The faded little ball bounced a few times on the ground with a clatter, rolled a short distance, then came to a spinning stop.
A short-legged cat with chubby little wings suddenly appeared, pouncing excitedly toward its prey in a not-quite-standard ambush pose. Hit by the cat’s paw, the ball shot off with a whoosh, rolling deeper into the passageway.
Li Ao chased after it like a puppy, kicking it along the way, and finally caught the ball in front of a tightly shut metal door. He picked it up in his mouth, glanced at the door with some confusion, and was just about to see if he could get in when he heard the robot broadcasting: “Li oooh, time to eat.”
Food was the greatest thing in the world—Fierce Cat instantly forgot about the door, trotting out of the passageway with quick patters of his paws. He dropped the ball into the storage box, wagged his tail, and ran toward the kitchen. “Are we having tomato soup today?”
Alpha-13 turned off the fire, then directed the little monster that had been stealthily learning on the side. “Go get the plates.”
Xun, who could already transform proficiently, clearly still preferred the form of a black-furred chestnut ball. He bounced twice, pulled out some plates to hand to the robot, then jumped down from the counter and softly rubbed against the little cat’s chest. “Li Ao.”
“You’re helping with cooking too?” The little cat wrapped around him and nuzzled. “Xun is amazing!”
“…” Alpha-13, the machine who had been busy from start to finish, set the bowl on the ground and irritably patted the cat’s butt. “You’re in the way—go eat somewhere else.”
The disdained Fierce Cat huffed, flashed a big pancake face at the robot, then nudged his food bowl aside with his head and started eating.
“Tomato… so good…”
The robot heard it but calmly washed the pot. No matter what happened to this cat, it wouldn’t find it strange anymore—even if those unknown seeds really bore fruit almost identical to tomatoes. Oh, except for the leaves all having sharp teeth, and only short-legged cats being able to get close enough to pick them.
Totally normal. Really.
Alpha-13 shook out the wrung-dry rag with a snap and hung it on the rack, saying coldly, “You’ve played all morning and eaten now. After you finish, it’s time to start homework.”
Li Ao, who wasn’t too fond of studying, surprisingly didn’t resist much this time—after all, today they were learning ancient Chinese. On distant Aiai’ang’ang, only reciting familiar words could ease some of the homesickness.
The little cat slowed his eating, but soon optimistically shoveled in another big bite. It was fine—Grandma had said she’d wait forever for Li Ao to come home.
He had to eat well and grow big, so next time they met, he could pick her up and spin her around.
The little cat’s paws gripped the edge of the bowl and pushed it toward the robot, declaring grandly, “One more bowl!”
—
Teaching a cat—is it hard?
The hard part was that this short-legged one had never been to kindergarten and lacked even the basics.
The easy part was that he was such a good little cat. Even if he didn’t understand, he’d perk up his big face and listen to you lecture. Sure, he might just stare at you with innocent blue eyes afterward, but at least his attitude was great.
Low IQ? No problem—there was a freak learner right beside him. The robot suppressed the urge in its program to smack the cat’s butt and turned the study fire on the little monster.
Fierce Cat wasn’t actually dumb—of course, compared to human kids his age. But against the robot’s terrifying trillion-operations-per-second speed, it was nothing.
Fierce Cat gripped the pencil, trembling as he finally learned to write his own name. He held up the paper proudly to show the black-furred chestnut ball. “This is Li Ao’s name! It’s hard to write, but it sounds so nice!”
The little monster was great at cheering, clapping its two short tentacles with clap-clap sounds.
Class dismissed, the hardworking little cat picked up his bucket to harvest today’s tomatoes. His little wings had just sprouted tips— from afar, they looked like two white, round fluff balls. No one could imagine this pair of wings soaring through the skies one day.
One hand carrying the bucket, the other pulling Xun along, the two little ones bounced and jumped as they started today’s farm work.
【Off work, coming straight to see the little cat (hehehe)】
【Upstairs, which planet are you on? I just got off work too, about to make dinner.】
【Can’t afford fresh food, so I can only watch the little cat pick veggies wuwuwu】
The small pond in front of the base had unknowingly turned into a small lake, its area steadily expanding, with tiny green grass sprouts starting to grow around the edges.
【Unbelievable—plants actually growing in sandy soil.】
【My bro took a big job a few days ago, laying turf for a courtyard on Capital Star. Just a tiny yard, one million!】
【Not surprising—only a few planets can cultivate turf now.】
【But what variety is this planet’s turf? It looks so fine and dense.】
Naturally, it was an experimental variety. Harmless-looking on the surface, but up close, those grass sprouts were covered in sharp teeth.
Every seed on this planet was, without exception, sterile and unable to sprout—otherwise, humans wouldn’t have discarded them in the trash heap, only for the little cat to pick them up a century later.
