Observing the expression of utter disgust on the little milk-kitten’s face before him, Huo Jiuxiao connected it to the matching look of absolute aversion Xiaobai had worn aboard the starship.
He probed tentatively: “Do you find the Zerg smelly?”
All of Xiaobai’s actions indicated that he could perceive things they couldn’t, and it was highly probable that these perceptions involved either smell or sight.
If it were a matter of sight, Xiaobai should have reacted with agitation upon seeing the surveillance footage; yet his reaction had been entirely flat, lacking the revulsion one would expect when looking at something filthy.
“Meow-aow!” Yes, they stink terribly!
Since Xiaobai couldn’t speak human words, any deeper line of questioning hit a dead end.
Placing the cat back onto the bed, he set a pile of energy crystals down beside it and switched on the learning software.
“Be a good boy, Xiaobai. Keep studying.”
Ruan Bai, who had already burrowed deep into the mound of spiritual stones: 😑
Do you perhaps have some kind of terminal illness?
Didn’t you see the kitty was in the middle of eating?!
Who on earth tells someone to study right while they’re in the middle of a meal?!!!
Speechless, Ruan Bai flipped over onto his back, presented his butt toward the man, gnawed away half a spiritual stone in one go, and rolled in circles across the pile of stones while clutching the remainder.
Watching the little cat play dead and resort to whining tactics while sneaking sidelong glances at him,
Huo Jiuxiao: “…”
Energy crystals are so hard, doesn’t it hurt against his back?
He must be a downright foolish little cat.
Ruan Bai knew Huo Jiuxiao wanted him to study by showing him the cartoons, but that sort of thing was fine for passing time.
Cats didn’t want to study.
Studying causes cats to shed fur.
The little kitten let out a single “meow” at the Marshal, rolled completely over, and scurried in a roly-poly motion toward the other side of the spiritual stone pile, where it hugged a stone and began chewing frantically.
As spiritual energy flowed from the stone into his body, bringing a warm, glowing sensation, Ruan Bai felt so comfortable that even his ears twitched rhythmically.
After maintaining a heavy silence for a long moment in the face of the little cat demon’s endless stalling tactics, the Marshal didn’t force him to study diligently. He simply left the app running so that Xiaobai could watch whenever the mood struck him.
Xiaobai loved anything novel and entertaining, and would definitely be unable to resist the temptation of cartoons on that point, the Marshal felt completely certain.
Huo Jiuxiao walked out in silence, knowing he still had tasks to attend to.
Raising a delicate little milk-kitten was no simple feat.
Stepping into the living room, he found the butler leading in a delivery robot.
The robot stepped softly and quietly as it deposited several giant packages right into the center of the villa’s living room.
The Marshal waved off their offers of assistance; he refused to let anyone else’s scent linger on the items not even a robot’s.
Unpacking the parcels himself, Marshal Huo set about assembling them manually.
Inside the packages lay a giant cat-climbing frame custom-built by the Marshal himself, crafted from a special variety of cedarwood.
This particular cedarwood grew exclusively in a specific isolated pocket of a remote planet, exuding a fragrance so faint it was almost imperceptible.
Research had proven that this scent possessed calming properties, and cats were exceptionally fond of it.
Families keeping cats were rarely short on money, and naturally, they spared no expense when it came to pleasing their feline masters.
Coupled with the exceptionally harsh growing conditions of the cedarwood and the difficulties involved in its transport, the price of cedarwood remained persistently exorbitant.
Knowing his little cat was lazy and spoiled, the Marshal wanted to provide him with nothing less than the absolute best.
While the Marshal busied himself constructing the cat-climbing frame, Ruan Bai lay sprawled across the mound of spiritual stones, gnawing on a crystal while engrossed in the animated learning cartoons.
Aowu!
Truly delightful!
[Ahhh! Look quick, it’s that live-streaming kitty.]
The moment the stream went live, a flood of viewers poured into the room.
The little kitten remained entirely unaware that while he had switched off his previous broadcast, the buzz surrounding the cat live-stream had continued to ferment wildly across the Interstellar Network.