Chapter 313: Beasts making trouble.

Zyra had not stepped a single foot away from the gates when her link band buzzed frantically. It made her so anxious that she respond to the call on what was meant to an emergency line immediately.

"Boss! Emergency!" Scotty’s voice screamed through the receiver, sounding like he was currently being chased by a thunderous stampede of bulls. "The beasts! They’ve lost their damn minds! You have to come and save me, hurry." The ’hurry’ was said in a loud shriek, after which the call was ended abruptly.

Zyra’s eyes widened. She asked herself what was causing the chaos. Had the beasts lost their minds and attacked the workers? She didn’t waste a second. Zyra turned on her heels and sprinted toward the feeding section of the pavilion. By the time she heard Beauty’s reminder that she could have been teleported, she had already arrived.

But what her eyes saw when she arrived, her mind simply could not comprehend.

No humans had been attacked, at least, not in the way she expected.

Some were covered in food particles! Food was scattered on the floor like fallen leaves in autumn. Mash was plastered across the walls, berries were smashed into the ceiling, and the beasts were completely caked in juices and creams and whatever else they had eaten.

Coiled in the left corner was Spice, fast asleep with a massive, bulging belly. She hadn’t participated in the brawl for one simple reason: she was already in a food coma.

The rest of the beasts were engaged in a full-blown food fight. The workers had fallen victim, and poor Scotty_ who had foolishly tried to play peacemaker, had served as the main target.

A chunk of boiled potatoes hit him square in the chest just as Zyra drew her tenth breath.

More fruit and food went flying, mixed with excited animal sounds. Red Sun, seemed to be the loudest.

"Enough!" Zyra yanked out a high-pitched whistle from her pocket and blew into it with all the lung power she possessed.

The sharp sound cut through the chaos. Instantly, the beastly brawlers froze. They lowered their tossed cabbage leaves, swallowed their half-chewed meats, dropped the whole and half eaten fruits, and quickly tried to stand in neat, innocent rows.

Zyra marched into the place, her eyes flashing with pure fury. "What the hell do you think you are doing?!" she roared.

She took one furious step forward and stepped on a discarded banana peel.

Her legs flew into the air, and she hit the ground with a devastating thud, landing flat on her back.

Silence held for a brief second. Then, the beasts erupted in wild laughter.

"Bwahahahaha!"

Red sun rolled on the ground, clutch-slapping his knees. The bear snorted so hard a berry shot out of its nose. Even the tiny fluff-rabbits were squeaking with uncontrollable laughter.

Zyra lay on the dirty floor, staring at the sky, her blood pressure spiking.

"Beauty, do not blame me for punishing them" Zyra warned. "They started it."

[Discipline them. Proper training is an essential part of raising precious beasts.]

"Good," Zyra mumbled under her breath, clutching her sore tailbone as she slowly pushed herself up. "Oh, I’m going to discipline them, alright."

The moment Zyra stood back up, her face dark as a thundercloud, the laughing instantly stopped. The beasts swallowed their giggles, terrified.

Zyra huffed, wiping a piece of mashed fruit off her sleeve. "Since you lot decided to bully your innocent caretakers, you’re going to pay for it. First of all: you are going to clean up every single speck of this mess with your own paws."

The beasts nodded nonchalantly. The small gorillas even smirked and giggled quietly behind their paws. Cleaning wasn’t so bad. They would just pretend to do it and leave the heavy lifting to the humans.

Zyra sneered. "Second: No leisure swimming for a whole week. And no screen time until further notice."

The smirked vanished instantly. The beasts gasped in utter horror.

"What?! That’s completely unfair!" Red sun squealed.

Zyra turned her fiery gaze toward Red Sun, who was hanging from a wooden beam. "Unfair?" Zyra asked softly, pointing a finger at the bruised, food-covered Scotty. "Was it fair to turn Scotty into a target board? Was it fair to turn the wonderful home I provided for you into a dump? Is it fair of you to waste the food which I work hard to earn for you?"

Red Sun shrank back, shivering.

"No more salted-bananas for you for a whole day!" Zyra declared coldly.

Red Sun’s eyes went wide. He clutched his chest as if stabbed through the heart, let out a dramatic wail, and burst into actual tears, rolling on the ground in total heartbreak.

"Boss, we didn’t start it! I swear!" Squirrel chirped desperately, hopping onto Zyra’s shoulder. It raised a tiny paw and pointed an accusing finger at a group of creatures hiding in the back. "It was the Dragon Snakes! They said you gave them their own private sanctuary, and they were bragging about it!"

The Eclipse Raven flapped its wings, landing on a nearby post to add fuel to the fire. "Yeah! They told us that once they move into the sanctuary, they won’t let any of us step foot in there! They started throwing apples first!"

Zyra slowly turned her head toward the Dragon Snakes.

Ah. Hunter had warned her about these arrogant little reptiles getting too big for their boots. His prophecy was coming true.

As she looked at the lead snake_ a creature puffing its chest out with an air of superior pride, Zyra realized something embarrassing. She didn’t actually know its name.

"Hey. You," Zyra called out, crossing her arms. "What’s your name?"

The lead Dragon Snake dramatically dropped its jaw, looking deeply offended. "You... you don’t know my name?" it hissed in a wounded voice. "After everything we’ve been through? I thought we had a special, special bond!"

Zyra scoffed loud enough to shatter the snake’s pride. "Special bond? You aren’t even my bonded beast yet! Stop the dramatic acting and spit out your name." She glared at the snake with a warning gaze so sharp it could cut steel.

The serpent immediately deflated, tucking its head in. "It’s... it’s Nugget," it mumbled sheepishly.

Zyra cracked a brief smile and almost chuckled. "Nugget?" Her face instantly snapped back to deadpan seriousness. She raised her hand and pointed directly at his nose. "Nugget. You and your buddies are going straight to Beast Jail."

The moment the words left her mouth, a collective gasp echoed across the room. The Dragon Snakes froze in absolute terror, their wings standing on end, mirroring the horrified faces of all the other beasts. They didn’t know what beast jail was, but at least they knew human jails were not nice.