Chapter 24: The Royal Banquet (Part 4)
Jin Chi’an extended his mental net, following the residual energy trail left by the lynx, trying to find Jin Mian within the palace.
But a mental tendril extending from nearby blocked the spread of his mental power.
A hand pressed onto his shoulder.
“Wait. Our actions need to be reported to command first. Don’t expose our mental-power fluctuations yet.”
Jin Chi’an turned to look at the guide from the same team. He knew very well that this was the best chance to search before the other side made their move, but he still withdrew his mental network.
“Let’s go back first. We can’t judge the lynx’s condition for now. We’ll return and wait for command’s intelligence update.”
Jin Chi’an was still hesitating when he felt a tug at his calf. A golden snub-nosed monkey mental body pulled at his trouser leg, its worried expression seeming to urge him not to act on his own.
Seeing that everyone in the team seemed to share the same opinion, Jin Chi’an could only give up. Under the golden snub-nosed monkey’s burning gaze, he followed them back into the palace.
The accommodations arranged for them were not too far apart. The moment Jin Chi’an locked his door, communication from command connected.
The golden snub-nosed monkey guide briefly described the abnormalities that had occurred that night.
Jin Chi’an had thought they would receive orders after this, but unexpectedly, after analysis, command only gave the instruction to continue observing.
Jin Chi’an impatiently soothed the equally restless Maine Coon on the bed, always feeling as if something were tugging at his thoughts.
As the sky darkened, District One’s palace entered the night.
At this moment, the window facing the eastern garden no longer let in the voices of nobles conversing. Only faint bird calls from the wild could still be heard.
Jin Chi’an lay in bed, tossing and turning. His mind was constructing possible reasons why that lynx would show such symptoms when the sudden sound of an incoming communication pulled his thoughts back.
The person on the other end spoke as soon as the line connected, his voice carrying an aggrieved accusation.
“You said you would call me. You broke your promise again.”
Jin Chi’an disliked being interrupted while thinking, but this time was different.
Felix’s ill-timed voice unexpectedly soothed the agitation in his heart and gave him an inexplicable sense of peace.
“Felix, it’s work time right now.”
Jin Chi’an deliberately scolded him, but the smile in his eyes betrayed that his mood was not too bad at the moment.
“I’m your superior. If I say you’re off work, then you’re off work.”
Hearing the serious nonsense coming from the other end of the line, Jin Chi’an responded with a bit of wicked amusement, “Marshal, are you sure you want me to be off work? Once I’m off work, I don’t have to listen to your orders anymore…”
Jin Chi’an turned the tie clip he had removed from his tie. While waiting expectantly for Felix’s response, he activated the weapon function of the tie clip and killed a mosquito that had been disturbing Puff’s rest with one shot.
Looking at the dent left on the wall by the attack, Jin Chi’an waited for the other party’s reply without the slightest urgency.
At this moment, on the outskirts of District One’s star region, Felix, with half-beastified ears and tail exposed, was lying in Jin Chi’an’s dormitory, seeking the scent of the room’s owner.
Just as he was about to speak, an external line connected and interrupted the ambiguous atmosphere between them.
Edwin very tactlessly cut him off.
“Reporting, Marshal. This communication device is public equipment. Our monitoring department can receive everyone’s communications.”
The beastman marshal, caught by his subordinate, instantly darkened his expression. His voice turned so cold it was completely different from before.
“Edwin, I’ll wait for you on the armament level.”
Immediately afterward, Edwin’s confused voice came through the communicator, full of bewilderment as he clearly had no idea what he had done wrong.
Jin Chi’an, who had also been caught, showed no embarrassment from this “affair” being exposed. Quite interested, he picked up Puff, who had been licking the cat beside him, and held it in his arms to stop the itch in his palm.
At night, the outside of the palace was wrapped in a protective barrier. Any wild bird that tried to break in from the outside would be torn to shreds by that barrier.
At this moment, a familiar, powerful mental force was secretly spreading from the eastern maze garden toward Jin Chi’an’s room.
Jin Chi’an, who had been in light sleep, instantly woke up. He extended his mental net and sensed this familiar mental energy.
Just as a mental tendril revealed itself outside the window, Jin Chi’an used extreme speed to trap that tendril in his net.
In an instant, an external memory rushed into his consciousness cloud.
Jin Chi’an’s consciousness was instantly pulled into a familiar scene.
The Free Zone nursery was surrounded by raging flames.
As the fire burned brighter, a white tiger cub charged alone into the disaster and roared at several Kashemir Zerg creatures.
Several fierce yet childish tiger roars entered the ears of the guide inside the sea of fire.
Jin Chi’an gripped his particle sword and hid behind a collapsed wall. Shock filled his eyes as he looked toward the white tiger beastman at the entrance.
“Tsk.”
Jin Chi’an endured the severe pain from his injured left arm and injected the final mental-power enhancer into his neck.
Taking advantage of the fact that the aliens were all staring at the white tiger, he flashed out from behind the wall and swung the particle sword with one hand, slicing the heads of the zerg creatures in half one by one.
Seeing the danger resolved, the white tiger’s eyes lit up. When Jin Chi’an crouched down to welcome him, it pounced into his arms.
“You idiot. The place is on fire, and you don’t even know to run outside.”
