Chapter 204: First in line
"I wouldn’t say I really want one," Sal said softly. "As long as I can be with you, it doesn’t matter whether we have a cub or not. But... if we could have one that belongs to just the two of us, I’d still be very happy."
He nuzzled into the hollow of Nina’s neck, his voice low and warm.
"I was just a little worried today... wondering if I wasn’t as good as the others. But that’s my own issue—you don’t need to worry about it."
He had simply felt a bit unbalanced seeing that the others all had offspring... and yes, there had been a flicker of self-doubt.
"Silly," Nina said, pinching his handsome cheek lightly. "You’re perfectly fine. And you don’t need to compare yourself to anyone."
"Mm... but I’m the only one without a little leopard," Sal murmured, seizing the opportunity. "So from now on, you’ll have to dote on me more—comfort my wounded heart."
"I know, I know," Nina replied with a small laugh. "Next time I go into heat, I’ll make sure you’re first in line. I’ll give you a whole litter of little leopards, alright?"
Sal tilted his head, lightly nipping her ear. "No need to wait for your heat. There’s still a chance even now, isn’t there?"
His kisses trailed slowly down her neck, his voice deepening. "I’ll do my best tonight. Who knows—maybe we’ll have a little leopard right away."
If that really happened, he thought smugly, he’d finally have the upper hand.
"Mm..."
Nina tipped her head back slightly, already resigned. Looks like she wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight either.
Warm breaths and lingering touches melted into something deeper, and soon the water in the pool rippled once more...
***
On the other side of the wilderness, Drago was resting inside a cave.
They had been chased relentlessly by the flame beasts and had only just managed to escape. Afterward, they resumed searching for Nina—but Odian and the others had clearly prepared in advance. No matter what they tried, Drago’s group couldn’t track them down.
"City Lord, we still haven’t found any trace of Nina and her group," Wu Wei reported.
"How is there still nothing?" Song Yu snapped irritably. "We’ve been searching for so long. Did you check all directions?"
"We did. There’s really nothing," Wei replied.
"Then where the hell did they go?" Drago’s expression darkened.
This trip had been nothing but bad luck. Not only had he failed to make use of Nina, he had been chased down and lost a spirit stone in the process. The ones in Barbarian City hadn’t even been recovered yet.
He wanted to retrieve the stone—but without any clue where Nina was, he couldn’t even begin.
"Any news from Lina?" he asked.
"Not yet. We don’t know where the mutated beasts took her," Wei answered.
"Unbelievable. We can’t even find her."
Drago clenched his fists. If Lina didn’t return, Leah would certainly be furious. He’d have to send people to search for her as well.
"So what should we do now?" Wei asked.
"...Forget it. Send a few people to keep searching. The rest of us will head to Barbarian City and retrieve the spirit stones first," Drago said grimly.
Searching blindly like this was pointless.
"And Lina?"
"Keep looking," Drago replied impatiently. "She’d better still be alive... or I’ll have a hard time explaining things to Leah."
"Understood."
Wei dispatched a group to continue searching for Nina, then set off with Drago toward Barbarian City.
...
Somewhere deep within the wilderness forest, Yosan activated the black crystal in his hand, tracing Nina’s location.
He hadn’t died that day.
What Nina had destroyed was merely a clone—his true body had remained hidden somewhere in the wilderness.
Still, the loss of his clone had inflicted serious damage on him.
After a moment, Yosan opened his eyes and pointed in a direction.
"They’re over there."
"Master Shaman," Gin said cautiously, "they’re too strong. We won’t be able to defeat them head-on. And this time, they’ll definitely be wary of the formation."
Ino and the others were dead. They had lost two tenth-rank warriors—and many other powerful members besides.
"This time, we don’t fight them directly," Yosan said coldly. "We go for the weakest ones—the cubs."
His lips curled into a sinister smile.
"Nina dotes on her children so much... Once we have them, do you really think she won’t submit?"
Yosan’s expression darkened.
Last time, he had suffered a complete loss—not only had he failed to capture Nina, but he had also allowed her to obtain the spirit stone.
If she had merely taken it, that would still be manageable—he could always find a way to steal it back. But if she had already made the spirit stone recognize her as its master, then even retrieving it would be useless.
If she could make the spirit pearl acknowledge her... then the spirit stone likely wouldn’t be any different.
Still, if he could capture those cubs and use them to threaten her... she might yet become a powerful tool in his hands.
"As you command, Master Shaman," Gin said respectfully.
It seemed the shaman already had a plan. This time, he would avenge Ino.
"Good. We move now—no rest tonight. We’re already close to her."
"Yes."
Yosan led the Black Crow clan swiftly in Nina’s direction.
***
The next morning.
After breakfast, Rosen came to say goodbye.
"Nina, I can’t go with you to Phoenix City," she said, holding Nina’s hand with clear reluctance. "I’ll return to Sea Blue City and wait for you there. You must come."
"I will," Nina promised gently.
"I’ll be waiting."
Rosen turned to Lex and Dian, her tone firm. "You two take good care of Nina. If she so much as loses a single hair, I’ll hold you accountable."
"We understand," they replied obediently.
Even without her warning, they would never let anything happen to her.
"Then I’m leaving. Take care of yourselves."
Rosen climbed onto Flinn’s back and waved as she departed.
"You too—travel safely," Nina called.
She then looked down at Mimi. "Say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma."
The little one waved her chubby hand. "Goodbye, Grandpa and Grandma!"
"Goodbye, Mimi. Goodbye, Nina."
With one last lingering glance, Rosen left with Lani and the others.
After the farewells, Setan approached Nina.
"Little female... may I speak with you alone for a moment?"
There was a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
Nina was surprised. Hadn’t he been avoiding her all this time? Why suddenly want to talk?
Still, remembering that he had helped her before, she agreed.
They moved to a quieter spot nearby, while Odian and the others remained at a distance, keeping watch.
Nina took out two fire crystals and handed them to him.
"The one you had before was eaten by Sunny, so I’m returning one. The other is to thank you for helping me in the flame beast territory."
Setan stared at the crystals, his expression complicated.
"Nina... I don’t need the crystals," he said slowly. "But I do have a request."
She really was... a good female.
Not only did she repay what she owed, but she even gave extra. Most people would have simply kept something as rare as a fire crystal.
He hesitated, then continued, almost bracing himself.
"I hope... you won’t be angry."
Nina frowned slightly. "What is it?"
"Sunny... is a cub of the Blazing Lion clan," Setan started. "Our clan has a rule—cubs must be raised within the clan. So... I want to take him back."
He knew the request was unreasonable.
But clan law was not something he could simply ignore.
Nina’s eyes narrowed, anger flashing within them.
"...What did you just say?" her voice turned cold. "You want to take Sunny away?"