NOVPUBIn response to Isolde's question, Charles spread his hands and shrugged, signaling that he didn't want to answer.
He knew that Cuny, the master of the Beast Master Tower, had erased Isolde's memory. If Isolde learned about the Substitute Mask for the Ten-Person Council, this Golden Quality item, it would expose him.
Cuny had told him not to reveal the Substitute Mask for the Ten-Person Council unless absolutely necessary.
Quickly shifting the topic, Charles asked Isolde, "How do you plan to determine the spots?"
Isolde sighed, placed his hands behind his head, and looked at Charles. "If you're not going to tell me, then I won't tell you how I'll be determining the spots."
Charles smiled. No matter what method was used, if he couldn't secure a spot, then no one else would either—unless the requirement was that only sixth-level Beast Masters could enter.
In that case, he would truly have no way of getting in.
After a brief conversation with Isolde, Charles was reminded to stay cautious. Recently, there was a possibility that members of the Constellation organization might cause some trouble.
The reason for the selection process among the Beast Masters was to prevent any Constellation members from blending in. However, Isolde couldn't be sure if some Beast Masters with dark attributes or those who showed no obvious flaws were affiliated with the Constellation organization.
Charles nodded in acknowledgment of Isolde's warning.
Honestly, Charles thought that William, the one who had killed those Beast Masters from the Haunted Marsh, resembled a Constellation member—his actions had been too reckless. That guy was truly a madman. It was hard to understand how he could avoid being captured by ninth-level Beast Masters.
Lost in thought, Charles soon returned to the town and made his way to the place Soren had prepared for him to rest.
Not long after, Charles fell into a deep sleep.
What he didn't know was that the events of the night quickly became the hottest topic.
"Charles, who fought for the rights of the Abyssal Depths Beast Masters, actually has the support of a ninth-level Beast Master from the Haunted Marsh!"
"The man who almost sparked a battle between two ninth-level Beast Masters!"
"Who exactly is Charles, the one who called for the Abyssal Depths Beast Masters to fight for their rights?"
More and more people joined in the discussion. After some analysis, the Abyssal Depths Beast Masters realized that if Charles had wanted, he could have easily secured a spot with the help of the ninth-level Beast Master who supported him.
But Charles hadn't done that. Instead, he chose to fight alongside the Abyssal Depths Beast Masters!
This left countless Beast Masters from the Abyssal Depths in awe, because if it hadn't been for the sudden appearance of a mysterious person who suggested a unified selection process to secure the spots, Charles would have completely lost his chance to enter the Infinite Isles forest.
Had it been any other Beast Master, they certainly wouldn't have been able to do this. They would have used their connections to secure a spot through the ninth-level Beast Master from the Haunted Marsh.
Furthermore, many people speculated that the fifth-level Beast Master Charles, who appeared in the Abyssal Depths town, was likely the same person as the genius hero of Genosha, a fifth-level Beast Master. This was because many had seen Charles use The Affliction of Mutated Beast Mastery when facing the suppression of a ninth-level Beast Master from Ancient Academy, exactly the same way he had during the live broadcast of the battle with Kingston from Genosha!
Soon after, a Beast Master from the Haunted Marsh revealed details about an event in the Haunted Marsh underground black market. Back then, Charles had been a fourth-level Beast Master and had fought and defeated a genius Beast Master from the Haunted Marsh. At that time, Callum, a ninth-level Beast Master, had also been present.
So, when Charles woke up the next day, he found the outside unusually noisy.
Just as he was about to step outside to see what was going on, he saw Soren standing by the door. Soren rushed toward Charles, shouting in a panic, "Bro, bro, you're finally awake!"
Charles asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's going on? Why is it so noisy outside?"
Soren quickly handed Charles a bunch of items for disguise and said rapidly, "They're all here looking for you! Last night's incident has sparked widespread discussion, and your disguise has been exposed!"
"In just one night, in this small town with not many people, there are now so many Beast Masters and regular folks here—it's all your fans!"
Charles scratched the back of his head in frustration. At that time, he had no choice. Faced with the targeting of a ninth-level Beast Master named Everett, he had to fight with everything he had.
It seemed that now that his disguise had been exposed, it also meant that the Beast Transformation Flesh was no longer effective.
