bookbashuk Page 103
Page 103
"Having fought alongside you for so long, does that not increase my importance in your heart?"
The other four beasts remained silent.
Ella seemed a little awkward. Although the Black and White Duo thought these questions made sense, they dared not speak out due to their authority as animal trainers. Ruby, on the other hand, sat cross-legged on the bed, eating sunflower seeds, with an expression of pure amusement.
...When and where did this guy find sunflower seeds? How come I didn't know?
But Payne had no time to pay attention to the rascal squirrel now, because he knew that if he didn't handle the situation well, his prestige among the six beasts would be greatly diminished.
However, one good thing about beast girls is that they are all straightforward and will speak their minds without any reservations. Therefore, Payne can understand their psychology relatively easily.
As for Ella, who was singled out by Xiao En, although dogs are in a dominant position over sheep in terms of ecological niche, she probably had no objection to Xiao En because the golden retriever also agreed with Payne's theory, and coupled with her gentle nature, she lowered her head somewhat shyly.
Now that the beast girls have finished speaking, it's Payne's turn:
"Xiao En, you can't say that. You've been on the battlefield for several months and you're already a mature beast. Don't be so petty with your juniors about some things."
"Ella not only came later, but she was also seriously injured, so I wanted to take good care of her and help her recover as quickly as possible."
As expected, Xiao En was immediately stunned by the sentence, "You are already a mature beast."
Although she tried her best to keep it in check, Payne could still see the joy on her face.
However, after thinking for a moment, Xiao En still asked, "But, isn't Ella's injury almost completely healed?"
Payne waved his hand, "Physical wounds are easy to heal, but emotional wounds are hard to deal with, which is why I wanted to spend more time with her..."
"It was my mistake not to notice your splitter at first, but didn't I meet your requirements when it came to the splitter later?"
"Speaking of which, what did you do? Hmm? You ignored the instructor's orders and forcibly occupied the high ground?!"
Payne skillfully steered the conversation towards her mistake, and the sheep, as expected, shrank back in fright, muttering softly, "It's...it's all because you talked to Ella in front of me..."
"Uh... cough cough, this was indeed my oversight..."
Payne, somewhat guilty, defined his actions as "negligence," then changed the subject: "But that doesn't mean you can use my negligence as an excuse to deliberately make mistakes! Understand? Okay, I'll deal with you later."
After seeing the sheep stiffen in fear, Payne turned to Lacey. "Lacey! Sit up! Don't you know you're going to get yelled at?!"
So the dog, who had been with Payne for over a year, reluctantly got up and knelt on the bed, waiting to be scolded, its head and ears drooping.
"What's wrong with you? Huh? Don't you know Xiao En is going through a splitter phase? Didn't I tell you I'd spend more time with you afterward?"
"If you had just climbed into bed last night, that would be one thing, but what did you do afterwards? Hmm? You be the judge, do you think you went too far?"
But Leslie didn't respond; instead, she asked, somewhat aggrieved, "Then isn't Master happy?"
Payne was about to instinctively answer "happy," but then a feeling of utter exhaustion washed over him, and in a fit of pique, he smacked Lacey on the head again, "Answer my question!!"
After taking three hits in a row, Lacey finally dared not fight Payne head-on anymore and honestly admitted her mistake: "It...it really was a bit too much..."
Seeing her sincere attitude, Payne's tone softened: "Lassie, you're a senior now, don't argue with the younger generation about everything, especially not this moment, when Xiao En's splitter is about to end..."
Lacey's tone was somewhat aggrieved: "But I love you, I just wanted to express my love..."
After hearing this, Payne felt more amused than angry: "'Expressing affection'? Who taught you to express it like that?"
He had only asked casually and was about to move on, but unexpectedly, Lacey's lips moved, she glanced back, and then lowered her head even further, even tucking her tail between her legs.
Payne didn't notice who she glanced at, but he did notice Ruby pause in her sunflower seed-eating motion and her lips twitch.
Chapter 162 CLXI. Punishment and Appeasement
After the pre-morning pep talk, Payne received a suffocating yet not so suffocating order from above:
The gist of the original text: Given that the enemy is working hard on their defenses, we cannot be outdone! Soldiers, get to work! Transform this trench into a more comfortable home and a more survivable shelter!
In short, it boils down to two words: Open the book!
Everyone was full of complaints about the person who gave the order, because his mentality was clearly "we can't be without what the enemy has!" without any regard for whether there was any possibility or need to modify the trench.
But once each soldier was given a pickaxe or shovel, they still worked diligently and without complaint.
The French actions are indeed somewhat baffling; making more preparations will always bring more peace of mind.
Moreover, this trench cannot be said to be perfect. Not only were there no drainage ditches, but there were also no wooden planks laid on the ground and walls.
Although the environment in the trenches was hardly any better, the soldiers preferred to live in wooden houses rather than in mud houses that were prone to flooding, if they could.
Moreover, the authorities promised to send experts soon to guide the transformation of the trenches.
The soldiers didn't really expect any experts to come, and these so-called experts might not even understand the frontline's need for trenches. They just thought it would be good enough if two experienced engineers could come.
Before the arrival of engineers whose existence was uncertain, they could only rely on their own initiative.
