"That's contraband. You've come to the wrong place."
Barto spoke casually, then lowered his head to continue taking inventory. The fingers holding his shopping list tightened.
Wanai pointed to the gun on his counter. "That's contraband too. Only the military is authorized to use those."
Barto said impatiently, "How is that the same? This is Zone 19. Who doesn't have a gun or two around here? In Zone 19, we have everything except for Beast Females. If you want to buy anything else, I can get it for you. But stuff for Beast Females? I've got nothing."
Wanai said nothing, simply tossing a heavy bag at him.
Barto caught it, intending to immediately throw the guy out. But when he heard the crisp clinking of the contents inside, he paused. He opened the bag, and his eyes widened for a moment.
These were Energy Crystal Coins...!
The Energy Crystal Coins in the bag were oval, thumb-sized, and radiated a fluorescent blue glow. They were of the highest quality.
"So, can you get it?" Wanai asked.
"You're a new face around here," Barto said, weighing the bag of Energy Crystal Coins in his hand. It was worth at least a million Beast Coins.
"I'm here looking for work." Wanai drew a sharp dagger from his waist, hinting at his identity to Barto.
Barto said, "Oh, a mercenary."
In a chaotic place like Zone 19, there was never a shortage of mercenaries.
Barto hesitated. If this Beastman wanted the arm or leg of Zone 19's director, he could probably get it. But items related to Beast Females were too dangerous. The higher-ups had been cracking down lately, and the Beastmen secretly dealing in this stuff didn't dare to be too conspicuous.
Barto didn't want to cause trouble for himself, but the temptation of this bag of Crystal Coins was too great.
Once a Beastman degenerated into a Mixed Breed, they would continue to degenerate until they became a Mutant Species.
Mixed Breeds had to undergo monthly inspections. If their mutation value exceeded fifty percent, they were classified as individuals under close observation. If it exceeded seventy-five percent, they were categorized as a Mutant Species and driven out of the main urban areas. Some zones, to avoid more severe consequences, would simply execute them.
The administration in Zone 19 was a bit more lenient. As long as a Mixed Breed didn't apply for a job, they could avoid inspections, and the people from the Mixed Species Administration couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
Besides, Zone 19 was a war zone. Outside of winter and spring, plenty of Mutant Species would enter the outer districts anyway. A few more Mixed Breeds degenerating into Mutant Species wouldn't make a difference. The Administration just had to conduct regular cleanups.
They wouldn't let Mixed Breeds into the central area of Zone 19, so Mixed Breeds posed little threat to them.
Barto's mutation value was already approaching fifty percent, and that was after years of keeping it stable.
Once winter arrived, large numbers of Mutant Species would flood into Zone 19, and Mixed Breeds would also be affected, their mutation process accelerating.
Once the mutation value surpassed fifty percent, the rate of mutation would accelerate several times over.
And Purification Crystal Stones could help a Mixed Breed stabilize their mutation value.
Barto had run out of Purification Crystal Stones a long time ago. Not only were they expensive, but they were also hard to come by.
He had been agonizing over how to get his hands on a Purification Crystal Stone for the coming winter.
"I can get it for you." Barto accepted the bag of Crystal Coins and said to Wanai, "But you'll have to pay another two hundred thousand Beast Coins. Upfront."
Wanai smiled, stroking the blade of his dagger. "You sure know how to do business."
Barto replied, "Take it or leave it. That's my price, and I'm already giving you a discount."
Wanai considered it for a moment, then said, "How long will it take? For this much money, you'd better get me the good stuff. Winter is coming soon, and I can't wait too long."
"What do you know? Winter is the best time to make a move," Barto said. "You're a new face. Even if you wanted to buy from someone else, they wouldn't dare sell to you. You might not even make it out of Zone 19 alive."
Wanai gave him a meaningful look. "It seems you're an expert. In that case, I don't mind waiting a little longer."
With that, he turned and left the shop.
The moment he was gone, Barto, the so-called "expert," began frantically rummaging through his things, packing up to make a run for it.
'Damn it! I only did a couple of deals involving Beast Female items when I was short on cash. That was two or three years ago! The Beast Alliance is actually digging up old dirt?'
'There's no way I believe that leopard was just an ordinary mercenary!'
