Well Done, Perus!

"Station Master Asta, I asked everyone on the space station, but I still couldn't find the owner of this fox mask."

Arlan took out the conspicuous red fox mask and held it out to Asta. "Except for Ms. Herta and Ms. Ruan Mei."

"They probably wouldn't have something like this in their collections."

"Maybe, maybe not." Asta took the mask and rested her chin on her fingers. She had a feeling she had seen it somewhere before.

"Arlan, doesn't this mask look familiar? Like you've seen it somewhere before?"

"Wait a moment. I'll take a picture and ask Ms. Herta."

Asta quickly snapped several photos and sent them to the group chat called "Herta Space Station Family," tagging Ms. Herta and Ms. Ruan Mei as well.

Less than half a minute later, Herta's profile picture flashed twice, and a message popped up.

Herta: Interesting. This is a Masked Fool's mask. I don't know why they appeared on the space station, but there's one thing to keep in mind: the Masked Fools never do anything without a reason. There's probably something on the space station that attracted them.

Masked Fools?

Asta read Herta's message, her delicate brows furrowing slightly.

When had the Masked Fools come to the space station? More importantly, she hadn't even known they had slipped aboard.

Asta sent a message:

Ms. Herta, should we put the space station on alert now that the Masked Fools have infiltrated it?

Herta: There's no need for that. They're just a bunch of people who like having fun. They won't do anything too outrageous to the space station. At most, they'll cause a little damage.

Herta: [Minor problem].jpg

"But..."

Asta wanted to ask more, but the chat already displayed "This user is out of service."

Clearly, the messages had come from Ms. Herta herself, not a Herta Puppet.

Since Ms. Herta had said so, Asta could only drop the matter. Even so, she remained vaguely worried, with a feeling that something major would happen soon.

"Arlan, go check on Peppy first. I'm a little worried about those two. I'll go to the main surveillance room and see if there's anything else unusual." Asta put away the fox mask and looked at Arlan with concern.

Arlan nodded and immediately set off toward Peppy's location in the Master Control Zone.

Asta wasn't the only one worried about Peppy and Ruan Mei's creation. Arlan was worried too.

From the moment Peppy first met the creation, his reaction had been a little odd.

"Phew... I hope they can get along. It would be best if nothing happened," Arlan murmured to himself as he hurried along.

As soon as he reached the Master Control Zone, Arlan rushed anxiously toward where the two little ones had been staying, taking longer and longer strides for fear that they had started fighting before he arrived.

"Peppy... Peppy—"

Arlan called twice but received no answer. His heart tightened, and he looked toward a certain spot.

Where's Peppy?

He was gone.

Where's the creation?

Gone too!

A bad thought suddenly occurred to Arlan. Peppy couldn't have done something to the creation...

No, that little guy is Ms. Ruan Mei's test subject. Nothing can happen to him. I can't let everyone down!

Arlan kept calling Peppy's name. The closer he got to a corner at the edge of the area, the more clearly he heard strange sounds.

"Rustle, rustle... whoosh... woof!"

Was that... Peppy barking?

Puzzled, Arlan immediately followed the sound, approaching step by step.

When he rounded the last enormous pipeline box and saw what was happening in the corner, the security chief, known for always being calm and composed, couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching violently.

None of the chaotic scenes he had imagined had come to pass.

What lay before him was a scene so harmonious... it was bizarre.

And the one in charge was none other than the soft Cat Cake he had thought needed protecting!

The little thing was "sitting" as steady as a rock on the polished floor, if its round bottom counted as sitting.

Its little tail, which should have been good for nothing but looking cute, was now like a master animal trainer's baton, deftly tracing a perfect circle in the air.

There was also a white ring on the tail.

Then, under Arlan's incredulous gaze, the tail unhurriedly spun twice in the air, as if gathering strength, and—

With a "whoosh," the ring on the tail was flung forcefully down the empty corridor!

The movement was crisp and clean, even a little... stylish?

What made Arlan's mouth twitch even harder and shook his worldview was Peppy's reaction!

Peppy looked more than a little excited.

His eyes shone as he stared fixedly at the "flying disc" that had been thrown, letting out two short, excited barks. "Woof! Woof!"

His four short little legs burst into astonishing speed. Like a furry cannonball flying close to the ground, he shot out, pounced precisely where the "flying disc" landed, then skidded to a stop, bent down and picked up the ring in his mouth. He scampered back and carefully set the "trophy" beside the Cat Cake's tail.

He even stuck out his tongue and panted, his doggy eyes full of the desire to say, "Again! Quick!"

The entire sequence flowed smoothly, the two working in perfect sync, as if they had practiced it countless times.

The Cat Cake, meanwhile, maintained a calm pose. His beady eyes glanced at the returning Peppy, and his tail leisurely curled around the ring again, seemingly preparing for the next throw.

"Meow... woo. (Good, Perus. Keep it up!)"

"Prr... woo. (Well done, Perus!)"

"Woof, woof, woof!! (Keep going! Don't stop! I can run another ten thousand times!)"

Arlan: "... [Brain crashed].jpg"

He felt his brain struggling to process this overly surreal information.

A Cat Cake... was walking a dog? With its tail, no less?

And judging by the look of him, Peppy was clearly enjoying it!

The intense mismatch and unexpected cuteness struck Arlan's nerves.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, very wrong!

This went far beyond what he knew about Ms. Ruan Mei's creations!

But the utterly "harmonious" scene before him, which could even be called heartwarming (?), made all his worries about "safety" and "conflict" seem so unnecessary and... ridiculous.

"Forget it..." Arlan finally rubbed his slightly aching temples hard and let out a helpless sigh.

At least they seemed to be "getting along," perhaps even a little too well.

Since everything was fine here, he should hurry off to help the station master with more important business.

As for this Cat Cake...

Ms. Ruan Mei would understand.

After all, geniuses always had their reasons.

After one last look at the two little ones having the time of their lives, Arlan helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead and walked toward the main surveillance room with a smile.

Perhaps practice was gradually making perfect, or perhaps Peppy's enthusiasm had rubbed off on him, or rather, "forced" him.

The next time Lin Feng "flicked his tail," he subconsciously used more strength, tossing the ring higher and farther. It traced a long, imaginary arc and flew toward a cluttered corner farther away, piled high with boxes of instruments awaiting repairs.

"Woof! (That's far! Here I come!)"

Peppy let out a long, excited bark and became a streak of brown-and-white lightning, charging off at a speed far beyond his usual pace. In an instant, he vanished behind the mountain of boxes.

Lin Feng held his pose after flicking his tail, his beady eyes watching eagerly.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Peppy didn't come huffing and puffing back right away like he had before.

Lin Feng shifted his body slightly, trying to spot that flash of brown and white through the gaps between the boxes.

Ten seconds passed... It was utterly quiet over there. He couldn't hear even the faintest sound of paws.

Maybe I overdid it...

But it's fine. Peppy is a very smart, good dog!

He'll get the job done and come back safe!

Lin Feng had complete faith in this partner with whom he worked so well!

Just as he was trying to comfort himself, an air of mockery quietly wound its way around his back.

Lin Feng's entire cake body went rigid, a chill shooting from his tailbone, if a Cat Cake had one, straight to the top of his head!

Almost mechanically, he turned his round body bit by bit—

An enormous fox face with an uncanny smile filled his entire field of vision!

Bright red markings twisted before his eyes, as if they had come alive, and its upturned mouth held an unmistakably teasing expression.

"Pweech!"

Lin Feng's cake body jolted violently in fright, his springy form nearly bouncing straight off the ground.