A cat's abilities have their limits!

Ling An looked around the mountaintop. Aside from him and Camellya, no one else had appeared.

In truth, Ling An had a few ulterior motives of his own.

According to Scar, the Fractsidus Supervisor, once the Threnodian revived, there would be no hiding his identity.

In that case, he might as well use his strength to help Tide Sis and Jinzhou as much as possible before its revival, earning their goodwill.

At his current rate of progress, he was still nowhere near the Threnodian's level. He could only keep devouring other Tacet Discords, such as the Glacio Rider, to strengthen himself.

At the same time, he had to grind goodwill with Tide Sis and Jinzhou as hard as he could to give himself a little more hope after the Threnodian revived.

He had never feared his identity being exposed. What he feared was revealing his true form and finding no one standing behind him.

In that case...

Ling An turned his solemn gaze toward Camellya.

There was no need to hesitate!

At that moment, Camellya had yet to notice the change in Ling An and was still brazenly rubbing his head.

"A disobedient little kitty can only be a good boy and die!" Camellya threatened, leaving it impossible to tell whether she meant it or was only pretending.

Ling An simply looked at her face and said softly, "You know, a cat's abilities have their limits."

Camellya's expression froze before anticipation crept into it. "What do you mean?"

"In my short life, I've learned that the more you toy with schemes, the more likely you are to stumble over the unexpected..."

"So?" Camellya asked curiously, continuing to poke her finger down at him.

Ling An's expression remained unchanged as he suddenly shouted, "I'm done being a cat, Camellya!"

A powerful aura erupted, shaking the entire summit of Screen Court Mountain for an instant.

Crimson-gold flames melted through every vine in the blink of an eye.

Camellya had been pinning Ling An down from above, but caught completely off guard, she instantly lost the upper hand.

Ling An reached out with a monstrous hand, closed it around her soft, pale neck, and forced her down.

In an instant, attacker and defender had traded places.

Ling An's powerful, imposing body firmly dominated hers, a stark contrast to Camellya's slender, delicate frame.

"Hahahahaha! Interesting, so interesting!"

Rather than alarmed, Camellya was delighted, her face brimming with excitement. "You're so interesting, Ling An! You're actually a Tacet Discord!"

"Before I take you in, tell me why you were following me," Ling An demanded in a low voice.

With his true form restored, his natural voice had returned as well.

It was deep and resonant, making the loose stones on the ground rattle.

"Why should I answer your questions?" A smile curled at the corners of Camellya's lips.

She seemed utterly unconcerned that Ling An's monstrous, powerful arm could snap her fragile neck at any moment.

"I'm the one interrogating you right now," Ling An said, his voice rumbling.

"Oh, then I surrender." Camellya smiled and stretched out both hands.

She truly feared nothing, and for a moment, Ling An found himself completely at a loss over what to do with her.

"You don't seem to experience fear." Ling An tightened his grip slightly.

Camellya was already petite, and even the slightest movement from Ling An left a red mark around her neck.

That flush spread upward, soon reaching her cheeks.

"Why should I be afraid?" She studied Ling An with excited eyes, her palm stroking his monstrous exterior. "This body is so perfect. I should be excited."

"Even better..." She poked a finger against Ling An's chest, producing a crisp sound. "Such a perfect body is actually filled with emotion and intelligence."

"Let me think, Ling An... no, Crownless. You've grown stronger. What a shame I didn't get to see the moment you ascended. It must have been exquisite."

Listening to Camellya's outrageous remarks, Ling An felt a trace of helplessness.

She seemed to be admiring him purely as a work of art.

Camellya had completely disregarded his violence.

She was an exceedingly strange woman, but her words had also given Ling An more than enough information.

She had long known, or rather suspected, that Ling An was Crownless.

That meant the Black Shores had been watching from the shadows ever since Tide Sis awakened.

Camellya was the eyes through which the Black Shores observed Tide Sis.

It was just that, at the very beginning of all this, Tide Sis hadn't acted as everyone had imagined she would.

In Yunling Valley, the Tacet Field where Ling An had first arrived, Tide Sis hadn't killed Crownless. Instead, she had taken a cat out of the Tacet Field.

That cat was Ling An.

And precisely because of that, probably nothing he had done in Jinzhou had escaped Camellya's eyes.

That was also why she had been observing Ling An!

Only now, however, had she finally confirmed that Ling An was Crownless.

At that thought, Ling An's gaze gradually firmed.

He looked at Camellya beneath him and said quietly, "Looks like there are some things Tide Sis will have to tell you herself."

As his words fell, he saw Camellya's subtle smile and suddenly realized that their positions seemed a little too intimate.

His strong, violent self and a slender, delicate beauty-what version of Beauty and the Beast was this?

Ling An coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment. Fortunately, no one else was around.

Otherwise, he would never be able to clear his name.

Now that I've got the information I wanted, I'll take Camellya to Tide Sis and claim the credit.

Delight stirred in Ling An's heart, but a second later, he heard an all-too-familiar voice that made his body give an involuntary shudder.

"Ling-An-"

The very person he wanted to find had come to him.

The timing, however, seemed less than ideal.

Frozen in shock, Ling An slowly turned his head. Tide Sis stood a short distance away, her face betraying neither sorrow nor joy.

He slowly looked down again, and Camellya gave him an innocent smile.

In that instant, it felt as though a thousand years had passed.

The crimson-gold flames slowly died away, and Ling An snapped back to his senses.

His heart clenched repeatedly as a random thought suddenly popped into his head-

I've heard burial plots in Jinzhou are expensive these days. I wonder if I can afford one.

The atmosphere remained painfully tense. For a moment, Ling An didn't know whether to let go or keep holding on.

Then Tide Sis came to his side and asked quietly, "Having fun?"

Ling An shook his head furiously like a rattle drum.

She reached out and ran her hand over Ling An, a faintly mocking smile appearing on her lips. "You're even better-looking now. When did that happen?"

Ling An didn't dare move. Tide Sis was being far too frightening.

If he set her off, he was finished.

Am I really going to become the first Tacet Discord class to be locked up?

Suddenly, inspiration struck him in his desperation, and he hurriedly said, "I guessed you'd like it, so I went to the Flaming Sea especially to get this new look."

A certain motorcycle-riding Tacet Discord would never have imagined, even in death, that all his desperate efforts would ultimately amount to someone saying he'd gotten a new look.

"Oh?" Tide Sis's expression was inscrutable, revealing nothing of her feelings.

Just as Ling An thought things had taken a turn for the better, she suddenly looked at Camellya on the ground and said, "But it looks like I wasn't the first to see it."

At that instant, both Ling An and Camellya felt an inexplicable sense of danger.