The Hunger Games

When food became the only desire, loyalty and instinct clashed in a fight to the death, and the iron cages became the cruelest proving ground.

"Clang—"

As the last iron bars slammed shut, Lin Mo and Wang Keke were locked alone in a slightly smaller isolation cage. Then the young heirs and their battle pets in the other cages were separated in the same way.

"Listen up, you little brats!" Scarred Blood Wolf's voice came through the loudspeaker on the cage, tinged with mockery. "The next event is called 'sharing hardship.' Don't worry, there's plenty of water. You won't die of thirst."

Before he had even finished speaking, several mercenaries carried buckets over and roughly poured murky, cold water through the gaps beneath the cages, filling the single battered trough in each isolation cage. Water splashed everywhere, carrying the smell of rust and dust.

And then... nothing.

No food. Nothing else at all. Just cold iron cages, murky drinking water, and the battle pets beside them, growing increasingly restless from hunger.

On the first day, the atmosphere was still fairly "harmonious."

Most of the battle pets were hungry enough for their stomachs to growl, but they could still manage to lie beside their handlers or pace restlessly around the cramped cages. They looked at their handlers with eyes still full of dependence and confusion.

Wang Keke wrapped her arms tightly around Lin Mo's neck and whispered, "Mimi, are they trying to starve us to death?" Her voice trembled.

Lin Mo licked her cold hand and sent a soothing thought through their mental link: They're testing us. They want to see how battle pets treat their handlers when they're hungry. He sneered inwardly. For someone like him, with the soul of an adult, the trick was obvious.

He noticed that most of the battle pets wore specially made metal collars that suppressed their energy, or had their limbs restricted by loose but tough leather restraints. They had clearly been designed to keep the pets from suddenly attacking anyone while still leaving them some "freedom of movement."

On the second day, their agitation began to escalate.

Hunger gnawed at the reason of every living creature like a maggot burrowing into bone. The cages filled with a chorus of low growls and whines from the battle pets, their voices full of frustration and hunger. Their eyes no longer looked so innocent as they watched their handlers. There was a hint of scrutiny now, of... appraisal.

The Tracking Hound belonging to the Li Family began pawing at the floor nonstop, drool running from its mouth as it fixed its eyes on its handler—the boy who had fainted before. The terrified boy huddled in a corner and pushed his pitifully small share of water toward the Tracking Hound. His voice broke as he said, "Ah Huang, drink. Have more... Don't—don't look at me like that..."

Another Flame Hound let out a threatening growl at its handler, a fairly composed young heir of the Wang Family, as if blaming him for not conjuring food out of thin air.

Things were even worse for Wang Xiao. His Iron-Claw Wolf had already been seething with resentment after the earlier electric-shock test. Now, driven by hunger, it bared its teeth at him and rumbled continuously in its throat, its growls brimming with hostility. If not for the suppressing collar and its restraints, it would probably have lunged at him already.

Wang Xiao's face was deathly pale. He tried in vain to soothe it with words, only to be met with even fiercer growls.

On the third day, the veneer of humanity and the illusion of domestication began to be mercilessly torn away by extreme hunger.

Despair hung over every isolation cage.

"Ah—!" A piercing scream rang out from one of the cages.

It was the Li Family girl with the Phantom White Fox! Somehow, the fox had partially broken free of its restraints on its forelegs. Like a white ghost, it sprang at the girl!

It was no longer a pet that only knew how to act cute. Its eyes glinted with wild, ravenous hunger as it opened its jaws, bared its sharp teeth, and sank them into the girl's shoulder!

It had mistaken its handler for food!

"Help! Let go of me! Little White! It's me!" The girl struggled desperately, screaming in anguish.

The mercenaries outside the cage watched coldly. Only after blood seeped from the girl's shoulder did Lone Wolf gesture. A mercenary quickly opened the cage door and drove the frenzied fox back with an electric baton before tightening its restraints again.

"Record this: Phantom White Fox. Under hunger, displayed clear cannibalistic behavior toward its handler." Lone Wolf's voice was utterly flat.

The scene was like a spark, setting off conflicts in several other cages.

