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

Although the Rat King often talked about getting old, he never imagined that someone from Longmen would actually try to provoke him and steal from him. What a scoundrel!

The main point is that if the stolen items are valuable, even though it's just provoking a tiger, Lin Gerui can still understand it as the "thief" taking the risk of offending him for money.

But the missing item was candy, which seemed to him like someone had deliberately provoked him.

……

Just as Lin Gerui calmed down and went to check the stolen candies in the display case, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something in the corner of the counter.

"..."

After clearly seeing what was placed in the corner of the counter, Lin Gerui narrowed his eyes slightly and stopped walking towards the shelf.

A moment later, he reached out and picked up a very exquisite porcelain teacup from a pile of trinkets next to the Lungmen coin.

"So it was that little thief..."

Although Lin Gerui didn't exaggerate to the point of knowing everything that had recently been stolen from Longmen, he did know about the teacup in his hand.

It was one of the items stolen from a small gang in Lungmen by that recently emerged "righteous thief"...

As for how Lin Gerui knew, it was because he had sent someone to inquire.

After these organizations have their items stolen, they may try to cover up some things when questioned by him, perhaps out of consideration for face or because the items are considered unclean. However, the authority and prestige of the "Rat King" are undeniable, so even if he does conceal some information, what he reveals is almost always the truth.

"Humph……"

With a soft hum, Lin Gerui put down his teacup. Having lived for so many years, he was already a shrewd old man. Without much thought, he vaguely understood the thoughts of the thief who had patronized his shop.

It's nothing more than that he recently pushed people too far in the slums, and they couldn't help but retaliate by visiting his candy store. But in the end, he was afraid that he would really be furious and hold him accountable, so he left behind this money and "stolen goods".

"You wish! It's been so many years since anyone has provoked me like this..."

P.S.: I've really been working hard, and this chapter took me from 8 PM to now. You guys probably noticed how abrupt the plot twists and jumps were... It was really frustrating. Goodnight everyone.

Chapter 15: The Law-Abiding Good Citizen, the "Rat King"

After taking stock of the "losses" in his shop, the Rat King not only gave some instructions to his men, but also temporarily closed the shop and then leisurely headed towards the Guard Bureau.

Previously, due to the unusual nature of the items stolen by Pado, Lin Gerui didn't want to bring the matter into the open, only investigating privately and exerting pressure. But now that his own legitimate candy store has been robbed, he has a reason to speak out.

After all, Lin Gerui, the "Rat King," is a law-abiding citizen of Longmen, so naturally he would call the police when he encountered such a thing.

As for his own face and prestige, the Rat King might have cared about it before, but since he discovered a few days ago that the Emperor was also investigating this petty thief, he has become less concerned.

He didn't suffer much in terms of material possessions, but in terms of face and prestige, he gained someone of equal status to accompany him.

Of course, Lin Gerui's call to the police this time was not only to get the Guard Bureau to put pressure on the petty thief, but also to remind the people behind the Guard Bureau.

Although the "petty thief" left behind money and stolen goods this morning, seemingly pleading for mercy, after repeated tests over this period, the [Rat King] doesn't consider him a simple character. How many people can operate successfully every time in Dragon Gate, a place teeming with his spies, without ever being exposed?

However, despite the reminder, Lin Gerui felt that the guy probably already knew about it.

————————————————————

"Ah~"

"Sleeping in the sun is such bliss."

Pado, who had woken up naturally after a good night's sleep, squinted her eyes contentedly, stretched, and muttered to herself.

"Meow~"

Noticing Pado's actions, the canned food next to him seemed to be "infected" by it, and then stretched out its chubby body with its four paws supporting its waist.

"I wonder what's going on outside. I hope that, considering the money I left behind, that big old... 'Rat King' will show some mercy." As she spoke, Pado couldn't help but picture Lin Gerui's angry and terrifying face in her mind.

