As someone in sequence 001, I also want to give up today.

Abandoned dock, inside an old warehouse.

"squeak--!!"

The Rat King's screech was like the grinding of rusty gears, sharp and piercing, carrying a chilling mental impact.

The overwhelming swarm of gold-devouring rats in the warehouse instantly rioted, surging towards the beam where Fat Orange was like a gray tide!

The crossbeams are made of metal.

The gold-eating rats clung to the beams, gnawing furiously with their teeth, and rusted iron filings fell down in a flurry.

More mice began to pile up on top of each other, trying to reach the fat orange cat squatting on the top.

Fat Orange didn't even lift its eyelids.

It simply stood up lazily, its tail swishing slowly half a circle behind it.

Then, I took a step forward.

"puff."

Like popping a bubble.

Fat Orange's bulky body disappeared directly from the crossbeam.

The next second, it appeared on the hook of an abandoned crane at the other end of the warehouse.

It even had time to lick the paw that had just taken the step, as if it had merely crossed a threshold.

The Rat King's scarlet eyes followed the fat orange cat's figure, and it hissed again.

The swarm of rats immediately changed direction and surged toward the crane like a tidal wave.

Fat Orange took another step.

It reappeared on the steel frame of the skylight at the top of the warehouse.

One more step.

Appearing directly above the Rat King on an old pipe, it looked down at the giant rat that was looking up but couldn't reach it with its heterochromatic eyes.

【Phase Transmission】—Fat Orange's awakened spatial talent allows him to penetrate matter over short distances and move almost instantaneously.

Although the distance is only a dozen meters, it is enough for the space of the warehouse.

The Rat King was furious.

It finally stopped just controlling the rats and started taking matters into its own hands!

"boom!"

Its massive body, comparable to that of a small car, unleashed an astonishing speed completely disproportionate to its size.

Like a gray-black cannonball, it crashed directly into the pipe where Fat Orange was!

The metal pipe twisted and broke instantly!

But Fat Orange is no longer there.

It appeared on the pile of metal offerings behind the Rat King.

Stepping on those glowing fragments of supernatural metal, he tilted his head and looked at the Rat King, who had missed his target, with a "Are you stupid?" look.

The Rat King turned around and unleashed a jet of gray-black energy from its mouth!

The energy carried a strong corrosive and metallic sharpness, leaving scorch marks on the ground, walls, and even the air wherever it passed!

Fat Orange disappeared again.

The energy jet struck the opposite wall, blasting a dent a meter in diameter, with corrosive liquid flowing from the edges.

The chubby orange cat appeared on the highest beam of the warehouse, squatted down, and began licking its paws leisurely.

The Rat King went completely mad.

It ignored the swarm of mice and all strategies, chasing after the fat cat that kept flashing by and taunting it (even though it just squatted there doing nothing, its very existence was a mockery to an enraged mouse).

Hitting the wall.

Missed opportunity.

Energy jet.

Hit the wall again.

Another missed opportunity.

Spray again.

The warehouse was teetering on the brink of collapse, with numerous load-bearing structures damaged and dust and debris beginning to fall from the top.

Fat Orange appeared once again, landing on top of a rusty stamping machine.

It yawned.

Yes, in front of the Gold-Eating Rat King, a peak B-rank, half-step A-rank, and capable of wiping out an ordinary team of superhumans, a fat cat yawned.

For the first time, an emotion other than rage appeared in the Rat King's scarlet eyes—

suffocated.

It can't reach that damn cat.

No matter how fast it is, no matter what kind of attack it uses, the cat always manages to appear just outside the attack range, and even manages to change into a more comfortable position.

It's the king of rats!

He ruled over millions of people, built a vast kingdom beneath this city, and was just one step away from becoming a king in the A-level realm!

Now he's being tricked by a cat!

"squeak----!!!"

The Rat King roared to the sky, its entire body covered in metal scales standing on end, radiating terrifying energy fluctuations.

