Chapter 403 - 361: What a Waste of a Face She Likes
Chapter 403: Chapter 361: What a Waste of a Face She Likes
12th District, Little Frost Town.
Ah Mo stood at the edge of the hospital grounds, dozing off. A figure approached silently from behind and came to a stop beside it.
Catching a familiar scent, Ah Mo’s eyelids twitched. It slowly turned its head to look—
"CHIRP?!"
Seeing it was that young fledgling Philinos, Ah Mo chirped happily, "The fledgling’s finally awake."
Then, it chirped in astonishment, "What are you doing out here?"
Philinos said, "Patrolling."
His answer nearly made Ah Mo keel over. It smacked the disappointing little bird with its wing. "CHIRP!" (Get back inside!)
’I went through all that trouble to shove this stupid little bird next to Little Gu Ning, and he runs out the moment he wakes up?’
Philinos staggered from the blow of its large wing and shuffled to the side, clearly having no intention of leaving.
Ah Mo pointed its wingtip at him and scolded, "Are you an idiot? Where did all your usual cleverness go?"
"I’ve never seen such a dumb bird! Other birds fight for themselves when they’re courting, fanning their tails for all they’re worth in front of a female, but you!"
"What a waste of your size! And a waste of that face she likes so much!"
Philinos just stood there and took the scolding. Only when he heard that last sentence did he react. "She likes it?"
After saying that, he glanced down toward Gu Ning’s hospital room. "Don’t talk nonsense."
Ah Mo was completely exasperated with him, chirping and scolding him nonstop.
"Look at that little fox next to her!"
Philinos: "I’m not looking. He’s annoying."
Ah Mo: "..."
"Where’s Teacher Windsor?" Philinos asked.
Ah Mo shook the snow from its head, settled back into its spot, and chirped with its eyes closed, "She went to take care of something."
"What is it?"
Just as he finished speaking, he sensed an unpleasant presence approaching from behind. He and Ah Mo turned around at the same time.
"CHIRP." Ah Mo looked at the approaching little fox, then shot a sidelong glance at Philinos. "Smell that?"
Philinos said, "Where’s my knife?"
"..." Ah Mo: "CHIRP." (Don’t be impulsive. It’s your own fault for not stepping up.)
"Xiao Ning left you some lunch," Barto said to Philinos.
"CHIRP!" Ah Mo happily patted Philinos on the back. "Go on, quick! Don’t keep Little Gu Ning waiting!"
"She didn’t wait for you," Barto said with a slight curl of his lip.
"CHIRP?" Ah Mo looked at Barto, a little surprised. "You can understand the language of the Bird Clan?"
Barto said, "Is it that hard to understand?"
Ah Mo: "CHIRP CHIRP." (Arrogant little fox. Which district was he from before?)
Barto didn’t answer. "Want me to get you something to eat?"
Ah Mo: "CHIRP." (No need. Windsor will bring food back for me.)
Hearing this, Barto said no more to them and turned to leave.
"CHIRP!" Ah Mo raised its wing and gave the motionless little fool of a bird a hard smack. "Hurry up and get back to Little Gu Ning’s side!"
Philinos said, "Give me my knife."
Ah Mo chirped, "You won’t even get the hilt."
Philinos took a deep breath. "I’m not looking for a fight."
’How am I supposed to protect Gu Ning without a knife in my hand?’
A moment later, Ah Mo held out a broken knife in its beak to Philinos. "CHIRP." (It’s too broken to be repaired easily. Windsor went to have a new one made for you.)
Philinos took the broken knife, thanked Ah Mo, and walked toward the hospital room.
"DING—"
Two members of the Bird Team were standing in the hallway, looking down at their terminals. When they saw Philinos step out of the elevator, they quickly hid their hands behind their backs. "Captain!"
Philinos gave a slight nod. He was about to walk past them when he noticed their expressions seemed off. He stopped and looked at them. "What are you looking at?"
The two members looked at each other, nudging one another with the hands hidden behind their backs and secretly shooting each other glances.
Seeing their behavior, Philinos frowned. "If you have something to say, say it."
’He didn’t manage his team as strictly as Vine, but he wasn’t as lax as that dog either. Every member of his team was an elite he had personally promoted after rigorous evaluation. They weren’t like the wolves and dogs who relied on pack instincts to band together. In terms of overall discipline, routine training, and mission assessments, his team’s scores were always the best.’
’This is the floor with Gu Ning’s hospital room. Even with other Military Department soldiers on guard, the two of them shouldn’t be slacking off.’
"Captain, we were wrong!"
Seeing his cold expression, one of the members immediately stepped forward to accept his punishment.
Philinos’s gaze swept coldly over their faces. "Hands out."
The two members tensed up, nervously holding out their hands.
Philinos glanced at their empty hands and barked, "The other hand!"
’It’s over.’
The two members had no choice but to extend the hands wearing their terminals, bowing their heads to explain, "Boss, we were just taking a quick look."
The other member immediately chimed in, "Right, we set an alert so we could curse him out when he releases a new video!"
Philinos stared at their terminals. The interface displayed on them was very familiar.
’It was the homepage of that disgusting virtual blogger from Paw-press. Both terminals were playing a video. He hadn’t explicitly forbidden his team from watching virtual females—that was a matter of personal preference. But slacking off during a mission or while on duty was a major offense in his book, especially while guarding Gu Ning.’
Philinos’s expression grew colder. Just as he was about to reprimand the two, he caught a fleeting, familiar image on their terminals.
It wasn’t just that the virtual female in the video looked familiar, but also the hand reaching out to her...
Philinos froze. He grabbed one of the member’s hands to get a closer look, but the video went black, and the screen returned to the login page.
"..."
The team member let out a huge sigh of relief.
’Thank heavens! That damned Paw-press bug just saved my bird-life! I’ve decided I won’t curse out the "Bird Shit" developers later!’
Philinos let go of his hand and strode toward Gu Ning’s hospital room. "One major demerit. Go write a self-criticism report after your shift change."
He stopped in front of the hospital room and raised his hand to knock. Hearing the voices and sensing the presences inside, he lowered his hand again.
Looking at the broken knife in his hand, Philinos hesitated for a moment, then turned and left.
*
*
"And that’s the situation," Gu Ning said, looking at the two people sitting beside her and across from her. "I’m finished explaining. Do you both understand?"
After she finished uploading her new video, just as she was about to discuss the collaboration proposal with Idelos, the Paw-press platform bugged out. Her account was kicked off, and she couldn’t log back in for the longest time.
Alex and Barto were both in the hospital room, so she took the opportunity to tell them about her promotion to a permanent position and her future work arrangements.
After she finished, she glanced down at her terminal. It still showed she was in a queue, with over a million people ahead of her... She had no idea how long the wait would be.
"You’re an official Military Department reporter now. Is Cyril still your direct superior?" Alex asked.
Gu Ning looked up from her terminal at Alex. "Sort of."
Barto, who was beside her, spoke up. "What do you mean, ’sort of’? Did she... did this mother of yours arrange another superior for you?"
After he spoke, he and Alex shared a knowing look.
’Only Gu Ning would believe that this mother of hers, who adopted her out of the blue, was just a mere squad leader.’
Gu Ning said, "No..."
Before she could finish, a call from a certain someone popped up on her terminal.
"One moment," Gu Ning said to the two of them, turning to the side to accept the call. "Admiral Andrew."
Alex and Barto: "..."