Chapter 21: Iron-Eating Beast
An involuntary shudder ran down Su Wudeng’s spine, her heart hammering violently against her ribs. Amber shifted instantly, stepping in front of her to shield her completely.
The next second, several blurry silhouettes materialized at the edge of her vision. They carefully poked their heads over a distant ridge, watching the perimeter with intense vigilance. They were virtually invisible to the naked eye, prompting Su Wudeng to immediately activate her smart glasses.
The moment the data registered on her lenses, she caught her breath.
Wait, those are… Huskies?
They were indeed huskies, but they were entirely different from Amber. These wild huskies radiated raw power and majesty, their eyes cold and dripping with a chilling, savage aura. Their optical centers flashed in the shadows like embers from hell.
Amber’s reaction was immediate and fierce. Every hair on his body stood on end as he bared his teeth, letting out a low, menacing snarl. Yet, Su Wudeng could feel his massive frame trembling slightly against her.
After a tense standoff, an exceptionally burly husky slowly stepped forward from the pack. It was clearly the leader. Its coat was a striking silver-gray, and a sharp, V-shaped white patch of fur across its chest was particularly eye-catching. If the wild huskies behind it were a size larger than Amber, this leader was easily two sizes larger. Its limbs were thick and powerful, and its gaze cut through the air like a blade.
Its heavy, dominating gaze locked onto Amber. “Amber, you’ve truly degraded yourself. You actually signed a contract with a human?”
Amber let out a sharp, defiant roar. “What does that have to do with you!” He lowered his posture further, aggressively stepping forward.
A flash of wariness flickered in the leader’s sharp eyes, and he let out a low rumble. He cast one final, deep look at Amber before turning on his heel and vanishing into the brush. The other huskies followed instantly, retreating into the woods until they disappeared completely.
Drenched in cold sweat, Su Wudeng only now belatedly realized the sheer danger they had just faced. As the tension drained from the clearing, she pulled Amber into a tight embrace, gently stroking his head. “Do you know them?”
Amber lowered his head, his posture turning visibly deflated. “Yeah. That was my old pack.”
Su Wudeng felt a sharp pang of heartache, like a knife twisting in her chest. So Amber, just like the puppies he had rescued, had been callously abandoned by his own tribe. Recalling the sheer majesty and terrifying power of the wild pack compared to the deflated hound currently tucked against her chest, her heart ached so fiercely she could safely barely speak. She tightened her arms, holding him close for a long time.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered softly. “From this day forward, as long as I have a bite to eat, you will never go hungry. I am never abandoning you.”
For the first time since they had met, the chaotic dog didn’t argue or try to act funny. He simply rubbed his face heavily against hers, letting out a low, quiet whimper.
“Alright, let’s keep moving,” Su Wudeng said, gently releasing him. “We still need to track down the Iron-Eating Beast.”
She watched him walk ahead. Just how small and defenseless must he have been when his own blood abandoned him? He had been forced to survive entirely on his own in this lethal wilderness, violently fighting for food during his evolutionary transition period when his body needed energy the most. He had even managed to forge a bitter feud with an Iron-Eating Beast. No, probably not just one. She couldn’t begin to imagine the trials he had endured to grow into the magnificent blade-master he was today. And on top of that, he had systematically gathered and raised every single abandoned pup he crossed paths with.
She reached out, patting his plush head again. In the past, she had always considered Amber a massive dog. But after seeing his untamed kin, she realized he was a whole size smaller than the pack’s baseline.
Amber looked up at his owner, entirely bewildered by her sudden, overwhelming tenderness. “Woof, woof!” Stay alert! he barked, snapping her out of it. They were about to officially breach the dangerous inner perimeter of the primeval forest.
Inside the virtual live stream room, the comment section had already gone completely feral.
“Holy crap! That pack of huskies was terrifying! A literal army of alpha wolves!”
“My heart stopped when Amber threw himself in front of the shopkeeper!”
“Waaah, I’m crying right now. Amber is so incredibly brave!”
“Amber, Amber, Amber! You are the absolute best!”
The immersive holographic feed made the viewers feel as though they were physically trapped in the clearing, surrounded by a savage pack. Seeing Amber instinctively act as her shield touched their hearts deeply. They desperately wanted a husky of their own now—a fierce, loyal defender just like him!