It stopped blindly chasing and instead lowered its body, its scarlet eyes fixed on the fat orange.

It is gathering strength.

The chubby orange cat stopped wagging its tail, and its heterochromatic eyes narrowed slightly.

You can sense that this rat is about to unleash a powerful attack.

The metallic energy around the Rat King surged wildly, and its scales began to change color.

From a dark, iron-gray color, it gradually turned into a scorching, almost melting orange-red!

The air was filled with the smell of burnt metal!

It opened its enormous mouth, and a dazzling, crimson ball of light, like molten iron, shone from deep within its throat!

This attack will definitely cover the entire warehouse!

The fat orange cat's fur stood on end slightly.

Its spatial travel requires extremely precise spatial coordinates and a very short reaction time.

If the Rat King's attack is truly a full-coverage, indiscriminate bombardment, it's hard to guarantee that it will always manage to slip into the safe zone precisely.

But Fat Orange did not escape.

It crouched on the press, its heterochromatic eyes fixed on the ever-brightening crimson orb, a low growling sound emanating from its throat.

It's not fear.

It is an assessment.

It calculates the power, coverage, duration, and energy decay curve of the attack, as well as how many times it needs to dodge and which point it needs to land at to avoid it unscathed.

The fat cat's eyes were cold and stern, as if it were commanding a battle.

The Rat King has completed its charge!

"squeak--!!!"

A crimson pillar of flame, more than two meters in diameter and formed from pure metallic energy, shot out from its mouth!

Wherever the pillar of fire passed, the air burned, the ground melted, and steel vaporized!

It was like a divine sword that could burn everything, sweeping across the entire warehouse!

The chubby orange cat moved.

It's not teleportation.

It is continuous instantaneous teleportation.

Phase Shift Triple Flash!

The first flash landed on the back of the overturned iron bunk bed on the left.

The second flash landed on the broken conveyor belt hanging in the upper right corner just as the flame pillar was chasing after him.

The third flash, the pillar of fire had sealed off all conventional space, and it pierced directly through the tin roof of the warehouse!

"boom--!!!"

A crimson pillar of flame tore through the entire warehouse, vaporizing the press along with the wall behind it!

The roof was mostly blown off, and sunlight poured down, illuminating the devastated battlefield!

Fat Orange squatted on a broken section of chimney outside the warehouse.

Looking down at the small patch of cat fur on her belly, slightly curled from the heat, a hint of displeasure flashed in her heterochromatic eyes.

A freshly permed hairstyle.

This rat is something else.

The Rat King's attack failed, and its energy was temporarily depleted.

It was panting heavily, and the orange-red color on its scales gradually faded, turning back into a dark iron gray.

But it remained fixed on the fat orange cat on the chimney, its eyes filled with cruel smugness—

Although it missed its target, it clearly saw that the cat was not dodging easily.

If this continues, my energy reserves will definitely be more than that fat cat that can only dodge!

The Rat King caught its breath and resumed its attack stance.

The fat orange cat squatted on the chimney, its tail thrashing rapidly in frustration.

It admitted that it couldn't catch the mouse.

It's not that we can't beat them.

If it were a real life-or-death battle, Fat Orange would be 70% confident of winning, given its B-rank space-type beast strength.

But this rat has thick skin and scales comparable to alloy armor, making it difficult for its claws and teeth to inflict fatal wounds.

Moreover, although the Rat King is clumsy, its attack power is a solid B-level peak; even a slight touch from it would be enough to give it a hard time.

It can use spatial abilities to dodge infinitely and wear down its opponent.

But how long will that take? An hour? Two hours?

It's out "inspecting its territory," not here to work overtime!

What's even more infuriating is...

The chubby orange-haired man glanced at the corner of the warehouse with his heterochromatic eyes.

There, at some point, another person appeared.

A man dressed casually, hands in his pockets, leaning lazily against a half-concrete pillar, with an expression that says, "This show is actually quite good."

Li Xian.

Fat Orange's pupils dilated instantly.

The poop scooper?!

