Chapter 28: Long Aotian Little Cat Part 1

Sixteen years.

Ever since His Highness Ryan was born, the royal family hadn’t had a single new cub in a full sixteen years.

And because His Highness Ryan was frail and rarely appeared in public, the people were bursting with anticipation for this newborn little prince.

“Why isn’t it a little lion?” A burly, straight-talking uncle scratched his head in confusion. “How come it looks just like a cat? Where are the legs? Where’d the legs go?”

A majestic aunt nearby slapped him with a palm, laughing heartily. “Can’t the kid take after his mom? I don’t care if he’s a little lion or not—as long as Regalis’s blood flows in his veins, he’s my cub!”

“Aiya, that’s for sure! I just feel like this little guy is too fragile. Aiya, he won’t end up like His Highness Ryan, will he?”

Of course not. After seeing the little cat lift rocks to smash xenoids, hop around, and climb snowy mountains, the hearts of the Delphi people melted.

Then, seeing the interactions between His Majesty and the little Highness—when His Majesty asked his age and he held up his chubby hand to say six years old—the rough uncle clutched his chest. “I’m done for, I’m done for!”

Someone noticed something off. “The little cat said he’s six?”

“So what if he’s six?”

“But His Highness Zane fell ten years ago!”

Isiris declared: “I’m sure you’ve all noticed the issue. Perhaps Zane still clings to a thread of life, or maybe there’s some mistake. Regardless, the Mandjet will sail to where the little cat is.”

With the emperor’s order issued, they naturally bowed their heads in submission, offering their loyalty and faith for the monarch’s triumphant return.

—

“I am Bai Yunjun.” The frail young man smiled at the little cat, his face full of sickness. “Can you climb onto my lap? I really want to hold you, but…”

Li Ao paused, not because the youth’s limbs were tightly bound, but because… he saw many red lines on his body, digging into the flesh and wrapping him almost like a cocoon.

The little cat turned to look for the robot. He remembered the robot saying not to pull strings in front of others, and not to call it Alpha, so dragging his tail and twitching his ears, he said to the youth, “Wait a moment, okay? I’m going to ask.”

Bai Yunjun didn’t understand what he meant, but toward Isiris’s nephew, he clearly had immense patience. After all, he was about to die soon anyway, and he couldn’t go anywhere else.

“Okay.”

Li Ao jumped down from the round platform and ran to the shadowed area behind to tell the robot, “I saw lots of lines on him.” Then to Xun on the side: “Can you see them?”

Xun shook its head. Even face-to-face, it couldn’t clearly see the strings on low-level beings, let alone a virtual entity from astral projection.

Alpha-13 glanced at the person on the platform. It couldn’t see them either, but it roughly knew what was going on and said to Li Ao, “That person might be dying soon.”

The little cat’s eyes went a bit dazed. “Like Mantis Monster No. 7?” Even though Xun said the mantis monster died from eating dirty stuff, the little cat still felt some self-blame.

He hated death—inexplicably, he hated it very much. It was as if he had truly experienced some death before.

“Li Ao.” Xun rubbed against him. “It’s not your fault.” If not for Li Ao’s presence, they would have died even faster.

This cat was so small, yet had such strong empathy. The robot notified the AI to activate privacy mode—no public viewing during this astral projection—then patted his little head. “Do whatever you want to do.”

If even Regalis couldn’t protect him, then perhaps no corner of the world was safe for him.

Moreover, his very existence was a miracle. If humans knew how to appreciate miracles, that was best. If not…

Alpha-13 thought of the gift its builder had given it—perhaps it was time to unwrap it.

Li Ao’s tail, which had been drooping, perked up after hearing the robot’s words. He rubbed against the machine and twisted around. After just two twists, he looked up seriously and said, “Li Ao’s butt isn’t itchy!”

“…I know. You’re about to grow wings.”

The little cat wanted to say it wasn’t wings itching either… but he was a half-baked cat after all, with no cat mom to teach him, so his round face stayed dazed, not knowing what this behavior of his even meant.

The robot pushed his butt to send him back. Once the little cat had turned the corner, it raised its mechanical arm to touch the spot he’d rubbed. It was warm—his body heat lingered there.

Xun blinked, then suddenly narrowed its eyes.

Alpha-13 noticed. “…What does that look of yours mean?”

The black-furred chestnut ball said nothing, just kept squinting and glaring at it.

“Come here, what do you mean by that?” The robot went to grab it, its temperature rising in some irritation.

Li Ao returned to the edge of the round platform. Hearing the AI prompt that the astral projection had been renewed, he went to the man’s feet and asked, “Are you in a lot of pain?”

Bai Yunjun’s pale face froze for a second before he mustered a weak smile. “What?”

