Gu Ning asked, "Twenty large zones? I thought there were only... nineteen."
Barto glanced at her and said, "Twenty District was originally the largest unified zone in the Northwest, but it was too close to the Mutant Species’ nest and was overrun by them. Many Beastmen from Twenty District were relocated to Sky Watch Point."
However, most of them were from the Bird Clan. After all, besides those with wings, it was difficult for other Beast Clan members to get up there.
And because of that, with the unified zone gone, Sky Watch Point and the Beast Alliance Sea Area have been separated ever since, with less and less contact between them.
If the Beast Alliance wanted to maintain contact with Sky Watch Point, their only options were to cross the No Man’s Land or go through the Sea Area. Unfortunately, the people in the Sea Area blame Sky Watch Point for the disaster and hold a huge grudge against them. They refuse to have any contact and have designated the regions near Sky Watch Point as forbidden zones.
The Beast Alliance didn’t want to start a conflict with the Sea Area, so their only choice was to travel to Sky Watch Point through the dangerous No Man’s Land. But that was far too risky. On top of that, the two sides had a falling out over the issue of females, and they cut off all contact decades ago.
After listening, Gu Ning had a general understanding of where the Mutant Species came from and why females were so rare.
But there was still one thing she was confused about.
’If females have difficulty reproducing, shouldn’t males be just as rare? Why have only the female numbers dwindled?’
’From what Barto said, both male and female Beastmen were affected by the genetic mutation. It’s just that males experienced degenerative mutation, while females were affected by illness.’
’Even without counting the Mixed Breeds, the number of males was far greater than females.’
She voiced her confusion.
Barto didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stared at her for a long moment before saying cautiously, "The mutation’s effect on females is far greater than you can imagine. That’s why you don’t see any other females in Zone 19."
’Ah, so that’s how it is. I get it now.’
’So that’s why most females live in the Upper District. It’s not just because they’re rare, but also because they’re affected by the Mutant Species.’
’Then... could I also be affected? Would my health deteriorate?’
Gu Ning carefully recalled her days in Zone 19. Aside from the two times she caught a fever after being caught in the rain, she hadn’t been sick at all. She hadn’t felt unwell; in fact, after over a month of hard labor, she felt her body was even stronger than before.
’Since the Beastman mutation is a genetic issue, and I’m not a Beastman—my genes are different—I probably won’t be affected.’
With that thought, Gu Ning instantly felt at ease.
Barto stared straight ahead, but secretly glanced at Gu Ning out of the corner of his eye.
’The Beastmen still haven’t recovered from the disaster two hundred years ago. Even now, they’re still feeling the effects; things have only stabilized for the time being.’
’When he was little, he’d secretly overheard those old-timers from the research institute say that the radical bunch at Sky Watch Point were still conducting genetic modifications to achieve perfection.’
’Gu Ning has lived in Zone 19 for so long without being affected by the mutation. It’s possible she’s a rare female with an antibody to the mutation, but it’s more likely she’s a female born from the genetic modifications at Sky Watch Point.’
’Healthy, yet frail.’
At dusk, the convoy entered the wasteland again.
After driving for a while, the convoy stopped for a break, and Gu Ning took the opportunity to get out and use the restroom.
Barto led her to a slope sheltered from the wind and directed Cook to dig a large pit for her in the snow.
’Well, it looks like I really have to take care of my business out in the wild now.’
Gu Ning had no choice. By the time she finished in the large snow pit, her butt was already frozen numb.
She pulled up her pants, walked a little distance away, and watched Cook and the others cover the scent by filling in the snow pit.
Cook kept sniffing as he filled it in, which looked just like a kitten burying its poop.
Once that was taken care of, Gu Ning and the others returned to the vehicle.
The convoy hadn’t started moving yet, so Gu Ning picked up the white camera hanging around her neck and started taking pictures of everything.
After taking a few shots, she turned the lens toward the side of the vehicle, and the figure of a tall, well-built Beastman appeared in her viewfinder.
She panned the camera up and saw a dog-like face grinning at her, baring its large teeth.
