Chapter 325 - 287: I Know You’re a Female
Chapter 325: Chapter 287: I Know You’re a Female
It was still dark when Alex scooped Gu Ning out of bed.
His movements were gentle, but she woke up anyway.
She was exhausted from the previous night and still hadn’t gotten enough sleep. In a daze, she could feel Alex dressing her.
"What time is it?" Gu Ning asked in a hoarse voice, her eyes barely open.
Alex kissed her cheek, then held her and gave her a sip of water. "We have to go. You can sleep in the car later, okay?"
He hadn’t wanted to wake Gu Ning so early either, but there had been a change at the checkpoint. They were originally supposed to leave at eight in the morning, but now they had to depart more than three hours earlier.
Gu Ning let out a huge yawn. She was so tired she didn’t want to move at all, but she couldn’t delay their departure, so she forced herself to get up.
She slid off Alex’s lap and stood shakily on the floor, letting him help her into her coat.
As he dressed her, she ended up leaning against him.
Alex held her tenderly, stroking her hair. After letting her rest for a moment, he put on her hat and scarf. Grabbing the backpack he’d already packed for her, he then scooped her up and headed outside.
The cold air outside woke Gu Ning up a little. By the time she fully came to, Alex had already settled her in the car.
It was pitch-black downstairs, without a single streetlamp in sight. The only illumination came from the car’s glowing dashboard. Gu Ning saw several dark figures moving around the vehicle, and she could vaguely make out Alex talking to someone in a low voice.
She pressed her face to the window, trying to get a better look, when a voice suddenly spoke from behind her. "Miss Gu Ning."
Caught completely by surprise, Gu Ning jumped and whipped her head around to look at the back seat.
In the dim light of the car, the first thing Gu Ning saw was a shock of brilliant blond hair, then the glint of a golden badge on a Beastman’s uniform, and finally, a clean, handsome face.
It was a familiar face.
"Hey, young lady. Hello."
Another familiar face appeared. He also had brilliant blond hair, though his hairstyle was different. One had his hair in a small ponytail, while the other’s was worn loose, but both were very neat.
Gu Ning froze. Her eyes darted between the two Beastmen in the back seat. For a second, she thought she was in the wrong car, or perhaps dreaming.
Mingxi gave the female before him a friendly smile. He rested his left hand on the back of her seat and extended his right. "Hello, Miss Gu Ning. We’re new members joining the team for this mission. I’m Mingxi."
"I’m Belial!"
Belial excitedly stuck his hand out too, his eyes filled with anticipation at the thought of shaking the young lady’s hand.
’After three days at that security branch, I’m finally meeting the young lady I’ve been so eager to see!’
’But... why does she have such a strong wolf scent on her? It’s like...’
Gu Ning’s gaze dropped from their faces to their outstretched hands. Before she could respond, the driver’s side door opened, letting in a blast of cold air. A tall Beastman stooped to get inside.
"Morning," the Beastman greeted Gu Ning with a grin. He took a sniff and let out a surprised "Oho." "This scent... you two really haven’t been wasting any time, have you?"
The moment she saw him, the last vestiges of Gu Ning’s sleepiness vanished. She pushed the car door open, wanting to run.
As if he had expected this reaction, Leighton just smiled and locked the doors.
"What are you running for?" he said. "It’s not like I’m here to arrest you."
Gu Ning shrank into a ball against the car door, watching the three Beastmen warily. She instinctively pulled her scarf up to hide her face.
Leighton said, "No need to cover up. We know you’re a female."
Gu Ning: "..." She silently pulled her scarf tighter.
"Please don’t be afraid, young lady," Mingxi said apologetically. "We’re sorry. We were out of line last time."
Belial chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! We thought you were a shapeshifting Mixed..."
Mingxi jabbed him with his elbow.
Belial paused, scratching his head. "Sorry, sorry! We honestly didn’t know a place like Zone 19 would have a female, especially a cute one like you."
Gu Ning didn’t say anything. That incident had been traumatic for her, and she couldn’t bring herself to accept them just yet.
’As for Leighton...’
’Isn’t he a police officer from the Zone 19 precinct? Why is he here?!’
"I’ve already disciplined them for you," Leighton said. "If you’re still not satisfied, you can beat them up yourself later."
Belial added, "Yeah, yeah! You can hit us however you want."
Gu Ning’s tense nerves relaxed slightly, but she still didn’t want to talk to them. When she saw Alex’s figure disappear from outside the car, her heart clenched. She opened her terminal to contact Alex, Barto, and the others.
Seeing that she was still wary of them, Mingxi said, "Miss Gu Ning, we’re on the same mission as Captain Vine and his team."
Gu Ning paused and looked up. "What mission?"
Hearing her finally speak, Mingxi’s eyes brightened. "To report back to Zone 3, and to escort your team to Zone 5."
That’s what Andrew had instructed them to do, but they all knew what the most important part of this mission really was.
"Young lady," Belial said, squeezing his head in next to Mingxi’s. He asked Gu Ning with great interest, "Which zone are you from? Are you on a special mission? You look so young, it’s amazing you were on a mission in Zone 19."
A strange thought occurred to Gu Ning as she listened to him.
She pursed her lips. An idea sparked in her mind. "I’m a reporter," she said.
Belial’s face lit up with understanding. "You’re undercover, right?"
After a few moments of silence, Gu Ning said, "...Yes."
Belial clapped his hands. "I knew it! That explains why you were with those Mixed Breeds! And you even took down a whole gang. That’s incredible!"
Gu Ning: *Hiss...* ’This little blondie...’
Leighton looked at Belial as if he were an idiot. If he didn’t already know that Belial really was this dense, he would’ve thought it was some clumsy attempt to hit on her.
Mingxi was studying Gu Ning thoughtfully and was about to speak when someone knocked on the window from outside.
Seeing it was Alex, Gu Ning immediately rolled down the window.
"Alex!" Gu Ning was desperate to get out of the car. "Aren’t you... riding with me?"
"We are," Alex said, leaning down. "I’ll be right behind you."
The corners of Gu Ning’s mouth drooped.
"It’s true this time. I’ll be at the back of the convoy," Alex said, sensing her disappointment. He ruffled her hair reassuringly. "I didn’t go through the checkpoint when I came in, so I can’t be in the same car as you for now."
As he spoke, he tapped Gu Ning’s terminal. "I set up a little program for you. You can see the distance between us, with or without a signal."
Gu Ning did as he said, opening her terminal and finding the hidden program. As soon as she opened it, she saw two little chibi-style figures.
Both figures had black hair. The one with long hair was her, and the one with short hair was Alex.
They each had a pair of matching black wolf ears on their heads, which even twitched.
Right then, the distance displayed above the two little wolf-people was 20 cm.
When Alex leaned down to kiss her, the distance changed to 0.