Chapter 257: Instigating a Meow (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)
Klein, who had successfully stolen the 'Blasphemy Card,' was not in a good state at the moment.
Actually, at first, he was in a good mood. Earlier today, Miss Justice sent him a message, informing him that the bookmark in the exhibition hall was indeed peculiar and was likely the disguised 'Blasphemy Card' mentioned in rosell's diary.
To avoid missing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he immediately decided to act. Using Mr. Azik's copper whistle and the special properties of the gray fog, he successfully infiltrated the museum in spirit form. Although he startled the guards, he managed to steal the bookmark and escape without much trouble.
Who would have thought that shortly after escaping, he would stumble upon the scene of a murder, and the culprit was a massive Devil Dog!
"Hoo!"
A low, threatening growl emanated from the large black dog's throat.
Suddenly, its body began to swell rapidly, muscles bulging, and in a blink of an eye, it transformed into a terrifying Monster two to three meters tall, rushing towards Klein with a putrid stench.
After using "Paper Figurine Substitute" and "Phantom" to dodge several fatal attacks, Klein decisively changed his strategy. He shouted at the top of his lungs, using all his strength, into the silent night sky:
"Murder!"
"Help!"
"Murder!!!"
These desperate cries for help instantly woke up the residents of the entire street and clearly reached the ears of the patrolling police.
This also forced the Devil Dog to temporarily abandon its pursuit of Klein and frantically begin cleaning up the scene.
However, Klein hadn't run far when he saw a figure holding a revolver at the alley entrance ahead.
An accomplice?
Klein's heart tightened, and he immediately made a gesture as if to snap his fingers, preparing to release an air bullet.
"Who's calling for help? Is anyone there?"
That voice—why did it sound familiar? It seemed he had just heard it this afternoon.
Against the moonlight, a figure slowly walked from the other end of the alley.
Lorne, holding "Phantom," stared wide-eyed at the disheveled figure in front of him.
Klein had a similar expression.
"Why is it you again!"
Both of them let out the same wail in unison.
"No, run away quickly!"
Klein was the first to react, taking off to run.
"What? What happened?" Lorne hadn't figured out the situation yet and grabbed him.
"Were you the one calling for help?"
"Yes—no, it wasn't me." Klein turned his head.
It was too embarrassing to call for help in front of this guy.
"Let go of me! Run quickly," Klein roared, struggling.
"No, that voice sounded like you. What exactly happened?"
"Asking me for help isn't embarrassing."
"I—" Klein wanted to say something more.
"Hoo!!!"
A furious roar came from the alley behind them, interrupting their "reunion."
"Oh my god—this is just too unlucky—
After running several blocks and confirming that the Monster hadn't caught up, Lorne leaned against a wall, stopped, and panted heavily.
The sudden attack left him no time to think. He chose not to fight head-on but, like Sherlock, decisively chose to run.
That detective ran faster than him, disappearing in two blinks with that strange teleportation ability—
Why was everything so strange today?
First, he encountered Sherlock and Plum Blossom 5 at the museum, and two sentences made Fors angry. Then he was teased by Fors during dinner, and when he left, he was blocked on the street by Queen Mystic. Now, at the very end,
He could actually encounter a Monster on his way home!
"Backlund is the capital, yet this is even more exciting than being at sea! What are the official Beyonders doing?!"
"Sure enough, whenever I encounter that Sherlock, nothing good ever happens!"
"Wait—where did I run to?" Lorne complained while looking around at his surroundings.
"I didn't realize, without knowing it, I actually ran to Rose Street."
"I shouldn't have left any traces, right—" Lorne quickly checked himself, confirming that the "Robot" anti-divination passive was still active.
Just as he was hesitating whether to circle around a few more times nearby to completely shake off any possible pursuit,
An orange figure descended like lightning, landing precisely on his head.
"Meow!"
This familiar sensation—
"Uh—ah! Ah! Lachi! I know you're excited, but don't just lie on my head!"
"Don't make a sad face, it's as if I abandoned you."
Orange Cat Lachi seemed to have already claimed the nearby streets as her territory, discovering Lorne the moment he entered her "patrol range."
"Meow—" Lachi jumped down from his head, lowered her head, and scraped the ground with her paws. She didn't make another sound but showed an extremely human-like expression of grievance and sadness.
"Alright, alright, I came back this time with good news for you," Lorne said with a smile, picking up the increasingly heavy cat and walking towards Number 69, "You can be promoted."
"Meow!" Lachi understood the sentence, and her amber eyes glowed with excitement.
"When have I ever lied to you?" Lorne said to himself, "But—Lachi, is Mrs. Griffin's food so good? Have you gotten fatter recently? You're almost a Garfield cat."
"Do you know what a Garfield cat is? It's a big, fat, Orange Cat."
"Meow!" (No, I haven't!)
"Why come back in the middle of the night?"
"Whatever it is, let's talk about it tomorrow morning. Really, disturbing an old person's rest—"
Listening to Mrs. Griffin's groggy complaints from the room, Lorne felt a bit awkward. He carried Lachi and tiptoed to his room on the second floor.
—
"Sigh, after I settle down, I still need to get my own house in Backlund. Renting is still a bit inconvenient. But, the housing prices in Backlund—hiss—" Sitting at his desk, Lorne couldn't help but sigh.
"Meow! Meow!" Lachi shook Lorne's arm with her paws, seemingly a bit impatient.
"Sigh, I know, I know, don't be so impatient—"
Lorne pulled out the poker card from his jacket's inner pocket, then retrieved the corresponding main ingredients, auxiliary materials, and tools like beakers and purified water from his portable space.
The heart of a Demon-throated Honeyguide, the complete venom sac of a Dark Lurker—
"Such strange auxiliary materials, it even requires unpeeled walnuts—" Lorne muttered, as he placed the last auxiliary material into the beaker.
"Meow!"
Under Lachi's surprised and expectant gaze, a cup of black potion radiating a peculiar luster slowly formed in the beaker. The potion was as dark as ink, yet its surface shimmered with an oily sheen, continuously emitting tiny bubbles.
"This—can this really be drunk? It feels like this potion exudes a strong sense of malice—"
Unlike Lorne's somewhat hesitant expression, Lachi was full of excitement. She leaped onto the desk, her cat eyes fixed on the liquid in the cup, as if looking at some peerless treasure.
"Are you sure you want to drink it?" Lorne asked.
"Meow!" Lachi nodded heavily.
"Alright." After confirming that his spiritual intuition had no reaction, Lorne pushed the somewhat strange-looking liquid towards her.
"Meow."
"Gulp, gulp—" Lachi curled her pink tongue, lapping at the liquid in the beaker.
As the potion entered her mouth.
"Meow!" She let out a sharp cry of satisfaction.
Instigating Cat was born.
At the same time, in an underground stronghold in Backlund.
Plum Blossom 5 sat on the golden toilet he had just "borrowed" from the museum, looking at a newspaper filled with news of a booming stock market, lost in thought.
"There was indeed that aura in the exhibition hall, though it quickly dissipated."
"If I continue to investigate, I'm afraid my identity will be exposed—"
"Although Lord Antigonus is as stupid as a dog, encountering him would still be troublesome—"
"And that flirtatious young man, he has traces of a fanatic on him—" Thinking of this, he sighed.
"There isn't even a public vote, why do I have to do these thankless tasks—"
He stood up and stretched with a big yawn.
"Backlund is about to get chaotic again."
—