Beauty and the Beasts

Winston said, “There are many bubbles in iron that had just been forged. During the process of battering it, the bubbles were squeezed out, hence making the iron much firmer and heavier.”

“I see.” Bai Qingqing was enlightened. She was certain that this wasn’t the iron she knew from her world.

Perhaps it might not even be iron. Who knows.

This metal was highly likely to be a material that didn’t even exist on Earth.

But since this wasn’t Earth, looking from Earth’s perspective, this was a material that existed in outer space, so the fact that there were differences shouldn’t be surprising.

“Is this the mechanism?”

Bai Qingqing found the protruding part on the iron arm and pulled it to one side, and the arm closed to form the proper shape. She asked strangely, “This is so high. How do you touch this?”

Parker cast a strange look back at her, before raising his arm and saying, “We have accessory nails.”

“Accessory nails?” As Bai Qingqing stared at him, and a layer of golden fur suddenly formed over Parker’s arm. A beast finger extended from the inner side of his forearm, upon which there was a fingernail that resembled a lethal hook of under ten centimeters.

Bai Qingqing widened her eyes. “Eh?”

Parker said, “Why do you not even know this? You said there were wild beasts in your world. They should have accessory nails as well. These accessory nails are really useful.”

If used adequately, it could even be used to claim the lives of their opponents. Especially when it came to the climbing of trees, accessory nails could fix one’s body in place. Even when he was in human form, he would occasionally transform into half-beast form to utilize these accessory nails.

This was truly Bai Qingqing’s first time hearing of something like this. She grabbed Parker’s accessory nail and started studying it.

“I haven’t seen that many wild beasts in my world before coming here. Ah, no, what I meant is that I’ve never seen wild beasts. Although we raise a dog at home, I never noticed it had such an accessory nail.”

Recalling the golden retriever in her home, the fascinated Bai Qingqing suddenly had an urge to go back and check if it had this thing.

It was too bizarre to see an accessory nail appear on his human arm. Bai Qingqing urged him, “Transform into your full beast form and show me. Why have I never noticed this before?”

Parker immediately transformed into a leopard. With fur covering his legs, the accessory nails were nowhere to be seen.

Bai Qingqing felt around for a good while, before finally locating that slim and sharp accessory nail on his calves. It was so well concealed that it was no wonder she never realized it was there all along.

“Winston, do you have that as well?” asked Bai Qingqing.

Winston smiled and transformed into a tiger as well, then raised his front claws to show Bai Qingqing. He even considerately curled up his accessory nail to make it more apparent.

Tiger beastmen’s accessory nails were much shorter than leopards. But they were very thick and gave off the impression of strength.

As for leopards, theirs were sharp and suitable for gripping onto objects.

“Since you’ve made iron claws, why don’t we go out and have fun? Let Parker take care of the food today,” suggested Bai Qingqing.

Roar! Parker instantly agreed. His four limbs stepped into the iron claws, and, using his accessory nail, the iron claws closed up immediately.

Winston didn’t object to it as well. He got up and put on a large piece of animal skin clothing on Bai Qingqing, and also wrapped An’an firmly. He said, “Let’s all go as a family. The cubs will follow closely to me. Don’t run about. The wild beasts of this period are the most ferocious.”

Roar! The little leopards roared in excitement as they repeatedly nodded their leopard heads.

The phrase “as a family” stirred Bai Qingqing’s heart. She looked towards the family of figurines on the stone table and lamented with a sigh. “Too bad Curtis hasn’t woken up yet.”

The floor underneath trembled due to abrasion forces. With her dull senses, Bai Qingqing didn’t notice. However, Parker and Winston instantly detected the movement underneath their feet.

“Something’s underneath the slab stone,” Winston declared with certainty.

Bai Qingqing’s mouth widened, as though something suddenly occurred to her.

The curtain was being lifted from outside. Before they got a glimpse of who it was, they heard a voice. “Who said I’m not awake yet?”