Gu Ning opened the bag and rummaged through it, feeling something hard underneath the clothes.
’What is this?’
She took the object out.
Then she froze.
Gu Ning stared in astonishment at the black, square... camera in her hand?!
She had searched the Beastman shopping websites but had never seen items like cameras for sale—not even on the black market.
They weren’t even for sale on the terminal’s network; you had to go to a specialized physical store to buy one. Terminals were bound to a Beastman’s personal identity, and each one had a unique code that could only be linked to a single Beastman’s account.
From this, she surmised that the Beastman World was extremely strict about information security, which was likely related to the divisions between the various Beastman clans.
She had assumed that since terminals had photo and video functions, cameras either didn’t exist or had become obsolete.
Gu Ning delightedly examined the camera in her hands. She never expected Cyril to actually give her a camera.
The camera’s overall design was similar to a Polaroid, with no protruding lens.
However, since it was designed for a Beastman’s physique, its proportions were much larger than any she had used before. Still, the functions were more or less the same, and it was lighter than it looked, so she quickly got the hang of it.
She turned on the photo mode and panned the lens around the office.
A large hand took hold of her camera, and Alex’s face appeared in her lens.
"You like vintage cameras?" Alex asked, tapping a finger on the camera as he leaned down.
Gu Ning pressed the shutter, snapping a picture of the handsome face leaning in close. She lowered the camera, glanced at what he was writing on the paper, and nodded.
"Vintage?" Gu Ning looked down at the camera in her hands. The photo quality was no worse than what her terminal could produce, and it was nothing like the vintage cameras she was familiar with. It even seemed to connect to a terminal.
’A camera this high-definition is already considered vintage?’
But then again, considering her little photography orb and the shooting functions of her terminal, a device with the sole purpose of taking pictures could indeed be called vintage by comparison...
Hearing her say she liked it, Alex took the camera and examined it carefully, a thoughtful expression on his face.
*
"What took you so long?"
Barto had been waiting at the entrance for a while before he finally saw Gu Ning emerge from the conference building, followed by a certain annoying Beastman silhouette.
Seeing that he had changed back into his human form, Barto curled his lip.
’He’s been in his beast form ever since Gu Ning argued with him that day. So that was his game all along.’
"Barto, look at me."
Gu Ning raised her camera and took a picture of the little fox standing before the steps.
"What’s that?" Barto walked over, pulling her wrist down to look at the object in her hand. "A camera? Who gave it to you?"
Gu Ning guessed what he was asking from the look in his eyes and his tone of voice. "Cyril," she replied.
She handed him the bag she was holding. "Here. The clothes you wanted."
Barto took it, opened it, and looked inside. He sniffed the contents. ’Good. I can barely smell any of Cyril’s scent on them.’
’The guy isn’t completely insufferable, I suppose.’
"Since you’ve got it, let’s go ba—" Barto had just started to speak when Cook charged over like a cannonball. "Ning... Ning!"
To keep her from being knocked over by Cook, Alex lifted Gu Ning up from behind.
"AWOOO..." Cook yelped unhappily at Alex, shaking the snow off his fur.
Cook had gotten covered in snow from playing with Seth and the others, and with a single shake, he sent snowflakes flying everywhere.
Alex, holding Gu Ning, turned to the side to dodge them.
Barto, who was standing nearby, wasn’t so lucky. He got a face full of snow.
"..."
"You mutt!" Barto snarled, lunging to scratch Cook. "Didn’t you see me standing here?!"
"WOOF!"
Seth ran over just then to break up the fight, getting between Barto and Cook to keep Cook from taking another beating.
Normally, Cook didn’t fight back when the little fox hit him. The blows were never that hard anyway. If Barto ever did hit him hard, he would just run to Gu Ning for comfort. Ningning would hold and pet him, which felt amazing.
With Seth helping him now, he had the perfect excuse to "fight" back.
Gu Ning watched the dogs roughhousing, raised her camera with a smile, and captured the scene.
"Are you coming or not?" Barto, fed up with the pups, leaped out of the fray. He brushed the dog fur off himself and looked at Gu Ning. "If you’re not leaving, I am."
Gu Ning pointed to her ears. It was hard for her to understand them without her translator.
The little fox dug around in his pocket, but after a moment’s thought, he resisted the urge to give it to her.
’She has to break her habit of relying on the translator.’
When Gu Ning saw that Barto had no intention of returning her translation earpiece, she didn’t bother asking again. ’I’ll have to wean myself off it sooner or later,’ she thought. ’Might as well start practicing my listening skills now.’
"Go back, he says," Alex said concisely in Gu Ning’s ear.
Gu Ning understood him immediately, and his tone was surprisingly familiar and warm.
Barto shot Alex a disgruntled look. "I knew it was you who taught her to talk like that! Can’t you teach her anything useful?"
Alex simply raised an eyebrow, not bothering to argue.
Gu Ning gave him a questioning look.
Alex said, "He said, I teach you, very good."
Barto: "..."
Understanding dawned on Gu Ning’s face. She gave Alex a thumbs-up. ’Alex really is a good teacher,’ she thought.
Barto pointed at Alex. "#&+*^%x!!!"
Gu Ning looked back at Alex; she hadn’t understood a single word of that.
Alex didn’t translate the outburst, instead asking, "Go back, or...?"
Gu Ning raised her camera and pointed toward the patrolling soldiers and the high walls outside. She still wanted to get more material.
Alex told Seth to keep looking after Cook, then called over one of the young wolves. He lifted her onto the wolf’s back and settled in behind her.
The moment they were settled, Barto leaped up and sat down in front of Gu Ning, wiggling his backside to squeeze into her lap.
Gu Ning: "..." ’Well, I can still take pictures like this. I just hope the little fox doesn’t decide to turn into his human form right now.’
But as Barto squeezed in, she was pressed back against Alex. Alex didn’t move. He simply placed his arm across the young female’s abdomen, leaving a slight gap so as not to press on her uncomfortably.
It only made things uncomfortable for the fox who was trying to monopolize Gu Ning’s lap.
Barto was so angry he wanted to start cursing, but when he turned his head and saw Gu Ning engrossed in taking pictures, he couldn’t bring himself to start a fight with Alex and disturb her. He could only endure it, scooting so far forward he was practically sitting on the young wolf’s head.
The young wolf: "..." ’My neck feels a little heavy.’
By a window on one of the conference building’s floors, Cyril stood staring down at the figures below through the thick glass.
After a long moment, he opened the contact on his terminal labeled [Little Miao Ning] and typed a message into the chat window:
[Do you like the camera, Reporter Gu Ning?]
.
Gu Ning was sitting in her nest organizing photos. As soon as she connected her terminal to the camera, she saw an unread message from Cyril.
She replied:
[I like it a lot. Thank you for the gift.]
[Isn’t it too valuable?]
’According to Alex, this thing is an antique? Antiques aren’t cheap. I should think about getting him a gift of similar value in return.’