Chapter Fourteen: Exposure
“Mm.” Anno nodded to Hicks.
She was no longer so resistant to Hicks, who took such good care of her.
Seeing Anuo respond to him, Hicks was immediately happy. He smiled and carried her to the dining table, placing the transforming ball from yesterday in front of her to play with. "It'll be ready in a bit, baby, just wait a little longer."
Huo Yin saw Anuo sitting in the chair and wanted to lie down at her feet, but remembering what Hicks had said yesterday that he needed to learn to be a person, he suppressed the urge, but his tail still quietly wrapped around her ankle.
Sensing Huo Yin's dependence, Anuo smiled at him and wanted to reach out and touch his head. As soon as she raised her hand, Huo Yin leaned on the table and grabbed Anuo's hand, placing it on his head.
Seeing Anuo stroking Huo Yin's head, Tuka sat down next to her, resting his head in front of her and his tail on her lap.
The other cubs followed suit, showing off their animal ears and tails, watching Anno wag her tails wildly, and walking up to her with pleading expressions.
Huo Yin's face immediately turned cold as he looked at the kids who had surrounded him.
He discovered that Anno seemed to prefer furry creatures; he was a dragon, and there were no furry animals for her to pet.
Feeling Huo Yin's cold aura, the beast cubs hesitated and retreated, staring longingly at An Nuo.
Hicks placed the cooked meat porridge in front of Anno, who suddenly looked up at him with a questioning look in her eyes.
Feeling Anno's gaze, Hicks asked, "What's wrong, little one?"
He sat down next to her, saying that it was a good thing that the little cub was willing to communicate with him.
Anno pointed to the top of his head, and Hicks didn't understand what she meant at first.
Anno didn't learn much of the vocabulary in their language either. After going through the words he knew in his mind, he said two words: "ears".
She pronounced the word poorly and somewhat vaguely, and Hicks had to work hard to understand what she meant.
What's wrong with your ear?
Hicks thought it was something wrong with her ears, so she immediately bent down to check them.
The light trail of the flame is a very important organ for them, located behind their ears.
Anno pushed Hicks away by placing his hand on his forehead and then touched the top of his head. "Your ears."
My ears?
Apa, who was standing nearby, said, "Boss, I guess Fireseed probably wants to ask about your beast ears."
After Apa finished speaking, Anno immediately nodded.
Hicks realized that the little cub wanted to know what his beast form was.
He hadn't revealed half of his beast form like these little cubs for a long time, mainly because he wanted to maintain his more composed image.
But when he saw Anno's wet, pale blue eyes staring at him, his beast ears popped out from the top of his head.
Anno's eyes lit up when she saw the gray-white animal ears on his head: "A dog?"
A young beast just told her that his beast form was a dog, and she knew what the dog had said.
In the post-apocalyptic world, there are many mutated wolfhounds, most of which are gentle and affectionate. She has a great fondness for dogs.
Hicks was both amused and exasperated when she called him a dog. He lowered his head and let her touch his ears, then corrected her, "Not a dog, a wolf."
Anno thought to himself, wolves and dogs are pretty much the same.
She touched Hicks' wolf ears and then withdrew her hand; she was simply curious about what kind of animal Hicks' beast form was.
She looked around the room and saw that, apart from Huo Yin, the children were either wolves or dogs. Seeing the large white tail wagging wildly behind Apa, she guessed that it was probably a dog as well.
She looked down at Tuka's tail resting on her lap and said to her, "Dog?"
Hearing Anno call everyone "dog," Hicks looked at her with a smile in her eyes.
He said, "Tuka is a little fox, not a dog."
Anno realized that she had guessed correctly; Tuka really was a fox.
Her eyes swept over Apa, who looked at her with an expectant expression, as if he were about to ask her something.
This time, she didn't use a questioning tone when she said, "Dog."
Apa nodded vigorously: "I'm a dog, little one guessed right, great job!"
Looking at Apa's handsome and fair-skinned appearance, but with a silly smile on his face, Anno smiled slightly.
Seeing Anno smile at him, Apa wagged its tail even more enthusiastically.
Hicks looked at Anno with a gentle smile. He hadn't smiled for the past two days while taking care of Anno. He hadn't smiled as much as he had in the past year. This cub was just too cute. He felt that if he took care of her for another day, he wouldn't be able to bear to hand her over to someone else.
Outside the watchtower, Mike was patrolling back and forth when suddenly, amidst the blizzard, he smelled the scent of beasts, and more than one of them.
His animal form was that of a polar bear, and his sense of smell was no more acute than that of a wolfhound. The fact that he could smell them even in such a heavy blizzard meant that those people were already very close to them.
Mike sensed something was wrong and immediately went inside to tell Hicks.
Hicks was teaching vocabulary in the language of the Anno North River system using his personal computer when he heard Mike's words. He immediately stood up, handed the cub over to Hoyintuka and the others, and walked out the door with Apa.
As soon as they went outside, they could smell the odor.
Hicks's expression instantly turned cold. He glanced at his personal terminal, which contained encrypted messages from the Federation and his mother. They would arrive at Casa in two hours.
This was already the fastest speed the mother could travel, half a day ahead of schedule, but some people still came looking for her, drawn by the scent of the fire.
Hicks could distinguish the smells in the air; they belonged to Blackthorn, one of whom was Lu Sien, a low-level leader within Blackthorn. Hicks had infiltrated Blackthorn as an undercover agent and had a fairly good relationship with him.
Hicks's expression turned serious. Lu Sien's gene level was very high, and his abilities were naturally strong. He must have discovered something.
Judging from the smell, Lu Si'en was at most 500 meters away from them.
Changing locations is impossible. Besides the Fire Seed cubs, there are also a bunch of Beast Cubs here. If Lu Si'en discovers them, his undercover identity will be completely exposed. Even if he is exposed, he can simply go back. But the safety of the Fire Seed cubs and Beast Cubs cannot be guaranteed.
He quickly thought through his mind; there was only one way: to distract them.
His mother and the others would arrive in just two hours; he had to make the most of that time.
Hicks immediately went inside and said to the cubs in his arms, "Emergency evacuation, within two minutes!"
He had taught these children how to evacuate in case of an emergency, and all the escape equipment and routes were prepared in advance. He emphasized this to them several times last night.
Upon hearing his words, the children immediately rushed to retrieve their belongings. Among these children, apart from Huo Yin, the youngest was only seven years old. However, these beast-type children who had been captured and sold to the underground arena were not weak in terms of genetic level.
But they are still just a group of children.
Hicks took out a small backpack that he had prepared for Anno in advance, dressed her in warm clothes, put on protective gear, and then put the light brain he had prepared for her on her wrist. He checked the backpack again, which contained concentrated nutrients for cubs and some star coins for drug circulation.
After checking that everything was in order, he put a small backpack on her back. These were things prepared just in case, and he didn't want the little cub to use them.
But now the cub has to leave. The fact that Lu Sien was able to find this place means that the location has been exposed. If they stay any longer, the cub and the other beast cubs will be in danger.
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