Purrfect Romance

On a distant planet, Ferran suddenly sneezed. He frowned slightly.

At that moment, Ferran was sitting in his spacecraft, waiting for the maintenance of the space station's flight path to complete. The green channel he was using was specifically designated for private small spacecraft like his to take off.

Rubbing his still itchy nose, Ferran set the autopilot after glancing down and then looked up to see a rather conspicuous spacecraft zoom past from the adjacent runway, leaving only a trail of light behind.

Ferran was momentarily stunned and then shocked!

That was Raven's private spacecraft.

— As for why Ferran knew, it was because he had personally handled the delivery of this very ship!

Raven's requirements for the paint job and appearance were so high that he had driven six of Fernando Group's top designers bald before finally nodding in satisfaction.

Ferran remembered it vividly!

The ship, painted in bright gold and fiery red, was outrageously flashy, far from being low-key. Anyone who had seen it once would recognize it immediately.

Ferran turned his head to glance at the destination display above the adjacent runway and saw "Cobalt Star - Marina City" boldly written there.

The planet was less than half a day's journey from Cobalt Star.

After a moment of silence, Ferran fished out his terminal and prepared to inform Lion.

Ferran: "Raven is heading to Marina City."

Ferran stared at the exclamation mark indicating the message failed to send and took a deep breath.

Lion had actually blocked him!

Ferran cursed under his breath and sent another message to Fenix: "Tell Lion, number two is going to Marina City."

But after waiting for a while, there was no reply from Fenix.

Muttering to himself, Ferran received a reminder from air traffic control that he could take off and put away his terminal, slowly entering the flight path.

...

Neither Fenix nor Lion had brought their terminals with them. They were currently in the grassland area, loosely surrounded by a pack of predators.

This outdoor simulation training was conducted entirely in a naturalistic manner.

The lower-tier predators retreated upon seeing the lion pride and hyena pack but were reluctant to give up completely, so they waited from a distance, hoping for any leftovers.

Unlike the jungle region where dangers lurked beneath layers of foliage and water, the bloody atmosphere here was more straightforward and naked.

Even Fenix, who didn't mind dying repeatedly during training, instinctively stopped vocalizing and became alert, observing his surroundings.

The lone hyena had called for backup.

The lion pride faced off against the hyena pack, and Lion, as an outsider to the lion pride, didn't attract as much attention.

Lion, carrying the cat, chose a direction and left without hesitation.

He had selected the simplest difficulty, not to play king of the plains, but to teach Fenix how to hunt.

However, no matter how Lion instructed, Fenix couldn't fully adapt to hunting in the grasslands.

Fenix eventually learned to lie in wait and burst forth, but due to his size—or perhaps instinct—he tended to leap from high places, using the impact of his descent to catch smaller prey.

His claws were not sharp enough, and his bite force was average.

In the wild feline world, this could be considered somewhat weak.

Lion watched as Fenix found a rabbit hole.

He stretched his neck to look around and finally hid near a crooked tree close to the hole. When the rabbit poked its head out, Fenix pounced, biting its neck.

"Beep! Player Fenix successfully captured a wild rabbit; evaluation score increased."

Fenix's tail shot straight up.

The wild rabbit was larger than Fenix himself but was swiftly subdued before it could react.

What did this mean?

It meant Fenix was awesome!

Fenix's tail stood erect, its tip twitching proudly.

Goodness gracious.

How could there be such an extraordinarily talented little kitty like Fenix!

Fenix stuffed the rabbit back into the burrow, ran back to the tree, and got addicted to the thrill of hunting.

Like discovering a new world, he practiced this hunting style in the relatively safe area.

Lion lay nearby, watching Fenix and becoming increasingly convinced that Fenix was a creature of the jungle.

Fenix was extremely averse to water, so his habitat was probably mountainous jungle rather than tropical rainforest.

This narrowed down the possibilities significantly.

Lion pondered in silence. When he came to, he realized the notification had been silent for a while.

He stood up and began searching for Fenix.

He spotted a tiny white dot perched on a distant tree.

Lion walked over.

Fenix sat on the tree, staring in shock at two cheetahs below.

There were no real wild animals here; all were simulated robots.

Fenix was very clear about this.

But what did Fenix see now?

He saw two cheetahs mating intensely!

Fenix's face was filled with shock.

Oh boy.

Wake up!

You're robots!

Gosh.

Gosh gosh.

Even if it was a training ground simulating the wilderness and ecosystem, it didn't need to be this realistic!

It's not good for kids to see this!

The ones coming here for training are minors!

Good heavens!

This simulation is getting too serious!

You don't have to be this meticulous!

Fenix caught sight of Lion approaching out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Lion noticing the robots' activities.

Lion: "..."

Fenix yelled, "Mew!"

The two cheetahs looked up upon hearing the sound, separated hastily, and fled.

Fenix quickly covered his eyes with a paw.

Oh no.

Fenix fainted!

Lion remained silent for a moment, collected himself, and walked to the base of the tree, calling out.

Fenix jumped down from the trunk in a daze and squatted in front of Lion, his gaze inadvertently drifting downward due to his height.

Just a quick peek!

One glance and forget, no lingering!

Fenix swore, just one glance!

It was Lion's fault for not wearing clothes. If Fenix saw something, it wasn't his innocent little cat's fault!

Shocking!

Lion sensed Fenix's intentions and without hesitation pressed his paw on Fenix's head, pushing him onto the ground.

