Chapter 188: Little Puppy Friends

Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Little Puppy Friends

Luna Dawson rubbed Rollo’s head, instructing in a low voice, "No fighting. Be good and play with Tina." Only after receiving an affectionate nuzzle against her hand in response did she release the leash, letting him run off after Tina.

But as soon as she stood still, she noticed an unfriendly gaze lingering on her. She looked up and saw it was the owner of the poodle. Not only was the man staring at her, but he also kept glancing at Rollo playing in the distance, his eyes holding a mix of scrutiny and contempt. Luna inwardly curled her lips. The man looked so repulsive that it made even his dog seem annoying.

On the other side of the camp, there was an exceptionally eye-catching Aberrant Parrot. The parrot’s feathers were multicolored and vibrant. Its owner was a girl in her early twenties who seemed rather introverted. She had carefully knitted a tiny beanie and slipped it onto the parrot’s head, making it look soft and incredibly cute. The girl didn’t speak to anyone the entire time. Even when mealtime arrived, she just sat quietly in a corner, silently eating her food with her parrot.

After the three military dog handlers pitched the military tents for the night, they set up a pot and started heating steamed buns.

Before long, Nancy Sullivan, having finished distributing supplies, skipped over. The moment she saw Luna, she leaned in and chattered away, "Luna! I heard the Sunset Squad and Endless Squad got into a fight last night? Is it true?"

Seeing Luna nod in confirmation, Nancy’s eyes instantly went round. She exclaimed in pure admiration, "You’re so badass! You’re the first person to ever dare challenge the Endless Squad!"

Amused by her praise, Luna chuckled and said casually, "I just happened to have an itch for a fight, and they delivered themselves right to my door, so naturally, I didn’t hold back."

Among the three military dog handlers, there was a young soldier in his twenties with a particularly cheerful personality. Seeing that his dog, Pax, had finished eating and was staring intently at Rollo and Tina in the distance, he finished setting up his pot and shyly shuffled over to Luna and Nancy.

"Nancy, is this your friend?" He greeted Nancy first before looking at Luna with a hint of expectation in his tone. "Hi, my name is Patrick Pence. My dog’s name is Pax. He’s full now, and I was wondering if it’s okay to let him play with Tina and your golden retriever? Your dog seems very sweet-tempered."

Luna had been hoping Rollo would make more dog friends anyway, so she immediately beamed upon hearing this. "Hi, I’m Luna Dawson. My golden retriever is Rollo. He is indeed a good boy, so let them play together."

As if he understood that Luna was praising him, Rollo snapped his head around in the distance and let out an excited "WOOF" in her direction, his tail wagging even more happily.

"He’s so smart; it’s like he can actually understand us!" Patrick’s eyes lit up, his tone full of interest. "Pax and the other military dogs are smart too, but mostly they can only quickly execute commands they’ve been trained for. When it comes to long sentences like this, they only half-understand."

As they spoke, Rollo and Tina had already run back, sitting obediently at their respective owners’ feet. Pax familiarly leaned in to sniff Tina’s nose, and Tina gave a friendly nuzzle in return. Rollo, on the other hand, enthusiastically stepped forward, and he and Pax sniffed each other. Following that, the three dogs started running in circles, their little tails wagging so fast they looked like they could take off in flight. It was a heartwarming sight.

Luna squatted down, her fingertips gently stroking Pax’s smooth, broad head, her tone soft as cotton. "Pax is so cute. How old is he?"

Seeing his sister solely focused on petting another dog, Rollo instantly grew unhappy. He hurriedly nudged his way to Luna’s side, incessantly rubbing his big furry head against the back of her hand. It was as if he were protesting, "Hurry up and pet me! You’re already covered in the scent of another dog!"

"Pax is only two years old, right in his prime and full of energy!" When speaking of his dog, Patrick’s tone was full of pride, his chin even tilting up slightly.

Luna’s heart melted from Rollo’s nuzzling, so she simply used both hands. While petting Rollo’s head, she made sure not to leave Pax out, and she didn’t even spare Tina, who was lying obediently a bit further away. She stroked them all evenly, one by one. Everything her fingertips touched was warm, soft fur. The oxytocin in her brain was secreting wildly, making her feel dizzy—she was practically intoxicated by the dogs.

"By the way, where are the two German Shepherds?" Luna suddenly remembered the two majestic figures that had been there just moments ago. Her attention had been entirely on the interaction between Pax and Rollo, and in the time it took to turn around, the two domineering large dogs had disappeared.

"They went hunting with their handlers." Patrick scratched his head, sounding slightly embarrassed. "Aberrant animals can eat Aberrant Beast meat. Their diet is actually better than ours."

"Does Francis Grant not provide meals for the dogs?" Luna was a little confused. Since the officials had dispatched military dogs for the journey, it didn’t make sense for them to ignore their food.

Nancy quickly chimed in to explain, "The officials provide dog food! Military dogs get a fixed ration of three kilograms a day, and personal pets get two kilograms a day. They are all distributed according to standard."

"Oh, so the little guys are going out to earn their own snacks," Luna realized, unable to hold back a laugh.

"Colonel Grant is a pretty good guy; he’s never mistreated the military dogs," Patrick added. "There are still plenty of non-aberrant military dogs in the base, staying in the Sector Five Barracks. They have to participate in the base’s patrol and security work every day, and their treatment isn’t bad either."

As they talked, the poodle caught sight of the dogs playing lively and was itching to join in. But without its owner by its side and wary of the large dogs’ sizes, it hesitated for a long time. It only dared to circle around nearby, intermittently peeing several times to mark its territory.

Rollo spotted this immediately and trotted over, peeing over each spot the poodle had marked, completely covering up the other dog’s scent. The little curly-haired dog hadn’t expected Rollo to pull such a move. Its fur instantly bristled, and it bared its teeth at Rollo, but it didn’t have the guts to actually bark, so it could only put up a false front with low whimpers.

"Cola!"

The young man popped up out of nowhere and jogged toward the little poodle, his frail frame slipping a few times along the way. Luna was genuinely worried he might accidentally trip and obliterate himself. She almost couldn’t resist reaching out a hand in a dramatic gesture to warn him to be careful. After all, he was responsible for a dog’s life; if the owner kicked the bucket, how would the little dog survive? Even though she didn’t like that breed of small dogs, it wasn’t to the extent of hating them on sight.

Rollo didn’t take the little poodle seriously at all and very happily wiggled his way back to Luna’s side.

After a while, the man walked over as if having made a great resolution, wanting to join their conversation. "Hi, you guys raise your dogs so well. Miss, what’s your dog’s name?"

Luna gave him a polite smile and replied calmly, "Rollo."

"You’re Captain Dawson?!" Morgan Dean suddenly widened his eyes, his face full of shock. He had purposely run to the middle of the convoy earlier to ask around, wanting to know who else raised a dog and why they hadn’t gone to the military truck carriage exclusively for aberrant animals yesterday. He hadn’t expected to inadvertently find out about a bigshot.

Before Luna could speak, Nancy took the lead, frowning as she demanded, "What does it matter to you who she is?" She had already found Morgan Dean and Cola to be an eyesore. Yesterday, Cola had bared its teeth at Tina and that Aberrant Parrot. It was too cowardly to provoke the military dogs, yet it dared to throw its weight around in front of them. If her brother hadn’t told her to cause less trouble, she would have lost her temper a long time ago.