Chapter 300 - 268: Have Her Talk to Me
Chapter 300: Chapter 268: Have Her Talk to Me
Zone 19.
The aluminum pot bubbled, steam rising as the aroma of alcohol filled the small room.
Andrew came out after a shower, drying his hair as he sat on the sofa. The flames from the alcohol stove cast his tall shadow onto the wall.
Seeing that the alcohol was just about hot enough, he lifted the aluminum pot and poured it into a stainless steel cup beside him.
Just then, the terminal on his wrist began to vibrate.
His movements paused when he saw the name flashing on the screen. He then placed the cup on the table and accepted the call.
"Not asleep yet?"
"No," Gu Ning said from the other end of the terminal.
"Why are you calling me out of the blue today? Is something troubling you?" Andrew asked the young female with a chuckle, using his towel to wipe away a bit of spilled alcohol.
"Am I bothering you? Is now a bad time?" Gu Ning asked.
"Not at all." Andrew picked up his cup, blew on it, and took a sip of the hot alcohol. "I was just taking it easy."
"That’s good." Gu Ning glanced at the alpha wolf sitting ramrod straight beside her, his eyes fixed on her. She turned away slightly. "There’s something I need to talk to you about."
Andrew’s smile faded, though his tone remained gentle. "Are you feeling any better?"
"A little better."
Andrew continued to change the subject. "Do you usually stay up this late?"
Gu Ning glanced at the time displayed on her terminal. It wasn’t even eight o’clock...
"Is this late?"
Andrew said, "You need to get more rest right now. Staying up late isn’t good for your recovery."
’That’s true.’
"Thank you for your concern," she said.
Andrew took the opportunity to say, "You should get to bed early. Whatever it is, we can talk tomorrow..."
"Admiral."
Vine’s voice cut in.
Andrew set his cup down. The stainless steel clinked sharply against the iron tabletop in the dark room.
"Speak," he said, his tone turning cold.
"Gu Ning has approved my application."
"Oh?" Andrew used the towel to wipe the alcohol that had splashed onto his hand. "How did she approve it?"
"I gave her the application form, and she signed it."
’She signed it?’
Andrew’s hand paused. He mulled it over. "Send me the application form."
A moment later, Vine took two photos of the signed application form and sent them to him.
Andrew quickly scanned the form, his eyes landing on Gu Ning’s name.
It was indeed her handwriting.
Of course, he didn’t believe Vine would forge her signature. It wasn’t in Vine’s nature to resort to trickery with her. Still, his intuition told him something wasn’t right.
"Admiral, if you have a moment, please transfer my household registration to her name," Vine said. "After we complete the mission in Zone 15, I’ll catch up with her team. I’m taking a long leave after that and won’t be accepting any more missions for a while."
Hearing that Vine had already planned his leave, Andrew let out an exasperated laugh. "And what are you taking a leave for?"
Vine looked at the confused young female and said, "She probably doesn’t have a place in Zone 5. I need to help her find a home and get her and Cook settled."
"And that fox," Vine added. "They’re both Mixed Breeds. The situation in Zone 5 is a bit tense right now. It’ll take some time to get them properly settled."
The more Gu Ning listened to Vine, the more confused she became.
’Something feels off, doesn’t it?’
Vine was going to help her find a house in Zone 5? And help settle Cook and Barto?
The Wolf Team was being a little too helpful...
"Let me talk to her."
Andrew cut Vine off. He was afraid that if Vine kept going, he’d have names picked out for their beast cubs, let alone a place to live.
"You talk," Vine said, looking down at the young female.
Gu Ning pulled her hand, the one with the terminal, out of his large grasp, scooted a little farther away, and turned her head to speak to Andrew.
"Admiral, the Wolf Team’s... application to join the team, I approve," she said directly. She wanted to get this over with quickly, otherwise she’d never finish processing her materials for the day.
"Application to join the team?"
Andrew opened the form Vine had sent and took a closer look. "Didn’t you sign his spousal application form?"
Gu Ning let out a confused "Huh?" Spousal application... spouse... spou...
Spouse?!
Gu Ning’s heart leaped into her throat. She wondered if she’d heard him wrong, or if it was a translation error. She asked Andrew again to confirm, "What did you say, application form?"
But Andrew understood now. His furrowed brow relaxed. "Did you even read the application form?"
Gu Ning turned her head to look at Vine, then slowly lowered her gaze to the form clutched in his hand. A very bad feeling washed over her.
Andrew said, "Have Vine read it to you. Word for word. If he fails to make you understand what’s written on it, I’ll dock his pay for a year."
His words seemed to be for Gu Ning, but also for Vine.
"I..."
Just as Gu Ning was about to reply, the call disconnected.
’The Admiral hung up?’
Gu Ning lowered her wrist to look at Vine. Just then, Vine shot to his feet, and Cook’s low growl echoed from outside the door.
Hearing his wary, defensive cry, Gu Ning leaped off the bed as well.
"Stay here. I’ll go check it out."
Vine wrapped an arm around Gu Ning’s waist, placed her back on the bed, and quickly left the bedroom.
The moment the door opened, Cook darted into the room and rushed to Gu Ning’s side.
Vine stood at the doorway, glanced at the two of them, and closed the bedroom door securely.
"Cook, who’s out there?"
Gu Ning asked, stroking Cook’s head as he nuzzled into her arms.
"AWOO," Cook replied, turning his back to her to stare at the door, his tail twitching restlessly.
’Strange Beastmen.’
Gu Ning’s internal danger-dar went off. She immediately changed out of her sleepwear, put on her outdoor gear, packed what she could, and shoved the rest under the bed.
「In the hallway.」
"Do you have any idea where you are? Investigating us? You got a death wish?"
Leo and his team stood with their arms crossed, blocking a squad of inspectors in combat uniforms.
The spacious hallway was packed tight with people from both sides.
"I don’t care where this is," one of the inspectors said.
Hearing his arrogant tone, Leo and the "pups" all took a step forward.
"I’d like to see you try and get past me," Leo said, his hand resting on the saber at his waist.
"You just try and stop me..."
Before the Beastman could finish, the leader of the search team put a hand on his shoulder, cutting him off. In a relatively peaceful tone, he said to Leo, "Criminals have recently infiltrated Zone 15. We’re here searching under orders from our superiors."
As he spoke, he opened the search warrant for Leo and his team to see.
Leo glanced at the search warrant and said, "Have your superior tell me that himself."
The lead Beastman smiled slightly. "We’ve been searching for criminals all over Zone 15 for the past two days, even hospitals and government offices. We understand that your team has had a long journey from Zone 19, which is why we’ve only come to search now. Don’t be shameless."
Leo said, "Shameless."
The lead Beastman: "..."
"Captain, stop wasting your breath on this dog," a member of the search team stepped forward to say.
The lead Beastman’s gaze swept over the Dog Clan Beastmen standing like a solid wall. He gave Leo an ultimatum. "You are obstructing official business. If you don’t want a conflict, you’d best step aside."
"Who do you think we are?" Leo sneered, drawing his blade and holding it to the leader’s neck. "I gave you a chance. Now, not even your superior could save that head of yours."