In the faint glow of the terminal, Gu Ning saw a somewhat familiar dog’s head resting on her.
Her gaze traveled from its head down its body. It was halfway into the car, and though not even half of its body was inside, it had the trunk packed to the brim as it tried to squeeze in further.
"..."
The husky’s wet tongue lapped at her face as it looked at her with a goofy grin, its tongue lolling out.
Gu Ning was wide awake now.
’That guy Leo turned into a dog and got in her car!’
Gu Ning wiped the drool from her face and pushed Leo’s head away.
’What is this dog doing here in the middle of the night?!’
Leo let out a playful whine, giving the cute little female a lick before nudging and nuzzling his head against her.
"Get off!" Gu Ning whispered, pushing at the dog’s head.
’She really didn’t want Cook and the others to find out and get into another fight with him.’
"Awoo..." Leo whined in discontent, nudging her over. He rested his head on her chest and simply stared at her with his goofy, silvery-blue eyes.
’That Mixed Breed gets to be all cuddly with her, so why can’t I?’
Gu Ning patted the dog’s face in resignation. "What, aren’t you afraid I’ll eat you?"
Leo nuzzled his cold nose into the crook of her neck, sniffing her scent with a look of pure satisfaction.
Gu Ning caught the scent of alcohol on the dog’s breath and knew for certain that he was drunk.
She stared at the roof of the vehicle and sighed. ’What a mess.’ She couldn’t move a dog this big on her own.
But she couldn’t just let him lie there. Cook and the others had their tent set up right next to the vehicle. If they woke up, Leo was in for another beating.
Gu Ning wriggled out from under Leo’s heavy head. She intended to get to the driver’s seat to use the internal comms to call Vine, but just as she got free, Leo bit her clothes and dragged her back, pinning her under his head again.
"Are you asking for a beating?!" Gu Ning tried to pry his jaws open.
After trying for a long time to no avail, she decided she would just have to take off her jacket.
Before she could, Leo’s drowsy eyes suddenly turned cold and alert. He scrambled back and out of the vehicle, vanishing from her sight in an instant.
Gu Ning thought Cook and the others must have discovered Leo, and she was about to go out and see. But just then, the vehicle’s roof shuddered violently, as if something heavy had just landed on it.
Gu Ning steadied herself against the back of the rear seat and looked up.
’There was something up there.’
A cold wind gusted in through the open trunk, sending a shiver through her.
"WOOF!!!"
Cook’s ferocious bark echoed from outside.
Then, a skin-crawling scraping sound came from overhead, like something sharp was clawing at the roof. The noise was especially grating in the quiet of the snowy night.
Gu Ning sensed imminent danger, and her mind raced.
After a split second of thought, she scrambled into the driver’s seat, activated the system, and blared the horn!
SCREEECH—
A corner of the roof was peeled open.
Startled by the sound, Gu Ning spun around, only to meet a pair of glowing blue eyes.
"Kaa..."
The strange, bird-like head with its long, sharp beak let out a familiar cry that made the hair on Gu Ning’s arms stand on end.
Her body instantly went rigid, and she held her breath.
The bird-like head slowly approached. Gu Ning shrank back until her entire back was pressed against the center console.
"Kaa." The Mutant Species let out a soft, clear cry and tilted its head at Gu Ning.
For a fleeting moment, Gu Ning had the strange feeling that this Mutant Species wasn’t going to attack her.
Before she could dwell on the thought, something latched onto the Mutant Species’s body and dragged it down from the roof. The creature’s tail swept across the trunk lid, slamming it shut with a BANG!
Gu Ning breathed a sigh of relief and looked out the window.
It was pitch-black outside, but she could vaguely make out the silhouettes of the Beastmen fighting the Mutant Species.
Listening to the growing chaos outside, and seeing the pairs of glowing blue eyes in the dark, Gu Ning realized they were being ambushed by Mutant Species.
She didn’t dare venture outside. Instead, she fumbled for the gun on the passenger seat, then ducked down below the seats, keeping her eyes fixed on the windows.
The sounds of fighting grew more distant. It seemed the soldiers had lured the Mutant Species away.
"Whimper... woof..." Cook’s voice came from right outside the window.
’The dog was standing guard outside.’
Gu Ning had just begun to relax when she heard Cook cry out in pain.
She immediately scrambled out to check on Cook.
Just then, the vehicle lurched again. A much heavier thud came from the roof. Gu Ning looked up through the hole and saw a massive, hooked talon digging into the metal. The next moment, the vehicle tilted sharply.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Gu Ning lose her balance and fall back into a seat.
The Mutant Species flapped its wings, gripping the vehicle and carrying it high into the air.