The Reincarnated Cat, Leaving

The timid, black-haired girl before her stammered, “G-Great… Lord… Hello.”

Her voice was laced with fear as she addressed Bai.

Only moments ago, Wenwen had concluded her father’s funeral, departing from that sorrowful place.

As Bai sat alone on a small mound of earth, feeling a profound sense of disorientation, the girl suddenly materialized before the cat’s eyes.

“Meow?” Bai tilted her head, her gaze fixed on the girl’s translucent form, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.

“Eek!… Ah, ah… Um… C-could you, perhaps, come with me?” The timid girl appeared startled, her voice quavering as she managed to voice her request.

Bai finally managed to match the girl’s face with a memory.

This was the same head that had emerged from the swirling vortex when Bai had first bid farewell to Grandma Liu!

Seeing that Bai ignored her, the girl’s expression crumpled, on the verge of tears as she pleaded again in a low voice, “Just one trip, a short one. Nothing bad will happen… sniff…”

Bai couldn’t understand.

Was she truly that frightening?

Yet, seeing the girl’s pitiful and proactive approach, Bai lifted her head and took two steps forward.

The meaning was clear: “Lead the way.”

After all, she had no idea what to do or where to go at this moment.

The translucent girl seemed to receive a great blessing, carefully placing her cool hand on the cat’s head.

The next instant, the scene before Bai’s eyes twisted and spun.

In a flash, clarity returned, but the surroundings had shifted to an entirely new place.

The girl’s figure had vanished without a trace.

Bai raised her fluffy, bushy tail, swaying it gently as she curiously surveyed her surroundings.

This place… it resembled that vortex quite a bit.

“Hello.”

A peculiar voice emanated from ahead.

Suddenly, a distinct tabby cat appeared before Bai, squatting on the ground.

“!” Bai was astonished.

Could cats actually speak directly?

Bai’s pupils constricted as she scrutinized it; no matter how she looked, it seemed like an ordinary cat… Wait… its appearance hadn’t changed, yet its information was shifting?

“Considering efficiency, I will inform you of some matters directly.”

The tabby cat’s voice sounded sweet and soft, yet devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

It completely disregarded Bai’s confusion, speaking entirely on its own accord.

“You and I, we might be of the same kin, yet there are significant differences between us. We are both interwoven constructs of information and causality. This body is merely a superficial form that can be altered by our self-perception.”

The tabby cat explained things that Bai found difficult to comprehend.

However, the tabby cat paid no mind to whether Bai understood.

It merely expounded in a dry, mechanical fashion, as if force-feeding her the information.

“I was born from the cycle of reincarnation, tasked with collecting the souls of sentient beings. My mission is to recycle and reuse them before they become inactive. I am merely a fixed, operating rule, without a self, without emotions.”

“This is one of our differences. A greater difference is that I have been observing you since the moment of your emergence. A large part of your causality remains invisible to me, especially the few souls you have recycled during my observation. I can confirm that they followed your causality to other worlds.”

“The one who brought you here is my assistant. She helps me collect souls. She told me that, in her view, you are very similar to me, and even more ‘vast’ than I am.”

Bai tilted her head in confusion.

The chattering tabby cat’s words were complex and chaotic; she understood very little.

But ‘same kin’… was it also a cat?

“What you currently see is a simulated self and appearance, designed for easier approach, because your existence is growing increasingly vast, creating a certain conflict with my own.”

The tabby cat spoke, moving closer to Bai.

“The above was a simple description, given to help you accept the more detailed information I am about to transmit to you.”

As the tabby cat spoke, it pressed its forehead against Bai’s.

Bai froze, and a phantom sound seemed to echo in her mind.

[Data exchange protocol interface linked. Do you agree to the data transfer request?]

Bai nodded in a daze, then her vision went black.

[Contract signed]

Upon opening her eyes again, Bai felt as if she knew much, yet also nothing at all.

“Just as a room too small cannot accommodate two people, I apologize for having to send you away. As compensation, I will provide you with some necessary information, knowledge, and tools.”

The tabby cat’s tone now carried a hint of apology.

“You may not understand it now, but you will slowly come to comprehend it later. The difference in our origins is too vast. Your structure is very inefficient at actively processing information, but your passive processing ability is excellent. You don’t need to worry about anything; everything will unfold naturally.”

Bai understood this part.

It meant she didn’t need to worry, which this cat was very good at.

“Now, I must send you off. I will use your information channel to run my reincarnation program. I do not know where you will go, but I wish you all the best.”

Bai nodded in confusion.

This tabby cat was truly strange; its words were sometimes understandable, sometimes not.

“Then, let’s depart.”

The tabby cat before Bai transformed into specks of light, scattering into the air.

They intertwined, spun, and formed a small vortex.

Bai stared curiously at the vortex.

Was she supposed to walk into it herself?

Bai took two steps closer, tentatively touching it with a paw.

The instant she touched the vortex, Bai, too, dissolved into specks of light, drawn inside and instantly vanishing.

The vortex gradually shrank and disappeared, leaving behind only a bewildered tabby cat.

“I… I? I…?”

The cat mumbled to itself.

After establishing a data link with Bai just now, some kind of connection seemed to have been formed between them.

From this contract, it had gained a self and emotions, and now it felt incredibly novel.

Reincarnation had silently observed Bai for so long, partly hoping to emulate Bai’s form to acquire emotions.

Unfortunately, it gained nothing until Bai reached a critical threshold.

Unexpectedly, direct contact immediately yielded results.

“How marvelous, meow.”

As a consequence, Reincarnation’s manifested form became fixed as that of a tabby cat.

“Lord Reincarnation? Have you finished? The soul collection work in the anomalous zone has… Eek!”

The girl who had led Bai here reappeared, crying out in alarm upon seeing her ‘boss.’

She knew it! That white cat must have been another manifestation of her boss.

Only Reincarnation would have such terrifying causal entanglements.

Now, it had finally stopped pretending, and its true form had also become a cat!

“Have you finished? You’ve worked hard.”

Reincarnation, experiencing emotions for the first time, didn’t know how to express itself.

It instinctively adopted the habits of its current cat form, walking forward and rubbing against the girl as a sign of commendation.

“Eh? Oh, it’s nothing.”

The girl’s face quietly flushed.

Today’s boss was unusually abnormal.

[Bai’s first world has ended. There isn’t much fun here; it’s merely a small world used to provide Bai with the most basic mindset, concepts of good and evil, abilities, and linguistic expression.]