“What’s his name?”
“Ming Ruan.”
…
Ming Ruan climbed up from the floor. He soothed the overreacting gray wolf, picked up the beautiful bouquet, and stored the other items back into the Space Button.
He herded the dazed gray wolf and fox into the house.
Finally, he led the white tiger inside.
“Thank you for the gift you brought! Baby is so incredibly polite!” Once inside, Ming Ruan, right in front of the white tiger, carefully arranged the bouquet in a beautiful vase.
Then, he fetched another shallow, small jar. He filled it with water and gently placed the single, stemless flower the little fox had given him into it.
By standard procedure, it was now time to cook a meal for the white tiger.
Ming Ruan crouched in front of the white tiger, troubled as he looked at the Bite Guard on its face. He tapped away, sending a message to his Boss asking if this thing could be removed.
The Boss didn’t reply.
Hesitating for a moment, Ming Ruan tentatively reached his hands towards the white tiger’s head, saying as he did so, “I’ll help you take it off, okay? You won’t bite me, right?”
Nearby, Xie Gewen, who had just been distracted deep in thought, snapped back to attention. He saw Ming Ruan’s hand reaching for the white tiger, his fingertips about to touch those semi-circular, fluffy ears.
Xie Gewen started in alarm and worriedly trotted over.
Setting aside whether this beastman was in a Frenzy State, the beastman’s identity had yet to be confirmed.
If this white tiger truly was that iron-blooded, unfeeling Adjudicator… Xie Gewen worried both that Ming Ruan would cause offense and that he would be hurt and disappointed by a heartless rejection.
As Xie Gewen was just thinking about whether he should offer up his own wolf ears to comfort Ming Ruan, he saw the white tiger silently watching Ming Ruan’s nearing fingertips. It didn’t flinch or dodge. Instead, after a slight pause, it obediently dipped its head ever so slightly.
Ming Ruan successfully touched the white tiger’s head!
An incredibly thick layer of fur. His fingers sank deep, enveloped by the soft, plush down.
Ming Ruan stared at the black and white stripes right before his eyes. Memories of drooling through the glass at the zoo flashed through his mind. Nervously, he began moving his fingers, feeling around for the Bite Guard’s clasp.
From the edge of the semi-circular ears, he felt down to the nape of its neck. Then from the neck, he stroked down to its chin. The more Ming Ruan stroked, the more engrossed he became. He even used both hands simultaneously, scratching and massaging in circles around the white tiger’s cheeks.
The white tiger endured it for a while. After a few moments, it let out a low, restrained rumble of a purr.
“He’s letting me pet him!” Ming Ruan also let out an excited, delighted sound, continuing to stroke with one hand while trying to open his Light Brain camera with the other to take a picture.
Unexpectedly, just as Ming Ruan opened the camera, his hand was gently pressed down by a large paw.
The white tiger calmly looked at Ming Ruan, stopping his action.
“Alright, alright, no pictures we won’t take pictures!” Ming Ruan had to give up. Turning instead, he saw the gray wolf standing to the side. He cleared his throat lightly and said with deliberate modesty, “Look, the white tiger is letting me pet him!”
Xie Gewen: “…”
Xie Gewen had indeed been shown up. His eyes, usually as good at masking their depths as a layer of ice, were now slightly rounded. He wasn’t sure whether he should stare at the man and tiger before him a few more times to confirm this reality, or politely look away.
Was this person truly the Adjudicator?
He was actually letting Ming Ruan touch him all over like this, so freely?!
A strange, indescribable feeling filled Xie Gewen’s heart. On one hand, it was shock. On the other, he disliked seeing Ming Ruan’s hands lingering intimately on someone else.
Thankfully, before the gray wolf could take any action, Ming Ruan stopped his movements with an air of restrained, blissful satisfaction.
He hadn’t found the Bite Guard’s clasp. It was likely this involved some advanced interstellar technology.
Ming Ruan decided to prepare the white tiger’s meal first. Once the Boss replied with the specific operating instructions, the white tiger could eat immediately.
The white tiger, who had closed its eyes and was suppressing its purrs, only felt the hands that had been kneading and causing mischief all over its face, lips, and neck suddenly vanish.
