I actually can't beat a cat!!?

After coaxing every child to sleep, Li Ming was dragged away by Pardo. There was no helping it, so Hua had to stay at the orphanage.

"A month ago, Sister Vill-V was performing magic at noon and it exploded. That scared Kitten away. Sister Vill-V said she'd help me find her, but we didn't find her," Pardo explained the whole story. As she spoke, Pardo's tone grew dejected. "I wonder how Kitten's been this month, if she's eating well, sleeping well, or if she's been bullied by other cats..."

Seeing Pardo about to go on a torrential rant like a mighty river, Li Ming quickly cut her off. "So, do you have any way to contact Kitten?"

"Uh, Kitten always comes back when she's hungry. Also, this is her favorite catnip. She always comes back when she's tired."

"I wonder if she's hungry outside, if she's cold, if she's sleeping comfortably, and if her pee is being cleaned up."

Wait, did something about that last sentence sound off?

However, Li Ming finally understood. Pardo knew absolutely nothing and had no clues. So, Li Ming's first priority was this:

"What does Kitten look like?"

"Huh???"

Pardo froze, looking at Li Ming, with the snot she had just shed still hanging on her face.

After the two confirmed the details, Li Ming finally remembered what Kitten looked like. This way, his puppet suit would at least have a reference.

Then, Li Ming followed Pardo everywhere to look for Kitten.

Primary Mission: Find Kitten.

Hidden Mission: Complete the commission.

Yet, even after Li Ming followed Pardo around for a good while, he still couldn't find Kitten.

However, Li Ming gained a basic understanding of the area around the Golden Courtyard for the first time. The surroundings of the Golden Courtyard were mostly suburban. The buildings were mostly where the Herrscher's worked, but not all of them. For example, there was Mobius's laboratory, Hua's martial arts dojo, and Apponia's kindergarten. As for the others, their workplaces were at least half an hour away.

Fortunately, Eden had provided three cars for the Golden Courtyard, which prevented everyone from being late for work. However, the people who usually needed to go to work in the Golden Courtyard were Kevin and Su. For school, it was usually Su or Hua who drove Cosmo and Griseo.

This was also why Plum resisted moving into the Golden Courtyard. It was simply too far, and there were too many people in the Golden Courtyard. The young couple was shy, so they'd rather build a new house here than move in.

When Li Ming asked if Kitten might have gone to the city, Pardo denied this possibility. "Impossible, absolutely impossible."

Then Pardo educated Li Ming on the nine reasons why Kitten couldn't possibly go to the city. But Li Ming only caught one point – laziness.

As expected, Kitten was lazy, which was not at all surprising to Li Ming. But if Kitten was lazy, why did she run away? This could only mean you were too superficial.

Why must Kitten have run away from home, instead of just being too lazy to come home?

Doesn't that make the picture clearer?

Therefore, Li Ming's first move was to take Pardo and her catnip to places where animals gathered. They got information about nearby animal gathering spots from Vill-V, who was recuperating in bed. Vill-V also gave them a small gear, though they didn't know what it was for.

Since Vill-V often needed the cooperation of animal assistants, maintaining good relationships with the surrounding animals was essential.

The two wandered around with the map, just like sightseeing, going everywhere. First, they went to the rabbit burrow. Then Li Ming realized how ridiculous he was, actually thinking of finding animals to find Kitten.

However, when he saw the litter of rabbits, he found it even more absurd. Not only were the rabbits not afraid when they saw them, but when Li Ming produced the small gear Vill-V had given them, they became hospitable and led Li Ming and the others around the surrounding animal territories.

Every time they went to an animal's territory, a rabbit would say something to the other animals, and then more animals would lead Li Ming around.

The final result was that the area around the Golden Courtyard was a complete mess. If one didn't know better, they would think there was a demolition happening, with dust and smoke billowing everywhere. They were busy from morning till night.

Finally, Li Ming and the others were led to a cave about three kilometers away from the Golden Courtyard.

Pardo and Li Ming hid to the side and watched as animals continuously brought food into the cave. Li Ming and Pardo estimated the situation and then headed into the cave with Pardo.

