Giant Panda Breeding Base.
Inside an office.
A keeper was being questioned and reprimanded.
"What happened? How did a perfectly fine giant panda just vanish into thin air?"
The leader didn't believe it.
The keeper spread his hands helplessly. "Xiao Xiao has always been like this. She's had no presence since she was born. Even her parents often forgot her in a corner. They were clearly twins, but usually we only seemed to remember her younger brother."
"There were a few similar incidents before. Sometimes I'd suddenly remember and wonder, where was Xiao Xiao?"
"Then we'd find her in some strange place, but today was different. We just watched the footage. She ran by herself into a corner outside the cameras' view, then suddenly disappeared!"
The leader rubbed his head and pondered for a moment. "This matter must be resolved properly."
"I need to notify... Right, what was the name of that giant panda you said disappeared?"
The keeper looked confused. "I forgot..."
"A giant panda? Huh? Did a giant panda disappear? I'll go count them again."
Ten minutes later.
"Boss, it seems all the giant pandas are here." The keeper excitedly compared the roster with the pandas.
The leader breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Good."
"Young people really can't be relied on when it comes to work. Always making a fuss over nothing."
"How could a giant panda possibly disappear?"
In the garage.
Xu Nan was genuinely stunned.
He had only ever seen this large carnivore in zoos. It possessed a bite force comparable to a brown bear's, could run at an altitude of two thousand meters no slower than Liu Xiang, climb twenty or thirty meters up a tree, swim with ease when it encountered water, and sit on three or four wolves just for fun. Its overall combat power was off the charts!
It was just that compared to its adorable appearance, its formidable fighting ability had always been overlooked.
In ancient times, pandas had been called Iron-Eating Beasts. They were highly aggressive, and ordinary humans were absolutely no match for them.
Yet such an animal actually made a living by being cute. It really showed how real this looks-obsessed world was.
When that giant panda had pounced at him just now, Xu Nan had been nervous. He immediately used Instant Spell to cast a thick Mage Armor over himself, ready to fight head-on.
Who would have thought the panda was only feinting? She staggered when she reached Xu Nan, rolled around on the ground twice, acted cute, then happily ran back to chew bamboo.
Xu Nan felt that he must have seen things wrong. He shut the garage door, took a deep breath for ten seconds, then pulled it open again.
The giant panda chewing bamboo shot him a contemptuous glance and slowly spoke.
"Are you my familiar?"
Xu Nan: "Huh?"
"You're too weak. As you are now, you're nowhere near qualified to be my familiar." The giant panda chewed bamboo as she spoke. "Start with the most basic role of servant. This is a Master-Servant Contract. Look it over."
With that, she handed over a magical contract. Xu Nan actually read it carefully, unable to believe it.
With his absurdly high Charm stat, the other party hadn't actually bowed her head, hugged his thigh, cried, and begged to become his little brother. This was simply unscientific!
But thinking about it carefully, the panda's Charm stat might not be lower than his. In some respects, it might even surpass his. It was hard to say whose Charm was higher!
Xu Nan thought for a moment, then activated his hidden specialties, Universal Gravitation and Radiant Presence.
Who knew the panda would toss aside her bamboo and sneer, "Why are you acting so flashy? Do you think you're a peacock spreading its tail? What I hate most are beings more charming than me. As a familiar, you don't even understand how to make your master stand out. Instead, you want to steal the spotlight."
"Leave. You'll never become official in this lifetime."
A vein twitched on Xu Nan's forehead. "This is my house. This is my garage!"
The giant panda rolled around on the ground. "I don't care. From now on, this is my home. You're responsible for my food and daily needs. Oh, and this garage isn't at a comfortable enough temperature. Hurry up and install an air conditioner for me later..."
Xu Nan took a deep breath.
There was obviously something wrong with this giant panda, and something strange about her. Could the arrival of Pro World have caused other creatures to start mutating as well?
Or perhaps this giant panda had come from another world?
The problem was, he had never seen a creature like a giant panda in the Ron Sorcerer Bloodline! Pandaren Monks belonged to an entirely different fantasy world setting, all right?
"Let's first get a clear understanding of the situation."
Xu Nan calmed down and looked at the seemingly adorable but actually terrifyingly lethal creature. "How did you get to my house?"
The giant panda said contemptuously, "I heard someone summoning a familiar, so I came over. Of course I had to take advantage of a free familiar. But I'm not very satisfied with you as a familiar, so I want a return."
Xu Nan's head throbbed. "Do you have some misunderstanding about the Summon Familiar ritual?"
He spoke as gently as possible. "Theoretically speaking, you're supposed to be my familiar."
The giant panda snapped, "Can you beat me?"
Xu Nan thought about it. "Not necessarily."
Giant pandas were usually quite agile. Even with all his spells, unless he risked his life, he really didn't know who would win or lose. Besides, this giant panda was obviously no ordinary creature. She had probably become a spirit.
