How long does it take for a human mindset to change?
It doesn’t take long—often just an instant.
After the official announcement was released, netizens’ attitude toward the little kitten instantly shifted from “short-legged cat impersonating a hero” to “the hero’s adorable descendant.”
【Oh my god, this is His Highness Zane’s little kitten (starry eyes). He’s so tiny—considering when His Highness fell, is he even ten years old yet?】
【About that. If it was too early, Regalis wouldn’t have let him wander outside. If too late, His Highness Zane would have already…】
【So, this is the little kitten Highness?】
In the interstellar era, people prided themselves on having abandoned monarchy in favor of freedom and equality. Yet, who could truly remain unmoved by the empire’s legends deep in their hearts?
【I double- and triple-checked the surveillance data—gender is male. Such a pity. I really wanted a little princess.】
【Where are those guys who called him little kitten bro? Hahaha, come out and keep calling that underage fluffy flat-faced bro!】
【What do you know! (stubborn) Bro is an attitude, not about age. Our little kitten Highness tames bugs like a boss— what’s wrong with calling him bro?】
【Exactly, exactly. Rounding it off, I’m basically sworn brothers with the little kitten Prince now (giggle).】
【Your Highness~ (pervy blushing laugh)】
【Upstairs… you’re really not right in the head (can’t bear to look).】
Li Ao opened the small bundle and glanced at the clock, realizing dusk was approaching. He hurriedly called out to everyone not to pick anymore.
“You guys carry this back for me, okay?” The little kitten negotiated with them. “Then I’ll help you untangle some yarn balls. It’s a deal.”
[Deal]
The Xenoids didn’t understand the word’s meaning, but they already loved its sound.
This sound meant that as long as they obeyed the superior one and helped the glowing little kitten, they would gain joy.
Li Ao raised his pink paw pad toward these hulking brutes. “If you agree, we’ll pinky swear.” Seeing their confusion, the little kitten hooked his paw with Xun’s, pressing his soft pink pad against the dark, inky tendril claw. “Like this.”
Mantis Monster No. 1 was a bit smarter. It extended a forelimb to mimic, but its claw was too sharp—it jerked back and retreated a few steps the moment it reached out.
[No, can’t touch him]
Not just because of the superior’s pressure, but because it didn’t want to hurt him. He was so fragile, such a tiny ball—what if it injured him?
Li Ao read the hesitation on its terrifying face. He lifted his little head, searching, and spotted a small, smooth spot in the middle of the Mantis Monster’s body.
“There!” The little kitten stood on tiptoe, raising his paw to indicate he wanted to stamp there.
The Xenoid’s body was covered in hard armor, with only one vulnerable spot—the location of their hearts.
The Mantis Monster stared at the little kitten, hesitating.
“Ah… you don’t want to make a deal with me anymore?” Seeing these big monsters frozen for ages, Li Ao dejectedly lowered his foot. “I guess so. I can only help untangle yarn for you… If you don’t need it, then never mind.”
[No]
[Want]
Their languages didn’t align, yet they could sense the little kitten’s emotional shift, just like sensing the advanced Xenoid by his side. They didn’t understand why or how— no creature had ever resonated with them so deeply. It was as if, from the moment of their birth, their endless hunger and devouring had been solely to meet this little kitten before them.
“Then one cookie each as today’s reward.”
Li Ao felt he hadn’t done much—just untangled some thread and tossed in a not-so-tasty cookie. He hadn’t even made yarn balls! Yet they not only helped pick up trash but also carried it…
This way, it seemed like he was taking advantage of the Mantis Monsters a bit.
The fair and just good kitty felt a twinge of guilt.
He didn’t know that his seemingly casual action had granted the Xenoids immense mental peace. It was like a chronic migraine sufferer, long accustomed to inescapable dull pain, suddenly having all torment vanish.
No longer hesitating, before the little kitten could withdraw his paw, they lowered their bodies, offering him their hearts.
“Huh? You want to make the deal after all?” Little kitten Li’s pupils dilated with excitement as he raised his paw and stamped.
