Chapter 182: Chapter 169: You Truly Have No Better Choice
Gu Ning had just finished reading their messages when her private DMs started blowing up. Many Beastmen, noticing she was online, quickly messaged to check in on her.
Gu Ning glanced over the messages. Most were asking about her safety. Recalling the harrowing events of the past few days, she let out a faint smile and a sigh, then updated her account bio:
[Alive. Prepping a new video. Stay tuned!]
As soon as she updated it, a call from Alex came through.
Gu Ning’s hand twitched, and she hung up.
"..."
Gu Ning sat up straight and ran a hand through her messy hair. She hesitated, wondering if she should call him back, but then a message from Alex came in:
[What do you want to eat tonight?]
[Does your wound hurt? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?]
Gu Ning had barely typed a few words in the chat box when the call came through again. She hurriedly answered, "Alex..."
"I’m heading..." the voice on the other end began, just as she did. Then, both of them fell silent, surprised.
"Barto?" Gu Ning quickly recovered, glancing at the caller’s avatar. "Oh," she said, embarrassed.
After two seconds of silence, he spoke slowly. "I’m heading back. Is there anything in particular you want to eat?"
Gu Ning: "The shops... are they open?"
’At a time like this, almost all the shops in Zone 19 are closed. Where could he possibly buy any food?’
"Just text me if you think of anything."
Disconnecting the call, Barto lowered his wrist and looked up at the black wolf in front of him, who was doing the same.
"Did you pay?"
Alex lowered his gaze to the large shopping bag Barto was dragging.
Barto glanced at the identical shopping bag in Alex’s hands. "None of your business."
Alex pulled a thick stack of Beast Coins from his pocket and placed them on a nearby shelf.
"Who asked you to play the hero!" Barto leaped up, snatched the Beast Coins, and threw them back at him.
Alex bent down and picked up the Beast Coins from the floor. "I don’t care about you. But when you’re with her, it becomes my business."
Seeing Alex place the Beast Coins back on the shelf, Barto couldn’t take it anymore. "Are you an idiot? Leave that here and it’ll be looted within a day."
"The clothing aisles show few signs of being searched." Despite saying that, Alex put the Beast Coins back in his pocket. "Do you know where the mall stores its produce?"
This was the largest mall in Zone 19. Besides clothing, daily necessities, and furniture, all the more valuable goods and food had been locked away.
Barto ignored him. He took down a jacket, sized it up, and stuffed it into his shopping bag. Then he went to the lingerie section and swept all the small-sized undershirts and panties off the shelves and into his bag. ’This should be enough for Gu Ning to wear and toss on the road,’ he thought. ’None of it will fit properly anyway. I’ll buy her suitable clothes once we’re settled somewhere safe.’
After stuffing the bag full, Barto glanced at Alex, who was carefully selecting clothes. "You’ve got time to spare, so why aren’t you with her? Why are you out here doing this? Couldn’t you just have some of your pups do it?"
"This is a good chance to talk with you," Alex said. He folded the clothes he was holding, placed them in his bag, and looked at Barto. "You didn’t need to come in person for this either. You knew I was following you."
Barto huffed and headed for the mall’s food storage warehouse.
Alex stood still for a moment before following him.
The two of them stopped before a massive door on the second basement level. Alex took a closer look. The door was covered in claw marks, hammer dents, and even scorch marks from an explosion, but none of it had been enough to budge the heavy door.
Clearly, plenty of people knew about the mall’s storeroom, but no one had been able to do anything about the door.
Barto knocked on the door, then leaned against it to look at Alex. "The food’s all in here. Can you get it open?"
Alex walked over to the digital lock next to the door. After examining its construction, he activated his terminal and began scanning the lock.
Barely thirty seconds later, the door emitted a soft CLICK. Alex placed a hand on it and, with a slight push, opened a crack.
"Not bad."
Barto raised an eyebrow, slipped through the opening, and started exploring the massive storeroom with a flashlight.
Alex followed him inside, pausing to survey the storeroom before heading toward the food section.
They both headed straight for the produce area. After rummaging around for a bit, they found mostly root vegetables.
"The largest mall in Zone 19, and not a single fresh fruit?" Alex picked up a potato, then set it back down. ’They have plenty of these at the construction sites.’
Barto stuffed canned fruit into his bag. "We’re lucky to have any food at all. Where do you think this is? Zone 5?"
He spoke as he zipped up his backpack and hoisted it onto his back.
Alex saw him carrying a backpack bigger than his own body and said, "Can’t you maintain your human form?"
"Shut your mouth!" Barto threw down his pack and pointed at him furiously. "You failed to protect her! You let her face those people, let her go to a place that dangerous!"
Alex knelt down, his form caught in the flickering beam of Barto’s flashlight. "I screwed up. It won’t happen again."
Barto: "Who wants to hear your excuses? You should be apologizing to her."
Alex: "I’m blaming myself. And you are too."
Silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Barto lowered his hand, turned away, and bowed his head. "If I had any other choice, I would’ve taken her away myself."
"You’re right, you don’t have a better choice." Alex set down his shopping bag, held out a hand to Barto, and opened his palm.
Barto’s gaze flickered. A pale golden light, threaded with blue, pulsed in Alex’s palm. It was a Blue Gold Inhibitor.
Barto’s eyes flickered with suspicion. "You think you can bribe me with this?"
"For her sake," Alex said flatly. "Your degeneration level is over seventy percent. Regular Inhibitors are useless for you now."
Barto said, "I’ll figure something out myself."
"I’m not just giving it to you," Alex said. "I want the King Seed Core in exchange."
The air fell silent again.
"I swallowed it," Barto said slowly.
"If you had swallowed the King Seed Core, I wouldn’t be the one coming to find you now," Alex said. "Want to know what happened to the last person who swallowed a King Seed Core?"
His tone was laced with a dark suggestion. Barto understood instantly and said nothing more.
"Swallowing a King Seed Core gives you a high probability of mutating into the next King Seed. Even if you don’t mutate, they’ll cut you open just to make sure there isn’t a core inside you, to prevent that from happening." Alex’s calm voice echoed through the storeroom. "You know that perfectly well. That’s why you lured me out here. You knew I’d help you, for her sake."
Barto bared his teeth. "It’s not like they saw me eat it."
Alex tapped the communicator in his ear before speaking. "They captured one of Kuinan’s subordinates. He confessed everything. Andrew knows. He’s the Supreme Commander of the Military Department for Zone One and the Second District. A General."
"I gave Andrew my guarantee that you didn’t swallow the King Seed Core, and that I would bring him one by tomorrow."
Barto stared at him, his expression a mixture of shock and complexity. "What did you use as a guarantee? Don’t tell me you actually have a King Seed Core?"
"No." Alex paused. "Whether you actually ate it or not doesn’t matter. But do not let anyone other than Andrew and me know or even suspect that you did. Otherwise, you’ll meet the same end as a King Seed."
Barto fell silent for a moment. He snatched the Blue Gold Inhibitor from Alex’s hand, his gaze dark and inscrutable. "What did you promise him?"
Alex said softly, "You don’t need to worry about that. Get ready and leave with her."
Barto understood his hidden meaning. He looked up at him in surprise. "You don’t want her to go to Zone 5?"
Alex said, "I failed to protect her. I should pay the price for my arrogance."