Although becoming spirits had been banned after the founding of the nation, giant pandas should probably be an exception, right?
The giant panda sneered. "Then there you have it. And you still want me to be your familiar? With your strength, go train some more first. Until I find a new familiar, you'll be responsible for my food and daily needs. Understand?"
Xu Nan always felt something was off.
This giant panda clearly understood contract rules and such very well. She was pretending to be crazy and playing dumb so that he would foot the bill!
Although Xu Nan was quite wealthy now, he still refused to take an inexplicable loss.
"You, you, you... I don't care where you came from, get back where you belong immediately! Stop interfering with my familiar summoning!"
Xu Nan's attitude hardened as well. "I want a crow or a Black Cat!"
The giant panda became furious. "A crow? A black cat? How can those ignorant things compare to me? Are those two idiots cuter than I am? If you keep disrespecting your master, be careful or I'll report you for stealing a national treasure."
"Do you know the punishment for stealing a national treasure?"
Xu Nan gave a cold laugh and slammed the garage door shut.
His hands trembled as he began sending WeChat messages. Naturally, the recipient was Xin'er—
"Order takeout for lunch yourself today."
Xin'er: No!
"Stop making trouble. Order takeout yourself. Tell the delivery guy to leave it on the steps, and don't go get it until he leaves. Winter is coming soon, so take good care of yourself. I might... not be able to come back for a while."
Xin'er: ???
"I... went to turn myself in."
With that, Xu Nan directly made a call. He waited in anguish, and after a while—
"Hello, police comrade, I want to turn myself in!"
"You're saying you stole a giant panda, and that giant panda is behind you—and he can speak human language?"
The officer handling Xu Nan's surrender was a very gentle policewoman. She looked rather young, perhaps she had only recently become a full officer.
Xu Nan nodded nervously and asked quietly, "How long will I be sentenced for? Actually, I didn't steal this panda. He ran into my yard himself."
The policewoman's expression turned strange. She coughed. "But we don't see any giant panda?"
Xu Nan was startled. He turned around and saw the giant panda lying in the corner of the interrogation room, eating bamboo. She even gave Xu Nan a wicked smile that made goosebumps rise all over his body.
Only then did Xu Nan realize that he had led a giant panda all the way here, yet no one along the way had made a fuss!
Could this thing turn invisible? And why did the bamboo in her paw seem impossible to finish?
"But there really is a giant panda..." Xu Nan didn't know how to describe the situation.
The policewoman nodded gently, poured Xu Nan a glass of water, patted his shoulder reassuringly, then walked out of the interrogation room. Her expression immediately changed as she berated several junior officers.
"Tell my dad I quit! The Major Crimes Unit that hunts violent criminals is too dangerous, so he made me do this job dealing with lunatics?"
"That kid kept insisting he stole a giant panda!"
"Did any of you see a giant panda?"
Everyone shook their heads together.
The policewoman sighed. "Prepare a car to Da Qingshan Mental Hospital for him. He's quite handsome, and he lost his mind at such a young age. If we send him over now, maybe there's still a chance to save him."
One of the junior officers said weakly, "Sister Ajiao, you didn't close the interrogation room door."
She turned back awkwardly, only to see Xu Nan staring at her with a dark expression.
"Call the Giant Panda Breeding Base."
Xu Nan remained calm. "Ask whether they've recently lost a national treasure."
Sister Ajiao thought about it. Determined to see this through responsibly, she made the call. The leader in the office on the other end said the base was operating perfectly fine. What? A giant panda stolen? That was impossible!
Since the speakerphone was on, Xu Nan heard the whole exchange.
He fell silent, then grabbed the giant panda and walked out of the police station without saying a word. The policewoman wanted to say something, but she didn't get the chance.
One man and one panda arrived at his front door.
Xu Nan stared at her. "Fine. What kind of demon are you?"
The giant panda held bamboo in her mouth and said indistinctly, "I'm Xiao Xiao."
"What kind of demon is Xiao Xiao?" Xu Nan asked.
"Xiao Xiao is Xiao Xiao." The giant panda leisurely pushed open the door for Xu Nan. As she did, she said smugly, "You can't shake me off! Unless I abandon you first..."
But at that moment, her voice suddenly stopped.
Xu Nan was surprised to discover a petite figure sitting on the living room floor, hugging her knees and staring fixedly at the door.
Tears streamed down her face, giving her a breathtaking beauty.
The instant she saw Xu Nan, Xin'er became utterly excited.
"You... came back?"
This was the first time in all these years that Xin'er had spoken to him face-to-face, and also the first time she had stepped out of that room.
Xu Nan was dumbfounded. He immediately took out his phone, only to find countless missed calls and confused WeChat messages from Xin'er!
Just as he was about to explain, an ill-timed voice suddenly rang out.
"Roar!"
"My master!"
"I am willing to become your familiar and serve you for the rest of my life!"
The giant panda Xiao Xiao swiftly pulled out a contract and handed it over.
Xin'er's face turned pale with fright.