Chapter 186

Chapter 186

Ao Tian: "Watch out!"

The moment Chen Zui connected to the small world, his system’s shout echoed in his mind. Before he could even open his eyes, he felt a gust of wind rushing at him from the left.

He dodged, turning his head, and opened his eyes to find himself face-to-face with a lion.

The lion swiped at him repeatedly with its sharp claws. If caught, he’d be torn to shreds. As he dodged, Chen Zui realized his gaze was level with the four-legged beast.

Ao Tian: "You're a black panther now."

Chen Zui, who had been instinctively evading, heard Ao Tian’s words and swung his forepaw, striking at the lion. As an unarmed human, he would have fled a lion attack. But as a black panther, it was a different story.

His striking right hand was a sharp claw, sheathed in black fur.

Chen Zui instinctively raised an eyebrow, though as a panther, his "eyebrows" were merely a few bristly hairs.

He found his transformation into a panther rather amusing.

He was a go-with-the-flow kind of person, confident that no matter his form or location, he would survive.

A beastly battle, however, was a new experience.

The black panther, previously focused solely on evasion, launched into a furious assault. Still, it was Chen Zui’s first time fighting in this form, and he needed to adjust.

Claws met claws, hooking together, tearing flesh before separating.

Neither beast seemed to notice their injuries; instead, their ferocity only intensified.

The lion, with its superior strength, let out a thunderous roar, then leaped and pounced at Chen Zui.

Chen Zui gradually adapted to his new body, his speed increasing, fully utilizing the panther’s advantages.

And he had his own combat experience to draw upon.

Using his agility and speed, he dodged the pouncing lion, then sprang up, twisting his body mid-air. He opened his savage maw and, without hesitation, bit down on the lion’s nape.

Sharp teeth pierced flesh, tearing viciously. Blood seeped from between his fangs.

The lion roared in pain, struggling with all its might. Chen Zui, unable to maintain his hold, was kicked away by the lion, crashing to the ground and snapping a fallen tree trunk. Yet, he still clutched a piece of torn flesh in his mouth. His ice-blue eyes gleamed with excitement as he quickly rose, tail held high, then tilted his head and spat out the chunk of meat.

The lion bolted.

Chen Zui gave chase, and then something incredible happened. He watched as the running lion transformed into a naked man, though still retaining lion ears and a tail.

Ao Tian: "This is a beast-person world. You can also turn into a human, you know."

The lion-turned-human was far more agile, darting through the forest, scrambling up trees, and swinging from vines.

Following Ao Tian’s instructions, Chen Zui also attempted human form, similarly retaining panther ears and a tail. Undeterred, he continued his pursuit.

Ao Tian: "The ears and tail can't be retracted in human form. Everything else is fully controllable—for example, a human body with a panther’s head, or human hands that are actually claws."

Ao Tian seized every opportunity to explain, feeding Chen Zui knowledge about this world. Since Chen Zui was in combat, Ao Tian worried that constant chatter might distract him.

Chen Zui’s feet shifted back to beast form. He pushed off a tree trunk, his claws leaving deep gouges as he leaped away.

The lion ahead grabbed a vine and swung, transforming back into a lion mid-air as it lunged at Chen Zui. Its golden mane swept back, its wide-open mouth seemingly capable of crushing anything.

Without a hint of fear, Chen Zui launched himself from the tree trunk. By the time he collided with the lion, he was a large, sleek black panther.

The two beasts tore at each other mid-air, separated, and upon landing, reverted to their beast-person forms to reduce weight and impact.

In this primeval forest, they continuously shifted between beast and beast-person forms. Their fierce battle caused trees to collapse.

Chen Zui grew more immersed in the fight, his momentum building, his movements and transformations becoming fluid and seamless.

In contrast, the lion grew progressively weaker.

Another clash. The black panther’s sharp claws ripped open the lion’s belly. The lion crashed to the ground, breaking countless branches. The black panther then descended from above, stomping hard on the lion’s injured abdomen, its claws sinking deep. It lowered its head and bit toward the lion’s neck.

Accompanied by a gradually fading roar, the battle concluded.

The jet-black panther stood atop the lion’s corpse, its satiny, gleaming fur stained with blood. It turned its head, its ice-blue eyes as transparent and crystalline as the purest gems, cold and utterly devoid of emotion.

Chen Zui stepped away from the lion’s corpse.

Ao Tian: "Congratulations on your victory~"

Chen Zui: "Thank you."

While Chen Zui familiarized himself with his new body, Ao Tian began to explain: "The novel we’ve entered is called 'Transmigrated as the Little Bunny of the Beauty-Strong-Tragic Wolf King.' Our mission target is this Beauty-Strong-Tragic Wolf King."

Chen Zui lowered his hand from his panther ear: "A wolf?"

Ao Tian: "Yes, why?"

*Thinking of your wolf cub, huh?*

Chen Zui: "It’s nothing. I once raised a wolf. Now you want me to go and... *screw* a wolf..."

He really wasn't sure he could go through with it.

Ao Tian: "What's the big deal? I refuse to believe that if a wolf, cat, or dog you raised suddenly turned into a handsome, tall human with eight-pack abs, pounced on you, and said, 'Thank you for taking care of me all these years, I want to give myself to you'—well, even if you refused at first, over time, with such a pleasing person always around you, sleeping with you, wrapping their tail around you, loving to nuzzle and cuddle you, and having eyes only for you, I don’t believe anyone could resist falling for them."