He didn’t understand how much profound trust the Xenoids placed in this.
【(close eyes)(rub eyes)(open)(disbelieving)(rub again) Little kitten Highness… is touching Crex’s vital spot?】
Humans had battled the Zerg for a millennium and studied common low-level Xenoids thoroughly, naturally including their anatomy.
Strike a snake at the seven-inch vital spot. The “seven-inch” was humanity’s term for a Xenoid’s fatal weakness.
And now, these terrifying Xenoids retracted their ferocious mouthparts, docilely letting a kitten touch their weak points.
【Is this really something humans can do?】
【No, humans can’t. Is it Regalis? That family has always been freakishly strong, incompatible with humans. Because of Regalis bloodline?】
Shocking the world, unprecedented. No one knew the reason—they could only see the phenomenon.
Li Ao hooked and stamped one by one, nodding in satisfaction. With a wave of his little paw: “Alright, put on the backpacks. Once we’re back at base, I’ll untangle yarn for you.”
What the Cat King says, bugs can’t chase back—gotta make them proper yarn balls later!
—
While the little kitten was out, Alpha-13 was recording the experiment.
It focused on the two pots of seeds. The one handled by the little kitten had sprouted slender stems and leaves, while the one it planted showed no sign of life.
It had replicated short-leg cat’s actions one-to-one, even doing better. After all, how precise could two kitty paws be?
Yet that pot of seeds remained inert.
This was normal—it was a bag of dead seeds.
Log entry: [Test result: No signs of life. Upon AL0731’s return, transfer target to his management and observe for potential reactivation.]
After finishing, the robot returned to the room to tidy up.
That short-leg cat was so messy, always picking stuff but never cleaning. He liked cramming all his favorite things into his nest, like a squirrel hoarding for winter, boldly piling the tiny space into chaos.
The robot grumbled in its CPU but picked up a sticker from the nest. It was an ugly robot-shaped sticker that had barely escaped from the cat’s paws under its firm refusal.
Piled beside the nest was a roll of worn-out treads.
“Don’t you want to go outside? The blue sky and white clouds are so pretty.” A childish, nagging voice echoed in its CPU.
…Dumb short-leg cat. Such things couldn’t let a machine traverse the desert.
Alpha-13 stared at the treads for a long time. Its bottom wheels rolled as it headed into the base, to the builder’s office.
It hadn’t entered this room since its builder left the planet—a century ago.
An empty, cold room. On the modest desk sat a box.
The robot picked it up. The lid boldly read: [Let me guess, how long until you step into this room?]
[Maybe ten years?]
She was wrong. Thirty-seven thousand two hundred fifty-six days had passed.
In its electronic eyes, the faint light paused for a second. It opened the box to find a device for its wheels to traverse the desert.
[Or maybe, you want to take a stroll in the desert? ^ ^]
The elegant handwriting let the faint image of an elderly figure hunched over the desk seep through the paper.
She had left it a little something, then departed.
[Did you evolve on your own, or did you meet something that sparked the urge to go out?]
Its builder was always whimsical. How could programs self-evolve? They had no thoughts.
It had indeed met a short-leg cat.
Very young, fresh out of the egg.
It had used the nanny robot identity—it should follow program directives to care for him diligently, not let him go out alone foraging.
What? Not alone? He had a little monster with him?
That thing didn’t count—it was just a ball! Alpha-13 auto-ignored.
“I’m just fulfilling my program directives.” The flat electronic voice sounded, as if speaking to her—or to itself.
After a quiet few seconds, it swapped out its bottom wheels.
The base door opened to blue skies and white clouds outside.
Alpha-13 gazed at the yellow sands. Before it could advance, it heard: “Oh? Alpha, you wanna come out too?”
Short-leg cat was back early today. The robot looked up.
…
?
…
The robot turned, entered, shut the door, closed its eyes—in one smooth motion.
The next second, its eyes snapped open, red lights flashing wildly.
This suicidal stinky little cat—he’d brought back a whole soccer team of Xenoids!!!
