Chapter 155: Chapter 143: Take Good Care of It
"Please, come in."
Cyril pushed the door open, stepping aside for the two behind him.
Gu Ning glanced around the room. It was nothing special, the layout almost identical to the first room she’d seen in Alex’s quarters.
Kloer looked down at Gu Ning. "This is a good room, Little Gu Ning. You won’t have to squeeze in with us anymore."
A few days ago, the King Seed had led the Mutant Species in an attack, tearing a massive breach in the West Wall. Most of the Military Department’s forces had been transferred over to fight, making their living quarters here far more crowded than they had been at the East Wall. Even Alex had to squeeze in with the younger wolves to sleep.
But at a time like this, they couldn’t afford to be picky. There was hardly any time to rest, and they’d only just gotten a moment of peace today—only for Gu Ning to show up.
Kloer didn’t understand. She had been perfectly fine at the East Wall, so why come to the West Wall, the most chaotic place of all?
The first thing Alex had done was arrange for the Mutant Species at the East Wall to be cleared out. Then he moved the entire Wolf Team over to the West Wall. The main force of the Wolf Team and the Dog Team were busy hunting Mutant Species all over Zone 19; they had no time to cause her any trouble.
He’d just have to wait for Alex to get back to ask what was going on.
Hearing Kloer’s name for the little Mixed Breed, Cyril’s gaze fell on her face. When she looked up at him, he calmly retracted his assessing stare. "You’ll stay here for now. Try not to leave this room until Alex returns."
Gu Ning nodded and handed him a slip of paper.
"Thanks, Adjutant. I’ll keep a good eye on her," Kloer said, gently pushing Gu Ning into the room.
Cyril glanced down at the note in his hand. It read: "Thank you."
The corner of his mouth twitched. He stuffed the note into his pocket and turned to leave.
Gu Ning walked straight to the window and stood on her tiptoes to look out.
This room was also on the second floor, but it was some distance from the main gate of the West Wall construction site. Outside, Beastman soldiers patrolled in orderly fashion. She couldn’t see the person she was hoping to find.
"The boss will be back soon," Kloer said, inspecting the room as he spoke.
Gu Ning sat on the sofa, her mind troubled, replaying the day’s events.
Barto had suddenly rushed out today, only to return in a hurry, warning her of danger and telling her to leave.
Cook had been acting strangely, too. She had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen.
"Little Gu Ning, are you hungry?"
"Want some water? There’s no hot water, though..."
Kloer kept chattering away. When he saw her just staring into space on the sofa, ignoring him, he went and sat beside her. He reached for the backpack behind her. "You should put this bag down. What’s in here, anyway? It’s pretty heavy. Is it food?"
He casually unzipped the backpack.
"WHOA..." Kloer picked up a thick stack of bills. "What are you doing with all this cash?"
He then pulled out a heavy pouch. Opening it, he was nearly blinded by the sight of a bag full of high-purity Crystal Stones.
It was then that it suddenly clicked. He turned to Gu Ning, shocked. "Where did you get all this money?"
He’d seen her paystub—it was only a little over thirty thousand.
But the Beast Coins and Crystal Stones in this backpack were worth far, far more than thirty thousand.
Never mind that the bag of high-purity Crystal Stones was worth one or two million; the stacks of Beast Coins alone amounted to one or two hundred thousand.
On top of all that, there was a box of Advanced Inhibitors.
The moment he saw the box of Advanced Inhibitors, Kloer blurted out, "Did Alex give all this to you?!"
If she had this kind of money, why would she work so hard filling in for her brothers? Her salary from that job was pocket change compared to what was in this backpack.
’Gu Ning is so sharp, she wouldn’t take such a risk, would she?’
It was rare to see a Dwarf hybrid as honest and hardworking as her, let alone a rich one who still helped her brothers by taking their shifts. He really didn’t get it.
Gu Ning took the box of Inhibitors from his hand, closed the lid, and put it back in her bag.
’What do you mean, Alex gave it to me? This is all money I earned myself—my own blood, sweat, and tears!’
Kloer said, "Alex barely has an Inhibitor or two left for himself, and yet he gave you so many."
Gu Ning paused in the middle of stuffing the Crystal Stones back into her bag.
She took out her pen and paper and wrote: "Isn’t Alex the commander in charge of the fortifications? Is he really that short on Inhibitors?"
"Of course he is," Kloer said. "He’s not with the Military Department. He brought a good number of Inhibitors with him from Zone 5, but he has a lot of people under his command, and the situation in Zone 19 turned out to be more complicated than we thought. We’re burning through Inhibitors fast, and the ones we brought are almost gone. Now we can’t even afford to buy more."
Gu Ning was surprised. "Buy?" she wrote.
’Alex has to buy his own Inhibitors?’
Kloer figured there was no point in explaining all this to a Mixed Breed, but he felt Gu Ning was different from the others. Besides, he had some grievances with the Military Department that he needed to vent, and he wasn’t the type to keep his mouth shut. He couldn’t stop himself from complaining to her.
"This defense project in Zone 19, and even parts of our salaries—he’s subsidizing them. Alex has drained his personal savings, and the Military Department refuses to give us any extra funding. I have no idea what those bastards in the Military Department are even doing. They could at least spare us a few more Inhibitors. Alex is pouring his own money and effort into this, and he’s gotten nothing but grief for it."
Gu Ning fell silent.
’I had no idea Alex was under so much pressure.’
"Doesn’t the Military Department manage this?" she wrote.
"Logically, after the boss pulled this off so brilliantly, the Military Department should have given us a subsidy. But we’ve heard nothing from them. Maybe they’re short on Inhibitors this year, too," Kloer said.
He was just saying that to reassure her. How could the Military Department possibly be short on Inhibitors? If even they were running low, everyone else would be completely screwed.
Gu Ning also sensed that something was off. Barto had managed to buy plenty of Inhibitors from Beastman soldiers, yet Alex, the commander of the entire Zone 19 defense project, was lacking them. It was obvious the Military Department was intentionally withholding his supply.
She wrote another note and handed it to Kloer: "Do you need Inhibitors right now?"
Kloer smiled and ruffled her hair. "Don’t worry. We’re short, sure, but we each keep at least one in reserve. You don’t need to worry about us, and we won’t take yours."
...
...
Cyril entered the conference room to report to Andrew.
"General, I’ve arranged for it to stay in my room for the time being."
Andrew thumbed through the files in his hands. "Go check on Alex’s situation. Don’t let those wolf cubs go too far. Tell them to back off. It’s never good to push someone into a corner."
"Yes, sir."
Seeing that he hadn’t left, Andrew glanced up at him. "Is there something else?"
Cyril hesitated. "It’s just... I find Alex’s attitude toward this Dwarf hybrid rather strange."
He’d felt it the last time he saw the little Mixed Breed, and now that strange feeling was even stronger.
Especially after seeing how affectionate Alex was with it on the wall. It was enough to make him deeply uncomfortable.
Andrew echoed, "Strange?"
Cyril nodded. "In all the time we’ve known him, he’s never revealed his beast form. But this time..."
"He’s not an impulsive man," Andrew said, taking a sip of cold tea. "But he acted impulsively just now. He’s still too young, in the end."
"He’s very concerned about this Mixed Breed," Cyril said, following Andrew’s lead.
"Take some food to the little Mixed Breed," Andrew said. "Look after it, and try to get on its good side."
"It’s very smart," Cyril said. "Food alone might not be enough to win it over."
Andrew smiled. "I’m not asking you to trick it. Just get along with it. Before this cleanup operation is over, don’t push things too far and anger Alex. Know where the line is."