“So the shopkeeper is definitely selling husky puppies, right?! The ones in the trailer must be huskies!”
“The user above is going to be disappointed. I’m a professional researcher of companion beasts, and I can state with absolute certainty that huskies are hyper-communal pack animals. It is biologically impossible for a lone renegade to raise a litter of them. The puppies in the teaser are definitely a different breed!”
“Seriously? No way! I want a husky!”
“I don’t buy it. If they’re a pack animal, why did Amber leave his tribe in the first place?”
“Yeah, Amber is visibly a husky.”
The expert fired off another explanatory comment: “Amber is likely a statistical anomaly—an outcast rejected by the main pack for some underlying genetic or behavioral defect. In short, he’s a rare accident. The puppies he’s sheltering are almost certainly a different canine variant. The shopkeeper just lucked out by finding him. Let’s not set our expectations too high.”
The clinical analysis instantly caused a chorus of dramatic mourning to flood the chat.
“Waaah, we really got our hopes up for nothing.”
“I refuse to accept this! I refuse!”
“I want a husky so bad!”
“Amber usually looks so comically stupid, but the exact second he stepped up to protect his tamer, he was a total badass!”
“Right?! I am dying of pure jealousy right now!”
Suddenly, a flashing red comment scrolled across the top—a high-tier contribution from a wealthy premium user: “Forget the baseline pets. Let’s wait and see if the shopkeeper can actually source an animal capable of a formal contract! Sedge-tier cubs are nice to look at, but a contract beast would change the entire paradigm of the modern sector.”
The prospect of a living contract beast sent a wave of electric hype through the stream.
“That actually makes sense. Amber and the shopkeeper communicate flawlessly. Either she possesses a mythical innate talent, or…”
“They’ve already finalized a soul-contract!”
“You guys are delusional. How could an ordinary merchant finalize a contract?”
“What if she’s just an expert on canine psychology?”
“No way! Did you see how fiercely Amber shielded her? They are definitely soul-bound!”
“I’ll drop fifty credits right now betting that this isn’t a standard human-pet relationship!”
The mere implication of a living contract beast sent the broader Star Network into an absolute frenzy, with related topics rapidly hijacking the top trending slots.
#AuthenticPetContracts# #HasShopkeeperSuBoundWithAmber# #TheMajestyOfAmberTheHusky# #IsShopkeeperSuALivingBeastmaster#
The sudden influx of viral topics left the general public who hadn’t tuned into the stream entirely baffled. What the hell is going on? Why is this Shopkeeper Su hijacking the charts again? A living contract? Is everyone insane? High-tier contract beasts are mythical rarities reserved for elite military commanders. How could a bottom-tier retail clerk possibly get her hands on one? It’s pure clickbait marketing! I refuse to believe it! The corporate marketing algorithms were getting out of hand.
Deep within the primeval forest, the air grew increasingly thick with the heavy scent of damp earth. Sunlight struggled to breach the interlocking canopy, casting long, fractured shadows across the floorboards of the wilderness.
Suddenly, a dark, crimson splatter on the leaves caught Su Wudeng’s attention.
“Wait,” she whispered, crouching down to scrutinize the trail.
It’s blood. Her chest tightened.
The dark red stains marring the foliage and soil had already begun to coagulate into a deep black crust. Amber trotted over, sniffing the air with absolute vigilance. “It’s old,” he rumbled mentally. “At least half a day.”
A barrage of tactical scenarios flashed through her mind. Had an apex beast been severely wounded during a territorial clash? Or was this the aftermath of a lethal hunt? If so, where was the carcass? This could either be a golden opportunity or an absolute death trap.
“Amber, let’s track the blood trail.”
Su Wudeng reasoned that wandering aimlessly through an endless primeval wilderness was a waste of resources. Now that they held a tangible breakthrough point, pushing deeper was their best tactical move. At worst, she could just execute an emergency system exit.
Amber nodded, locking into high-alert scouting mode. His large ears twitched constantly, capturing every micro-frequency in the brush as his sharp blue eyes scanned the shadows. Seeing his absolute focus, Su Wudeng felt a profound wave of security. It turned out that when a husky dropped the clown act and got serious, he was incredibly commanding.
