Chapter 165: Chapter 153: What... Is He Holding?
Gu Ning was in free fall for a moment before her body was left dangling in midair.
The safety rope jerked tight around her waist, nearly squeezing the air from her lungs.
Thinking the safety equipment had malfunctioned, Gu Ning clutched at the rope and looked up—
The other end of the safety rope was in the hand of the Bird Clan Orc.
...
With a slight tug, Philinos pulled Gu Ning back to the edge of the tunnel, then used the safety rope to bind her.
Gu Ning struggled to break free, but Philinos grabbed her by the shoulders, slammed her against the wall, and said in a cold voice, "1366, execute your orders!"
Gu Ning froze. She instantly realized he had mistaken her for a Mimic Mixed Species and hurriedly told him in the Beastman tongue, "I am not... a Mimic Mixed Species!"
Philinos paused at her strange accent, his gaze sweeping across her face—
’Her features...’
"Let me go!" Gu Ning cried, a mix of shock and anger in her voice.
She tried to communicate with the Bird Clan Orc. With her life on the line, she had no time for anything else. "It’s... inside! The Mimic Mixed Species... is inside!"
Philinos stared at her, a flicker of doubt in his eyes. Just then, the communicator in his ear crackled with static, drowning out Gu Ning’s voice. He was about to turn it off when he heard Andrew’s voice. "The last King Seed has appeared. What’s your position?"
Philinos looked up at the gray sky. "The King Seed has appeared?"
"At the East Wall, heading for the West Wall," Andrew said. "Bring the Mimic Mixed Species to Zone D. Alex is ready for you there."
Philinos’s gaze fell back to Gu Ning. "Understood."
He hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the rope around Gu Ning’s waist. Ignoring her jumbled, incoherent words, he lifted her into the air and took flight.
Just as they departed, Kloer followed Gu Ning’s scent to the same spot.
"Little Gu Ning! Where are you?"
"Don’t be afraid, Little Gu Ning! I’m here to save you. I’ll take you to Alex."
Kloer called out for Gu Ning as he searched the tunnel.
After calling out a few times, he saw a figure step out from a pile of debris up ahead.
"Little Gu Ning, there you are!"
Seeing the familiar, small figure, Kloer breathed a huge sigh of relief and hurried toward it.
...
With Gu Ning in one hand and a knife in the other, Philinos fought off the attacking Mutant Species.
More and more Mutant Species swarmed him, surrounding them so densely that he was momentarily unable to break through.
Philinos glanced at the "Mimic Mixed Species" in his grasp, his expression growing grave.
’Something’s wrong with these Mutant Species,’ he thought. ’They’re far more aggressive than usual.’
’The King Seed hasn’t even appeared. No trained Mimic Mixed Species would deliberately attract this many Mutant Species.’
’Advanced Mimic Mixed Species are far more intelligent than the common ones, and much pickier eaters. They only devour what they consider to be superior genes. To them, the degenerated Mutant Species possess the most inferior genes, and they have no taste for such "low-grade" prey.’
’They despise Mutant Species even more than Beastmen do. The only reason the military can train them is because Beastmen are their natural prey.’
’1366’s escape meant it had entered a hunting state. It had already devoured numerous Beastmen and become uncontrollable.’
’Mission or not, it can’t be allowed to escape and infiltrate our ranks.’
’But the one in his hands... he was certain it wasn’t 1366, nor was it either of the other two. It wasn’t any Mimic Mixed Species he knew.’
’He’d undergone countless harsh training exercises in the military, but the most rigorous of all was learning to differentiate between a Mimic Mixed Species and a true female.’
’Failing that test meant he could never be assigned important missions involving Mimic Mixed Species or hunting King Seeds, nor would he be qualified to lead the vanguard team.’
’Furthermore, any mistake during the training was punished with a reassignment to the mines.’
’Philinos had never understood why this training was considered so important. The females were all in the Upper District, and Mimic Mixed Species generally avoided imitating them. They preferred to hunt with ease, and mimicking a female was their most inept tactic.’
’Now, looking at the... female in his arms, he instantly understood the training’s importance.’
’Her extremely light weight didn’t match that of a Mimic Mixed Species, and the faint, feminine scent wafting from her was worlds apart from the one a Mimic could feign.’
’The female scent a Mimic Mixed Species concocted could fool an ordinary Beastman, but to soldiers like them, who endured high-intensity training daily, the smell was enough to cause severe physical revulsion. It was what made that particular training so torturous.’
’And now, it was finally proving its worth.’
’A real female... in a godforsaken place like Zone 19?’
