Chapter 151: Chapter 139: Just Take Her and Go
Gu Ning looked at the clothes in her hands, confused, then at the little fox scurrying around the room.
She put the clothes down, wrote a note, and handed it to Barto: *What’s wrong?*
Barto had no time to explain. He pulled out a heavy bag of Crystal Stones and some cash, stuffing them into her bag. "We have to leave here right now and find Alex."
Gu Ning asked on the note: *Why? Did something happen?*
Barto opened his mouth, but then he thought about how people from the Underground Arena had retaliated against Cook. He also remembered that Kuinan clearly knew Gu Ning. He quickly understood the danger she was in.
He swallowed his words, ran to the window, and drew the curtains. "It’s not safe here anymore. You have to get to Alex and not leave his side for a single moment."
Gu Ning wanted to ask him more, but just then, Seth and Jite entered the room.
Barto said to them, "You two, right now, immediately, take her to Alex."
Jite noticed the wound on Barto’s ear and caught an unfamiliar, unsettling scent on him. He frowned slightly.
Seth said, "Boss said we can’t leave here. There are a lot of people from the Military Department across the way..."
"What about your men?!" Barto cut him off. "There aren’t enough of you! She’ll only be safe with Alex!"
’It wasn’t that Barto didn’t trust the Military Department to protect Gu Ning. He realized that Alex was probably the only one who believed Gu Ning was a true female.’
’Based on his observations over the past few days, he suspected that even Jite and the others didn’t know her true identity.’
’That meant Alex hadn’t revealed her identity to anyone.’
’In a place like Zone 19, especially with the Mutant Species cleanup underway, all Kuinan’s people had to do was exploit this secret, and she would be in grave danger.’
When Jite saw Barto pulling out his weapons, he thought for a moment, then walked over, picked up Gu Ning’s jacket, and helped her put it on. "We’re leaving. Let’s go find the boss."
Seth quickly caught on and started helping Gu Ning pack her things.
They really were short-handed here, and the boss was too busy to be everywhere at once. They were about to leave Zone 19; they couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong now.
Seth had almost failed to protect Gu Ning when members of the Dog Clan had come after them before, which had given him a certain distrust for this place.
Seeing that everyone wanted her to leave—even Cook was acting very anxious—Gu Ning just assumed a powerful Mutant Species was nearby, making the area unsafe. When she heard they were going to find Alex, she didn’t delay any further. She finished getting dressed, shouldered her somewhat heavy backpack, and let Jite half-push and half-guide her out the door.
As they left, Barto was about to follow, but his gaze swept across the room. Spotting the half-open bedroom door, he seemed to think of something and headed toward it.
After Gu Ning, Seth, and the others left the building, they realized Barto hadn’t followed and waited for him by the entrance.
Jite gave a few instructions to one of the younger wolves, telling him to go on ahead to find Alex. He then turned back to Gu Ning and asked, "Cold?"
Gu Ning shook her head. It was a little cold, but she could bear it.
Jite scanned their surroundings. His keen sense of smell picked up several unfamiliar Beastman scents in the air. His hand brushed the weapon at his waist for a split second before he suddenly swept Gu Ning up, hoisted her over his shoulder, and strode out into the snow.
Gu Ning was speechless. She tugged at Jite’s hair and struggled on his shoulder. ’Barto hasn’t caught up yet!’
"WOOF!" Cook tried to snatch Gu Ning back, but Jite raised a hand and blocked him.
Jite gave Gu Ning a pat on the butt. "Behave, little boss. All of you, behave. We need to get out of here, fast."
Still carrying Gu Ning, he hurried to a snow vehicle parked at the side of the building, opened the rear door, stuffed her inside, and then got into the driver’s seat.
He tried the ignition several times, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.
"Seth." Jite leaned his head out and called to him outside the vehicle. "Go check the engine."
Seth nodded, opening the hood. A quick scan of the engine revealed the problem: the fuel line had been snapped, and fuel was pooled on the ground beneath it.
’Now, he had no choice but to believe Barto.’
’Someone was sabotaging them. Targeting them specifically.’
’Who was it?’
’The Dog Team?’
’No, Leo and the others had been all over Zone 19 for days hunting Mutant Species. They wouldn’t have had time to mess with them.’
When Jite heard the fuel line was broken, he also realized they were being deliberately targeted. He told Seth to find another vehicle.
Seth said, "Those vehicles belong to other people. Can we just take one?"
Jite said, "Just take one. We’ll deal with it later."
Seth scanned the area and walked toward the nearest vehicle.
As he approached it, he smelled fuel. Seth crouched down and saw fuel pooled on the ground.
There weren’t many vehicles nearby; most had been taken by the Military Department. All the remaining ones he could see were also leaking fuel. Searching any longer would just be a waste of time.
With a grim expression, Seth returned and explained the situation to Jite. Barto, who had just caught up, overheard and said decisively, "Just take her and go. Forget the vehicles."
Hearing this, Gu Ning wrote a note and stuffed it into Jite’s hand: *We still have a motorcycle.*
She pointed at a nearby motorcycle, almost completely buried in snow. It had been parked right below their building.
She pulled a key from her pocket and handed it to Jite; it had been in her jacket pocket the whole time.
Jite got out of the snow vehicle. "I’ll go get it."
Luckily, the motorcycle hadn’t been tampered with. It had probably been hidden by the snow and gone unnoticed.
The small motorcycle could only carry two people at most, though.
Barto said, "I’ll drive the bike. I’ll take Cook, and you two take her."
Jite didn’t hesitate. He and Seth stripped off their shirts and pants, stuffing the clothes into Gu Ning’s arms. "Hold on to these, little boss," Jite said. "We’ll need them when we get there."
Gu Ning stared at the sky, her ears burning. ’Do they have to get completely naked every time they transform?’
After the two of them transformed, Jite signaled for Seth to carry Gu Ning while he acted as their guard.
Seth approached, nudged Gu Ning gently, and then crouched down in front of her.
"WOOF!" Cook whined, pacing anxiously around Gu Ning. She soothed him with a pat, then held his head and whispered a few words in his ear. Between her coaxing and Barto’s scolding, they managed to get him onto the motorcycle.
A nearby patrol of Beastman soldiers saw what was happening and started to approach, but they stopped in their tracks when they saw the transformed Wolf Clan Beastmen.
It was best to stay out of Wolf Clan business. They had a reputation for not liking outsiders meddling in their affairs.
Gu Ning grabbed a handful of Seth’s fur and climbed onto his back. Once he was sure she was secure, Seth stood up, crouched low, and then shot off at top speed toward the West Defense Wall.
Leighton and his men, who were guarding the street corner, saw them from a distance. A pack of giant, transformed wolves bypassed an intersection up ahead. One of the wolves was carrying a familiar figure on its back, and Barto followed behind them on the motorcycle.
Little Black asked curiously, "Hey, where are they headed?"
Leighton said, "Looks like they’re heading for the West Wall. Follow them."
"It’s him!" one of the Lion Clan Beastmen in the back seat exclaimed in surprise.
"You know them?" Leighton glanced back at them, his tone casual.
’The day he’d brought them into the station, he’d learned why this group of young lions had been arrested.’
’They had been trying to catch that little Wolf Clan Mixed Breed.’
’He hadn’t brought it up before. He figured these guys from the Upper District probably had some beef with Alex, so he’d decided to turn a blind eye.’
"We know the fox," Mingxi said.
Leighton gave a soft chuckle and didn’t press the issue. He just told Little Black to stay on the wolves.
