I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield

Chapter 276: Chapter 265: Half Beastman, Xiong (Double Chapter) (Part 2)

Those who grabbed the energy bars clenched their spoils tightly, looking around vigilantly; the empty-handed ones, on the other hand, stared at the food in others’ hands with red eyes but didn’t dare to act recklessly.

In the corner, the half beastman picked up the two orange energy bars, tore open the packaging, and squeezed them directly into his mouth.

Idiot!

Seeing this, the other slaves couldn’t help but think to themselves, for the next three days, everyone has to rely on the energy bars in their hands to survive. If you eat all the energy bars now, what will you do for the next few days?

Half beastmen are just half beastmen

Clearly brainless

The room regained its previous calm.

Time passed, and the slaves, tired from the day, gradually fell into slumber.

Qin Tian closed his eyes, looking as if he were sleeping, but in reality, he was communicating secretly with the Poisonous Widow:

"Has the Bailie Hunt Mercenary Corps sent the coordinates for the rendezvous point?"

"Master, I just asked tentatively, and for now, they’ve only sent a route, but the exact location for the rendezvous is still uncertain. By the way, Master, how’s the environment on your side, do you want to come to my room?"

"No need, I can’t sleep with you nearby."

"Hehe, is it because you can’t sleep with a beauty next to you, due to excitement?"

"You’re overthinking, it’s mainly because you snore, your snoring is louder than my grandfather’s."

"I! Do! Not! Snore! (angrily)"

"Call ended, hanging up."

Qin Tian opened his eyes and chuckled.

This girl, her mischievousness hasn’t died, huh~

"Gurgle——"

A thunderous stomach rumble suddenly exploded in the cargo hold, causing the slaves nearby to instinctively shrink their necks. Qin Tian looked in the direction of the sound, only to see the half beastman Moluo f curled up in pain, his three-meter-tall body with his thick bear paw pressing tightly against his abdomen.

"Gurgle——"

"Gurgle——"

The series of stomach growls grew louder and louder, creating an eerie echo between the metal walls. The half beastman’s rugged face flushed unnaturally, beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his thick hair, and he hung his head in embarrassment, unable to control the protest noises from his body.

Starving to this extent?

Qin Tian raised an eyebrow slightly. He had checked the energy bars issued by the Star Thieves, each containing 10,000 calories, enough to sustain a normal adult male for two to three days. Even with a half beastman’s massive body, two bars should suffice for most of the day.

But now... it’s been less than three hours since the food distribution.

The giant in the corner was already curled up in hunger, his eyes fixed on the uneaten energy bars in other slaves’ hands, making suppressed swallowing noises, scaring them into clutching their energy bars tighter.

This metabolism...

Qin Tian thoughtfully rubbed the energy bar in his hand. Consuming such a large amount of energy after just a few hours of inactivity, it seems this half beastman’s body structure is far more unusual than it appears.

Snap——

Qin Tian suddenly stood up, and in the stunned gaze of the crowd, he walked over to the half beastman. With a flick of his wrist, two energy bars drew an arc in the air and landed steadily in the half beastman’s broad palm.

"Take it."

The entire cargo hold fell into an eerily quiet silence.

The slaves widened their eyes, staring at Qin Tian as if he were crazy—within this law of the jungle cage, someone would actually give away life-saving food to the most dangerous creature?

The half beastman slowly raised his head, with his thick fingers carefully grasping the two energy bars, afraid of inadvertently crushing them. His yellowish beast eyes trembled slightly, as if trying to deeply imprint Qin Tian’s face onto his retinas.

"Tha...ank you." The voice seemed to squeeze out from deep within his chest, carrying a rasping texture like sandpaper.

"Don’t get the wrong idea." Qin Tian waved his hand casually, "Your stomach was too loud, disturbing my sleep."

The half beastman was stunned for a moment, then suddenly grinned, revealing a smile on his furry face that seemed quite silly despite the expression typically being menacing:

"Xiong... my name is Xiong."

As expected.

Qin Tian glanced over his padded palms and his body covered in dense fur—this naming was so simple and crude that it was amusing.

Returning to the corner, countless gazes felt like thorns on his back.

There were mockeries seeing him as a fool, schadenfreude waiting to see him starve, and a few inscrutable inquiries.

