Chapter 334 - 296: We’re All Normal Beastmen
Chapter 334: Chapter 296: We’re All Normal Beastmen
Gu Ning and Belial switched seats.
Although Mingxi did his best to appear restrained and calm, his scent gave him away. Leighton decided it was better for Gu Ning to keep her distance for now, and he instructed Belial to keep a close watch on him.
Male Beastmen in rut become irritable, and in severe cases, can even lose control and shift into their beast forms. Usually, a male Beastman’s rut is predictable. Taking an Inhibitor in advance solves most of the associated problems.
But who would have thought that the young lion would be triggered into rut just from a brief hug with Gu Ning? He really was just too young.
’Mingxi is already the most level-headed of these young lions, yet he was still so easily provoked. Looks like I’ll have to keep a close eye on this group of youngsters for the rest of the trip to prevent any more incidents.’
As Leighton grumbled internally about the naive young lions, he suddenly recalled the time they were catching those fugitives. When Gu Ning had been squirming in his arms like a little rabbit, he too had...
At the thought, Leighton gave a wry chuckle and rubbed his nose, turning to look at the little rabbit.
The little rabbit was huddled in the passenger seat, looking like she wanted nothing to do with anyone.
At that moment, Gu Ning wanted nothing more than to switch cars, or just be with Alex.
’A little cold wind is nothing compared to this suffocatingly awkward atmosphere. Besides, a wolf’s fur is thick, so it wouldn’t be too cold to ride on his back.’
As she thought this, Gu Ning opened the app that showed her distance from Alex.
The two little avatars were interacting, nuzzling and hugging. Alex’s avatar would even roll around on the ground playfully; it was very cute. The real-time distance displayed above their heads kept changing, but it generally stayed around a hundred meters.
Watching the two avatars improved Gu Ning’s mood slightly, but then she remembered Alex was in his beast form and couldn’t be contacted, so she had no choice but to drop the idea.
Leighton saw her expression shift from cheerful to downcast and, worried she’d been frightened, tried to reassure her. "The young lions are still just kids, not very steady. The Inhibitor will keep it under control. Don’t be scared. I’m keeping an eye on them; they won’t dare try anything."
"I’m sorry, Gu Ning. I... I didn’t mean to," Mingxi’s voice was filled with guilt.
Before Gu Ning could reply, Barto’s voice crackled over the vehicle’s comms, asking, "What’s going on?"
"It’s nothing," Leighton said. "Just one of the young lions going into rut. He’s already been given an Inhibitor."
When a team is on an important mission, some things can’t be hidden; they have to be reported.
That said, he was still withholding some information.
Mingxi wasn’t actually due for his rut; it had been triggered. And from the looks of it, he could lose control at any moment.
At the mention of "rut," the expressions of Barto, Philinos, and the others changed slightly.
"Who’s in rut?" Philinos asked, his expression cold, his hand instinctively going to the knife at his waist.
Belial tugged on Mingxi’s arm, shaking his head and giving him a pointed look, silently telling him not to say anything.
The convoy’s comms fell silent for a moment before Mingxi’s voice came through. "It’s me."
The other members of the lion squad: ...?
"Brother?" Ming Ze asked, confused.
Belial sighed again and again. ’Captain, you really don’t care about your image at all, do you?’
"How are the people you brought so useless?" Barto, worried about Gu Ning, couldn’t stop himself from yelling at Leighton. "They’re more of a hindrance than a help! Don’t they know what to do before a mission? Couldn’t they have taken their damn Inhibitors beforehand?"
"Who goes into rut in the middle of winter?" a Beastman muttered over the private channel.
"Unexpected things happen," Belial grumbled under his breath. Barto’s words made him uncomfortable, but he knew they were in the wrong. "Who could’ve guessed this would happen?"
"Stay away from her. Keep a clear head and things like this won’t happen," Barto said coldly. "You’re here on a mission, not to indulge your little fantasies. Don’t even think about getting anything from her."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Belial’s temper flared. "I told you, it was an accident..."
