Chapter 352 Thunderhorns Food Complaint
"He has absolutely nothing to do with us!"
Allen felt that Zara handing Noctilion over to Lucian had completely gone against the government's intention. "The higher-ups specifically said you were supposed to watch him."
After all, aside from Zara, they did not trust anyone else with Noctilion.
Zara clicked her tongue. "Come on. It's not like you don't know Lucian went to the other world with me last time. At the very least, he already knows important classified information. What's wrong with letting him keep an eye on Noctilion for a while?"
She continued, "Besides, Aurelion and Noctilion really can't be kept together on my side. Two cauliflower snakes fighting in the house every day? And Aurelion, that sneaky little thing, even drags Dino into it so they can gang up on him two against one. Who could put up with that?"
Aurelion shouted from nearby, "I'm right here listening! Dino and I have a great relationship. He helped me willingly. What's wrong with that?"
Dino said, "But Aurelion, didn't you ask me to help?"
"..."
Allen clearly heard Aurelion's voice too and let out a long sigh. "We're just worried something might happen. What if Lucian can't control Noctilion?"
"How could he not?" Zara said. "Noctilion is basically just a cauliflower snake right now. At most, he'll bite Lucian a couple of times. Then Lucian can go to the hospital and get some antivenom."
Allen fell silent.
That... actually made some sense.
Still, Allen felt this arrangement was not ideal.
"Lucian isn't part of the government ranks. On top of that, he's the president of a multinational corporation. If someone with bad intentions finds out, they might twist the story and accuse us of colluding with business interests..."
"Let them talk," Zara said. "What, are people in government service not allowed to have a CEO-level fiancé now? If anyone still has the time to make an issue out of that at a moment like this, I suggest sending them to Ember for a little shock therapy."
Allen went quiet for a moment.
At the mention of Ember, he said, "Actually, Ember has been fairly cooperative."
Ever since Ember had been transported to the base, it had behaved well enough. As long as it was fed, it was reasonably easy to negotiate with.
"But it turns out Ember was raised here from a young age," Allen continued. "In other words, it wasn't brought over by people from the other world. Now we're trying to figure out who raised it, but Ember keeps saying it doesn't know."
Zara had promised Owen she would not reveal the truth, so she kept her tone casual. "Oh. Then I wouldn't know either. When I caught it, I didn't sense any trace of anyone else around it."
Allen believed her. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Why don't you come by the base and take a look? It hasn't seen anyone familiar in a while, so its temper has been a little unstable."
Zara thought it over. "Alright. I'll go tomorrow."
She had promised Owen, after all. When she had time, she should still go check on Thunderhorn.
******
The next morning, Zara set out for the base.
While sitting on the subway, she could still hear people discussing Noctilion.
At this point, everyone was talking about the black dragon.
Some people believed it was a sign of the apocalypse and that strange creatures were about to invade.
Others believed ancient myths had truly come back to life.
There were also people who swore up and down that the country had made a breakthrough in holographic technology.
Of course, some people had very unusual angles. "Just look at how realistic that creature was. Those fantasy drama crews with their terrible CGI should really take notes. I wonder if they'd be ashamed enough to quit on the spot."
Since the discussion had already seeped into ordinary daily life, Zara guessed the matter could not be hidden for much longer.
In a few days, an official document would probably be released.
She just did not know how much of that information they had managed to decode.
When Zara arrived near the base, someone came to pick her up.
Every time she visited this place, it seemed to have changed again.
Had they renovated it... again?
After walking inside, Zara realized that Thunderhorn's movements were not restricted at all. He was swaggering through the base as if he owned the place, and every now and then, staff members would greet him.
Thunderhorn would nod back with a slight air of dignity, which apparently counted as a response.
He noticed Zara too. When he saw her, he seemed to feel as if he had finally spotted someone familiar his owner had entrusted him to. He walked over, lifted his chin, and let out a roar.
"Roar!"
[Why're ya here?]
Zara fell silent.
Allen walked over just in time to see Thunderhorn communicating with Zara.
He smiled and said, "Recently, while our experts were studying his vocalizations, they discovered that his roars can represent many different meanings.
It's similar to human speech. His roars are actually a form of communication.
Depending on volume, pitch, and frequency, he can convey different messages.
We believe that soon, our experts will be able to roughly determine what he means just by analyzing his roars. "
Zara was silent again.
The experts were impressive, no doubt.
But could they figure out that he had a regional accent?
Zara looked at Thunderhorn and said, "I came to check on you."
Thunderhorn nodded.
[At least ya got some conscience.]
Zara said nothing.
Did mystic beasts from the other world have some strange agreement that they all had to bring regional accents with them when they came over?
Or had someone from their side gone over there and contaminated the other world's genetics?
Allen looked at Thunderhorn with some emotion.
"Who would've thought? We've already begun gradually understanding mystic beasts, and we can even coexist peacefully with them.
According to the information we've gathered, humans and mystic beasts in that world don't exactly live in perfect peace either.
But they can coexist. Doesn't this count as a good sign? "
"I guess it does," Zara said. "But Ember should still be taken outside more often. Try to let him stay in the mountains when possible. If he stays in a place like this too long, I think he'll get irritable."
Thunderhorn kept roaring beside them.
[More than irritable! Tell 'em fer me! I want barbecue, braised pork, stewed beef!
Every time they bring food, it's just boiled meat.
Boiled! No seasoning at all. Is that food fer people?
I've complained several times already, but they all pretend they don't understand.
Funny how they understand me just fine any other time! ]
Zara stared at him.
You're a mystic beast, damn it.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. He might be in a bad mood because the food hasn't been great lately. Didn't I tell you last time that he eats pretty much the same things humans do?"
Allen froze. "The food hasn't been great? But we've been giving him cooked meals. Beef, chicken, duck, all of it supplied by top-grade vendors..."
Zara was silent for a moment. "Do you people eat without salt?"
Allen fell silent too.
Both sides stayed quiet for a long while.
Then Allen suddenly drew in a sharp breath. "We misunderstood."
They had assumed Thunderhorn had merely been raised by humans and could tolerate cooked food.
They had not expected that he actually wanted it seasoned.
Cooked meat without salt did sound a little cruel.
Allen said quietly, "I'll go tell the kitchen staff later. Aside from flavor, does he also..."
"Braised, steamed, stewed, roasted, boiled. Just cook it according to human tastes," Zara said. "He isn't picky."
If Zara had come a few days later, Thunderhorn might have been driven insane by the base's plain boiled meat.
If it had been her, she would have gone berserk already.
From this alone, it was clear that Thunderhorn actually had a pretty good temper.