Li Ao lifted his paw and touched the man’s ankle bound by the restraint band. “Here.”

The projected entity was a one-to-one replica of the original body. The little cat saw it was tied very tightly there, already bruised. “And here.” He scratched at the red line with his paw. “Does it hurt a lot?”

In that instant, Bai Yunjun couldn’t describe the feeling. It was as if he’d been split in two—the part touched by the cat’s paw was his comfortable soul, cruelly severed from his agonizing flesh.

Something flowed out from his needle-pricked brain, like a cerebral hemorrhage. Cold sweat poured from him, and he lost the strength to maintain his fake smile. “It hurts…”

On the long road of revenge, he’d only persevered through thoughts of his mother and gratitude toward that person. He was all alone, trudging through the endless long night. He hurt so much he wanted to scream, wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. Even with the death sentence pronouncing his end in seven days, he could only smile as the servants bound him.

No one but his mother had ever asked him if he was in pain.

“Little cat,” he trembled as he hurt, “I really, really… hurt so much…” It was ridiculous—after suffering for so many years, he could only pour out his pain to a cub.

Fierce Cat didn’t like him like this. Fierce Cat decided to help him.

“I-I can help you pull the strings, but you have to give me one coin.”

Bai Yunjun used all his strength to squeeze out words amid the deadly tearing sensation. “Wha…t…”

“One coin. It’s a deal.”

“Good… good, I’ll give it to you.”

Seeing him agree, Li Ao flashed his snow-white shiny claws with a whoosh. “Then I’m starting to pull, okay?”

This was just the astral projection entity, not the real body. Untangling across space and time was utterly impossible, but Li Ao still tugged with some effort.

“Yours is even harder to pull than Xun’s.” The little cat panted from the work. “Xun is Li Ao’s little dog—Li Ao can pull as many as he wants, no problem. But yours, yours…”

Fierce Cat struggled a bit, then declared resolutely, “Add money!”

At least add three coins!

Bai Yunjun was completely speechless now. His eyes were unfocused, his whole body like it had been sucked into the chair, soaked through like he’d been drenched.

[! Hate it, what is that guy doing to the kitty wuwu, why no broadcast!]

[Heavens, let me see what you’re doing (peeking through door crack) (voyeur)]

Li Ao climbed up and down the man’s body, until only the tightly wound chest area remained. He planted all four paws on the man, raised his butt, crouched low with front paws, and started scratching!

The texture of this scratching board felt pretty good. Fierce Cat kukued and scratched a dozen times until it came loose, then nodded in satisfaction and called it done.

“Wake up.” The cat paw patted the man’s face. “I’ve finished pulling. Time for you to pay.”

Bai Yunjun… His brain was a whirl of dizziness, relaxed to the point of losing responsiveness. After a good while, his gaze cleared from the haze. “My head… doesn’t hurt anymore?”

In fact, he’d never felt this relaxed before. He tried to sit up, but his limbs were still bound, so he failed.

“What did you do?” As expected of a major figure who’d weathered storms, he quickly realized the change in his body was related to the little cat before him.

Li Ao looked up at him innocently with his round face. “Pulled the strings.”

“You mean… I was wrapped in lines, and you untied them for me?”

“Yeah.” Fierce Cat was tired and didn’t want to talk anymore. He pouted and patted the man’s chest to urge him. “Three coins!”

Bai Yunjun stared blankly at him, then suddenly burst into laughter he couldn’t stop.

“It’s really…” He threw his head back and laughed. “Hahaha— I was saved by a cat!” He instantly lowered his head, staring intently at the cat with eyes so bright they were frightening. “Thank you.”

Twenty years ago, Isiris tossed him a knife. Twenty years later, a cub with Regalis blood had saved his life.

“Bai Yunjun promises you—from now on, the Bai family of Capital Star is at your command.”

Li Ao stared at him blankly, thinking this guy was weird. His cat ears flicked back, and he weakly insisted, “…three coins.”

No matter how much you talk, it won’t do—one coin short is not allowed!

“Good.” Bai Yunjun had the AI transfer money to the cat.

The astral projection ended an hour later. Li Ao had been busy all day and now lay on the ground with his tail limply draped behind him.

“AI, end the live stream,” the robot said.

[Okay, you’ve logged out.]

The little cat barely lifted his tail in a wave. “Thanks, I’m going to sleep now. You rest too.”

[Good night, Li Ao.]

Xun had rushed to the little cat’s side the moment it ended, squeezing under his belly and bouncing him on its head as it hopped outward.

Alpha-13 followed the two little ones. “Do you want to keep the connection going?”

“…” Li Ao pouted. “Gotta make money.”

That meant he didn’t like it. The robot patted his head. “Then we won’t connect.”