He looked at the cat whose mouth curved into a standard W shape and realized the cat’s mood was pretty good right now, especially evident in that broom-like big tail, which intentionally or not tapped his hand a few times before moving away, then quietly tapped back.
Lots of little movements; the cat’s mood should be quite good.
Li Ye quietly watched the tail swishing on the back of his hand, pondered for a moment, withdrew his hand, and placed it over the cat’s tail.
The tail stilled, then “whoosh” pulled away and pressed back down.
Li Ye’s hand covered it again, and the cat immediately flicked its tail to cover his hand.
They went back and forth like this until the cat got impatient from playing. One meat pad stepped on Li Ye’s hand, and it called out very dominantly: “Meow!”
【No no!】
【We must stick to the principle that the kitty is on top!!】
Li Ye raised his eyes and found the cat’s mouth was no longer W-shaped. He lifted his hand, placing his finger horizontally against the cat’s mouth.
Li You, throwing a little tantrum, paused, then opened his mouth and bit his brother’s finger without using force, just lightly rubbing with his fangs on both sides.
Li Ye released his hand and saw the standard W-shaped mouth again.
Mm, very cute.
Li Ye thought expressionlessly.
He sliced the boiled meat. Li You watched wide-eyed as his brother cut it into many irregular pieces, anxiously staring at his brother’s hands switching the knife, mewing worriedly several times.
Finally, after Li Ye finished cutting, Li You, squatting nearby, was the first to receive the piece his brother picked up from the cutting board.
The first bite was for him.
The cat opened its mouth to catch it, smacked its lips while chewing, and its eyes instantly lit up.
The taste was surprisingly good! Just boiled in water and already this tasty; this mutant species’ meat was pretty good.
The lab’s storage room had many sealed canned foods. Never mind if they were expired; the substances in processed foods were not friendly to cats. On the contrary, this plain boiled meat without any food additives was truly suitable for cats.
Li Ye found disposable gloves in the storage room, tore the messily cut meat into small pieces, filled a bowl for the cat, and brought the remaining meat and extract liquid to the lab area. He placed the cat’s bowl on the workbench and put the other portion next to Qi Yu.
“This is…” Qi Yu took his share and recognized the meat quality at a glance. “Pack beast?”
Li Ye sat next to the cat: “Mm.”
“As expected of you.” Qi Yu sat down. “I tried hunting pack beasts before but was no match. I only got some scraps when I once came across their group killing each other.”
“How’s the lab’s signal?” Li Ye asked.
Li You, face buried in the bowl, also lifted his head and looked expectantly at General Qi.
“Not great.” Qi Yu was helpless. “To be honest, we still don’t know where Kailenoa exactly is or how far it is from the Empire. The lab’s signal can be sent out, but it can’t be located. So far, no responses.”
“I’ll go to the signal tower this afternoon.” Li Ye said.
“This…” Qi Yu frowned, considered for a few seconds, then spoke. “Then we need to prepare some things.”
Li Ye did not look at him: “You stay behind.”
“That won’t do, Your Highness.” Qi Yu hurriedly said. “The signal tower area is an active zone for Kailenoa Abyss pollutants. There’s a colony of mutant species there; it takes two people to cooperate effectively, or it’ll be troublesome.”
Li Ye looked at him this time: “You’re quite familiar with that side?”
“Not really familiar.” Qi Yu gave a wry smile. “I wasn’t familiar with this place before and went anywhere, nearly died there. That mutant species colony isn’t in the Empire’s textbooks; I hadn’t seen it before.”
“Their level should be no lower than mid-tier. We can win one-on-one, but the trouble is their numbers. Their bodies are like termite mutants enlarged several times, with extremely fast movement speed, and they can release hallucinogenic toxic gas.” Qi Yu added. “Once contaminated by that gas, the whole body goes numb, movement is hindered, and it’s hard to escape.”
Li Ye said nothing, lowered his eyelids, and insisted: “You don’t need to go. Stay here and watch the cat.”
The cat looked worriedly at Li Ye, then anxiously at General Qi.
【General Qi, hurry and persuade this stubborn guy!】
Li Ye: “…”
“Your Highness, hear me out.” Qi Yu quickly said. “Later, I researched how to deal with that termite mutant colony, caught one for experiments, and found that liquid refined from crystal stones has super strong attraction to them. The extract liquid is like an aphrodisiac to them, able to lure those guys away from their nest.”
Li Ye frowned: “So the preparations you mentioned are crystal stone extract liquid?”
“Yeah.” Qi Yu smiled. “This place is full of A-187X crystal stones. Don’t you want to see what effect these crystals have on those monsters?”
