Chapter 140: How Come It’s a Little Cute?

Chapter 140 -136: How Come It’s a Little Cute?

The next morning.

Morning light pierced through the forest mist, casting dappled pillars of light onto the campsite.

When Lu Wei opened his eyes, the sleeping bags next to him were already empty.

Furen was doing his usual morning exercises, Mirana and Bai Ya were making breakfast, and Marcus and his three companions were packing their bags.

“Morning, Lu Wei!”

Seeing him sit up, Marcus flashed a hearty smile, waved, and pointed toward the entrance of the cavern.

“Oh, by the way, Nick is waiting for you. He said he has something to tell you.”

“Hm?”

Lu Wei paused, turning to look. Sure enough, Nick was sitting just outside the cavern entrance not far away, staring over at him expectantly.

He still had that top hat on his head, but his clothes seemed to be a different set from yesterday’s.

‘Who knew he was such a tidy lizard.’

Lu Wei climbed out of his sleeping bag, put on his shoes and jacket, and walked toward the entrance.

“Good morning, Mr. Lu Wei!”

As soon as he saw him, Nick immediately stood up and excitedly led him to the edge of the entrance. He carefully pushed aside a few ferns, pointing to a gap between two rocks.

“Please, take a look here!”

“What is it?”

Lu Wei leaned in, confused. He stared for a good while before spotting a thin thread in the shadows.

“Uh, this is…”

“It’s the bell system I prepared for you.”

Nick explained earnestly, “I set it up last night. The next time you visit, you just need to pull this string. I’ll hear it inside the cavern and come out to greet you immediately.”

“Of course, that’s assuming I’m actually in the cavern at the time.”

“I see.”

Lu Wei gave the thread a tug. ‘He’s actually pretty thoughtful,’ he thought.

“Alright, I understand.”

“Yes, and I have some other good news for you.”

Nick wagged his tail and continued excitedly:

“I checked the eggs last night. They’re all about to hatch, so the next batch of War Lizardmen will mature even faster than we thought!”

“That’s great. I hope they grow up healthy and strong.”

Lu Wei offered a very abstract blessing with a smile, then asked casually, as if it were an afterthought, “But do you have enough weapons for them?”

Nick nodded. “Please don’t worry about that. They don’t need fancy weapons. Even sharpened wooden sticks will do.”

‘See?!’

‘I knew it!’

‘This lizard’s ambition is just too small!’

“That won’t do. Although the War Lizardmen are very strong, you can’t be careless when it comes to weapons.”

Lu Wei corrected him with a straight face, “Only with better weapons can you reduce casualties in battle. That way, you can protect more of your people, which in turn allows you to gather more spoils of war to buy more materials and tools.”

“Ah, but I’ve already melted down most of the weapons I’d collected.”

Nick lowered his head, a little embarrassed. “What should I do now?”

“Don’t worry. Next time, in addition to the goods on your list, I can also bring some weapons.”

Lu Wei’s smile grew wider. “Swords, crossbows, you name it. What do you want?”

Nick shook his head blankly. “I don’t really know much about them.”

“Then let me handle it. How about we start by preparing enough to arm ten War Lizardmen? That should be about right, shouldn’t it?”

“Yes, that should be enough… But I’m a little worried I won’t be able to pay you enough for them.”

“That’s no problem. If you don’t have enough, you can buy on credit.”

“Ah? Really?”

“Of course. It’s special treatment for a key client…”

Standing outside the cavern, Lu Wei and Nick chatted for a while longer.

Until Bai Ya’s voice drifted over.

“Captain, breakfast is ready!”

“Got it!”

After shouting back, Lu Wei turned to Nick. “Want to eat with us?”

“Ah, no, no.”

Nick quickly waved his claws. He was clearly still a little scared, or perhaps just timid.

“I’ve already had breakfast. There are plenty of earthworms and insects inside the cavern.”

“High in protein, very nutritious. Not bad at all.”