As for Payne, he was in a much better mood than the others:
He successfully extinguished the fire in the beast girl harem, and both Xiao En and Lai Xi, who made mistakes, received their due punishment.
Additional training in grenade throwing and intelligence delivery, more arithmetic and literacy copying homework, and more civil engineering work.
Even punishments were not arbitrary beatings or corporal punishments, but rather focused on enhancing battlefield skills and reviewing general knowledge.
Compared to the training officers at the rear base, Payne felt he was practically a wise and benevolent ruler.
Since he is a wise ruler, he should naturally enjoy the treatment befitting one:
During his break, Payne sat comfortably on an ammunition box, his right arm around the somewhat reserved Ella, and his left hand fanning himself by pinching a squirrel's big tail. Ruby would occasionally hand him nuts to eat, and he was extremely content.
This is truly being surrounded by beauties on both sides, a truly imperial experience, it's absolutely amazing!
Of course, Payne didn't say Ruby was wrong, nor did he punish her.
He simply smiled and asked Ruby to contribute her tail and nuts, and Ruby agreed after a brief hesitation; there was no coercion involved.
Although the little squirrel looked a bit resentful, these were all trivial matters.
Moreover, the trenches have been relatively clean these past few days, and Ruby's tail only has a slight odor, which is much better than usual.
As for Ella, she hesitated when Payne asked her to come over, but in the end, she was forced to obey her master's orders and squeezed into Payne's arms despite the gazes of Shawn and Lacey.
But she wasn't in the mood to enjoy Payne's ear-picking service at all. She would just glance at her owner from time to time, then at the sheep and dogs still working on the other side, and then lick her lips to relieve the stress.
Due to the increased workload of civil engineering projects, Xiao En and Lai Xi had no choice but to sacrifice their rest time in order to leave work on time in the evening.
But seeing the sheep and dog still working while she enjoyed being petted by her owner, Ella became even more uneasy, to the point of being restless.
Soon, Payne felt the dog in his arms getting restless. "What's wrong with you?"
“Uh… that…” Ella hesitated for a moment, but finally said, “I’m sorry…”
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because...because Master cares about me, so...so you've caused conflict with everyone...should I...should I leave?"
Sensing that Ella was about to leave, Payne hugged her even tighter. "You don't need to worry about upsetting them both."
“Deliberately keeping my distance from them and not allowing them to get close to me is also part of the punishment.”
Ella twitched her ears: "Ah... well... this punishment is really... severe..."
After thinking for a moment, she said, "But...but it's not really right to keep ignoring them like this, is it?"
"I don't know about sheep, but I'm a dog, so I know that it can be really disheartening if you can't be close to your owner..."
Payne nodded and smiled at Ella's suggestion, then lifted her dog ears and whispered:
"You don't need to worry about that. I'll comfort them both tonight, since one of them is dealing with a conflicting issue and the other with a conflicting one."
"But Ella is such a kind and good dog to tell me these things~~"
Payne vigorously rubbed the dog's head, and Ella flashed her signature silly grin, "Hehehe~~ Master is a good person too~~"
"Remember not to tell the other beasts, okay? This is a secret between us, human and beast~~"
"Understood~~"
Payne chuckled, then turned to the squirrel. "Ruby, keep feeding me, don't stop!"
Ruby stared at Payne, who was grinning arrogantly at her with his mouth agape: "..."
The trench renovation project proceeded smoothly in this relatively relaxed atmosphere.
……
Time without fighting passed exceptionally quickly, and night fell almost in the blink of an eye.
The soldiers did not receive the legendary expert, and Stephen was summoned by headquarters to deliver a lot of intelligence. Apart from that, there was nothing else noteworthy that day.
And Payne happened to be on guard duty during the first half of the night, so he decided to take advantage of this opportunity to be alone with the sheep and soothe them a little.
After sending the other five beastmen to other places to keep watch, Payne led Shawn to the location of the machine gun post they had previously met and let her sit in his lap again.
With increased training, study, and work during the day, it's impossible not to feel some resentment, especially since she's currently dealing with disagreements and is still feeling somewhat unwell.
Even so, Payne's body still held an inexplicable attraction for her, so she didn't resist much and obediently sat in the Payne chair.
When she leaned against that broad chest, her inner turmoil was indeed relieved quite a bit.
It feels so good to have someone to rely on.
"Xiao En."
"Ok?"
"Um... I want to apologize to you."
Xiao En turned to look at Payne. "What are you apologizing for?"
“It’s just… what I did with Ella in front of you… and stuff…” Payne scratched his head.
Xiao En looked him up and down. "Oh...so you're saying that it wasn't an oversight, but intentional?"
After a few seconds of silence, Payne nodded. "...Yes."
Chapter 163 CLXII. The Root of the Treasure
Somewhat to Paine's surprise, Shawn didn't seem too displeased. Instead, he asked, "You said you did it to treat Ella, is that true?"
“That’s true, of course.” He nodded. “However, I can actually treat her behind your back…”
“In that case, I have nothing more to say.” Xiao En interrupted him, then turned her head away. “I believe you, and I agree with what you said about Ella needing treatment.”
"Besides, the trench is only so big, so it would be difficult for you to treat Ella while carrying us on your back."