Li Ye was silent for a moment before asking: “How to cooperate?”
The cat and General Qi sighed in relief simultaneously, their expressions identical, even the cat’s reaction more obvious. Li You stopped eating, paced to his brother’s side, jumped onto the booth seat, smoothly stepped onto Li Ye’s leg, and curled up on top.
“Like this: I’ll take the extract converter to the crystal stone area. You go to the termite mutant nest. After the termite colony leaves, you head to the signal tower first. I’ll come join you as soon as possible.” Qi Yu asked. “How’s that?”
“You go to the crystal stone area to lure the termite colony?” Li Ye said bluntly and mercilessly. “Sure you’re not just going to deliver yourself?”
“You’re underestimating me a bit.” Qi Yu chuckled. “I won’t stay there waiting for the termite colony. I’ll set up the site and leave ahead of time.”
“The way you described, I can do it alone.” Li Ye pointed out.
“Of course I believe you can, but the termite colony’s movement speed is much faster than you imagine.”
“There’s another way.” Li Ye said. “No need to make it so complicated. Kill them all, and the path will naturally be clear.”
Qi Yu was stunned, not expecting Li Ye to say this so calmly and casually, as if that termite colony was not worth his attention at all.
“You really… surprise me.” Qi Yu still reminded him. “Your Highness, besides the termite colony, there are many unknown dangers there. Mass killing the termite colony might attract things from the shadows. Think it over again.”
Li Ye did not speak and lowered his head to look at the cat.
Qi Yu also looked at the cat.
Li You sensed their gazes, looked up, and found both staring at him.
【Why look at me?】
【I can go with either of you.】
【Youyou believes in Brother and also believes in General Qi.】
Li Ye pondered, raised his eyes to meet Qi Yu’s who had also looked up, and the two understood each other tacitly.
“The cat stays to guard the house.” Qi Yu said.
Li Ye agreed: “Mm.”
Li You: “Meow??”
He immediately turned his head and meowed loudly at General Qi, then turned back and meowed super loudly at Li Ye.
【No way!】
【I want to go!!!】
【Take me with you!!】
Little Black slid out from Li Ye’s sleeve, turned into a black cat, and nudged the ragdoll cat with its head.
Li Ye picked up the cat, placed it next to Little Black, and got up with Qi Yu to prepare the things needed for the outing.
Li You was pawed by the black cat and watched the two busily preparing, anxious inside and yelling loudly in his mind.
【Stinky Li Ye!】
【I want to go!!!】
No one responded. Li You was licked full of saliva by the black cat. After calming down, he looked at the little monster and sighed inwardly.
He was a cat now; going would just hold them back. Insisting on following was indeed unwise.
Li You suddenly missed his human body. Although his combat ability wasn’t great, at least his mobility was much stronger than a cat’s now.
As he sulked, the black cat diligently groomed him from head to tail…
Li You instantly fluffed up, got up, and kicked away the black cat hovering near his tail, furious: “Meow!”
The black cat came forward and affectionately rubbed against him.
Li You: “…”
Ridiculous. Why were both his brother and this little monster eyeing his cat butt?!
Li You guarded his butt, nestled on the sofa, and ran to the door whenever he heard movement outside.
Everything was ready, so Li Ye and Qi Yu prepared to set off. Li You pedaled his four legs furiously to follow and darted out the door, only to be effortlessly caught and carried back by Li Ye.
“Wait for us at the lab.” Li Ye crouched down and rubbed the cat’s head. “We’ll be back soon.”
Li You pawed at the ground. “Meow…”
Li Ye extended his hand.
Li You looked at his brother’s open palm and placed his paw on it.
Li Ye remained half-crouched as he lifted the cat in his palm and brought him close. He gently pressed his face against the cat’s, made no further movements, and simply stayed there quietly. In a low voice, he said, “Don’t worry.”
Li You wrapped both paws around his brother’s shoulders.
【Bro…】
Li Ye lowered his eyes slightly, slowly placed the cat from his palm back inside the door, and rose to close it. The ragdoll cat sitting primly inside looked up. “Meow!”
【Be sure to stay safe.】
【YouYou waits for you to come home.】
The door closed, and the cat’s figure vanished. Li Ye turned around, his face already calm once more. “Let’s go.”
The two parted ways midway. Qi Yu headed to the crystal district, while Li Ye went straight to the Signal Tower in the western termite nest. Each carried an old communicator scavenged from the lab—it worked, but the connection was spotty.
![Reborn as a Ragdoll Cat [Interstellar]](https://i2.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f.jpg?resize=151,215 "Reborn as a Ragdoll Cat [Interstellar]")
