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

After clearing out the rats around the school, confirming the barrier was stable, and that all teachers and students had been safely evacuated, Li Yu immediately followed the energy fluctuations and came to investigate.

Then, she saw the most bizarre scene of her life.

That fat cat she had taken care of countless times for her brother, a cat that did nothing but eat and sleep, too lazy even to paw at catching mice—

They are engaged in a fierce battle with a giant rat that is the size of a small car.

Moreover, the fight was back and forth.

That agile, almost uncanny teleportation, that composed movement even when facing a peak B-rank alien beast.

Those occasional claw strikes that sent ripples through space...

Is that a chubby orange?!

Li Yu's brain went blank for 0.3 seconds.

Then she saw an even stranger scene.

Her brother.

Li Xian.

He was leaning against a cement pillar, hands in his pockets, looking relaxed, like he was watching an old man play chess in a park.

"Brother...you..."

Li Yu's voice even changed a little.

Only then did Li Xian reluctantly shift his gaze away from the battlefield.

He looked at his younger sister and gave her a "Oh, you found out" smile.

"Xiaoyu, you're here too? It's quite lively here."

It's quite lively.

Li Yu took a deep breath, strode over to Li Xian's side, lowered her voice, and spoke rapidly:

"What's Fat Orange doing here? When did it become so powerful? B-rank? What is that big rat? You just stood there watching? Why didn't you help? Did you already know Fat Orange was this strong? Why didn't you tell me?"

A barrage of questions came crashing down on me.

Li Xian was prepared and spoke slowly:

"I sensed some unusual energy fluctuations here, so I came to check it out. I didn't expect it to be Fat Orange fighting with this mouse."

"Fat Orange's strength... is probably because it eats well. You know how much we eat. I only just discovered how good it is."

"That giant rat must be the king of the Gold-Eating Rats. Look at those fragments of supernatural metal on its body; they're probably the key to its gathering and control of the entire city's rat population. Once we take care of it, the other rats should scatter."

"I won't help... well, mainly because Fatty Orange is really into the game and I don't want to disturb its enjoyment."

When Li Xian said this, his expression was sincere and his eyes were innocent.

Li Yu stared at him for three seconds.

She knew her brother was definitely not telling the truth.

But she also knew that when her brother didn't want to talk, no one could get him to open his mouth.

And now is definitely not the time to ask further questions.

She looked towards the battlefield.

Fat Orange had just completed a beautiful triple dodge, successfully avoiding the Rat King's tail whip attack, and then scratched the Rat King's side with its claws.

This time it used all its strength, and its claws left three deep scratches on the metal scales with obvious spatial cutting marks.

The Rat King, in pain, hissed and retreated, a hint of fear appearing in its scarlet eyes for the first time.

But it quickly pounced again, clearly not intending to let go of this enemy that had invaded its territory.

"These rats are a real nuisance."

Li Yu frowned.

"High defense, fast recovery, and wide attack range. Although Fat Orange is agile, its attack power is not enough to kill it quickly."

She paused, then looked at Li Xian.

"Brother, do you want to...?"

"You're more capable, so you should do it."

Li Xian waved his hand magnanimously.

Li Yu rolled her eyes at him and stopped talking nonsense.

She raised her right hand, fingers slightly spread, aiming at the center of the battlefield.

【Consciousness Segmentation & Spatial Anchoring】.

It's not an attack, it's control.

An invisible cutting force field transformed into countless delicate yet resilient "threads," wrapping around the two combatants from all directions.

The Rat King was pouncing on the fat orange cat when its massive body suddenly froze in mid-air!

It was horrified to discover that it could not move!

Those invisible threads, like the most intricate spider web, firmly hold it in place from head to tail, from claws to tail!

It struggled desperately, its metallic scales rubbing against the invisible threads, producing a piercing shriek, but only to be bound even tighter!

Fat Orange was already prepared for its next teleportation when it suddenly realized that its opponent was frozen in place.

It paused for a moment, then reacted, meowed smugly, and was about to go forward and finish off the culprit—

Then it realized it couldn't move.

Ok?