Beast Transformation Flesh [orange-quality]: A miraculous disguise item forged using special methods with the flesh of a ferocious beast. It can only be used once and will disguise the user into an extraordinarily realistic human form, both in appearance and voice, as well as in aura. It is nearly impossible for any Beast Master below the ninth level to detect the illusion. After prolonged use, even a ninth-level Beast Master will not notice anything wrong unless they physically touch the disguised person.
Beast Transformation Flesh, the orange-quality disguise item, could only be used once. Now that his identity was exposed, the disguise had lost its purpose.
It was all because of that ninth-level Beast Master from Ancient Academy, Everett. Charles would remember this grudge!
So what if he was a ninth-level Beast Master?
Charles' current strength may not be enough, but that didn't mean he couldn't seek revenge in the future. Not only had Everett targeted him, but he also tried to prevent him from participating in the Infinite Isles affair, exposing the identity he had used the Beast Transformation Flesh to disguise.
Charles took a deep breath, accepting the disguise tools from Soren. While they wouldn't fool a powerful Beast Master, they could still be useful against ordinary people and Beast Masters of average strength.
After Charles finished preparing his disguise, he followed Soren out through the back door of their residence.
As soon as they stepped into the town, Charles froze. The small town, which had been sparsely populated the day before, was now swarming with people, like a tourist hotspot. Everywhere he looked, people were holding cameras and smartphones!
Luckily, with Soren's help, Charles was able to avoid attracting attention. If he had just walked out by himself, he would have been swarmed by people and caused a massive uproar.
Disguised, Charles followed Soren to the tavern in the town.
Although it was daytime, the tavern was already filled with Beast Masters, all discussing how the spots for the Infinite Isles would be allocated.
Charles had nothing else to do at the moment. He certainly couldn't find a suitable place to train Max, Mousie, Mia, and Little Gold to level up. The town was packed with people, making training impossible.
While listening to the discussions inside the tavern, a figure suddenly sat down next to him. Charles instinctively glanced at the person before quickly averting his gaze.
It was a large, rotund man. The bar stool groaned under his weight, as if it might break apart at any moment.
Once the large man ordered his drink, Charles turned his gaze back to him, speaking cautiously:
"I didn't expect you to show up here."
The large man blinked in surprise and then asked, his expression full of confusion, "Friend, are you sure you've got the right person?"
Charles smiled faintly, pointing to the man's heart and slowly saying, "The sound of your heartbeat and your breathing doesn't match your current appearance at all."
William chuckled, lowered his voice, and replied, "You can tell all that? Friend, you really are full of surprises!"
Charles felt somewhat helpless. The reason he recognized William wasn't because of what he had said, but because of the glaring information prompt before him:
[Alchemy Flesh Mystical Beast]
No one else but William would have such a mystical beast!
Charles was even more curious now. He wanted to know why William had come to find him. He knew very well that his simple disguise could not fool William.
This was a madman, and anything he said had to be considered carefully.
Sure enough, William leaned in and quietly said to Charles, "Friend, I have a huge opportunity that I'd like to talk to you about. If you agree, I can provide you with all kinds of weapons, tools, alchemy materials, and forging materials!"
Charles urged William to get to the point.
William quickly revealed the "huge opportunity" he had in mind. It turned out that he planned to team up with Charles. Once they entered the Infinite Isles forest, the two of them would cooperate to rob all the Beast Masters from the Haunted Marsh!
Charles was momentarily speechless. This was the "huge opportunity"? He had no personal enmity with the other Beast Masters from the Haunted Marsh, aside from the few from Ancient Academy he had dealt with the previous day. He couldn't bring himself to do something like that.
William persisted, "Friend, things aren't as simple as you think. I bet those talented Beast Masters from the Haunted Marsh will definitely target you!"
Charles knew that William was right about the possibility of such a situation. After thinking for a moment, he directly told William that he refused to cooperate.
There was no other reason—Charles simply thought William was a madman. His intentions were clearly not just to loot the talented Beast Masters from the Haunted Marsh.
Moreover, William could disguise himself as a huge, fat man, changing his identity at will, but Charles couldn't do the same.
When the deal fell through, William didn't press further. He simply chose to leave the tavern.
As Charles watched William's retreating figure, he fell into thought. He wondered who this person really was.
Why had he never heard of such a mystical beast or Beast Master before?
Thinking back to what William had said about having been dormant for many years, Charles began to suspect that William might be a genius Beast Master who had just recently awoken from a long slumber.
