When Gu Ning rushed to the North Gate, it was exactly eight o’clock.

By this time, all the Beastmen who were supposed to be at work had already arrived. Only a few Beastmen carrying materials were going in and out of the gate.

From a distance, she saw Alex leaning against the main gate. His orange and white work uniform really stood out, so Gu Ning spotted him immediately.

He had his arms crossed, his eyes closed, and his head slightly lowered, as if he were resting.

Gu Ning checked the time. Over forty minutes had passed since he’d called her. ’Has he been waiting for a long time?’

She was Alex’s assistant now. ’Will being late hold him up? Will he yell at me?’ She walked toward him, feeling a little anxious.

As soon as Gu Ning got close, Alex sensed her presence. He opened his eyes and turned to look at her.

Gu Ning’s steps faltered. She hunched her shoulders and walked to his side.

Seeing Alex raise his hand to check the time, Gu Ning lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers, and braced herself for a scolding.

The Beastmen’s shift started at 7:30. She hadn’t shown up for work the day before yesterday, and now she’d been late two days in a row. If a foreman were here, he would have already chewed her out completely.

Alex didn’t scold her. Instead, he pulled up the clock-in system on his terminal and scanned the nameplate on her chest.

A "BEEP!" sounded, indicating a successful clock-in.

Because Zone 19 was a special and underdeveloped region, it didn’t use terminals for clocking in or handling certain online work tasks like other cities.

Besides, many Mixed Breeds didn’t have terminals and didn’t know how to use them to clock in. Before contracts were introduced, they all used a manual sign-in system.

Now, they had simply installed an electronic clock-in system in the nameplates, and every day, workers would go to the foreman to clock in.

"You live far away?"

Alex looked down at the slightly cowering little Mixed Breed. She looked like she knew she was late and was afraid of being scolded.

Hearing his question, Gu Ning took out a pre-written note from her pocket and handed it to Alex.

Alex took it and unfolded the piece of paper, which had been folded in half. It read: *I’m sorry. I won’t be late again.*

Seeing the messy handwriting on the note, a hint of surprise flashed in Alex’s eyes.

"You wrote this yourself?"

Gu Ning nodded.

Alex folded the note, put it in his pocket, and asked casually, "Who taught you how to read?"

Gu Ning didn’t answer.

’I can’t just say I taught myself by watching a terminal. Mixed Breeds aren’t that smart.’

Besides, many Mixed Breeds hadn’t lost the knowledge they’d learned before their regression; they had only lost their linguistic functions.

One lie would just lead to another to cover it up, so she simply chose not to answer.

Seeing that she didn’t respond to his question, Alex didn’t press the matter. He led her toward the elevator, explaining the day’s work as they walked.

Gu Ning listened quietly, mentally taking note of everything.

Halfway there, Gu Ning ran into the giant Mixed Breed, Borg, again.

He seemed to have been waiting there specifically for her. Upon seeing her, he was overjoyed and came running toward her with THUDDING footsteps.

Borg’s body was so large that the other Beastmen automatically moved to avoid the big guy.

The few Beastmen he accidentally knocked over just got up, dusted themselves off, and walked away muttering curses.

Giant Mixed Breeds had the lowest intelligence among all Mixed Breeds. They were also tough as nails, so it was pointless to argue, reason, or fight with them.

When Alex saw the giant Mixed Breed charging over, he pulled Gu Ning aside to dodge.

His action of pulling Gu Ning away made Borg think he was bullying her. A hint of anger appeared on Borg’s face, and with a low roar, he raised his fist and swung it at him.

Alex wrapped an arm around Gu Ning’s waist and effortlessly leaped with her onto a three-meter-high platform to the side.

Borg swung his fist again, but Gu Ning quickly waved her hands at him, trying to show that she wasn’t being bullied.

Borg’s enormous fist stopped right in front of Gu Ning.

Afraid he would attack again, Gu Ning threw her arms around his fist.

If a real fight broke out, even if Borg could take on ten opponents, he’d be subdued by the security guards’ guns, and that wouldn’t be good for him.

The patrolling security guards noticed the commotion and were already running over to check on the situation.

Borg made a confused sound, retracted his fist, and poked her head with one finger.

Gu Ning made a gesture at him to show that she was safe.

Seeing them communicate, Alex released his left hand from the gun at his waist and set Gu Ning down.

"Your friend?" he asked.

Gu Ning nodded.

Just then, Borg reached out his hands to Gu Ning again.

He grabbed her with both hands as if she were a small doll, carefully lifted her down from the platform, nuzzled her with his face, and then placed her on his shoulder.

Alex watched the giant Mixed Breed’s affectionate behavior toward the little Mixed Breed with some astonishment.

’Are they related?’

Although giant Mixed Breeds were gentle by nature, they didn’t get too close to any creature other than their relatives. They acted self-centered, like children, and aside from females, they generally ignored other Beastmen.

However, they were indeed a bit closer to others of the Mixed Breed race. But if any Mixed Breed angered them, they would still get a fist to the face.

A giant Mixed Breed’s immense size and strength could smash a small-bodied Mixed Breed flat.

It was truly rare to see one playing with a Dwarf hybrid, a notoriously short-tempered type of Mixed Breed.

"Hnngh..." Borg started walking forward with Gu Ning, casually handing her half a rice ball that had a large, greasy piece of meat wrapped inside.

Gu Ning had to use both hands to hold the rice ball.

Giant Mixed Breeds were large, and their appetites were astonishing. The bucket they ate from was big enough to fit her inside.

But the provisions at the construction site weren’t great. They either ate cheap, easily preserved starchy tubers or not-so-fresh frozen meat. Sometimes, it was just a bucket of meat broth.

Gu Ning held the rice ball to her nose and took a deep sniff. It smelled so good!

Borg nudged her hand with his finger, signaling for her to eat.

His food had gotten better recently, and he was finally able to eat his fill. He wanted to share something this delicious with his little Mixed Breed friend.

Gu Ning patted her belly to show she was already full. But seeing the expectant look in Borg’s eyes, she pulled down her mask, took a big bite, and then wrapped up the rest to put in her backpack.

Chewing on the fragrant rice ball, she gave Borg a big thumbs-up to show him it was delicious.

A happy expression appeared on Borg’s simple, honest face, and he lifted Gu Ning up and spun her in a circle.

Alex followed behind them, observing how she and Borg interacted, a thoughtful look on his face.

Just like before, Borg escorted Gu Ning to the elevator and watched until it reached the top before he left.

Gu Ning’s work today was similar to yesterday’s: following Alex to inspect the defensive weapons, just in a different area.

When they reached the edge of the platform, Gu Ning glanced down. The Mutant Species were still gathered below in a dense mass, just like yesterday, but the weapons on the wall were no longer attacking them.

She had overheard some Beastmen talking about it. Some Mutant Species had thick defenses, making them hard to kill with ordinary weapons unless you hit their core. But their cores were a type of valuable Crystal Stone that could be used to make special weapons, and some could even be made into Purification Crystal Stones. That’s why they tried to avoid hitting the cores.

After carefully checking the safety harness on Gu Ning, Alex attached his secondary rope to her waist, then clipped her safety line to the same zipline as his own.

"Can you get down on your own?"

Gu Ning peeked over the edge of the platform, gritted her teeth, and grabbed the rope above her head.

She took a deep breath and was about to jump down when Alex stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist.