After Being Transmigrated into a Cannon Fodder Scum Alpha - Chapter 25

“So the system had this prepared from the very beginning,” Yun Qi realized. She stopped walking south, as she was nearing the restricted area mentioned in the pamphlet.

Lin Xi was still pestering Lin Chen, acting spoiled because she wanted to hold the cute little snowy owl.

“Mama, you’ve been holding it for so long. Aren’t your arms sore?” Although she was asking if her mother was tired, her eyes were glued to the owl.

During her earlier check, Lin Chen had essentially confirmed that this unknown animal belonged to the raptor family. Even though it was still a hatchling, its claws were already sharp enough to scratch human skin.

The little guy was very affectionate and acted friendly, but Lin Chen feared it might not know its own strength and could accidentally scratch Lin Xi while they were playing.

The little creature’s feathers were also so soft and fluffy that she couldn’t stop stroking them once she started.

“Be good, Xi’er. When we get back, Mama will let you hold it while you sleep.”

Since her pestering was useless, Lin Xi dejectedly gave up on the idea of carrying the snowy owl. Clutching the plant in her arms, she began absentmindedly waving it in front of the owl’s eyes, causing the bird to stretch its neck several times to try and peck at it.

Only when Lin Chen patted Lin Xi’s head did she stop teasing the owl.

Yun Qi felt as though she truly possessed hidden “African” luck; ever since she changed directions, she hadn’t seen any particularly unique plants or animals, nor had she run into any of Lin Xi’s classmates.

“Should we rest for a bit?” Lin Chen asked.

Yun Qi had been walking in the lead, so she hadn’t noticed that as time passed, the two Omegas behind her—one big and one small—were getting slower and slower, and the gap between them was widening.

“Okay.” It was almost noon anyway, a good time for lunch.

Lin Chen led Lin Xi over and sat down right next to Yun Qi. She remembered that when they first arrived, the toxic mosquitoes had pointedly avoided Yun Qi; she guessed other poisonous insects might do the same.

She certainly didn’t want any strange-looking bugs crawling on her while she sat. When she read the manual earlier, it was the section on toxic insects that occupied the most space, and the illustrations for each were so vivid they made her skin crawl just looking at them.

Lin Xi was very happy; once Mama sat down, she could finally reach the little snowy owl.

“What is its name?” Lin Chen asked Yun Qi.

“Xue (Snow).” The first character of snowy owl (Xue Xiao).

Lin Chen opened her arms and let the little owl go play.

The snowy owl wobbled over to Yun Qi’s lap to lie down, but after a moment, it crawled back into the Omega’s embrace.

It felt that Lin Chen’s lap was softer and more comfortable to lie on.

Deprived of the snowy owl’s attention, Lin Xi pouted, staring gloomily at the bird as it comfortably preened its feathers in her mother’s arms.

The snowy owl sensed Lin Xi’s gaze. Without moving its body, it turned its head 180° to meet her eyes, occasionally nuzzling Lin Chen’s hand, which made Lin Xi even angrier.

She stopped looking at the owl, leaned against Lin Chen, and began eating her lunch while clutching her plant.

Since they were in the wild, Lin Chen had only brought some bread for the midday meal.

Yun Qi had been secretly observing the interaction between Lin Xi and the owl, thinking both little ones were adorable. Especially after seeing the owl nudge Lin Chen’s hand and Lin Xi’s pout grow even deeper, she felt she was about to burst out laughing.

Seeing that Lin Xi was no longer staring at it, the snowy owl crawled out of Lin Chen’s lap, climbed down her arm to Lin Xi’s side, and nudged her with its beak. Lin Xi was in the middle of a fit; she looked down at the plant in her arms and ignored the owl she had been yearning for just moments ago.

The owl pawed at Lin Xi with its talons. Seeing no reaction, it pawed a second time, a third…

Lin Chen glanced over at the first pawing. The sharp claws hadn’t torn the clothing and wouldn’t cause Lin Xi any harm, so she stopped paying attention to the two little ones.

Yun Qi, however, kept watching, not noticing the person beside her leaning in.

Although Lin Xi acted like she didn’t want to acknowledge the owl, she didn’t stop it when it tried to climb onto her, letting it “tread” all over her lap.

The snowy owl saw that the plant in Lin Xi’s arms was taking up too much space. While its head nuzzled Lin Xi’s arm, its rear end slowly nudged the plant out of her embrace until, with a “thump,” the plant fell to the ground.

It looked at Lin Xi innocently. Seeing that she didn’t react, it curled into a ball and fell asleep in her arms.

“Very cute, isn’t it?” Lin Chen whispered in Yun Qi’s ear.

In Lin Chen’s eyes, Lin Xi’s duplicitous “hard-mouthed” attitude was exactly like her mother’s. They were truly parent and child.

The warm breath hitting her ear made Yun Qi, who was busy spying on Lin Xi and the owl, jump slightly.

“Boring,” the Duke said, refusing to admit she was watching.

“Are you lacking a spine?” she asked her partner in return. “Or have these past few days made you forget your status?”

“My head hurts so much,” the Omega’s voice was soft and small.

‘Fine, I’ll reluctantly let her lean on me. Otherwise, when we set off later, she’ll use this as an excuse to stay put and waste time,’ Yun Qi explained to the system. ‘I can’t let Lin Chen affect the competition.’

