Chapter 266

Page 82

Queen’s Idea

“So, does it want to become a human cat?”

After hearing my explanation, Yuzu carefully opened the sliding door of the balcony and let the white cat named Xiao Xue into the bedroom. It was so clean that it didn’t seem like a wild cat at all. Apart from its golden eyes, it was completely snow-white. Its thick winter fur looked very plush, much like a high-society lady in a fur coat. Even among cats, it could be considered quite a beautiful “beauty.”

After closing the door, Yuzu moved away towards the bed, as if she was very wary of this white cat.

“It probably smelled someone’s scent and came to investigate, but instead it saw you turning into a human.”

“Are you afraid of cats?”

“Of course I am!”

Pet ferrets were smaller than wild cats, and felines were naturally born killers… But would they still be afraid after transforming into humans?

Xiao Xue, the white cat, was an old friend of Orange (and possibly more) before she transformed. Orange had also mentioned that it wanted to become human too, but turning animals into humans was forbidden by the Heavenly Path. To complete the trials of the deities, I couldn’t risk being punished again.

The reason was sound, and Orange had told Xiao Xue the same thing, but seeing Yuzu transform made it feel deceived. Its eyes now showed some anger.

Orange, who translated cat language, wasn’t around, so I couldn’t explain this to it…

To clear up the misunderstanding, I looked at Yuzu.

I asked, “Yuzu, can you talk to cats?”

“No, I don’t know cat language!”

“Is it true that different animals have different languages?”

Xiǎo Lěi’s voice came from behind.

“We heard everything inside!”

Xiǎo Lěi, with her long hair wrapped in a towel, walked out of the bathroom. The white neck exposed by her nightgown’s neckline emitted a misty vapor, looking quite tempting. Even if she wasn’t a vampire, one would want to bite it.

She knelt beside Xiao Xue barefoot.

“Chairman, since it wants to become human so badly, why not let Qiǎnxià help?”

“No, that wouldn’t be appropriate.”

I immediately shook my head. “This kind of technique on Yuzu requires continuous divine power consumption. Once the connection is cut, it will revert back. It’s impossible to maintain the human form for long. The supply of magical energy is a problem, and it’s not possible to keep it by my side all the time.”

Xiǎo Lěi knelt down and stroked Xiao Xue’s fluffy neck fur, then pleaded for it, “Even if only once, at least it can fulfill one wish! Such a beautiful wild cat isn’t common!”

Yuzu pointed at herself and said, “Once it’s given human nature, it can never turn back into a small animal. At that point, reverting to a cat would be very painful… If possible, I wouldn’t want to turn back into a ferret!”

Once becoming human, one doesn’t want to be a cat anymore.

Orange felt the same way, and the reason wasn’t hard to understand.

“I’m sorry! At least until the trial is completed, I can’t violate the will of the Heavenly Path again.”

Yuzu waved her hand and smiled sitting on the bed. “Why apologize? I wasn’t hinting at anything, and the master doesn’t want your trial to fail!”

“Supplying magical energy isn’t unsolvable, right?”

Lǐn Huā, drying her hair after coming out of the bathroom, said, “Have the mysterious girl A cast a spell on it and send it to the Magic Research Institute. They already have a method to create magical energy there, right?”

“The magical energy used for research there is also tight. In this situation, giving some to it…”

Clomping footsteps, it was Old Mother running upstairs.

“Oh wow! Qiánxià?”

She pushed open the door, embracing Lǐn Huā who just came out of the bathroom, her hands touching Lǐn Huā’s flat stomach through the nightgown. “Ah-ho! I’ve got it all figured out! This cat lady also wants to become human? No problem! Leave it to me!”

The tickling sensation made Lǐn Huā squirm in Old Mother’s arms.

I said, “Such decisions shouldn’t be made lightly. There’s a lot of responsibility involved.”

There was a lot of responsibility after turning Xiao Xue into a human, which was not a decision to be made lightly.

“Don’t worry, we can use the technique on Yuzu. Since it’s not a complete transformation, the reaction from the Heavenly Path will be minimal. As for the magical energy issue… like what Little Lǐnhua said, take it to the institute.”

“Are you going to add more mushrooms to Miss Kē Màn’s list?”