As they followed the crimson trail, the splatters grew denser, and the thick, coppery scent of fresh blood hung heavily in the air.
Suddenly, a faint, muffled cry pierced the silence.
“Woo woo…”
The sound was so incredibly delicate it was nearly imperceptible, but Amber’s acute hearing locked onto it instantly. He froze mid-step, turning to Su Wudeng. “There’s a voice. Did you catch that? It sounds like an infant cub.”
Su Wudeng lacked his heightened physical senses, but she carefully advanced a few paces along the bloodline. Sure enough, a rhythmic, fragile whimpering became audible. A short distance ahead, a thick patch of wild grass vibrated subtly, indicating something was nestled inside.
Amber stepped forward, his teeth bared in a defensive snarl. As his massive paw carefully swept the grass aside, both human and dog froze in absolute astonishment.
“Oh my god…” Su Wudeng gasped, her breath catching.
Two tiny, newborn animal cubs were huddled together in the dirt, their miniature coats stained with fresh blood. It was blindingly obvious they had been born only hours ago.
Amber’s eyes went wide. “Newborn runts! And they’re Iron-Eating Beasts!”
The two little creatures clung to one another, letting out weak, raspy cries. Their voices had gone completely hoarse from hours of desperate screaming for their mother.
Su Wudeng’s gaze darted across the clearing. “Where is the mother beast? Where did she go?”
She couldn’t help but marvel at her own bizarre luck. This was the second time she had casually stumbled onto a litter of abandoned infants in the wilderness. Seriously, the abandonment rate on this continent was getting ridiculous.
Curiously, these two cubs differed slightly from the standard Iron-Eating Beast specifications. One of them sported a unique, circular ring pattern around its eyes.
Listening to their fading, desperate whimpers, Su Wudeng snapped into action. “They’re starving!” She frantically reached into her tactical backpack, retrieving the specialized milk bottle she had initially prepared for Amber.
Amber, who usually threw an absolute tantrum if a single snack was moved from his cabinet, didn’t react at all. He simply stood by her side, his muscles tense with anxiety as he watched Su Wudeng meticulously nurse the fragile newborns. The two tiny pandas greedily latched onto the bottle, swallowing the warm liquid as if it were a divine elixir.
Watching them inhale the food, both human and tamer let out a long breath of relief.
Amber leaned down, carefully sniffing the sleeping cubs. “They’re incredibly weak. Logically, a mother beast would never abandon her litter so soon after labor. Something is deeply wrong out here.”
It wasn’t just wrong; it was a glaring red flag. Su Wudeng scanned the immediate perimeter, noting that the volume of blood pooled in the dirt was far too massive to be from a basic birth. The mother panda had clearly delivered her offspring right on this spot. Under what cataclysmic scenario would an apex predator abandon her own flesh and blood to vanish into the wild? A heavy dread settled in her stomach.
Having filled their tiny bellies, the two little pandas finally quieted down, curling into a tight, warm pile as they drifted into a deep sleep. Su Wudeng gently stroked their plush coats, feeling the fragile warmth of their bodies.
“How incredibly tragic… losing their mother the exact second they enter the world.”
If she and Amber hadn’t navigated onto this path, these two fragile lives would have quietly expired in the brush, or worse, served as an easy meal for a wandering predator.
Amber gently nudged them with his nose. “Their vitals are stabilizing, but they are far too small.”
Well, they were newborns; of course they were small.
Su Wudeng found herself locked in deep hesitation. Should she initiate an emergency return to the shop right now to properly stabilize these two Iron-Eating Beasts, or should she push deeper into the forest to investigate the anomaly? While the cubs were devastatingly precious, they were newborns; they couldn’t immediately resolve Yulan’s academic crisis. Seducing a fully matured apex predator was still her primary objective.
She couldn’t help but chuckle internally at the absurdity of her situation. She had just taken in a litter of chaotic husky puppies, and now she was holding two newborn pandas. Was the universe treating her pet shop like a maternity ward? She was rapidly transforming into a professional interstellar nanny.
Inside the live feed, the chat room was scrolling with intense worry.
“Oh my god! What class of cubs are those? They’re so tiny they look like plush toys!”
“The shopkeeper seems to recognize the breed! Shopkeeper, read the chat and give us an identification!”