The soft touch and the source of warmth were gone.
The white tiger’s purring stopped. It reopened its golden eyes. For a silent moment, it couldn’t help but stand up and chase after the direction Ming Ruan had left.
As it walked, it felt a bit strange.
This person had clearly been so presumptuous and discourteous.
Why did it still actively want to draw near him?
The white tiger considered it, then decided: My desire to get closer to this person must be because he has pressing issues requiring investigation, or perhaps there is exploitable potential—even if I can’t recall any specifics right now.
Thus, the white tiger squeezed into the kitchen with a clear conscience, quietly becoming a ‘tiger roadblock’.
In the blink of an eye, Xie Gewen, left utterly alone where he stood, watched the two figures disappear. He had his own calculations, too.
Was this tiger truly the Adjudicator?
If so, it reminded Xie Gewen of the words the Adjudicator had spoken to him his first night meeting Ming Ruan.
Ming Ruan has issues.
What exactly were those issues?
Lacking many crucial pieces of the puzzle himself, Xie Gewen couldn’t piece together the current situation for the moment.
Thus, for now, he chose to follow the white tiger’s footsteps as well. Both to observe it, and to keep watch over Ming Ruan.
The gray wolf also trotted over to squat by the kitchen doorway.
Shi Huai had burrowed straight into his bed the moment they got back. Bringing yet another new beastman home… just what was Ming Ruan trying to do? An Executor doesn’t need to go this far, surely? Or had he been planning all along to stir up CP buzz with these District 12 big shots?!
Just the thought of this possibility sent Shi Huai’s blood pressure through the roof.
If he wants CP buzz, aren’t my own qualifications enough?!
Shi Huai scrambled up from his bed, gritting his teeth, intent on sticking close to Ming Ruan.
Fine! CP buzz it is! He, Shi Huai, accepted his fate!
But once he climbed out of his bed, he saw that gray wolf and white tiger were both crowding and jostling around Ming Ruan, vying for attention!
Shi Huai was so furious he let out a whining yelp and threw himself right into the fray.
And so, that entire evening, no matter where Ming Ruan went, a string of fluffballs followed him, like a conga line.
Ming Ruan was overwhelmed by the cuteness countless times. In the end, he secretly took a picture with his Light Brain anyway.
Even though, based on the current progress, he probably wouldn’t fail his permanent position review.
But just in case he wasn’t able to keep working in the Sanatorium Zone one day, this photo would be a very precious memory!
Ultimately, Ming Ruan never got a reply from his Boss. But luckily, high-tech was high-tech. When Ming Ruan brought the prepared meal to the white tiger, the Bite Guard on its muzzle shimmered with flowing light. In the next instant, it transformed into several lines of markings imprinted on the white tiger’s face. This sudden change even startled the constantly vigilant Xie Gewen and Shi Huai. Once the white tiger finished eating normally, the markings transformed back into the Bite Guard.
In Ming Ruan’s view, a fluffball’s day should be about eating well, playing well, and sleeping well.
Now, night was deepening, and it was visibly time to resolve the sleeping arrangements.
Because the wolf and fox had previously coexisted so harmoniously in the living room, Ming Ruan subconsciously assumed that interstellar fierce beasts might be different from Earth’s, capable of perfectly sharing a room.
But from the moment the white tiger arrived today, the gray wolf and fox had shown clear signs of rejection. The gray wolf, especially, remained in a highly tense state constantly.
Under these circumstances, Ming Ruan naturally couldn’t feel at ease leaving all three fluffballs in the living room.
Right now, the fox was already curled up in its bed. The wolf was perched on the sofa, still constantly watching the white tiger.
And the white tiger, sitting in the middle of the living room with all four big paws tucked neatly together, made Ming Ruan forcibly imagine a sense of aggrieved desolation—a mighty tiger stranded under someone else’s roof.
After careful and thorough consideration, Ming Ruan opened his bedroom door. Looking at the white tiger, he settled the matter decisively. “White Tiger can sleep with me tonight, alright?”
Xie Gewen: “?”
Shi Huai: “?”
The live stream audience, who had closed their eyes and were waiting for the stream to auto-close so they could enter dreamland: “?”
