"How did a perfectly good cat turn into a human?" he lamented, gently stroking Yue'an's fur before sighing again. "And how did a perfectly good human turn into a cat?"

Yue'an lazily swished his tail in response.

"Meow~" he purred.

Field Marshal Kevin let out another deep sigh, his handsome face etched with weariness.

Ji Xiujun finished tidying up, tossing the takeout boxes into the trash. He turned to his mentor and asked, "Will you be staying here for dinner, sir?"

Kevin shook his head. He needed to get home to his wife.

Ji Xiujun observed his teacher silently petting Yue'an for a while. After ordering an unusually spicy takeout meal for himself, he pondered for a moment before sitting down across from Kevin again.

Kevin remained quiet, his fingers absent-mindedly twirling little tufts in Yue'an's snow-white fur. The cat's tail swayed leisurely, occasionally brushing against Kevin's wrist. Yue'an purred contentedly, unbothered by the mussing of his coat.

The aura of melancholy surrounding this man was almost palpable. But Yue'an was a clever, caring, and kind little kitty! What harm was there in letting himself be petted?

At least Kevin wasn't like Ji Xiujun, always trying to fondle his private parts at the slightest provocation. Everything else was negotiable.

Kevin didn't bother asking Ji Xiujun why Yue'an had transformed into a human. He trusted his student implicitly - if there were secrets to be shared, Ji Xiujun would do so in his own time.

"Teacher," Ji Xiujun began, after collecting his thoughts. "I haven't performed a genetic test on Yue'an's human form yet."

Kevin looked up, eyebrow raised. "Oh? Would there be a difference?"

"Perhaps," Ji Xiujun replied, unable to say for certain.

In theory, genetic testing should yield the same results for the same individual. But given Yue'an's unique nature, Marshal Ji couldn't be sure of anything.

Establishing a legal identity for Yue'an's human form was imperative. While Yue'an could use Ji Xiujun's identity for purchases and outings in his feline form, the same couldn't apply to his human shape.

Ordinary people had to verify their identity with fingerprints for transactions. Yue'an's identity was verified through his paw print, a special allowance from the Information Security Department that linked him to Ji Xiujun's account.

In fact, even without Kevin's involvement, Ji Xiujun had planned to ask for Yue'an's consent to take a hair sample from his human form for genetic testing.

If the results came back normal, they could proceed with standard methods to create a proper identity for Yue'an's human form. If not, they'd need to resort to unconventional means - a more complicated process that would incur favors owed. Without the test results, it was impossible to say for certain.

Ji Xiujun looked down at Yue'an, who had started to doze off on Kevin's lap. He reached out to prod the cat awake.

Yue'an swatted Ji Xiujun's hand away in annoyance, pinning it down with both paws. "Meow!" he protested.

Marshal Ji gently tickled the paw pads on Yue'an's little feet. "Yue'an," he said, "your human form needs a respectable identity."

They couldn't rely on the disguise brooch forever. Accidents happen - it's better to be prepared than caught off guard.

With Yue'an's striking human appearance, a lack of proper credentials could indeed prove problematic.

Before Kevin had spoken up, Ji Xiujun had been struggling to decide what kind of identity would be most suitable for Yue'an. Now that Kevin had broached the subject, the solution seemed quite straightforward.

Yue'an himself showed little concern for his human form's identity issues. He simply flicked his tail at Ji Xiujun's words, curling into a ball without acknowledging them.

Kevin, however, quickly grasped his student's intentions. He raised an eyebrow, realizing Ji Xiujun was clearly angling to use Kevin's own son's identity as cover for Yue'an's human form.

To have his student so blatantly take advantage of an opportunity he himself had inadvertently presented left Kevin feeling rather helpless.

"Utterly shameless," he chided with a wry smile.

Kevin could see right through his former student - all those years of strategic gameplay had clearly corrupted the boy's heart.

Ji Xiujun maintained a face of perfect innocence.

But their opinions didn't matter - what was most important was Yue'an's own thoughts on the matter.

So Marshal Ji once again roused the thoroughly disinterested cat, asking, "Would you mind if Teacher - if Field Marshal Kevin acted as your nominal father?"

Yue'an's ears twitched as he turned to look at Kevin, who was gazing down at him.

Kevin offered the cat a gentle smile.

Yue'an had little interest in the stern-faced Kevin. Like Ji Xiujun, he was tall and imposing - the rugged, masculine type.

In Yue'an's eyes, they were both quite unattractive.

