Chapter 11: The Great Escape
The night air was thick with more than just the usual coastal fog; it was heavy with the restrictive mana of a Suppression Field. The Research Bureau wasn't coming for a chat—they were coming to seize "anomalous assets."
"Leo, look at the sky!" Jud pointed upward, his voice trembling.
High above the Heart Estate, three sleek, black-hulled airships hovered, their searchlights cutting through the dark like the eyes of predatory gods. This was the Inquisitor Unit, the government's specialized task force for "renegade" users.
"They're deploying the Null-Anchors," Leo muttered, his Eye of Truth scanning the expanding blue ripples in the atmosphere.
[Warning: Global Suppression Field Active]
[Effect: All mana-based skills below Level 60 reduced by 70%.]
[Countermeasure: Use 'Breeder's Domain' as a Mana Buffer.]
"Grim, out!" Leo commanded.
The Primordial Storm-Turtle appeared, but he looked different. He was vibrating. Because Grim drew power from the Primordial Spark rather than the modern mana grid, the Suppression Field only made him agitated, not weak.
The Heart Family's Stand
As they reached the estate's main courtyard, a massive wall of fire erupted, blocking the path of the advancing Bureau agents. Adam Heart stood there, his Storm-Sovereign aura clashing against the black-clad soldiers. Beside him, Patricia was channeling a massive healing ward over the entire staff.
"Dad! We have to go!" Leo shouted.
Adam turned, his face etched with a grim pride. "Leo, they want your System and your beast. They claim you're a threat to 'Global Stability.' Go to the Southern Border Portal. Your brother Arthur is already there clearing a path."
"But what about you and Mom?"
"I'm a Pillar of the State, Leo," Adam laughed, a crackle of lightning dancing in his beard. "They can't kill me without starting a civil war. But you... you're still a student in their eyes. Run! Build your world!"
Leo felt a lump in his throat. He nodded once, grabbed Jud's arm, and leapt onto Grim's back.
The Breakthrough
"Target sighted! Fire the Capture-Nets!" a Bureau Commander barked from an airship.
Dozens of shimmering, metallic nets launched from the sky, designed to drain the energy out of any beast they touched.
"Grim, Void-Storm: Shell Rotation!"
Grim tucked his limbs into his obsidian shell and began to spin at a terrifying velocity. The violet lightning on his back formed a localized hurricane. The capture nets didn't just fail; they were shredded into scrap metal by the sheer gravitational force.
"Jud, use the Toad!" Leo yelled.
Jud, now standing taller than he had an hour ago, summoned his newly evolved Titan-Crag Toad. The creature was the size of a small van, its skin looking like weathered granite.
"Earth-Leap!" Jud commanded.
The Toad slammed its massive feet into the ground, creating a shockwave that overturned the Bureau's armored transport vehicles. The impact launched the Toad—and Jud—hundreds of feet into the air, clearing the estate's perimeter wall.
"See you at the gate!" Jud screamed mid-air, looking half-terrified and half-thrilled.
The Shadow in the Path
As Leo and Grim sped through the forest toward the Southern Portal, the trees ahead suddenly turned to ash. A man stood in the middle of the road, wearing a white lab coat over a tactical vest. He held a staff topped with a "Slave-Core"—a device used to forcibly take control of contracted pets.
[Target: Senior Researcher Silas]
[Level: 55 (Puppeteer Class)]
[Beast: Controlled 'Abyssal Hydra' (Gold-Tier)]
"Such a waste," Silas sighed, his eyes cold and clinical. "You could have been a brilliant specimen in our labs, Leo Heart. Now, I'll just have to extract your brain and the turtle's core separately."
The five-headed Hydra emerged from the shadows, its heads hissing with poisonous green gas.
"Grim," Leo whispered, his hand on the obsidian shell. "We don't have time for a duel. Use the Sovereign's Mirror: Mimicry Record."
Leo's eyes flashed a brilliant gold. He hadn't just been watching his father's fights his whole life for fun. He had recorded the frequency of the Storm-Sovereign's ultimate move.
[Warning: Mimicking 'S-Rank' Skill: 'Heaven's Judgment'.]
[Host Mana: 100% -> 5%.]
[Grim's Stamina: 100% -> 10%.]
"Do it," Leo growled.
Grim opened his beak, and instead of a roar, a silence fell over the forest. Then, the sky simply opened. A pillar of white-blue lightning, thick as a skyscraper, descended directly onto Silas and his Hydra.
It wasn't a fight; it was a deletion.
When the light faded, the road was a molten glass trench. Silas and the Hydra were gone, leaving behind only a charred Slave-Core and a pile of high-level loot.
The Border
Leo, pale and leaning heavily on Grim's neck, reached the Southern Border Portal. Arthur Heart was there, standing over a dozen unconscious guards.
"Late as usual, Little Bro," Arthur smirked, though his eyes showed his shock at the scorched earth behind Leo. "The portal is tuned to the Unmapped Expedition Zone. Once you go through, the Bureau can't track you. It's the 'Wild West' of the evolution era."
"Thanks, Arthur," Leo wheezed.
"Don't thank me. Just become the strongest Breeder in history," Arthur said, tossing Leo a bag of high-grade spirit stones. "So when I come to visit, you can upgrade my Grizzly."
Leo and Jud (who had landed nearby, his Toad looking quite smug) stepped into the swirling white vortex of the Border Portal.
[DING!]
[Region Change: Leaving 'Safe Zone' Earth.]
[Entering: The Primal Realm (Difficulty: Unknown).]
[New System Function Unlocked: 'Guild Construction' & 'Wild Taming'.]
As the world dissolved into white light, Leo Heart looked back one last time at the city. He was no longer a student, a noble, or a son. He was a Pioneer.