The Catman Squad Assembles!

The sun blazed fiercely over the dusty training ground, where young soldiers sweated profusely.

An older-looking military officer strode quickly towards them.

“Chen Miao? Step forward!”

The female soldier, called by name, responded loudly and ran to the front.

This military base, located near the Countermeasure Bureau, bore the additional responsibility of protecting its members and preventing potential incidents.

Beyond male soldiers, it also housed female reconnaissance soldiers, not just those in logistics.

However, most members were unaware of the Countermeasure Bureau’s specific operations.

Their duty was simply to obey orders and defend the area.

Chen Miao was one such unaware member.

An orphan who had grown up with government assistance, she enjoyed additional financial and psychological support upon enlisting.

Though, in her opinion, she didn’t truly need it.

Her greatest wish was to live a united life in the army, serving her homeland.

If possible, she even hoped to attend a military academy for further studies after her service concluded.

Yet, today, during her training, she was summoned to an office.

The person seated in the office was not its usual occupant, but an older man.

Chen Miao covertly glanced at his shoulder insignia.

‘Holy moly! A general! A five-star general!’

Chen Miao, feeling a surge of apprehension, stood even straighter.

Her mind raced with wild conjectures; why would a small soldier like herself be summoned alone by such a high-ranking official?

She hadn’t even lost her firearm.

Could it be a secret mission?

Surely, it wouldn’t be her turn for something like that.

“Don’t be nervous, little comrade,” the high-ranking official said, his expression genial.

“I’ve reviewed your file, Chen Miao, is that right?”

“You’re a strong, hardworking, excellent child,” the official continued, smiling as he spoke of her.

“Your usual performance is quite good, too.”

“Everything for the nation!”

“It is my duty to do so!”

The official smiled and nodded again, gesturing for her to sit down.

Only then did Chen Miao notice the stack of documents he was flipping through.

“Here’s the situation.”

“I’ve sought you out because you are indeed outstanding and meet the criteria for a special, highly confidential experiment.”

“This opportunity is exclusive to our military region, and you can think of it as a test for new equipment.”

The official began to get to the point.

“However, this new equipment test is rather unique.”

“The test itself poses no danger to life or risk of injury, but it requires lifelong secrecy and the concealment of your existence.”

“Everything you need from now on will be provided by the state.”

“You’ll be stationed, trained, and deployed to other locations.”

“I cannot disclose any more details than this.”

“Can you accept?”

‘A mission requiring lifelong identity concealment?’

Chen Miao’s pupils constricted slightly.

‘Perhaps this is why I was chosen?’

She recalled her status as an orphan.

After a brief hesitation, Chen Miao nodded firmly, choosing to agree.

What was there to worry about?

Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to make an even greater contribution to her homeland?

The official nodded with satisfaction, pushing a portion of the documents across the table to her.

Chen Miao didn’t examine them closely, simply flipping to the end and signing.

The official rose from his seat, and Chen Miao followed suit.

He bowed deeply to Chen Miao, then saluted.

“The nation will not forget your contributions.”

Chen Miao, flustered, returned the salute.

The official nodded again, indicating she could leave.

“Go back and pack your things now.”

“We’ll be departing shortly.”

As Chen Miao stepped out, she saw her squad leader waiting outside.

“Ready?”

“I’ll accompany you to pack.”

“Okay.”

Two military-green troop carriers idled at the entrance.

Chen Miao climbed into one, finding several comrades already inside.

As they waited, a few more soldiers boarded.

Chen Miao was astonished.

‘Do even officials of that rank require individual arrangements?’

‘What kind of mission is this, exactly?’

‘Can I even do it well?’

She couldn’t help but doubt herself.

‘No, I must do it well.’

‘I must!’

Ultimately, ten female soldiers gathered.

After another wait, the two vehicles started, heading towards an unknown destination.

Surprisingly, their destination didn’t seem far, not even particularly distant from the city.

This was vastly different from her imagined transfer, long journey, and eventual arrival at a desolate no-man’s-land or Gobi Desert.

Soldiers disembarked from both vehicles.

As Chen Miao had expected, the other vehicle carried ten male soldiers.

Led by their escorts, the twenty of them marched in neat formation into a large hall to wait, informed that someone would soon meet them.

The soldiers felt a mix of tension and unease, but their excellent training kept them composed.

Soon, footsteps echoed.

The rhythmic sound of leather boots striking the floor gradually grew closer.

Everyone straightened their backs, ready.

‘But aren’t those footsteps a little too light?’

The large doors swung open, and the soldiers instinctively looked towards the newcomer.

‘Uh… where are they?’

The footsteps sounded a few more times, and only then did everyone spot the figure stepping out from the shadows of the staircase.

‘They’re so small.’

‘Is that a child from somewhere?’

This was their first thought.

The newcomer appeared to be a small girl in a miniature military uniform, yet she exuded an inexplicable aura of authority.

She stood before the group, cleared her throat, and her clear, tender voice rang out.

“Do you believe in science?”

The group exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to answer.

The newcomer was Wei the Cat.