“They look so incredibly fragile…”
“Where the hell is the mother? Why would an apex predator leave her litter?”
“Look at that blood pool. Could it have been a fatal labor complication? This is terrifying!”
“Thank goodness she found them! Shopkeeper Su’s timing is miraculous!”
“Maternal instinct is an absolute law in the wilderness. A mother sovereign never abandons her offspring unless she’s backed into a desperate corner…”
“Becoming orphans the second they’re born… those poor babies!”
“Wait… look at the environment. Doesn’t anyone realize the shopkeeper is currently deep within an active danger zone?”
“Exactly. A mother beast doesn’t just vanish.”
“Unless she ran into an existential threat.”
“My anxiety is peaking right now. What’s going to happen next?!”
Su Wudeng stared down at the sleeping infants, watching their tiny paws twitch subtly as they dreamt.
Amber slowly stepped closer, his mental voice dropping to a sharp, tense register. “If a creature as terrifyingly powerful as an Iron-Eating Beast was forced to abandon her own litter… Master, we are dealing with something catastrophic. If we push forward, we must maximize our defensive protocols.”
Suddenly, a massive barrage of high-visibility, crimson warning comments completely flooded her streaming hud.
“SHOPKEEPER, LOOK OUT! THERE ARE RED EYES IN THE BRUSH BEHIND YOU!”
“MY GOD! SHOPKEEPER, LOOK REARWARD RIGHT NOW!”
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING? IT’S ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING!”
Su Wudeng, still holding the cubs, felt her entire chest violently tighten. A freezing chill raced up her spine. The ambient air in the clearing seemed to turn thick and heavy, as if thousands of invisible neural threads had wrapped tightly around her limbs, completely paralyzing her ability to move. Every hair on her body stood on end, an absolute, paralyzing wave of pure predatory lock-on washing over her consciousness.
She stiffly, slowly raised her chin, her throat closing up with fear.
Deep within the dense shadows of the ancient trees, a pair of blood-red optical centers was staring straight down her throat.
Before the encounter, the millions of viewers watching safely behind their screens could still frantically type out warnings. But the exact second that terrifying, savage glare focused onto the lens, the entire live chat fell into a suffocating, dead silence. Not a single user dared to type a word.
Inside the dense brush, the massive silhouette took one slow, deliberate step forward. The sharp sound of a branch snapping beneath its weight echoed like a gunshot through the silent forest.
Do I run, or do I stand my ground?
Su Wudeng could clearly hear the thunderous pounding of her own pulse against her eardrums.
The next microsecond, the apex beast fully emerged from the shadows.
It was a fully matured, adult Iron-Eating Beast!
No! Something was wrong slips!
Su Wudeng realized the coppery scent of fresh blood in the air had just intensified exponentially. And the source of that overwhelming stench was radiating directly from the massive panda before her. It was blindingly obvious: this fully grown sovereign was the biological mother of the two infants cradled in her arms!
The colossal frame of the Iron-Eating Beast slowly materialized, its physical dimensions absolutely terrifying. Its eyes were a storm of pure, unadulterated hostility and savage warning, locked dead onto Su Wudeng. Yet, it refrained from launching an immediate execution strike, entirely bottlenecked by the fact that the human was currently holding its newborn offspring.
Su Wudeng was practically vibrating with nervous sweat. Holy crap, the tension was suffocating. She had just finished rescuing the starving runts, and now the alpha mother had returned and caught her red-handed. How on earth was she supposed to explain this?
“Hey, look, I’m actually a nice person! I was just saving your starving babies!”
“I saw them crying alone in the dirt and wanted to provide them with premium medical care!”
Would a wild apex predator buy a narrative like that? Look at the sheer, explosive fury burning in that panda’s eyes. It was ready to tear her limb from limb.
Su Wudeng found herself trapped in a lethal dilemma. If she dropped the cubs onto the dirt right now, the mother beast might seize the opening to blitz forward and obliterate her instantly. But if she refused to let them go, her only survival option would be to execute an emergency system exit and transport the infants back to her shop—which would permanently separate the mother from her offspring, forging an eternal, deadly blood feud with an absolute powerhouse of the continent.
How was she supposed to choose?
Amber had already thrown himself in front of her, his plush silver-blue coat completely bristling as he bared his fangs. Recognizing the massive creature, he barked frantically, “Aihua! Aihua, calm down! We don’t mean any harm!”