“Pro-tein…? What’s that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Lu Wei shook his head and said his goodbyes casually, “Well then, see you in a month.”

“Okay, see you in a month.”

Nick nodded, waving his claws reluctantly at Lu Wei’s retreating back. His tail curled up dejectedly.

At first glance, the scene was strangely touching.

A moment later, however, Lu Wei seemed to remember something and suddenly turned around and walked back.

Then, he pulled a pocket watch from his coat and smiled at the astonished Nick.

“By the way, this is for you.”

“Ah!”

Nick’s eyes widened instantly. “R-Really?”

“Mhm. You seemed to really like it yesterday, so think of it as a gift.”

Lu Wei’s expression was sincere as he placed the watch in the lizardman’s claws. He was truly sparing no effort to maintain his relationship with this key client.

Nick stared blankly at the watch in his claws, then suddenly turned and ran into the cavern.

“Please wait a moment! I have a gift for you, too!”

…

…

“Lu Wei, Miss Bai Ya, Miss Mirana, Mr. Furen, we’ll be heading out now!”

“When you get back, you have to come find me at the Violet Inn! I’ll treat you all to a round of drinks!”

“No problem. Be careful on the road.”

“Hahaha, alright, goodbye!”

“Goodbye!”

Half an hour later, only a little stew was left in the pot, and Fur Ball was inside, “cleaning” it.

Meanwhile, having finished their meal, Marcus and his three companions set off on their journey back to Heitai Town.

Speaking of which, this was the second time the Mushroom Squad had formed a temporary alliance with another squad.

And the last squad hadn’t met a very good end.

Two had died, one was crippled, and the last one was standing right next to Lu Wei at this very moment.

The sight must have stirred up old feelings. Watching Marcus and his team depart, Mirana’s mood was clearly a bit down.

In contrast, Furen and Bai Ya were much more excited. They kept waving long after the others were far in the distance. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought they were seeing off the Sun General.

“Alright, stop waving.”

Glancing at them, Lu Wei was the first to turn and walk back. “Let’s hurry up and pack. We need to get going too.”

“Oh, right… Captain, you totally squashed Hess last night.”

“So what? It’s not dead, is it?”

“Hmph! So cold-blooded! I’m going to tell Hess and expose your true colors!”

“Go ahead and exp—huh? So you learned Beast Language?”

“Of course! I learned it yesterday. You didn’t even ask!”

“I forgot yesterday. It’s such a trivial thing…”

The lively bickering echoed through the woods. The campfire had completely died out, leaving only a pile of blackened charcoal.

Soon, the four of them had also organized their backpacks. After a final check to make sure nothing was left behind, they left the campsite, heading in the opposite direction from Marcus and his group.

By now, the morning sun had fully risen above the horizon, and the forest was once again bustling with life.

After the four people and one ball had walked some distance, Furen suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, Lu Wei, what were you and Nick talking about before breakfast?”

“Oh, business stuff.”

Lu Wei muttered nonchalantly, subconsciously turning his head to look back toward the cavern entrance.

Even though they were already over a hundred meters away, he was surprised he could still see it.

Through a gap in the layered branches, he could see Nick standing on a rock outside the entrance, gazing into the distance in their direction.

He couldn’t make out his expression, only the faint outline of the top hat on his head and his slightly swaying tail.

“…”

A moment later, Lu Wei pulled his gaze away. He took out his compass from the small, rabbit-fur pouch that Bai Ya had sewn, and his eyes lingered for a moment on a small glass vial at the bottom of the pouch.

The bottle was only thumb-sized, and inside it, a mass of pale blue substance swirled slowly with the rhythm of his steps.

This was, quite clearly, Nick’s gift in return.

‘He was hiding something this good.’

Watching Hess happily trotting after Bai Ya, Lu Wei sighed to himself.

‘He seemed weird at first.’

‘But after a while, he doesn’t seem so weird anymore.’

‘Why do I even find him a little cute now…?’