Chapter 97: Cats Really Do Protect Their Own

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Lu Yao’s hand paused. A rush of memories flooded his mind—moments with the snow leopard. If playing with a pet was usually warm and fun, realizing that this pet’s true identity was Zhou Yunchen left him only with endless embarrassment.

He squeezed his eyes shut behind Zhou Yunchen’s back for a moment before finally speaking with resolve. “We’ll talk about that later. Tell me about your plan.”

There was no time for personal feelings now. Once they were out of danger, Lu Yao would “have a proper talk” with Zhou Yunchen about hiding the truth for so long.

Lu Yao clumsily finished cleaning Zhou Yunchen’s wounds. Skilled at repairing machines but not human bodies, he applied anti-inflammatory ointment and healing gel, then washed the blood off the towels and wiped the remaining traces from Zhou Yunchen’s neck.

For a moment, Lu Yao froze, puzzled. “I’ve wiped the blood off your skin. When you change back into the snow leopard, will your neck fur still be stained?”

“I don’t know,” Zhou Yunchen answered cautiously. Seeing that Lu Yao’s question was purely curious, he continued, “The power that turns me into the snow leopard comes from the Villeau civilization. It’s not purely physiological, so the body’s condition doesn’t carry over proportionally.”

“That makes sense. Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be wearing your uniform,” Lu Yao nodded. Then he frowned, an expression that immediately stiffened Zhou Yunchen. “One night at the mountain villa, the snow leopard and I slept in the same bed. Did you accidentally shift back into human form then? Why didn’t you…?”

Zhou Yunchen recalled that night—appearing naked at Lu Yao’s bedside, both embarrassed and tense. “I can explain.”

In truth, he couldn’t explain it openly. That night, his thoughts had been far from honorable.

Zhou Yunchen felt Lu Yao’s scrutinizing gaze like a scalpel poised to dissect him, just as he had once joked that if Zhou Yunchen truly could switch forms at will, he’d contact the Federation Academy’s scholars to study him. Terrifying.

Lu Yao’s brow remained furrowed. “I don’t need an explanation. I need a clear answer. Zhou Yunchen—can you now freely control the shift between human and snow leopard forms?”

“At first it was difficult, but now I can,” Zhou Yunchen replied.

Lu Yao nodded, his ice-blue eyes growing deep, thoughtful. “That star pirate, Creisson, said you and Zhao Minghe fell out of the escape pod. What happened outside? Did you really lose the battle? Did Zhao Minghe die?”

“No. It was all a show, to ensure I could get close to you. Deploying troops and heavy weapons into the atmosphere would have alerted the pirates. It was Li Mo who found your location; Zhao Minghe is waiting in space with him for our signal.”

“Getting close to me, then what? The pirates inspected the snow leopard—you’re unarmed.”

“It’s fine. The pirates have weapons and ships. If necessary, we can take theirs.” Zhou Yunchen said firmly.

Lu Yao raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You sure?”

“Sure,” Zhou Yunchen said, taking Lu Yao’s hand. “It’s my old trade.”

“Your old trade was stealing from pirates?”

“I specialized in robbing pirates,” Zhou Yunchen replied. “I was born on a remote planet where the Star Police had little reach. Pirates often invaded. The locals organized militias, but without weapons, we could only take them from the pirates themselves.”

So, even as a young cadet at the Federation Military Academy, Zhou Yunchen already had far more combat experience than his classmates.

After a brief moment of levity, Lu Yao returned to seriousness. “But now it’s just the two of us. The Black Sea Pirates’ equipment… is not weak. Their weaponry is mixed, but firepower rivals a regular army.”

“You’ve been thinking,” Zhou Yunchen observed, realizing Lu Yao wouldn’t simply wait passively in this lab. That wasn’t his style.

“I have energy explosives. Enough to blow this underground facility and their ships to ruins.”

Zhou Yunchen’s brow rose. “Where? They didn’t notice?”

“On Torque,” Lu Yao said, noticing Zhou Yunchen’s subtle reaction. “It’s safe for now, won’t detonate automatically. I haven’t decided where to start.” Blowing the pirate stronghold to pieces alone wouldn’t let them escape.

Lu Yao asked, “When you arrived, did you see a columnar structure? Beside the lab is a pillar test site, mostly underground. I need to know if any part is above ground.”

“There’s one. Ten meters tall, fifty meters in diameter. You want to blow open the top?”

Lu Yao stared at the bathroom door, as if piercing through it into the void of the columnar pit. “No. I have another way to open it. The explosives will be for the pirates.”

“How do you want to get out?”

Lu Yao stepped back, rubbing his chin while studying Zhou Yunchen. “You shift back into the snow leopard first.”

