"We really got played..."

In the damaged forest, someone uttered these words.

A burly man with a white headscarf didn't know how long he had been lying in the ruins of the camp. As he opened his eyes, remnants of trees were visible all over, and his last memory before losing consciousness stayed on the wolf with a sword in its mouth, glowing with golden light.

That was definitely not a common magical creature.

"It seems that guy found us just to use us to locate the dragon's nest."

The burly man with a white headscarf showed a grim smile, muttering to himself. Though he didn't know what happened later, Ethan indeed retrieved a dragon egg from the dragon's nest and subsequently kicked them aside as expected.

As the head of the poachers, he had never been so embarrassed before.

"Boss..."

The poachers who were knocked out started waking up one by one.

"Go find him, he must have headed toward Moon Forest City."

The leader said in a deep voice, no one could just walk away after using them, "He must be here to participate in the Crimson Queen's tea gathering... Do you know? There still exist beings in this world that are rarer and more powerful than dragons, each one is unique, without the concept of a race."

He had also heard this from other poacher groups.

Legendary creatures were meant to bring about significant changes when they appeared.

In the past, it was just bar talk for people who had a bit too much to drink, their existence seemed more like folklore scattered around the world, but when the sword-bearing wolf came rushing at them, he understood that the legend had become reality, and they were witnesses to a new legend.

The Crimson Queen's tea gathering, the summoners embarking on adventures, and the legendary creature wielding the sword of justice, all of this was no coincidence!

"Boss..."

"Forget about those dragon eggs, isn't there something more valuable here than dragon eggs?"

He grinned excitedly, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, he heard the sound of the wheels of time turning forward, witnessing the moment a hero embarked on an adventure, it was exhilarating even for a poacher, wasn't it?

Chasing after the hero's footsteps, perhaps even becoming their nemesis...

"But, Boss..."

More and more poachers gathered around, each pale with panic.

"What's wrong?"

The burly man in the white headscarf finally snapped out of his exhilarating state.

"We..."

"Our magical creatures were stolen!"

"All of them are gone!"

...

"This doesn't seem quite right..."

On the other side, the righteous Other Shore raised a doubt, "Isn't this truly becoming a poacher?"

Just a moment ago, while all the poachers were unconscious, Ethan seized control of their magical creatures. He used the wolf pack's characteristics to have them follow her, the new wolf king, into the deep forest, then ordered them to disperse, while Rowena managed the bat creatures. In a blink of an eye, over a dozen magical creatures returned to nature.

According to Ethan, this was called release to nature.

However, releasing them without the owner's permission, how is that different from theft?

To go further, Ethan's actions are even more egregious than a typical poaching group. Those people stole wild magical creatures, Ethan directly stole someone's magical creatures.

"Other Shore, don't get caught up in these trivial details."

Rowena, having completed her assignment, flapped her wings excitedly, "I think the name Team Rocket is pretty good, it sounds like we're up to big things!"

"Rowena is right, that's the motto of Team Rocket—liberating the enslaved magical creatures, helping them return to nature!"

Ethan had already devised the team's new principles.

The cat still gracefully sat on Ethan's shoulder, not partaking in the squabble between the two energetic figures.

Every Team Rocket leader had a boss cat by their side, which also fittingly aligned with the team's identity.

Moon Forest City was just ahead, Ethan could already see the City Guards patrolling at the city's outskirts. Their magical creatures were uniformly the Moon Blade Leopards, the most common magical creature at the Kingdom's border, cultivated by the border Summoners, and now a standard equipment for the Kingdom's guards.

Ethan and his companions... The small animals didn't attract much attention, the patrolling guards barely glanced at him and let him pass. After all, no one would trouble a group of seemingly harmless little critters, some guards even looked at Ethan with a hint of sympathy.

In Moon Forest City, only young Summoners from less well-off families need to leave the city to venture into the forest to gather partners, but they usually can only gather some "little critters" to keep as pets, these weak magical creatures are rarely capable of engaging in real combat.

In the face of absolute lineage difference, numbers are meaningless.

But seeing Ethan getting along well with his companions, the guards of Moon Forest City tacitly chose to remain silent—they had been there themselves, no one easily crushes a young person's dream, Ethan reminded them of their younger selves.

Of course, they probably weren't as charming and likable as Ethan in their youth.

It was likely the liveliest day in Moon Forest City, as Ethan encountered many other Summoners dressed similarly, accompanied by various magical creatures. Naturally, the city had an Adventurer's Guild set up, which posted commissions related to magical creatures.