Jin Chi’an complained aloud, but his body honestly stroked the tiger’s fur for him. Even though the wound on his left hand still ached, he held the white tiger tightly in his arms.
As the smoke caused by the fire increased sharply, Jin Chi’an held the cub in his arms and prepared to run outside.
But a wave of mental power coming from behind suddenly attacked him.
Countless offensive mental tendrils invaded his consciousness cloud. Before he could defend himself, they severed the pathways of his consciousness cloud.
The intense pain in his head made Jin Chi’an instantly fall to his knees, yet the mental tendrils in his mind gradually unfolded a defense out of habit.
But the expected pain did not come.
On the contrary, the severed pathways of his consciousness cloud began to heal and reorganize abnormally.
When Jin Chi’an’s blurred consciousness slowly focused and he gradually came back to himself, he saw the white tiger in his arms licking the tip of his nose nonstop, occasionally letting out broken little awoo sounds.
“I’m fine, Liu Tiao.”
Jin Chi’an soothed the white tiger in his arms, then released his mental tendrils toward the source of the attack.
Two human guides walked out from the collapsing building.
“001, the experiment subjects you wanted have arrived.”
“A young white tiger beastman and a human guide. This combination is rather interesting. I wonder what the success rate of this experiment will be.”
Their incomprehensible words fell into Jin Chi’an’s ears. The powerful mental force spilling from them made him instantly raise his guard.
As the figures gradually approached, Jin Chi’an rubbed the white tiger’s head and put him down from his arms.
“Run outside. Don’t look back.”
“Awoo.”
The white tiger let out a dissatisfied protest, its two paws firmly gripping the ground.
Seeing its attitude of refusing to obey even if it died, Jin Chi’an looked anxiously at the two people who had clearly come with bad intentions.
Helpless, he extended his mental tendrils, skillfully found the opening in the white tiger’s mental barrier, and issued a compulsory command into the other party’s consciousness cloud.
The white tiger, mentally brainwashed, instantly lost awareness and ran outside according to Jin Chi’an’s order.
Watching the little one’s retreating back, Jin Chi’an let out a breath of relief. In his heart, he was grateful that back when he first encountered the other party’s frenzy, he had accidentally created an opening through an attack.
“You want to let him go?”
At this moment, 001 had already arrived in front of Jin Chi’an. With a confident expression, he ordered 002 beside him, “Go catch that white tiger back.”
“I’m not familiar with this body yet.”
“Stop wasting words, 002. It’s only catching a white tiger cub.”
002 controlled the unfamiliar limbs of his body and began chasing in the direction the white tiger had fled.
Seeing this, Jin Chi’an immediately launched a mental attack at him, but it was blocked by offensive tendrils extending from the other side.
001 spoke with a teasing tone.
“My younger brother just got this body installed. For you to launch an attack at someone who isn’t familiar with your guide abilities yet is a little too shameless, don’t you think?”
The hint of mockery in the other party’s tone instantly provoked Jin Chi’an’s displeasure.
Jin Chi’an changed the direction of his tendrils and tried to remove the obstacle in front of him first.
After a struggle, he severed all the pathways in the other party’s consciousness.
Sensing that his mental power was nearly depleted, Jin Chi’an struggled to maintain his standing posture.
Just as he was catching his breath, an energy-gun shot struck his lower leg, making him fall to the ground instantly.
Jin Chi’an gritted his teeth and raised his head. He saw 001, who should have been standing dully in place because his consciousness cloud had collapsed, walk up to him.
Like nothing had happened, 001 rubbed his hair.
“Rebuilding my consciousness cloud takes up quite a lot of my energy. You really know how to cause trouble, little Maine Coon.”
001 grabbed Puff, who had also fallen nearby, and seized the Maine Coon’s tail.
“Before the experiment begins, I’ll tell you a piece of news.”
001 met Jin Chi’an’s disgusted gaze and laughed softly.
“My experiment is still in its trial stage. If you die during the experiment, that white tiger won’t be able to live either. I hope you pray sincerely that I succeed in breaking my word.”
As his words fell, a powerful mental pressure came rushing toward him. Jin Chi’an felt some part of the mental power in his body slowly draining away.
When he woke again, the scene before him had returned to the room in the palace.
The tendril wrapped in his mental net had been severed from its root and was gradually withering.
Jin Chi’an panted heavily, trying to suppress his abnormal heartbeat. In his mind, he could not help linking the final part of Grenna’s illusion with the memory just now.
Only after a long while did he recover from that nightmare-like memory.
Unwilling to give up, Jin Chi’an extended his mental net again, trying to capture the trace of that tendril from just now.
Clearly, the other party seemed to be deliberately hiding. It only flashed past in the eastern garden before vanishing again.
Through the room’s window, Jin Chi’an looked toward the towering flower maze in the distance. His legs unconsciously stood up, as if beyond his control, and he walked straight toward the door.
He could feel that familiar mental force strongly attracting him.
Jin Chi’an gradually made up his mind, opened the locked door, and walked alone toward the staircase.
Just as he reached the halfway point, an arm reached out from behind and dragged him into an unknown room.
“Mmph.”
Jin Chi’an tried to make a sound, but the other party’s other hand tightly covered his mouth, preventing him from speaking.
