Bertie didn't reply for a long time.

He caught a glimpse of a black leopard lying in the sun on the other side, and an inappropriate thought popped into his mind: the two of them seemed...

Fortunately, before his thoughts completely strayed, he remembered his mission and whispered to Wendy, "I mean no harm. I just came here to give you a heads-up. I've done research on the toxicity of common plants and animals here..."

Azathoth didn't listen closely to their conversation. He twisted the stem of the deep blue flower in his hand, examining the markings said to indicate a highly toxic substance. After a moment, he bent down and placed it back into the dry, cracked ground. An earthworm-like creature emerged, avoiding the petals that would soon perish after their brief bloom, and hurriedly dug deeper.

A hawk with white talons circled above their heads, its sharp eyes fixed on the herbivores hiding in the gray-green grass.

Hugo sat far away on a wooden chair. Suddenly, he turned to Erica and said, "Aphids eat grass, rust eats iron, and hypocrisy eats the soul."

Before Erica could react, Azathoth took two steps towards her and smiled, "Chekhov."

"I just assumed you knew," Hugo said, his chin resting on his hand, a look of loneliness on his face. The young android named Williams stood beside him, legs together, back straight, suit immaculately pressed, giving the prairie the air of a grand palace. He lowered his head slightly as he listened to Hugo, his long, curled black eyelashes casting a small shadow, giving him a surprisingly gentle air.

Azathoth didn't know whether this was the result of Williams' program or Hugo deliberately manipulated it to avoid being discovered.

Erica asked, "Who is Chekhov?"

Azathoth calculated the time: "A human writer from seven or eight hundred years ago."

The little girl, who was obviously better at science than liberal arts, looked confused.

Azathoth didn't explain further, but instead looked at Williams. The tall and handsome android also looked at him calmly.

"Who is this?"

"An old friend from the past," Hugo muttered. "You figured that out? I just borrowed his name."

The god remained noncommittal: "I will not interfere with what you wish to do."

"As long as it doesn't affect you?" Hugo said thoughtfully, "I just casually built a few robots. I didn't intend to start a war between the two races. You can rest assured about that."

Azathoth looked down at it, not minding that his entire face was visible to the android from this angle. "Do you still miss the old days, Hugo?" He said while thinking, "Have you reached the point of drinking poison to quench your thirst?"

"It's not that bad," Hugo shook his leg. In fact, from the scenes captured by the two high-powered cameras that replaced his real eyeballs, Azathoth's appearance had always been fluid. Sometimes he looked like an insect, sometimes bird feathers grew from his skull, sometimes dense tentacles sprouted from his facial features, and sometimes he looked indistinguishable from a human. When he was with Igor, Azathoth's state was usually stable, as if he were a real human. "I'm just old, and old people like to reminisce about the past."

There was one thing the android didn't say: I think we are the same.

It abruptly changed the subject, "Igor and Wendy both like that young man named Bertie?"

Azathoth looked back and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I did a quick check, and his file is clean," Hugo said. "Bertie Abraham, 22, graduated from the Polytechnic University of Coliro in the capital with three doctorates. He's currently teaching the third-year pathology course. Is this university so picky? I thought he was qualified to be a lecturer."

Erica heard the words "three doctoral degrees" and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"You might achieve more than him in the future." Azathoth encouraged Hugo, then raised an eyebrow. "He just told us that he was a graduate student."

"Maybe you think you're too young, so it sounds like bragging." Hugo yawned. "I found out that further north is the only Capital Star Highland Jackdaw Protection Base in the entire Federation. Do you want to go and see it?"

Azathoth was a little resistant: "How many people are there?"

"Probably not many," Hugo said. "The Capital Highland Jackdaw was once considered a demonic bird. People believed that encountering a wild Highland Jackdaw would bring misfortune, so they were hunted on a large scale a hundred or two hundred years ago. It wasn't until their numbers dwindled to the brink of extinction that animal protection organizations began to warn the public. After that, the Federation listed the Capital Star Highland Jackdaw as a first-class protected species."

"But outdated notions die hard. Highland jackdaws are bloodthirsty, carrion eaters, and even like to attack humans during breeding season. There should be far fewer visitors here than here."

Azathoth immediately made the decision: "Go to the protected area."

Wendy and Bertie Abraham's conversation paused. Igor naturally wouldn't refuse Azathoth's proposal, and Wendy didn't mind. She even said to Bertie, "Do you still want to observe the grassland plants here?"

Bertie said cautiously, "Can I go with you? I'm also interested in the Devil Bird."

Gresham's gloating voice came from the satellite headset hanging in his ear: "They must think you're interested in that little girl, brother, you better be careful, her brother might want to beat you up."

Bertie immediately glanced up at Igor, feeling a bit guilty and thinking: Why do I have to play the role of a sleazy man who falls for an underage Omega? Can't I just fall for her brother?

