Fenix froze.
He looked up, staring blankly at Lion.
Bathed in the light, Fenix clearly saw the fine slit in Lion's dark brown eyes gradually retreat. The almost overpowering animalistic nature was slowly suppressed. The lion relaxed its offensive stance, relaxed its body, and closed its eyes harmlessly and lazily.
This was a signal of peace among felines.
Fenix's flattened ears slightly relaxed, twitched, and stood upright again.
Lion still held out his hand, showing no intention of withdrawing it.
"If you insist on leaving..."
He paused mid-sentence, remaining silent.
He wouldn’t let Fenix leave.
Nor would Fenix have the chance to leave.
But these words were unsuitable to express aloud.
Lion silently brushed aside the thought, reiterating, "I need you."
Fenix melted instantly.
He had always been one to yield to softness rather than hardness, and had an inexplicable tendency to help the weak.
Of course, this wasn’t to say that Lion was weak.
Rather, it was a straightforward idea that "if he needs help and I can help him, then I will."
Fenix twitched his ears and sighed.
Ah, Fenix was just a soft-hearted soul.
Even if he weren’t, how many people could resist someone who usually takes a strong stance lowering themselves for a specific matter with a pleading tone!
Fenix certainly couldn’t resist.
However, he understood the stakes.
Being soft-hearted was one thing, but agreeing to a lifelong commitment was another.
The cat cub withdrew his gaze from Lion, focusing instead on the outstretched hand before him.
To be honest, the hand wasn’t particularly attractive.
It was covered with fine scars and calluses. When one got closer, they could smell the lingering scent of blood and gunpowder.
Fenix knew where these marks came from.
He couldn’t expect a former space pirate leader to have pristine, white, smooth hands.
Fenix understood that even though Lion had chosen to turn over a new leaf, those who wanted him dead wouldn’t diminish.
So these scars, calluses, and scents of gunpowder were likely permanent.
Fenix thought for a moment, lifting his paw, ready to place it in Lion’s palm, but then he remembered the fate of those Athenas who entered Lion’s romantic storyline.
His paw, which had just extended, immediately retracted.
It probably wouldn’t come to that, right?
Fenix wouldn’t enter Lion’s romantic storyline.
Fenix hesitated for a while, extending his paw halfway before retracting it again.
Nope.
There was still a certain level of risk.
In Lion’s Bad Endings, there were examples of those close to him being involved.
Fenix looked down at his paws, feeling conflicted. Finally, feeling tired of holding them up, he let them drop.
Lion’s eyes darkened.
Then Fenix lifted another paw, looking at Lion’s hand, still undecided.
Lion: "..."
Fenix’s mind was torn between various thoughts.
He recalled the process from when Lion and Athena met, fell in love, and eventually reached their conclusion.
Thinking about Athena’s rich experiences even when she wasn’t dating, he felt that the danger in Lion’s route was quite Schrödinger-like.
After all, Athena was often entangled in complex situations even without dating.
After being with Lion, the danger became more about Lion himself than those events.
But for Fenix, this problem seemed negligible.
Besides, Fenix wasn’t Athena.
He couldn’t enter the romantic storyline.
With this thought, Fenix’s paw moved forward once more.
Lion watched the cat paw extend and retract repeatedly, then simply lifted his hand and clasped Fenix’s paw firmly.
Fenix was stunned, looking up blankly.
Lion said emotionlessly, "You’re coming with me, that’s settled."
???
Fenix’s eyes widened.
He tapped a single claw, typing: "I haven’t decided yet! You’re forcing me!"
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Forcing him?
Is this forcing him?
Lion raised an eyebrow, deciding to show Fenix what real forcing looked like.
"Lion, I know many of your secrets."
Fenix froze.
"I know about your unusual awakening, your awakened form as a fantasy species, your personal information, your school, and your circle of friends..."
Lion looked at the shocked Fenix and understood that the child hadn’t considered this point while hesitating.