Fenix's paws flailed, "Mew! Mew!"

Stop rubbing! Didn't see anything!

Lion rubbed Fenix's fur, rolling him around.

"Mew-ow!"

Stop rubbing, I'm getting mad!

Really mad!

Lion finally withdrew his paw, bent down, and picked up the yowling kitten, leaving the grassland area.

He had confirmed what he needed to know. Fenix now understood how to hunt. After eating, he let Fenix observe the robots in the jungle area.

To dare use him as an observation subject, Fenix must be getting bolder.

Fenix didn't feel particularly bold.

Being carried by Lion, he looked down at his hidden parts and then wrapped his tail around them, covering the sad spot.

Darn it!

The interaction between Awakeners and their Awakened forms wouldn't affect this aspect... right?

Fenix was carried into the residence and practically leaped at the terminal.

He saw the message from Ferran.

Fenix scratched his head, unsure who number two was.

He showed the message to Lion, who had come downstairs after changing clothes.

Lion glanced at it and nodded indifferently, "Understood."

"Mew."

Fenix retrieved the terminal and, while Lion was discussing matters with the bodyguard, typed in the keywords of male feline Awakeners with his heart pounding.

Even though Alfred had mentioned this possibility, Fenix still felt as if struck by a thousand arrows upon seeing the screens full of guesses about male feline Awakeners not functioning well in that aspect.

Fenix choked.

Fenix took a deep breath.

No.

Impossible!

This must be impossible!

Fenix's pupils quaked.

The rumor-monger should eat dirt!

Once Fenix mastered his powers and transformed back, this rumor would be debunked!

Fenix angrily closed the webpage, stormed into the dining room, and devoured two large steaks with murderous intent. Under Lion's slightly surprised gaze, he hopped off the table and rushed toward the training ground.

Cats will never be slaves!

Go, Fenix!

Lion watched Fenix dash out with murderous intent. "Quite diligent."

The bodyguard felt a bit relieved. "That's good."

Back in the manor, Fenix used to spend his days eating, sleeping, playing, and repeating.

Lion also considered it a good thing.

He shifted his gaze to the projection of the manor.

The flamboyant spacecraft was parked at the gate of Sunnyfields Manor.

Raven and his two subordinates descended from the spacecraft.

Lion glanced at the subordinates, recognizing them.

Despite his years of roaming the universe, Raven's appearance was pure and innocent, like a naive college student, due to the influence of his Awakened form.

Unlike Lion, whose face gave off a vibe that he wasn't a good guy, Raven looked particularly innocent and trustworthy.

He had used this face to deceive the entire original pirate group before killing the leader and taking over.

One subordinate whispered, "Boss, should we go in directly?"

"There's no one inside."

Raven had keen hearing. He looked around and then flipped off the surveillance camera before getting into the car.

The bodyguard felt a twinge of disappointment.

He had arranged quite a few surprises in the manor.

After the disappointment, he checked the surveillance and found Raven heading directly for BluBay.

Lion finished his last bite of lamb chop, wiped his mouth, and said, "Open the gate."

Raven arrived quickly.

He got out of the car outside the drawbridge and dismissed his subordinates to wander around.

The surveillance didn't interfere.

There was no need to interfere; Raven's subordinates knew their place when not fighting.

The subordinates looked at each other and whispered, "Boss, should we cause some trouble for Lion?"

Raven smiled weakly like a herbivore. "Of course, why not?"

After saying that, he walked across the drawbridge.

The subordinates turned and set off to create trouble for Lion.

Lion watched Raven sit opposite him and slowly asked, "What brings you here?"

"To talk business." Raven smiled weakly, "Let's cooperate and kill that bastard Asmodeus. We'll split his territory evenly."

Asmodeus was the notorious third-in-command of the pirate group, known for his cruel deeds.

His name was changed to match his Awakened form's species.

Asmodeus, the snake Asmodeus.

Given his ruthless actions, it wasn't surprising he had offended Raven.

But what did that have to do with Lion?

Lion sipped tea, not looking up. "No deal, scram."

Raven didn't budge, munching cookies like a rabbit, still in his weak tone. "Sixty-forty, you sixty?"

Lion tapped the table. "Twenty-eighty, you twenty."

Raven feigned melancholy, "Cut the crap, what dream are you having?"

Lion didn't hesitate. "No deal, scram."

"Thirty-seventy, max."

"Scram."

Raven sighed softly, "Twenty-eighty is too unfair. Forty-sixty, I forty, you get first pick of the spoils."

Lion thought for a moment. "That might be..."

Before he could finish, alarms blared.

Lion looked at the alarm popping up and saw Raven's subordinates colliding with Fenix, who was adjusting the training difficulty.

Fenix was stunned.

The subordinates were also stunned.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and the white kitten in a light blue outfit "meowed" politely.

Suddenly, the subordinates remembered rumors of Lion mocking their boss for keeping a cat.

Keeping a cat?

So this was Lion's cat?

So fluffy, so white, so tiny...

Darn!

You know what? It's actually pretty cute.

The two looked at each other and hatched a plan.

They walked up to the obediently seated kitten and, in a flash, scooped it up and sprinted into the spacecraft, speeding away.

Fenix was placed on the spacecraft seat, confused and bewildered.

One of them gently patted his head. "Kitty, you've been kidnapped."

Fenix: "..."

What the heck?

Are you guys crazy?!