I sighed and said, “We need to ask her for a long-term supply of magical energy, which will be a big favor…”

Mother, looking bewildered, came upstairs to check the situation. Old Mother quickly pushed Lǐn Huā aside and turned to hug her sweetheart.

“I’ve thought about it. Don’t go to school tomorrow, come with me to the institute!”

She wanted me to skip class again? Is this how mothers behave?!

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

“Help them overcome technical bottlenecks! The technology I promised to deliver to Little Lù Zǐ today, I’ll teach them in a public lecture tomorrow!”

It seemed to be something about “miniaturization of spell arrays.”

I didn’t understand much about magic, but it appeared to help with the construction of the underground institute.

“Since you say so, then I’ll bring it along tomorrow.”

I picked up Xiao Xue from the carpet. It didn’t resist much, sitting quietly on my lap, grooming itself.

“Why do you want me to go with you?”

“I want you to accompany me, is that okay?”

This slightly coquettish tone actually made me feel a little excited for a moment.

“—Has filial piety gone bad?—”

… Not really.

“—Since Mother said so, you should go with her. I’ll handle school for you.—”

Cherry Sauce said this, and I agreed.

“Alright, I’ll go with you to the institute tomorrow.”

“Yay! Xiǎo Kǎi is such a good kid!”

“I think the problem is with the mother who makes her son skip class… huh?”

My phone rang, making a buzzing noise on the table. Yuzu picked it up and handed it to me.

She said, “What’s this strange phone number?”

The call had no digits, just a string of asterisks and hashes.

“… Oh, I know who it is.”

I answered.

“Oho! Guess who I am?”

A strange female voice, mixed with static, came through.

Each word had that crackling sound, which was her signature. I wondered if she spoke like this even when she was a virtual streamer.

“Is it Miss Queen?”

“You got it, but there’s no reward, and you might even have to pay!”

She probably wanted to mention helping Sister Yǐjī, but I pretended not to know and asked, “Is there something you need me to pay for?”

“Haha, you found the mysterious girl A, didn’t you?”

“I caught her, but what does it have to do with you?”

Today’s operation was entirely organized by Sister Zǐ, and Queen hadn’t helped much, had she?

“That hurts! You’re saying it has nothing to do with me? The facial recognition system you’re using was given to Cangyu by me!”

Because it was a secret operation I knew nothing about, I wasn’t aware of how Sister Zǐ captured Old Mother. But I knew Queen was Cangyu’s master. If she truly provided some secret weapon, she did help a lot.

But that facial recognition system was definitely used on me too, right?

“I’m sorry, I don’t know much about the capture process.”

I apologized and asked, “So, what do you want from me now?”

“Hehe, relax… Have you gotten home yet?”

I replied, “Don’t you know whether I’m home or not?”

“Come on, I’m busy. I can’t watch you 24/7.”

“… I’m already home.”

“Great! Then please turn on the computer. I want to show you something! If you can, turn the camera toward you, I don’t want to see your room’s walls anymore.”

“Then stop hacking my computer!”

I aimed the camera at the wall to prevent her from spying.

But Queen’s boastful tone made me curious about what she had done.

I turned on the computer… or rather, pressed the power button. The hacker queen took over everything, but this time she popped up a strange video window.

“Hihi~ Can you see it?”

On the screen was a golden-haired woman in a white lace dress with a crown, a **mature lady—but a Live2D paper doll.

Her most notable feature was the mole under her downturned eyes.

Xiǎo Lěi exclaimed, “Wow! That’s Queen!”

“Right! I’m that Queen… wait! Didn’t you know already?”

She finally revealed herself, the legendary virtual streamer.

“So you asked me to turn on the computer just to show off your paper doll form?” I asked.

“Get excited! This is a special broadcast for Little Lingmeng!”

“I’m not your fan…”

“Then turn the camera! Facing the wall, I can’t see anything!”

“I wasn’t planning to show you anyway!”

Talking to this person was frustrating. Senior Shàojié was equally stubborn, and the only time they might be serious is when it involves their own affairs.

“Hey, you’re not treating me nicely…”

The paper doll Queen sighed and said, “I want you to see this. If you accept it, I want to put it into operation.”

“Operation?”

In response to my question, the browser opened to a strange, eerie website.

“Witches’ Chamber?”

The black-purple text looked like a website name.

Below were login credentials and a registration option.