Your Reliable Bai is About to Arrive on the Battlefield

After Wei the Cat and the Shop Manager meticulously reviewed the secrecy protocols, they left a contact number and departed.

Clutching the slip of paper with the phone number, the Shop Manager recalled the petite cat-girl’s instructions: if anything unusual occurred, she was to call this number and simply state that Xuan Bai was in trouble.

While leaving a contingency plan was certainly understandable, weren’t they cat demons?

Shouldn’t they employ more mystical methods, such as flying sword messages, telepathic communication, or perhaps whispering secret feline commands to a random cat on the street?

To think they used such a modern approach felt somewhat disappointing.

“So, your name is Xuan Bai, is it? Do you possess any amazing abilities?” The Shop Manager leaned closer to The Cat, asking with genuine curiosity.

‘No, The Cat is just an ordinary feline.’

Bai remained perfectly still, executing Wei the Cat’s request flawlessly by pretending to be nothing more than a common housecat.

Several days passed in the peaceful rhythm of work.

Aside from vanishing without a trace precisely when the shop closed for the day, Bai behaved almost identically to any other ordinary cat.

Still, the Shop Manager timidly placed a “Please Do Not Touch” sign beside her.

Through these days of interaction, the Shop Manager grew increasingly convinced of one thing: Xuan Bai was somehow teaching the other cats in the shop how to “operate” the business.

She had witnessed Bai, with a mere glance, direct a typically lethargic orange tabby, usually too lazy to stir, to nuzzle and charm an incoming customer.

‘Was it cat language? There were no meows. Was it some form of hierarchical suppression used within the cat tribe? Or perhaps mental communication?’

‘As expected of a cat demon!’

On a new day, Bai remained engrossed in the television, finding the device quite fascinating.

The Cat had gleaned a wealth of new knowledge from it.

“Sister Zhou!” A cheerful, outgoing young man named Yi Zhang, a colleague who helped manage their rescue account, pushed open the door and entered. “We received a distress call from an office building in the Third Ring Road. A cat is trapped on the platform of an outdoor air conditioner unit.”

The Shop Manager, Zhou Zhiting, immediately perked up. “How long has it been trapped? What’s its current condition?”

“We don’t know,” the boy replied truthfully. “They only discovered it after hearing its meows. The temperature isn’t low right now, and they’re afraid to feed it water or food, fearing it might get startled and fall. They’ve also turned off the air conditioner.”

“Grab the gear, get in the car, lead the way. Call Gao Xin and ask her to help watch the shop.” The Shop Manager, about to rush out, paused as she remembered the difficulties of previous high-rise cat rescues. “You go get the car first. I need to grab something.”

Seeing the boy leave, the Shop Manager stealthily approached Bai, bending down to whisper, “You can command ordinary cats, right? Care to lend me a paw?”

Bai looked up at the Shop Manager, understanding her intention.

‘Rescuing a cat? Of course, I must see!’

–The journey continues–

“That’s roughly the situation. The cat is still there.”

“Alright, let’s try the bait cage first. If that doesn’t work, we’ll use the snare.”

The Shop Manager and her team had already met with the person who called for help.

Yi Zhang opened the back seat, preparing to retrieve equipment for upstairs, when he noticed a massive cat carrier sitting there.

“What’s the cat carrier for? Didn’t we already bring the pet travel crate?” Yi Zhang muttered to himself, reaching to lift the carrier.

His hand dropped, feeling a significant weight.

“Is there something inside?”

He turned the carrier around and immediately saw a fluffy, somewhat silly cat face pressed against the transparent window.

^OωO^

“Shop Manager? Is this cat…?” Yi Zhang, unsure why they would bring a cat on a rescue mission, turned to ask the Shop Manager, who was inspecting the ventilation shaft.

“I’ll carry it up later. It’s useful.”

‘Alright then… Though I’m not sure what it’s useful for, I might as well carry it up.’

Once upstairs, with the camera set up and phone in hand, Yi Zhang leaned out the window to assess the trapped cat’s situation.

It wasn’t that he was eager to rescue the cat, but there was no immediate rush.

Filming the rescue process was an indispensable part of it, allowing them to publish videos and avoid potential future troubles.

A black-and-white ‘cow cat’ was trapped in an awkward spot.

Due to space and design constraints in such office buildings, the placement of outdoor air conditioner units could sometimes be incredibly treacherous.

For instance, the unit where the cow cat was trapped was located inside a ventilation shaft, which was actually a violation.

Ventilation shafts were already recessed within the building and difficult to access, with only a few crossbeams offering precarious footholds.

Below the air conditioner unit lay a sheer drop of over ten meters.

The Shop Manager arrived on the scene. “Difficult, isn’t it? It’s hard to even lower a bait box in this position.” She had been observing the structure from below earlier.

“Indeed… If we scare the cat, it’s likely to fall. Ah, how did this cat even get up there?”

“Let’s try the bait cage first.”

After considerable effort with poles and ropes, they managed to lower the cage onto a crossbeam.

The space around the air conditioner unit was too small to place it directly, and doing so risked startling the cat, so the crossbeam was their only option.

The cage contained squeezed-out cat treats, a “special edition” enhanced with glutamic acid, hydrolyzed protein, and ample fats—irresistible attractants.

While unhealthy for a cat in the long run, their immediate goal was maximum allure.

Unfortunately, it failed to entice the cow cat, which didn’t even budge.

Their only option left was the snare.

However, the window was not close, making the task quite challenging.

Several times, the snare trembled as it extended toward the cow cat, but the cat merely tilted its head slightly, avoiding it.

“This is tough,” Yi Zhang sighed, troubled.

The Shop Manager unzipped Bai’s carrier and whispered a few words into The Cat’s ear.