Fat Orange looked down and saw that its own bulky body was also wrapped in those transparent cutting threads.

The silk thread is very soft and does no harm, yet it possesses a binding force that makes it completely unable to break free.

It stiffly turned its neck, looking in the direction of the silk thread—

I saw Li Yu raising her hand.

Fat Orange's heterochromatic eyes widened instantly.

Li...Li Yu?!

Why is she here?!

And why freeze it along with everything else?!

Fat Orange tried to protest with its eyes, but Li Yu ignored it completely, focusing on maintaining its dominance over the Rat King.

The Rat King was still struggling frantically, its body surging with metallic energy, trying to break free of its restraints.

It was unwilling to accept this; it was just one step away from becoming a king of A-level, how could it be controlled so easily!

Li Yu frowned slightly and increased her mental energy output.

The thread is tightened.

The Rat King's struggles grew weaker and weaker, and fear gradually filled its crimson eyes.

It realized that the human who had taken control of it was not on the same level as the cat that had just been dodging.

That was... a power it simply couldn't comprehend.

S-class.

This realization caused the Rat King's fighting spirit to collapse instantly.

It stopped struggling, its massive body began to tremble slightly, and a low, almost pleading whimper came from its throat.

Li Yu ignored it, maintaining the suppression while using a portion of her mental energy to probe the Rat King's condition.

"There is something wrong with this rat's body."

She said quickly.

"The energy core wasn't formed naturally; it's mixed with many foreign metal fragments, and... there are traces of some kind of forced ripening. It was forcibly elevated to the peak of Grade B by external forces, so its foundation is unstable, which is why it's so easily suppressed."

Li Xian also stepped forward and glanced at it casually. The power of all phenomena had already analyzed the energy structure of the Rat King.

indeed.

Inside the Rat King's body, besides its own energy core, there are at least seven fragments of alien metal from different sources.

It is embedded around the core in a special arrangement, like a pieced-together, unstable amplification device.

These fragments granted it power far exceeding that of a normal Gold-Eating Rat, but also prevented it from ever truly reaching Grade A.

More importantly, these fragments emit an extremely subtle energy signal, similar to a "coordinate".

This rat... was deliberately placed here.

"Its origins are not simple."

Li Xian said calmly.

"Get it under control first, then have the General Administration come and investigate later."

Li Yu nodded, about to say something—

"Meow."

A weak meow, filled with a pleading yet infinitely aggrieved tone, came from the side.

They both turned their heads at the same time.

Fat Orange was still suspended in mid-air, its four legs dangling, its tail stiff, looking at Li Yu with a pitiful expression.

His heterochromatic eyes were filled with the words, "I am innocent," "I am a victim," and "I am your dearest chubby orange."

Li Yu: "..."

She then realized that she had frozen the chubby orange as well.

"cough."

Li Yu coughed lightly, and with a slight thought, withdrew the cutting threads that were wrapped around Fat Orange.

Fat Orange fell to the ground with a "plop," landing steadily on all fours.

Then, with lightning speed, he darted behind Li Xian, peeking out only half his head and watching Li Yu warily.

Those eyes clearly said: This two-legged beast is too terrifying. At least my master, though lazy, can't hold me still.

Li Yu ignored it and continued to focus on suppressing the Rat King.

The Rat King had completely given up resisting, lying on the ground, its huge body trembling and making pitiful "squeak" sounds.

Just then—

Fat Orange peeked out from behind Li Xian.

The heterochromatic eyes passed over Li Yu's figure and landed on the rat king that was completely suppressed.

It tilted its head.

Then, it made a meaningful gesture.

It slowly raised one paw, past Li Xian's trouser leg, and pointed it at the Rat King.

Then, it slowly, very slowly, retracted its paw and gently, horizontally, scratched its neck.

At the same time, an extremely complex emotion was revealed in his heterochromatic eyes—

Three parts smugness, three parts pity, and four parts "You're finished, you know that?"

The Rat King understood.

That look clearly said:

Bro, of all people to mess with, you had to mess with me.

I really can't kill you.

But did you see that two-legged creature in the back?