But the fully grown panda appeared to have completely lost her capacity for reason, her consciousness entirely consumed by primal fury as she ignored Amber’s mental voice. Her bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Su Wudeng and the bundles in her arms, the raw, bloodthirsty intent in her glare intensifying by the microsecond.
Amber grew increasingly frantic. “Seriously, look at the situation! Don’t misunderstand us! We simply felt the cubs’ distress and assumed you had fallen in battle, so we stepped in to keep them alive! Do you hear me?! If you keep pushing forward with that attitude, don’t blame me for unsheathing my blade!” Amber huffed aggressively.
Unfortunately, Aihua was locked in a state of absolute, unhinged rage; the mental barks couldn’t pierce her focus. She slowly, methodically advanced step by step, her muscles coiling as she calculated the absolute best angle to launch an execution strike—an angle that would cleanly deflate the human thief without harming her newborns.
Su Wudeng felt her heart hammering so violently it threatened to burst from her chest cavity. I’m dead. This is the end.
On the other side of the monitor, the netizens locked under Aihua’s terrifying gaze went completely feral:
“It’s a catastrophic misunderstanding!”
“She’s completely blind with rage; she’s not going to listen to a single word of explanation!”
“This Iron-Eating Beast is a nightmare. Her entire consciousness is running on pure, protective maternal adrenaline!”
“We’re doomed, we’re doomed. This is an absolute disaster…”
“Is the shopkeeper going to get wiped out live on stream?!”
Facing the apex predator directly, Su Wudeng’s entire body was locked in rigid paralysis. This was her first time standing face-to-face with a fully matured wild sovereign at point-blank range. Aihua’s predatory focus felt physical, anchoring her every micro-movement.
“As expected of a top-tier terrestrial predator… when a giant panda actually bares its fangs, the pressure is catastrophic.”
What do I do?
The two infants in her arms were fast asleep, completely content. But their mother was a ticking time bomb of pure lethal intent, desperate to paint the grass with her blood.
The colossal panda took another massive step forward.
Right then, Su Wudeng’s eyes locked onto a horrific, jagged scar slashing across its torso. A massive, deep laceration cleaved through the panda’s abdomen, thick crimson blood still slowly oozing from the raw flesh. Su Wudeng sucked in a sharp breath, her expression shifting instantly.
This wasn’t a superficial wound; it was a brutal tear mark left behind after a savage clash with a rival sovereign. In other words, this pregnant mother panda, while actively on the verge of labor, had been forced to engage in a life-or-death battle for her territory. Her特殊 assailant had been a creature of an equal, devastating tier.
And yet, despite the trauma, she had managed to fight her way out alive? Worse, she had likely delivered her litter right in the middle of that physical crisis!
Analyzing the variables, Su Wudeng’s heart ached. This Iron-Eating Beast was terrifyingly resilient. Tracking the coagulation of the blood trail, she realized the labor had concluded hours ago. This meant the mother panda had deliberately initiated a high-speed sprint immediately after giving birth, using her own bleeding body as a decoy to lead the predators away and secure her cubs’ hiding spot. The exact second she neutralized the threat, she had completely ignored her own failing structural integrity, dragging her broken body straight back to verify her babies’ safety.
Aside from her innate physical power, the only force supporting her frame was absolute, indomitable maternal love.
But right now, the parameters were deteriorating at a terrifying rate. Aihua’s physical trauma was rapidly catching up to her; blood was continuously leaking from the abdominal gash, forming a fresh pool of dark red in the grass. Her respiration grew increasingly shallow and frantic, broken by low, agonizing growls of physical agony.
Under ordinary circumstances, Su Wudeng would have parsed those growls as a predatory threat. But looking closely now, she realized the Iron-Eating Beast was running on absolute fumes, holding her frame together through sheer force of will. Her steps began to stagger visibly, her massive body shivered uncontrollably as she absorbed waves of immense physical pain.
“If she doesn’t receive immediate stabilization, this mother panda is going to bleed out and die right in front of us!”
“Her stamina is entirely depleted. She is currently tethered to this world solely by her obsession to protect her litter!”