It had been less than a day, but the bruised and swollen dog-like face had already recovered and looked presentable again.
Gu Ning couldn’t help but marvel once again at the powerful constitution of Beastmen. They were just so ridiculously tough.
"My turn," Leo said, grinning at Gu Ning. "Happy to see me?"
As he spoke, Leo ran a hand through his hair and struck what he clearly thought was a cool pose by the vehicle. "C’mon, take a couple of shots of me."
Gu Ning lowered her camera, opened the passenger door, and got in.
"Hey, you’re done already?" Leo had just placed his hand on the driver’s side door handle when Vine, who had returned from organizing the team, pressed his hand down.
Leo said, "What gives? We already agreed it’s my turn to drive. Bad enough you put me last, now you don’t want to let me drive at all?"
Vine said sternly, "Just drive properly. Don’t cause any trouble, you hear me?"
Leo scoffed, shook off his hand, and pulled open the door to get in.
’Just seeing this wolf is annoying. And he thinks he can boss me around?’
’The old lion can’t even control me. The fact that I haven’t cussed this wolf out is me already doing him a favor.’
Seeing him get in, Gu Ning glanced at the back seat, which had no seatbelts, and buckled hers with a sense of resignation.
"You’d better behave," Barto said, standing by the driver’s side and leaning down slightly to warn Leo. "If you dare try anything with her again, I’ll twist your dog head right off!"
Vine also walked over to Gu Ning’s window and said, "If anything happens, use the in-car comms. You remember the code, right?"
Gu Ning nodded.
"Are you guys done yet?" Leo honked the horn impatiently. "It’s not like I’m going to eat her, am I?"
"If you don’t want to listen, then get out," Barto said.
Cook squeezed his head in and barked fiercely at Leo.
Afraid they were about to start fighting again, Gu Ning shook her head at Barto and motioned for Vine to take them back to their vehicle.
Leo gave them a pinky-finger gesture and rolled up the window.
Once the window was closed, the inside of the car fell silent.
The silence lasted less than three seconds before Leo abruptly leaned over to Gu Ning. "Let me see those cool pictures you just took of me."
Gu Ning pushed his head away. "There are none."
"What do you mean, none?" Leo said. "You didn’t take any? You actually didn’t take my picture?"
"Tsk." Leo grabbed the camera from her chest.
"What are you doing?" Gu Ning tried to snatch the camera back.
Leo held the camera high above his head. "If you won’t take my picture, I’ll do it myself. I’ve watched you fiddling with this thing all day, snapping pictures of this and that. You took pictures of Vine and the others, so what’s the big deal about taking a couple of me?"
Gu Ning was helpless against his shamelessness and could only wait for him to finish taking his pictures and return the camera.
Leo took the camera and, CLICK CLICK CLICK, snapped a few shots of himself from various angles. He glanced at the pouting little female beside him, a smirk playing on his lips. He draped an arm over the back of her seat, leaned in close, and before she could react, he took a couple of selfies with her. He also casually pulled down her mask. "Still wearing a mask in the car? Aren’t you hot?"
Gu Ning immediately snatched the camera back.
Leo looked down as she flipped through the album and said, "For every one you delete, I’ll take ten more."
Gu Ning took a deep breath and forcefully pushed his face away. "Sit properly and drive!"
In a good mood, Leo sat back and, urged on by the honking from the car behind them, slowly started the vehicle.
They hadn’t been driving for long when Leo turned on the heat. "Hey, I was wondering, aren’t you hot with the temperature set this high?"
"I’m not," Gu Ning said.
"Are you a dog?" Leo asked.
Gu Ning replied expressionlessly, "I am not."
Leo chuckled. "Oh, right, I forgot. You’re a wolf."
He turned to look at Gu Ning. "Really? ’Cause you don’t smell like one. Let me see your ears."
As he spoke, he sniffed at her scent.
"Just drive the car!" Gu Ning snapped.
"I could drive this thing with my eyes closed," Leo retorted. "C’mon, tell me. Which clan are you really from?"