This time, there were no flashy cinematic effects. In a silent, seamless instant, Zhou Yunchen reverted to the snow leopard form. His front paws hit the floor as he crouched, lifting his head to gaze at Lu Yao with pale gray eyes.

Though still imposing with his muscular body and sharp claws, the snow leopard’s soft, plush face carried more beauty and cuteness than the cold, sculpted General. Lu Yao’s gaze deepened, and he surprised Zhou Yunchen by lightly ruffling the leopard’s head before turning to bring Torque inside.

Torque flopped in Lu Yao’s arms like a little cotton ball. Lu Yao removed its collar tag and hung it on the snow leopard’s neck. The snow leopard couldn’t speak but followed every motion of Lu Yao’s hand with his eyes.

Lu Yao pressed a finger to the triangular tag. A brief electronic sound, and a display popped up. Zhou Yunchen recalled seeing this before… a micro-mecha Lu Yao had made for the cats? But the snow leopard was huge. Could Torque wear it?

Lu Yao adjusted a few settings, then activated “Random Coverage Mode.”

Immediately, a cold, strange sensation spread over the snow leopard’s body. He almost leapt into the air, ready to transform back into a flattened leopard form. Predicting this, Lu Yao quickly pressed down on his shoulders, grounding him.

The snow leopard tensed, arching his back as if preparing to attack. His black-and-white fur fluffed out, tail rigid, body nearly doubling in size.

Liquid metal spread over his limbs like a silver-gray tide, sharp and imposing. The tail was fully encased, triangular plates overlapping like dragon scales, forming a heavy, lethal whip. The claws, unable to retract, bent into protruding forms, glinting silver—a terrifying weapon.

Lu Yao let go of the snow leopard, letting him take a few steps. The metallic claws struck the floor with a low, oppressive echo, resembling some glowing-eyed mechanical beast.

“Can you climb the ceiling?” Lu Yao asked.

The snow leopard lifted his head for two seconds, then sprang upward with explosive speed. His claws dug into the wall, anchoring him firmly, and he nimbly began to climb.

Chunks of debris tumbled from his claws as he ascended. Lu Yao watched the snow leopard’s tail swing downward and, on impulse, reached out and touched it.

The snow leopard froze mid-climb, turning his head to glare straight at Lu Yao. Through the red-tinged glow in his eyes, Lu Yao could almost read the astonishment there—as if saying, How dare you take advantage of me!

Lu Yao was only curious what having a tail felt like for Zhou Yunchen. After all, humans didn’t have tails, only the snow leopard did. But from Zhou Yunchen’s expression at that moment, it was clearly a very sensitive area.

The snow leopard snatched his tail back from Lu Yao’s grasp. Then—thud!—the tip of his tail struck the wall, sending a fist-sized chunk of cement crashing to the floor in pieces.

The lab door had just swung open when two streaks of silver and white shot through the gap, moving so fast that human eyes could barely track them. The larger and smaller cats’ claws slammed against the floor in rapid succession, each strike sending sharp echoes through the pirates’ ears.

The big-bearded pirate’s gaze followed the cats, frantic. The pirate in front, Creisson, felt a migraine brewing. Then Lu Yao’s cold voice, laced with anger and ridicule, cut through the chaos: “If you’re coming in, maybe you should ring the doorbell first.”

The lab door could only be opened from the outside. Lu Yao had no chance of slipping past the pirates under their watchful eyes.

Creisson waved at his men. “Go grab those two cats!”

“What are you doing here?” Lu Yao finally asked, turning toward him.

Creisson wiped away his irritation and grinned shamelessly. “I heard you’ve started building mecha structures and equipment in the test pit?”

“Just the initial framework,” Lu Yao replied.

“Not bad. You’ve progressed faster than I expected. Looks like bringing you two cats was a good call.” Creisson waved at a middle-aged Beta in overalls behind him. “This is our mechanical technician from the Yuantao, Lu the Engineer. Let him see what you’ve built over the past few days. No problem?”

At that moment, the larger and smaller cats were dragged back by the pirates.

Lu Yao glanced at the Beta beside Creisson. “Go look for yourself.”

But Creisson stepped forward, grabbing Lu Yao’s arm and lifting him from the lab bench. The snow leopard instantly roared at Creisson. Creisson raised an eyebrow. “Engineer Lu, your leopard sounds more like a mute little kitten when it’s angry. Huh. I never realized cats could be protective like this.”

“Let go,” Lu Yao barked sharply—he wasn’t sure if he was speaking to Creisson or to the pirates holding the snow leopard back.

Creisson signaled his men to release the snow leopard but kept his grip on Lu Yao’s arm, pulling him toward the test pit. “We rough guys still need our engineer to guide us through the complex mecha. How can we do it without you present?”

Author’s Note:

All-metal snow leopard, ready for action!

 

 

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