The Strange Cat from Fuuto

"What the hell is this?!"

The terrified, thin security guard collapsed to the ground, his crotch area visibly soaked.

"Go, go collect coins, collect more coins, and then retrieve my Core Coin!"

At the command to seize the shovel, the bandaged monster staggered and disappeared into a corner of the hospital.

.....

"Ding, ding, ding..."

The crisp sound of the cellular coins accumulating reached Anku's ears, and his expression changed as he turned his gaze in one direction within the city.

"I didn't expect another Devourer to be born. This time, I guess I'll be making a lot of coins again!"

"Let's go, Eiji!"

Grabbing Eiji by the collar, Ankh ran off toward the location of the Devouring Monster he sensed.

Inside the Hongshang Foundation headquarters building, a four-tiered luxury cake was finished being packaged. As Miku watched the staff push it away, she was about to follow when Hongshang said, "Miku!"

"Ok?"

Miku, with its tail twitching, looked at Uncle Hongshang in confusion. Uncle Hongshang smiled and said, "Take care on your journey!!"

"Ok!"

Miku nodded and followed the staff downstairs. Hong Shang waved for Li Zhong to leave, then sat alone in a chair, took out a photo frame from a drawer, and rubbed it in his hands.

"Miku, you..."

As Miku sat in the car, looking at the towering headquarters building, he felt a pang of unease.

The new identity he created for himself by the dimensional barrier, while bringing him immense convenience, also caused him inner turmoil. After all, his identity was merely fictional, not existing in this world, only there to facilitate his actions. Yet, Hong Shang treated him without any distance, even regarding him as family, not just a pet.

But I don't belong here.

"Uncle Hongshang..." Miku sighed wistfully, recalling his experiences in Fengdu once again. The hesitation in his eyes disappeared, replaced by an unwavering belief.

"I have to go back to Fengdu, so I'm sorry, Uncle Hongshang!"

The car moved smoothly, followed by a truck loaded with cakes. Soon, the car stopped in front of a building. The driver opened the door, and Miku stood on a cushion, looking around at the building.

"That's really great!"

After jumping out of the car, I followed the staff inside straight to the top floor.

At this moment, the Devouring Monster devoured the gold bars stored in the bank vault under Eiji's extremely anxious gaze. In front of it, neither the security guards nor the door were anything more than a matter of waving its hand.

The bandage on his chest broke, and an incredibly disgusting worm's head emerged from it, soon after which its entire body crawled out.

"Ankh, Driver!" Eiji cried anxiously as the giant, weevil-like monster began to gnaw at the building along the wall. "Give me the Driver right now!"

"Stop it before it causes greater damage!"

Faced with Eiji's request, Ankh refused without hesitation: "Not now. Wait a little longer. Once the coins inside its body are full, then you can destroy it!"

"But it's causing destruction!"

Eiji, who was holding onto Anku's shoulder, spoke impatiently. Anku's eyes were fixed on the weevil-like monster that was gnawing at the building, and the sound of coins clattering echoed in his ears. He didn't care and shook off Eiji, knocking him to the ground.

"You better remember this: you're just a tool to help me collect coins. When to transform and when to defeat the Devouring Monster are all up to me!"

"You just need to keep a close eye on things now!"

As the Devouring Monster disappeared from sight, Ankh ignored Eiji, who was lying on the ground, and chased after it.

"Anku!"

Eiji clenched his fist, got up from the ground, and ran over. Looking at the scene, a heart-wrenching sense of helplessness gradually spread through him.

He never wanted to experience that feeling of watching others die right in front of him, unable to save them!

"This guy really has an amazing appetite!"

Ankur exclaimed in admiration upon finding the Weevil Devouring Monster, watching as it continued to gnaw at the building, its size steadily increasing.

"Eat up, eat up, and you'll produce even more coins!"

Ankh, who was staring at the weevil-like Devouring Monster, muttered to himself. At this moment, Eiji looked at the Devouring Monster, whose size was now comparable to several train carriages, grabbed Ankh, and ignoring his reaction, groped for the driver on his body.

"What do you want to do!?"

Despite being knocked to the ground again, Eiji stubbornly got up. "I'm going to transform now and beat that guy up. I can't let him keep causing so much destruction!"

"Humph!"

"A naive idea!"

Anko was very disdainful of Eiji's attitude. Eiji got up from the ground and said, "Since you won't give me the driver, I'll go save it myself!"

Eiji strode toward the building that the Devouring Monster had its eye on, and ran quickly towards it.

Inside the top floor of the building, elegantly dressed women and men in suits chatted happily, holding wine glasses, unaware that they were enjoying the lively atmosphere as they were about to face disaster.