Hearing the zipper, Yi Zhang looked at the Shop Manager, remembering the supposedly “useful” cat.

“What are you letting it out for?” Yi Zhang asked curiously.

“This cat became the boss of our shop within two days,” the Shop Manager said, her expression so serious it didn’t seem like a joke. “I think it might be able to… uh… use its kingly aura to subdue that cat and make it obediently enter the cage.”

“Huh?”

“Go, Xuan Bai! I choose you!”

Bai ignored the Shop Manager’s antics, gracefully leaping onto the windowsill.

She peered out, looking at the cow cat.

[Pure Land of the Heart] activated!

A blank space unfolded, with only a small patch of grass in the center.

Scattered across the lawn were a few worn-out cat toys and a pile of oddly shaped foods: some from humans, some from trash cans, some from sewers, and some the cat had caught itself.

This was the cow cat’s mental image world.

Bai’s eyes widened slightly.

‘It’s an already formed mental image world… All the cats in the shop had chaotic, unformed ones. This one, though small, is definitely complete.’

Bai appeared on the grass, and a figure of a cow cat materialized beside her.

‘Why were you in such a dangerous place?’

Bai conveyed this thought.

After a long moment, a hazy thought was received back, which, translated, meant: ‘Hunting birds.’

Though there was a slight delay, the cow cat clearly understood Bai’s thought and responded lucidly.

Compared to other felines, this indicated quite outstanding CPU performance.

With such an intelligent cat, the task became even simpler.

Bai sent a direct, simple thought command: “Go into that cage.”

This level of intelligence, present but not exceedingly high, typically wouldn’t resist a command delivered directly to its mind.

However, this command was met with resistance.

A wave of sadness, confusion, and fear emanated back.

Bai narrowed her pupils, intently watching the cow cat, whose ears were flattened.

Soon, Bai retracted her gaze, silently glancing at the worn-out cat toys scattered across the grass.

She let out a human-like sigh and revised the command.

“Follow your appetite.”

This time, the command was not resisted.

Exiting the illusion, Bai jumped down from the window, went to the pet travel crate, chewed the air, and rubbed against the box.

Yi Zhang watched, amused. “Is it trying to eat the cat treats inside?”

The Shop Manager vaguely understood Bai’s intent and added a bit more cat treat to the cage. “Lower the bait box again.”

Sure enough, the bait box’s effect was remarkable this time.

Though the cow cat still hesitated, it reacted and eventually crawled inside.

Yi Zhang, quick as a flash, immediately pulled the rope to secure the hatch and hoisted the box up.

With the rescue successfully completed, they packed up their equipment.

Information aggregate beings, their external forms were merely platforms for communication.

Their true essence was a ceaseless, enormous vortex of information.

This was why, in the previous world, Reincarnation Cat had sent Bai away; only they themselves could perceive the impact of the colossal vortex of destiny.

This world was no exception.

Although there was no other life form like Bai in this world, a certain vortex of destiny had already begun to spin.

Within the Anomaly Containment Bureau, an outsourced response team was providing real-time updates to headquarters on their operation.

“No signal interference. Communications clear.”

“Target location shows no obvious anomalies. Entering the interior now.”

“Suspected containment item found… Oh my god…”

“Two humanoid stone sculptures discovered at the location. One is exquisitely carved, depicting an adult Caucasian male.”

“The other… Its posture suggests immense suffering, frozen in a struggling pose, with East Asian facial features.”

“Information comparison results are in… These are the owners of this house. They weren’t carved to resemble them.”

The voice, deliberately distorted by the communicator, trembled slightly.

Heavy, hoarse gasps echoed through the quiet room.

“Dead-type anomaly… Initiating containment attempt!”

Thankfully, the two statues remained inert and were successfully transferred into a completely sealed black box.

“Containment successfully completed.”

“Do not relax! Ensure absolute stability during transport. Maintain vigilance!”

“You’ve seen it; the presence of fatalities proves this thing is absolutely not safe… Uh… Cough, cough, cough!!”

“Deputy Team Leader? What’s wrong with you?!”

Strange sounds erupted from the communicator.

Sitting silently in the communication room, clutching her fists, Wei the Cat slammed a button. “What’s wrong!? Open the image live stream access for me!”

The Director reached out, pressing down on Wei the Cat’s agitated, leaping form, shaking his head in shock. “Triggering factor unknown. Rapid, simple verbal description of the mutation symptoms.”

“He’s turning to stone! The Deputy Team Leader’s body is turning to stone!”

The team member’s voice, forced into composure, answered.

In the background, a man’s low, pained groans could be faintly heard.

“Progressive mutation. Deploy A352 Containment Item, False Eternity. Accelerate return speed! Do not give up!”

“Director… cough, cough, I won’t… uh… give up. Tell my mother… Ah… Ahhh… My will… under the pillow.” The man’s hoarse, fragmented words struggled to pierce through the communicator.

And they pierced sharply into the hearts of Wei the Cat and her companions.

“You damn well lie down on 352!! Immediately! Right now!! I have a way to save you! If you dare to give up, I won’t forgive you!” Wei the Cat roared furiously.

‘Such a strange voice… yet such a familiar tone… Is it an illusion?’

The man, whose vision was already blurred, was helped onto a metal platform, where he lost consciousness.

Wei the Cat paced anxiously.

Once a mutation began, it was irreversible, unless… unless it was something that transcended “common sense.”

Just returning to the cat café, Bai received a torrent of grief and helplessness from Wei the Cat, conveyed through their contract.

“Xuan Bai… help me.”

Bai’s eyes snapped open, her pupils contracting into thin slits.

Her fur bristled, and she vanished from the spot in an instant, startling the Shop Manager beside her.

‘Someone… is bullying Cat’s friend?’