C4 Divine Invisibility's Takeout(1)

"Automatic Proxy Infinite Pool."

Mission initiated.

Shen Xiang's fingers danced across his phone screen with a rhythmic precision reminiscent of a sprite at a keyboard, yet his gaze was fixed on the television.

The time was eleven at night, marking the early hours of his unconventional day. He could indulge in food and entertainment until the dawn of the next day, whip up some breakfast, then head off to work and catch up on sleep.

Shen Xiang's routine might look haphazard, but he was originally quite fearful of death. Concerned about the risks of staying up late—sudden death, for instance—he incorporated a variety of sports into his daily regimen. Over time, this made him feel invigorated, allowing him to rest his mind by day and his body by night, leaving him without a trace of fatigue.

He relished this lifestyle, enjoying the solitude of the night where he could do as he pleased, free from the day's societal pressures and the pursuit of a tranquil existence.

With ample time on his hands, his entertainment choices were broader than most. Beyond the usual anime series, he dabbled in Japanese, Korean, American, and even online dramas to pass the time. Even if some were lackluster or downright terrible, the worst of them became a source of amusement, providing fodder for his commentary as he watched with glee.

The worst kind of story, though, was the one that blindsided you with unpleasantness out of nowhere.

Thud—

A peculiar noise snapped Shen Xiang's attention away from his phone, prompting him to pause his activity and rise to investigate the source by the window.

Thud!

The sound was unmistakably that of something striking his glass window. But he lived on the sixth floor—what could possibly be hitting his window?

Thud—

Despite possessing a system that defied logic, Shen Xiang wasn't immune to fears of the supernatural. To him, his system was akin to an AI assistant, capable of taking commands and controlling his body—a concept he found quite straightforward. But what could be lurking outside his window in the dead of night?

Could it be a foolish bird? It wasn't uncommon for birds to repeatedly fly into glass, knocking themselves senseless after several attempts.

The dull thump of the glass being hit ceased momentarily, yet Shen Xiang's instincts suggested something was still there. Clutching the curtain in his hand, he braced himself to uncover the mystery at the next sound.

Thud—

"Let's see what we have here... Whoosh!" He yanked the curtains aside without warning, only to freeze at the sight outside the window. Was that an orange tabby cat?

There it was, an orange tabby relentlessly headbutting the glass of his floor-to-ceiling window.

Shen Xiang crouched down, peering through the glass with a furrowed brow. The cat seemed oddly familiar, reminiscent of the one he'd spotted by the trash can downstairs earlier. But something was off—the size difference was too significant. The cat he had seen before was clearly a kitten, albeit with a slightly swollen belly. Yet, this one before him was nearly a behemoth among cats, rivaling fully-grown large breeds and looking to weigh around 14 pounds.

Still, an overweight orange tabby wasn't exactly a rarity, and Shen Xiang didn't dwell on its size. He had once had a ragdoll, a large breed in its own right, with a hefty build.

What puzzled him was how this cat ended up on the sixth floor. Sure, cats climb trees, hooking their claws into the bark, maybe scaling the height of a building at most. But how did it get outside his living room's French windows?

There were plenty of footholds outside, yet the situation was shrouded in an eerie mystery.

Nevertheless, it was a life at stake. A fall from this height could be fatal, even for a cat with nine lives. Shen Xiang decided it was best to try and rescue it.

As he was about to stand and open the small window beside the French doors, the orange tabby huddled on the ledge suddenly looked up at him. Shen Xiang's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the cat's bloodshot eyes, but before he could react, the cat lunged at him through the window once more!

Thud—

The cat's head smacked against the glass and it let out a yelp before tumbling down.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shen Xiang knew that cats could be foolish at times, elegantly launching themselves at glass only to thud against it and then saunter off, feigning nonchalance to save face. But this cat was clearly in distress.

He flung open the small window and peered down, only to see the cat that had plummeted from the sixth floor now standing on the ground, emitting a chilling cry akin to that of a wailing infant.

"It's terrifying," Shen Xiang muttered as he hastily closed the window and drew the curtains to completely silence the eerie sounds from outside.

"Could it be some sort of rabies? No, that's not right, cats can get rabies too. It's genuinely frightening."

The persistent meowing of the cat outside still penetrated the silence, but faintly. Deciding enough was enough, Shen Xiang retreated to the living room and slipped on his headphones, severing his connection to the outside world.

At last, tranquility.

"Boss Xi, the scent is heading this way."

Under the half-moon's glow, two unwelcome figures emerged in the stillness of the neighborhood. A short man clad in a black hoodie and sunglasses, hands buried in his pockets, exuded the air of a petty thug. His companion, a muscular man, crouched in front of Shen Xiang's building, sniffing the air. "There's a strong, offensive odor here. Ugh, that accursed cat smell. I detest cats—they used to band together and muscle in on our turf. Humans play favorites, feeding cats but chasing us away with sticks."

"Cats?" Boss Xi nudged Huang's rear with his foot. "Huang, sniff again. How does this differ from the usual cat scent?"

"What's the difference? It's just that musky scent of a cat in heat, but it's incredibly intense. It's everywhere—near the trash cans, this doorway, and even on the building's exterior walls. It's overpowering, masking all other scents." Huang took several more sniffs, his tongue involuntarily flicking out.

"Keep your tongue in and stand tall. You're a higher being now; don't act like those dim-witted creatures you once were."

"Forgot about that," Huang straightened up, towering over Boss Xi's modest height of just over 1.6 meters.

"Hmm?"

At the sound nearby, Huang quickly stooped, adjusting his stature to match Boss Xi's.

"Think about it. What kind of stray cat can climb up an exterior wall to relieve itself?"