The Gears Begin to Turn

“Xuan Bai~ I’m here~”

The deliberately saccharine, cloying voice drifted slowly from the end of the corridor.

A deep shiver ran down Bai’s spine.

This was Bai, a cat neither young nor truly old, yet in her two decades of existence, she had rarely experienced such a profound sensation.

Fear.

Though they hadn’t formally met, Bai had encountered Dr. Cat on numerous occasions.

The last time, in particular, after Bai had used her ability to peer into The Doctor’s mind, a torrent of various thoughts had surged forth, unsettling Bai considerably.

After all, Bai was merely a cat; nothing more, nothing less.

Even though this particular cat was exceptionally intelligent, possessed unparalleled supernatural abilities, and could even transform humans into cat-people, she still couldn’t obscure her fundamental essence: she was a cat.

To put it more delicately… Bai… she was lazy.

Having activated her ability, Bai foresaw the image of this green-haired individual constantly hounding her with peculiar questions.

It had been tolerable when she was human, but now that an even more erratic cat had split off, it was truly driving both cats and dogs mad.

“Oh? Is Xuan Bai not here?” Dr. Cat twirled a strand of her long hair around her finger, scratching her ear as she entered Bai’s room—the very simulated human residence that had once served as Bai’s containment cell.

Curled atop the bookshelf, Bai tucked in her paws, pressing her ears flat against her head, pretending not to hear.

“Bai, I know you’re in here. Come out, I’ve come to play with you.” Dr. Cat was no ordinary person; she had already checked the surveillance footage before arriving.

Unless Bai had used her teleportation ability to vanish, she had to still be in this room.

Unsure if Bai had indeed used that ability, she decided to proceed by elimination.

Dr. Cat began searching the room inch by inch.

Bai, perched at the very top of the bookshelf, twitched her tail nervously, once again seeing her future of being discovered.

Utterly unwilling to face this troublesome new companion, Bai activated her signature elusive ability: Reincarnation.

Due to The Shop Manager’s new assignment, the cat café was currently being looked after by others.

Driven by the principle of keeping resources within the family, Zhou Zhiting had hired a new manager the previous week—another female assistant from her team.

This assistant was patient, possessed excellent communication skills, and was already familiar with the café’s inventory and operations from working with the former manager.

The position of Shop Manager was thus entrusted to her.

At this moment, the new Shop Manager was engaged in a standoff with Jump, the particularly lively tuxedo cat Zhou Zhiting had mentioned to her earlier.

Ever since their boss had taken on a mysterious new job, this tuxedo cat seemed to have taken an instant dislike to her.

It wasn’t that Jump would scratch or bite her; rather, he caused various disturbances.

While she was busy, he would leap off her back, pushing against the wall.

When she sat at the computer to work, he would brazenly run over and dance on the keyboard.

Or, if he saw the other cats entertaining guests had nothing to do, he would wail loudly, attempting to incite a conflict.

Moreover, he was like a piece of sticky candy, constantly darting out from some corner, clinging to her back, legs, or arms, impossible to shake off.

These disturbances alone would have been tolerable; after all, he was a cat, especially a tuxedo cat—the husky of the feline world—so any antics weren’t surprising.

What was more infuriating was that no matter how she tried to discipline him, nothing worked.

The moment she tried to educate him, he would flatten his ears, twist his head, narrow his eyes, and simply walk away.

From Jump’s perspective, ever since this unfamiliar human arrived, his boss hadn’t visited often, and the owner, who was second only to the boss, had also been disappearing every morning, only returning at night.

‘Perhaps the owner went hunting?’

Whatever the boss did was fine, but Jump couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

His clever, yet limited, feline brain could only link the disappearances of the two to the arrival of this human.

‘It must be her doing! She never goes out to hunt, only enjoying the fruits of the boss and owner’s labor!’

This was the conclusion Jump reached.

However, Bai’s teachings had clearly been effective; despite his dislike, Jump had neither harmed anyone nor caused destruction.

If one were to ask if he wasn’t also enjoying the benefits without effort, I imagine no one would attempt to reason with a cat.

On a new day, as Jump, half-playfully, half-vengefully, annoyed the ‘bad guy’ in his eyes, his keen sense of smell caught a familiar scent.

Jump excitedly opened his mouth slightly, deeply savoring the wonderful aroma with his vomeronasal organ.

‘It’s the boss! The boss cat is back.’

Having just appeared in the cat café, Bai hadn’t even had a moment to relax before a black-and-white blur leaped up and rubbed against her.

It was the exuberant Jump.

Jump communicated his joy and greetings to Bai through their unpracticed contract link, then licked Bai before rolling onto his back, exposing his belly in front of her.

Bai could only sigh helplessly and groom him in return.

The new Shop Manager, who hadn’t noticed anything until now, turned her head and spotted a conspicuous large white cat on the table.

She approached in surprise.

Bai’s pupils constricted.

‘Oh no, the curious human is coming! She’s so fast.’

To evade Dr. Cat, Bai rose, intending to move to another spot, when a certain green-haired cat, unable to find Bai, began sending nuisance messages via their contract.[“Meow, what’s the principle behind your system, meow?”][“What are the specific metrics for these mental energy data based on, meow? And what’s the standard for quantification, meow?”][“This transformation skill requires a high level of cat mental energy, does that mean it can transform into some advanced techniques, meow?”][“Hmm, I’m also very curious about that.”][“Right, right, and how is the function of this public skill achieved, meow?”][“Did you write this skill description yourself? It’s amazing, meow.”][“Can’t contract communication allow contractors to chat with each other, meow? Is it only one-way communication with you, meow?”]

