The Serf Has Risen and Is Singing!

The two exchanged a glance.

"How did it get up here?" Stelle spoke first, a rare note of confusion in her voice.

"How should I know?" March 7th planted her hands on her hips and circled the Cat Cake again and again.

"The boarding ramp was already retracted, the door was shut, and the warp was finished. When did this little thing sneak aboard?"

The Cat Cake tilted its head, blinked its beady eyes, and let out an exceptionally well-behaved—

"Meow~"

The corner of March 7th's mouth twitched.

She crouched down, extended a finger, and tentatively poked the Cat Cake's body.

It felt soft, springy, and slightly warm beneath her fingertip.

"It still... feels just as nice." March 7th murmured the words without thinking.

Stelle crouched down too and stared at the Cat Cake for a long while before speaking. "It doesn't have the space station's energy marker."

March 7th blinked. "What?"

"All the creations on the space station have faint energy markers for tracking and locating them." Stelle pointed at the Cat Cake's back. "This one... doesn't."

The tip of the Cat Cake's tail twitched.

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

Stelle had actually noticed that detail!

He had never given any thought to energy markers while he was on the space station. After all, Ruan Mei had never mentioned them to him—

Wait, could it be that Ruan Mei had never marked him in the first place?

The thought flashed through his mind, but he had no time to dwell on it.

March 7th frowned and leaned closer to examine it. "Really? Let me see... Huh, it really doesn't seem to have one."

She ran her hand over the Cat Cake's back, her palm against its soft fur, feeling it again and again.

"It really doesn't! Then is it actually one of Ruan Mei's creations, or..."

March 7th suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence.

She petted it again.

Then she petted it once more.

"Uh... March?" Stelle watched her. "What are you doing?"

"N-nothing!" March 7th snatched her hand back, a barely noticeable blush rising on her cheeks. "It's just... it really does feel nice..."

She cleared her throat and quickly dragged the conversation back on track:

"Anyway! This Cat Cake showed up on the Express, so we have to deal with it."

Stelle nodded and stood up. "Let's send Ruan Mei a message."

March 7th hesitated. "But... what if Madam Ruan Mei says to send it back?"

"Then we send it back."

"But..."

March 7th looked down at the little thing by her feet, gazing up at her with watery, beady eyes. Something soft in her heart was gently poked.

"...It looks like it really doesn't want to go back."

Lin Feng nearly burst into tears on the spot.

March 7th!

You're my god!

My light! My one and only savior!

He cried out frantically in his heart as he rushed over like a plaster that wouldn't come off.

He pressed his round body against March 7th's calf and rubbed hard, then used his beady eyes to fire off desperate waves of "Please don't send me away."

"Ah—it's rubbing against me!" March 7th's voice rose two pitches. "It's so good at this!"

Stelle watched the scene, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

In the end, she still took out her phone, snapped a picture of the Cat Cake from the front, and hit send.

[Stelle: Madam Ruan Mei, your Cat Cake followed us onto the Express. Should we send it back?]

After the message was sent, March 7th crouched down, picked up the Cat Cake, and cradled it in her arms.

Lin Feng's vision went dark, and the next moment, he sank into a soft, warm haven.

March 7th's chest wasn't particularly large, but it was soft and warm, with a faint fragrance unique to girls.

His Cat Cake body was held securely, his back against her palm and his front limbs resting in the crook of her arm, his entire face buried in that gentle haven.

So—comfortable—

Lin Feng's beady eyes narrowed into slits with pleasure, and the tip of his tail began to sway gently of its own accord. Even his heart, which had been left hanging over the "energy marker," slowly settled back into place.

He burrowed in hard, his entire cake body practically melting in March 7th's arms.

March 7th looked down at the defenseless little thing in her arms, rubbing against her without a care and showing no sign of stopping.

The tips of her ears grew hot, but she couldn't bear to put it down.

Stelle's phone vibrated.

She looked down and saw that Ruan Mei had already replied.

[Ruan Mei: There's no need to send it back. It's fine for it to stay on the Express. Please look after it for me for a while.]

[Ruan Mei: My experiment has reached a critical stage, so I don't have time to take care of it for now.]

[Ruan Mei: Sorry for the trouble.]

Stelle read the messages aloud to March 7th.

March 7th blinked, then looked down at the Cat Cake in her arms, which was already nearly in seventh heaven. She couldn't resist rubbing its head.

"You got lucky."

Lin Feng's beady eyes snapped open like an LED bulb being switched on.

Lucky?

This is more than luck!

My fortunes have turned! The worst is over and the best is here! The serf has risen and is singing!

He was so excited that his entire cake body trembled slightly, and the tip of his tail wagged as if it had a motor attached.

What he didn't know, however, was this.

At the space station, in Ruan Mei's private laboratory.

The lights were dimmed, leaving only the enormous holographic screen before her glowing a faint blue.

A clip was playing on a loop on the screen.

In the footage, Peppy burst around a corner in the corridor, a blue-and-white Cat Cake clinging tightly to his back.

At the last second before the boarding ramp retracted, he leaped, passing precisely through the gap in the closing door and disappearing inside the Express.

The footage froze on the frame of the Cat Cake flying through the air.

Ruan Mei leaned back in her chair, slender fingers resting lightly against her chin. The corners of her lips slowly rose into a smile, faint yet deep.

At her feet, several creations of different shapes slowly shuffled over, rubbing their soft cake bodies against her calves and letting out little murmurs.

Ruan Mei didn't look down at them.

Her gaze remained fixed on the frozen image.

"It's getting more and more fascinating..."

Her voice was so soft it almost dissolved into the silence of the laboratory.

She reached out and swiped lightly across the screen. The image changed, zooming in and locking onto the Cat Cake's eyes as it leaped.

In that instant of rapid movement, the pupils in those beady eyes had contracted slightly, their focus precise, with none of the bewilderment and emptiness an ordinary creation should have had.

Ruan Mei's eyes flickered slightly in the screen's cold light.

"So life is this fascinating. Father, Mother, I think I understand what I should do now..."

She murmured under her breath, the smile on her lips not fading but deepening.

The creations at her feet rubbed against her legs even harder, as if competing for some precious affection.

Ruan Mei finally lowered her head and glanced at them.

In that instant, her smile faded.

She reached out and gently pushed aside the nearest Cat Cake, her movement gentle but conveying a clear sense of distance.

Then her gaze returned to the screen, and she pressed play once more.

The footage started from the beginning.

Peppy burst around the corner, the Cat Cake leaped across the boarding ramp, and the gap in the door closed.

"...How interesting."

She spoke softly, and this time, there was a touch of warmth in her voice that even she hadn't noticed.

The footage played on a loop again.

All that remained in the laboratory was the blue glow of the holographic screen, the Cat Cakes' faint murmurs, and Ruan Mei's voice, so soft it was almost inaudible, as if she were talking to herself—

"...The next time we meet... don't disappoint me."

The lights went completely dark.