As expected, they saw a cat, entirely yellow and looking a bit plump, lazily sprawled on a rock, fast asleep. The food brought by the animals entering the cave was an offering to Kitten. Some animals were even using leaves to cushion the rock beside her, preventing it from digging into her skin. Some animals were even specifically cleaning up Kitten's excrement.

Li Ming finally understood why Kitten wasn't coming home. Every single thing Pardo had worried about was being fulfilled. If it were me, I wouldn't go back either.

Seeing people intruding into the cave, the animals pretended to be fierce. Then Pardo scared them, and the animals scattered in all directions, completely ignoring Kitten who was sleeping soundly on the rock.

"Kitten, I finally found you! I was so worried," Pardo lunged forward. Before Kitten could react, she heard a familiar voice.

Then she felt her head being manhandled again. Glancing over, she saw it was indeed her useless owner, and her little followers had disappeared at some point.

Kitten: As expected, unreliable. No, this is infuriating. My hard-won secret base is gone. I must find someone to bully.

Pardo continued to rub her head against Kitten to recharge, as if trying to make up for two months of uncharged battery.

Kitten couldn't stop her owner, so she finally set her sights on Li Ming beside her. She struggled, but couldn't break free.

"Meow."

"Huh, Kitten, you want to play with Brother Li Ming? But we just spent a long time looking for you. Brother Li Ming must be tired..." Pardo hesitated. She had finally found Kitten, and she hadn't even built up enough affection yet, and now she had to let someone else play with her. It felt strangely odd.

Kitten naturally understood her owner's personality. As long as she acted cute, her owner would definitely not refuse her.

"Meow~ Meow~"

Her soft cat head nudged Pardo's chest. Pardo felt a little ticklish from the nudge, and the strength in her hands loosened. Kitten broke free from Pardo's grasp.

With a shake, her body grew to human height. Her plump body looked to be nearly two to three hundred pounds. The tall Kitten blocked Pardo entirely.

Seeing Kitten grow larger, Pardo pressed herself against her and rubbed. "Brother Li Ming, Kitten says she wants to play with you. You guys play, I'll just rub."

Li Ming looked at Kitten, who was beckoning him with her paw, and wanted to ask if Pardo's Kitten really wanted to play with him?

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Kitten make a series of gestures. The movements were very vivid, and Li Ming surprisingly understood exactly what they meant. It was absurd.

He saw Kitten's paw gesture towards her mouth, then point at Li Ming, and then make a motion across her neck with her paw.

You'd better shut up. If you dare say another word, you're dead.

Mom, the cat can talk!

No, it should be, Mom, this cat has become a spirit!

Seeing that Li Ming was sensible enough not to snitch, the canned food nodded with great satisfaction, hooked its claws, and the provocative intent was obvious.

"Since it's a provocation, I won't hold back!"

The power in his hands gathered. After entering combat mode, Li Ming could see his own health bar. With such blatant provocation from the canned food, Li Ming couldn't stand it. Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds closed the distance, starting with the Six Forms of White Tiger Listening to the Wind. Although he hadn't learned all the moves from the Hua Xin Sect yet, Li Ming felt he could handle a mere cat.

However, his Six Forms of White Tiger Listening to the Wind passed by, hitting the canned food's soft belly, only to bounce off twice with no effect. It was utterly ridiculous.

The canned food merely shifted its body, its soft paws unhurriedly swatting down towards Li Ming. Li Ming originally didn't want to dodge, but as the paw was about to land on his head, he suddenly panicked. His heart skipped a beat, and he dodged the paw strike with a flash.

With a booming sound.

Li Ming saw a large pit appear on the ground. In the center of the pit was a perfect cat paw print, even the paw pads were clearly visible.

"What is this thing?"

Cat Paw Fist?!!

After Li Ming dodged, he triggered the Imprint [Fleeting]: Hundred Flowers in Chaos [Plum]. After an extreme dodge, attack speed and movement speed increase by 40% for eight seconds.

With a boost in speed and attack power, he initiated a charged attack, "Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt!"

A yellow energy sphere gathered in his palm, powerful energy flowing through the tiger's mouth. His hands were drawn to his sides, and finally, he unleashed it towards the canned food's belly.

But the canned food leaped nimbly, perfectly evading the full force of Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt, not even a speck of dust was kicked up.

Li Ming hadn't even seen what happened before his Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt missed. The powerful energy created a large pit with a diameter of half a meter on the ground.

