Chapter 37: Enemy Planet (Part 2)
In the primeval forest of an unknown star region, Puff, who had been replaced by Jin Chi’an, was using those several short little legs of his to dodge the brown bear’s pursuit.
Facing such a massive wild animal, Jin Chi’an, who could not use mental attacks, had already gone pale with fright. He darted wildly through the enormous vegetation of the forest.
As the brown bear’s panting drew closer, Jin Chi’an could not help looking back, only to meet a bear paw swinging straight toward him.
It scared him into hurriedly speeding up, trying to use the crooked branches the brown bear could not reach to dodge the attack.
Under his panic-stricken fleeing, the brown bear finally stopped in its tracks and watched helplessly as he ran into an area where even wild animals were extremely scarce.
Seeing the brown bear avoid this region, Jin Chi’an could finally catch his breath. He collapsed tiredly onto the ground and watched the disappointed brown bear leave from a short distance away.
Jin Chi’an, who had some understanding of wild animals, knew very well that the area he was currently in could make a brown bear fearful only if there existed some powerful animal the bear could not contend against.
Thinking of this, Jin Chi’an braced himself again, looked around at his surroundings, and tried to find a place to hide.
Only when his gaze drifted toward a cave did a low tiger roar come from the pitch-black opening, as if warning him.
Immediately afterward, a pair of tiger eyes slowly emerged from the cave, their gaze following Jin Chi’an’s movements.
The rumbling sound in its mouth seemed to be driving him away.
As the other party’s white fur entered his sight, Jin Chi’an’s pupils abruptly turned vertical. He looked in surprise at the white tiger inside the cave that looked extremely similar to Felix.
Jin Chi’an looked over the other party’s body. After confirming that the scars on him matched Felix’s, he controlled Puff’s body and pounced toward him without hesitation, continuously complaining about the grievances he had suffered earlier.
“Felix, did you see that brown bear just now? He actually wanted to kill me. He chased me the whole way and messed up Puff’s fur…”
The cries of “meow, meow, meow” entered Felix’s ears, making him despise this chatterbox cat even more. He raised his paw, about to smack the other party away.
But the moment he met the cat’s eyes, Felix seemed to think of something. The forepaw he had raised halfway stopped in midair, and he watched helplessly as the Maine Coon in front of him puffed up.
“What are you doing, Felix? You were going to hit me?”
Jin Chi’an looked at his movement and angrily propped himself up, raising a paw to press against the other party’s paw.
“You don’t remember me? Did you lose your memory?”
A troubled expression appeared on Jin Chi’an’s little cat face. Then he tentatively scratched the other party’s paw.
Facing the bold actions of the Maine Coon before him, Felix suppressed the anger in his heart. He turned his head and was about to walk into the cave, not forgetting to flick his tail and knock the other party to the ground.
But after completing this series of movements, Felix regretted it again. Guiltily, he glanced at the other party. Only after confirming that the other party was not injured did he relax.
But facing the other party’s provocation, Felix could not help becoming dejected, and his eyes also dimmed.
According to his memories from when he had been controlled earlier, he knew that the Maine Coon behind him was Jin Chi’an’s bonded beastman.
Once this Maine Coon was injured, it meant Jin Chi’an would also feel the injuries the other party suffered.
The other party was his two-way branded beastman, while he himself was only a toy Jin Chi’an had taken interest in for a moment.
Thinking of this, Felix wished he could kill this Maine Coon completely, but because he did not want Jin Chi’an to be hurt, he could never bring himself to do it.
The white tiger irritably lay down in the deepest part of the cave, his half-lidded eyes following the Maine Coon’s movements.
Faced with Felix’s indifference, Jin Chi’an instantly began to suspect that he might have lost his memory. But after thinking that Felix had not attacked him, he dismissed that idea.
Jin Chi’an cautiously came before the white tiger and carefully studied his expression. In the end, he attributed Felix’s current behavior to sulking.
Thinking of his own critical situation when he had been injured and the helpless expression Felix had shown then, Jin Chi’an immediately suppressed the anger in his heart. Like coaxing a little tiger, he used Puff’s head to nudge the forepaw the white tiger had tucked beneath his head.
“Felix, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have done something dangerous. I shouldn’t have made you worry. So don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
Jin Chi’an carefully placed his paw on the white tiger’s face and licked his nose.
This sudden action made Felix’s eyes widen instantly. He looked at the other party’s strange behavior in disbelief.
Then the white tiger stood up, causing the Maine Coon, whose balance was unstable, to fall to the ground.
Felix angrily raised his paw and pinned the other party beneath it.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Are you provoking me? Don’t think I won’t dare kill you just because he protects you.”
Hearing Felix’s baffling words, Jin Chi’an twisted his body and lowered his head to look at the sharp claws pressed against his neck.
“What are you saying, Felix? Your claws are hurting me.”
A few primitive “meow, meow, meow” sounds entered Felix’s ears, and the raging anger in his heart flared even higher.
As the strength in his forepaw slowly increased, the cries of the chatterbox cat before him became even more piercing.
Felix impatiently lifted his paw, lightened his strength, and swatted the other party aside, afraid that if he failed to control himself, he would kill him.
Faced with his sudden attack, the Maine Coon before him instantly went quiet, stopping those “meow, meow” cries. He tucked his paws beneath himself and occupied a corner of the cave.
