Chapter 438 - 384: Isn’t This Wolf a Bit Too Poor?
Chapter 438: Chapter 384: Isn’t This Wolf a Bit Too Poor?
Gu Ning and the others didn’t have to wait long at the security checkpoint, and Philinos’s weapon wasn’t confiscated as she had expected.
The inspector took Philinos’s pass, scanned it on a device, and handed his weapon right back to him.
Gu Ning watched in astonishment. Pointing at Philinos, she asked Alex and Barto, "The Bird Team doesn’t have to surrender their weapons?"
’Is it because he’s a soldier from the Military Department?’
Alex leaned in close to her ear. "He must have a Hunter certification."
Gu Ning looked up, thinking. "A Hunter? Like... a certificate for being good at hunting?"
As she spoke, she mimed shooting a gun with her hands.
Barto let out a laugh, and Alex couldn’t help but crack a smile.
"Hunting what?" Barto said. "He’s a Mutant Species Hunter. You can get certified as a Hunter if you kill a large number of Mutant Species, or high-level ones. His Hunter rank must be pretty high. The 12th District is strict about weapons; not just any Hunter can carry one."
"Ohhh."
’No wonder back in Zone 15, everyone had to surrender their weapons, but Philinos never parted with his.’
Alex smiled. "Well, you’re not entirely wrong about the hunting part. A lot of Beastmen hunt Mutant Species for the Crystal Stones and other rewards."
"Philinos definitely isn’t one of them," Gu Ning said.
"Hmm?" Alex’s smile faded. "What makes you so sure he isn’t?"
Gu Ning watched as the Little Fairy Bird agilely leaped onto the roof of their vehicle, only to be told by an inspector to get down. He then flipped off the roof, opened the door with a stoic expression, and sat inside. She let out a soft "pfft."
"You have that much faith in him?" Barto noticed her attention was fixed on that bird—she hadn’t even answered Alex’s question. An alarm bell started ringing in his mind.
’Something’s not right.’
"Philinos just isn’t like that." Gu Ning’s gaze was pulled away from the Little Fairy Bird by the intense stares of the two Beastmen.
She might not fully understand what went on in Philinos’s head, but she had seen his actions clearly throughout their journey. He might treat killing Mutant Species as a mission to complete, or maybe he simply loathed them and wanted to see them all wiped out, but he would never do it just for Crystal Stones and rewards.
After she finished speaking, Gu Ning couldn’t resist looking back at the SUV that was following them.
She couldn’t see inside, but she could imagine the Little Fairy Bird’s expression. He’d be putting on a cold front, but he was probably a little embarrassed.
’Somehow... cute.’
Seeing the young female’s expression and tone as she spoke of Philinos, Alex sighed internally. He wasn’t surprised by her reaction.
Barto’s foxy face soured. He bit back several retorts that were on the tip of his tongue.
’Xiao Ning is so happy right now. I should just let her enjoy the day. Once we get to Zone 5, there probably won’t be many peaceful days left. Besides, that bird won’t be with us for much longer. I’ll just turn a blind eye for now.’
At that moment, inside the SUV, Philinos gripped the back of the front seat, his jaw tight.
After a moment, he leaned back, closed his eyes, and let out a soft sigh. If you ignored his reddening ears, he just looked a little annoyed about something that hadn’t gone his way.
’That... certainly hadn’t gone well.’
’She saw.’
Even though the other Beastmen blocked his view of her, his keen senses had felt her eyes on him.
"Not used to riding in cars?" Lanuo glanced at the rearview mirror. Seeing the bird-man covering his forehead with a hand, frowning, he asked.
Philinos ignored him.
Lanuo had put up with this mute bird for the entire trip and knew just how to get a rise out of him. He said intentionally, "Ningning kept looking at me. You think she wants to ride in my car instead?"
Philinos slowly opened his eyes and stared at him, his face a blank mask.
Lanuo pressed on. "You came all the way from Zone 19 with Ningning, didn’t you? Do you have any idea what kind of males she likes? She definitely doesn’t like your type. She’s more into the Dog Clan."
Philinos said, "Did you happen to look in a mirror before you left the house?"
Lanuo: "?"
"If not, you can take a look now," Philinos said. "You look like you haven’t bathed in a month—filthy and reeking. If she so much as glanced at you one more time, her eyes would get infected."
Lanuo: "???"
"Smell the disinfectant on me and say that again?"
"It seems I was mistaken," Philinos said.
Lanuo raised an eyebrow, about to retort, when the bird-man continued with an even more vicious attack. "The fact that such a strong smell of disinfectant can’t cover your stench means it must have been more than a month. Stay away from her later so you don’t asphyxiate her. When you get back, douse yourself in disinfectant and maybe take some medication. You’re clearly starting to hallucinate."
Lanuo took a deep breath, shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and cursed, "...Fuck."
*
Ten minutes later, Gu Ning and her party, trailing a slow-moving queue of people, passed through a long checkpoint tunnel and entered the Inner City District.
The moment their surroundings brightened, the first thing that hit Gu Ning was the aroma of food. The air was thick with the smells of lamb soup, grilled fish, and a sweet fragrance like milk and cake. She couldn’t help but gulp.
The aromas mingled with the mist, and the cacophony of voices grew louder. Gu Ning couldn’t help but lean over the edge of the sled, trying to see past the Beastmen blocking her view.
A bustling street came into view. Throngs of Beastmen entering the Inner District merged with the crowd already on the street. Hot-tempered individuals would curse or even start brawling after being bumped or shoved, but they were quickly stopped by a patrolling security squad.
