Chapter 57: Chapter 57: This Little Mixed Breed Seems to Be in Heat

Gu Ning was woken by the cold.

She wrapped the blanket tightly around herself and sat up, looking toward the window with sleepy eyes.

The window was closed, covered in a layer of white frost. She could vaguely make out flakes drifting past.

Gu Ning stared blankly at the window for a moment before her eyes instantly cleared with realization.

’It’s snowing?’

No wonder it was so cold. Even with the door and window shut tight, the chilly air still seeped through the cracks in her blanket.

A few days ago, Barto had told her it would snow soon. The snowfall marked Zone 19’s official entry into winter. For the next two or three months, it would get colder with each passing day.

Gu Ning was already so frozen she could barely bring herself to leave her warm nest. She wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to leave Zone 19 in this weather a month from now.

After craning her neck to watch the snowflakes drift outside for a while, Gu Ning looked away and scratched her messy hair.

Her gaze fell upon the helmet and goggles she had set aside.

She paused, then touched the mask on her face.

’Thank goodness, the mask is still on.’ But after a night’s sleep, it had nearly slipped down to her chin, making it as good as useless.

She had figured that since the power in Zone 19 was shut off centrally, it would be pitch black, and Alex wouldn’t be able to see her face anyway. So she had taken off the work cap and goggles. Sleeping with them on was just too uncomfortable; they were hard and dug into her.

Gu Ning pulled her mask up to cover her nose and mouth, then grabbed the work cap and put it on, her eyes scanning the living room as she did.

The overly tidy living room was empty; there was no one in sight.

She then looked toward the bedroom. The door was open.

Still wrapped in her blanket, Gu Ning cautiously approached the bedroom and peeked inside. The bedroom was empty too.

She stuck a hand out from under the blanket to check the time on her terminal. It wasn’t even seven o’clock.

’Alex didn’t come back last night?’

She couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

She brought the blanket back to the bedroom, folded it meticulously, and smoothed out all the wrinkles.

After folding the blanket, Gu Ning rubbed her chilly arms and went to the bathroom to relieve herself and wash up.

The bottle of herbal-scented scent eliminator was still on the water cistern. After finishing her business, Gu Ning grabbed the scent eliminator, spraying it as she flushed to ensure no smell was left behind.

After using the toilet, she turned on the hot water valve and washed her face.

’Having a private bathroom is the best!’

Gu Ning screamed internally.

She had been washing her face with cold water every day. It was fine when the weather was warm, but it was unbearable in the winter. She didn’t even want to touch the cold water.

After washing her face, Gu Ning felt refreshed. She turned off the hot water valve, shook the water from her hands, and was just about to leave the bathroom when she heard the sound of the front door opening.

Gu Ning froze. She quickly wiped the water from her face, made sure her mask was secure, and opened the door a crack to peek outside.

Kloer was standing in the living room holding two large bowls. Hearing the sound of her door opening, he looked over at her.

"You’re awake?"

Seeing the small head peeking out of the bathroom, Kloer placed the breakfast on the table and pulled out a chair. "I brought breakfast from the cafeteria. Come and eat after you’ve washed up. I’ll help you move later."

Gu Ning checked her gear, and seeing that everything was in order, she walked over to the dining table and sat down.

Breakfast consisted of a few boiled eggs, a small bowl of sliced sausage, and steaming hot meatballs. It was a huge portion, almost entirely meat.

’Will I get indigestion from eating this so early in the morning?’

Gu Ning thought to herself that a few days of good living had really made her picky. Before, when she was eating compressed biscuits with Cook every day, all she could think about was earning money to eat meat every day. Now that she had meat, she found it a bit rich and was already thinking about eating something else.

She glanced at Kloer’s bowl. It was similar to hers, but his had something that looked like a steamed cake.

Kloer saw the little Mixed Breed staring at his bowl and said, "...Is your bowl not enough?"

Gu Ning shook her head and pointed at the food in his bowl.

Kloer understood. "You want some of mine?"

He generously pushed his bowl toward her. "Go ahead."

Gu Ning took a piece of the steamed cake from his bowl, placed it in her own, and then, after glancing around the living room, hid behind the sofa to eat.

Kloer: "..." ’That’s a bit too protective of their food.’

’Well, a Wolf Clan... It’s not strange for them to be protective of their food. Besides, he’s just a little Mixed Breed wolf.’

Kloer stared at the top half of Gu Ning’s head, which was visible, and grumbled to himself.

’How could he be from the Wolf Clan?’

Kloer felt this little Mixed Breed’s personality was nothing like the Wolf Clan’s. He always felt he should be from the Cat Clan or some other clan.

For some reason, he didn’t quite like the Dog Clan smell on him.

’Oh no, that’s wolf scent.’

Kloer sniffed the air. He realized that the jumble of different scents on the little Mixed Breed had faded, making his original scent very obvious, and a little pungent.

’This scent...’

It dawned on Kloer. ’Is this guy in heat?’

The probability of a Mixed Breed going into heat was extremely low. Only fringe Mixed Breeds still had unstable heat cycles; for other Mixed Breeds, this trait had basically degenerated.

But once they did go into heat, they would become extremely irritable and ferocious.

Kloer finished the egg in his hand in one bite and sent a message to Alex:

[Boss, Cook]

’Wrong.’

Kloer remembered this guy wasn’t Cook at all. He deleted the message in the dialogue box and typed a new one:

[Boss, I think this little Mixed Breed is in heat. Should we give it an Inhibitor shot?]

Alex: [?]

Kloer: [His scent smells a lot like he’s in heat. Could it be that he got into a fight because his heat cycle started?]

Alex: [What do you feel]

Kloer was completely baffled by Alex’s reply. [What do you mean, what do I feel?]

Alex: [His scent, do you like it or hate it?]

Kloer shuddered: [How could I possibly like the scent of a Mixed Breed! I’ve always found this guy’s scent to be awful. It’s even worse than that jumble of Beast Smell Agents he was covered in the last two days.]

A moment later, Alex replied: [He’s probably not in heat. Don’t give him an Inhibitor.]

Just as Kloer was about to reply, another message popped up: [Still, keep a couple of Inhibitors on you just in case.]

「In the office.」

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to relieve the strain. He opened his contact list and dialed one of the communication codes.

The call connected after nearly thirty seconds.

"It’s so early. I’ve only had less than two hours of sleep," a complaining voice came through.

Alex: "Are the results out?"

Lanuo, on the other end, said, "Hang on, let me ask the genetics department."

The call ended. Alex lowered his gaze to the files on his desk, his index finger tapping a steady rhythm on the tabletop.

Five minutes later, Lanuo called back:

"The results are in. Your test report is fine, but..."

Alex looked up, his eyes brightening slightly. "But what?"

Lanuo: "Whose gene code test report is this? There’s no match in the gene bank. A Mixed Breed with a 25% mutation value... the degradation shouldn’t have been that long ago. This doesn’t make sense."

Every Beastman’s birth is recorded, unless they’re from the Sea Area or Sky Watch Point.

This gene report is for a Wolf Clan Mixed Breed, which rules out those possibilities.

Alex was silent for a moment, then said, "A Mixed Breed from Zone 19."

Lanuo said, "Alex, no Beastman is born in Zone 19. I’m going to apply for a deep analysis. But you’d better send the sample over. The test will be more accurate that way."

Alex asked, "Why?"

Lanuo stood up and put on his white lab coat. "I suspect your sample data might be from a Mimic Mixed Species. Be careful. Zone 19 is a chaotic place."