Oh, her brother has a boyfriend.

Oh shit.

Igor didn't think he was attracted to Wendy... His mind immediately conjured up images of social crime, of high-IQ, anti-human killers. But Bertie had been acting perfectly normal so far, and most importantly, either Igor or Wendy could easily defeat three Berties with a single punch. His only concern was that Azathoth might find it inconvenient.

However, Azathoth had been mentally prepared for the worst since he agreed to come to the zoo.

Isn't it just walking in the sun wrapped in a robe?

Isn't it just a queue dozens of meters long at the door?

Isn’t it just thirty star coins for a bottle of water...even though it was Igor who paid for it.

Isn’t it just that popular tourist attractions are crowded like canned human meat?

Keep calm and kill all the humans:)

So when Bertie asked nervously, he said, "Whatever."

So the group of five became a group of six, with Bertie Abraham lagging behind not too far behind, occasionally speaking a few words to Wendy, Igor and Erica.

In response, Gresham, who was observing from a distance through Bertie's glasses, commented on Hugo and Azathoth: "Two arrogant little bastards from the upper class."

Bertie kept his mouth shut and smiled as if he hadn't heard anything.

What do you know? Young people who graduated from Capital University of Technology thought that people who don’t talk are not necessarily aloof, but may also have social difficulties.

He recalled the tragic past of being caught up in the complicated campus life and facing countless real people.

And because of the friendly conversation before, he not only didn't hate this group of people, but even liked them a little. Both Wendy and Erica were very smart and interesting Omegas. Igor, who called himself Bradley, was handsome and intelligent enough. Except for the straight Alpha cancers who felt that they lacked the smell of top pheromones, no one could find fault with them.

"You'd better not think that," Gresham reminded him. "The person we're looking for is Igor Sullivan's sister. Why do you think so many civilians supported Marshal Sullivan? His charisma is no joke. If you put Sullivan and an ordinary Alpha together, who do you think the Omega would choose?"

Igor Sullivan, of course.

Bertie thought to himself that gender is sometimes very important and sometimes useless.

Thinking of this, he looked up at Mr. Bradley, who faced any topic calmly and without offending anyone, and was suddenly shocked.

This may also illustrate from another perspective that gold will always shine.

**

The Capital Star Highland Jackdaw Reserve is a large area of rolling snow-capped mountains.

The cable car takes visitors to the halfway point of the mountain, where most birds live. What comes into view is the black hard rock, with a small beach and sea water with floating ice below.

These pitch-black birds live in this forbidding place, feeding on the carcasses of bears and foxes that have fallen to their deaths on cliffs and beaches while competing for prey.

Bertie was shivering all over due to the cold wind in the air, but he was very dedicated. Even though his legs became weak when he looked at the height under his feet, he still followed closely behind the other five people.

The two underage Omegas present seemed much braver than he was. It was a sad story. After a while, a Highland Jackdaw spotted its prey.

It suddenly swooped down from the cliff, and a flash of black lightning flashed across the human retina. By the time people reacted, it was standing next to a bloody corpse that seemed to be still warm, pecking at the body under the fur with its sharp beak.

Bod shuddered at the cold black glasses and began to understand why people called it the Devil Bird.

Igor wore a hat. His half-long hair fluttered in the air. He reached out and held the brim of his hat, then asked Azathoth, "What do you think?"

Azathoth is not afraid of heights, nor is he afraid of the cold.

When the familiar, biting sea breeze whistles in from afar, there is almost a reflexive feeling of joy and satisfaction.

This made his voice soften: "I quite like places like this."

A highland jackdaw, perhaps mistaking his cloak for a rock, descended with a flutter of wings and clamped its sharp talons against his shoulder blade.

Bertie wanted to warn him but it was too late. He could only watch as the two claws pierced into his body, like an eagle grabbing a rabbit... Wait, it seemed that the clothes were not torn?

He took another closer look from a different angle and found that Azathoth's black cloak was indeed completely intact. Furthermore, the man remained unfazed by the sight of a ferocious carnivore, not even making a single cry, allowing the ferocious-looking black bird to rest briefly.

They didn't have any staff accompanying them, and the place wasn't dangerous so there weren't many cameras. Bertie was the only one who noticed this scene.

The young man used to think that Wendy looked like a little leopard. If he had the chance to see the pair of golden vertical pupils under Wendy's sunglasses, he might agree with this view even more.

And now, he had a new idea.

Gresham said that Azathoth came from an ancient family with a long history, and now he felt that it was true, but it was not because he was taciturn and seemed to have no shortage of money or people's love.

But - I'm afraid it would be difficult to find another person in this world who can combine this ancient, silent, decadent and desolate nature as if one foot is halfway into a cemetery with the undeniable arrogance and beauty so perfectly.