Without waiting for their reply, she continued, speaking to herself.

“Upon arriving here, you must first prepare for your scientific worldview to be overturned.”

“This is the Countermeasure Bureau for Supernatural Anomalies, unknown to ordinary people.”

Seeing their utterly bewildered expressions, Wei the Cat suddenly felt a strange pleasure, a smile playing on her lips.

The ears hidden beneath her hat and the tail tucked into her jacket unconsciously twitched.

“Confused, aren’t you?”

“Everyone, stand up, form a column, and follow me.”

“You’ll soon understand.”

She led them down a long corridor, a path specifically designed by the Countermeasure Bureau for new recruits.

After introducing them to the hidden dangers and anomalous entities existing in the world, Wei the Cat brought them to the first special feature of this corridor.

“Inside here is an example.”

“This is a very safe containment object, A-9622, a water cup.”

“Seems perfectly ordinary, doesn’t it?”

Wei the Cat held up a water cup for them to see, even handing it over for inspection.

“However, no matter how you throw this cup, as long as it touches a flat surface capable of holding it, it will invariably land bottom-down.”

Wei the Cat paused, observing the bewildered, even slightly amused, faces before her.

“I’ll give you a quick demonstration.”

Wei the Cat produced a glass tube, as wide as the cup’s diameter, and placed the cup into it, head-first.

“Watch closely,” she warned, then released her hand.

The cup plummeted rapidly under gravity.

With a thud, everyone watched as the cup, which had been placed head-down, landed bottom-first.

“Anyone who drinks from this cup will acquire the same characteristic as the cup.”

“The more they drink, the more severe it becomes: their feet cannot leave the ground unless they fly.”

Wei the Cat tapped the cup in her hand, then offered it to the group to try.

Still somewhat disbelieving, the group tossed the cup around in various ways.

No matter how much force they used, the moment the cup clattered to the ground, it always landed bottom-down.

“Alright, stop playing.”

“There’s more to see,” Wei the Cat retrieved the cup, placed it back, and led them onward.

“These are among the safest containment objects; even their side effects are harmless.”

Soon, they arrived at another containment object display.

Unlike before, the object here was sealed within thick glass.

“Do you remember the classifications I mentioned?”

“The cup earlier was a ‘dead object’ type.”

“This one is a ‘beast’ type,” Wei the Cat said, pointing to the barnacles in the glass case.

“They look exactly like barnacles, right?”

Wei the Cat stared at them.

“That’s just a disguise.”

“Once any flesh-and-blood creature approaches, their shells will transform into dense blades, cutting any nearby creature.”

“Do you want to know the consequences of being cut by them?”

Wei the Cat pressed a button on the wall, and a projector behind them activated, displaying a series of shocking images on the screen.

Dense, grayish-green barnacles were packed together, their uneven, clustered appearance instinctively unsettling, like a multitude of rotting eyes staring intently.

These ugly calcium carbonate shells formed a large, horrifying mass—a twisted humanoid shape.

“That’s a person, a living, breathing person,” Wei the Cat stated calmly, watching the hair rise on everyone’s arms as she manipulated the projector to show more photos.

“These are already the safest and easiest ‘beast’ containment objects to deal with.”

“They won’t even attack proactively; you just need to avoid touching them.”

“Isn’t that merciful?”

Wei the Cat’s voice carried a hint of sarcasm.

“Let’s continue.”

“This is merely the tip of the iceberg of the world’s hidden side.”

Next, under Wei the Cat’s guidance, the group witnessed numerous phenomena that defied human comprehension.

A vast, chaotic mist.

Those who inhaled it would float, but the consequence was assimilation.

A disgusting lump of mud.

Touching it allowed one to see random scenes from other places, but their eyes would be stolen—the lump of mud now bore over twenty glistening, rotating eyes.

A desk that appeared entirely normal, but anyone who used it would fall into a frenzied state of study—so intense they would rather starve to death than stop.

If forcibly pulled away, they would sink into severe depression and self-destructive tendencies.

And so on, and so forth.

By the time everyone was numb with shock, the exhibition corridor was almost at its end.

Wei the Cat’s tone grew heavy.

“The numerous victims you’ve just seen included innocent civilians and our valiant soldiers.”

“And this place, where you are about to stay, exists to deal with these things that should not exist in the world.”

“Are you prepared to face them?”

Chen Miao raised her hand.

“Report!”

“Speak.”

“Has your appearance also been altered by the influence of these things?”

Chen Miao had specifically noticed something distinctly wriggling beneath the clothes on the back of the girl who was ostensibly their superior.

Wei the Cat smiled.

“You’re adapting quickly, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t changed by a containment object, but by other reasons.”

“Which is also why you’re here.”

“You’re not just here to join; there’s truly an experiment involved.”

“More specifically,” Wei the Cat said, revealing a strange smile as she took off her hat.

Her ears, finally able to breathe, immediately perked up and twitched eagerly.

The slender, dark-brown tail also slid out from her jacket, arcing and swaying in the air.

Pointing to herself, Wei the Cat maintained that peculiar smile.

“It’s about becoming like me.”