Although Yun Qi had great confidence, she felt that no plant or animal could be cuter than her little snowy owl.

Lin Chen wasn’t lying to Yun Qi; she truly felt unwell, and leaning against Yun Qi helped alleviate some of the pain.

She subconsciously snuggled closer into Yun Qi’s embrace, closing her eyes to rest. The faint scent of Sea Lavender was very pleasant, and the woman’s chest was softer than a pillow; the sensation of lying against it was wonderful.

Seeing Mother and Mama leaning together, Lin Xi didn’t disturb them and played quietly with the little owl in her arms.

Once they had rested enough, they continued their journey.

This time, they let Lin Xi pick a direction.

‘If we don’t find anything later, I’ll have an excuse to scold her,’ the Duke thought maliciously.

As they walked, Yun Qi noticed a sound coming from up ahead.

At first it sounded distant, but it slowly grew closer. Lin Chen and Lin Xi heard it too.

It sounded like something was running toward them. Yun Qi felt it was unsafe; she grabbed Lin Chen with one hand, scooped Lin Xi up with the other, and began running in the opposite direction.

‘If they both die here, I’ll have a lot of trouble to deal with when I go back.’

[Mm.] The system agreed.

Behind Yun Qi followed an Alpha performing the same actions—it was the only one whose name she knew: Huang Yu.

Behind Huang Yu was a creature that looked like a honey badger, but its volume was much larger than those on Earth—it was as big as a Siberian tiger.

Yun Qi wondered how they had provoked it as she ran.

When Huang Yu saw Yun Qi, she initially thought of changing directions to avoid bringing trouble to her, as her family was the one who provoked it. But seeing Yun Qi signal her to follow, she did.

She saw that Yun Qi’s expression didn’t change upon seeing the creature behind them, and her pace was steady; she seemed to have a plan.

[Actually, you could beat it.]

‘I know, but it’s a “Honey Badger.” It would never stop hounding us.’ Life and death are secondary; if you’re not convinced, let’s fight—that’s the honey badger’s motto. Even if you defeat it, it will keep coming back for more. Yun Qi didn’t want to be haunted by the creature behind her.

While flipping through the pamphlet earlier, although Yun Qi moved quickly, she had memorized everything. There was an experimental field for the base nearby; to prevent animals from stealing food, plants with animal-repellent properties were planted around it.

The pamphlet noted that if pursued by large animals, one could flee there for refuge.

‘Why solve with a fight what I can solve with a run?’

[…Have you no shame?]

‘This is called wisdom.’

The thundering sounds behind them slowed down. Yun Qi realized they were nearing the experimental field.

Sure enough, a moment later, a sign marked “Experimental Field” appeared before her.

She ran inside, and Huang Yu followed.

The badger stopped in its tracks. It hesitated; the hateful humans were right in front of it, but the smell was simply too foul. It felt it might faint from the stench.

But giving up like this was simply too much to bear.

Closing its eyes and hardening its heart, it chose to charge in. Once it bit those hateful humans to death, it would dash out as fast as possible.

But halfway in, it couldn’t move anymore. The deeper it went, the heavier the stench became.

These humans did it on purpose! It wouldn’t give up!

Seeing the badger move again after a pause, Yun Qi thought she wouldn’t escape the fate of a fight after all. Just as she was about to meet it, the badger collapsed—knocked unconscious by the smell.

‘This is why knowledge determines success.’

[It’s just too stupid.] Wouldn’t it have been better to stay outside and wait?

After the danger passed, Huang Yu walked over with her partner and child.

“Sorry.”

“How did you provoke it?” Yun Qi was curious.

“It… it was me,” Huang Siting said sheepishly.

Seeing her partner look at her, she explained haltingly: she was bored while walking and picked up a stone to throw. When she threw it into the bushes, it hit the big guy, and they had been chased ever since.

‘As expected, mine is better behaved,’ Yun Qi thought with a sigh.

Wu Yuanyuan gave her daughter a sharp knock on the head. Knowing it was all her fault, the child didn’t talk back to her mother.

“Calling you a ‘Splashing Monkey,’ and you really went and acted like one,” Wu Yuanyuan began nagging her daughter now that the danger was over.

“How did you know it wouldn’t come in here?” Huang Yu asked.

“It was in the pamphlet.”

Wu Yuanyuan and Huang Yu realized their mistake; their family had set out earliest and hadn’t read the pamphlet carefully.

“Perhaps we should remove the scent now,” Lin Chen suggested, rescuing Huang Siting from her mother’s “monk-like” nagging.

Although she didn’t recognize the creature, she knew animals have a habit of tracking by scent. Looking at how vengeful it was, Lin Chen suspected it would track them down once it woke up.

She had also read the manual; there were weeds planted here specifically to mask scents, and harvesting them was permitted.

The group then went to find the grass using the illustrations in the pamphlet. Because the grass looked very peculiar, they found it quickly. There was plenty of it, so there was no need to worry about sharing.

Once everyone had used the grass to remove their scent, the group gathered together.

Wu Yuanyuan and Huang Siting looked at the little snowy owl in Lin Chen’s arms with great affection, trying to tease it with some strange plants they had harvested.

Because they lacked Yun Qi’s scent, the little owl wasn’t familiar with them. It lay listlessly in Lin Chen’s arms, having no desire to acknowledge them.

Lin Chen suggested moving together, and after thinking it over, the others agreed.

The two families then began traveling together.