Hearing the husky’s yelps, Gu Ning slapped it again.
It was just like the sound her little husky used to make when she scolded it for getting into trouble—a whiny little yelp, trying to act cute and get away with it.
"AWOO!" Having been slapped twice in a row by the little Mixed Breed, Leo snapped at Gu Ning, humiliated and enraged.
Hearing Leo’s cry, the other dogs all responded with confused "Awoo?"s.
’What’s the Boss doing? His barks sound so strange.’
Leo ignored the cacophony of whimpers and yelps from his teammates and couldn’t resist sniffing frantically all over the little Mixed Breed again.
’How come this creature has such an indescribably pleasant scent about her?’
He had caught this scent on her during the last fight with the wolves. But he’d been so busy dealing with the Mutant Species lately that he hadn’t had time to think about it. Now, pressed so close to the little Mixed Breed, the familiar fragrance flooded his mind.
’What on earth is this scent?’ A massive wave of confusion washed over Leo.
Even though the little Mixed Breed smelled of fox and other dogs and wolves, he could still detect that faint, elusive fragrance.
He was convinced this wasn’t a hallucination. She had to be hiding something incredible.
What is it...
What is it?!
Saliva gushed uncontrollably into Leo’s mouth, falling DRIP, DRIP, DRIP onto Gu Ning’s face.
Gu Ning: "..."
’Can you please keep your drool to yourself?! Ahhh! My mask is soaked!!!’ she thought, shoving at the husky’s muzzle in disgust.
Just then, a shadow fell over her, kicking up a gust of cold wind. An instant later, the massive husky was tackled and thrown aside.
Gu Ning pushed herself halfway up to see a winged Beastman flapping its feathers. With incredible strength, it stomped the husky’s head into the snow.
The winged Beastman glanced back at her.
Gu Ning: ’...It’s him.’
The Birdman who had mistaken her for a Mimic Mixed Species and grabbed her on the wall that night.
Leo, who had been knocked down, scrambled back to his feet and launched himself at Philinos.
Philinos dodged with lightning-fast reflexes, but the perfectly coordinated Dog Team members flanked him, biting the tips of his wings and dragging him out of the air.
Leo had no interest in the Birdman. Seeing Philinos was occupied by his teammates, he immediately turned back toward the little Mixed Breed.
He licked his drool-covered lips, tongue lolling, and lunged for Gu Ning again.
Gu Ning scrambled to her feet. Before Leo could reach her, two massive black shadows lunged from his side and rear. One latched onto his neck, the other onto his tail. They were ferocious and showed no mercy, pinning him to the snow and mauling him.
"AWOOOO!!!!"
Gu Ning stared, dumbfounded, as Alex and another wolf of a similar size pinned the husky down. The dog fought back viciously, but under the combined assault of two wolves, both larger than him, he had no room to maneuver and could only defend himself.
The other dogs were also surrounded by the suddenly swelling ranks of the wolf pack. In an instant, dog fur and snowflakes filled the air.
Gu Ning stood in the center of the battle, yet not even the hem of her clothes was touched by the giant beasts.
However, the snow they kicked up flew everywhere, nearly burying her alive.
Philinos landed in front of Gu Ning, grabbed her arm, and tried to pull her away from the dangerous battlefield.
"Don’t touch her!"
Barto came flying from out of nowhere, pouncing right onto Philinos’s face.
Philinos staggered back a few steps, grabbed the fox by the scruff of its neck, and went to slam it into the ground.
"Don’t. Hurt. Barto!"
Gu Ning grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and threw it in Philinos’s face.
"..."
In the instant Philinos froze, stunned, Barto wriggled free and sank his teeth into the Birdman’s hand.
By the time he flung the fox aside and turned back to the little female, the black wolf was blocking his path.
"Step aside," Philinos said coldly.
Alex looked back at Gu Ning, who was behind him.
Gu Ning met his gaze for a moment before stepping forward and silently wrapping her arms around Alex’s foreleg.
The viciousness in Alex’s eyes vanished instantly. He lowered his head and nudged Gu Ning gently with his nose.
Gu Ning hugged his leg tighter, tilting her head and nudging him back.
Seeing their intimate display, Philinos stared at Gu Ning for a long moment. He dropped the hand that had been resting on the dagger at his waist, then flapped his wings and departed.
Alex couldn’t resist nudging Gu Ning again. She raised a hand to stroke his massive wolf head, gradually leaning her full weight against him.
The Wolf King bowed his head before the little female, gently pressing into her embrace in a silent expression of his intense longing for her.
"Xiao Ning, are you okay—"
Barto charged out of the swirling mist of snow. He saw the scene, skidded to a halt, and froze for a moment. Then he spun around and charged back into the fight, joining Cook and the others in venting his frustration by pummeling the husky.
Seeing that the wolves had the dogs completely suppressed, Vine withdrew from the battle.
The wolf-and-dog free-for-all was brought to a halt by a "hurriedly arriving" Cyril.
"The team leader who started this will receive one major demerit. All soldiers involved in the brawl will forfeit two months of their allowance and be assigned to latrine duty for two months."
Cyril’s gaze swept over the wolf pack, his expression cold and stern as he spoke.
"AWOO AWOO AWOO!" Leo crawled out of the snow, limping, and rushed up to Cyril to lodge a complaint.
The other dogs also began to bark their discontent, a chorus of yaps and woofs rising and falling.
"Barking at me is useless." Cyril tilted his head away in disgust, resisting the urge to punch the dog’s head away from his face. He gestured with his chin over his shoulder. "The Admiral saw everything. If you have a problem, take it up with him."
Leo shifted back into his human form, muttering resentfully, "Fine by me!"
Then, he turned to the massive pack of wolves and roared, "%*^# You pieces of dog shit! Fight me one-on-one if you’ve got the guts! You gutless *&# cowards! You’d all better sleep with one eye open, or I’ll snap off your useless little tails!"
The entire wolf pack bared their teeth at him.
Gu Ning, who had just climbed onto Alex’s back and now had an excellent view, saw a certain dog who’d just been mobbed, standing there stark naked, pointing and cursing. A certain something swayed with his movements... practically fluttering in the breeze.
’That’s... a little hard on the eyes.’
Cyril glimpsed the little female on the wolf’s back, took off his coat, and threw it to Leo. "Get dressed."
Leo tossed the jacket aside. His one relatively uninjured eye locked onto Gu Ning, and he limped toward her. "You—"
All the wolves took a step forward and growled lowly at him.
Leo was furious. "You pieces of dog shit, you think I’m afraid of you!"
A few of the other dogs rushed to hold him back.
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" (Boss, discretion is the better part of valor!)
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" (Boss, something’s wrong with the wolves, they’ve teamed up!)
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" (Damn it! Vine actually teamed up with Alex!)
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" (Piss off! You’re the pieces of shit!)
"Woof?" The dogs froze. Who was that?
The dogs turned and saw the large, humanoid dog standing among the wolves.
"..."
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" (You traitorous mutt!)
The dogs barked furiously at Cook.
Cyril watched the incessantly barking dogs and shook his head, a headache forming.
.
"Please, come in."
Cyril pushed open the door to the conference room and looked down at the little female standing there.
Gu Ning looked back in the direction of the lounge, clutched the strap of her shoulder bag, and entered the conference room alone.
The sound of chairs scraping against the floor reached her. Gu Ning looked toward the noise and saw two or three Beastmen scrambling to their feet, their eyes filled with delighted surprise.
Gu Ning’s steps faltered. Her gaze swept over them before landing on the face of one of the Beastmen.