Free Web NovelChapter 189: Chapter 177: A Vested Interest
After they finished eating, Barto cleared the table and went to wash the dishes.
Gu Ning, meanwhile, continued with her crafts.
Cook burped, sprawling comfortably beside Gu Ning.
He’d eaten his fill; most of the leftovers had ended up in his stomach.
Barto finished the dishes, mopped the floor, and tidied up the whole room.
Gu Ning wanted to wait for him to finish so they could talk about their situation, but he didn’t seem to have a moment’s rest.
He usually tidied up the room, but today he seemed much busier. And during dinner, Barto had barely said a few words to her, remaining very quiet.
’Is he not feeling well, so he’s in a bad mood?’
After tidying the room, Barto brought the large bag of clothes they had gotten from the mall yesterday over to Gu Ning.
He then fetched a pair of Gu Ning’s shorts, compared them to a new pair, and took a needle and thread from her sewing box to alter the size.
Seeing this, Gu Ning stopped what she was doing and watched curiously as he skillfully handled the needle and thread.
His hands weren’t normal human fingers but mutated fox paws. When he fought, he would extend sharp claws. They were much thicker than any fox paws she had ever seen and didn’t look suited for delicate work.
But these same hands could wield weapons, cook, and even thread a needle to mend clothes.
Although they weren’t particularly nimble, he could still get the job done well.
She had seen other atavistic Mixed Breeds. Some were so constrained by their beast forms that they couldn’t even use utensils properly. Barto, however, could even use chopsticks. Cook had now regressed to the point of eating without a spoon or fork, let alone chopsticks.
Barto quickly finished altering one pair of shorts. He compared them again to Gu Ning’s pair, decided they were about right, and picked up another new pair to continue his work.
Gu Ning picked up the altered shorts and couldn’t help but ask, "Are these for you?"
These were the smallest size of shorts for Beastmen. They would be too small for Barto in his human form, but in his current beast form, they were far too large and would need altering to be worn.
But...
Why was he using her underwear for comparison?
Barto’s hands paused, and he said with his head lowered, "They’re for you."
Gu Ning looked astonished. "For me?"
"Who else?" Barto said. "With this size, do you think Cook or I could wear them?"
Gu Ning said, "I have plenty."
Barto replied, "We won’t have the chance to do laundry on the road. It’s better to have extra."
Only then did Gu Ning realize he was preparing for their departure.
But she hadn’t yet discussed with him which zone they should go to.
Gu Ning looked at the shorts in her hand, set them down, opened up her "Press Paw" personal page on her terminal, and took out a pen and paper. Just as she was about to speak to Barto, he looked up and asked, "What’s this you’re making?"
Gu Ning froze for a moment. Seeing his gaze land on the half-finished beast ears beside her, she said, "This? Fox ears."
She was making them for a new video.
Barto picked up the fox ears and turned them over in his hands. "These would only fool those stupid Beastmen."
Gu Ning fell silent for a moment, then asked tentatively, "You know?"
As if he hadn’t heard her, Barto continued, "Fake ears made from such poor-quality fabric... if it weren’t for those dumb Beastmen’s preconceived notion that you’re a virtual female, they would have seen through it long ago."
Gu Ning’s mouth fell slightly open. For a long moment, she was at a loss for words.
The one thing she had hidden for so many days, the thing she worried most about being exposed, he had just revealed so casually.
Barto rubbed the silver-white fake beast ears in his hand. "Leave it. I’ll make them for you. This isn’t your strong suit."
Seeing Gu Ning just staring at him, Barto added, "Your videos are great. Much better than the trash those idiots make."
She was silent for a while, then pulled the notebook where she had compiled her research from under her pillow and handed it to Barto. She also wrote a note and passed it to him: [See if there are any cities you like]
Things had reached a point where Barto was openly telling her he knew everything. There was no need for her to explain anymore. The current task was to decide which city they would move to.
Since Barto had prepared so thoroughly, he must have already had a plan in mind.
Barto took her notebook, flipped through it seriously, then closed it and asked her, "Do you still want to go to Zone 5?"
Gu Ning didn’t answer him right away.
Barto studied her expression and added, "If we’re going to the Upper District, Zone 5 is actually a pretty good choice."
Gu Ning wrote: [We don’t have to go to the Upper District.]
They could choose to live in a mid-tier city; it couldn’t be any worse than Zone 19.
After reading what she wrote, Barto said, "The living conditions in the Upper District are better, and you can try to interact with other females. It’s almost impossible to see females in the Middle Lower District now."
At least, you never see them on the streets. Only in the cities of the Upper District are females still a relatively common sight.
Besides that, he was more worried that he and Cook might not be able to stay with Gu Ning for too long. Before that happened, he had to make plans for her future.
Originally, he had planned to find a mid-tier city and leave with her and Cook. But after talking with Alex, he understood that their biggest constraint wasn’t Alex, but someone else entirely.
The three of them were already being watched. Whether for Gu Ning’s safety or for some other reason, that person would definitely not let her live in the Middle Lower District.
Gu Ning’s identity was also special; she wasn’t a female from the land or the Sea Area. It wouldn’t be easy for her to live in a place that was completely foreign to her, with no one of her own kind.
He could predict that once her identity was exposed, countless male Beastmen would try to take advantage of her, and the people from Sky Watch Point might come looking for her as well.
But hiding and sneaking around wasn’t a solution.
Even now, that person could use any number of excuses to move her to another part of the Upper District, or even to his side, at any moment.
In contrast, Alex was actually the better choice right now.
No matter how xenophobic Zone 5 was, Alex was its alpha wolf and held a position of power there. The way Zone 5 was managed was actually to their advantage. They could use Alex to temporarily settle down in Zone 5.
Besides, she was annoyed with Alex right now. Once he returned to Zone 5, he wouldn’t have the energy to hang around her.
Barto picked up Gu Ning’s half-finished pair of fake beast ears and began to sew.
He had thought of a way for them to make money and help Gu Ning establish a foothold in the Beast Alliance.
Then, she would be able to come and go as she pleased, instead of being constantly on edge, looking over her shoulder, and at the mercy of others.
Gu Ning thought it over carefully and asked Barto, "Are you sure?"
Barto said, "If you’re annoyed with Alex, we can find a nice place to live after we get to Zone 5 and never see him again. Zone 5 is huge, and the other Upper District zones aren’t much better."
Especially the Second District.
Gu Ning wrote: It’s not entirely because of him.
The corner of Barto’s mouth quirked up slightly. "I have my own selfish reasons for wanting to go to Zone 5, too."
He said frankly, "I want to do business in Zone 5. I’ll have better opportunities there, a chance to make more money. You, and Alex, are both my ticket to making a fortune."
"With money, I can buy better Inhibitors."
Gu Ning didn’t understand business, but she understood Barto’s pride. He would never just wait for her to support him. More importantly, she understood how crucial the Inhibitors were to him.
"Okay." Gu Ning nodded, flipping to the page in her notebook with her research on Zone 5. She tapped her pen on it. "We’ll go to Zone 5."