Did he trust him so much to not reveal his information...
Lion clicked his tongue, feeling something soft scratch at his heart.
It felt ticklish and strange.
Lion scratched the cat’s chin. "Think about it again?"
Fenix: ?
He was threatening me!
Lion was actually threatening me!
Fenix couldn’t believe it.
What was there to think about now!
Isn’t this clearly taking him hostage?
Pah!
What a fool Fenix was to soften!
Trash Lion!
Fenix angrily mewed at Lion, pulling his paw away, and turned to leave in anger, but then he felt it would be a great loss to just leave like this!
Fenix paced around the dining table for a while. Finally, he jumped in front of Lion and demanded sternly, "Fine, but you need to pay more."
Lion looked at the small cat trying to make a threatening gesture and almost burst out laughing.
He coughed lightly, suppressing his laughter.
"Alright, how much more do you want?" Lion asked.
Lion agreed too readily, making Fenix pause.
Oh no.
Fenix had never thought about this issue!
Before meeting Lion, Fenix’s highest standard for an internship salary was 4000 credits.
Ordinarily, non-graduates could expect around 3000 credits at most.
Many companies paid interns only 1000 or 2000 credits because they couldn’t sign proper labor contracts.
Big companies followed formal procedures, but they sought the best talents.
As for Fenix’s human resources major, it was versatile but also seen as a waste. Without specialization, it was harder to find a job.
Lion had already raised his salary to over 9000 credits. Asking for more would make Fenix feel embarrassed.
After all, he hadn’t officially started working yet!
If he asked for more, it would feel like he was being kept by the boss!
Especially since he was living in Lion’s luxurious villa.
Living there, eating there, playing there, and taking Lion’s money...
Damn.
When you think about it carefully, isn’t this exactly like being kept?
Fenix’s face twisted with conflict.
He lowered his head, pacing restlessly with his paws.
Lion watched Fenix patiently.
Finally, Fenix gave up dejectedly. "Forget it!"
It was Fenix’s misfortune!
No, it wasn’t misfortune.
After all, he was getting a lot of money, and one shouldn’t be too greedy.
Lion watched Fenix jump off the dining table, dejected. After a while, he turned his attention to the cold lamb chop in the dish.
This cat cub had a high moral baseline.
Lion found this interesting.
In such a situation, most people who had struggled in the universe would have taken advantage and demanded more.
But Fenix didn’t.
He was an ordinary person.
Someone with minor schemes but mostly kind and ordinary.
This made Lion feel quite pleased.
He opened the shopping interface, bought a bunch of cat toys and snacks, then glanced at the previously purchased realistic bug toys and decided to seal them away.
When the bodyguard arrived with documents to be processed, he found his boss in an exceptionally good mood.
Unlike before, when seeing Lion’s calm demeanor would be astonishing, the bodyguard had gotten used to the new Lion.
He occasionally even chatted with Lion: "Boss, you’re very happy today?"
"Mm," Lion nodded, his gaze falling on the distant white sandy beach. After a while, he said, "What if we move our headquarters nearby?"
"???" The bodyguard was momentarily stunned and diplomatically responded, "Boss, this is the heartland of the Xinghe Alliance."
Although it is your birthplace, it isn’t our own planet.
Lion clicked his tongue, knowing his idea was unrealistic.
"Documents," Lion extended his hand.
...
Fenix squatted on a log stump he found last night—a floating platform in the water—looking down at the piranhas swimming below.
He had already cleared the daytime jungle difficulty level, although not with an excellent evaluation.
But there was no helping it; his awakened form was inherently limited, not a predator, so getting an excellent evaluation on the difficult level was impossible.
Fenix swished his tail, lowering it under the log stump, watching a piranha leap out of the water, missing his tail by a whisker.
He lowered his tail again, fishing for fun.
Silly piranhas.
No wonder people liked playing with cats.
Even playing with fish was entertaining, let alone cats.
Fenix sighed, peeling a pinecone.
