Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Why Has Her Scent Changed?

"This is an electric shock gun, and this is Anti-Beast Spray."

Early in the morning, as soon as Gu Ning crawled out of bed, she saw a pile of assorted weapons on the living room floor.

From the pile of strangely shaped knives and batons on the floor, Barto picked out two self-defense weapons that were most suitable for her.

Gu Ning let out a long yawn, her mouth covered by her bib.

She had spent all last night making beast-ear props and had fallen asleep before she could finish.

She took the palm-sized electric shock gun from Barto and pressed what looked like a switch on it, but nothing happened.

"It has a safety lock," Barto said, pointing to a tiny indentation next to the switch.

Gu Ning pressed it. ZZZT! An electric current gathered and sparked at the tip, and her somewhat drowsy eyes immediately cleared.

’This current looks pretty strong.’

"Be careful." Barto barely managed to pull his hand away in time. "This thing can take down a Beastman. It can even give a giant hybrid a jolt and temporarily neutralize their ability to attack."

He had wandered around the black market until midnight looking for this thing, finally buying it from a black market merchant.

"Don’t take it out unless you absolutely have to," Barto specifically warned.

This was police-issue gear, after all.

Gu Ning nodded. She then picked up the Anti-Beast Spray and sniffed it. It had a strange smell. She thought it might be pepper spray or something similar, but it didn’t smell like it.

’This scent must be pretty irritating to Beastmen.’

She sprayed a bit into the air and took a careful sniff. Hmm... the smell was a little stronger, but it still didn’t have much of an effect on her.

"Don’t spray that randomly!" Barto choked and coughed, running to the window to throw it open.

"WOOF!"

Cook ran out of the bathroom, dashing toward Gu Ning.

Every time Gu Ning came out of the bathroom, he would immediately run in, even pushing past Barto if he was waiting in line.

The moment Cook reached Gu Ning’s side, the smell in the air made his nose run and his eyes water.

Gu Ning’s sense of smell was duller than theirs, but now she too felt the power of the scent.

The smell was both acrid and foul. She grabbed Cook and ran to the window with him.

The human, the dog, and the fox squatted by the window, gasping for fresh air.

Barto stood on a stool, his upper body hanging out the window. He panted for a bit with his tongue out, then cursed at Gu Ning, "You idiot! Are you trying to kill me?!"

With her back turned to him, Gu Ning pulled down her bib and greedily gulped down the fresh, cold air from outside.

’Damn, this stuff is basically a stink bomb!’

"Woof..."

Like Barto, Cook was half-hanging out the window, his tongue out and his whole body limp.

Seeing the state the two of them were in, Gu Ning thought to herself, ’If I’d had this stuff earlier, would that group of Beastmen have been able to bully me and Cook?’

Once he recovered, Barto warned Gu Ning, "Don’t use these two things recklessly! Got it?"

Gu Ning nodded in agreement. She comforted Cook, who was lying on the floor panting with his tongue out, then stuffed her breakfast and lunch into her backpack.

Barto took the Beast Smell Agent he’d brought back yesterday and sprayed it on her, covering up Cook’s scent.

"How is there still a scent? Spray some more."

Barto circled Gu Ning, spraying a layer of the Beast Smell Agent, but he could still smell the scent of Cook’s glands on her.

He pulled up Gu Ning’s pant leg and sprayed inside her clothes, then pulled open her collar after he was done.

Startled by his actions, Gu Ning quickly snatched the Beast Smell Agent from his hand, insisting she could do it herself.

Barto caught a glimpse of the snow-white skin beneath her collar, and a strange feeling flashed through his mind.

He remembered seeing her equally snow-white feet a few days ago and couldn’t help but glance down.

He saw nothing. Gu Ning was wearing socks, and her long pant legs covered most of her feet.

"ARF!"

Cook smelled a strange new scent on Gu Ning. His own scent had faded, so he immediately pressed against her, trying to rub his smell back onto her.

"Get off, you stupid dog." Barto pulled him away and smacked him on the head. "If you get your scent on her again, she’ll be captured and taken to the Underground Arena, understand?"

Hearing this, Cook let out a low growl and flicked his tail in frustration.

’He wouldn’t let Gu Ning be taken away. He wouldn’t let any Beastman harm her.’

Gu Ning gave him a comforting hug, ruffled the fur on his head, and whispered in his ear, "Good boy, Cook. Listen to Barto."

Cook dejectedly nudged his head against Gu Ning.

After comforting Cook, Gu Ning checked the time. Seven o’clock. She slung her backpack on and hurried out the door.

Barto followed behind her with the Beast Smell Agent, giving her another thorough spray.

...

"Right on time today. Not bad."

Alex looked at "Cook’s" clock-in time on his terminal: 7:20.

Gu Ning breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn’t late today.

She had been heading to the foreman’s station to clock in, thinking Alex wouldn’t be waiting for her specifically every day, but it turned out he was right there at the clock-in point.

"Let’s go. We won’t be working on the wall this morning. You’re coming with me to handle some paperwork."

After speaking to Gu Ning, Alex’s expression faltered. He scanned her up and down. ’Why has his scent changed?’

Gu Ning, seeing that Alex hadn’t moved, looked up at him in confusion.

Alex’s nose twitched. He carefully sniffed the air and could still faintly detect the original Dog Clan scent on him.

Now, his scent was like a mix of the Lion Clan and the Cat Clan.

Seeing the little Mixed Breed looking up at him, Alex said nothing and led him toward the management office.

Gu Ning scurried to keep up behind him. His legs were so long that she had to jog to follow.

Alex walked on for a moment, then heard the little Mixed Breed’s hurried footsteps behind him. He glanced back and slowed his pace slightly.

Gu Ning followed him into a building in the middle of the construction site.

As she entered, Gu Ning glanced at the large, conspicuous building number: Zone A, Building 1.

Yesterday, Alex had told her that he lived in Building 1, Room 2.

’Are we going to his place to handle things?’ Gu Ning felt a little apprehensive.

Soon, Gu Ning realized she had been overthinking it.

Alex led her to the management office on the first floor.

When the door opened and she saw the scene inside, Gu Ning almost wished she had been overthinking it.

There were about a dozen Beastmen in the office. Judging by their work uniforms, they were all supervisors from the various site zones, or held even higher management positions.

There were also a few technical specialists.

Gu Ning also spotted a familiar face: the detestable foreman who had withheld her wages. He was sitting at one of the workstations, lounging back in his chair and scrolling through a terminal.

"Alex."

Upon seeing Alex, the Beastmen in the office all greeted him.

Noticing the small figure trailing behind him, they all showed curious expressions.

"Is that a Dwarf hybrid?" one Beastman asked. "Alex, did you bring him?"

Alex replied, "Mhm, my little assistant."

After he said that, several of the technical managers exchanged glances. An assistant?

One of the technical managers laughed. "Alex, are you joking with us? He’s a Mixed Breed." ’A volatile Dwarf hybrid, at that!’

Gu Ning pressed her lips into a thin line and unconsciously edged closer to Alex.

Alex noticed her subtle movement and said, "Don’t underestimate him. He’s very smart, no worse than any of you."

Terry, hearing their conversation, looked up from his terminal, his gaze sweeping over the figure behind Alex.