Alpha-13 decided to give the short-legged cat a lesson.
He pouted his little mouth, mumbling as his tail swished back and forth, looking quite feisty: “I’m not taking classes.”
The robot asked, “Why?”
Li Ao unashamedly puffed up his little chest and declared righteously, “I’m a kitten! Kittens don’t need classes.”
The robot didn’t argue, merely replying, “But didn’t you say you were human? Why are humans so harsh on each other?”
Li Ao was instantly stumped. His round, fluffy little chest slowly deflated, and his bright blue eyes darted around as he tried to find a reasonable comeback. But before he could even open his mouth, his tail betrayed him first, quietly tucking behind him.
The robot loomed over the short-legged cat, whispering devilishly, “As a six-year-old human, you don’t even know addition and subtraction within twenty.”
Li Ao tugged at his own tail and grumbled glumly, “Not even six yet.” Strictly speaking, he was only five and a half.
But the machine ignored that and stated the cruel fact in an even tone: “If you don’t learn, you won’t even be able to find your way home.”
Li Ao froze. He looked up at the robot with a mix of hope and uncertainty. “I-I can go home? Can I go home to Grandma?”
Even though it had answered him once just a few days ago, Alpha-13 replied again: “Yes.”
“I can go home without you and the White Coats studying me?”
What were White Coats? The robot had no idea what was going on in this tiny cat’s brain: “Yes, but let me tell you the reality.”
Alpha-13 explained the situation of this planet in terms the cat could understand.
“So as long as I know Earth’s coordinates and have a spaceship, Li Ao can go home?”
The machine wouldn’t lie, yet it gave him false hope.
“Yes,” it replied.
Li Ao excitedly chased his own tail in circles twice, then dashed into his cardboard nest and yanked out the furry chestnut ball. He waved his paws excitedly: “Xun, once Li Ao gets a spaceship, I’ll take you home!”
Xun mimicked his spinning and circling movements, shouting, “Li Ao!”
Alpha-13 watched silently. This short-legged cat’s chances of leaving the planet were minuscule. Even if he made it back to Earth, the time might not be now.
But at least it gave him hope.
Books said humans were creatures that needed hope and motivation to survive.
“So you should take your lessons.” It turned on the big screen. “You’ve got to go find food early tomorrow morning.”
He ate way too much. How could one cub consume so much?
“Wait, wait!” Li Ao eagerly dragged his little dog to sit down and hugged it with his paws, eyes sparkling. “Now we can start.”
Little cat studies? Then the little dog had to join too!
—
This edition of the Dawn League seemed particularly boring. After the monitors were upgraded, they could directly teleport contestants encountering danger in certain areas back to the safe zone. Of course, activating the teleport meant forfeiting the match.
【I declare this the most boring match held since the Star Era.】
【I agree. Not that I want to see contestants get hurt or anything, but… sigh, how to put it?】
【I get what you mean upstairs. It’s just lacking blood and guts. I’m a retired soldier—if schools nowadays teach students like this with such protection, how will humanity survive in the future? Battlefields don’t have monitors to teleport you. Dead is dead.】
【Just switch to someone else then. Look at the leaderboard first place, that Delphi contestant. In just one night, he hunted down three Crex.】
【The current top three are doing great. Including survival points plus kill points: 4, 3, 3.】
【Where’s my little cat bro? Why can’t I find my little cat bro on the first page?】
All contestants who survived the night got one point, so former first-place Li Ao had long been bumped off the leaderboard.
【The monitor hasn’t updated survival points. Is that short-legged cat dead?】
【Nooo, don’t die! Little cat bro is so cute, don’t die wuwuwu!】
【Not dead!!! Cat fans, quick, check Zane Regalis’s monitor. Little cat’s back!】
Li Ao was diligently stuffing himself full every day.
The robot packed his outing backpack, watching him lick the bowl spotless. Even though compressed biscuits soaked in water tasted bad, he finished every bite without wasting a crumb.
He cherished food immensely, as if he’d never been full before.
Xun was a copycat little monster, staring at the kitten while sticking out his tongue to lick the plate just like him. When the kitten finished eating, he stopped too. When the kitten licked his paws, he glanced at his own and blinked his scarlet eyes.
The next second, two short little paws sprouted.
He bounced to the kitten’s side and showed off his hands: “Li Ao.”
“!” The kitten’s pupils shook. “Xun, how are your hands so short?”
This cat didn’t seem to find his pet “little dog” strange at all. The robot felt numb, practically hearing its own CPU creaking and rusting.
Too eerie.
Both this monster and this short-legged cat were.
Was he just that carefree, or was his brain no good? With his own claws less than five centimeters long, how dare he exclaim the little monster’s hands were short?
Not that that was the point!
The robot smacked its electronic brain, yanking its derailed program back on track. In a stern voice, it handed the pack to the kitten: “You can head out now.”
“Wait!” Li Ao canceled his outbound trip and scurried to the flowerpot. “How come you’re only this big? You’ve gotta grow harder. Li Ao wants tomatoes.”
There was an empty flowerpot nearby, but Li Ao didn’t mind. He patted the green sprout: “Meow-racadabra, casting Dong Xixi’s spell on you. Now you’ll grow up fast.”
That seed packet was probably an experimental variety. Alpha-13 didn’t know what it’d bear, but it sure wasn’t tomatoes.
The robot watched the cat chant “Meow-racadabra” at the flowerpot a few times like some shaman ritual, then nod in satisfaction and drag the little monster out the door.