"I’m sorry, it’s my fault," Mingxi cut in as the tension escalated. "We’ll be more careful from now on. It won’t happen again."
As he spoke, his eyes fell upon Gu Ning.
Gu Ning felt his gaze and turned to meet his eyes for a second before silently looking away. She wanted to message Barto and tell him to calm down, but she had no signal.
Instead, she tapped Leighton on the arm, gesturing for him to put a stop to it.
Leighton raised an eyebrow at her and said nonchalantly, "Hey, little fox cub, don’t take your anger out on me. Just because you’ve got problems doesn’t mean you can assume everyone else does, huh? We’re all normal Beastmen. No need to act like the sky is falling."
Gu Ning: "..." ’Seriously, Officer? Are you trying to fan the flames?’
Sure enough, she heard Barto take a deep breath over the comms, followed by a torrent of curses that effectively disowned Leighton from the race of Beastmen and declared him nothing more than a feral animal.
Leighton listened calmly for a moment before nonchalantly turning off the comms.
’He’d been a Beast Police officer in Zone 19 for years; what kind of situation or Beastman hadn’t he seen? Did Barto really think he couldn’t see through his little ploy?’
’The little fox was genuinely worried about Gu Ning, but he was also using this as an excuse to vent his jealousy.’
’He didn’t know how the fox had managed to return to his human form. Without looking closely, it was almost impossible to tell he was a Mixed Breed who had undergone a secondary mutation.’
’But he was certain the price for doing so must have been steep.’
’The little fox might be able to hide his feelings for Gu Ning from others, but not from him.’
’A regressed Mixed Breed, sticking by a female’s side day in and day out, a female who cares for him deeply... and in a place like Zone 19, no less.’
’Rut or no rut, even a base animal would develop feelings in that situation, to say nothing of a being with the thoughts and consciousness of a normal Beastman.’
’If he didn’t have ulterior motives concerning her, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to maintain his human form. The transformation process for Mixed Breeds is the reverse of that for normal Beastmen.’
Normal Beastmen try to maintain their human form as much as possible, as shifting to their beast form increases the probability of regression. However, for a Mixed Breed who has a chance to return to a normal regression level, or one who has reverted to human form through the even smaller chance of a secondary mutation, only by maintaining their beast form can they better control their mutation rate.
This is also why Mixed Breeds almost never have ruts. In that respect, Beastman genetics are fair—or perhaps, balanced.
Mixed Breeds are more prone to anger and aggression; their bursts of combat power are stronger than a normal Beastman’s. If they also had ruts, they would be even more dangerous than a Mutant Species.
Barto’s current state was like walking headfirst into a tidal wave. He might be addicted to this feeling of teetering on the edge of madness, but sooner or later, that wave would come crashing down and shatter him.
The convoy continued to rattle and sway through the narrow, chaotic alleys. To shake off their pursuers, the vehicles had split up.
Gu Ning’s vehicle was the first to emerge from the alleyways, coming out into a large, open space.
"Open space" was a generous term; the ground was completely covered in the rubble of toppled buildings. Luckily, the vehicle’s tires were high enough that it could just barely navigate the construction debris.
"We lost them," a voice from one of the other vehicles announced over the comms.
Gu Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside, the sky had mostly brightened, and much of the fog had dissipated. Seeing the view, Gu Ning lifted the camera hanging around her neck and snapped a few photos of the collapsed buildings.
After the vehicle crested a small mountain of rubble, the view before Gu Ning opened up even more. A towering city wall appeared in her line of sight.
The wall of Zone 15 was considerably shorter than the high walls of Zone 19, but with no buildings to obstruct the view, it looked magnificent.
Just then, a crack split the gray-white clouds above, and a brilliant golden ray of light spilled onto the wall. The light seemed to flow down its surface, spreading out across the ruins.
Gu Ning pressed the shutter, marveling at the sight.
After snapping a few more shots, she looked down to adjust her camera settings. The vehicle suddenly lurched to a halt. She had just raised the camera again, ready to take another picture—
The city wall in her viewfinder vanished, replaced by several massive, ferocious beasts, snarling and panting as they faced the vehicle.