The two remained in a stalemate for a long time, until the sky outside gradually darkened. Felix slowly lowered his eyes and got up, walking out of the cave.
After he had walked five hundred meters out of the cave, the rustling sound behind him entered his ears.
That chatterbox cat had followed him again.
After turning back again and again to confirm the other party’s safety, Felix continued on his way, heading toward a mining area that bore traces of excavation.
At this moment, the sun had already set, making the red glow emitted by the mine especially obvious.
Immediately afterward, several first-stage Kashemir Zergs walked out of the mine, giving off the impression of workers getting off work.
As more and more aliens left, the red light from the mine was gradually blocked by them.
Felix hid beside a tall herbaceous plant, crouching low and minimizing the possibility of being discovered.
However, the sound of a branch being stepped on and snapping echoed through the forest, drawing the aliens’ attention at the same time.
Sensing the other party’s probing tendrils approaching, Felix immediately rose, picked up the Maine Coon in his mouth, and moved deeper into the forest.
Only after shaking off the pursuing zerg tendrils did he loosen his mouth and toss the Maine Coon onto the ground, warning, “I don’t care what you want to do, and you can follow me if you like, but you’d better not cause trouble for me.”
Felix glanced at Puff’s clear eyes and, regardless of whether the other party understood, turned to approach the previous location again.
Before long, Felix worriedly doubled back again, picked the Maine Coon up in his mouth, and after reaching a safe place, pressed the other party beneath his body while observing the aliens’ movements.
“Kashemir Zergs? Why are they here?”
The “meow, meow” cries interrupted Felix’s thoughts, making him raise a paw and press the other party’s head down, afraid the other party would make noise again and attract the aliens’ attention.
The two stayed like this for quite some time. Only when all the aliens outside the mine had completely left did Felix slowly rise, pick up the sleeping Maine Coon in his mouth, and walk straight into the mine.
…
“Mm… Felix?”
The red light around him pierced his pupils, making Jin Chi’an open his eyes in discomfort.
Only when his blurred vision gradually cleared did the insect eggs attached to the red ore fully enter Jin Chi’an’s sight.
“These are the eggs of Kashemir second-stage aliens…”
Jin Chi’an looked around the mine in disbelief. Only when the numb spot on his neck where he had been bitten loosened did he get heavily thrown onto the ground.
When he got up again, he heard Felix’s mocking words.
“You really are the most useless feline beastman I’ve ever seen.”
“Meow?”
Jin Chi’an tilted his head in confusion. Feline beastman? Was he talking about Puff?
Thinking of this, Jin Chi’an tried once more to connect with his consciousness cloud. After multiple failed attempts, he lowered his head dejectedly. He thought that Felix must have injured his head during the operation. If he could connect to his consciousness cloud, maybe he could cure the other party’s illness.
Jin Chi’an controlled Puff’s body to stand, but before he could come back to himself, a black barbed tendril attacked him.
Just as that tendril was about to pierce his head, the white tiger suddenly leaped in front of him and blocked every attack aimed at him.
“Felix…”
Jin Chi’an stared blankly at the white tiger in front of him. The disconnection from his consciousness cloud made his reactions especially slow.
He only heard the other party say, “Go.”
Before he could react, he was picked up in the other party’s mouth again and carried toward the mine exit.
The zerg that had attacked them let out a “heh, heh” sound from its mouth. Then it wrapped one tendril around an insect egg and chased after the two fleeing figures.
Just as the two were about to reach the entrance of the mine, the rock wall above them was struck by tendrils. Stones fell from the mine entrance, followed by a collapse that blocked their path.
Faced with the approaching alien, Felix placed the Maine Coon behind a fallen boulder, assumed an attack posture, and prepared to meet the alien’s assault.
Seeing that the two no longer fled, the zerg gradually slowed down and used its tendril to crush the hard-shelled insect egg.
A transparent long worm in the form of a Kashemir second-stage zerg entered Jin Chi’an’s field of vision. But Felix, in front of him, had no idea that this long worm was approaching, focused entirely on the first-stage alien.
As several tendrils attacked, Felix nimbly dodged the other party’s attacks and rapidly closed in on the main body.
Before long, tendrils torn off at the root were scattered across the ground, leaving only the alien’s single body standing before Felix.
Seeing that the battle was about to end, Jin Chi’an, behind the giant rock, became anxious. He could only use “meow, meow” cries to warn Felix of the approaching long worm.
Still unaware of the situation, Felix raised his paw and finished off the first-stage zerg in front of him, then turned and walked toward the giant rock.
But the instant his forepaw stepped forward, the sensation of a crack appearing in his mental barrier entered his consciousness cloud.
At the same time, a familiar, faint mental power accompanied Jin Chi’an’s voice into his consciousness cloud.
“Felix!”
Jin Chi’an kicked off with his hind legs, leaped onto the white tiger’s back, and bit at the long worm, trying to pull it out before it could enter Felix’s brain.
Just as the long worm was about to fully drill into Felix’s brain, Jin Chi’an successfully connected with his consciousness cloud. A tiny tendril extended from his mind and completely pierced through the newly born larva.
Immediately afterward, waves of pain in his mind gradually spread through his entire body. Jin Chi’an, lying on Felix’s back, lost strength and collapsed onto the ground.
