Chapter 187: Cheeky Bear

Even though everything she was doing was for the sake of the system’s missions, Sora sometimes felt that she was becoming a genuine scumbag.

She clearly couldn’t give the other party a definite answer, yet she continued keeping him hanging, leaving him suspended in an uncertain position.

She neither accepted him nor completely rejected him.

But what choice did she have?

She was only doing this because the situation forced her hand.

If she allowed herself to become too soft-hearted, the consequences could easily cost her life.

Thinking about it, Sora couldn’t help but find the contradiction in her heart somewhat laughable.

Back in the Apocalypse, she had never been the kind of person others could describe as "saintly" or "merciful."

Survival had always been her first priority.

As long as something could help her survive, she would do it.

After all, in the Apocalypse, hesitation for even a moment could mean death.

There was no room for kindness when the price of kindness was one’s own life.

Sora thought that if she eventually discovered that Damien wasn’t actually one of her capture targets, she would definitely compensate him properly.

At the very least, she wouldn’t deliberately take advantage of him.

Thinking this, Sora felt a little more at ease.

At the same time, she made a bold decision.

For now, she would agree to Damien’s request.

However, as for forming a contract totem with him, she would continue to delay it.

After all, if Damien really brought that Black Bear Foster Mother to her, her carefully concealed identity would be exposed.

She could only take things one step at a time.

Thinking of this, Sora nodded.

"Alright, then. You can go make a bamboo stick too."

She paused before adding seriously,

"However, I still haven’t agreed to form a contract totem with you."

Damien had merely been testing the waters.

He hadn’t expected Sora to actually agree.

For a moment, surprise flashed across his handsome face, followed by a trace of excitement that even he himself didn’t notice.

"Okay, Kaelira."

His lips curved into a smile.

"Don’t worry. I’ll definitely perform well."

The moment he finished speaking, Damien’s figure disappeared from before Sora with a teleportation.

After Damien left, however, Sora wasn’t nearly as relaxed as she had been before.

Instead, she fell into contemplation.

How exactly was she supposed to deal with her relationship with Damien?

She couldn’t continue dragging things out forever.

From the perspective of her capture mission, it was obviously better to confirm his identity as quickly as possible.

If he really was one of her targets, delaying the matter would only make things more complicated.

But if he wasn’t...

Sora’s brows knitted together.

She didn’t know what the system was hiding from her, but every time she asked about Damien, the system’s reaction was strange.

That alone made her wary.

She fell deep into thought.

Before she could come up with a satisfactory answer, several Beast Husbands returned.

They were dragging long bamboo branches behind them.

Sora stared at them.

Clearly, only a small section of bamboo was necessary to make a bamboo stick.

Yet these men had insisted on dragging entire branches back.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, each branch was larger than the previous one.

It looked almost as though they were competing with one another.

The scraping sound of bamboo leaves against the ground was extremely loud.

There was no way Sora could fail to notice them.

When the Beast Husbands saw Sora looking in their direction, they immediately puffed out their chests and straightened their backs.

Each of them struck what they apparently believed was their most handsome pose.

Sora stared at them.

In her eyes, however, they didn’t look particularly handsome.

They looked like a group of fools proudly showing off the branches they had dragged home.

She watched them for a moment before calmly withdrawing her gaze.

"Hurry up and make the bamboo sticks. I still have things to do later."

The moment they heard her words, the several Beast Husbands immediately became busy.

Ace was the first to move.

He glanced at the bamboo branch in his hand and casually raised his palm.

With a sharp motion, the green bamboo pole instantly split into seven pieces.

He waved his hand several more times.

The long bamboo strips were quickly reduced into pieces roughly the length of a finger.

Once he had finished cutting them, Ace didn’t remain in the Wild Kitchen.

He took his bamboo strips and quietly disappeared somewhere, apparently intending to finish the rest of the work in private.

The others reacted similarly.

However, because each of them belonged to a different beast species, they naturally used different supernatural abilities.

Perhaps because Lukan and Ace were relatively similar in species, Lukan also relied primarily on his palms.

Lucas and Xavier, however, were completely different.

Lucas used his fingertips to slice through the bamboo.

His bird claws were sharper than those of ordinary beasts. With several swift movements, he divided the bamboo into numerous small pieces.

Sora watched with interest.

Of everyone present, she was most curious about how Xavier and Ryan would deal with their bamboo.

Neither of them had claws like Lucas.

So how exactly were they planning to split a bamboo tube into strips?

Could one of them possibly use a fish tail while the other used a snake tail?

Just imagining that scene made Sora’s thoughts run wild.

