Chapter 157: Chapter 145: Are You Planning to Use Her to Lure Out the King Seed?
Alex said, "The Admiral already has a plan. I’m just here to execute it."
Andrew said, "Then I’ll have to trouble you. The main power grid has been destroyed, and we need you to lead a team to repair it as soon as possible."
Alex gave a slight nod. The melting snow in his hair condensed into droplets at the tips, trickling down his jawline.
Andrew turned to the other senior officers. "How are the preparations for the Mimic Mixed Species?"
Hearing that Andrew intended to deploy the Mimic Mixed Species, Alex’s eyes flickered, and he tilted his head slightly to look at him.
A senior officer said, "Currently, only three Mimic Mixed Species have met the training standards. I’m not sure if that will be enough."
Andrew said, "Three is a bit low, but with proper training, we can still lure out the King Seed. What plans do you have?"
After he spoke, the senior officers began offering their suggestions. One of them stood up, activated his terminal, and projected a presentation video onto the center of the conference table.
The video began to play.
The conference room instantly fell silent.
Alex’s brow furrowed slightly as he saw the video’s content.
Cyril let out a low cough.
Andrew raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his tea. ’Ah, young people.’
Everyone in the room wore a peculiar expression. ’Why in the world is he playing a video of Yuanbao? Read the room! I hope this doesn’t get us all banned from watching her.’
"Well, isn’t this that virtual female who’s been so popular online recently?" a senior officer sneered. "Are you planning to use her to lure out the King Seed? Have the Mutant Species evolved to the point they can use terminals now?"
Another voice chimed in, "If they could use terminals, would they still be called Mutant Species? Even Mixed Breeds can’t do that."
"Maybe the reason the King Seed hasn’t come out is because it’s holed up in its den, watching this virtual female on a terminal."
A few chuckles echoed through the conference room.
"What are you laughing at?" a senior officer glared at the few who had snickered. "Is this funny to you? Show some respect."
"What, you want us to respect a Mimic Mixed Species?"
"How is that the same? You’d actually fall for a Mimic Mixed Species? What’s wrong with your brain?"
"The one with a dog-eaten brain is the one who falls for a virtual female! It’s not even a living being, and you can still like it."
The moment he finished speaking, fists slammed on the table and chairs were kicked back. Glares as sharp as needles shot toward him, and the air crackled with hostility.
"Stop, stop! My mistake, I played the wrong file by accident."
The officer who had played the video fumbled to change it, but after a long moment, he still hadn’t succeeded. Unable to watch any longer, Alex stood up, helped him play the correct presentation, and, while he was at it, deleted the few offline "virtual female" videos the man had downloaded.
"Thank you, thank you. I don’t know where my glasses fell. I’m having trouble seeing the file names clearly. I’ll have to get a new pair later."
After thanking Alex, the senior officer explained his plan to everyone. "We’ve already killed one King Seed at the West Wall. We plan to place the three Mimic Mixed Species at the East, North, and South Walls respectively..."
Now that they were back on topic, everyone temporarily suppressed their urge to argue.
"We should still place one Mimic Mixed Species at the West Wall," Andrew said. "With such a large breach there, it would be a waste not to use it. After the power is restored, we’ll pull back some of our forces and hold a victory celebration."
"A victory celebration?" a young officer asked. "Isn’t it a bit premature?"
Andrew said, "Young man, the King Seeds are far more intelligent than you imagine. They’re waiting for us to lower our guard, so let’s give them what they want."
...
「The sky grew darker.」
Gu Ning stared at the darkening sky outside. After pacing by the window for a while, she walked to the living room and opened the backpack sitting in a corner of the sofa.
Alex hadn’t come back. There was no news from Cook or Barto, either. She couldn’t wait any longer.
She pulled a handgun from a hidden compartment in her backpack, tucked it into her pocket, and shook Kloer awake on the sofa.
"What’s wrong? Is Alex back?" Kloer asked, blearily opening his eyes.
