Chapter 110: Closing the Courtyard Door

Lynch really wanted to die… What the hell had he been so smug about just now?!

Recalling his earlier excited, animated bragging, he wanted to evaporate on the spot. The thought that he’d actually bragged to Delphi’s Highness about eating fresh fruits and veggies every day at home, even swearing he could “bring some for you”… Come on, the guy had vegetables and fruits from several planets—did he need Lynch to bring a little?!

If there was a hole, he’d dive right in, settle down underground, and call it quits. His face was burning hot enough to fry an egg. As he mentally looped his “social suicide” speech, he dazedly headed to his long-awaited Terra Academy.

Meanwhile, the lanky young man—the reporter Cole—was frozen on the stands, his expressions flashing through life’s highlight reel like frames from a bad movie. Earlier… in front of the disguised Li Ao, he’d gone all out, shamelessly gushing with flying spittle.

Thinking of all the utterly embarrassing things he’d said right to the cat in question… his eyes went vacant… He was done for…

“Cole! Did you capture the scene? I’ve confirmed with the school— we can report on Leo Regalis as long as it sticks to the facts! Hurry back and write the article—” His female colleague waved her record board excitedly at the soul-wandering Cole. “Hey, snap out of it! What’s with you?”

Right… The little cat was attending school in the Federation, the little cat’s spiritual power exceeded human detection limits, the little cat, the little cat had transformed in public!!! Suddenly fired up— AHHH— Lynch’s soulless eyes lit up. “Cat—!” He roared excitedly, forgetting his embarrassment as he remembered why they’d met. It was because His Highness had drawn his blade to help when he saw injustice! Oh my god, oh my god, he’d been saved by little cat Highness, and he’d even added the guy’s contact!

“Yeah, yeah, hurry back and write the article!” He was going to flaunt to the entire interstellar how he’d been heroically rescued!

Li Ao had no idea how his rabid fan was about to hype him up. He lay lifelessly on the bed, listening to the robot’s icy tirade.

The cause of his discomfort had been diagnosed that very day—an allergy to some substance in the nutrient fluid.

In other words, the clumsy short-legged cat hadn’t lost his spirits; he’d fainted from an allergic daze.

“Your cat ears don’t just grow donkey fur—your cat brain’s got pig slop in it!” Silver Wing was furious, terrified, and heartbroken. “This time it was just an allergy—what if it was poison? Little Ke!” The robot’s voice turned frigid. “I told you to take care of him—how did you?”

Li Ao covered his ears with both paws. Hearing Little Ke get blamed, he quickly uncovered them to defend it. “I wanted to eat it myself—what’s it got to do with it?” Now the robot went full blast, dishing out sarcastic barbs nonstop. Before it finished, Brenna cut in. “Oh my god, Highness, how are you? I told you I should go undercover to serve your school life—”

“I’m really fine now…” Li Ao propped up on his paws miserably, dealing with Silver Wing’s side one person after another. Turning his head, he saw Xun nearby, head also drooped. Sigh—Fierce Cat sighed inwardly, reflecting that he’d never blindly eat random stuff again. Feeling unwell was minor; soothing and reassuring all these guys one by one—who could keep up?

The water-balancing master Li Oh-oh sweet-talked promise after promise, finally sending off the video call loved ones. He wobbily dashed to his priority target—the little doggy.

“Xun ah.” He flopped softly onto the guy’s lap, head pillowed on Xun’s thigh, looking up at him. “I’m fine! It doesn’t hurt in cat form anymore—the allergen’s identified, just avoid that stuff from now on.”

Xun kept his head low, silent, palm against the little cat’s cheek. Li Ao nuzzled into the hand, mumbling softly, “I’m hungry now… Don’t blame yourself anymore. If you’re sad, I’m not happy either.” His voice trailed up cutely, soft like cotton candy, smearing right into Xun’s ear. The little dog’s heart melted, but his gaze stubbornly shifted aside, lips pressed tighter.

Li Ao noticed and pressed the advantage, rubbing upward so half his body draped over Xun, meowing playfully. “Make me food! Food! I wanna eat!”

Xun, pestered by him, finally cracked a smile, lips curving gently like melting ice. But that smile was only surface-level, for the little cat—the real emotions buried deep were far more.

He did feel guilty for not taking good care of the little cat. But stronger than guilt was an almost uncontrollable violent urge. When Li Ao had dazedly shifted from human to cat form, the noisy crowd had blocked him from rushing to his side right away. In that instant, he’d wanted to revert to dragon form, unleash flames, and burn every person, machine, wall—even the entire testing hall—standing between him and Li Ao to ashes.

The rage surged so fiercely, yet it brought him pleasure. A world with just him and the little cat—that would be enough.

“The doctor said only liquids for now.” Darkness churned inside, but his face was all softness. The youth scooped up the cat onto his shoulder, tone nearly coaxing. “We’ll have some light stuff first, and real food tomorrow, okay?” It sounded like consulting the cat, but he’d already decided the menu.

Li Ao didn’t know, happily thinking he’d coaxed the little dog. He wasn’t picky anyway. “Sure! After eating, I gotta call Xixi, see where he is. Classes start tomorrow—do I wear uniform? What’s on the schedule?”