Chen Zui chuckled. After all, this wolf wasn’t *his* wolf cub.

"Well, you’re right."

"Of course~"

Chen Zui found his system quite lively, but he didn't dislike it. He glanced around, taking in the surroundings. He had been wondering why a lion would appear in such a dense, ancient forest.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he saw something even more incomprehensible.

"Ao Tian."

"Yeah?"

"Am I seeing things? I see a penguin."

"Oh, you’re not seeing things. The author of this book, to enrich the world, set it up so that animals aren’t restricted to specific habitats."

Chen Zui watched the little penguin waddling unsteadily. Upon seeing him, it suddenly transformed into a human and ran away as fast as it could.

After understanding the world’s background, Chen Zui’s next task was to find the wolf. Following Ao Tian’s directions, he headed toward the wolf pack’s territory. He didn’t choose the beast-person form—turning into a human without any clothes felt a bit awkward for someone like him, since he didn’t have exhibitionist tendencies.

"So the *shou* in this book is a transmigrator?"

"Exactly. The *shou*'s backstory is that he was sickly since childhood. After dying, he transmigrated into this world as a little rabbit beastman. He encounters the *gong*, who was injured and exiled from the wolf pack, meticulously cares for him, and they naturally begin living together, gradually developing feelings. It's a sweet story without many major twists."

"Recently, books with animals as main characters are also very popular, so this animal-centric book also doesn't have the concept of reproductive isolation."

Chen Zui arrived at a river and stopped, looking at his reflection on the water.

A majestic and stern leopard head, with only the eyebrows and whiskers a whitish color. He took another step forward, and the reflection revealed a robust upper body.

Even Chen Zui thought this was a bit too handsome.

He transformed back into his human form. His human appearance was his own, but with an extra pair of fluffy ears on top of his head. These ears didn't seem out of place on the leopard head, but on his human head, they looked rather cute.

He cupped some water to wash off the blood on the lower half of his face.

Ao Tian: "It seems you really like your image."

Chen Zui: "I should thank the Dark Transmigration Bureau for choosing this image for me."

Ao Tian found the memory-sealed Chen Zui quite interesting. No matter how many times they started over, Chen Zui was always this polite, treating it with a consistent attitude and never bullying it. This showed that this person was inherently kind.

Chen Zui glanced down at a certain important area. In human form, there were no barbs, but it did seem a bit larger.

He returned to leopard form and waded across the river.

Along the way, he saw various animals and beastmen, but most avoided him. Only those animal beastmen of a similar level to the leopard didn't flee.

"By the way, I wanted to ask if our Dark Transmigration Bureau has a newcomer gift pack?"

Ao Tian checked the time: half an hour.

It had deliberately not mentioned it, wanting to see if Chen Zui would remember his original intention. It had been half an hour since arriving in this world, and sure enough, he remembered. This persistence was, for some reason, rather endearing.

"Yes, I'll go get it for you."

It went to its leader, and without a word, the leader instructed a subordinate: "Give it to him."

The leader had already figured out what anyone coming at this time was here for.

Ao Tian: "No wonder you're the leader; your ability to grasp the big picture is awesome~"

Ao Tian left with the 9th newcomer gift pack.

"Here comes the newcomer gift pack~"

Chen Zui accidentally saw a pair of animals mating in beastman form, in broad daylight, without any discretion.

He averted his gaze. This was also normal; after all, they were originally animals, and animals are like this. According to this world's setting, even after becoming beastmen, their minds were still uncivilized, retaining their animal nature.

"Guess what we got?"

"I really can't guess, but I hope it's something you can use."

"Huh? Why?"

"That way I can give it to you as a gift for our cooperation."

Ao Tian: "o>_<"

You are my big brother for one lifetime, two lifetimes, three lifetimes, forever and ever!

It thought to itself, *Good thing Chen Zui's system is me. I always separate work from personal matters and won't take advantage of my position to get involved with the host. If it were any other system, they'd probably fall madly in love with Chen Zui.*

Ao Tian: "It's a plugin for a sensitive spot detector."

Chen Zui: "Is it the kind of sensitive spot I'm thinking of?"

Ao Tian: "Yes, with this you can directly find the other party's sensitive spots."

Chen Zui would have preferred a lethal spot detector.

Chen Zui: "So, are you willing to accept this gift and start this mission with me?"

Ao Tian: "You're really giving it to me?"

Chen Zui: "You are my partner, I won't lie to you."

Ao Tian's heart melted again. No matter how many times, Chen Zui always said it was his partner, his companion!

"Thank you, then I'll accept it."

At the same time, Chen Zui arrived at the wolf pack's territory. He stopped at the outskirts and saw the wolves formed a circle, each one worked up.

He nimbly leaped onto a nearby tree.

Two wolves were in a fierce fight. He instantly spotted the wolf with gray-white gradient fur.

Oh no.

It looked exactly like his Wolf Cub!

Chen Zui was unusually troubled. How could it look exactly the same?

Whether it was the fur color, those emerald eyes, or even the size of the black circle on its nose—no difference at all.

Although he thought what Ao Tian said earlier made some sense.

But this was really... hard to take action...

His mission target rolled on the ground and suddenly transformed into beastman form.

Chen Zui stared at that face.

Oh.

He was okay with it again.

A young and handsome face, fiercely baring its teeth, sporting wolf ears, and a large, fluffy tail swishing behind its rear.