The Tracking Hound finally lost control and lunged at its handler. Though the collar held it back, it still knocked the boy to the ground and frantically licked and gnawed at his clothes and skin, trying to find somewhere it could bite.

The Flame Hound gave its handler a faint growl. Though the suppressing collar weakened it, the sound still frightened him.

Wang Xiao's Iron-Claw Wolf was even more frenzied, slamming into the cage again and again with Wang Xiao as its target. Its gaze made it clear that it wanted to tear him to pieces!

Screams, pleas for mercy, the battle pets' roars, and the clang of bodies crashing into iron cages... They blended into a symphony of despair.

Only the cage holding Lin Mo and Wang Keke seemed entirely out of place.

Wang Keke was famished too. Her little face was pale and her lips were cracked, but she still huddled close to Lin Mo. His stomach burned with hunger as well, yet his powerful will was enough to suppress his instincts.

Not only did he show no aggression, he shielded Wang Keke even more securely beneath the shelter of his body and wings. From time to time, he even licked her cracked lips and nudged his share of the water toward her with his nose. His amber eyes were full of reassurance and resolve.

When weakness left Wang Keke somewhat dazed, he would rouse her with a low rumble, sending simple thoughts through their mental link: Hang in there. I'm here.

His behavior stood in stark contrast to the battle pets around them, which had fallen into madness and betrayal.

The Blood Wolf Mercenaries outside the cage were paying more and more attention to them.

"Boss, see that?" Lone Wolf said quietly to Scarred Blood Wolf, pointing at Lin Mo. "Three days without food, and when faced with a helpless handler, he shows no aggression or sign of abandoning her. He's even actively protecting her. This Winged Tiger's loyalty is astonishing! Simple domestication can't explain it. He's practically... human!"

Scarred Blood Wolf's single eye gleamed as if he had found a rare treasure. "Excellent! This is the kind of 'seed' we really need! Record it and mark it as a priority!"

As Lin Mo played along, he watched the mercenaries outside with cold eyes. When they recorded the other battle pets' "misdeeds," he saw scorn and disgust in their gazes. But when they observed him, their eyes burned with the sort of fascination reserved for a perfect creation.

Seed? Suspicion filled Lin Mo. What do they plan to do with these "loyal" battle pets? It can't be as simple as selling them or keeping them for themselves!

Just then, Wang Keke swayed from extreme weakness and dehydration, nearly collapsing.

Lin Mo immediately let out an anxious growl and propped her up with his head so she wouldn't fall. Then he raised his head and roared furiously at the mercenaries outside the cage. His meaning was clear: she needed food and water! Now!

His reaction drew Lone Wolf's and Scarred Blood Wolf's attention once more.

"That's enough," Scarred Blood Wolf said, waving a hand. "Give the girl and that white tiger something to eat and drink. Don't let them die. They're top students."

Soon, a small piece of compressed rations and a small bottle of clean water were tossed into Lin Mo and Wang Keke's cage.

Lin Mo didn't eat right away. Instead, he nudged the rations toward Wang Keke with his nose, then pushed the bottle in front of her with his paw, signaling for her to eat and drink first.

Wang Keke looked at the food and water that would save her life, then at Lin Mo, whose body was covered in wounds yet still protected her. Tears rolled down her cheeks in big drops as she struggled to swallow the rations.

Outside the cage, Lone Wolf watched the scene and wrote in his notebook:

[Mutated Winged Tiger, hunger test results: perfect. Handler first, unwavering will, loyalty: SS rank. Recommendation: priority cultivation, close observation.]

As Lin Mo carefully licked the tiny sip of water Wang Keke had shared with him, he glanced at the hellish scenes in the other cages and at the cold faces of the observers outside.

His unease only grew stronger. The test was far from over. And because of his "excellent" performance, he and Wang Keke seemed to have been pulled into an even deeper whirlpool.

He lowered his head and looked at Wang Keke in his arms. She was weak, but hope had begun to shine in her eyes again. He thought to himself, Girl, looks like there's no way we can keep our heads down and stay out of trouble. Those guys have their eyes on us.