No one could have foreseen a cat whose spiritual power could revive dead seeds.
When cat paws stepped on the lawn, the grass sprouts closed their sharp teeth like mimosa plants.
Li Ao lay by the lake, put the bucket in to scoop up full of water, dragged it out, and together with Xun carried it toward the tomato patch.
It was really heavy—the little cat strained so much his back wings perked up.
【His Highness’s little chicken wings are getting even rounder.】
【How BOLD! Daring to insult His Highness’s dignity! (death stare)(drag him away and grant white silk)】
【Little short legs and little chicken wings, wuwuwu, no worries, Auntie loves you—Auntie can draw, Auntie will draw it for you~】
【Upstairs, remember to post after drawing!! I’ll buy if it’s good!!】
Li Ao didn’t carry it far, because halfway there he was met by Mantis Monster No. 2, drawn by the scent of cat.
“Nii… ao…” A blurry shout came from the ferocious mouthparts as its six legs scurried fast, stopping in front of the little cat.
“You’re here.” The little cat huffed and set down the bucket, wiping sweat. “Perfect, I can’t carry it.”
Mantis Monster No. 2 naturally took the bucket and followed behind the two little ones.
At the tomato patch, Li Ao poured the water into a small hole, then padded the bucket under his feet, stepped up, picked a tomato, and handed it to Mantis Monster No. 2. “Eat.”
“Nii… ao…” They clearly couldn’t speak, didn’t even have vocal organs, but they stubbornly engraved these two words in their hearts—as if chanting the little cat’s name brought satisfaction.
【So scary…】
The surveillance modified by Alpha-13 only targeted the three of them and failed to block the xenoids’ sounds.
【I’ve studied xenoids for decades—never knew they could make human sounds.】
【In fact, the military just captured a few Crex recently—never seen this phenomenon.】
【So is it these xenoids… or…】
Humans speculated the little cat had the ability to tame xenoids, but the little cat himself thought they had just made a deal.
“Take this one to No. 1, and don’t come here alone usually.” The little cat picked another tomato for No. 2, nagging instructions. He wasn’t worried about the mantis monsters trampling the veggies—he feared the tomatoes biting them.
Mantis Monster No. 2 bent a forelimb, touched its flesh chewed up by tomato leaves, and pitifully nodded.
“In a few days, when Niu Niu gets back from his long trip, I’ll have him help plow the field. Then we can plant more tomatoes to share with you guys.”
After picking today’s tomatoes and painting a big pie for the mantis monsters, Li Ao picked up the bucket, grabbed Xun, and prepared to head back.
—
The little cat didn’t go online at fixed times. League viewers were fine—they could still see him out and about on surveillance. But Star Network viewers suffered from longing.
【Day 1 without little cat, missing him.】
【OMG, this stream has so many people lurking even when it’s not live?】
【You guys not watching Dawn League?】
【Sub fee too high, haven’t watched—what’s up?】
【Little cat’s a league player (hehe)】
【What?? Our soft little cat joined a competition? Short legs contest?】
【Or big face pancake contest?】
【Nah, belly dance contest.】
【Enough! (bawling) When will the world be kinder to 5cm malice?!】
【Your malice ain’t small either (doge)】
【Heh, listen up—our little cat bro is the top-ranked bug trainer! Back then, a xenoid variant swung its blade arm at the little cat, in a flash—】
“Say no more—before it struck, I dove into the trash heap and snatched a mineral water bottle!” The little cat puffed out his chest, boasting proudly to his two listeners. “On Kitten Street, no kid picks and sells bottles better than Li Ao!”
Not bragging—after all, the other kids were in kindergarten; who else would pick bottles?
“But adults would snatch them…” The little cat’s chest deflated, mouth pouting. “Li Ao couldn’t beat them.”
The little monster hopped to his side in two bounds, purring as it rubbed against him. “Li Ao.”
“Good!” The kitten with his new little dog perked up his tail. “Once we’re home, I’ll take you with me. If those adults come to snatch Li Ao’s stuff, you just… you just…” He wanted to say bite them, just like those naughty kids who used to set dogs on him back then. But he felt that wasn’t right, so he covered his mouth with his paws and leaned close to the little monster’s face, whispering, “Sneakily bite a little nibble.”
The little monster blinked and happily agreed.
After the kitten finished recounting his glorious history and learned that the little monster had no past to speak of, he turned his gaze to the robot. “Machine, what did you used to do?”
According to the Cub Rearing Guidebook, caring about a cub’s daily activities and emotions—especially listening to their experiences—is a key factor in promoting healthy growth. So Alpha-13 began asking about the kitten’s past, only for the boomerang to hit itself.
“I…” The robot didn’t know how to bring up its century of lonely existence, so it skipped that and started from the beginning. “When I was first built, I followed my creator to a planet covered entirely in ocean.”