Gu Ning leaned halfway out, her eyes wide with wonder as she took everything in.
The architecture of the Inner District wasn’t much different from the buildings she’d seen on the way, though it felt more crowded. Beastmen in all sorts of forms walked the street, and Gu Ning even spotted a few females scattered among the crowd.
Barto hauled Gu Ning, who was now hanging halfway out of the sled, back in. "Careful, you’ll fall out."
Gu Ning grabbed Barto’s arm excitedly. "Look, look! There are females!"
Other than Windsor and Meira, this was the first time she had ever seen other females in a Beastman city.
These females were all quite tall. Some displayed their beastly traits, while others were in fully human form. Like the male Beastmen, their features were defined and striking—deep-set and elegant, yet with the unique, wild air of their kind. Even in human form, you could see the difference between them and humans.
Gu Ning couldn’t help but think of Windsor and Meira. They were different—one was gentle and serene, the other sharp and brilliant. One was like a heavy, immovable stone anchoring a mountain; the other, a sharp machete that could cleave it in two. They were polar opposites.
While their general features were similar to the females she was seeing now, their auras were slightly different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why.
Barto followed her gaze, glanced at the females, and gave a dismissive "hmph." He pulled her back a little closer. "We’re close to the outer district. You won’t see many females here."
Seeing the little fox-man so nonchalant, as if this were a common sight, Gu Ning asked, "Have you seen a lot of females?"
"I’ve seen a few, here and there," Barto said.
Gu Ning turned to Alex. "Alex, are there a lot of females in Zone 5?"
"Not really," Alex said. "Not as many as in the 12th District."
Gu Ning was surprised. "But Zone 5 is an Upper District."
Alex paused. "Because of the Wolf Pack’s internal strife, the Beast Alliance has been transferring females to other Upper Districts for the past few years. Some also chose to relocate to other zones based on their own wishes."
Gu Ning had learned a fair bit about the situation in Zone 5, so this made sense to her.
As they spoke, the sled made its way through the street and came to a stop at a corner.
"I’ll tell you more about Zone 5 later," Alex said, jumping off the sled. He lifted Gu Ning down and straightened her loose scarf.
Gu Ning nodded and went to get Cook.
The little dog-boy seemed anxious after getting off the sled. He stood in place, turning in circles, clearly a little unsettled by the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Need any help?" the transport team’s leader asked as he walked over.
"We’re good," Alex said. He pulled a pouch from his pocket, took out a few neatly folded Beast Coins of various denominations, and handed them over. "This is our stop."
Seeing the motley collection of bills, the leader’s eyebrow twitched. He couldn’t help but glance at the young female.
’Is this wolf... a little too poor?’
Gu Ning caught his look and felt her own pockets. "Is it not enough?"
’I don’t have any money either.’
"Barto," Gu Ning said, looking at him.
"Don’t have any," Barto said, his own eyebrow twitching at the sight of Alex’s apparent poverty.
"What about that box of Crystal Stones..." Gu Ning started.
Barto wrapped an arm around her shoulder and whispered, "Haven’t you ever heard you’re not supposed to flash your wealth?"
Gu Ning simply reached into his pocket, pulled out a small pouch of Crystal Stones, and then ducked out of his hold to walk over to the leader.
She opened the pouch, took out a single Crystal Stone, and offered it to the man. "Is this enough?"
"Enough, more than enough! This is just the sled fare, and he already paid me with a Crystal Stone earlier," the leader said, waving his hands. He took the Beast Coins from Alex, thinking to himself that even if it wasn’t enough, it would have to be.
"Contact me anytime if you need anything," the leader said. Without lingering, he left with his team, who cast reluctant glances back. They had their own duties to attend to.
"Look at you, Miss Big Spender," Barto said, snatching the pouch of Crystal Stones back from Gu Ning. "This is for buying you supplies. That’s our entire budget."
"We have money," Gu Ning stated simply.
"All you know is ’we have money.’ You don’t know the first thing about managing it," Barto retorted.
Gu Ning didn’t argue with him, turning instead to soothe Cook.
"Cook, let’s go get you something good to eat."
Cook let out a happy "ARF!" He glanced behind him, then joyfully squeezed up next to Ningning. ’As long as I have Ningning and yummy food, nothing else matters.’
Gu Ning smiled, hugging Cook’s neck and giving him a good scratch. She knew food was the way to the little pup’s heart.
"You guys go on and shop."
Philinos walked up to Gu Ning. "I have to take care of something," he said. "I need to leave for a bit, but I won’t be long."
"Should we wait for you?" Gu Ning asked.
"No need," Philinos said. "I can track your scent. And their stench."
Gu Ning glanced at Barto, who looked less than pleased, and then at Doctor Lano, who’d had a sour look on his face ever since he got out of the car. ’You really could have left out that last part, Little Fairy Bird,’ she thought.
"Come on, I’m taking you to buy a gun," Barto said, grabbing Gu Ning’s wrist.
"GROWL..." Gu Ning’s stomach rumbled.
Alex grabbed her other wrist. "Let’s eat first."
Gu Ning looked from him to Barto, then dodged over to Cook’s side. "Let’s go, let’s go! Food, food!"
"WOOF!" Cook scooped Gu Ning up and charged toward a stall wafting the aroma of roast chicken, with the others hurrying to keep up.
After they had gotten some distance away, a figure in the crowd looked up in their direction, paused for a moment, then turned and headed for the SUV they had left parked at the corner.