I'm on the Ark, and I start out as Gretchen.

pull[

son

two

Then, standing next to the wardrobe, Swire didn't give anyone a chance to react. She simply and decisively bent down and looked under her bed.

"Eh?"

However, after seeing what was under the bed, Swire was slightly taken aback.

-----------------

The other side of the hotel—

"Wow, that really scared me to death! Thank goodness Boss Shi saved me!" Sitting on the hotel bed, Pado patted her chest, still shaken, and said to Xiao Shi not far away.

"It's nothing. Besides, Pado, you're my little brother now, so it's only right for a boss to protect his little brother." Xiao Shi said, clearly pleased with Pado's gratitude.

"..."

While the two "children" were exchanging pleasantries, Hua, who was holding a teacup, watched them slowly...

He frowned slightly, a hint of doubt appearing in his azure eyes.

After a moment, she finally couldn't help but interrupt the two people in front of her, asking with a hint of uncertainty, "Pado, is something missing?"

"Huh? Am I missing something?"

Upon being asked this question, Pado quickly stood up and began to examine her body in circles.

After confirming that nothing was missing from her person, she looked up at Hua with a questioning gaze.

“You’re not missing anything, but what about the canned food? Did you put it away or…” Upon hearing this, Hua looked again carefully, and only after confirming that she didn’t see that familiar figure next to Pado did she continue.

"...!"

"Ah! The canned food! I left it behind!" After hearing Hua's words, Pado was silent for a moment, then realized what she had done and was startled.

I was so happy to be rescued that I only realized now, after being reminded, that a chubby, gluttonous little guy was missing from my side.

"Ahem... So you and that cat are two separate individuals." After listening to the two of them talking, Xiao Shi finally understood what was going on and looked away with a little embarrassment.

"So what's the situation over there now? Can we summon the canned food back now?" Looking at the surprised and embarrassed people in front of him, Hua shook his head helplessly and asked again with a serious expression.

Because communication is only possible between identities, currently, apart from Pado who can vaguely sense the situation on the other side of the can, no one else knows what's happening there.

"Hmm... let me see."

Upon hearing this, the astonished Pado quickly calmed down and then assessed the situation on the can side.

"No, Sister Hua, the canned goods seem to have been discovered. If we summon them back now, it will be too easy to arouse suspicion."

Before Hua could say anything after Pado finished speaking, Xiao Shi raised an eyebrow and spoke up.

"Why rush such a small thing? Swire won't hurt the canned food. Just wait for it to come back tonight. If all else fails, I'll take you and snatch the cat back! With me there, no one will find out!"

"Xiao Shi is right, Pado. Given Swire's personality, she shouldn't hurt small animals. You can contact Guan Tou first and let it try to come back on its own. If it can't come back, then have Xiao Shi accompany you."

Hua Nan nodded in agreement with Xiao Shi's suggestion.

"That's true. I'll go make some contact. With Canned Food's skills, he should be able to escape on his own." Hearing this, Pado nodded slightly.

-----------------

Shihuai Villa —

“I thought it was a person, but it turned out to be a cat. Hmm… it’s so fat, and it looks quite unique…” Swire looked at the cat in her hand with a complicated expression. It had taken her quite a bit of effort to fish it out from under the bed.

"Meow!"

After hearing the person's "belittling" words, the canned food twisted its body in dissatisfaction and barked at her unhappily.

"Look at that expression, still not convinced? When did you sneak in? Where's your owner?" Looking at the defiant canned food, Swire couldn't help but rub its chubby body and ask.

Of course, she didn't expect to get any answers from a cat. After all, if the cat suddenly started talking, she would be the one who got frightened.

However, Swire was quite certain that the cat in front of her had an owner. Putting aside the fact that the cat was so fat, there was something around its neck.

Just as she was thinking about what to do, the canned food, which was being held in both hands, suddenly gagged twice and then barely covered its nose with its chubby little paws.

"...!"

Upon noticing the canned food's little trick, Swire suddenly stiffened, her expression contorting for a moment.

After quickly settling the cat in the closed room, she grabbed a change of clothes and rushed into the bathroom.

P.S.: I'm back!

Chapter 12: The Gluttonous Canned Food and the Lack of Pragmatism's New Use

After taking a shower and changing her clothes, Swire, feeling a bit of a headache, went to the room where the cans were locked.

To be honest, she had been thinking for a long time but still couldn't figure out how to deal with the fat cat that had inexplicably wandered into her house... Even if she wanted to help find the owner, it wouldn't be something that could be done immediately, and settling the cat in this situation would be another problem altogether.

Swire could be said to have very little experience in this area.