“I’m off, bye-bye!” The cat waved his paw grandly, greeting the robot.
Alpha-13 watched him and the little monster head off into the distance. Amid the endless yellow sands, its base wheels hesitated, inching outward.
—
Monitor: [Points updating…]
As the monitor captured the kitten’s figure, his points changed from 1 to 2. But after a night, plenty had already killed a Xenoid, so Li Ao’s rank wasn’t high.
【This is the first-place contestant?】 A viewer who just entered the stream questioned. 【Is this a primitive cat? Weren’t they extinct?】
【Looks so weak and small. Can it really take down a Xenoid?】
【Why does the data show the name Zane Regalis? What’s going on? Has the official figured it out?】
There was debate, skepticism, and pure cat-stanning crowds.
【Little cat so cute (perv face blush laugh)】
【Seeing little cat teacher puts me in a good mood with the whole world today.】
Li Ao planned to head back to yesterday’s junkyard. As he ran, he said, “No idea who dumped all that trash there. That’s really not good.”
Xun could only echo him. The kitten thought for a bit and added, “Sigh, but if they didn’t dump it, I wouldn’t have food.”
He was a very grateful good kitty.
“Right, let me quiz you. Did you learn counting from yesterday?”
“How many is this?” The kitten raised a big toe.
【Nice, little cat teacher’s class is on again!】
【Secretary! Secretary! Hurry and bring my son over to learn!】
【That’s a 1? Why… can a cat do that gesture?】
“Not bad!” The kitten patted the little dog’s head in satisfaction, eyes twinkling as he moved to last night’s robot lesson: “Mm, one more quiz. What’s 5+5?”
One chubby paw + one chubby paw.
Xun confidently declared: “2!”
“No no, it’s 10!” Li Ao splayed all ten toes. “10!”
【Little cat’s paws, so pudgy (drool)】
【Dude upstairs, you really live up to your ID, hentai!】
After reviewing lessons, Li Ao reined in his playfulness and dove into the junk pile to get busy.
【Why’s this cat picking trash? (confused)】
【Duh, gotta be looking for food! Look at the desert surroundings—probably a resource-poor barren star.】
【Resource-poor but with all this trash? And notice, lots of military combat backpacks. What kinda place is this?】
【Maybe a dedicated dump star for junk before?】
【Possible. Those backpack styles look ancient, like a century old.】
【Good thing military gear’s durable, or this cat would’ve found zilch.】
Li Ao thought the same. He happily rummaged through the backpacks. The trash here was great to scavenge—so much easier than Kitten Street.
Kitten Street’s dump was filthy and reeking. Sometimes, even after hustling all day, Li Ao could only scrounge up about a dozen bottles, enough to sell for twenty or thirty cents at most. If he ran into bad kids snatching his haul, he’d go thirsty that day.
Those were his days before meeting Grandma.
His two paws nimbly sorted through the trash, and Xun mimicked him, helping out.
“Once I get home, I’ll take you to see Grandma, okay? She’s always been so good to me.”
He was definitely going home.
【So boring. Cats are cute and all, but what’s fun about picking trash?】
【Right… Sigh, guess I’ll check out the other contestants.】
It was true—no matter how cute something was, staring at it too long led to visual fatigue.
【Gotta be a monitor bug. No way this cat is Zane Regalis.】
【Way too weak. Cute’s useless. That point from yesterday wasn’t fake, was it?】
【Fake? I saw the kitten subdue a Crex with cookies myself!】
【Holy shit holy shit, stop arguing! What the hell is that? What’s with that row?】
Li Ao first noticed Xun squinting his eyes. “What’s up? Don’t you wanna go home with Li Ao?”
The little monster shook his head frantically, raising his stubby claws to point toward the dune ahead.
The little cat followed his direction.
Oh ho! So many Mantis Monsters.
“It’s you!” He recognized the leader as yesterday’s one—it had no gray lines on its body.
The little cat raised a paw, hopping as he waved: “Perfect timing! I’ll give you cookies, you help Li Ao carry stuff, deal?”
【This! Cat! What the hell is he doing?!】
【1-2-3-4-5-6-7—holy crap, 11 of them!】
Eleven Crex standing together exerted such visual pressure it felt suffocating even through the screen.
【Run—run! Little cat bro, run!】
Cat fans and haters alike felt a chill of fear right then. They’d seen the little cat take down one Xenoid yesterday, sure—but that was just one. Maybe it was defective, some fluke. But eleven? Wholly intact!
They stood firm, not even the wind-sand daring to cross them.
Yet Li Ao felt no fear. He sensed no killing intent from them. Instead, the lead Crex let out a hiss.
“Huh? You guys wanna play with yarn too?” Little Li cat counted on his claws: “A-alright then, but I’ll be out of time to forage. You gotta help me pick trash.”
“Hiss—”
“‘Kay, come on down.” The little cat nodded.
The low-rank Xenoids glanced at their superior again. With Xun’s approval, the eleven Xenoids threw their heads back in long hisses before charging down the slope.
【We’re done for. Dead meat.】
【Zane, don’t die!】
【Told you it’s not Zane—ahh! Nooo, little dummy cat, run!】
【Wahhh, primitive cats are dumb as rocks. Yesterday was pure luck. All over now.】
【All—】
The barrage wails blanketed the screen—until the Xenoids thudded down one after another, kneeling before the little cat.
“Hiss—” [Play with yarn!]
Monitor: [Points updating… Current points: 13]
【?】
【??】
Second bloom, back on top.