But Yue'an adored Kevin's wife, the beautiful and culinarily gifted Madam Ellie.

While having no identity was fine, gaining one certainly wouldn't hurt.

Yue'an's little mind took barely two seconds to surrender to the allure of Madam Ellie's cooking. He turned to Ji Xiujun and gave an affirmative "Meow."

That settled it.

Delighted, Kevin scooped up the cat and headed for the stairs, slipping into his new role with remarkable speed. "Come on then! Let's go meet your mother!"

Yue'an, eager for Madam Ellie's cooking, played along with enthusiastic meows.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ji Xiujun was left momentarily stunned by how quickly his teacher and cat had abandoned him.

Wait a minute.

Wasn't this bridge-burning a bit too hasty?

Ji Xiujun hurried to catch up, intercepting Kevin.

"We should wait for the test results first," he advised.

Kevin considered this, then nodded in agreement.

He watched as Ji Xiujun carried Yue'an into the room, presumably to snip a few hairs from Yue'an's human form for testing.

Kevin made to follow them in, only to have the door abruptly slammed in his face.

Kevin: ...?

Hold on, what's going on?

Why did they need to go into the room?

And why shut me out??

Am I not still your respected father figure?

Kevin's thoughts stalled for a moment before something clicked. He glanced at the full set of clothing left on the sofa and suddenly understood.

Oh, right. So Yue'an isn't wearing clothes in his human form?

Kevin carefully recalled Yue'an's ethereally beautiful human face.

As a fellow sentient being with such an exquisite human form, to be exposed naked in front of a normal person...

Kevin's gaze towards Ji Xiujun's bedroom door suddenly became deeply meaningful.

Inside the room, Ji Xiujun looked down at the youth peeking out from under the covers. He leaned in to snip two strands of hair, placing them carefully into a thin test tube. Then, with a stern expression, he began lecturing his cat.

"Don't transform into a human in front of others without warning," he admonished.

You knew to grab something to cover yourself at first - how did you end up losing all sense of modesty?

Marshal Ji felt quite troubled by this development.

The white-haired youth burrowed deeper into the blankets, and in the next instant, transformed back into a snow-white cat. He spun around, presenting his fluffy posterior to Ji Xiujun.

Faced with this class enemy who dared to deny him another taste of Madam Ellie's cooking, the adorable little kitty showed no mercy, as ruthless as winter wind scattering fallen leaves. He even tucked his tail beneath him, curling into a perfect sphere that left no opening for the human standing by the bed.

Marshal Ji resisted the urge to knead that ball of fluff. He turned to hand the test tube to his teacher, coldly ignoring Field Marshal Kevin's attempts to pry for information. Once again, he deployed his level 99 skill on his mentor - the Gaze of Emotional Detachment.

This look effectively extinguished Kevin's burning curiosity.

"I'll be at the science division in the base tomorrow," Kevin said. "Is it alright if I tell your teacher's wife about Yue'an's situation?"

Ji Xiujun felt this was inappropriate.

But before he could respond, Yue'an let out a loud "Meow!" from inside the room.

Kevin peeked in at the furry ball: "Seems that's a yes."

Yue'an turned his head: "Meow."

Kevin left, looking utterly pleased with himself.

Ji Xiujun: "..."

Marshal Ji remained silent for a moment, then fetched Yue'an from the room along with the takeout. After his cat finished eating, he unhesitatingly scooped up the feline and donned their neural interface helmets, once again battling fiercely in the virtual training ground.

Yue'an felt completely drained.

When he woke up the next morning, he saw stars dancing before his eyes.

After seeing Ji Xiujun off, Yue'an devoured the last thirty-odd spirit stones without hesitation. Then, padding on his little paws, he rummaged through the small drawer in Ji Xiujun's study, retrieving a magnetic card and transfer device. He proceeded to transfer several billion credits to the card Ji Xiujun had once used in the black market.

The little cat fetched an outfit from the wardrobe with his teeth, then trotted out cheerfully. He hopped into the flashy red car that Ji Xiujun never drove, leaving it to gather dust in the garage.

Inside the car, he transformed into his human form and dressed himself. He changed his hair and eyes to black, then awkwardly extended his fingers, slowly poking at the panel to set the destination and driving route. Recalling where Ji Xiujun had kept the concealment brooch, he pulled out a drawer from that location.

However, the drawer in this car was empty.

Yue'an: "..."

What... what's going on here?!

