Chapter 40: Chapter 40: What’s There to Guard During a Bath?

Gu Ning took out the mobile camera sphere Barto had given her and connected it to her terminal.

Connecting it wasn’t difficult—it was a lot like connecting her phone to Bluetooth headphones back in the day—but she still needed to get used to operating it.

She fiddled with the camera sphere in her room for a while. Just as she was about to start recording, she heard Barto and Cook returning.

"You dumb dog, shake the water off outside before you come in!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Don’t shake water off in the house! And don’t roll around on the carpet, that’s where I sleep!"

"WOOF! ...Ning! Ning!" Cook barked excitedly for Gu Ning outside the bedroom door.

Hearing Barto’s stream of curses, Gu Ning had to put aside what she was doing. She pulled on a head covering and a floor-length robe she had made, then went out.

’I can’t just wear this cumbersome work uniform at home all the time,’ she thought. ’It’s starting to smell of sweat. I need to wash it and hang it on the balcony to dry.’

She had modified the head covering and robe from Beastman clothing. The head covering had three holes cut out for her eyes and mouth; wearing it would allow her to eat with Barto and the others in the future.

The moment she opened the door, a sopping-wet Cook rubbed up against her.

"You need to get this dumb dog under control! If he does this again, I’m not taking him for another bath. I’ll let him stink and make him sleep outside!"

Barto was in the living room mopping up the puddles Cook had made. Hearing Gu Ning’s door open, he looked over at her.

"..."

Dressed like a wandering ghost, with her head covered like a bank robber, Gu Ning stared back at Barto.

After they stared at each other for a few seconds, Barto said, "Remember to eat a Purification Crystal Stone. No, eat one right now!"

’This won’t do. I have to get more Purification Crystal Stones,’ Barto thought. ’Otherwise, I’ll be stuck taking care of two regressed Mixed Breeds all winter!’

Gu Ning ignored Barto, who looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. She took off her work uniform and goggles, feeling much more comfortable, though a little cold.

The windows and balcony door were wide open. Outside, the sky was completely dark, and a cold wind was pouring into the house.

The cold wind made Gu Ning shiver.

Cook took her by the hand and led her to the bathroom; he had already brought back the hot water.

Gu Ning could finally take a hot bath. She happily cupped Cook’s face and gave it a rub before closing the bathroom door to wash up.

Cook stood guard at the bathroom door like a loyal knight, his eyes fixed on Barto.

Barto was still tidying up his nest, which Cook had messed up. He felt a strange chill run down his spine, and when he turned around, he met Cook’s intense gaze.

"...?" Barto asked. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

It was as if Cook was about to pounce and bite him at any second, ready to engage in a life-or-death duel.

’I only scolded him a little, didn’t I? Does he really need to look at me like that? Besides, he’s the one who made the mess in the first place.’

At first, Barto didn’t pay it much mind. But seeing Cook guarding the bathroom door, and hearing the sounds of Gu Ning washing up inside, his ears twitched. That strange feeling crept up on him again.

He took two steps toward the bathroom.

Cook immediately bared his teeth at him with a loud "WOOF!" A warning growl rumbled in his throat, his paws on the floor shifted forward, and he crouched down low.

Barto pulled back his foot, and Cook retracted his paws, sitting up straight again.

Barto took another step forward. "WOOF!" Cook crouched again, assuming an attack posture.

Barto pulled his foot back, and Cook sat up and retracted his paws.

Barto tested him repeatedly. The fox and the dog went back and forth like this, extending and retracting their paws.

"..."

"So protective of her?" Barto was stunned by Cook’s reaction.

He was sure that if he took one more step toward the bathroom and crossed Cook’s invisible line, the dog would charge and pick a fight with him.

"What’s there to guard while she’s bathing?" Barto really didn’t get it. Whether Gu Ning was sleeping, bathing, or even using the toilet, Cook would stand guard relentlessly.