Qin Tian ignored these gazes, casually leaning against the bulkhead.

"Gulpl——"

The sound of swallowing came clearly from behind. Xiong had already torn into the energy bars without properly peeling off the wrapping paper, his Adam’s apple moving violently. As the last bit of synthetic nutrient slipped into his stomach, the annoying rumbling from his abdomen finally ceased.

When Qin Tian inadvertently turned his head, he met Xiong’s gaze.

Those beastly eyes swirled with indescribable emotions, like a warm current suddenly flowing beneath a frozen lake surface.

The half-beastman clumsily nodded, wiping his mouth corner with his fur-covered hand, and a smile appeared once more on his face.

A few hours later

"Grrrr—"

"Grrr—"

Xiong’s stomach rumbled like an alarm clock, going off on schedule, waking those who were in a deep sleep, who looked at Xiong with eyes full of anger.

Damn, is it never-ending or what!

Qin Tian helplessly held his forehead; indeed, two energy bars could only temporarily satisfy the need, this guy’s body was simply a bottomless pit.

Really don’t know, how his father or mother managed to raise him to this size.

"Poisonous Widow."

Qin Tian communicated with Poisonous Widow using the Soul Seal.

"What’s the matter, Master."

A lazy voice came in his mind, as if it hadn’t woken up yet.

"I’ll come to your room."

"Really, Master, have you come to a decision?"

"What decision, don’t misuse words."

Qin Tian glanced at the half-beastman beside him, who was hungry and curling up, his eyes starting to redden, and said:

"Forget it, there’s no time, send someone with some stuff to my room."

"What stuff?"

"High-energy energy bars, compressed biscuits, many of them."

"Why prepare these, Master are you hungry, come to my room, I can personally cook a big meal for you."

"Not for me, but for a half-beastman beside me."

"...So my place in your heart is not even as good as a newly met half-beastman."

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and do it."

Just as Xiong’s breathing became heavier, and his beastly eyes began to show a dangerous glint, the metal door of the cargo hold suddenly emitted a "click" unlocking sound.

The heavy door slowly slid open, and a man wearing a Star Thief uniform pushed in a cart full of supplies.

His gaze quickly swept across the crowd, and the moment it met Qin Tian’s, it flickered slightly — it was the very Star Thief branded with a Soul Seal.

"These are extra for you, take them and eat."

He dumped out the whole box of supplies.

Clatter—

Hundreds of energy bars fell like raindrops, compressed biscuits of various packaging, and high-energy nutrient supplements rolled all over the metal floor. But before anyone else could react, a giant brown-black figure had already shot out like a cannonball.

"Roar—!"

Xiong let out a nearly beast-like howl, his three-meter-tall body showing astonishing agility. He lunged into the pile of supplies like a grizzly pouncing on a salmon run, stretching his strong arms to the limit, grabbing handfuls of energy bars into his embrace.

The sharp nails accidentally tore through some packaging, and sticky nutrition fluid covered his fur, but he didn’t notice.

Other slaves instinctively stepped back a few steps.

At that moment, the half-beastman was completely in a protective state, fangs exposed, emitting a low warning growl.

No one dared to approach at this time — a starving wild beast is ten times more dangerous than usual.

Xiong impatiently tore open the packaging, his sharp nails easily slicing through the hard composite membrane. He shoved whole handfuls of energy bars into his mouth, his canine teeth easily crunching the solid nutrition blocks, producing a "crack-crack" sound.

Sticky energy gel oozed from the corner of his mouth, which he quickly licked clean with his tongue.

As a large amount of high-energy substance entered his stomach, his emotions gradually stabilized, and when the last compressed biscuit was crushed and swallowed by his paw, the beastly eyes laced with blood finally cleared up.

"Burp—"

A satisfied burp echoed in the cargo hold.

Embarrassed, Xiong covered his mouth, cautiously looking around, and seeing that no one dared to mock him, he slowly retreated back to the corner, curling up like a satiated big grizzly.

He wiped his mouth with his fuzzy hand back, even remembering to gather the scattered packaging paper into a pile — this well-behaved look was completely different from the fierce beast guarding its food just moments ago.

But everyone noticed, when this three-meter-tall giant retreated to the corner, he deliberately stopped at a place closer to Qin Tian.