Chapter 9

Before the male therian could continue reporting, the door to Cell No. 37 was suddenly smashed open. A massive lion, covered in pure white fur, charged out. The impact of its escape shattered the doors of the adjacent Cell No. 36 and 38, releasing two more rampaging males. Without hesitation, Finlay immediately shifted into his wolf form and leaped in front of Analise. Facing an SS-graded white lion and two S-grade tigers, Finlay wasn't confident he could win. Analise was startled by the sudden appearance of the white lion. She felt every hair on her body stand on end. To say she wasn't scared would be a lie. She had only ever seen ordinary tigers and lions on TV, and now, she was facing ones several times larger than those. Who wouldn't be terrified? Fortunately, after experiencing Finlay's transformation into a wolf and chasing her the previous day, she had somewhat adjusted to the shock. Seeing Finlay in his wolf form standing protectively in front of her, Analise quickly assessed the white lion and the tiger. "Finlay, let me climb onto your back! I'll calm the white lion first! Just charge at it. You don't need to fight—just get me close enough to touch it!" Analise shouted without hesitation. "Mr. Greenhill! Get some males to restrain the two tigers! And find two S-grade females—I can only handle calming the SS-grade white lion!" Without waiting for a response, Analise grabbed onto the thick fur on Finlay's back. The moment he crouched down, she quickly climbed onto his back. "Ms. Chamber, Derek has just broken through—he now possesses SS-grade mind essence. Are you sure you can handle this?" Finlay's legs trembled under the overwhelming mind essence of Derek's newfound strength. If Derek had broken through earlier, Finlay might have already been forced to his knees. Among therians, battles relied on the mind essence to overpower enemies, followed by close combat with weapons and raw physical strength. "No problem." Analise's gaze was locked onto the white lion. She had just checked with Echo, and it confirmed that she could do it. The only issue was that calming an SS-grade beast consumed twice as much mind essence as an S-grade one. This meant she might suffer from exhaustion or even pass out afterward. But Echo also said that if she successfully calmed the white lion—combined with her previous success in calming Finlay—she would gain enough Purification Value to level up. "Alright." The situation was urgent, and although Travis was surprised by how composed Analise remained under pressure, he knew there was no time to hesitate. He hadn't placed much faith in Analise, but he hadn't expected Derek to suddenly break through, either. If something happened to Analise, he wouldn't know how to explain it to Scott. Everything was unfolding too fast. … At Hopkins Galaxy Lodge, Scott was also watching the live stream. Initially, he had been enjoying the sight of Analise in Finlay's live stream. But when Derek unexpectedly broke through and burst out of his cell, Scott immediately jumped to his feet, called for several therians with strength comparable to Finlay, and set off for the containment facility without delay. Halfway there, he ran into Vera, who was also on her way. "Scott! You're heading there, too? You saw the live stream?" Vera rolled down her car window, looking surprised. "Yeah." Scott cast a brief glance at Vera, but his focus remained locked on the furious white lion in the stream. Right now, both Finlay's and Analise's live streams only showed the white lion and the other therians. "Faster," he ordered his driver. His urgency stemmed from two reasons. First, for Analise's safety, and second, because Derek had now reached SS-grade, which meant Finlay and the others had no chance of defeating him. If Analise failed to calm him or if Scott didn't arrive in time, Derek could break open more cells and release additional rampaging males. If that happened, the entire facility would descend into chaos, putting the city's residents at risk. "Go faster! Catch up with Scott's car—we need to get there as fast as possible! If Ms. Chamber can't calm that white lion, we'll all be in danger!" Vera, seeing Scott's car accelerating, immediately instructed his driver to speed up. "Understood!" With two loud engine roars, the vehicles on the road automatically made way. Many of the drivers had been watching the live stream and understood the urgency of the situation. But most of them didn't believe Analise could actually calm those rampaging males. They suspected that she was using a clever tactic—saying she would handle the white lion while asking Travis to bring in two S-grade females for the tigers. This way, when those females assisted her, she could claim partial credit if the calming succeeded. To them, Analise was just a scheming, pure human. … Finlay lunged toward the white lion, but the closer he got, the stronger the mind essence suppression became. Yet, Analise felt nothing. Noticing Finlay's movements falter under the pressure, yet still stubbornly refusing to back down, she didn't hesitate—she climbed onto Finlay's head and leaped straight toward the white lion. The white lion let out a deafening roar and swung its massive paw at her. Scott witnessed this moment through the live stream, and his heart clenched. But in the next second, he froze. The expected scene—Analise being swatted away—never happened. Instead, she had grabbed hold of the lion's thick mane. The white lion instantly fell still, frozen in the exact position it had been in. Analise hung on tightly, her legs still dangling slightly in the air. Seeing the clarity return to the lion's eyes, Analise spoke up, "Could you crouch down a little? Thanks." The white lion tilted its head before obediently sitting down, carefully lowering the paw that had just been poised to strike. Once Analise was safely on the ground, the white lion lay down, gazing at her with wide, blinking eyes, curiously studying her. Its rationality was returning. It understood that the female was calming it, yet it had no recollection of ever seeing her in Stormclaw Alliance. Hadn't it just run back to its own territory? The live stream chat had gone silent—viewers were too shocked to type. With the white lion calmed, its mind essence suppression disappeared. Travis and Finlay immediately led a team to restrain the two tigers, injecting them with sedatives. Now sedated, the tigers lay limp on the ground, their ears and tails drooping. Analise watched as dark energy continuously flowed into her, causing a burning sensation in her chest. Her face was already turning pale. It felt like her soul was being torn apart—or as if something was forcefully being poured into her. She felt dizzy and nauseous. As the white lion reverted to its therian form, the live stream chat finally exploded with comments. Starfire commented, "No way… Did she really just calm an SS-grade male?"