A dog’s head pressed into Gu Ning’s stomach.
It wasn’t the headbutt she expected. His movement was gentle, as if he were trying to lean against her.
Gu Ning subconsciously took a step back, but the dog’s body followed, leaning forward. His head remained on her stomach, and to Gu Ning, it just felt heavier.
She looked down. The dog just pressed against her, motionless.
’Is he... unconscious?’
Leo buried his face in Gu Ning’s stomach, took a deep breath, and then began to SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF and NUZZLE NUZZLE NUZZLE—
Gu Ning: "..."
She tried to push his head away but couldn’t budge it, leaving her no choice but to back away herself.
After half a step, she couldn’t retreat any further.
Leo had bitten onto her clothes, pulling her back.
Gu Ning tried to wrench her clothes free, but his bite was too firm.
When she couldn’t pull her clothes free, she started pulling his hair.
Leo tilted his head up with her movement. His face was a mess of black and blue, with barely a patch of undamaged skin. One of his eyes was swollen shut.
But his remaining eye was locked on Gu Ning, filled with defiance. The glint in his gaze was so bright it looked like he wanted to eat her alive.
Gu Ning yanked his hair hard again, but his head was like it was welded in place; she couldn’t move it at all. The dog refused to release her clothes, and since she couldn’t pry his mouth open, she could only push at his face while trying to pull her clothes away.
Barto, who was ladling soup for Gu Ning, saw Leo’s actions and nearly threw the bowl at the dog’s head. But Gu Ning was too close, so he had to put the bowl down and go deal with the mutt.
"You son of a bitch, you wanna die?" Barto grabbed the hair on the back of Leo’s head. "Let her go!"
"WOOF!" Cook dropped the large piece of mutton from his mouth and charged at them, baring his teeth.
Seth and the others quickly ran over to break them up, afraid another fight would start.
Leo’s teammates also swarmed forward to protect him.
’Our boss is trussed up like a turkey. Beating on him now would be child’s play.’
The Dog Clan members went to block Cook while also starting a shoving match with the members from the Wolf Team.
Gu Ning and Leo were still fighting over the clothes, pulling back with all their might in a tug-of-war. Barto was behind them, yanking on Leo. The repeated tugs pulled her forward, forcing her to plant her left foot on Leo’s chest to brace against the force.
’Let go, you damned dog!’
Barto didn’t dare use too much force for fear of dragging Gu Ning onto the dog. He tried to hit the mutt, but two of Leo’s men intercepted him. One grabbed his hand, while the other wrapped his arms around Barto to pull him away.
Barto was stuck. He couldn’t let go, but he couldn’t pull harder either. He could only remain in a stalemate, still yanking the dog’s hair.
"RRRIP—" A tear finally appeared in Gu Ning’s overly high-quality clothes.
The next moment, Leo let go, only to quickly bite down on Gu Ning’s belt.
He ignored the danger of Barto twisting his head off from behind. He didn’t struggle, just pushed his head into Gu Ning’s embrace, determined to press against her.
Gu Ning: "..."
’Is he some kind of shameless mutt?’
She pushed his head and pulled his dog ears, but he remained completely unmoved.
The team members on both sides couldn’t really start a proper fight, so they just shoved each other, all of them crowding toward Gu Ning and the others.
In the blink of an eye, Gu Ning’s group was squeezed in the middle of the two teams.
Leo comfortably rested his head against Gu Ning.
Just then, Seth squeezed through. He wrapped his arms around Gu Ning from behind and started pulling her back, using his other hand to pull on her belt to keep it from hurting her.
Amid the pulling, the three-person tug-of-war unwittingly turned into a tug-of-war between the two teams.
The moment both sides pulled with all their might, the belt snapped instantly, and the members of both teams tumbled to the ground.
Barto was the first to scramble up. He scooped Gu Ning out of Seth’s arms, and when he saw her pants had fallen down again, he was so furious his hair was practically standing on end.