Yue'an touched his face, feeling a bit troubled.

Illusions could be detected by machines, and using suggestive magic on every person he encountered would drain his spiritual energy immensely.

He wasn't some shape-shifting demon - at best, he could change his hair and eye color to various hues, but altering his face was beyond his capabilities.

Being too handsome was truly a curse.

If worst came to worst, he'd just have to stay invisible until it was time to make purchases.

With this thought, Yue'an continued searching the car while muttering to himself.

He was practicing the phrases Ji Xiujun had used when buying spirit stones before.

There were only three sentences, which wasn't particularly challenging for Yue'an given his rapid learning progress since his awakening.

The car's interior was fairly spacious, allowing enough room to take two or three steps while standing. To maximize space for the occupants, there were numerous hidden drawers and storage compartments.

Thanks to his thorough search, Yue'an fully recalled the walking techniques Field Marshal Kevin had taught him yesterday. His awkward, stiff finger movements also became more fluid.

But all of this proved futile.

By the time they reached the destination, Yue'an could recite those three sentences flawlessly, yet he still hadn't found the concealment brooch.

In fact, most of the storage spaces in the car were empty.

After some consideration, Yue'an decided to use his invisibility technique. He pocketed the card and walked straight into the black market.

The black market hadn't changed much since Yue'an's last visit.

The outermost streets were noisy and chaotic, permeated by a thick, bloody stench.

Still not quite accustomed to his human form's hearing and perspective, Yue'an felt like he might trip over his own feet at any moment. So he moved very slowly while invisible, carefully avoiding the humans coming towards him.

He made his way towards the largest shop in the center, glancing at the surrounding smaller stores. Most seemed to be selling unfamiliar minerals and mechanical parts.

The haphazardly arranged stalls were scenes of both normal transactions and violent brawls.

Yet those who fought so fiercely didn't dare touch the proper shops beside the small stalls. Consequently, the streets with more concentrated shops became less noisy and chaotic.

Yue'an lost interest after peering around for a while. He stopped gawking and headed straight for the shop Ji Xiujun had taken him to before.

Unlike outside, this large shop was quiet, with few customers. They entered silently, made their purchases silently, and left silently.

Yue'an touched his face, then walked directly to the deepest counter, where the person who had previously dealt with Ji Xiujun stood. He dispelled his invisibility.

Yue'an's sudden appearance was so abrupt that the person behind the counter instantly drew a weapon and aimed it at him.

Several gazes in the shop swiftly turned towards him and couldn't look away - even the armed individual was stunned for a full three seconds before coming to their senses.

What kind of youth was this?

His figure was slender and delicate, with form-fitting clothes that perfectly displayed his well-proportioned limbs and slim waist.

The exposed skin of his wrists and neck was milk-white. His black eyes were calm and unperturbed, yet slightly upturned at the corners, revealing a hint of clever liveliness.

To describe a face with such vivacious eyes merely as a treasure seemed almost blasphemous, a degradation.

This youth stood before the deepest counter, his expression unchanging even when faced with a terrifying gravity weapon.

Under everyone's gaze, the youth slightly parted his pale, thin lips.

He said, "High-grade energy crystals. How many do you have?"

His voice was soft and clear. Perhaps due to his speech habits, he slightly elongated the end of his words, adding a touch of nasality that gave his speech an almost coquettish quality.

That trailing tone tickled at people's heartstrings, sending a tingling sensation from their scalps right down to their bones.

Yue'an waited for quite a while without receiving an answer. He raised his hand and swatted aside the weapon still held by the person in front of him. With a tooth-grating sound of cracking wall, he asked again: "High-grade energy crystals. How many do you have?"

The person behind the counter looked at the youth in front of him, then at the gravity weapon now firmly embedded in the wall, impossible to pry out. He shuddered and quickly averted his gaze.

Other customers who had been greedily eyeing the youth reacted similarly.

The man behind the counter took a deep breath and said, "The goods just arrived. Eight hundred in total, customer."

Eight hundred!

Enough for the adorable little kitty to knock out the big bad Ji Xiujun's teeth and nail them to the wall!

Yue'an was so happy he wanted to meow out loud.

On his face, this happiness only manifested as a slight ripple in the inky calm of his eyes.

He paused, then asked, "The price?"

The man answered, "The current quote is 1.36 million per crystal."

Yue'an smoothly continued, "I'll take them all. Round it down to 120 million."

The shop fell into complete silence.

Rounding down...

Is that how it's done?