Miserable, wanted to take a bath, his entire body reeked of an odor that cats detested QAQ
Marshal Huo, who was completely rank zero in understanding cat language, failed to grasp a single ounce of the kitten’s intent. Assuming the little fellow felt aggrieved, he awkwardly stroked the furball’s head and soothed, “There, there, don’t be scared. It’s all right now.”
Seeing that the man hadn’t understood her meaning in the slightest and instead misinterpreted it as fear, Ruan Bai flew into a towering rage and dropped all pretense of acting spoiled.
Pressing his small paws against the man’s chest, he forced some distance between them, perked up his pointed little ears, and unleashed a barrage: “Meow-meow-meow!” I want to take a bath! A bath!!
Huo Jiuxiao paused, trying desperately to decipher the little furball’s intent. After mulling it over for a long moment, he asked in a hesitant tone: “Are you hungry?”
Ruan Bai was practically driven mad with frustration by him, extending a small paw to swat at the man’s hand as a signal for him to let go.
“Hss!”
Watching this scene unfold, the various generals present drew in a sharp cold breath.
If there were no mistakes, that Zerg general had been slapped right into the wall by this very little furball.
Sure enough, only someone like the Marshal possessing overwhelming genetic advantages, a formidable physical build, and 3S-grade mental power could possibly raise such a ferocious little kitten.
Little did they know, the kitten’s differential treatment was glaringly obvious; the soft paw pads pressing against the Marshal’s body carried practically zero force whatsoever.
Marshal Huo’s thin lips pressed into a tight line as he instinctively tightened his embrace, only relaxing his grip with visible reluctance once he caught himself.
Sensing the restraint around him loosen, Ruan Bai executed a nimble pivot, applied a slight push with his hind legs, and landed smoothly on the floor.
He whirled around instantly, straightened his upper body, and rose up to stand on his hind legs.
With his two front paws one hanging naturally, the other raised high, he pointed directly at Huo Jiuxiao and scolded vehemently: “Meow! Meow-meow! Meow-meow-meow!”
You stupid human!
I said I wanted to take a bath!!
A bath!!!
Are you completely incapable of understanding cat language?!
No matter how clueless Huo Jiuxiao was, he could easily tell from the way the little furball bared its teeth to hiss at him, pointing angrily while scolding him with a milk-ferocious expression, that this little fellow was furious.
He just had no clue who had managed to set it off this time.
Noticing Huo Jiuxiao’s thoroughly bewildered expression, Ruan Bai decided to abandon him altogether and bolted away toward the exit.
Realizing at last that he was the one who had provoked this little ancestor, Huo Jiuxiao hurried after him and scooped the small milk-kitten up into his arms. “I’m sorry, I…” The usually domineering Marshal rarely adopted such a submissive tone, his voice carrying a hint of hesitation.
“I wasn’t doing it on purpose just now, I just didn’t understand what you were trying to express, I…”
Ruan Bai ignored him completely. Even tucked snugly inside his arms, he deliberately turned his round little backside toward the man, radiating an expression that clearly said I am furious.
As if that weren’t enough, he kept shuffling further outward to maximize the distance between them, acting as though he wanted to get as far away from him as possible.
Yet cradled right in the man’s embrace, just how far away could he possibly get?
Observing this display, the Marshal wore an expression of utter helplessness. “Stop being angry, alright? I’ll have someone prepare an optical computer for you, so whatever you want to say, I’ll understand right away.”
Ruan Bai’s pointed little ears twitched, showing a flicker of temptation, though he wasn’t ready to forgive him entirely just yet.
Sensing he was making headway, Huo Jiuxiao pressed the advantage with further coaxing: “I’ll have someone prepare energy crystals for you too, as many as you want to eat…”
The Marshal carried his cat away into the distance, leaving a cluster of generals standing in utter bewilderment amidst the wind.
“Qin Lang, are you certain the Marshal is alright? Did you have the medics check him out?” The speaker was a tall, fierce-looking man General Hellison Escobar of the Thirteenth Legion.
Qin Lang wore a look of utter bafflement. “It’s not like you guys don’t know; the Marshal went straight to the medical bay for a thorough, comprehensive checkup the moment he returned.”
“What Hellison is asking is whether the Marshal’s brain was checked!” General Peier chimed in with a strange expression. “Could it be that he injured his head down on the Mother Star?”
Peier had grown up alongside Huo Jiuxiao; they had been thick as thieves back in military academy, so he spoke with far fewer reservations than the others.
Though the rest of the generals felt this theory sounded rather far-fetched, was it really entirely out of the question?
The Marshal had been acting rather bizarrely ever since returning from the Mother Star.
First, he brought back a cat knowing full well that the previous Marshal utterly detested such fragile, delicate little animals, especially cats, since interstellar cats were notoriously precious, delicate, and high-tempered.
That much could still be understood, considering the Marshal’s cat could slap a Zerg general into a wall so hard he couldn’t even be pried loose.
What felt even more abnormal was this: Upon returning, why was the Marshal acting so unnaturally calm about the royal family’s maneuvers? The Marshal used to be the Empire’s sharpest blade, utterly loyal to the crown.
Being stabbed in the back by the very people you swore allegiance to was not a pleasant sensation. Yet right now, the Marshal seemed fully prepared to tear off the mask and clash openly with them.
It wasn’t that breaking ties was a bad thing, but the complete lack of any transition phase in the Marshal’s attitude felt deeply unsettling.
Above all else, the Marshal actually wanted to feed energy crystals to his little cat wouldn’t that literally shatter the poor kitten’s teeth?
If the Marshal weren’t still intimately familiar with every detail of their operations, and if military meetings weren’t still as freezing and rigorous as a biting winter gale, they genuinely would have suspected the Marshal had been swapped out for an impostor.
Stunned into a daze, the group filed out.
Each of them was secretly racking their brains over how to tactfully remind Mr. Marshal to go see the medic.