He had stolen it from a squirrel robot.
His size was only slightly larger than a squirrel’s, so eating pine nuts was normal.
Although the animals in the training area were robots, the plants grew normally.
It was autumn, and many things were ripe.
Fenix had scavenged various nuts from many rodents, eating until his belly was round, with no intention of returning to the hotel.
Fenix had his pride!
As dusk approached, the cat cub retracted his fishing tail, moving to the center of the log.
Fenix decided to have a cold war with Lion.
Until he completely conquered the nighttime difficult jungle!
According to Lion, mastering the difficult level meant perfect control over the awakened form.
Fenix believed Lion was right.
He felt a strong sense of control over his body, sensing that he was just a tiny step away from free transformation.
It should be soon.
Fenix thought.
But this tiny step took him a whole week.
Today was Thursday.
There were only two days left until the agreed-upon dinner date with his friends.
Fenix emerged from the training area in tattered clothes, casually tossing aside the clothes hanging on him.
His eyes sparkled, ignoring the dirty marks on his body, he ran towards the hotel, eager to see Lion.
Boss! Boss!!
Fenix succeeded! Fenix can transform...
Fenix rushed to the entrance of the residential area, about to sprint towards the seaside, then suddenly remembered something, braking abruptly but rolling a couple of times.
Damn!
It was an accident, he was just too excited!
Fenix quickly got up, checking left and right to make sure no one saw his embarrassing act, shook his head, and groomed his fur.
He glanced at the seaside, huffed, and marched towards the garden area.
Fenix was still in a cold war with Lion!
So this big news would be shared with Ferran first!
Fenix happily ran to the villa in the garden area where Ferran was staying, swiping his face to enter.
Lion had given Fenix high-level access, allowing him to go almost anywhere in the hotel.
Tail high, Fenix skipped upstairs, leaping to open the door handle, and entered the room.
The room was dim, with a movie projected on a large screen.
Fenix looked up at the bed, five or six times taller than him, and leaped up.
Lion was completely unaware of his cat’s cold war.
Every time he checked the surveillance of the training area, he saw Fenix seriously training.
His little friend was putting in a lot of effort, which was a good thing.
Lion, besides occasionally watching Fenix fight various bugs, didn’t find anything wrong with him not returning.
Although Fenix looked increasingly dirty, he hadn’t suffered any substantial harm. His diet was normal, causing no negative health effects.
This was good.
Except for needing more nutrition upon return, there were no drawbacks.
So Lion let him be, using the opportunity to test the extent of Fenix’s influence on him.
Lion didn’t want to disrupt Fenix’s peaceful world.
He felt Fenix was doing well.
Happy and carefree, he didn’t need to know about the chaos outside.
If maintaining a feeding relationship was enough, Lion wouldn’t bring Fenix along when he needed to return to the universe.
Let the cat cub laze around in a cubicle if he wanted to.
Let him be a happy ordinary person.
Keeping simplicity and ordinariness was not bad.
He, Lion, could protect him.
Lion picked up the documents handed over by the bodyguard today.
The bodyguard looked around, still not seeing the small white figure.
"Fenix hasn’t come back today either?"
Lion nodded casually, opening the surveillance, but saw the micro-monitoring robot, which had been ensuring Fenix’s safety, pointing at the villa where Ferran was staying.
Lion paused, directing the robot closer.
As it approached, a sharp, pitiful cat cry came through the monitor.
Fenix looked at Ferran, lying on the bed in a standard otaku pose, munching on chips, feeling his entire being trembling from body to soul.
Oh my gosh!!!
Fenix had only been isolated for a week!!!
Fenix looked at the round-faced Ferran, tremblingly extending a paw to poke his overly soft belly.
Oh my god!!!
Just a week, and Ferran had gained so much weight!!!
Fenix didn’t teach you to be an otaku!
Ferran, do you remember your setting!
A fatso can't be a little milk dog!
Get up and lose weight!