Chapter 9: Overflowing Possessiveness

The beast’s vertical pupils rested on Nian Tu, devoid of any murderous intent and filled entirely with friendliness.

Nian Tu’s palms had been sweating with tension, and she was prepared for a life-or-death struggle, only to be met with this?

Amused and annoyed, she tossed aside her fork and flopped back into her chair.

There was no doubt about it; this was the same lion from last night. So, she hadn’t been dreaming after all!

Just like the night before, the lion was completely unreserved, insisting on rubbing against her and sticking to her side, seemingly coveting the leftover porridge she had been eating.

"Hey, you can't have this," Nian Tu said, moving the bowl away with one hand while pushing the lion’s face back with the other.

In response, her palm was licked.

This time, Nian Tu was much calmer. She simply treated the lion like a rag and wiped her hand on it. As she wiped, she studied the male lion. The lighting had been too dim the previous night to see more than a silhouette, but now she could see the dazzling, lustrous golden fur and a thick, spectacular mane full of wild charm. It looked like a young, magnificent lion king.

But…

Nian Tu blinked and shook her head.

She couldn't tell if her eyes were playing tricks on her or if it was some kind of hallucination, but she seemed to see patches of black mist clinging to the lion, writhing and clawing—it didn't look like anything good. She reached out to touch it, but felt nothing.

After trying a few times, the male lion finally seemed to grow impatient with her pestering. It let out a low growl and lunged, biting down on her hand.

The movement was aggressive and its expression fierce, but in reality, it was just a gentle nip; its teeth didn't even touch her skin.

Nian Tu pretended to be in pain and let out an exaggerated, "Ah!"

The lion immediately let go.

Nian Tu even saw a flicker of human-like shock and guilt on its face. Its reaction was so comical that she couldn't hold back, collapsing onto the table in a fit of laughter, only to be nudged backward by the lion, who had finally realized it had been teased.

Nearly falling over with her chair, Nian Tu, feeling emboldened by their newfound familiarity, gave it a swat on the head in retaliation and took off running.

The lion followed at a leisurely pace, not catching up until she reached her bedroom, where it pounced and pinned her onto the soft bed. For a beast of such incredible power, its ability to control itself during play without harming someone as fragile as Nian Tu was truly impressive.

Deeply moved, Nian Tu unleashed the secret techniques she had mastered from petting cats, stroking the lion all over. The great beast purred in pure contentment.

Once the play was over, Nian Tu returned her attention to the mysterious black mist.

Visible yet untouchable—what exactly was it? She had a sinking feeling that being entangled in it was not good for this big lion.

Nian Tu focused all her concentration on how to eliminate the mist. Suddenly, she saw a piece of it vanish right before her eyes!

"!"

A flash of inspiration struck. She focused her mind again, striving to wipe away the darkness. Like a swarm of insects being singed by a flame, the black mist slowly dissolved, leaving a gap that gradually widened.

A wave of dizziness hit her, and she had to pause, rubbing her throbbing temples as her ears began to ring. She felt a sense of exhaustion, not physical, but deep within her spirit.

Nian Tu naturally associated this with the "mental power" of the beastman females. Did she really have mental power too? And what were these black mists?

With too many unanswered questions, she decided she should ask Lu Zhan; he was the expert in these matters.

Nian Tu glanced at the lion, who was half-closing its eyes and purring in comfort, looking quite sleepy. She took the opportunity to quietly contact Lu Zhan via her optical computer: "How is work going? A lion has come into our house."

Thinking Lu Zhan had only just left and that interstellar medical work couldn't possibly be that fast, she assumed he wouldn't see the message for a while.

To her surprise, Lu Zhan replied instantly: "At home? A lion?"

Immediately after, a video call request came through. Nian Tu answered, revealing Lu Zhan’s anxious face.

"You said you saw a lion? Where is he? Don't panic, hide yourself. There is a security door next to the closet in your room, hurry!"

Seeing that he was clearly the more panicked of the two, Nian Tu quickly reassured him: "It is a lion, but don't worry, it's fine. Its temperament is really good, it's super obedient..."

The lion, stirred by the commotion, appeared behind Nian Tu at that very moment.

When the lion appeared, Lu Zhan felt his blood run cold. In the video, the massive, robust male lion looked like it could flatten the small female with a single swipe of its paw. In fact, it certainly could, and with ease.

Lu Zhan recognized this as Sion’s beast form. His aggression was far beyond that of a normal lion. Most importantly, he lacked human rationality in this state, making him as uncontrollable as a true wild beast. He might seem docile now, but he could lash out in the next second.

Just as Lu Zhan was thinking this, the lion’s gaze suddenly turned fierce!

It retreated a few steps and lowered its body—a classic pre-attack stance!

Nian Tu saw the distorted, frantic expression on Lu Zhan’s face and heard him scream, "Get away! Run! The security door!"

She was bewildered, and then she heard a violent, furious roar as the lion lunged past her, crashing directly toward the video screen.

It seemed his target was Lu Zhan.

However, since the screen was a virtual projection, the lion naturally missed.

Lu Zhan: "..."

He was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say. He never expected that Major General Sion, with a tender, small female right in front of him, would choose to attack him instead.

Nian Tu sighed and jumped off the bed to pull at the lion, which had fallen after missing its target. She checked it over and found that, true to its thick-skinned nature, it was completely unharmed by the heavy fall, so she gave its head a thump without a hint of pity.

"Why are you trying to bite people!" she scolded.

She could tell the difference—this bad lion had been dead serious just now, completely unlike when they were playing around.

Lu Zhan’s brow twitched as he watched her "beat" the lion.

The lion, which had looked so ferocious moments ago, just took the beating sheepishly, letting out a few disgruntled grumbles at most. It looked truly tame. But Lu Zhan couldn't set his mind at ease.

Are you kidding? This was an out-of-control beastman!

No one would ever use words like "tame," "obedient," or "docile" to describe an out-of-control male beastman. Most were locked up before losing control, and an incident like Sion’s, where his runaway levels had spiked by six points in such a short time, was a rare and dangerous accident.

Such accidents were uncommon, but the consequences were dire. Almost every beastman who had escaped after losing control had a record of hurting others, and some of the more aggressive ones had caused fatalities—sometimes more than one.

Looking at how Sion had attacked him just now, that was the true face of a runaway beastman.

Lu Zhan urged Nian Tu, "Stay away from him. I’ll be back soon. You must go inside the security door and wait for me."

As soon as he spoke, the lion grew alert, staring at him with hostility.

Before Nian Tu could answer, the lion pounced, pinning her back onto the soft mattress. The lion possessively gathered her under its body, its throat rumbling with threats directed at Lu Zhan, clearly declaring its ownership of Nian Tu with overwhelming possessiveness.