"Our travel passes will be approved soon." Seth leaned toward her, as if placating a pouting child. "We also have Cook’s vehicle, so we don’t have to ride with the boss."
"What about me?" Barto leaned against the bathroom doorway, and there was no telling how long he’d been watching them.
Seth laughed. "The car’s plenty spacious. You’re so small, you can sit wherever you like."
Barto huffed. ’His human form was no smaller than Seth’s.’
.
After Gu Ning finished her breakfast, Seth packed up the food container and left cheerfully.
Now feeling energized, Gu Ning got back to the work she’d been doing yesterday.
She logged into Claw, went straight to her dashboard, and opened the pinned chat with Deviant.
She had sent Deviant a message last night and immediately closed her terminal, waiting until the next day to see his reply.
Deviant had only sent a single reply: [If you want to cooperate, then let’s talk properly. (Contact Code: xxxx——)]
His reply was unexpectedly cold, completely devoid of his previous enthusiasm.
Gu Ning propped her chin on her hand, staring at the message and mulling over how to respond.
’Since Deviant left a contact code, he must want to discuss a partnership. But contacting him first would put me at a disadvantage. He didn’t mention the contract he drafted for me before, either.’
Gu Ning keenly sensed he was setting a trap.
"Go on, get some sleep." Barto straightened Gu Ning’s blankets, urging her to get some more rest.
Gu Ning’s gaze fell on the little fox. ’I should probably ask him for advice.’
’He’s a businessman; he knows how to handle these things. I was going to discuss it with him anyway.’
Gu Ning told Barto about her search for a corporate partner and forwarded him the brief on major companies that Reya had sent her.
Barto asked as he scanned the document, "So this is what you were busy with last night?"
Gu Ning nodded.
"There’s no rush. You should rest first..."
Seeing Gu Ning staring at him with expectant eyes, the little fox sighed in resignation. "How many have you talked to?"
Gu Ning said, "Just one."
She held her terminal out in front of him, showing the fox her chat with Deviant.
Barto’s gaze swept over the chat history, freezing on the account name: [Deviant (Silver Moon City)].
He narrowed his eyes and tapped on the account.
Gu Ning asked, "Is there a problem?" ’Why did the little fox suddenly go quiet?’
Gu Ning looked over his shoulder at Deviant’s account information.
Deviant’s profile picture was the standard, default avatar for the Fox Clan. It wasn’t a selfie and had no special effects or background, unlike Idelos’s flashy profile picture.
"No problem, just gathering some information on this person." Barto backed out of Deviant’s profile and returned to the chat screen between Gu Ning and him.
Gu Ning wrote, "He’s Idelos’s agent."
Barto said, "Mm."
Gu Ning wrote, "Idelos, you know him? He’s..."
"Of course. The great Fox Clan star? What fox doesn’t know him?" Barto looked up from the terminal at her. "You want to partner with him?"
Gu Ning wrote, "...Is there a problem?"
’The way Barto’s looking at me feels... off.’
’Does he think I’m some crazed Idelos fan? I don’t follow celebrities; at most, I can appreciate a handsome face.’
’But do females in this world even follow celebrities? From what I’ve seen, the comments under Idelos’s videos are mostly people cursing him out.’
She wrote, "I haven’t decided who to partner with. I’m still in the process of choosing."
Barto asked, "He discussed a partnership with you before. What were the terms he offered?"
Gu Ning scrolled through the chat history for him until she found the draft contract Deviant had drawn up for her.
Once Barto saw that Gu Ning had asked Deviant for three residence permits for the Second District, none of the other terms mattered. He couldn’t even bring himself to read them.
According to the timestamps in the chat log, at the very same time he had resolved to hand her over to Alex, she had been planning for a better life for them.
She hadn’t asked for two residence permits, or four, or five. She had asked for exactly three.
A short while ago, she hadn’t even been clear on the housing regulations. Even now, she didn’t dare reveal her true identity. And yet, she had unhesitatingly asked a fox she barely knew for three residence permits to the Second District.
Barto clenched his jaw, forcing down the heat that pricked at his eyes.
The dark flame that had long smoldered in his heart was, in that instant, doused and turned to cold ash.
’It didn’t matter anymore. None of the past mattered anymore.’
"Barto?" Gu Ning placed a hand on the little fox’s back. "What’s wrong with you?"
Barto looked up, his eyes brighter than ever as he gazed at her, at the moon that illuminated his world. "Alright," he said. "We’ll go with him."