"Hey, you're back. Got anything good for me today?"
Gu Ning had just stopped in front of the stall when the dozing owner took off his wide-brimmed sun hat. He recognized Gu Ning, a regular customer, at a glance.
Gu Ning shook her head at the red-furred fox in front of her.
The fox's name was Barto. She had sold a lot of her things to him.
Barto was also a Mixed Breed, but aside from walking upright and having the limbs of a human, none of his other features were human-like at all. He looked exactly like the foxes she had seen in nature documentaries.
Mixed Breeds weren't just the Dwarf hybrid type. There were also Giant, Mimic, Reversion, and Fringe Mixed Breeds.
Giant Mixed Breeds were enormous and clumsy, with the lowest intelligence, but they were relatively docile. As long as you didn't provoke them, they wouldn't attack.
There were a few Giant Mixed Breeds at Gu Ning's construction site who could effortlessly lift building materials weighing several tons.
Mimic Mixed Species could disguise themselves as various Beastmen. Their basic instinct was to imitate and replace, taking the place of the person they were impersonating. They could even mimic a female's scent. They had virtually no consciousness, had the highest rate of mutation, and were the most dangerous type of Mixed Breed. They were basically classified as a type of Mutant Species, only they could still be tamed and controlled. Some Mimic Mixed Species were captured and trained as tools for assassination, to carry out special military missions, or were taken by dark underground organizations for amusement.
Fringe Mixed Breeds were Beastmen who had just begun to show signs of regression but had not yet reached the level of a Mixed Breed's degradation. They had only lost their ability to speak and would have periodic fits of rage.
The red-furred fox before her, however, was a Reversion Mixed Breed, one that had completely regressed to a primitive beast form.
But out of all the Mixed Breeds, it was the Reversion type that maintained the most stable minds. Their intelligence had barely degraded, and they could even speak. It was just their physical appearance that had regressed the most severely.
Gu Ning even thought Barto was very clever, possessing a fox's cunning.
"Here to buy something?"
Barto sat up a little, propping one paw on the stall and resting his head on the other. "Tell me what you need. I can find anything for you."
He saw Gu Ning give his stall just a cursory glance and knew what she wanted wasn't there.
Gu Ning made a motion of drinking medicine, then formed her hand into the shape of a gun.
Neither of those things would be displayed out in the open. The guns at some stalls were either unloaded or just models.
Barto raised his eyebrows. "You came into some money?"
Gu Ning patted her chest to reassure him.
Barto yawned, hopped off his chair, and headed into the alley behind him. "Follow me."
Gu Ning followed.
Not long after she entered the alley, a figure quietly followed her.
"Did you rob someone?"
Barto joked with Gu Ning as he led the way.
Gu Ning watched the fox, who was only half her height. His fluffy tail swayed behind him, and she felt a sudden urge to reach out and touch it.
But it was just a thought. Barto wasn't as approachable as he looked. Once, when she was here to sell something, she saw him easily beat a troublemaking Beastman to the ground, scratching up the Beastman's face. His sharp claws looked like they could slice the Beastman's throat at any moment.
Barto turned his head to look at her, and Gu Ning snapped back to reality and shook her head.
"Guns aren't cheap, and I don't do credit," Barto said. "Even at a regular's price, you'll need at least three thousand Beast Coins."
Gu Ning nodded.
Seeing that she really seemed to have the money, Barto didn't ask any more questions. He leaped over a puddle in front of them and led her into his shop.
The moment they were inside, Gu Ning shut the door.
Barto immediately grew wary. He jumped onto the counter, pulled a small pistol from his pocket, and aimed it at her. "Stay put. No bastard on this street has ever dared to rob me."
Gu Ning raised her hands to show she meant no harm, then took a pre-written piece of paper from her pocket and held it out to him.
Barto: "Toss it over."
Gu Ning had no choice but to crumple the paper into a ball and toss it to him.
Barto caught the paper ball and backed away to a safe distance before opening it.
It was a shopping list.
Besides a gun and medicine, there was also a ticket to Zone 15, and...
"You want me to help you exchange this for cash?"
Barto looked up at the little Mixed Breed in front of him.
Gu Ning nodded.
She didn't trust any other Beastman with this.
Barto knew Cook. He was the one who had bandaged Cook's wound last time and had even given her two extra doses of medicine.
"You two are leaving Zone 19?" Seeing her standing obediently against the wall, Barto lowered his guard.
Even though Gu Ning had never shown any aggression toward him, he didn't dare let his guard down completely.
Last time, that guy Cook had tried to rob him. Although he only stole some old blankets and food and paid for them later, Barto still believed that no matter how good-natured a Dwarf hybrid seemed, their personalities could change in an instant. They could do something completely unexpected; it was in their genes, their nature.
However, this one in front of him was indeed much milder than the average Dwarf hybrid.
"The military is preparing to round up Mutant Species soon, so all the entry and exit routes for Zone 19 are closed. Unless you apply to the Military Department, I can't get you a ticket either."
Seeing Barto put down the gun, Gu Ning walked up to him, picked up a nearby pen, and wrote: When will you have tickets?
Barto glanced at the clumsy handwriting on the paper, then dragged a box out from under the counter. "I'll have to wait for news from the Military Department, but based on my experience, it'll be at least a month."
'A month?'
Gu Ning frowned. 'That's too long.'
Barto opened the box, took out several different styles of guns, and placed them on the counter. "If you think that's too long, I have another way."
Gu Ning looked at him, her eyes full of questions.
Barto tapped his furry fingers on the counter. "Go through the No Man's Land. If you bypass the military garrison stationed outside, you can get directly to the 12th District. It's just a bit farther."
"I don't really recommend it," Barto said. "Tickets are always most expensive during a Mutant Species roundup. Plus, that route is through the No Man's Land. Never mind the swarms of Mutant Species, there's also the risk of being caught by the military garrison. But if you're determined to leave now, I can get you a ticket for that route too."
Gu Ning thought for a moment, then wrote on the paper: I'll wait.
Barto said, "That's the right choice. Don't be impatient. The place you're living now is pretty safe. If worse comes to worst, you and Cook can come hide out at my place. I can put you up for a few days."
As he spoke, he handed Gu Ning a pistol. "This is the cheapest one. At market price, I'd have to sell it for four thousand, so I'm barely making any money off you. I'll even throw in a box of bullets."
Gu Ning took it and pulled the trigger a couple of times.
Barto could tell from the way she held the gun that she didn't know how to use it.
'This Mixed Breed is a strange one. I've never seen her fight with anyone; sometimes she even deliberately avoids other Beastmen, and her temper is stable, too.'
'I've always had a good impression of her.'
'Otherwise, if it had been any other Mixed Breed, I would have already taken her down for suddenly shutting the door like that.'
He moved closer to her, released the safety, and showed her how to use it, guiding her hands.
It wasn't very hard to get the hang of, and Gu Ning learned quickly.
She put down the gun in her hand, picked up the other pistols on the counter, and chose two that felt better in her grip.
Barto: "You sure know how to pick 'em. These two aren't cheap."
Gu Ning wrote on the paper: How much?
Barto held up three fingers. "Thirty thousand in total."
'That is expensive.'
Hearing the price, Gu Ning put the pistols down. After a moment's thought, she opened her terminal to check her earnings on the "Paw Print" backend.
It was already over one hundred thousand.
'Buy!'