Chapter 144: Time for the Carrot

Words : 1109 Updated : Oct 8th, 2025

Chapter 144: Time for the Carrot This woman’s weirdness aside, Carlos was more bothered by the two stubborn retainers squaring off in front of him. Compared to their predecessor Shield Guards, the retainers’ smarts had shot through the roof. While their battle sense had gotten sharper and they could handle trickier jobs, they’d also developed their own feelings. Like right now—the two retainers butting heads over who got to approach their master. "Can’t let this keep going. Otherwise their teamwork down the road might fall apart." Carlos mulled it over—he had to lay down the law for them. "Both of you get over here!" His tone was dead serious, no room for argument. "Roar!" "Wah!" Master sounds ticked off! The feuding retainers immediately responded loudly, pulling back their energy. Red Spirit, using its speed edge, zipped over to Carlos first. Its little stubby hands pointed at Purple Vortex, tattling away: "Wah! Wah! Wah!" While Red Spirit was ratting it out, Purple Vortex’s Dark Purple Force Field sneakily emerged, trying to shut up the snitch. Then it got stopped cold by Carlos’s ice-cold stare. "Roar~" Purple Vortex was like a kid caught with its hand in the cookie jar, sheepishly pulling back its Dark Purple Force Field, heart starting to race. "Yeah, yeah... Purple Vortex shouldn’t have blocked you. I’ll make it say sorry. You’re both teammates." Carlos nodded. Red Spirit was spot-on—the recent dust-up was definitely Purple Vortex’s fault, which he’d seen clear as day. Hearing its master take its side, Red Spirit was tickled pink. Its hurt look melted away: "Wah!" It couldn’t help bouncing up and down, striking all kinds of victory poses: ... "Roar~" Hearing it had to eat crow, Purple Vortex’s head slowly turned backward like a sulking child: Only showing the pitch-black back of its head to the celebrating Red Spirit. Carlos’s eye twitched—good grief, it had gotten an attitude! This had to be stopped right here and now. So he made his voice even more serious: "Purple Vortex, you definitely started this mess. Go apologize to Red Spirit." Master means business! Not daring to tick off its master, Purple Vortex had no choice but to turn its head back around: Grudgingly, it let out a tiny roar toward Red Spirit floating in mid-air. "Roar~" Red Spirit crossed its arms: Nodding slightly, even reaching out its little hand to pat Purple Vortex’s shoulder at the end. Apology accepted! Purple Vortex’s head drooped like a wilted flower. Epic fail! Total washout! Got schooled completely! No doubt about it, this round went to Red Spirit!!! With the circus over, Carlos immediately gave both retainers a serious talking-to: "Since Purple Vortex has said sorry, this whole thing is done and dusted. From now on, you’ve got to play nice and absolutely can’t go at each other’s throats. Otherwise, the punishment won’t be a slap on the wrist like today!" "Wah!" Red Spirit perked up enthusiastically. As this round’s champ, it didn’t want to have to grovel to this guy later. "Roar!" Purple Vortex also jumped to attention for Carlos, showing it would never screw up like this again! Hmm... right. Learning the hard way, today’s beatdown had made Purple Vortex wise up fast. If it couldn’t throw punches, then it couldn’t throw punches. Its mind couldn’t help drifting back to the dye the woman used for nail polish—nearly impossible to wash off once it dried. Purple Vortex had bounced back this quick? Carlos smelled something fishy. Obviously its earlier apology was dragged out of it kicking and screaming, but now it seemed to really get why it was wrong. He couldn’t help giving his big retainer a long, hard look, his gaze seeming to see right through to its soul. Being eyeballed like this by its master, Purple Vortex immediately put on an angel face: Except its eyeballs were spinning like pinwheels. This sketchy behavior made Carlos even more sure his retainer was cooking up something. However, Carlos wouldn’t give it the third degree—he respected his summoned creatures’ privacy. Actually, he was curious to see what his big retainer could pull off under his crystal-clear rules. "Stick given, time for the carrot." Carlos waved over the innocent-acting Purple Vortex: "Come here, Purple Vortex." "Roar?" Purple Vortex’s eyeballs went into overdrive. Had master figured something out? It wasn’t me! Wait... I haven’t even done anything yet! Getting a bad feeling inside, it still obediently walked forward and sheepishly dropped to one knee, its exposed heart hammering away. "Purple Vortex, why so jumpy? You hiding something from me?" Carlos wasn’t rushing to offer the carrot, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Roar!" Purple Vortex shook its head like a bobblehead. No! No! No! Panicked expression, heart pounding like a jackhammer—looking like its thoughts had been laid bare. "Wah?" Red Spirit nearby started circling Purple Vortex, checking it out from top to bottom. It had picked up soul vibes! Immediately zipping over to Carlos’s ear: "Wah! Wah! Wah!" Carlos’s brow furrowed slightly: "Hmm...? Hmm...?" Hearing its master’s back-to-back hums, the kneeling Purple Vortex’s already jittery heart got even more worked up: What was that red troublemaker telling master?!!! Purple Vortex knew for sure it wasn’t anything good—the sinking feeling got worse. Carlos finished listening to Red Spirit’s intel: "Hmm... I get the picture." He sighed internally—Red Spirit’s natural soul-reading ability was really handy. Just getting close could secretly peek into others’ heads. Looking at the fidgety Purple Vortex, Carlos’s voice took on fake anger: "Well, well, Purple Vortex! You’ve gotten bold—actually planning to pull such stunts while Red Spirit’s catching Z’s!" "Roar!!!" Master, let me set the record straight! Purple Vortex never saw it coming that its barely-hatched brilliant scheme would get busted by its master! Flailing around desperately, wanting to defend itself. But Carlos looked the other way: "Explain it to Red Spirit!" "Wah!" With master’s backing, Red Spirit faced off with Purple Vortex, steaming mad: "Wah! Wah... wah wah wah..." Sparks flew, constantly smacking Purple Vortex in the face. Purple Vortex took it like a champ—who told it to get caught red-handed again? Even though it hadn’t made a move yet, just thinking about it—conspiracy in the first degree. But apparently even thinking about it was off-limits—this was behavior that wrecked team spirit and had to get ripped apart! No surprise, this round was another crushing defeat for Purple Vortex! Carlos kept his mouth shut, letting Red Spirit blow off steam. But he found it pretty entertaining: "Sneaking around to turn it into an ugly monster while Red Spirit’s dead to the world—pretty juvenile." Still, this really didn’t count as attacking Red Spirit. No real damage but massively insulting.

Chapter 144: Time for the Carrot

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