Virtual Idol in the Beast World: Five Clans Fight Over Me

Barto led Gu Ning to his stall.

"Alright, spit it out. What are you here for?" Barto asked, plopping down onto his old recliner, crossing his furry legs, and looking at Gu Ning. "Looking for something good I don’t have?"

Gu Ning took out a pen and paper from her pocket and wrote: Just browsing.

She also drew a smiley face with a big, toothy grin.

Barto glanced at what Gu Ning had written, not believing a word of it.

’He can afford to drop thirty thousand on a gun in one go now,’ Barto thought. ’He’s not so broke he has to scavenge junk to sell like before. Plus, it’s about time he gets off work.’

’Besides, I saw him from a distance just now, asking around with a piece of paper. He’s definitely here to buy something.’

"Even if you have money now, you need to be frugal. You’re a Mixed Breed, understand? A Mixed Breed," Barto said to Gu Ning in a serious tone. "Besides food and drink, you have to save up to buy Purification Crystal Stones for yourself. And for this little guy."

Barto pointed at the little puppy, Cook, who was squatting by Gu Ning’s feet and gnawing on a meaty bone.

"If you’re taking care of him too, the Purification Crystal Stones are going to cost a fortune."

Gu Ning nodded her head like a chick pecking at grain.

Seeing that Gu Ning wasn’t willing to tell the truth, Barto didn’t press her further.

He already had his suspicions about Gu Ning’s origins, guessing he was probably a Mixed Breed from some large clan. Even though he’d been dumped in Zone 19, someone was still looking out for him occasionally, sending him money and whatnot.

’The moment he gets money, he just wants to squander it.’

When Gu Ning saw he wasn’t asking any more questions, she drew a simple sketch of a stall with an arrow and a question mark on the paper and handed it to him.

Barto took it and looked. "You’re asking why I moved my stall?"

Gu Ning saw he understood with just a glance and nodded vigorously twice.

’This little fox is so smart and easy to talk to!’

"The old spot was bad for business," Barto said. "Changing locations might improve things a bit."

Gu Ning looked at his stall, which was now almost at the end of the street. ’Is this a good spot?’ she thought. ’It’s much more out of the way than his old one.’

She didn’t understand the business-minded fox’s logic, but she figured he must have his reasons.

"Hngh..."

Borg’s voice sounded from above Gu Ning’s head. The giant was sitting behind her, cradling the hand that Barto had scratched, still feeling wronged.

Gu Ning knew that giant Mixed Breeds had the temperament of children, so she soothed him by stroking the spot that hurt.

Barto chewed on his jerky, watching Gu Ning and that stupid giant.

It wasn’t surprising to him that Gu Ning’s personality allowed him to get along with a giant Mixed Breed. With the two of them together, the people at the construction site wouldn’t dare bully Gu Ning so easily.

He couldn’t leave right now anyway. Minding the stall wasn’t the point; it was a show for that ghost-like mercenary, and a way to keep an eye on him.

Over the past two days, he’d occasionally spot the mercenary in the black market. Each time, the man’s figure would flash past, as if he were deliberately letting himself be seen.

Sometimes, he would even catch a glimpse of him on the way back.

Barto knew, without a doubt, that he was being watched.

He’d asked around the black market. The authorities were indeed investigating the smuggling of items related to Beast Females, but perhaps because winter was setting in, there wasn’t much commotion. Many Beastmen didn’t even know about it.

Based on his understanding of the Beast Alliance, they definitely didn’t want to alert their target. In that case, he would just act as if nothing was wrong.

’Let’s see who can outlast whom.’

’If they want to make a move, then let them. As long as he dares to touch me or Gu Ning’s group, I have my own ways of dealing with it.’

"Ning..." Seeing Gu Ning comforting the big guy, Cook nudged her, a little jealous.

Suddenly, he caught a whiff of blood on her. His expression changed, and he reached into Gu Ning’s pocket, pulling out the small folding knife she always carried.

He tilted his head, looking at the knife in his paw with confusion. The blood on it belonged to a Beastman.

When Barto saw Cook pull the knife from Gu Ning’s pocket, he immediately leaped off his recliner.

He snatched the folding knife from Cook’s paw, flipped it open, and saw it was still stained with blood.

He had smelled a faint scent of blood around Gu Ning just now. He’d thought it was from scratching the giant Mixed Breed, but it turned out to be from this knife.

"What happened?" Barto asked Gu Ning, carefully sniffing the bloody scent on the knife. "Did someone bully you?"

Hearing this, Cook’s eyes immediately turned fierce. He rubbed against Gu Ning while letting out a low, questioning growl.

Gu Ning patted Cook’s head to soothe him, then explained to Barto how she had almost been captured by Beastmen earlier today.

Upon seeing Gu Ning’s simple drawings, Barto understood what had happened.

Abductions of Mixed Breeds happened frequently in Zone 19. Gangs would capture Mixed Breeds and force them into the Underground Arena or make them do their dirty work to earn money.

But Zone 19 had been under tighter control recently. Gu Ning spent most of his time at the construction site, and there were patrol officers in the area every day. Who would be so bold as to try and snatch someone right at the site’s entrance?

Gu Ning pointed at Cook, then made a fist and tapped her own head.

Barto: "Are you saying they were the same Beastmen who came after Cook for revenge last time?"

Gu Ning shook her head and wrote: A guess.

Barto stroked his chin, pondering. "Those guys are still locked up at the police station. It could be people they know, or it could be another gang."

The last time, Cook was ambushed and severely injured by Beastmen from the Underground Arena in retaliation. He had called the police and had them all arrested.

Cook had injured them badly as well.

It’s possible they were part of the same group and mistook Gu Ning for Cook.

Barto sniffed at Gu Ning and said, "You reek of Cook’s scent every day. It’d be strange if they didn’t get you mixed up."

He muttered, "Why is there another Beastman’s scent too?"

It’s even mixed with the scent of this giant Mixed Breed named Borg.

But Cook’s scent is the strongest.

This isn’t just a simple contact scent. It’s the scent of a male’s glands; once it’s on you, it’s hard to wash off.

Barto found it a little strange. Why would Cook mark another male with his own glandular scent?

’Looks like Cook really has degenerated badly. His brain’s all scrambled.’

Thinking of this, another strange thing occurred to Barto: he’d seemingly never smelled Gu Ning’s own scent.

Because he always smelled like Cook, Barto had just assumed he was part of the Dog Clan, even though he had never seen his beast form.

On second thought, he felt it was actually quite clever of Gu Ning to hide his own scent. It was the best way to ensure his safety.

But now that Cook’s enemies might be coming after him, Cook’s scent had become a liability.

Gu Ning’s expression froze when she heard Barto’s words.

That’s right. Beastmen have very sensitive noses. The reason she’d been relatively safe all this time was probably because Cook was always licking her, rubbing his scent all over her.

’Barto hasn’t... figured something out, has he?’

Gu Ning grew a little nervous.

"Wait here."

Barto suddenly ran off, returning a moment later with seven or eight soda-can-sized canisters in his arms.

He opened one of the canisters, shook it, and sprayed it at Gu Ning. "This is Beast Smell Agent. It can disguise you with another male’s scent."