49: Big Orange

Just as Lu Jianchuan pulled out his phone to send a confirmation message to "The Forger," an extremely strange hiss, sounding as if it were squeezed from the depths of a throat, abruptly rang out behind him.

"Wulu—aow—"

That sound was by no means a normal cat's meow. It was deeper, carrying a wet, turbid quality as if the structure of its trachea had changed; the ending was drawn out, containing a primal, undisguised wild threat.

Lu Jianchuan's muscles tensed instantly. With a near-instinctive combat reaction, he whipped around, his left hand instinctively shielding his front while his right hand secretly gathered strength.

About five meters behind him, the Orange Cat he had previously deemed "missing" was sitting quietly under a patch of mottled light and shadow.

But it was no longer that chubby Orange Cat that only knew how to act cute and roll around.

Its size had noticeably increased, with shoulder blades and muscle lines bulging clearly beneath its skin, exuding a sense of lean power. The originally fluffy and soft orange fur had completely fallen out, replaced by a layer of smooth yet tough dark-orange skin that clung tightly to its body, looking like polished leather with a biological luster. Those once round, somewhat silly cat eyes had now become two cold, vertical slit pupils like those of a reptile, locked onto him without blinking, with a turbid yellow glimmer faintly swirling in their depths.

Its claws rested naturally on the ground, but they were no longer a cat's cute little paw pads and retractable nails. Its phalanges seemed slightly elongated, the joints thicker, and the claw blades protruding from the ends displayed a dense, dark luster similar to obsidian or some highly calcified keratin. Their curvature was more pronounced, like several natural black hooks born for tearing; just sitting there, they radiated a sharpness that made one's skin prickle.

A mixture of bloodthirst, wildness, and cold killing intent spread from it like an invisible Domain.

Lu Jianchuan's heart hammered heavily in his chest. Despite being mentally prepared, witnessing this cognition-shattering evolutionary form still gave him an unprecedented shock and chill. It appeared so abruptly yet made no move to attack or threaten. No arched back, no bristling fur, no low growl. It just sat there quietly, those eerie vertical pupils "looking" straight at Lu Jianchuan. There was no common animalistic alertness or fear in that gaze, nor was there any closeness; there was only a near-pure, cold observation.

Lu Jianchuan's heart constricted suddenly, and his muscles tensed. He forced down his instinct to step back and remained still, meeting those non-human pupils with his own gaze.

This abnormal calm was more unsettling than a direct attack.

After a brief, suffocating silence, Lu Jianchuan took a deep breath and tried to speak as steadily as possible, using the gentle name from his memory:

"...Big Orange?"

Lu Jianchuan's tentative call received no response. The Orange Cat continued to watch him quietly with those cold vertical pupils, as if evaluating him, or perhaps simply "looking." A stale silence filled the air.

Just then, "Ring, ring—" the melodious and crisp bell signaling the end of class suddenly broke the campus's tranquility.

The sudden sound made the Orange Cat's ears twitch ever so slightly. Its head turned slightly toward the main Teaching Building, and its pupils dilated for a moment—an instinctive reaction to a familiar environmental sound. But that was all; its gaze quickly returned to Lu Jianchuan.

However, immediately after, students began pouring out of the various doors of the Teaching Building. The sound of voices and footsteps spread like a tide. This noise clearly touched upon its hidden threshold.

Under Lu Jianchuan's gaze, the air around the Orange Cat began to ripple like water, and its silhouette quickly became blurred and transparent. Within just a breath or two, its oppressive dark body completely vanished from the spot as if it had never existed. Only a trace of the faint fishy scent remaining in the air proved that the confrontation just now was not an illusion.

"What a terrifying ability..." Lu Jianchuan thought grimly. This perfect Optical Invisibility almost overturned existing detection methods. Would a Thermal Imaging Camera work on this thing? He instinctively pondered countermeasures in his mind.

"Brother Lu?" a familiar voice called out. Lu Jianchuan turned to see Li Zhe holding a small plastic bag, standing not far away with a look of surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to take care of some business and decided to take a look around." Lu Jianchuan composed himself and walked calmly to Li Zhe's side, blocking his view of where the cat had just disappeared.

Li Zhe didn't suspect anything and shook the bag in his hand; it contained cat food. "I came to feed Big Orange. Strange, usually he runs over as soon as he hears the bell. Why is he nowhere to be seen today?" He looked around, his face showing obvious disappointment and worry.

Looking at the boy's innocent expression, Lu Jianchuan sighed inwardly. He couldn't tell him that the gentle, fat Big Orange had turned into such a dangerous monster; that would only bring unnecessary fear and pain to the child. He could only offer a tactful warning: "Things haven't been very peaceful outside lately. You should pay more attention to your safety too. Go home early after school and don't linger in unfamiliar places."

Li Zhe nodded, seemingly understanding but still a bit confused.

Just then, Wang Qiang and the Principal's group walked over from the direction of the Administration Building, seemingly having completed their preliminary investigation. "Xiao Lu, we're about done here and getting ready to head back," Wang Qiang called out.

"Okay," Lu Jianchuan responded. He patted Li Zhe on the shoulder again. "Remember what I said, stay safe." With that, he left with Wang Qiang and the others.

Watching Lu Jianchuan walk away, Li Zhe crouched down somewhat dejectedly and poured the cat food into that familiar broken bowl, muttering to himself, "Big Orange, where did you go? I left some food for you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air beside him rippled once more.

In the next second, the transformed Orange Cat that had just vanished appeared directly beside the cat bowl without warning. It lowered its head and began devouring the cat food as if no one else were there. It swallowed extremely fast, making coarse chewing sounds, revealing an urgent need for energy.

"Ah!" Li Zhe let out a startled cry at the monster appearing out of thin air and fell back onto his bottom, the color draining from his face and his pupils dilating with fear. This monster with smooth skin, vertical pupils, and hook-like claws was too far removed from the fluffy fat Big Orange in his memory. His mind went blank, completely unable to comprehend how Big Orange could have become like this.

Disturbed by his cry, the Orange Cat's eating paused slightly, and it lifted its cold vertical pupils to glance at him.

Li Zhe felt a chill run through his body under that gaze, but an inexplicable sense of familiarity and a stubborn refusal to believe otherwise deep in his heart gave him the courage to call out tentatively in a trembling, tearful voice:

"...Bi... Big Orange?"

The Orange Cat watched him and let out that deep, turbid "wulu" sound from its throat. Although the sound was strange, it seemed... non-aggressive. It didn't issue a warning like it had to Lu Jianchuan; instead, after making the sound, it lowered its head again and continued to eat rapidly.

Li Zhe's heart pounded wildly. He hesitated, then extremely slowly and tremblingly reached out his hand, inching toward the Orange Cat's dark-skinned back.

As his fingertips were about to touch the cold, tough skin, the Orange Cat's body stiffened imperceptibly, but it did not dodge or attack.

His fingertips met a hard and smooth sensation, entirely different from the soft, fluffy fur in his memory. But as he gently stroked it, the "wulu" sound in the Orange Cat's throat seemed to grow louder, even carrying an undetectable tremor akin to satisfaction. It continued to bury its head in its meal, acquiescing to this familiar petting.

Li Zhe stared blankly at the creature beneath his hand, both familiar and utterly strange, as immense shock and bewilderment overwhelmed him.