When did he arrive?!

When Li Xian met Fatty Orange's gaze, he even raised his hand in greeting, his mouth clearly saying: "Go for it, I believe in you."

Fat Orange: "..."

I almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

I'm risking my life! I'm fighting to the death with the peak B-grade Rat King! And you're just standing there watching?!

It meowed angrily, the sound carrying across half the city, filled with accusation and grievance.

The sound also reached the school, and Li Yu, who was organizing the defense, perked up her ears.

But she couldn't care less at the moment.

Although the rats caused some disturbance, their numbers surrounding the school remained enormous.

She had just cleared the area around the training ground with her consciousness cut when even more rats emerged from underground.

"Reinforce underground defenses!" Li Yu ordered again, while simultaneously diverting a portion of her mental energy to scan the entire city.

That cat's meow... the energy fluctuations are quite high.

At least Grade B.

When did Jiangcheng get a beast of this caliber?

Let's ignore that for now and deal with the school situation first.

---

Outside the warehouse, Li Xian was indeed watching very intently.

He arrived as soon as he sensed the energy fluctuations of the fat orange—it only took two seconds of spatial folding.

Then I saw my fat cat, who usually does nothing but eat and sleep, having a life-or-death battle with a giant rat that was as big as a small truck.

To be honest, it was quite exciting.

Fat Orange used his spatial abilities much more flexibly than he had imagined.

The trajectory selection and landing point prediction of those continuous teleportation are clearly the result of countless practical battles.

Although Li Xian doubted that its "real combat" experience mainly came from tail-pulling to dodge bells and dodging when snatching snacks.

But this rat is indeed tough.

That suit of metal scale armor has defensive capabilities comparable to professional military armor, and it also has a very high resistance to energy attacks.

An attack from an ordinary B-level ability user would probably only scratch the surface.

The fat orange cat scratched it, leaving a few shallow white marks, then the rat king flicked its tail and the white marks healed on their own.

"Tsk, it has regenerative abilities too," Li Xian commented.

Then continue watching the play.

It's not that he didn't want to help.

It's unnecessary.

The Rat King was clearly preoccupied with the fat orange cat and had no interest in commanding the rats throughout the city.

The gold-devouring rats scattered throughout the city will soon fall into chaos after losing unified command.

The Bureau of Supernatural Abilities and the school will have plenty of ways to gradually eliminate them.

The key to truly resolving this crisis lies in this massive machine right in front of us.

and……

Li Xian glanced at Fatty Orange's disheveled yet still agile figure.

This fat cat hasn't been this active in a long time; consider this a way to help it lose weight.

Fat Orange dodged the Rat King's attack again. Turning around, he saw that Li Xian not only didn't move, but even changed to a more comfortable position—the cement pillar he was leaning against might not be very stable, so he adjusted his angle.

Fat Orange: "..."

It couldn't take it anymore.

"Meow—!!!"

This sound was even louder than before, carrying clear anger and... a distress signal?

The Rat King was startled by the sudden roar, and then became even more enraged.

This cat still has the energy to meow? Does it not take me seriously at all?!

It pounced again, this time swinging out both claws simultaneously, the intersecting metallic energy forming an X-shaped cutting wave!

The chubby orange cat narrowly dodged the attack, but a small tuft of fur on its belly got singed.

It turned back, facing Li Xian, and with a look that could almost be translated as "Aren't you going to help?", it emitted the most ferocious glare of its life:

"Meow!"

Translation: If you don't do something soon, I'll tear all those limited edition comics you've been collecting to shreds when we get back!

Li Xian raised an eyebrow.

That threat... is quite significant.

But he still didn't move.

because--

A sharp, incomparably piercing intent, like a blade slicing through the sky, landed precisely on the swarm of rats outside the warehouse!

Thousands of gold-devouring rats were instantly reduced to fragments!

Immediately afterwards, a tall figure descended from the sky, her ponytail fluttering in the wind, surrounded by an invisible cutting force field.

Li Yu has arrived.