Although she sensed the whiff of a conspiracy, Ashley truly couldn’t think of anything in Card Court Town worth coveting by the other side.
This small town, which had slowly expanded from the docks, had only two industries: dockworkers and fresh fish balls made from pounded fish meat.
Card Court Town’s fish ball soup was quite famous, drawing many people who came specifically to eat it.
Fresh fish was hauled straight from the river and turned into fish balls right on the riverbank, then boiled in thick fish broth—it was exceptionally delicious.
Ashley and Amber stood in front of a stainless steel handcart, watching the vendor pound fish paste with the back of a knife. Nearby, a large pot bubbled with milky-white fish soup.
Cats were everywhere here, in every color imaginable. Some strutted about boldly, others gnawed on discarded entrails by the roadside, and some pawed at big flower carps in water basins—but the fish were bigger than the cats, so their efforts were in vain.
“It’s been measured—no supernatural fluctuations,” Ashley nodded.
Then, the two lolis sat on a long bench with small bowls in hand, sipping the delicious fish soup delicately.
“This little bowl is half a fish—such a luxury,” Amber sighed.
Ashley stole a glance. The black-haired loli’s little face was flushed and tender from the steam of the fish soup, her thick lashes dotted with tiny water droplets. Her neat, white little teeth nibbled carefully at the fish ball—she was utterly adorable.
“It’s cheap by the river,” Ashley said.
“Everything’s expensive in the city.”
“Then you should seize the chance to eat more.”
“I’ll get fat.”
“No problem—I like chubby Amber.”
Amber’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes darting around in panic as she muttered,
“I don’t want to be chubby…”
“Can’t you grow a little meat for me, you heartless woman!”
“Huh…?”
Amber’s little head couldn’t quite process it at first, but she soon realized Ashley was teasing her.
Still, the corners of her lips curved up involuntarily. She felt inexplicably happy, unsure if it was from the sweet and savory fish ball soup or the joyful time spent with Ashley.
“The Bailuo River originates from the far west, in a place called ‘Cloud Canal.’ There are peaks there with clouds hanging down thickly. Viewed inversely, they’re like a needle’s point of land extending upward for ten thousand zhang, gradually widening into a disk hundreds of kilometers in diameter. If you could flip over to the top of the disk, you’d see the branches and leaves of the divine tree—but Sky Moth People guard it. Even with the ability to cling to overhanging rock faces, you’d be stopped by the Sky Moth People and unable to cross the disk… That’s what I read in Crossing the Horizon by the legendary explorer Polpo Chinatori,” Amber said, swinging her little legs on the chair.
“I’ve heard of it, but no one believes it’s true. Besides, there haven’t been any major discoveries on the surface so far. Instead, it’s confirmed that lost civilization ruins are buried underground. Even if an expedition team were sent to Cloud Canal to search for the Sky Moth People, the huge uncertainty, the years or even decades of round-trip travel, and the unknown dangers would all just waste manpower,” Ashley shrugged.
“Mm…”
Amber used a toothpick to pick up a fish ball and offered it to the little white cat begging on her knee.
“What a waste,” Ashley frowned.
“Anyway, if I eat it, it’ll just turn into fat.”
As the two chatted idly, a black cat with fur as glossy as satin suddenly ran to Ashley’s feet and rubbed against her calf.
“It’s begging from you.”
“Not giving it any.” Ashley ate her last fish ball and pouted.
“You’re so mean. Cats don’t beg from just anyone—they must like you to…”
Before she finished speaking, the black cat opened its mouth and bit Ashley’s leg!
Ashley cried out in pain, but the next moment, she sensed something wrong—the world around her was growing larger and larger!
No!
It was she who was shrinking!
Her clothes slipped off her shoulders, draping over her like a blanket. Her mouth elongated into a snout, and patches of gray fur sprouted across her skin!
She shouted loudly, but what came out was the squeak of a rat!
From Amber’s perspective, Ashley had shrunk into a big gray rat!
