Transition Cat

When the topic of levels arose, one couldn’t help but recall a certain chatty, green-furred cat, a truly unique individual.

Half a month had passed, and while most other cats had nearly reached their “level cap,” this particular feline had only just made it halfway.

Due to reasons difficult to fully explain, the mental flow values corresponding to each level weren’t exact integers, though the difference was negligible.

The approximate correlation was: Level 1: 1 mental flow, Level 2: 3, Level 3: 5, Level 4: 8, Level 5: 11, Level 6: 15, and so on, up to Level 16: 80.

Dr. Cat could now ascend to Level 9, which would allow her to master every skill on the list, far surpassing all her companions.

Although she hadn’t reached Level 9 yet, being close to Level 7, Dr. Cat had immediately activated the skill named Reincarnation without hesitation, as soon as she learned that Green Leaf Cat had mastered astral projection.

“Is this the reason for your current appearance?”

Officer Wei’s eye twitched uncontrollably, and the two ears atop her head tilted backward and stood erect, as if she had been startled.

It was indeed quite a fright.

Just moments ago, Dr. Cat had frantically @-mentioned Officer Wei, instructing her to activate her Appraisal skill.

Confused, Officer Wei had barely opened the skill interface when she witnessed a semi-transparent, green-furred, unidentified object wriggling its way out from behind her.

Her fur, still bristling from the shock, had yet to settle down.

However, it had to be said, Dr. Cat’s talent was truly formidable; she had instinctively learned to teleport to a chosen anchor point.

“Although I’ve had various conjectures about souls for a long time, this is the first time I’ve had the chance to personally experience and witness one, meow.”

“It holds significant experimental value.”

“Right, right!”

“It’s a shame that, including ourselves, only two cats seem to possess this skill, isn’t it?”

“Experimenting on companions is forbidden.”

“Oh, come on, the cat knows that!”

“I was just mentioning it.”

“But the temptation is truly immense.”

“I’d love to experiment on myself.”

“What is the essence of the soul?”

“Can a cloud chamber reveal the soul?”

“Can a strong magnetic field interfere with it?”

“What’s the principle behind soul memory?”

“…Mm.”

Watching Dr. Cat’s two personalities begin to ‘talk to themselves,’ completely ignoring her, Officer Wei rubbed her bristling fur and ears, sighing helplessly.

“If you want to know, why don’t you ask Bai?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t I tell you last time?”

“Bai blocked me!” Dr. Cat, perplexed, floated in front of Officer Wei and tapped her on the head.

Although there was no physical sensation, Officer Wei still felt a surge of annoyance from being ‘patted on the head.’

“I know… I just didn’t expect you still hadn’t been unblocked.”

Clicking her tongue, Officer Wei muttered under her breath, “Why can’t I block you too?”

“Eh!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Despite her quiet tone, Dr. Cat still heard her.

“You’re not satisfied with the cat, are you?”

“The cat’s going to make a fuss!”

“Oh,” Officer Wei replied indifferently, returning to her work.

The green-furred cat, seeing this, began making strange noises.

“Meow, meow, roooar!”

The following days reverted to a calm and peaceful routine, devoid of major disturbances.

The only difference from before was that the frequency of anomalous object appearances hadn’t decreased—fortunately, none of them proved troublesome.

After a period of such tranquility, autumn arrived.

During this time, Zhongzhou achieved a series of technological breakthroughs, all related to the field of materials science.

In terms of cutting-edge technological advancement, these achievements didn’t introduce new techniques, breakthroughs, or methods, and even the research process remained vaguely described.

However, economically speaking, these highly ductile, highly conductive, extremely strong, or simultaneously strong and heat-resistant new materials could be applied to numerous fields, generating considerable value.

This created a certain sensation, simultaneously pushing the “Zhongzhou Wonderful Materials Research Institute,” which had developed this series of achievements, into public view.

To be honest, it was quite peculiar when someone found such an unusually named institute amidst a list of national research institutions.

Even stranger was that, apart from its name and achievements, almost nothing else could be found about it.

It was normal that nothing could be found, as strictly speaking, this institute belonged to the Anomaly Response Bureau, a covert agency.

If not for the necessity of attributing these publicly releasable achievements to a source, the institute would never have appeared on any list.

Indeed, besides the public achievements, there were many that couldn’t be disclosed, such as more advanced coating materials and those involving classified information, like the small box used by Bai during her first appearance, which contained materials of this very nature capable of simulating soul fluctuations.

This entity, jokingly referred to internally as the ‘Cat Institute,’ was led by Dr. Cat and comprised domain experts and three cat-girls with the highest mental energy, with Green Leaf Cat also among them.

The Cat Institute did not research cats, but rather, cats conducted research.

Despite having achieved so much, learning had to continue, for there was no end to knowledge.

Today, Bai, who was usually keen on roaming the streets, unexpectedly visited the study room she had last been to.

“Therefore, by extending this polygonal structure outwards, the resulting network will continue to maintain excellent conductivity.”

The old gentleman, having just finished his lecture, returned to the podium and was about to take a sip of water when he suddenly noticed a square bun sitting there.

Two cat ears popped out from the ‘bun,’ and a pair of moist, black-blue eyes looked at the old gentleman.

Shaking her ears, she greeted him, “Meow~.”

Oh, it was Bai.

The old gentleman pulled out a cat treat—as a teacher, and as an elder who could almost be the grandfather of his three students, he always kept such small snacks that cat-girls enjoyed in his pocket, much like carrying candy to appease children, given how remarkably childlike the cat-girls appeared.

Bai had no reason to refuse the treat offered to her mouth.

She had merely wandered here on a whim, her mind blank.

The old gentleman, however, held a very high regard for Bai.

During Bai’s previous visit, she had pointed out a spot on his lower back.

A subsequent check-up revealed a pus pocket there, which had been dangerously close to compressing a nerve.

Given his usual habit of simply rubbing safflower oil on what he thought was just back pain, the consequences could have been dire.

The old gentleman stroked Bai’s fluffy head, and Bai, enjoying the gentle petting, purred softly.

“Alright, stop staring, let’s continue the lesson.”

Having attended to Bai, the old gentleman interrupted the three cat-girls below, whose eyes were filled with eagerness, and resumed the class.

Bai continued to observe from the podium for a while, but soon grew bored.

Bai understood the content, but unlike humans, she didn’t have a rigid need to learn, nor did she receive the positive feedback from brain secretions upon acquiring knowledge.

Thus, she lacked the motivation to study.

Bai wasn’t ready for a nap yet, so she got up, stretched lazily, and then teleported to a designated anchor point.

“Meow!!”

The moment she landed, Bai was immediately met with a slobbery enthusiasm.

A black and white little creature rushed up, licking and rubbing against her.

“Oh, Bai’s here?” Shop Manager Zhou, for once, was actually in the shop.

“Did you come to play with Jump?”

Bai gave a reserved nod and headed out with Jump, whose personality was much like a dog’s.

They had arranged to go play at a nearby construction site.

While they called it playing, for Bai, simply having a companion to run around with was enough to make her happy—Dr. Cat being the exception.

To this day, no cat-girl had realized that Jump, the mysterious entity who occasionally meowed in the chat group, was this very cow cat.

The new system naturally benefited Jump as well; he was now Level 2.

In terms of mental power and mental flow, Jump was now as intelligent as most people, but a completely different worldview made him still appear rather silly.