Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

"A week is enough time for that parasite to learn some of the common sense of human society, and it should be able to make a preliminary assessment of the threat it poses."

"The people at the rescue center shouldn't pose much of a threat to that parasite."

The iron cages and chains that are usually used to keep dogs are a joke to a parasitic beast that can turn its tentacles into blades.

"So that's how it is..."

Cerberus nodded.

"So, what's the second possibility?"

"The second possibility is that we are too late, and the parasite has already been adopted."

"The rescue station regularly holds adoption events to help rescued stray dogs find homes."

"Generally speaking, as long as the adopter is willing to pay a deposit, they can adopt the dog."

"As for the third possibility... it is slightly different from the second possibility, that is, the parasite was 'dealt with'."

"What do you mean?" Cerberus asked blankly.

"It means that he was euthanized."

Rescuing a dog is easy; raising a dog is difficult.

A rescue station can only accommodate a limited number of stray dogs. When the total number of stray dogs exceeds the capacity of the rescue station, those dogs that are not adopted all have only one fate: euthanasia.

Seeing Cerberus's head peeking out, Kazama pressed it back down.

"There's no need to be so surprised; in fact, it's something we can't help but do."

“Rescuing stray dogs is not only due to human kindness, but also related to safety from a public perspective.”

“Every year, quite a few people are bitten by stray dogs, and if bitten, they are very likely to contract rabies.”

It is important to know that rabies is the only infectious disease to date with a near 100% fatality rate.

"Although vaccines exist, in addition to vaccination, humans tend to address the root cause."

“When the shelter reaches its capacity and the stray dogs cannot be released back into the wild, the only option is to kill them.”

Chapter Nineteen wasn't powerful enough.

Most human kindness is shown without harming one's own interests; it is the pity of the strong for the weak.

Of course, this statement may be biased.

"We've gone a bit off-topic. Let's go back to the three possibilities we started with."

"The third possibility is the least likely."

"First of all, even if that parasite were to sit and wait to die, its corpse would show something unusual. There's no reason why it wouldn't be discovered."

After the parasite dies, the main parasitic part will be revealed and quickly wither, turning into something similar to dried meat.

The dog's carcass, with its monstrous appearance from the neck up, was bound to attract attention.

If that were the case, this shelter wouldn't be open today.

"The first two possibilities are the most likely: either it was not taken into custody, or it escaped from custody, or it was adopted by someone."

"It's even possible that the parasite is being housed elsewhere, and not in this yard at all."

"Anyway, just go in and ask around."

The power of the 'Phantom Card' and 'Karuta Card' was once again bestowed upon Kazama, and he walked towards the end of the passage.

After exiting the passage, there is a small courtyard with some flowers and plants. Behind the narrow courtyard are some old, single-story bungalows.

Is anyone there?

Kazama stepped onto the stairs and went inside.

This is a room of about fifty square meters.

There were two desks, and next to them were a coffee table and a hardwood sofa for reception. Of course, everything was quite old.

The walls are covered with all sorts of photos, mostly of people and dogs, taken during the rescue. Several banners are also hanging in front.

Who is it...?

A sound came from next door, and a middle-aged man who was overweight and looked a bit greasy came out.

"Who are you?" The man looked at Kazama with suspicion.

"I'm here to adopt an animal," Kazama said, getting straight to the point.

"I would like to adopt a dog from your website."

Upon hearing Kazama's words, the man paused for a moment, then immediately smiled.

"What a kind person you are... May I ask your surname, sir?"

"My surname is Feng."

"Oh, it's Mr. Feng. Shall I take you to the courtyard to have a look?"

"The stray dogs we rescue are all in the yard outside."

Upon hearing the man's words, Kazama immediately followed up by asking, "Are all the rescued dogs in the yard?"

Looking into Kazama's eyes, the man's expression suddenly became somewhat confused, but then he recovered.

"Yes, they're all in the yard."

"I see..." Kazama nodded slightly. "Actually, I came here today to look for a dog."

"It's a black dachshund, and it was probably active on Yuheng Road a week ago."

"I don't know if you remember me."

"A week ago, a black dachshund... Yuheng Road..."

Muttering those two words to himself, the blank expression on the man's face reappeared, but he immediately snapped back to reality and became cautious.

Seeing this, Kazama raised an eyebrow, but then the man spoke again.

"No, I haven't taken in any black dachshunds there recently."

The man denied it very decisively.

"That's right, because I asked the sanitation workers over there, and they said they saw you had taken in a black dachshund."

"They must have seen it wrong."

"Is that right?"

Kazama said softly, then looked at the man.

Stared at like that by Kazama, the man suddenly felt an inexplicable pressure, which made him subconsciously compromise and change his words to avoid the issue.

"Ah, I remember now."

"It seems that we did indeed take in such a dog."

"However, that dog had a very serious illness, which it must have contracted while it was a stray outside."

"Although we gave it an injection, it still died very quickly."

"The body was cremated that same day."

After speaking, the man cautiously looked at Kazama again.

Even though the other party was just a young man, he seemed to possess a mysterious magic that made him feel intimidated, and his aura immediately diminished.

"Was there anything unusual about the body... when this dog died?"

"No, it died just like any other dog," the man replied, then immediately followed up with, "Were you the dog's original owner?"

The vast majority of stray dogs are abandoned by their owners, but a small number are lost and become stray dogs.

Some owners who lost their dogs actually followed the clues and ended up at the rescue station.

"No, I am not the master of that monster."

"monster?"

Upon hearing Kazama's strange adjective, the man's expression froze.

The word gave him an ominous and dangerous feeling.

But Kazama then said:

"It seems the force wasn't strong enough?"

The young man seemed to be talking to himself, and his words were quite intriguing.

What level of force?

Immediately, the man felt that his worldview had been turned upside down.

A yellow doll popped out of the young man's satchel.

Furthermore, the doll even started talking.

"I think so."

"After all, you deliberately suppressed the effect of the two cards, limiting the ability to guidance and subtle hypnosis."

"For most questions, this kind of light hypnosis can easily elicit information."

"But if it involves something the other party cares about a lot, or something they want to keep secret, then it won't be very effective."

"In short, we just need to increase our efforts."

"This guy's excessive caution and concern about this matter is definitely suspicious..."

The doll flapped its wings and spoke in human language before settling down on the young man's shoulder.

"This...this..."

Before the man could react, a card appeared at Kazama's fingertip.

The gold card surface features a kaleidoscope-like pattern, with the character '幻' (illusion) written in a distorted manner, like a talisman, above the pattern.

Ten minutes later.