"Sigh, do you even remember where your home is?" Swire gently stroked the fuzzy back of the canned food, muttering with a slight headache.

"Meow!"

Upon hearing this, the canned food merely let out a soft cry, neither nodding nor shaking its head, and did not show any "abnormality" to Swire.

Just now, Pado warned it not to expose itself, otherwise it might be locked up and not get canned food.

"Ah, this is really troubling. Should I call and ask Hoshiguma?" Looking at the well-behaved little chubby cat in front of her, Swire couldn't help but reach out and stroke its fur again, feeling somewhat troubled.

However, before she could call her colleague, her colleague called her first.

"Hey, Hoshiguma, what's up?"

After seeing the caller's name, Swire

His expression and tone of inquiry gradually became serious.

"Yes, there's been a major breakthrough in the case you're in charge of, and we need you to come over as soon as possible. How's the situation on your end?"

"I just came back to wash up and change clothes, what's the big deal? But there was an unexpected situation. I found a cat that climbed over the wall into my house, and now I don't know what to do..." As she said this, Swire subconsciously glanced at the canned food next to her that was licking its fur.

"Kitty, can you confirm whether it's a stray or a pet?" Hoshiguma asked with some surprise after hearing Swire's words.

Clearly, she never imagined that it was the cat that would slow down her colleague, who was usually quite efficient when it came to serious matters.

"It must be domesticated; it's plump and quite clean, and it's a breed I've never seen before..."

"If you, Swire, don't dislike it and don't intend to release it back into the wild, then I suggest you give it some food and keep it locked up for now. We can deal with this matter after we finish the case."

After considering it for a moment, Hoshiguma on the other end of the phone gave her serious advice.

"After all, if they can get to your house, it means they must be a resident nearby. At worst, we can just wait until after get off work and use the printer at the Imperial Guard Bureau to print out some lost and found notices."

"Hmm... alright, let's do it your way, Hoshiguma. I'll settle in and then head back immediately." After listening to Hoshiguma's suggestion, Swire thought for a moment and agreed.

"okay."

……

"Ugh……"

After hanging up the phone, Swire looked at the canned food beside her and sighed helplessly. Then she stood up, opened the door, and went downstairs to the kitchen.

At that moment, Canned Food seized the opportunity and squeezed out of the room before Swire could close the door, then dashed downstairs.

"Hey, don't run around."

Seeing this, Swire forgot everything else and hurriedly chased after it. There were many things she liked downstairs, and she didn't want this fat cat she'd discovered running amok.

"..."

But when Swire went down, he found that there was no reckless running around; there was only a fat cat sitting in front of the refrigerator, gazing at it affectionately.

“You really have a clear goal in mind, no wonder you’re so fat…” As she spoke, Swire walked over to the can and rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

Finally, after leaving enough food in the can and locking it back in the room, Swire hurriedly hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Guard Bureau.

-----------------------

the other side--

"?"

While chatting with Xiaoshi, Pado noticed what Guantou was doing and a question mark slowly appeared above her head.

If the cat remembered correctly, it had fed the fat cat quite a bit before taking it out with it...

"Pado, what's wrong?"

Seeing that Pado had suddenly stopped talking, Xiao Shi gave her a strange look.

"Hehe, it's just a small matter, no need for you to trouble yourself, Boss Shi!"

When Xiao Shi asked her a question, Pa Duo scratched her head and chuckled before answering.

"Alright, remember to report to me if anything important happens. No matter who it is, I'll protect you." Hearing that it was a small matter, Xiao Shi didn't mind. He just patted Pado's shoulder to comfort her.

"Speaking of important matters... I have indeed encountered some trouble recently. I've been targeted by someone, boss! Although they can't catch me, it's somewhat preventing me from delivering things to those in need at night."

Is there any way to solve this?

As she spoke, Pado's ears twitched slightly, and then she blinked her heterochromatic eyes, looking expectantly at the little scholar in front of her.

"Isn't that simple? Didn't I give you the [Ungrateful] item before? If someone finds you, just take it and give it to that guy, and he'll forget about it completely."

"You should know that anything produced by the Lawyer is guaranteed to be of the highest quality."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Shi, who was standing with his hands on his hips, showed a proud look on his face, as if to say, "I'm very capable, come and praise me."

And clearly, Pado, sitting to the side, easily grasped this point and then praised her generously:

"Wow, as expected of Boss Shi, he's really amazing!"

"Hmph~ You do have some good taste!" Hearing his "little brother's" praise, Xiao Shi nodded in satisfaction, looking quite pleased.

……

After spending several hours with Xiao Shi and Hua at the hotel, Pado carefully made her way out at the last minute.