"Hmm? Canned food, don't mess around. I'm a bit sleepy. Yawn." Pardo, who had a tiring day, fell asleep on the canned food's soft back. To sleep more comfortably, she specifically changed her position.

The fact that Pardo wasn't woken up at all when the canned food moved made Li Ming feel he might have encountered a formidable opponent.

Seeing Li Ming not attacking, the canned food licked its paw, then extended its right paw to support the sleeping Pardo, and stood up like a human.

Li Ming focused his gaze, his hands forming a stance, his footwork constantly adjusting. He stared intently at the canned food's shiny black eyes, not daring to relax at all.

But in the blink of an eye, the canned food vanished from his sight. Li Ming felt a strong gust of wind hit him; the canned food was already in front of him. Its left paw struck down, and Li Ming blocked it with both hands.

Instead of confronting it head-on, he used leverage. Before the paw could fully descend, he caught the point of force and then dodged.

Otherwise, Li Ming would have had no chance to escape from the canned food's paw.

Panting, Li Ming had just used leverage, but the canned food's sheer mass was there. Even using leverage took a lot of effort.

He checked his HP. It had dropped from a full 1000 to 500. The Imprints [Annihilation] and [Precept] had also been triggered.

[Annihilation]: Sword Edge · Sword Mound · Sword Scar: The lower the HP, the higher the total damage dealt. For every 100 HP lost, total damage increases by 1.0% (cap at 180%).

[Precept]: Second, No Deception. During combat, 5 points of [Discipline] count are added per second, up to a maximum of 200 points. The character's total damage reduction increases by 0.3% of the [Discipline] count. Using summoned creatures deducts 50% of the current [Discipline] count.

Sweat dripped down his face. Li Ming's cheeks had a faint glow, the patterns of the Imprints. The Imprint of Fleeting on his right hand also shimmered faintly.

One minute had passed since the battle began. [Precept]: Second, No Deception had already given Li Ming 60% damage reduction, yet he still felt the canned food's large paws hitting him were very painful.

Li Ming had just dodged the canned food's attack, triggering [Fleeting]: Hundred Flowers in Chaos [Plum]. He didn't feel much from the increased attack power, but in this situation, the boost in speed sharpened Li Ming's senses.

He lowered his stance, stepping into a bow. The initial stance was for Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt, but the follow-up was different. His right hand was drawn to his abdomen, and as his waist rotated, he stepped forward with a punch, concentrating power within his fist. The scattered energy traced yellow streaks of light.

Li Ming hadn't expected to learn so quickly. He had simply watched Hua demonstrate it once and then, driven by sheer grit, forced himself to learn the move.

"Inch Punch: Mountain Collapse!"

This move carried the momentum of a mountain collapsing, its fist like a giant boulder rolling down a cliff, unstoppable.

Under the Imprint's enhancement, the canned food didn't react immediately, only managing to shield Pardo on its back.

His fist struck the canned food's belly. Li Ming felt no impact with a solid object, but the canned food still let out a low whimper.

Looking closely, the ground beneath the canned food's feet had already cracked. If the canned food's flesh wasn't so thick, it probably wouldn't have been able to block it.

This Inch Punch: Mountain Collapse was originally a shield-breaking ultimate move, and with the Imprint's boost, its penetration power was naturally not to be underestimated.

However, after Li Ming used this move and hit the canned food, he felt his entire body go limp, his right arm dislocated. Looking at the canned food, which showed no external damage, Li Ming chose to surrender.

But just as he was about to surrender, he heard Pardo mumble, "Canned food, you need to lose weight!"

Then, the canned food's eyes turned fierce. What do you do when your owner dislikes your weight and you don't want to lose weight?

The answer is to shift your weight-loss anxiety onto someone else.

And the only one who could bear the canned food's weight-loss anxiety at this moment was Li Ming. So, Li Ming was in for a rough time. He was directly pinned by the canned food, its tail whip sending Li Ming sprawling.

However, the canned food had its limits. After playfully bullying Li Ming with its soft paws, it then knocked him out with a single slap, as he was already exhausted. It then picked up Li Ming and slunk towards the Golden Courtyard.

At this moment, Li Ming could only lament internally, I can't even beat a cat?!!