Chapter 70: Chapter 70: It’s Over, We’re in Big Trouble

"You..."

Leighton met Gu Ning’s eyes for barely two seconds before Barto lunged at his face.

Leighton stumbled backward from the impact, releasing Gu Ning.

Just as Barto was about to raise his claws to scratch him, his body suddenly went limp.

Leighton seized the opportunity to grab the troublesome fox and fling it away, then his eyes quickly darted back to Gu Ning.

Just then, Alex’s voice came from behind him. "My apologies, Officer Leiton."

A jolt of alarm shot through him. ’This is bad,’ he thought, immediately reaching for the gun at his waist—

"BZZT!"

"..."

Leighton’s body went rigid, and he collapsed to the ground.

’Damn it! I was set up by this whole group!’

Leighton’s body was numb, but his constitution was exceptionally strong. He hadn’t lost consciousness and could still barely move his limbs.

He struggled to roll over, propping himself up with his hands to look up.

In his line of sight, the little Mixed Breed climbed up from the snow and knelt beside the little fox, anxiously patting and shaking it.

Leighton stared intently at the little Mixed Breed’s face. Without the hat to hide it, he could see her messy black hair and smooth forehead...

A gray coat was draped over the little Mixed Breed’s head, cutting off his view.

Alex shot him a glance, then knelt beside Gu Ning, positioning himself between her and Leighton.

He pressed her shoulders and back, then stroked her head, smoothing out her messy hair as he checked her for injuries.

Gu Ning was busy frantically patting Barto’s face, oblivious to Alex’s actions.

Barto, just like Cook, was unconscious with his tongue lolling out.

"He’s fine. He was just hit with a tranquilizer dart." After checking Gu Ning for any obvious injuries and seeing that she seemed okay, the worry in Alex’s eyes eased.

He rolled Barto over and showed Gu Ning the tranquilizer dart he removed from the back of his neck.

Gu Ning looked at the tranquilizer dart in his hand, then pressed her ear to Barto’s furry chest to listen for his heartbeat. She then went to check on Cook. Once she confirmed they were both still alive, she rested her head on Cook’s chest and let out a huge sigh of relief.

After a moment, Gu Ning gradually calmed down and glanced around.

Several police officers were lying scattered across the snow.

"..."

Gu Ning sat stunned in the snow. It took a long moment before it dawned on her—

’It’s over. I’m in deep trouble.’

Alex helped the weak-kneed young female to her feet. Seeing she was still in a daze, he took her hands, helped her put her coat on properly, and said to her, "&r#*sv." (Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.)

Gu Ning looked at him, at a loss.

Alex: "&%i#*?" (Are you okay?)

Gu Ning stared at his lips as they opened and closed.

’Wait a minute.’

She felt for her ear—her translation earpiece was gone.

Not only was the earpiece gone, but her hat and windproof goggles were missing too.

A chill ran through Gu Ning’s limbs. She felt like she might as well go lie down with Barto and the others.

Seeing Gu Ning frantically feeling around her face, Alex took out the work hat and placed it on her head. "&*@￥f%." (Your things are all here.)

Gu Ning froze. Without the translation earpiece, she could barely understand a little of the Beastman language. But in her tense state, her mind was a dizzy mess, and she couldn’t comprehend what Alex was saying at all.

Alex handed her the windproof goggles. "*^&?" (Want to put them on?)

Gu Ning pressed her lips together and stiffly took the windproof goggles.

Alex’s brows furrowed slightly when he touched her ice-cold hand. He reached for her coat pocket.

Gu Ning instinctively took a step back. Alex paused, then pulled a pair of gloves from her coat pocket and held them out to her. "Ol*#i." (Put the gloves on.)

Seeing her frightened expression, he took her wrist and put the gloves on for her.

After putting the gloves on Gu Ning, Alex opened his terminal and lowered his head to send a message to Kloer.

Gu Ning watched Alex’s reaction, came back to her senses, and felt her face.

’That’s right, I’m still wearing a mask. My whole face isn’t exposed.’

’Alex probably didn’t notice what I look like.’

’Besides, many Dwarf hybrids have long hair. They don’t bother grooming it, just letting it grow wild.’

’When I first met Cook, his hair was very long, but he used to tie it up back then. After he was injured and regressed, he gradually stopped taking care of himself, so I helped him by cutting it short.’

Reassured that she hadn’t exposed her identity in front of Alex, Gu Ning put on the windproof goggles.

"Hey! #%^I&!"

Gu Ning heard Leighton’s voice and peeked out from behind Alex to look at him.

Leighton: "#&*d&!"

Gu Ning couldn’t understand what he was saying and quickly looked down, searching for her translation earpiece.

Alex noticed her movements and silently tossed something he was holding to a conspicuous spot.

Gu Ning searched in a circle in the snow, and when she turned around, she saw her black translation earpiece.

She stole a glance at Alex, quickly picked up the earpiece, and put it on with her back turned to him.

It was actually just an ordinary earpiece, connected to the translation system on her terminal.

The Beastman language wasn’t particularly hard to learn, but it would take at least half a year before she could go completely without the translation earpiece.

"You two!" Leighton gritted his teeth, pushing himself to his feet and leaning against the wall. He glared at Gu Ning and Alex. "If you don’t want to spend the next ten to fifteen days in a holding cell, then you’d better stay right where you are."

Now that she could understand what Leighton was saying, Gu Ning guiltily edged closer to Alex.

’Great. The four of us assaulted police officers. We’re all going to end up in a holding cell.’

Gu Ning wanted to cry but had no tears left. She didn’t want to go back to that dark, cold holding cell.

She looked at Leighton and found him staring intently at her, so she immediately lowered her head.

"Little one," Leighton said. "Come here."

How could Gu Ning dare to approach him? She hid further behind Alex.

"Come give me a hand. I won’t hold it against you," Leighton said.

"Are you cold?"

Just then, Alex closed his terminal, stood up to block Leighton’s view, and asked while brushing the snow from Gu Ning’s shoulders.

Gu Ning shook her head. She pointed at Leighton behind him and the two officers lying on the ground, asking with her eyes what they should do.

Alex said, "Don’t be afraid. Leave it to me."

「Meanwhile, deep in the alley where they were, by a fifth-floor window of a certain building—」

Wanai, looking through the scope of his sniper rifle, had watched the entire conflict between the two groups in the alley.

At first, he’d watched them fight with great interest.

But when the Mimic Mixed Species’s work hat fell off, things started to get strange.

’The little Mixed Breed’s identity should have been exposed,’ he thought. But instead, the construction site foreman picked up the work hat and put it back on, even helped it put on its coat and gloves...

Wanai’s intuition told him something was wrong.

He knew that the three Mixed Breeds had been locked up at the station for the past two days for committing an offense. He also knew that the site foreman, Alex, had bailed out just the little Mimic Mixed Species.

At the time, he hadn’t thought much of it, just assuming Alex was getting one of his own employees out.

But now...

Watching Alex’s behavior toward the Mimic Mixed Species, a chill crept into Wanai’s heart.

He put away his rifle, stepped back from the window, and leaned against the wall to send a message to Eric:

[Your money wasn’t wasted. This Mimic Mixed Species is quite capable.]