She's my family's nanny... no, she's my second son's younger sister.

You're finished.

You're completely finished.

The Rat King's already broken fighting spirit shattered into dust at this moment.

It couldn't even whimper anymore.

Li Yu didn't notice the eye contact between the human, the cat, and the mouse.

She is using her mental power to construct a temporary sealing field to completely imprison the Rat King.

"Brother, what should we do with this rat?" she asked.

Li Xian thought for a moment: "Let's take them back to the branch office first. Headquarters will definitely be interested in investigating. There must be something fishy about so many gold-devouring rats suddenly appearing in Jiangcheng."

"Okay." Li Yu nodded. "Then you lend me a hand. I'll use the sealing field to trap it, and you..."

She paused.

Because she saw that her brother had very consciously walked to the side and taken out his phone.

I took a picture of the suppressed Rat King and the fat orange cat, who was still on guard but hadn't fully recovered.

"Make a note of this." Li Xian put away his phone, his expression serious. "This cat did a great job today. I'll give it extra food when we get back."

The chubby orange cat immediately forgot its fear of Li Yu, its tail held high, and it meowed, its face full of pride.

Li Yu: "..."

Forget it.

Don't get angry.

got used to.

She took a deep breath and continued to focus on her work.

A massive surge of spiritual energy enveloped the Rat King, compressing it into a semi-transparent energy cage approximately two meters in diameter.

The Rat King huddled in its cage, its scarlet eyes completely devoid of life, only a bewildered look of relief at surviving a catastrophe remained.

It doesn't understand.

It merely obeys the mysterious being that gave it power and mission, leading its people to lie in wait, expand, and await further instructions.

What did it do wrong?

Why did a cat that was impossible to hit first appear, and then a human that made it unable to even think of fighting back?

Its life as a rat seems to have come to an end today.

The cage was complete. Li Yu wiped the sweat from her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, that's all for now. Once Chen Zhe has dealt with the rats in the city, have him come and provide backup."

She looked at Li Xian.

"Brother, what about you? Are you going to keep touching...keep working?"

"Back at the station, the report hasn't been written yet."

Li Xian stretched.

"I just came out in a hurry and haven't had time to report it yet."

He looked down at the fat cat at his feet, which was wrapping its tail around his ankle and had a smug look on its face.

"So, are you going to continue being the 'West Side Elvis,' or go home first?"

Fat Orange hesitated for half a second.

It glanced back at its "palace," which had been reduced to ruins by the Rat King.

He glanced again at the rat swarm in the distance, which was beginning to scatter in chaos due to the loss of its leader.

One last look at Li Xian's lazy yet inexplicably comforting face.

"Meow."

Come back home.

It rubbed its head against Li Xian's trouser leg.

I'm tired from playing today.

And, I think I'm starting to miss that silly, glowing flower at home...

Li Xian bent down, picked up the fat cat weighing over ten kilograms with one hand, and tucked it under his arm.

"I'm gone."

He nodded to Li Yu, then walked out of the warehouse.

Looking at the backs of the person and the cat, Li Yu suddenly found it a little funny.

There was so much information today.

Fat Orange is a Class B B B Beast.

It seems her brother already knew.

Moreover, her brother's attitude towards Fat Orange's abilities was like knowing that his own child had gotten a perfect score on a test—it was taken for granted and he wasn't surprised at all.

She had many questions to ask.

But she knew that if her brother didn't want to talk about it, asking would be pointless.

Forget it.

Anyway, it's not a bad thing.

She looked down at the rat king in the cage, who had completely given up thinking, and suddenly remembered something:

"Brother, were you watching the whole time Fat Orange and this mouse were fighting?"

Li Xian paused for a moment.

"……Um."

"Why aren't you helping?"

Li Xian remained silent for two seconds.

"I want to see just how good this cat is at fighting."

He paused, then added:

"The result was alright. It's just that my stamina was a bit lacking; I started panting after half an hour."

The chubby orange cat under its armpit let out a dissatisfied "meow".

Li Yu: "..."

Forget it.

I won't ask anymore.

She was afraid that if she kept asking, she would freeze up her own brother as well.