'The fact that the Beast Alliance tracked me down means they already have solid evidence. I have to leave before Zone 19 goes into full lockdown for the winter. Otherwise, it's a dead end for me.'
...
By the time Gu Ning returned to her residence, the sky had grown completely dark.
Cook greeted her with the same enthusiasm as always, licking and nuzzling her all over.
Gu Ning took the food she had bought out of her backpack.
There was a large bag of fried chicken cutlets, two bottles of yogurt, bread with jam, two huge baked potatoes, and some easily preserved compressed biscuits, dried meat, and candied fruit.
"Cook, look! What's this?" Gu Ning happily opened the chicken cutlet packaging and held it under Cook's nose.
Cook smelled the food but didn't seem particularly excited. Instead, he sniffed all over Gu Ning. Thankfully, the only other scent he detected on her was that of the fox, Barto.
'Oh, so she went to see Barto.'
Cook hugged Gu Ning, nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck. He would soon be able to go out and find food for her himself.
Gu Ning knew he was worried about her, so she soothed him by stroking his head.
After enjoying a wonderful feast, Gu Ning flopped onto the old sofa and patted her full belly with satisfaction. She was stuffed.
It had been so long since she'd eaten such a good meal. Gu Ning felt tears welling up.
Full and satisfied, she finally had a moment to open her terminal.
It was seven o'clock in the evening, the time when Beastmen got off work and rested, which was also peak traffic time.
Her private messages and friend requests were already too numerous to read, so she ignored them for now.
'The private messages and friend requests from Beastmen were probably all mating proposals. Sorry, we're not compatible species.'
She never saw Beastmen as human, but rather as beasts with a touch of humanity.
Although most Beastmen were handsome, their massive size was also quite intimidating.
Cook's size was just right, but...
Gu Ning glanced at Cook. He was crouching by her feet, licking the food residue from his fingers and occasionally rubbing his head against her.
'Never mind. We really aren't compatible species.'
Gu Ning opened the video she had posted.
At that moment, her ten-second video had over one hundred thousand concurrent viewers.
Gu Ning was thrilled. She rubbed her hands together and opened the gift leaderboard.
"Huh?"
Gu Ning saw that the gift leaderboard showed a cumulative total of two hundred thousand in tips, but the list was no longer scrolling, and no new gift animations were appearing on the video interface.
'Strange. There should be more Beastmen tipping right now.'
Gu Ning opened her creator earnings page. The total earnings were one hundred twenty-three thousand, five hundred Beast Coins.
She did the math. Adding the seventy-thousand-plus she had withdrawn that afternoon, it came out to exactly two hundred thousand Beast Coins.
Gu Ning tapped her chin, pondering for a couple of seconds before opening the comment section.
Compared to the afternoon, there were many more skeptical voices in the comments.
Many comments were debating whether she was a real Beast Female or a virtual character launched by some company.
However, the Dog Clan was extremely combative, constantly flooding the comment section and drowning out the doubtful voices.
[Can all you pieces of shit who doubt our Dog Clan's little female just get lost? She's so obviously a real Beast Female. If you can't see that, you might as well donate your eyes to a Mutant Species!]
[Such a new account. Is she a newly-of-age female from the Central Green Area? The shot of her back has this beautiful feeling, like she's secretly sharing her daily life behind her elders' backs.]
[Aww, that's so cute. Did nobody tell her that adult Beastmen are allowed on the internet?]
[I'll bet 10 Crystal Coins this is a new virtual character from one of the big three corporations!]
[Hey broke-ass upstairs, you dare to make a bet with just 10 Crystal Coins?]
[Stop fighting, everyone! Just help remind the little female to get verified. Then we'll know if she's from the Dog Clan or the Wolf Clan. Oh, and the Cat Clan has been jumping around here for ages too.]
[(Flashes cat claws) Meow? You looking to die? The little female is using our Cat Clan's avatar. Ooh, what a beautiful Ragdoll cat.]
[Moron, that's a default avatar. You can change it too.]
[Little female, please check your DMs, check your DMs!] (SPAM)
[Miss Female, hurry and get verified! The tipping limit has been reached! I want to be number one on the leaderboard!] (SPAM)
"..."
Gu Ning scrolled through a long stream of comments before she finally saw the ones telling her to get verified.
She now understood why the gift leaderboard had stopped at two hundred thousand in tips.