[“And this……………”][“Oh, right, are you at the cat café, meow? The cat will arrive soon~”]

Ah…

Looking at Jump, who was clinging to her, and the curious stranger stroking her, Bai, unable to use Reincarnation to escape again, felt a deep sense of powerlessness in her eyes.

‘That wicked woman, she’s still restless even after becoming a cat-person.’

‘Why so many questions?’

Bai genuinely didn’t want to answer them one by one, because this curious human’s questions were as endless as the boundaries of the universe; answer one, and ten more would appear.

At this moment, a sudden epiphany struck Bai, and a solution came to mind.

[Public Skill 2/3]

[New Skill: All-Seeing Eye]

Simultaneously, Bai finally sent a reply to Dr. Cat through the contract: “Research it yourself. Bother this cat again, and the contract will be blocked, meow!”

“Eh?” Dr. Cat, who was on her way, scratched her head. “The cat hasn’t even started bothering… oh, no, hasn’t even started asking yet? I only sent a few small questions through the contract…”

Fortunately, the newly added skill quickly captivated Dr. Cat’s attention.

For the first time in Bai’s cat life, her threat successfully deterred Dr. Cat.

Watching the future where the annoying cat would chase her all over the world gradually vanish, Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Today, Bai learned the new social technique of threatening.

What a joyous occasion.

Having dealt with the particularly bothersome individual, even Jump, who was meowing and cuddling in front of her, seemed considerably less annoying to Bai.

She re-erected her tail and licked Jump’s head.

Jump didn’t know what had happened, nor did he care about the sounds in his head.

Jump simply noticed that the boss cat’s mood had clearly improved, and he became happy too, playfully chasing Bai’s tail.

The new Shop Manager, observing this endearing scene, remembered that Bai was a special cat the former manager had entrusted to her.

She placed some delicious food in front of her.

‘Meow~ This feeling of peaceful tranquility is truly wonderful, meow. Time for sunbathing.’

The Doctor, having been deterred by the threat and the new skill, returned.

She canceled her Versatility human disguise, shrinking back into her golden-eyed, green-furred cat appearance, and examined the new skill displayed in the contract system.[Pseudo All-Seeing Eye: Consumes mental energy to use. Gathers information about the object in sight. The higher the mental energy flow, the more information obtained.]

“…An appraisal spell?” Dr. Cat grumbled after a long pause.

“Let me try… I’ll find something to test it on first.”

The truly serious Doctor took over control and used the skill on the monitor in the surveillance room.[X-brand display screen, linked to main unit, X material, X pixels, X coating, in use, 32 surveillance targets, surveillance targets are anomalies, location…, X anomaly characteristics are…, target number is…, external data is….]

Unexpectedly, the results didn’t appear instantly after using the skill.

Instead, fragmented keywords and data constantly emerged in her mind as her focus shifted.

Even when she tried to concentrate on the objects within the image, the main data she obtained still centered on the monitor itself.

Now, The Doctor knew this monitor inside and out—for instance, there was a green wire inside, a bit aged, which might short-circuit.

Turning off the skill, The Doctor rubbed her head, which ached from receiving a massive influx of information.

For a human, this was the extent of what could be achieved; many indescribable pieces of information could not be observed, nor could she, like Bai, choose who to observe or predict the future.

“The consumption is about… 20-something?”

“Can an ordinary person only use it once a day? And only on things that are physically present?”

Murmuring her conjectures, The Doctor, despite her headache, went directly to a containment room for a safe anomaly starting with ‘A’.[Number A-1335, Kettle, appearance…, actual water capacity is three times the kettle’s volume, color…, drinker suffers information erosion, former holder…, information erosion effect: sensory abnormalities, the more one drinks, the thirstier one becomes.]

“That’s about enough…”

Her head started aching again… but the effect was excellent… truly excellent.

“Bai… you truly are a rare treasure.”

“Really???” The Director slapped the table and stood up.

Dr. Cat crossed her arms, her gaze indifferent. “Don’t you believe me?”

“Cough, cough, my apologies. It’s just too unbelievable.”

Dr. Cat nodded. “My mental energy data is much higher than that of a normal person, and the consumption for use is also significant, as is the skill involved. So, the specific practical effects will still need to be tested by the special team.”

“Half of what you can achieve would be enough! With this level of ability, what is the Scripture of the Spirit Vine? I’d even give her my Landscape of Mountains and Rivers painting.”

“The Landscape of Mountains and Rivers isn’t yours.”

“It was just an example. From now on, the Countermeasure Bureau’s mission procedures will undergo a massive transformation. Where else can this ability be used?”

“Micro-physics, cutting-edge mathematics, especially in material science and other fields. If used well, this is the trumpet call of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

The Director’s hands trembled with excitement.

He picked up and put down his pen and paper several times, then took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He meticulously recorded the conversation between the person and the cat, then carefully put the paper away.

“I will personally make a trip to Shangjing.”

‘Comrades, is this what they call hope?’

Far away at the cat café, Bai, who was playing with Jump, paused.

Although her ability couldn’t yet foresee such a distant future, she still sensed it: a massive upheaval had occurred in the future.

“Meow?” Bai tilted her head. ‘What does this have to do with cats?’