Honestly, although Cat knew what the Rat King looked like before she transmigrated, after secretly seeing him in person a few days ago, she could only say that those who weren't from Terra couldn't really appreciate him...

……

After staying at her lodgings for a while, Pado finally couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up with a somewhat helpless expression, patted her clothes, and then looked at the canned food beside her, saying:

"I'm still a little worried. Let's go out and take a look. We'll take care of the canned goods at the same time, which will also solve our breakfast and lunch needs."

"……Meow!"

The chubby cat, who had been rather uninterested after hearing the first half of the story, perked up immediately upon hearing about breakfast and lunch, and then excitedly and quickly climbed onto Pado's shoulder.

"Canned Food, you get so excited when food is mentioned." With that, Pado took out a small dried fish from her spatial storage and held it to Canned Food's mouth, saying, "Have something to eat first, and don't rush towards any food you find outside later!"

Pado wasn't exaggerating when she said that canned food was the real deal. In one incident a few days ago, a fat cat did just that... If it weren't for its size, people would have thought it was being abused.

But the canned food's gluttony didn't stop there. Ever since it was fed at Swire's house, it would sneak over every few days to freeload... making Pado a little embarrassed.

After all, I was already trying to get freebies from other people because of a task, and then my cat was openly mooching off my food...

Now, when I'm getting cat supplies, I can hardly bear to look at the cat food and canned cat food I just bought recently in the Swire store.

"Meow!"

Seeing the dried fish offered to him, the canned fish didn't hesitate and took a bite, starting to eat.

"Oh right, I almost forgot!"

Glancing at the canned food that was happily eating, Pado suddenly seemed to remember something. She gently clasped her hands together, took out a candy from her spatial storage, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth.

Feeling the refreshing sweetness spreading in her mouth, the cat gently raised the hand holding the candy wrapper and watched it shimmer in the sunlight. Her already good mood instantly improved.

Finally, after carefully putting the candy wrappers into her collection box, Pado took the empty can and cautiously left her lodging to go out and gather intelligence.

————————————————————

It wasn't until she went out to investigate that she realized the worst had happened: Lin Gerui had actually called the police because of the candy store incident!

Now things are really messed up; by now, all three major powers in Longmen have taken notice of her to some extent…

Upon hearing this news, Pado was devastated. She imagined many terrible outcomes, even envisioning the Rat King being furious and using all his connections to "wanted" her throughout the city...

But what Cat never expected was that this dignified gang leader would completely disregard martial ethics and face by directly calling the police!

"Sigh, canned food, it looks like we're in for a rough time from now on." Pado said with a slightly sullen expression, putting down the chicken leg she had just taken a bite of.

Regarding the current situation, Cat isn't afraid of any danger to her life or going to jail. The former is unlikely, and the latter can't be contained at all. What bothers her is the possibility of being tired later on.

As for what's tiring... well, it's definitely from knocking on people!

During this period of time, under the increasingly intensive and careful search of the [Rat King], Pado was not actually undiscovered, but she simply used [unwise] to "physically" erase her memory.

After all, cats aren't some kind of invisibility superhero. With so many eyes and ears watching, it would be a problem if they didn't reveal any flaws.

What's more, she would often go out in the middle of the night, defying the odds, to deliver supplies to the people in the slums. Just for that alone, she had been lying in wait by Lin Gerui's men countless times.

With this "multi-party" collaboration, Pado can't even imagine how many people she'll have to knock on next...

"Meow~ Awoo!"

Just as Pado was "lamenting," the canned food somehow moved to her side, and then, taking advantage of her inattention, pounced and bit into the large chicken leg in her hand.

"!"

"This is my chicken leg, canned food!" After discovering that her chicken leg had been bitten, Pado instantly snapped out of her previous state and began fighting with her fat cat for the chicken leg.

P.S.: This sleep schedule was a waste of time, it's all gone wrong, I'm so sleepy, everyone stay safe.

Announcement (I get it!)