Gu Ning gave his cheek a firm pat and held a note in front of his face. It read: [Going out.]
Kloer glanced around the room. Seeing no sign of Alex, his head dropped back onto the sofa. "Vine’s wolves are everywhere outside. It’s not safe."
Gu Ning wrote: [Going to find Alex.]
Kloer reached out and wrapped an arm around her neck. "Be good now. Just wait here patiently for the boss. He’ll be back before you know it."
The pull made Gu Ning stumble against his chest. She wriggled free from his arm and patted his face again.
Kloer shielded his face with his hand and sighed. "My little ancestor, this isn’t like the East Wall. You really can’t go out."
’The way Seth was acting was a clear sign of Alex’s orders. He knew Alex was too busy to see Gu Ning, which was why he had forbidden Cyril from letting her leave this room.’
’Alex plans on joining the Military Department, so it wouldn’t be good for me to pick a fight with those wolves under its command. If this were Alihot’s pack, I could beat them up as much as I wanted, but not these guys.’
’The Military Department is all about discipline. Even though Vine and his men don’t get along with Alex, they’ve never actually thrown a punch.’
’Gu Ning’s situation is special, and I can’t just parade her around right under their noses.’
’Vine and his men are just waiting for an excuse to pounce on any mistake Alex makes.’
Since Gu Ning couldn’t persuade Kloer, she gave up on him, opened the door, and made to leave.
Hearing the sound, Kloer bolted up and rushed to catch her.
As Gu Ning stepped outside, the small wolves lying on the floor immediately sat up.
"Little ancestor, get back here!" Kloer exclaimed, scooping her up around the waist.
Gu Ning struggled in his arms, pushing at his hands, but she couldn’t budge the massive Beastman in the slightest.
She was so frantic she was on the verge of speaking to him.
’I can’t just wait here without knowing if Cook and Barto are safe.’
Kloer carried Gu Ning back inside. The moment he set her down, she made another dash for the door.
Kloer snatched her back in one long stride. "Be good. The boss will be back by tomorrow at the latest. He’s probably busy restoring the power grid right now. If you want to play, I’ll play with you, how about that?"
Just as he was about to shut the door, a sudden commotion erupted outside.
"WOOF!" Seth barked excitedly twice toward the pitch-black stairwell.
A moment later, Jite’s beast form appeared in the dim hallway. He limped to the entrance, nuzzled heads with Seth, glanced at the open door of the room, and then looked back behind him.
Gu Ning shone a flashlight at the door. Both she and Kloer froze when they saw Jite.
"Jite? You’re back!" Kloer exclaimed happily.
Hearing it was Jite, Gu Ning rushed forward to get a better look.
Just then, a red figure leaped from his back, stumbling slightly as it ran to stand before Gu Ning.
’Barto?’
Gu Ning froze for a moment, then joyfully gripped its shoulders.
The next moment, her hands felt a damp coldness, and her joy instantly turned to worry.
Barto was soaked to the bone, water dripping onto the floor. DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.
’This isn’t from melting snow,’ she thought. ’It’s like it was submerged in water. Its fur is completely soaked through.’
She quickly wrote to ask if it was injured.
[Where’s Cook?] she wrote next.
She couldn’t see Cook anywhere.
Barto slowly lifted its head. After staring at her face for a moment, it pressed down on her hand to stop her from writing. "Bend down a little," it said softly.
Gu Ning paused, then bent down.
Barto wrapped its arms around her neck, took a deep breath of her scent, and whispered in her ear, "Wait here. I’ll bring Cook back tomorrow. You stay with Alex and don’t go anywhere."
Gu Ning started to say something, but as she moved, Barto tightened its grip. "Trust me."
"Trust me!" it repeated, its voice emphatic.
Gu Ning had no choice but to nod.
Barto nuzzled against her neck, then released her. With a sharp turn, it vanished into the darkness.
