5:00 PM.

Gu Ning clocked out right on time.

The moment the clock hit five, Alex took the toolkit from her hands, not keeping her for a minute longer.

"Go home and get some rest. We’ll be working later hours in a few days," Alex advised Gu Ning. "And don’t wander around outside. Zone 19 has been getting more and more dangerous lately."

Gu Ning nodded and pulled the rope to ascend.

Alex watched her ascend to the top platform. After her silhouette vanished from sight, he tapped open his terminal and sent a message to Kloer.

...

Gu Ning took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked toward the main gate.

She noticed that few Beastmen were getting off work at this time. Most were still busy, and there seemed to be even more of them working than usual.

Everyone was desperately trying to speed up the project’s progress. It looked like things were only going to get busier.

A cold wind blew past. Gu Ning, who was sweaty from work, shivered from the chill.

She hunched her shoulders and glanced up at the overcast sky, feeling the approach of winter.

Cherishing the fact that she could still get off work this early, Gu Ning decided to head straight home today instead of browsing the black market.

She had originally planned to go look for that mobile camera orb she wanted. She would just have to find another chance to go.

The route from the factory to the black market passed through two rather chaotic streets, and she might run into those nasty Beastmen who captured Mixed Breeds.

’I haven’t seen Borg today, either. He must be busy. The workload for a Giant Mixed Breed is much greater than for a small one like me. They’re needed in a lot more places, so I shouldn’t bother him. He has his own work to do.’

After leaving the factory gate, Gu Ning shoved her hands into her pockets, one hand gripping her electric shock gun, the other her Anti-Beast Spray.

Just as Gu Ning walked out the main gate, a figure fell in behind her, keeping a steady distance.

On the way back, Gu Ning glanced left and right, warily observing her surroundings.

Maybe it was because winter was setting in, or maybe because most of the Beastmen in Zone 19 were busy building fortifications, but the streets were much emptier than usual.

She reached her street without incident.

Across the street.

Kloer watched the little Mixed Breed turn into the alley and stopped following. His gaze swept over the area. "Isn’t this inside the East Wall’s industrial park?"

Still, this was a relatively peripheral part of the industrial park. Not too far from the construction site, but not exactly close, either.

It was a decent place for a Mixed Breed to live. He’d thought "Cook" lived in the outer districts.

Kloer took a photo of the alley entrance Gu Ning had disappeared into and sent it to Alex.

[Boss, he lives inside the industrial park.]

Alex received the photo, zoomed in, and examined it carefully before replying: [From now on, escort him home after work. See him inside his building if you can.]

Kloer scratched his head. [Boss, why go through all this trouble? Why not just have him live with us? Aren’t you planning to teach him? If he lived with us, I could teach him too. He’d learn faster.]

Alex: [No rush. Let him get used to things.]

Kloer glanced at the alley where the little Mixed Breed had gone, then turned and left.

A moment later, a figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby alley.

Wanai stared as the Beastman in the blue work uniform across the street walked away, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

He looked toward the spot where the Dwarf hybrid had vanished, then his figure silently followed, melting into the dark alley.

When Gu Ning got back to her apartment, Barto and Cook hadn’t returned yet.

She figured that since she was back early, they were probably still running their stall at the black market.

Once inside, Gu Ning kicked off her shoes, took off her goggles and mask, removed the somewhat heavy work helmet, and went to the bathroom to wash her hands first.

The grease caked on her hands was hard to wash off. Ever since she had started handling parts coated in black machine oil, her hands had never been truly clean. They were always stained, and the grime under her fingernails was a disaster.

’If they won’t come clean, they won’t come clean,’ she thought after scrubbing them a few times. ’It’ll probably wash off gradually once I’m not doing this job anymore.’

After drying her hands, she undid the messy bun hanging loosely at the back of her head and ran her fingers through her hair a few times to smooth it out.

She caught sight of a half-length mirror stuck to the adjacent wall and walked over to it.

The mirror reflected Gu Ning’s face—pale and delicate.

Gu Ning studied her reflection. She had clearly lost a lot of weight over the past month. The baby fat on her cheeks was gone, making the lines of her face sharper and her eyes seem a little bigger.

She’d been wearing goggles every day for over a month since she’d transmigrated, leaving deep red marks pressed into her forehead and around her eyes.

Gu Ning noticed a black line streaked across her cheek.

She figured it must have been from wiping sweat at the construction site with her greasy hands.

She wet a towel and tried to wipe it off, but it wouldn’t budge a bit. She quickly gave up.

’Whatever, I wear a mask every day anyway.’

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK..."

A knock came from the door.

Gu Ning froze, poking her head out of the bathroom doorway.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK..."

The knocking continued without pause.

Gu Ning’s expression turned to one of confusion. ’The landlord?’

’No, if it were the landlord, he’d be pounding on the door loud enough to wake the dead. This knocking is too calm and gentle.’

The person knocking wasn’t saying anything. Given the typically boisterous nature of Beastmen, the visitor was highly suspicious.

Gu Ning remained standing in the bathroom doorway, pretending no one was home and waiting for the person outside to leave on their own.

She wasn’t going to open the door no matter who it was. If it were Barto and the others, even without a key, Barto could pry the door open.

After a moment, the knocking stopped.

Just as Gu Ning was about to relax, she heard a very soft sound:

"CLICK..."

The door opened.

Gu Ning first froze in shock, then blood rushed to her head.

In that instant, several thoughts flashed through her mind—

Rush to the living room and put on her gear, run to the bedroom and hide, or charge the entrance and hold the door shut.

But it seemed there wasn’t time for any of them.

She didn’t know the intruder’s intentions. Any movement would reveal that someone was inside.

Gu Ning froze on the spot for a second, then held her breath and retreated back into the bathroom. She pressed herself tightly against the wall, her hand reaching into her pocket to grip the Anti-Beast Spray.

Her senses were on high alert as she listened for any sound from the entrance.

’Is it a thief? Or have the Beastmen trying to catch me found where I live?’

Either possibility was extremely dangerous.

Gu Ning waited for several minutes but heard no further sound.

She gathered her courage and poked her head out of the bathroom, quickly scanning the living room.

No one was there.

She looked toward the front door again. It was now open just a crack, as if blown open by the wind.

’Fuck, am I seeing things?’

Gu Ning stared at the paint-chipped iron door for a moment, then gathered her nerve and rushed forward. SLAM! She threw her body against the door, forcing it shut.

She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, starting to wonder if maybe she hadn’t closed the door properly when she came in, and the knocking had caused it to swing open.

Gu Ning sat on the floor, her thoughts a jumbled mess for a while, before tapping open her terminal to message Barto: [When are you guys coming back?]

After sending that message, she quickly typed out another: [If you’re not busy, come back now.]

After composing herself, Gu Ning got up, put on her gear, and waited for Barto and the others to return.

Outside the door, a slender figure leaned against the wall of the dim hallway.

He stared at the closed door in front of him. His hand reached into his pocket and touched a sealed bag inside, his brow tightly furrowed.