"Umm… I can explain?" I told Amber lamely, as if I was caught cheating.

She looked at the dogs who were still standing in front of me protectively, "Well… I would say that I'm surprised but… I guess I shouldn't be?"

I don't even have anything to say to that…

She sighed, "So what is this? Did you tame them somehow?"

"Honestly… It looks like they just really like me from the start… I didn't even do anything to them."

"Did you cook something for them?"

"I actually didn't… I gave them the packet of synthfood that the trader gave me to feed them and that's it… I couldn't find the opening to slot the bowls in and they look docile enough so I let them out."

"You just… Let them out of the cages just like that?"

"Yes?"

"They didn't attack you or anything like that? Or even try to run away?"

"No… In fact, they stayed inside their cages and only came out after I told them to. They didn't even start eating until I asked them to eat."

She looked at me, then at the dogs that were still growling at her, then back to me again.

"Tera… Could I just say… You are really awesome?"

Err… Thanks?

Amber took a step into the room and the golden retriever immediately took a step forward as well to growl at her.

Amber froze and I could see that her hand was reaching to her holster again.

"No, bad girl. Sit," I ordered.

Honestly, I wasn't really expecting it to listen to me and only just said that out of instinct.

The goldie actually took a step back and sat down on its haunches to look at me, completely losing interest in Amber.

The beagle was also looking at me, though it still stayed where it was as though waiting to see if I wanted her to stay on guard.

"Sit."

The beagle sat obediently, mirroring the goldie in watching me.

Huh… I guess someone trained them pretty well?

"Hey… I heard some noises coming from here… Is everything alright, bos-aaaahhhhh?!"

I looked up in time to see Ries peek into the room before letting out a scream and ducking back behind the doorway.

The two dogs turned towards the source of the noise but instead of barking after her, they remained where they were and stayed silent.

Amber looked at the two dogs with interest, "Wow… You actually tamed them completely Tera."

"I wouldn't even say I tamed them… I didn't even do anything special…"

"But they listen to you?"

"Yeah… And I don't know why either… They just seem to like me a lot for some reason…"

That was when I heard Lea's voice from the corridor, "Captain? What's going on? I heard Ries scream and… Oh…"

She froze beside Amber when she walked up to the doorway and saw the two dogs seated beside me.

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While the dogs continued to stare at me, Amber and I shifted our gaze to look at the Alv instead, who was just standing there in stunned silence.

Not gonna lie, it was rather amusing to see the usually composed Lea freeze up and go silent like that.

She then slowly lifted up a finger to point at the dogs, "Captain… The dogs… They're out of their cages…"

I took a moment to look at both dogs before turning back to her, "Yes, I can see that, Lea. What about it?"

"The dogs… They're out of their cages…"

"Yes they are, Lea."

"They're… Are they holding you hostage?"

I actually laughed out loud at that, "Ahahahaha! Does it look like they're holding me hostage?"

Unexpectedly, Lea nodded, "They do… Captain…"

Amber also nodded, "I'll have to agree with her as well, Tera. If I didn't see them obey your orders just now, I would be thinking they were holding you hostage too."

Ries then peeked around the corner right then, "Eh? Boss isn't being held hostage?"

Seriously girls… Just what kind of presumption do all of you have towards dogs to think like that?

I reached out and patted both of the dogs on the head, which made all three girls let out a gasp in unison as though they were expecting them to attack me the moment I touched them.

Obviously, that didn't happen and the two dogs even let out cute whines as they leaned into my hands, enjoying the scratches I was giving them.

"They're not holding me hostage, ok? Look, aren't they cute?"

Lea shuddered, "I apologise, Captain… But I cannot say that they look cute to me…"

Ries also nodded her head quickly, "I also think they look scary, Boss… How are you even doing that?"

Amber tilted her head, "I think most people would not think that they are cute, Tera… Like I could say you are cute but definitely not them…"

Huh… Why would they not think they are cute though? They're clearly so cute…

Oh well, maybe it's a different universe kind of thing where their standards of what is cute is very different from mine.

Well, as much as I wouldn't mind just spending the rest of the day patting them and just letting the dogs out of their cages, that would make the other three feel uneasy so I won't do that.

As cute as they are, I wasn't going to prioritise them over my crew members especially when they aren't part of my crew.

I pulled back my hands from the dogs and the two of them went back to watching me.

"Inside," I ordered while pointing at their cages.

Both of them obeyed and crawled back inside their cages immediately, laying down inside while I closed and locked the cages without making a sound.

Once they were secured I picked up the food and water bowls before standing up to face my crew, only to see them staring at me with wide eyes.

"I'm… Not seeing things, am I?" Ries muttered.

"No… I saw it clearly too…" Lea assured her.

"I have a hard time believing it and I've already seen her order them around just now…" Amber grimaced.

I raised an eyebrow at them, "Is this really that surprising though?"

Amber sighed, "Tera… Under normal circumstances, it's really hard to control them without a control collar… Even the best tamers would not be willing to be in the same room as an uncollared dog…"

I looked back at the dogs and neither of them had collars around their necks.

Amber must have realised what I was thinking and continued, "The client must have their own control collars that they will strap on them when they are delivered. I doubt they're suicidal enough to try and release these dogs without them."

I turned back to her, "I don't understand, are they really that scary? I mean sure, if they manage to catch you unawares or you were completely defenceless or that there's more of them, you would be in trouble. But I'm sure that if you're just up against a single dog, you could potentially overpower them instead?"

All three girls shared a look before turning back to me.

"Tera… I guess I can say quite confidently that I would be able to handle combat against a few dogs but… Normal Mercs wouldn't be able to do that," Amber muttered.

Lea nodded, "I would only be able to take them down if I had a good vantage point to snipe from and they don't know where I was shooting from…"

Ries shuddered again, "As for me… I guess I'd need to have a big weapon in my hand before I even think about fighting them head on and even then… I'm not actually sure if I would win."

What the heck? How tough are the dogs in this universe?

"Wait but… A well placed shot would be able to take a dog down right?"

All of them blinked at me for a good minute before Amber let out a sigh.

"Oh Tera… Just what kind of dogs are you used to seeing? They've been gene modded for several generations now… Pretty much any dog has skin that is tough enough to withstand small arms fire and strong enough to tear off your limbs if they really want to."

Lea nodded, "Not to mention the fact that they are not only sturdy but also really cunning. If there's a pack of them and they were given an order to attack a specific location, they are able to find flanking spots and even sneak in before unleashing death inside that location."

Ries gave me an uneasy look, "There's also breeds that could literally bite through the armour plating of a power armour too… So even wearing something like that would not guarantee you would be safe from them… That, plus the fact that shields are useless to them… Makes them pretty scary…"

Now it was my turn to blink at them.

I didn't hear them wrong did I? Dogs have been modded to the point that they could tear off your limbs and chew you through power armour?!

What the fuck has humans done to our animals?!!