Barto found it very strange but couldn’t figure out why. He just chalked it up to Cook and Gu Ning having a good relationship. Since Gu Ning was a relatively smart and cautious Mixed Breed, it seemed normal for Cook to act as her assistant.

He didn’t want to bother with the dumb dog anymore. After tidying his nest and adding a few soft cushions, he lay down comfortably.

Then, he took out his old, paint-chipped gaming console and started playing.

Usually, when he had free time, one of his few forms of entertainment was playing games.

He didn’t like browsing websites either. For him, the terminal was just for communication and payments. At most, he would occasionally browse shopping sites to see if there was anything good to buy, or play some holographic games on the terminal.

He wasn’t really interested in anything else.

He wouldn’t even glance at things like the "virtual females" other Beastmen were into. In fact, he thought the male Beastmen who were fanatical about them were a bunch of brain-dead morons with warped minds.

And because he despised a certain male movie star, he hated all movies and TV shows by association.

If he accidentally saw something, he’d have to go leave a few nasty comments and "drop some poop" emojis.

After beating a difficult single-player puzzle game, Barto felt bored. He took out his holographic gaming helmet, put it on, connected to the terminal, and prepared to play a battle game to crush some of those big, dumb Beastmen.

He selected a popular battle game, chose the single-player survival mode, and randomly entered a game lobby to queue up and wait for a team assignment.

The game lobby’s voice chat was open-mic, as noisy as a crowded market. The volume of each Beastman’s voice varied depending on their distance within the lobby, just like in real life.

As soon as Barto entered, he heard those moronic Beastmen discussing virtual females again:

"Can the shitty mods get the hell out of the comments? The creator can post whatever they want. Why are they trying to stir up drama?"

"I don’t care! The Dog Clan has the most votes! I demand to see a video of a Dog Clan female next!"

"There are already two videos of Dog Clan females! Don’t push your luck. We’ve been so busy flaming the Tiger Clan these last two days we haven’t flamed you guys. Give you an inch and you take a mile, huh?"

"What Dog Clan? She’s clearly one of our Wolf Clan females."

"Aren’t they all just dogs? You Wolf Clan guys should quit while you’re ahead, or we’ll start flaming you too."

"Aren’t you flaming us right now? You looking for a fight?!"

"..."

Barto listened to the Beastmen start arguing again and was about to mute the audio when he suddenly heard another one say:

"Just a rumor, but I heard Gu Demiao Ning was originally going to make a video of a Fox Clan female."

"Where’d you hear that?"

"Someone said the mods asked via private message. I think I saw a screenshot of the DM, but I can’t find it now. It was probably deleted."

"No way! Gu Demiao Ning is going to feature our Fox Clan?"

"? That bastard hiding behind the official account! Did they think we Fox Clan members are pushovers just because we’ve been quiet?"

Barto froze when he heard the name Gu Demiao Ning.

’What the hell? Gu Demiao... Ning?’

’Why does that name sound so familiar?’

"The Fox Clan has the fewest votes... Dammit! Gu Demiao Ning was going to feature a Fox Clan female, but the mods, those bastards, we have to file a complaint!"

"You have few votes because your big Fox Clan star is boycotting virtual females. Serves you right."

"Weren’t you going to complain about the mods? Go find your big star. If he speaks out, he can expose that bastard on the mod team who’s pushing their own agenda, get the moderation sorted out, and even win back some reputation for the Fox Clan."

"Fine, we will. Just you wait."

"..."

Hearing that familiar, detestable name, Barto was filled with disgust. But as he listened to the Beastmen discuss this virtual female, he couldn’t help but feel a little curious.

The lobby interface was flooded with all sorts of ads and site recommendations. A recommendation for a virtual female video remained right in the center, not pushed aside by the others.

The recommendation page only showed a picture of the virtual female’s back.

Barto looked at the slender, petite figure in the picture and felt a strange sense of familiarity.

As if by some strange impulse, he clicked on it.