Then—

Crack!

A crisp sound suddenly reached her ears.

Sora immediately looked up.

Xavier had transformed directly into his snake form.

His purple scales shimmered beneath the sunlight, carrying a faint white chill that made them appear almost crystalline.

Then his body suddenly moved.

With a powerful flick, the bamboo tube shattered.

The movement was so fast that Sora could barely see it.

On the other side, Ryan stood still.

The scales covering his body suddenly rose.

He channeled his energy into them before striking the bamboo tube.

A dazzling flash of silver-blue appeared.

In the next instant, the bamboo split into several pieces.

Sora couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

This really was a case of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displaying their own abilities.

These people could always find unexpected ways to use their bodies and supernatural abilities.

Just like the last time.

She had never imagined that Ryan’s scales could actually be used to shave noodles.

Yet he had done exactly that.

Sora sat at the round table for a while.

Before long, the men returned one after another, carrying the bamboo sticks they had made.

Every single one of them looked extremely satisfied with their own work.

After taking their seats around the round table, they immediately placed their bamboo sticks face down in front of Sora.

Sora lowered her eyes.

Several bamboo sticks were arranged in front of her like the spreading tail of a fan.

She pointed toward a ceramic jar sitting on the table.

"Put them in there."

The Beast Husbands immediately withdrew their hands.

Then, one after another, they placed their bamboo sticks inside the ceramic jar.

Sora had deliberately shown them the jar before allowing them to put the sticks inside.

She knew how suspicious these men were.

If she hadn’t shown them the container beforehand, someone would definitely suspect that she had tampered with it.

Once all the bamboo sticks were inside, Sora picked up the jar.

She shook it several times.

The bamboo sticks rattled against the ceramic walls as their positions were thoroughly scrambled.

She wanted everything to be as fair as possible.

Ace glanced around the round table.

After confirming that everyone was present, he nodded toward Sora.

"Everyone is here. We can begin."

"Wait."

A familiar voice suddenly sounded.

"There’s also me."

Teleportation.

Damien’s figure suddenly appeared beside the round table.

Without giving anyone a chance to object, he casually tossed his bamboo stick into the ceramic jar.

The bamboo stick landed among the others.

Ace’s eyebrow immediately rose.

His expression darkened.

"You don’t even have the qualifications. Why are you here joining in the fun?"

Lucas also snorted.

He crossed his arms and looked at Damien with obvious displeasure.

"Bear, you’re the thickest-skinned Black Bear I’ve ever seen."

Damien merely smiled.

Damien, however, wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

He rested his face against one hand and turned his gaze toward Sora.

Then, with a smile, he said,

"Kaelira agreed. She said I could put in a bamboo stick."

"What?!"

"That’s impossible!"

His words were like a massive stone thrown into a calm river.

The atmosphere around the table exploded instantly.

Everyone’s expression changed.

Their gazes snapped toward Sora.

They looked at her as though they had just heard something completely unbelievable.

Sora had actually agreed to let Damien put his bamboo stick inside.

Everyone knew what that meant.

Once his bamboo stick was inside the jar, Damien would also be eligible to participate in the Night Guarding.

And what happened during Night Guarding was obvious to everyone.

It was impossible for them not to understand the implications.

Wasn’t this equivalent to Sora indirectly acknowledging that Damien had become her sixth Beast Husband?

What exactly had happened?

Just moments ago, Damien had still been standing outside the group.

Now, in the short amount of time it had taken them to cut bamboo and make their sticks, he had somehow gained Sora’s approval to participate.

How could they accept that?

Damien had actually managed to sneak his way into their group!

Damien’s expression remained relaxed.

But the others were anything but calm.

Xavier immediately narrowed his eyes.

A cold gaze swept toward Sora.

Ace and Lucas also stared at her with questioning expressions.

Ryan’s silver-blue eyes became noticeably colder as he looked at her.

Even Lukan, who was usually the gentlest among them, had a chill enter his gaze.

One by one, their eyes landed on Sora.

The round table suddenly became terrifyingly quiet.

Sora sat there silently.

Her gaze moved from one Beast Husband to another.

Damien looked smug.

Ace looked suspicious.

Lucas looked annoyed.

Ryan looked cold.

Lukan looked disappointed.

For a moment, Sora felt as though she had somehow walked straight into a den of wolves.

She had only wanted to make things easier.

How had it turned into this?

Sora:

"..."

The silence became even more awkward.

Sora suddenly felt a headache coming on.

She had a terrible feeling that tonight’s Night Guarding arrangement was about to become much more troublesome than she had expected.