Chapter 70
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Chapter 70: The Scent of a Companion
"Meow!"
The colorful little cat seemed to understand Lin Qingliu’s words and let out an annoyed meow.
Lin Qingliu didn’t pay much attention; he often encountered stray animals. If it weren’t for this one’s unusually peculiar color, he wouldn’t have bothered to stop and greet it.
However, what happened next took him by surprise. The kitten staggered toward him, its movements unsteady, as if it were drunk or still adjusting to its body.
Its target was unmistakably him—
Or rather, the food bag in his hand.
Inside the bag was the newly developed nutritional paste from the factory.
"You’re quite clever," Lin Qingliu muttered.
He had come to this area after hearing that the Southern District had opened a new production line for a different flavor of nutritional paste.
Having been in this world for a while now, Lin Qingliu had learned how to blend in and conceal his true identity.
Eating meat every day was a luxury, not just in the outer city but even in the inner city; not everyone could afford it.
Even if he could, meat wasn’t always readily available.
On top of that, there were slight discrepancies between the fees for his mental health clinic and his daily expenses.
As a result, Lin Qingliu had been consuming various flavors of nutritional paste lately.
Seeing the kitten making a beeline for his food bag, Lin Qingliu didn’t hesitate—he turned and ran.
He had no intention of sharing his main food supply for the next week, especially without knowing whether the kitten carried any diseases.
With that thought, he quickened his pace, heading straight for home.
Meanwhile, the Two-headed Cat, now reduced to a single head, trudged weakly down the street, its small mind filled with confusion:
That person carried the scent of a companion, so why did they turn and leave upon seeing me?
In its eyes, humans were just another type of extraordinary beast, no different from those with multiple heads or legs.
But upon closer reflection, the scent of a companion seemed to emanate from the object in that person’s hand.
Could it be that its companion had been killed?
Though the idea was somewhat sad, it wasn’t particularly shocking for extraordinary beasts.
After all, when it still had two heads, the two minds often disagreed, and conflicts between extraordinary beasts were common.
Challenging a warrior always carried the risk of failure, and what happened after death—whether one was discarded or eaten—didn’t matter much.
Still, the Two-headed Cat was in a weakened state.
It had no idea how it had ended up like this. It clearly remembered being struck by a high-velocity bullet while falling through the air.
At that moment, it had lost consciousness.
When it awoke in the garbage heap, it found its body completely altered.
What the Two-headed Cat didn’t know was that the mycelium, which had failed to control it earlier, had spread through the nutrient-rich water in the garbage, connecting to several animal corpses.
After absorbing the remaining nutrients from their bodies, the mycelium repurposed the leftover skins, which became the source of the colorful little cat’s patchy fur.
A small cat, suddenly missing many legs, limped through the night, moving toward the source of a scent.
Along the way, it took a moment to wash away its own smell.
Finally, just before dawn, it arrived in front of a house.
After circling the house and inspecting it carefully, the cat confirmed that there were no vulnerabilities on the first floor.
So, under the cover of darkness, it climbed up the drainage pipe to the second floor and squeezed through a gap between the windows.
It was July in the year 52 of the New Era, and even doing nothing made it unbearably hot.
Although Lin Qingliu could flexibly control his body temperature and sweat glands, he still chose to keep the windows open every night while sleeping.
His sharp five senses and precise control over himself allowed Lin Qingliu to create a perception zone around him.
As soon as the small cat placed its paws on the drainage pipe, Lin Qingliu opened his eyes.
"This cat is unusual."
At that moment, Lin Qingliu was certain of his suspicion.
As he had said before, this cat was too intelligent, as clever as a dog.
Lin Qingliu quietly sank into the floor while activating his knowledge path ability, observing the secret intruder in the darkness.
If this creature truly meant harm, Lin Qingliu would have to add it to his list of experimental materials.
The cat, which jumped lightly to the ground, had no idea that a pair of eyes on the ceiling was closely watching it. It arrived in front of a large white box, following the scent.
With no experience in interacting with humans, it had no idea what this object was.
However, it quickly found a gap and successfully poked its claws into it.
Using its front paws to push, it pried the refrigerator’s magnetic door open a crack.
A rush of cold air hit the little cat, making it shiver suddenly and then sneeze twice.
Afterward, it sniffed hard, its cat face showing a joyous expression:
"Meow! (It’s the scent of a companion!)"
As long as it consumed the remains of its companion, it could regain most of its previous strength.
Although it didn’t know how its companion ended up like this, it didn’t matter.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingliu on the ceiling was astonished by the structure of the mysterious creature invading his room.
The visual enhancement from his knowledge path, combined with the Second Level manifested ability, "Analysis," allowed Lin Qingliu to see through the cat’s body as if it were an X-ray.
He clearly saw the creature’s bodily structure.
This cat—no, this mysterious creature with a cat’s head—was nothing short of a monster!
Its body only had a head that looked like a real cat, but within its head were fine strands that Lin Qingliu could not identify.
Its entire body seemed to be formed from the flesh and bones of various corpses, softened and reformed into a patchwork.
Such a synthetic beast-like structure shattered Lin Qingliu’s understanding:
Did human technology in Hope City become this powerful?
According to Ji Yongxing, who had interned in various departments, such creatures shouldn’t exist.
Since the official agencies couldn’t achieve such biological technological level, grassroots organizations had even less chance.
Thinking this through… Lin Qingliu’s mind shifted, forming another idea:
Could this cat be an extraordinary beast?
Heaven help me, after being in this world for so long, it was Lin Qingliu’s first time seeing the true form of an extraordinary beast.
Leaving aside the well-promoted images of extraordinary beasts, even back in his hometown, this one was still a bit lacking.
But now was not the time to think about that; this cat was clearly launching an attack on his lunch for the coming week, and he couldn’t allow it to continue!