After being stuck for over 20 days, I suddenly had an epiphany, everyone.

I finally found the real problem. I got stuck on the details. I didn't think this way before I started writing this volume. The original plan was to make it more like a police drama, with him running and him chasing... But as I wrote, I put myself into the cat's personality and thought about the whole thing from the cat's perspective, and then pushed the plot forward.

Things went wrong as they kept pushing it along, and it turned into a terrible dozen or so chapters in this volume.

Honestly, I think the cat's personality in this volume isn't out of character (OOC), but it's precisely because it's relatively faithful to the original that things went wrong.

As for why I say that, it's because the cat's personality isn't suited to pushing the plot forward. I was previously trapped in her character setting. With her culture, ability, and strong luck, she secretly stole and hid all the way through. It took more than ten chapters and half a month in the novel for anyone to discover her.

Not to mention, in police dramas, there's no interaction or close contact with other girls... Without these everyday scenes of interaction with other characters to enrich the story, the earlier parts would feel incredibly stiff, and the transitions would be...

It's painful to watch.

It's not just you who find it painful to read; I also found it incredibly painful to write. I was so frustrated yesterday that I almost decided to rewrite the entire volume. But after carefully analyzing the plot today, I discovered that those dozen or so chapters that were previously terrible actually contained many useful foreshadowing elements. That's why I've temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​starting over.

After revising the plot carefully again today, I just tried writing for a while, and it's flowing smoothly now; the writer's block problem is temporarily gone. After all, I've stepped out of the cat-like character and found a reasonable way to advance the plot and interact with the girls without contradicting her personality.

By the way, don't worry if you're looking for the larger version of Gretchen, it'll be unlocked soon. However, this character probably won't be used much in the novel for a while, since it's hard to explain to friends how she suddenly grew up overnight. But it's still okay to use it secretly, like Snake did.

Then there's a little problem I encountered tonight: does anyone know what Chen calls Swire?

This month I've encountered an unprecedented writer's block, so updates have been really slow. I'll try to write more in the next few days. After all, if I don't write properly, I might not have money for food next month (sad).

Chapter 16 Unexpected Situations

After "Rat King" Lin Gerui reported the case, the Guard Bureau took it seriously because of his identity and began to mobilize its intelligence department to collect clues extensively.

Within just a few days, a variety of intricate and detailed clues were laid out on Chen and Shi Huaiya's desk.

Guard Bureau, Senior Superintendent's Office

At this moment, the three members of the team who took over the case are gathered together, sorting out and discussing the relevant clues.

"Although much information is still missing, we can roughly estimate the number of thefts committed by this 'generous' suspect."

Chen paused here, pointed to the whiteboard next to him with photos and clues, and continued to the person beside him:

"If Mr. Lin Gerui's conjecture that the suspect would help the people in the slums once for each theft is correct, then it can be deduced that the suspect must have stolen a total of 13 times up to the time he stole from the candy store."

"Whether he has taken any further action in the days since the candy store incident remains unknown."

Swire and Hoshiguma, who were sitting to the side, nodded slightly in agreement with Chen's words, as they shared the same thought.

Then, as if remembering something, Swire sighed with a hint of helplessness:

"This suspect was surprisingly principled in his actions, stealing and giving away, but unfortunately, because the 'Rat King' had been chasing him so closely, his behavior became irregular."

"Let alone whether there are any more operations after the candy store incident, in the previous 13 thefts, we still don't know what the suspect stole in 5 of them, and no one has reported the theft to the police."

"It's possible that the victim himself didn't even know it was stolen. After all, the suspect's thefts this time seemed very random and completely unpredictable," Hoshiguma added seriously after hearing Swire's words.

"That's true. Hopefully, those careless owners will realize what's going on soon." After muttering this under her breath, Swire turned her attention back to the clues.

……

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

The rooftop of an uninhabited building—

"Ah~ this place is perfect for sunbathing."