Chapter 100: The Second to Arrive

Qiao Sang parked her bicycle by the roadside, took a photo to note the location, and then boarded this ride-share flight.

The Great-Winged Sharpbeak, an evolved form of the Black-Tipped Sparrow, has a body size of roughly 2.5 meters.

Beast tamers have no problem riding flying-type pets, but to carry passengers they need a flying license.

The Aerial Management Bureau has clear regulations regarding flying-type pets carrying passengers.

Flying-type pets with a body size of 1.5 to 2 meters are two-person mounts.

Flying-type pets with a body size of 2 to 2.5 meters are three-person mounts.

And those between 2.5 and 3 meters can carry four people.

The Great-Winged Sharpbeak hovers right on the line between three-person and four-person mounts.

Pets with this kind of borderline body size have to go to the Aerial Management Bureau every year to get their exact measurements tested.

However, plenty of flying-type pets that don't quite meet the standard but sit right on the borderline will overload and fly anyway.

Qiao Sang is opposed to this kind of overloading behavior.

But circumstances change.

Whether this Great-Winged Sharpbeak was overloaded or not, she didn't dare ask, afraid it really was…

Along the way, the middle-aged uncle's mouth never stopped, chattering nonstop.

At first the two young people didn't know why, keeping straight faces and being reluctant to chat, but later, under the middle-aged uncle's offensive, they exchanged a few words.

From the conversation, Qiao Sang learned that these two were also heading to Jinsong Village to take part in the second leg of the race, and she finally relaxed completely.

"I feel like this time the individual first-place prize is better than the team first-place one. If I didn't still have to earn money to support my family, I'd definitely want to give it a try too," the middle-aged uncle said.

Qiao Sang had been listening to them talk the whole time, but hearing this she couldn't help asking: "What's the individual first-place prize this time?"

Third Uncle entered the marathon aiming for individual first place.

And the prize overlapped with what his original teamed-up friend wanted, which is why he didn't continue teaming up — clearly the individual first-place prize is indeed very popular.

Third Uncle is the sole earner for a whole big family.

He has two pets to raise, his eldest son is also attending a Beast Taming University, and it's a time of spending money. Ye Jingwen's desired Spirit Plant Master course is also an expensive major — you can tell from all the spirit plants in the backyard that a lot has been spent recently.

For a moment, Qiao Sang imagined all sorts of prizes.

Cash, spirit plants, a few cases of pet energy food — all practical things.

"The latest photo collection of Ya God and his pets, just taken during this Interstellar Cup, and it's a first release. Who knows how our little run-down town got it." It was the young man speaking.

Qiao Sang: "…"

She wanted to go back…

……

By the time she arrived at the second-leg handoff point at Jinsong Village, quite a few people had already gathered there.

After registering at the competitor re-check point, Qiao Sang brought Fire-Fang Dog to the designated location — the village entrance.

"Just follow the main group and run. You remember Howling Marsh Croc, right? The one from this morning with the hard skin, yellow color, and big mouth — the pet that greeted you." Qiao Sang said, not quite at ease.

"Fang."

Fire-Fang Dog patted its chest with a paw, looking like it had no problem at all.

"There are tables with water set up by the road when you get tired. Just take some when the time comes," Qiao Sang instructed.

"Fang."

Fire-Fang Dog nodded.

Actually, when it got tired from running it preferred to drink milk, but since its own beast tamer hadn't mentioned it, it figured there was only water.

After saying everything she needed to say, Qiao Sang walked out of the track.

Because the ones racing are the pets, beast tamers can only wait on either side of the track.

This marathon relay has 233 teams participating, with a total of 699 beast tamers and 1,398 pets.

At the village entrance, a dense crowd of nearly two hundred pets stood, among them even high-level pets.

But even so, Fire-Fang Dog standing among them was completely impossible to overlook — its unique sunglasses and flame-like fur drew many people's attention.

"Whose Fire-Fang Dog is that?"

"Oh my, this red pet is so handsome!"

"Judging by the color and appearance, it looks like a fire-type pet."

"This looks like the champion pet from that Hundred-New Competition in the city a while back."

Qiao Sang turned her head, surprised there was actually someone here who had watched the Hundred-New Competition — and looking over, it was a child of about ten.

Good kid, sharp eye.

Qiao Sang secretly praised.

Time ticked by.

Thirteen minutes later, a rumbling sound came from far to near.

"Xun!"

Little Xunbao Ghost excitedly called out, pointing in the direction of the sound.

Qiao Sang looked in that direction and froze on the spot. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, almost thinking she was hallucinating.

She saw a brown, shell-covered pet… rolling over.

That's right, rolling…

The brown, shell-covered pet kept rolling. Just as Qiao Sang thought it was a pet that had wandered onto the track by mistake, a male voice shouted beside her: "We're here, we're here, you can stop!"

Only then did the brown, shell-covered pet stop rolling, slowly extending its head and four limbs.

Its right front paw wore the A112 competitor number bib, and a yellow relay band was also around its neck.

Qiao Sang felt a bit dazed — it was actually a Double-Tailed Land Turtle…

Is this also a participating pet beast?

Isn't a marathon specifically for running?!

How is it… rolling!

This Two-Tailed Land Turtle had clearly received professional training — it had been rolling for so long without the slightest sign of dizziness, and it steadily handed the yellow relay band to a Six-Touch Snail.

What happened next completely gave Qiao Sang a whole new understanding of the marathon relay.

She saw the Six-Touch Snail, now wearing the yellow relay band, use three of its flesh-colored tentacles to spray a sticky liquid onto the ground.

Then it crawled onto the sticky liquid.

The liquid made the ground incredibly slick, and the moment the Six-Touch Snail stepped onto it, it slid forward several meters.

After that, it sprayed mucus while sliding forward, moving so fast that in the blink of an eye it was out of sight.

Qiao Sang stared at all of this, dumbfounded — what was happening before her eyes was completely different from the marathon she had in mind.

Right…

This was a pet beast marathon…

It was only normal that it wasn't the same as a human marathon…

She had always assumed this marathon would be running on land, swimming in water, and flying in the sky.

She never expected it could be played like this…

Most of the events society held were still beast-taming battle competitions and gorgeous coordination competitions; the rules of other, less widely followed events weren't known by everyone.

She had taken her understanding of the marathon relay rules for granted this time and hadn't bothered to look into them properly.

Qiao Sang glanced at Fire-Fang Dog, wearing sunglasses and brimming with confidence, and immediately felt a twinge of regret.

If the other pet beasts were all pulling these flashy tricks, her silly Like Ya Bao just running on its legs definitely wouldn't be able to keep up — surely they wouldn't end up dead last…

With the first team having passed the baton, soon the second pet beast coming in to hand off also appeared ahead.

It was a Desert-Tail Fox — she saw it jogging over, panting heavily, without using any special traits or skills.

But it seemed to have spotted the handoff point.

The next second, its two-meter-plus tail glowed with an earth-colored light; a pile of quicksand appeared beneath its four limbs, and a narrow path made of sand appeared on the ground ahead.

The quicksand carried the Desert-Tail Fox sliding down the narrow path all the way to the handoff point.

Then it took the yellow relay band hanging around its neck and handed it to Fire-Fang Dog, who was wearing sunglasses.

Qiao Sang was stunned.

Holy crap! The second one to arrive was actually Ye Ranran's Desert-Tail Fox!