"How leisurely!"

Miku squatted in a corner of the venue. Uncle Hongshang's baked cake was pushed in by the staff. Looking at the group of well-dressed guys with different smiles on their faces, Miku was quite disdainful.

"This feeling is..."

Just then, a chill spread rapidly from his body. Miku rushed to the window and looked down, only to see the enormous Devouring Monster gnawing its way up the building's surface.

"Oops!"

Startled, Miku ignored the astonished looks of others and ran out of the hall to find a place where the drone would help him transform before rushing back into the hall.

"Roar!"

With a roar, Miku's bloodshot eyes reflected the intense malice of these well-dressed men, which was barely concealed.

"ah!"

"what!"

"Monster!"

Men and women, dropping their glasses and other belongings, rushed out of the hall. Seeing this scene, Miku smiled with satisfaction.

Although I despise these guys, I can't just leave them unattended, otherwise I'll end up just like them!

Even a cat has its limits!

Eiji rushed up the building, looking at the people coming downstairs with a puzzled expression. Just then, he saw a figure wearing a golden mask and with a hunched back, and he understood everything.

"boom..."

"Clang..."

As the weevil-eating monster continued to gnaw, the building gradually collapsed, with falling ceiling cement chunks crashing between the two staring at each other.

"Oh, hello...hello...hello!"

Chapter Six: What, you want to fight me?!

Miku, who raised his hand in greeting, looked at the wary Eiji with a helpless expression. If he were a knight, Eiji would probably have excitedly run over and shake his hand. But what could he do? He had arrived here carrying the burden of a monster template.

We just have to accept it!

At that moment, a huge concrete slab crashed down on Eiji's head. Miku flashed forward, grabbed Eiji's arm, and tucked him under his arm as they ran out of the collapsing building.

As the building collapsed, the body of the weevil-like monster reached a terrifying state. Ankh looked at the monster, which continued to devour itself even as it fell, and his eyes gleamed with an inscrutable light.

"His size is about right. If we let him continue like this, I'm afraid the shovel will come and harvest him!"

"Speaking of which, where did that idiot Eiji go?"

Eiji's actions were utterly stupid to Anku. Why not just let those guys die? As long as he could profit, he didn't care how many people died!

Greedy people are a collection of desires, and all of humanity's negative emotions will be reflected in them. Satisfying their own desires is their first priority, which is to find the lost core coin.

"Thank you!"

Looking at the collapsed building, Eiji's expression was complex. Although Miku looked ferocious, his actions had left a significant impression on Eiji. At the same time, witnessing the building's collapse solidified Eiji's resolve.

Anku, having found Eiji, also saw Miku. Anku scrutinized Miku warily and asked, "Where did you come from, you rascal?"

"Don't worry about me for now. If that big guy isn't dealt with soon... if... if we don't take care of it, the Cell Medal that's within our grasp will... will... will fly away!" Miku looked at Anku with a mocking expression. The Anku of today was not the same person who had been changed by Eiji after spending so much time with him. The Anku of today was single-mindedly focused on finding his Core Medal. Even Eiji was seen by him as a tool for collecting the medals.

"Forget it, never mind!"

Ignoring Miku, Anku took out his driver and said to Eiji, "It's time to transform. This guy has accumulated enough coins inside him; it's time to harvest them!"

"I refuse!"

"What did you say?"

Eiji's unwavering refusal widened Ank's eyes. Eiji stared intently at Ank and said, "Because I'm not a tool for you to collect coins!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Ankh said disdainfully, "Do you think you can turn back after using the OOO Driver?"

"Once you use it, you can only move forward, or you will face utter destruction!"

“You’re right. But don’t forget, I have the right to choose!” Eiji met Anku’s gaze without flinching, while Miku stood aside watching the show.

"You damned bastard!"

Ankh grabbed Eiji by the collar and spoke angrily, while Eiji stared directly into Ankh's eyes.

After weighing the pros and cons, Anku said dejectedly, "Speak, what do you want to do?"

"I want to be able to decide for myself whether to transform; in other words, I want to be able to keep the Driver myself!"

Upon hearing Eiji's request, Ankh chuckled, "Alright, since you want to keep the driver yourself, then I'll give it to you!"

"Satisfied now? If you're satisfied, then hurry up and deal with this guy!"

After angrily tossing the driver to Eiji, Ankh produced a handful of three Core Medals in his palm.

"Transform!"

After attaching the OOO Driver, Eiji grabbed two coins and inserted them into the driver simultaneously. After inserting the remaining coin, he pried open the driver and removed the O scanner from his right waist.

"Transform!"