A Secret Contract, A Loud No

“Bai, my dearest Bai, come with me and…”

It seemed as though someone was speaking in her ear, making a request.

Bai blinked open her eyes, bewildered, to find herself nestled among a pile of Cat-girls.

The other cats had quickly sobered up from the catnip last night, but Bai had fallen into a deep slumber and was carried back to the dorm by her companions.

The hour was still early, the sky a murky gray, devoid of any hint of dawn.

The Cat-girls, still half-asleep, circled Bai once before collapsing into a tangle of limbs and tails, using each other as pillows, lost in profound sleep.

‘Who was speaking just now?’

Bai tilted her head in confusion, shaking out her long hair behind her.

After a brief shimmer, she transformed back into a cat and sprang out of the pile.

‘Ah… I remember now. It wasn’t just now; it was someone speaking in my ear last night, while I was still groggy.’

‘It sounded like… signing a contract!?’

Bai’s eyes widened, a prickle of guilt making her quickly activate her ability.

‘Oh no, I agreed! Wei the Cat is going to be displeased.’

‘Who would be so wicked as to seek me out while I was sleeping?’

Activating her ability, Bai instantly recognized a familiar figure.

It was the former ‘bad woman.’

Bai had actually considered changing her mind about her, especially after she’d given the cats so many treats!

But no, she would continue to call her the ‘bad woman.’

Bai secretly glanced at the list within the Soul Lantern Contract.[Name: Sun Niansheng

Ability: Scripture of the Spirit Vine: Periodically increases mental power limit. Learning and absorbing diffused soul energy accelerates this increase. Absorbing diffused energy also provides a small increase in mental flow.

Information Erosion: Dissociative Identity Disorder (original erosion effect: the higher one’s mental power, the worse their self-control).

Mental Power / Mental Flow / Mental Power Limit: 356 / 12 / 380]

[Soul Lantern Network coverage achieved. Shared skill limit +1]

Meanwhile, in the early hours of the morning, The Director, who had been sleeping soundly, was jolted awake by a phone call.

“What?! Dr. Sun is missing?!”

This was no trivial matter.

The Doctor, The Director, and the Team Leader of Special Operations each possessed—or rather, were bound to—a unique anomalous item.

Captain Wei’s item was manageable; it was a pure artifact, capable of being used by anyone.

However, the anomalous item on Dr. Sun was a special one, bound exclusively to her.

The Scripture of the Spirit Vine was a single page, crafted from the bark of the legendary Spirit Vine plant.

Though called a scripture, it was merely one page.

It could only have one user at a time and was one of the few containment objects without any obvious negative side effects.

To use it, one simply touched it.

Upon use, the Scripture of the Spirit Vine would merge and vanish, only to re-emerge upon the user’s death.

The effect of the Scripture of the Spirit Vine was that, after its use, the holder would progressively grow smarter and more energetic over time.

While somewhat amusing, without the technology to accurately quantify mental power, the outward manifestation was simply an increase in intelligence.

In essence, this was due to the increased mental power limit leading to greater vitality, and the increased mental flow enhancing information processing capabilities.

Given the nature of this special containment object, its successive users had always been the research heads of the Countermeasure Bureau.

Each of them made monumental contributions to the study of containment objects.

It could be said that approximately a quarter of all current research on containment objects within the country was thanks to these past users.

It was an astonishing feat.

Even Dr. Sun, despite her youth, had already developed significant breakthroughs like the Soul Fluctuation Simulator and the Mental Fluctuation Warning System, greatly reducing losses from illusory anomalous entities.

Furthermore, considering the side effects of the Scripture of the Spirit Vine, every holder of the item was placed under strict protection and supervision.

This was why The Director had repeatedly rejected Dr. Sun’s previous applications to personally research the Soul Lantern Contract.

He feared that Bai might somehow make the Scripture of the Spirit Vine disappear.

Now, to tell The Director that Dr. Sun was missing was akin to telling him that a dozen or so deadly containment objects, starting with the letter B, had been stolen.

“Find her! Check the surveillance cameras, check the access logs!”

“We’ve already looked. Dr. Sun entered the party venue last night and hasn’t come out since,” the researcher replied, flustered.

Dr. Sun was often accompanied by numerous researchers.

A significant portion of them, besides assisting her, were also secretly protecting and monitoring her—primarily her behavior, given her low self-control, which sometimes led to inexplicable erratic episodes.

‘The venue?’

The Director, upon hearing this, immediately visualized the layout of the venue.

After careful recollection, it was impossible to reach the outside from the vicinity of the venue.

Firstly, there was no direct connection, and secondly, even if one managed to get out of the venue, they would still need to pass through an access control point to truly reach the outside.

“Has the venue been searched?” The Director rubbed his forehead, calming himself to think.

“No, we searched all night, even the logistics warehouse. We confirmed she was missing before rushing to report to you,” the researcher said, barely daring to raise their voice.

“Not in the venue, no record in the access system, no trace on surveillance? How is that possible?” The Director murmured. “Where was Dr. Sun last seen on camera? If I recall correctly, there are cameras inside the venue, aren’t there?”

“Coincidentally, Dr. Sun’s last appearance was exactly as she passed through a blind spot. After entering it, she was never seen again,” the researcher said, sending over the footage.

The Director watched the footage: Dr. Sun, looking normal, leisurely walked into the blind spot, holding a skewer.

That area was behind the stage, and since there were no proper rehearsals or performances, it was completely empty.

‘Why would she suddenly go there if she had nothing to do?’

The Director pondered, fast-forwarding the surveillance to the end.

Just as the researcher had stated, nothing emerged.

‘No, wait, something’s wrong.’

The Director furrowed his brows and rewound the footage, going back to the exact moment Dr. Sun first appeared on camera, examining it frame by frame.

Everything seemed normal at first.

But then, a pile of cats appeared in the venue.

Dr. Sun, holding her skewer, passed by them, seemingly intrigued.

She leaned in for a closer look, then swayed as she walked into the blind spot.

‘This is it! Everything connects!’

The Director remembered Dr. Sun’s previous bizarre applications to personally try the Soul Lantern Contract.

What did they say? ‘Cats are so cute, I want to be cute too?’

The Director closed the surveillance footage, thought for a moment, and then gave a reply to the researcher, who was anxiously awaiting a response.

“You all come with me… Wait… never mind. Call a few female researchers and go check the numbers in the two special squads’ dorms… and the number of cats!”

The base was riddled with surveillance, and even a cat couldn’t leave through the access control.

Moreover, the only source of cats in the base was the special squad—the people who had become Cat-people.

Thus, there was only one answer: Dr. Sun had finally lost control, secretly signed the contract, and blended into the pile of cats!

Pretending to be curious and leaning in for a look? Ha! She was practically nose-to-nose with Bai!