Chapter 164: Chapter 152: The First Law: Do Not Harm Females
The emergency lights in the tunnel flickered on and off.
The face of the Beastman before Gu Ning was cast in the shifting light, but its eyes, locked on her, remained piercingly bright.
Slit pupils of brilliant gold, like those of some great cat.
Gu Ning’s body registered the danger before her brain could catch up. Without a conscious thought, the gun in her hand was already pressed against the Beastman’s forehead.
’A Beastman... right?’
Gu Ning’s pupils dilated in shock as she stared at the fair, beautiful face before her.
’This is a Female Beastman?!’
Most Beastmen had sharp, well-defined features and chiseled, ruggedly handsome faces. The females, however, were more delicate.
She had seen interviews with females on PawPress—they were beautiful and elegant, a true sight to behold.
The Female Beastman before her had just such a face.
It was Gu Ning’s first time seeing a real Female Beastman. She was so amazed by the sight that for a moment, she forgot the danger she was in.
Aside from those unsettling eyes, the rest of her appearance matched everything Gu Ning knew about Female Beastmen.
Gu Ning glimpsed a pair of brown wings folded behind her back. She was one of the Bird Clan Orcs.
However, the joy of meeting another female was fleeting.
Gu Ning quickly realized something was very wrong with this Female Beastman.
The Female Beastman was sizing her up, her seemingly innocent gaze holding the sharp alertness of a predator watching its prey.
Gu Ning felt as if she had been targeted by a wild animal. Her body instinctively went on high alert, a cold sweat breaking out on her skin as the hairs on her arms stood on end.
She kept the gun pressed to the Female Beastman’s forehead, unsure how to react. Should she greet this female, or should she obey her instincts and run?
Based on her understanding of this world’s Female Beastmen, it was nearly impossible for them to appear in a Lower District City, let alone a place as chaotic and underdeveloped as Zone 19.
Meeting a Female Beastman here was bizarre, no matter how you looked at it.
The expression on the Female Beastman’s face as she looked at Gu Ning was just as strange.
She stared at her without blinking, seemingly fascinated and completely unconcerned by the threat of the gun to her head.
Perhaps because it was so rare to meet another female, Gu Ning temporarily ignored the odd feeling and forced a friendly smile. Then she remembered she was wearing a hood; the other couldn’t see it.
After a moment’s hesitation, just as Gu Ning was about to speak, the Female Beastman grabbed the wrist of her gun hand.
The Female Beastman’s fingers, slightly warmer than her own, slipped into her sleeve and stroked against her skin.
That creepy feeling washed over Gu Ning again. Even if they were both female, she hated overly intimate contact from strangers.
She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but the Female Beastman immediately tightened her grip and gave her a friendly smile.
Gu Ning found the smile inexplicably strange. The next moment, something even more horrifying happened.
The Female Beastman’s brilliant gold, slitted pupils morphed into black irises.
Gu Ning thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but as she watched the Female Beastman’s curly brown hair slowly turn straight and black, she finally realized what the creature before her was.
The recent conversation between Kloer and the others, as well as the one between Vine and his subordinate, flashed through her mind.
The Military Department planned to use a Mimic Mixed Species to lure a King Seed, but the bait had escaped.
Looking at the Mixed Breed whose eyes now resembled her own, Gu Ning’s throat tightened. She swallowed hard, her index finger trembling on the trigger.
This wasn’t a Female Beastman at all—it was a Mimic Mixed Species!
The Mimic Mixed Species sensed the shift in her emotions, tightened its grip on her wrist, and yanked her forward, throwing her to the ground.
Gu Ning pulled the trigger. The bullet sparked against the ceiling above, and the deafening gunshot echoed through the tunnel.
She couldn’t fire a second shot. The Mimic Mixed Species pinned her right hand—the one holding the gun—beneath its palm.
Its strength was immense. Unable to free her hand, Gu Ning could only kick and struggle desperately.
"Shhh, don’t be afraid..."
The Mimic Mixed Species spoke in a gentle female voice.
With that, it ripped off Gu Ning’s hood.
Gu Ning watched in terror as it leaned closer. She knew about the characteristics of a Mimic Mixed Species—to them, Beastmen were no different from prey.
The Mimic Mixed Species sniffed at her neck a few times, then flicked its tongue out to lick the side of her face as if to soothe her.
Gu Ning took a deep breath, stopped struggling, and let her body go limp.
"You... want to eat... me?" she asked in clumsy Beastman tongue. "You... don’t bite... Let... me..."
"Not allowed," the Mimic Mixed Species said, licking her again.
Gu Ning heard it swallow. Its voice had changed—it was now a male’s.
She swallowed as well, her heart leaping into her throat. "What’s... not allowed?" she asked, her voice dry.
"First Law: Do not harm females."
Its voice changed again, this one cold and stern. Gu Ning felt as if she were speaking to a different male Beastman entirely.
"Yes! I... am... female!" Gu Ning seized on the life-saving keyword. "You... cannot... eat me!"
"Not eat," it said. "Just lick."
Gu Ning’s eyes welled with tears. ’Lick away,’ she thought. ’Just don’t kill me.’
The Mimic Mixed Species licked her a few more times and let out a long sigh.
Hearing that sigh, Gu Ning felt like she was a gourmet dish.
A dish that perfectly suited its palate—so delicious it was breathtaking.
As the frequency of its swallowing increased, Gu Ning’s heart began to race again. Especially after its sharp fangs grazed her skin, she found it hard to believe it wouldn’t eat her.
Seizing a moment when its guard was down, Gu Ning yanked her right hand free from its grasp and pulled the trigger, aiming at its chest.
With the muffled thud of a bullet hitting flesh, the Mimic Mixed Species recoiled backward. Gu Ning scrambled up from the ground and, without checking if it was dead or alive, bolted toward the tunnel entrance.
The light from the tunnel mouth grew closer and brighter... Gu Ning just kept running until she reached the edge, where she screeched to a halt.
Leaning against the wall, Gu Ning gasped for breath and looked back into the tunnel.
There was no sign of the Mimic Mixed Species.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Her hand went to the safety rope at her waist as she prepared to descend the wall.
Just then, a cold wind carrying snowflakes blew past, lifting a few loose strands of her long hair.
Gu Ning turned her head. Her gaze swept casually before her, and the hand adjusting her safety rope froze.
A few meters away, a Bird Clan Orc had landed on the scaffolding, staring at her with an indifferent expression.
"1366 has been located."
Philinos tapped the communicator by his ear, his eyes fixed on the Mimic Mixed Species before him.
Hearing his words, Gu Ning’s hand flew to her face.
Her hood was gone.
She had no time to think. She quickly hooked one end of her safety rope onto the cableway on the wall and jumped.
The zipline let out a sharp ZZZT—! Gu Ning held onto the harness at her waist, her eyes fixed on the ground below as she controlled her descent.
If she hadn’t experienced bungee-like drops multiple times while working on the outer walls, she would never have dared to make such a jump.
However, she had barely jumped when a flying figure sliced through her line.
