Free Web NovelChapter 199: Chapter 185: It’s Best Not to Get Too Close to Him
Barto returned just before nightfall, bringing back a jumble of assorted items.
Gu Ning was nearly blinded by the pile of sparkling things on the floor.
Crystal lamps, crystal bottles, all sorts of ornaments that sparkled in the light, and furniture that looked very expensive were piled up like a small mountain in front of her.
"Did you scavenge all this from the mall?" Gu Ning touched the single-person leather sofa, picked up the beautiful crystal bottle, and wrote a note to ask him.
She had never been to the mall in Zone 19, only looked at it from the outside. Generally speaking, goods in Zone 19 weren’t exactly scarce. You could find just about anything you wanted, except for items for females. It was just that everything was geared toward practicality.
’If they’re this hard to find and so pricey on the black market,’ she thought, ’they must be even more expensive at the mall. Otherwise, black market merchants would have no reason to sell them.’
Mixed Breeds weren’t interested in these things, and Beastmen could go to the mall anyway.
"The mall doesn’t have nice things like this. This is all from my private stash." Barto opened his backpack, took out an article of clothing from a sealed plastic bag, and presented it to Gu Ning like a precious treasure. "Try it on. See if it fits."
’New clothes? And they’re white.’
Gu Ning put down the crystal bottle and took it, her interest piqued.
All the clothes she had, whether scavenged or bought, were either black, gray, dark green, or dark blue. She had almost never seen white clothing. Even the pretty, light-colored blankets she owned had been purchased from Barto.
’He really has his ways.’
Gu Ning shook the white garment open—
The next moment, she froze.
It was a white dress.
"Th-this is... a d-dr-dress!" Gu Ning stammered, hugging the dress in delight.
The corner of Barto’s mouth lifted. "Do you like it?"
Gu Ning nodded furiously. ’After all this time, this is the first time I’ll get to wear clothes actually made for a female in this world.’
Gu Ning held the dress up to herself, then looked at Barto. "Your... private stash?"
"I got it from a job a few years ago," Barto said as he organized his things. "Don’t worry, it’s new."
’It was originally an order for some Beastman, but something went wrong, and I got stuck with it.’
’I thought about destroying it—keeping it was too risky. But when I thought about how much it cost to get, it felt like too much of a waste. So I just hid it, planning to sell it if I ever got desperate for cash. I never expected it would come in handy like this.’
As soon as Gu Ning heard that, she knew Barto had obtained the dress illegally. It was forbidden to sell items for females in cities that didn’t have any.
She had spent the afternoon reading through most of the Beast Alliance laws, so she knew that any violation of regulations concerning females was punished severely.
’But then again,’ she thought, ’Barto is a Mixed Breed, and in a place like Zone 19. To make enough money for Inhibitors, he probably has no choice but to do things forbidden by the Beast Alliance.’
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Barto grumbled when he noticed her stare. "I was just short on cash back then, so I got my hands on some female items to resell. I wasn’t going to do anything with them. I’m a Mixed Breed."
Mixed Breeds don’t even go into heat.
Gu Ning wrote a note and handed it to Barto: Please try not to do such dangerous business anymore.
Barto read it. ’So she was worried about me.’
"I won’t," Barto said. "When we get to Zone 5, I’ll be able to make more money."
"Go change into the dress and see if it fits. If not, I can alter it for you." Barto gave Gu Ning a gentle push toward the bedroom.
A few minutes later, Gu Ning came out wearing the dress.
It was a long-sleeved dress with a simple, loose-fitting design. A few small yellow flowers were embroidered on the chest as decoration. It was a little big, but it was still the best-fitting garment she had ever worn without needing alterations, and it was very comfortable.
"What do you think?" Gu Ning twirled in front of the little fox and the little dog, then looked at Barto expectantly, silently asking if the dress needed to be altered. The sleeves were a bit long, but the rest seemed fine.
Barto didn’t say a word. Even Cook watched her quietly.
Seeing that neither of them made a sound, Gu Ning looked down at herself. ’Is something wrong?’
"It’s beautiful," Barto said, snapping out of his daze.
"WOOF!" Cook chimed in.
"I just need to alter the sleeves," Barto said, handing a warm blanket to Gu Ning. "Drape this over yourself. Don’t catch a cold."
Gu Ning took the blanket and was about to go to the bedroom to change, but Barto grabbed her wrist. "No need to change. Just sit."
Gu Ning watched Barto rummage through his sewing box and settled herself into her warm little nest of blankets.
Barto took one of her hands and, with his clumsy-looking fingers, meticulously began to alter the dress’s cuffs with a needle and thread.
"When we get to Zone 5, you’ll have clothes that fit properly. No more alterations."
Gu Ning: "Mhm."
After that, they both fell silent, the only sound being Cook gnawing on a bone nearby.
After a moment, Gu Ning looked at Barto and said, "Andrew."
Barto paused his sewing and looked up. "What?"
Gu Ning asked, "Him... do you know about him?"
Barto resumed his sewing. After thinking for a moment, he said, "His rank in the Military Department is very high. He oversees the First Military District and the Second Military Zone. For the past few years, he’s been the one in charge of clearing out the Mutant Species in Zone 19. Before he took over, the Mutant Species had nearly turned this whole zone into a wasteland."
"He’s very capable," Barto said. "But you’d be better off not getting too close to him."
Gu Ning asked, "Is he... a bad person?"
Barto mulled over her words. ’She’s probably asking if Andrew is a bad guy.’
"I don’t know him that well," Barto said. "But judging by his actions, he’s a strict disciplinarian and has cracked down hard on the gangs in Zone 19."
’It was after Andrew took over management of Zone 19 that I couldn’t offload this dress.’
’Before he came, the gangs in Zone 19 were rampant. The black market wasn’t even a black market; people openly set up stalls to sell all sorts of contraband. They dared to sell anything right out in the open.’
’I never bothered to learn much about the admiral before. I only met him for the first time because of Gu Ning. A place like Zone 19 is used to chaos. As long as the Mutant Species are around, it’ll eventually go back to the way it was, or even worse. Unless the root problem is solved, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge.’
After listening to Barto, Gu Ning had a preliminary understanding of the admiral. She glanced thoughtfully at the notebook she had left on the table.
’So, the admiral isn’t a bad person after all,’ she mused. ’From what Barto said, he at least seems to be a fair, law-abiding, and strict Beastman.’
After a moment of thought, she asked Barto about Andrew keeping him behind earlier that day.
"It was nothing," Barto said without looking up. "He just asked a few questions."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK— A soft tapping sound came from the window, interrupting Gu Ning and Barto’s conversation.
Cook dropped his bone, sat up straight, and barked twice at the window.
Gu Ning looked toward the window. ’What was that?’
Barto frowned and pulled on Gu Ning’s wrist. "Ignore it."
