug-of-war at the doorway.

One insisted on entering, the other firmly refused.

The girls on the side, watching Black Rose's pitiful and endearing appearance, couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy in their hearts.

After these two and a half months of spending time together, they almost unanimously agreed that Black Rose was a girl with a very good personality and was very sincere!

Moreover, they all knew that ever since Black Rose's Rose Dragon bloodline became known to the world, countless SS-rank genius Beast Tamers on the internet had sent her contract invitations through various channels, promising all sorts of superior conditions unimaginable to ordinary people.

But without exception, all of them were rejected by her without hesitation!

And she rejected them very decisively, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.

Her response to the outside world was always simple—she only liked Chen Yi, only acknowledged Chen Yi, and would never accept a contract from anyone other than Chen Yi!

However, faced with such an infatuated declaration, Chen Yi always kept his distance and decisively refused.

To other onlookers who didn't know the truth, Black Rose was simply a simp, fawning with no dignity!

But in the eyes of Chen Yi's Contracted Girls, this behavior of Black Rose was completely the ultimate expression of infatuation!

A woman who possessed an SS-rank bloodline and the figure and appearance of a campus belle, yet was willing to give up all superior choices, ignoring thousands of pursuers, and somewhat humbly pursuing someone who repeatedly rejected her!

This persistence and purity made those of them who had already found happiness feel a sense of pity.

Besides, her bloodline was not bad at all; contracting her... it didn't seem like something unacceptable, right?

Joining in would also enhance the team's overall strength...

The girls exchanged glances, each with their own thoughts turning in their minds.

The way they looked at Chen Yi also carried a bit more of a "can't you just reconsider it" feeling.

Chen Yi felt the change in the gaze of The girls behind him, and felt even more helpless in his heart.

If this Black Rose were a normal person, he would have already contracted her, okay?

There would be no need to play this game of pretending not to know her true identity at all!

Not telling The girls the true situation about Black Rose was also because he was afraid of accidentally revealing it and alerting the enemy!

But if he accidentally pushed Black Rose or even the Demon Abyss Cult behind her too hard, who knows what major incident might happen!

Just as Chen Yi and Black Rose were deadlocked at the doorway, with The girls' gazes shifting back and forth between the two, and the atmosphere was subtle and awkward.

A burst of phone ringing broke this awkward atmosphere.

"Ring-ring—ring-ring—"

Chen Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, his face remained calm, and he immediately used answering the phone as an excuse, made a "wait a moment" gesture to The girls, and retreated into the room.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was an encrypted number.

But he recognized the prefix; it was Luo Qinghe's dedicated line.

Chen Yi was a bit surprised; Luo Qinghe usually contacted him through encrypted messages and rarely called directly.

Unless... it was an extremely urgent or important matter!

He immediately pressed the answer button.

"Grandpa Luo, good evening, what's wrong? It's rare to see you call directly..."

"Chen Yi, to make a long story short, this is an emergency! I just received top-secret information from our department lurking outside—a secret base of the Demon Abyss Cult located in Eagle Country had a theft case nearly three months ago, which was around the time you were gathering at the secret base to prepare for the Beast Taming Contest! It seems that an extremely important secret treasure was stolen!"

Chen Yi's brows instantly furrowed: "A secret treasure of the Demon Abyss Cult was stolen?"

A stormy sea instantly surged in his heart.

Someone actually dared to steal things from the Demon Abyss Cult?

And it sounded like they succeeded?

How bold must they be!

Luo Qinghe continued to explain: "Yes! According to limited intelligence, the Demon Abyss Cult attaches great importance to this matter and has been frantically investigating for the past three months!"

"The reason they acted like that during the chaotic battle before was likely related to this theft, which forced them to change their original plan!"

"Now that they have been searching for three whole months without any news, they have temporarily not made any big moves recently, which is very likely because they are adjusting their strategy."

"To be able to make a behemoth like the Demon Abyss Cult search for so long without finding anything, this thief is definitely no ordinary person!"

Chen Yi immediately asked: "Grandpa Luo, do you know what the stolen secret treasure is?"

"I don't know!"

Luo Qinghe sighed, "It's already fortunate that we could intercept the news of the theft; what exactly it is belongs to top-secret information! But two points can be confirmed: first, a certain special secret treasure detection device inside the Demon Abyss Cult shows that the person who stole the treasure has arrived within our Dragon Country territory, using some unknown method! Second, this item is crucial to the Demon Abyss Cult, and their search will never stop!"

Secret treasure stolen; thief infiltrated Dragon Country; Demon Abyss Cult's recent abnormal silence—many clues quickly connected in Chen Yi's mind.

He said in a deep voice: "So that's it, I understand! Then what should I do next?"

"You mentioned before that the little girl from the Demon Abyss Cult named Black Rose has been trying every possible way to get close to you, and you seem to have a means to keep her in check? Are you sure it's reliable?"

Hearing this, Chen Yi recalled the ability in the system shop that required 500 achievement points to activate—it could convert the Demon Seed Contract cast by the Demon Emperor into a Spirit Beast Contract.

But it was only changing the contract mode; it was not converting a demon beast into a spirit beast!

The other party still retained independent will, and might even expose this part of his trump card because of it...

He thought for a moment and replied: "I suppose so! But it's only to keep her in check, ensuring she cannot directly harm me through means like contracts; it doesn't mean I can control her thoughts or actions."

Luo Qinghe pondered for a moment and gave a suggestion that surprised Chen Yi a little.

"Since you have already confirmed that the girl is an undercover agent for the Demon Abyss Cult, and her currently displayed intention is not to directly harm you, but more to get close to you and contract you! Chen Yi, why don't you... just go with the flow and keep her by your side, without contracting her for now."

"Keep her by my side?"

Chen Yi was stunned, "Wouldn't that expose our whereabouts, and even some of our daily movements, to them?"

"On the surface, that is indeed the case!"

Luo Qinghe analyzed, "But have you thought about it? If we completely cut off this contact channel of theirs and make them feel that this path is blocked, given the Demon Abyss Cult's style of operation, what would they do?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi immediately understood what Luo Qinghe meant.

"You mean... surround three sides and leave one open? Only by letting them think this strategy is feasible will they continue to act in a way we can predict?"