’Still, he had to confirm it with Andrew. He was the top performer in that training.’
The flight with Philinos left Gu Ning dizzy and disoriented. Streaks of shimmering blue light flashed before her eyes, obscuring almost everything else.
She managed to free her hands from the rope and clung tightly to the Bird Clan Orc’s arm to keep from falling.
Realizing he might still think she was a Mimic Mixed Species, she yanked the pistol from his belt, clamped her legs around his waist, and scrambled up his torso.
Philinos: "..."
Gu Ning pressed the muzzle of the gun to his chest. She decided to give it one last try. ’If he won’t listen to my explanation and insists on treating me like a Mimic Mixed Species, then we’ll just die together!’
Philinos turned his head and met the tear-filled eyes of the little Mixed Breed.
"I’m not... a Mimic Mixed Species," Gu Ning said, her voice choked with sobs. She couldn’t help but curse, "You damn Birdman... you idiot."
Philinos glanced at the gun pressed to his chest but said nothing. He shifted his grip from the rope to her waist, pulling her into an embrace.
"Hold on tight," he said.
Held like this, high in the air and surrounded by Mutant Species, Gu Ning had no choice. She reluctantly lowered the gun and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, letting him focus on the creatures instead of on her.
Gu Ning was now getting a firsthand demonstration of just how powerful this Birdman was. Even while holding her, he was still able to cut a swath of destruction through the air as Mutant Species rained from the sky.
But no matter how strong he was, he was no match for their overwhelming numbers. Philinos gradually began to sustain injuries.
Despite his injuries, Philinos held her even tighter. Gu Ning felt as if she were being pressed right into his chest.
The closer they were, the more clearly Philinos could discern her feminine scent mixed in with the jumble of Beastman smells clinging to her. He could feel her distinctly female form, and the astonishing truth of her identity became more and more apparent.
In the chaos, a Mutant Species broke through his defenses. It retracted the sharpest parts of its hooked claws and reached for Gu Ning in his arms.
Philinos instantly shielded Gu Ning with one of his wings, thwarting the Mutant Species’ attempt to snatch her away.
Thwarted, the enraged Mutant Species extended its sharp claws, gouging several deep, bloody gashes across his wing.
Seeing the blood on his wing and the way he was protecting her, Gu Ning was stunned. ’Is he really fighting this desperately for a Mimic Mixed Species?’ she wondered.
Just as Philinos’s attacks began to falter, several members of the Bird Team swooped in from the distance. They tore an opening in the swarm, instantly relieving the pressure on him.
"Captain!"
After scattering the swarm of Mutant Species, Philinos’s teammates gathered around him.
"Did you find 1366?"
His teammates looked at the petite figure in his arms with strange expressions. ’Is it just us, or does 1366 look a lot smaller?’
’Besides,’ they thought, ’1366 is one of the most dangerous Mimic Mixed Species. Is it really safe for the captain to be holding it like that...?’
"We should hurry and get the Mimic Mixed Species over there."
Hearing this, Gu Ning cursed in the Beastman tongue, "Birdmen! Morons!"
The teammates: "..."
Philinos turned, shielding Gu Ning from his teammates’ view. After ordering them to cover their retreat, he flew off in the direction of Zone A.
Gu Ning’s heart pounded with anxiety. She threatened, "Let go... or I’ll shoot!"
Philinos pulled the shawl from around her neck up over her head. "Don’t talk."
"..." Seeing him completely ignore her threat, Gu Ning wondered, ’Could it be... he actually believes me?’
Just as she was thinking this, she felt Philinos land.
Peeking through a gap in the shawl, Gu Ning saw the long legs of several Beastman soldiers in combat gear. Her heart seized again.
’Where is he taking me?’
Gu Ning released her left hand from Philinos’s neck and gripped the pistol—which was a bit too large for her—with both hands. She kept her eyes on the ground, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.
After a moment, Philinos came to a stop.
A surprised voice reached Gu Ning’s ears. "Philinos, what are you doing here?"
Hearing the familiar voice, she snapped her head up.
’It’s Cyril!’
"Didn’t you find 1366?" Cyril asked, puzzled, glancing at the figure in his arms.
’What... is he holding?’
Cyril’s hand went to his pocket.
Philinos didn’t answer him, turning instead to Andrew, who stood beside him. "General, I need to confirm something with you."
Andrew pulled his gaze away from the breach in the West Wall and turned to face him. "Confirm what?"
As he spoke, his eyes fell upon Gu Ning, narrowing almost imperceptibly.