Full of energy, he chattered through eating, bathing, and even in bed. There were two beds in the room, but he hopped onto Xun’s pillow to curl up—clearly claiming his territory for sleep.

Xun felt pleased by the subconscious choice and lay down beside the cat.

Deep autumn nights were chilly, but unlike Delphi, the Federation had constant temperature systems, allowing for a good night’s sleep. The next day, Li Ao debated whether to use his human or cat form for class.

“Mortalis has lots of physical training—so to save energy outside of that, use your cat form for lectures.” Xun knelt by the bed, fastening a custom transformation collar on Li Ao. Upgraded from before, the little cat just needed a thought during his shift, and the program would auto-dress him appropriately. “Formal classes require academy uniforms or training gear—you can switch them yourself.”

“Oh, got it.” As the little cat agreed, soft light glowed on him. The next second, the Mortalis Academy uniform—cat version—precisely covered his body.

In the whole interstellar, there was only this one cat student, and only he had a custom cat uniform tailored right down to the fur length. The white shirt fitted perfectly, with the collar neatly tied. A gray vest fit snugly at his belly, looking sharp yet giving him freedom to move. The deep blue suit jacket was tailored impeccably, even featuring a slit for his tail.

He looked so formal and ridiculously handsome. Fierce Cat admired himself in the mirror. “Aiy, I’m so good-looking.” He kept a straight face, full of self-admiration and smugness. “As good-looking as Dong Xixi!”

Xun watched the little cat circle and nod in self-praise in the mirror, chuckling lowly. Indeed… cute beyond reason.

There was one downside to his cat form: he couldn’t carry a heavy backpack.

Mortalis was the galaxy’s top academy, with courses endless as stars and electives that were insanely competitive. The books were thick enough to cause concussions, and the materials were as heavy as training gear.

Fierce Cat tried hooking it with his tail, carrying it with his teeth, and dragging it with his paws—but the bookbag was immovable. He plopped down, crossed his paws, and put on a serious face. “Little Ke, come to class with me.”

Xun had considered personally escorting him. He would leave early, deliver the cat to the academy gate, settle him in, and then leave reassured. It would be the best, safest, and most reassuring way.

But his classes ended too late and his afternoons were packed—meaning he’d leave the academy at dark with no way to pick up Li Ao on time. He couldn’t bear leaving the little cat waiting alone for even a minute. Having Little Ke escort him was the best option.

“Little Ke, follow Li Ao to class.” Xun grabbed the pack, handing it to the floating metal ball.

Little Ke took the hefty load; its slim arms looked frail but gripped strong. Ball-sized as a tennis ball, from afar the pack just seemed to float behind the cat.

“But… is it okay for me to show up like this?” Little Ke’s voice held doubt. It recalled at the spaceport, Xun saying no class attendance.

Li Ao looked up at Xun too, ears twitching. “Will it cause trouble?”

“No, I’ll explain to school leaders.”

The Federation strictly controlled high-level AIs, banning them from government facilities, schools, and labs. They had no direct connection to the Star Network, only to campus forums.

But Li Ao was special—Xun believed no one would court trouble with him.

Thus, Little Ke went to class with the little cat.

From the dormitory building to Mortalis, it was about a twenty-minute walk. In these twenty minutes, Li Ao sensed countless people staring at him. He took it in stride—after all, the gazes from Delphi were even hotter and more brazen. Fierce Cat was battle-hardened and completely unfazed.

But… there seemed to be way too many people? Fierce Cat eyed the academy gate suspiciously. Why were these people’s uniforms in three different colors?

The three academies had different uniform colors: Caelum’s were white suits with matching vests and ties, Terra’s were dark green suits, and Mortalis’s were dark blue. Management between the academies was strict—no students were allowed to visit each other, and they certainly wouldn’t gather in front of another academy’s gate.

Sure, they were all part of the same school, and any student from Dawn Middle School was a top talent, but in the eyes of their own people, Mortalis was the bottom of the barrel. Even Terra students rarely bothered coming here, let alone those from Caelum.

Yet today, those snobbish types with noses in the air were actually crowding around their own academy’s gate? The Mortalis dean’s mouth was nearly splitting from grinning, but he put on a stern face, feigning displeasure as he said to the teaching director, “Scatter all those students from the other academies. What does this look like? Why are they coming to our academy? If they don’t leave soon, I’ll contact their deans!”

The teaching director’s face was already cracked wide in a smile. He immediately accepted the order and went off to shoo them away.

Li Ao watched in a daze as the big uncle in a deep blue uniform led students in dark blue suits, herding the people in the other two uniform colors away like monkeys scampering down a mountain.

He kept walking with his head tilted, watching the scene, oblivious to the path ahead. He didn’t notice that inside the gate, thousands of students in dark blue uniforms were staring at him intently, their gazes burning as he stepped through the courtyard gate one step at a time.

There’s a cat—

The cat’s coming in—

Quick, close the courtyard gate—

Aaaah, don’t let the cat out!!!

Little Ke extended a mechanical arm and scratched its bald head. It really wanted to remind its master: How about… we just head back instead…