Gu Ning, clutching the waistband of her pants, was also angry enough to charge over and give Leo a good thrashing.
Barto looked around, saw that Seth had tied on a new belt, and promptly ripped it off him to tie around Gu Ning’s waist.
Seth: "..."
Leo spat out the half of the belt in his mouth and grinned at Gu Ning. "Little thing, come on. I’ll let you hit me."
The moment the words left his mouth, Vine strode over and kicked him to the ground.
Vine planted a foot on his shoulder. "Tired of living? Just because Andrew isn’t here, you think no one can control you?"
Leo sneered. "Who the hell are you? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re all hiding from me."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Gu Ning.
Hearing his words, Gu Ning’s expression faltered.
Vine said, "Just do your mission. If you screw it up, we’ll see how you explain yourself to the General."
Leo shot back, "Go on, tattle! I’d like to ask that old lion what he’s planning."
"Don’t forget your place!" Vine hissed.
Leo had the shameless look of someone with nothing left to lose. "My place? Your free labor? Cut the act. If you don’t tell me the real mission..."
He snorted, turned his head, and bit down on the piece of belt again, staring intently at Gu Ning. His meaning was obvious.
He didn’t need to fight; he had plenty of ways to be a persistent nuisance.
Barto’s hand rested on his gun, stroking it again and again. His desire to kill the dog had reached its peak.
Gu Ning held Barto back. This dog was too much trouble; it was better to stay far away from him. She was truly fed up with him.
’Look, he’s even driven Vine to tear at his own hair in frustration.’
Vine kicked Leo. "Do your damn mission! If you pull any more crap, don’t force me to beat you."
Leo spat out the belt and cursed, "Fuck your bullshit! If I wasn’t thinking about the mission, you think I’d have let you get a free shot in? Don’t push your luck. If I don’t get some answers, none of you sons of bitches are gonna have an easy time!"
He could follow orders, but he wouldn’t be used like an idiot.
Just then, Philinos’s figure descended from the sky. He walked straight to Leo and hauled up the dog who was trussed up like a mummy.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?" Leo yelped. "I’m warning you..."
Philinos spread his wings and, holding Leo, flew up toward the sky.
Leo understood what he was trying to do and shouted to his teammates, "What are you pups standing around for?!"
The Dog Team members snapped to their senses, swarming forward and jumping up to grab Leo’s legs, forcefully pulling him back down.
The teams descended into chaos once more.
Gu Ning watched the chaotic scene before her, missing Alex terribly.
’If only he were here...’
She opened her terminal, wanting to report the situation to Andrew and see how to resolve it.
’Great. No signal.’
"You shitty Birdman! You dare try to throw me? You better sleep with one eye open tonight, or I’ll pluck every last one of your feathers!" Leo hopped to his feet, spitting and cursing at Philinos.
Philinos said coldly, "You’d better sleep with both eyes open. Otherwise, sooner or later, I’m going to throw you out of the team. Then you can go cry to your daddy!"
"Oh wait, I forgot. You don’t have a daddy. No clan wants a brainless stray like you, you piece of crap who grew up eating shit!"
Gu Ning stared at Philinos, dumbfounded. She couldn’t possibly imagine such infuriating words coming from that cold, handsome face.
Barto clapped from the side.
Cook chimed in with a "WOOF!"
Gu Ning grabbed one with each hand and shot Barto a glare that said, *Don’t add fuel to the fire.*
Barto raised an eyebrow, moved behind her, wrapped his arms around her, took hold of her hands, and made them clap.
Gu Ning: "..."
"I’m going to rip that filthy mouth of yours apart!" Being called a stray was what Leo hated most. He let out an enraged roar and lunged at Philinos.
"Both of you, shut up." Vine stepped between them, pushing each one back with a hand. He turned to the spectating Beastman soldiers from the various teams and roared, "All of you, get the hell back to whatever you’re supposed to be doing! Anyone else who causes trouble, I’ll terminate their mission!"