Scott apologized, but his voice was too quiet and was completely drowned out by the noisy chatter of the surrounding crowd.
At the scene, only Nero managed to hear him clearly by using the wind. Sushang and Stelle caught most of it too. As for everyone else, they basically just saw Scott's lips twitch a couple of times.
So Stelle slightly turned sideways, raised a hand to her ear, and mimicked Scott's tone.
"Huhhh? I can't hear you. Louder!"
"Hurry up!" Sushang chimed in.
Some of the nearby onlookers also looked at Scott coldly.
Among them, some were from Aurum Alley, while others had simply come to watch the fun.
At this point, whether Scott had offended them personally no longer mattered.
They only remembered one thing clearly.
At the start of the debate, this blond idiot had called Nero a pretty vase.
Feeling those knife-like gazes on him, Scott felt like needles were stabbing his back. Standing there made him unbearably uncomfortable.
Cold sweat streamed down the back of his neck.
He realized that if he didn't hurry up and apologize, he might actually get jumped.
"I-I want to apologize to the fathers and elders of Aurum Alley..." Scott raised his voice a little.
"Louder, can't hear you!" Before he could finish, Nero shouted.
"Can't hear you!"
"Can't hear you!"
As Nero's voice fell, many more people in the crowd started shouting along.
Scott unconsciously clenched his fists. Listening to those voices, he felt like every single person there was targeting him.
(Which was true.)
He lifted his head and looked toward Nero. His gaze swept across the snowy white hair and the gleaming gray eyes, lingered briefly on those frost-like fluttering lashes, then moved past the delicately crafted face toward the small figure beneath it, as if trying to burn the appearance of this little bastard who had cornered him and driven him into this situation deep into his memory.
'He's really pretty...'
'No, wait, Scott, what the hell are you thinking?'
'Get a grip, damn it!'
'Yes, but...'
'He's really pretty~'
There was no denying that.
Fine, but this was the mastermind who had dragged him into the abyss, the culprit behind his devastating humiliation.
Scott really didn't want to apologize.
In front of all these people, he knew that if he apologized according to the wager, then something important would leave him forever.
His dignity!
That precious dignity!
As the lone wolf of the Scott family, he had to stand tall and uphold the family creed of "No friends, no enemies, only prey." But if he lost his dignity, wouldn't he become nothing more than an old dog with a broken spine?
His twisted and obsessive pride left Scott struggling internally.
Nero noticed the resentful look Scott was giving him and smiled.
"You haven't eaten or something? Louder! On the Xianzhou, when us locals say we can't hear you, it means we really can't hear you!"
As soon as Nero finished speaking, another wave of agreement rose from the crowd.
"Again!" Nero shouted.
Looking at the furious dockworkers around him, Scott took two deep breaths.
'This can't keep going!'
'These damn mobs...'
'What's dignity good for anyway? Take it!'
'I'm the pride of the Scott family, a qualified lone wolf. You have to do whatever it takes. You have to know how to endure humiliation and carry heavy burdens. At the right moment, you do what's necessary.'
Hadn't he survived all these years climbing through the company exactly like this?
When facing those high-and-mighty big shots, what even was dignity?
"I-I, Scott, want to apologize to the fathers and elders of Aurum Alley!"
Scott practically screamed the words at the top of his lungs.
"I was a blind idiot who couldn't see Mount Tai! I didn't know my place! All I know how to do is bark! Bark! Bark like a mad dog!"
Nero nodded in satisfaction, then added, "You still haven't barked like a dog yet."
"Yeah! What'd you say back then?" one dockworker shouted. "Bark like a dog!"
"Yeah, yeah!" the other workers yelled too.
At this point, Stelle already had the exact same squinty smile as Nero on her face.
"Oh my~ So this is a company representative? Our great Mr. Scott doesn't keep his promises, huh?"
Sushang raised her hand high.
"That's right, you still need to bark like a do..."
Halfway through speaking, she blinked, suddenly realizing something, then stared at Stelle in shock.
"Since when did you get so good at sarcastic sniping?"
"When was I sarcastic?" Stelle said. "You definitely heard wrong. Keep watching Scott."
"Wasn't she?" Sushang narrowed her eyes, but her brain clearly had no interest in thinking too hard about this, so she quickly shifted her attention back to Scott again.
"Ahhhhhh, enough already!"
Scott let out a frantic roar.
Then in the very next second...
"Woof woof! Woofwoofwoofwoofwoof! WOOF!"
Even the subordinate standing beside Scott was startled, wondering what kind of insanity had suddenly possessed his boss.
"Woof woof awoooo!!"
Scott barked while stomping his feet. Judging from the savage look on his face, he was genuinely putting his all into it.
Xikui watched Scott coldly. This kind of humiliation filled her with both mental and physical satisfaction.
Who told this guy to keep giving Nero attitude from the very start of the debate?
After all, it was Tingyun who had brought Nero into the Sky-Faring Commission. And aside from the Sleepless Earl, the Sky-Faring Commission had been the first Xianzhou department to have deep contact and interaction with Nero.
If Nero was some kind of contagious disease, then the Sky-Faring Commission was the most severely infected group on the Luofu.
Even the mildest cases among its members were at least half-step Pure Beauty Knights.
Xikui deliberately waited a little longer, only speaking with faint disgust after veins bulged across Scott's face and it turned bright red.
"Tch. What an eyesore. That's enough for today."
Afterward, Scott left the docks dejectedly with his head hanging low, like a dog mourning the loss of its spine.
"Hahahahaha! You actually did it! Alright, I acknowledge you now!" In Siberia Duck's livestream chat, the streamer laughed so hard he nearly fell over, completely shaken by Scott's actions.
[Dan-heart Forever: This guy is seriously unbelievable.]
[I Use Pantene: The funniest part is that if you talk to him seriously, he argues back all self-righteously like he's unwilling. But when you tell him to honor a bet, he actually goes through with it immediately, even barking like a dog in front of a crowd.]
[Nero Is My Dad: Scott is genuinely surreal.]
[Glue Man: You're not much better yourself.]
[Pom Pom: I'm seeing a lot of similarities between this Scott guy and Yellow Pee Bro.]
[Nero Feet In My Mouth: Yes, I'm Nero's dog. The first thing I do every day is lick Nero's feet. Woof woof woof! Woofwoofwoofwoofwoof! Woofwoofwoof awooo woof! So tasty!]
[Nero's Sword: Insane.]
[Amen: If I'm not mistaken, Yellow Pee Bro and Scott are locked in the same cage.]
[Back In My Day: So who exactly dreamed of whom? Did Yellow Pee Bro dream of Scott, or did Scott dream of Yellow Pee Bro?]