“Heh heh!”
The black cat spoke in human words, its voice a childish loli tone laced with malicious amusement—somewhat similar to Chloe’s.
The black cat scooped up the big gray rat from inside the clothes in its mouth, leaped off the bench, and dashed away at extreme speed, covering dozens of meters in a few bounds!
“Stop!”
Amber chased after it in a panic at first, but she grew calmer with each step.
Her metal lifeform coated her feet, filling her soles with elasticity. A few kicks off the ground accelerated her to her limit!
The distance closed bit by bit, but the black cat wasn’t fleeing blindly—it was retreating along a planned route, deliberately weaving through crowded streets and into the throng of people.
Though Ashley was being carried in its mouth, her mind remained calm.
Bitten and turned into a rat?
Very strong, but with many limitations.
If there weren’t so many cats around, this behavior would definitely raise alarms. Detecting supernatural fluctuations on the black cat wouldn’t be hard.
She wouldn’t get eaten, though.
Dying inside its stomach would cause the ability to fail, bursting the black cat’s intestines and even its whole body.
The Time Bird hadn’t recorded it, so it must be a sub-ability granted to it.
This wasn’t support sent by the Secret Alliance BOSS—it was Card Court Town’s native fourth ability user.
In an instant, Ashley gleaned a wealth of information.
Being attacked now wasn’t a bad thing—the more the enemy exposed their methods, the smaller the information gap became.
The black cat darted into a narrow alley. At the entrance, near a well, a crowd of women washing clothes along a square channel squeezed together, buckets beside them forming a barrier.
This didn’t stump Amber. She leaped up, kicked off the wall for momentum, and moved even faster, zigzagging in flashes until she was right behind the black cat—just a little more!
Buzz—!
Suddenly, accompanied by a drawn-out metallic hum, a brilliant blue slashing arc whirled through the air!
Amber, in hot pursuit, was caught off guard and slashed hard on the shoulder!
Even though a hard shell woven from silver swimming fish blocked it, her body lost balance and she crashed to the ground!
Damn…
Amber sprang back up, but the black cat was running farther away, about to vanish from sight. Desperate to give chase, she was blocked by the ambusher!
Amber looked at her opponent: a delinquent girl shouldering a giant sickle. Her eyes were abnormally wide, pupils gleaming with sadistic light, and a pink, forked tongue dragged long from her blackened lips.
Amber had some combat experience—she wasn’t a complete novice. She’d used the swimming fish form practically in Bull Town, and that fight with Promush had been extremely perilous. So, even facing this ferocious-looking girl, she didn’t falter.
Her fingers flicked repeatedly, swimming fish linking tail-to-mouth to form a chain that shot toward the girl!
The girl reacted swiftly, slinging the sickle off her shoulder with centrifugal force and flipping it to slice precisely at the fish chain, sparking on impact!
But the chain coiled back, wrapping around the sickle!
Amber yanked hard with her left hand and charged forward instead of retreating!
As she rushed the girl, her right hand drew her gun from her waist!
A pocket revolver just like Ashley’s, paired with metal lifeform replacement bullets—for close-range shooting!
Bang!
However, a fleshy vine burst through a brick in the ground, wrapping her wrist and yanking it aside!
The gun was empty!
More pink polyps swarmed from the walls and ground, sticking to her like chewing gum and pinning her firmly!
Meanwhile, having shaken off the pursuit, the black cat twisted and turned through alleys to reach a residential house, slipping in through the pet door into the entryway.
Then, the black cat stood upright and gradually grew larger, transforming into a delicately carved little loli.
She had silky black ear-length hair, with a small bundle tied crookedly at the back of her head. Her features were exquisite, her glassy flower-like eyes rolling lively and alert.
She pinched the big gray rat by the scruff of its neck and lifted it to her face, shoulders shaking with an obnoxious cackle.
“Hee hee hee~ This trashy idiot rat is a cadre of the Tribunal? I heard your name is Ashley. Hi there, idiot Ashley~”