She couldn’t delay for another second. The crisis had hit a critical tipping point. If she didn’t administer emergency stabilization immediately, the mother panda would expire. If that happened, forget about securing an alliance; the two newborns would become permanent orphans in a lethal wilderness.
The wounds seen by Su Wudeng were also seen by the audience in the live broadcast room.
“Oh my God, this giant panda is an absolute hero!”
“She literally fought an army of predators, ran a decoy sprint, and dragged herself back just to check on her babies.”
“She didn’t even have a single second to tend to her own bleeding torso.”
“Waaah, I’m bawling right now. The depth of a mother’s love is truly magnificent…”
“Shopkeeper, please! Stabilize her right now!”
“Quick, think of a tactical solution! You can’t just let her die in the dirt!”
Su Wudeng was of course thinking of a way.
What she had to do now was not to anger the mother beast. However, from the exact microsecond she had scooped up the infants, she had been hard-coded as a thief attempting to plunder her litter right in front of her face. Yet, ironically, if she hadn’t been holding the cubs as a psychological shield, the alpha panda would have likely blitzed forward and vaporized her the instant she crossed the threshold. An ambush launched by an apex predator from the shadows was no joke.
“She’s terrified of deploying her full destructive capabilities because I’m holding her babies,” Su Wudeng reasoned. “I only have one tactical path left.”
Taking a deep, stabilizing breath, Su Wudeng forced her voice to project across the clearing. “Aihua…”
Before she even realized it, her throat had turned painfully dry, her voice sounding incredibly hoarse. She cleared her throat gently, maintaining a steady, non-threatening cadence. “Calm down, Aihua.”
“I am genuinely here to help you.”
She carefully, slowly pushed her arms forward, presenting the bundles. “Look at them. They are fast asleep and perfectly content. They’ve just finished a full meal; their little bellies are completely rounded.”
The proximity of her offspring seemed to pierce through the mother panda’s defensive adrenaline, triggering her core instincts. Aihua froze mid-step, her red optical centers shifting focus to settle directly onto the sleeping cubs. She had fully believed the human was a predator attempting to harm her litter, but looking at them now, they were peacefully sleeping, entirely uninjured and well-fed.
Seeing the strategy working, Su Wudeng pressed her advantage. “I am going to place your babies safely onto the grass right now. But you need to cooperate; your abdominal trauma is catastrophic, and we must seal that wound immediately.”
“Don’t worry, I have absolutely zero intention of harming them. I am lowering them down now.”
Su Wudeng slowly, methodically bent her knees, sinking into a deep squat, her muscles tightly coiled as she remained prepared for a sudden reflex attack from the sovereign. Beside her, Amber let out a low, vibrating rumble, shifting his body to mirror her movements. Su Wudeng could see that the mother beast had entirely exhausted her cognitive functions; her entire consciousness was now running on a single, hyper-focused loop: secure the cubs.
The exact millisecond she carefully, gently deposited the two little pandas onto the soft grass, Amber violently leaped into the gap, positioning his massive frame as a physical bulkhead between Su Wudeng and the cubs, guarding her completely as they executed a rapid tactical retreat.
Aihua’s hostile glare softened a fraction, her focus shifting entirely to her offspring. Terrified that the humans might execute a sudden feint, she frantically lunged forward toward her babies. But the explosive, sudden movement violently tore her abdominal gash completely open. A fresh torrent of crimson blood gushed from the wound, painting the grass.
The intense, coppery stench of fresh blood exploded across the clearing in an instant. Su Wudeng’s face drained of color.
“This is bad!”
“A blood scent this concentrated is going to attract every single predator in the sector!”
The mother panda’s desperate, self-destructive movements had saturated the ambient air with the ultimate hunting lure. If they lingered in this clearing for another minute, a wave of hostile apex beasts would inevitably converge on their position!
How was a completely exsanguinated, dying mother panda supposed to protect her newborns then?
The millions of viewers locked onto the live feed realized the catastrophic shift in parameters instantly, the chat feed scrolling at a manic velocity:
“The coppery scent is too dense! It’s going to trigger a sector-wide predatory feeding frenzy! It’s too dangerous!”
“My God, deploy a solution right now!”
“Shopkeeper, hit the emergency exit! Run! Abandon the map right now!”
“No way! If she leaves, this mother and her babies are guaranteed to be entirely wiped out!”
