Mutant Pets

Fang Yuan showed off his dunking skills again, beating the gang of thugs into complete submission.

Then he headed home with a bumper haul of Rage Points.

All he left behind were a dozen or so bruised and battered losers, squatting in a corner drawing circles.

On the way home, Fang Yuan shook out his right hand, feeling some pain in his finger bones.

He had defeated Qinglang with a single Thunder Fist earlier, but its recoil really was powerful. His hand was still a little numb.

"Looks like I really can't use Thunder Fist repeatedly."

Fang Yuan muttered to himself, then suddenly thought of another possibility. "If I raise my constitution stat, could I withstand Thunder Fist's recoil?"

The constitution stat primarily affected an Awakener's stamina and defense.

In theory, increasing constitution should allow someone to withstand greater recoil.

However, no one had tested this.

That was because practicing Thunder Fist had requirements for both strength and agility.

Just raising strength and agility was hard enough. Who had the energy left to increase their constitution stat?

The next day.

During afternoon self-study.

Fang Yuan's phone suddenly buzzed with vibrations.

He picked it up and saw that the call was coming from Fang Xiaozhu's phone watch.

As soon as he answered, he heard Fang Xiaozhu's urgent voice.

"Brother, hurry over! Hurry over..."

Fang Yuan immediately ran out of school, hailed a car, and headed straight for the hospital.

When he reached the hospital, he saw Fang Xiaozhu shouting beneath a parasol tree, "Don't hit it! Don't hit it!"

Under the tree were also two young men in black trench coats and black combat boots, holding catch nets as they tried to capture something.

Fang Yuan recognized that outfit. He occasionally saw people dressed like that online.

People dressed like that were agents of the Superpower Awakener Management Bureau, responsible for overseeing Awakeners.

All cases involving Awakeners fell under the Superpower Awakener Management Bureau's jurisdiction.

"Don't hit it!" Fang Xiaozhu shouted, reaching out to tug at the Supervision Bureau agents.

Fang Yuan hurried over, put an arm around his sister, and pulled her back. "Stay back."

Fang Xiaozhu pointed up at the treetop and said, "They're trying to catch our cat."

Fang Yuan looked up and saw an orange cat hiding in the tree, baring its teeth and yowling at the people below.

Meow! Meow!

The two Supervision Bureau agents held up their catch nets, trying to catch the orange cat.

Fang Yuan walked over, caught hold of one of the Supervision Bureau agents, and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing?"

The Supervision Bureau agent showed his identification. "Supervision Bureau Animal Management Unit, on duty. Uninvolved parties, stand back."

"What duty?" Fang Yuan kept his hand firmly on the man's shoulder.

Realizing how strong Fang Yuan was and not wanting a confrontation, the Supervision Bureau agent replied, "We're responsible for capturing mutant creatures."

"Mutant creatures?"

"That's right. That cat up there has mutated. We have to catch it to prevent it from hurting anyone."

Fang Yuan immediately channeled Star Power into his eyes and looked up into the tree.

A stat panel appeared over the orange cat.

Species: Orange cat

Star Power level: Lv.1

Stats: Strength 5, agility 15, constitution 5, spirit 7

Superpower Trait: Flame Claw

Seeing that the orange cat really had mutated, he took a closer look at its paws.

He discovered that wherever the orange cat stepped, it left a scorched paw print.

Fang Xiaozhu had always fed two cats, but now only one was in sight.

Where had the other one gone?

Fang Yuan scanned the surroundings with Iris Data, then found the other cat in the grass beside the hospital wall.

Species: Gray cat

Star Power level: Lv.1

Stats: Strength 5, agility 16, constitution 5, spirit 6

Superpower Trait: Advanced Agility Enhancement

Fang Yuan was a little surprised. The gray cat had actually mutated too.

Moreover, the gray cat's ability was actually Advanced Agility Enhancement. Combined with its 16 points of agility, an ordinary Awakener really would struggle to catch it.

"Go away! Go away! You're not allowed to catch my Little Orange!" Fang Xiaozhu ran over again to push the Supervision Bureau agents.

Worried that strenuous activity would make her faint, Fang Yuan hurriedly pulled her back and whispered in her ear, "Little Gray is hiding in the corner over there. Hurry and hide him. Leave Little Orange to me."

Fang Xiaozhu was worried about the orange cat, but she was also worried about the gray cat, so she hurried in the direction Fang Yuan pointed.

Fang Yuan rolled up his sleeves and began climbing the tree.

Thanks to his relatively high strength and agility, climbing the tree was easy. He reached the treetop in just a few moves.

However, as soon as he approached the orange cat.

The orange cat bristled and yowled, backing away and leaving scorched paw prints wherever it stepped.

"Stop yowling. If you can understand me, keep quiet. I'll take you to Fang Xiaozhu. Keep making a fuss, and you'll be taken away."

Though Fang Yuan said this, he did not think the orange cat could understand him. He was preparing to rely on his exceptionally high agility to make a sudden grab for it.

Unexpectedly, the orange cat suddenly stopped yowling and crouched quietly where it was.

Fang Yuan reached over, grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it.

Then he lightly jumped down from the tree.

The Supervision Bureau agents gathered around him and said, "Thank you for your cooperation. Please hand the cat over to us."

"It's my cat. Why should I give it to you?" Fang Yuan drew back, watching them warily.

"This is a mutant creature," a Supervision Bureau agent said sternly.

"I just saw the news yesterday. That captain of yours at the Supervision Bureau, Black Eagle, keeps a big mutant black dog. Why don't you go catch that?" Fang Yuan happened to have read a trending forum post yesterday and seen the news.

The two Supervision Bureau agents explained, "That was the captain's pet to begin with."

Fang Yuan took out his phone and began recording a video. "Oh, so when a Supervision Bureau agent's pet mutates, they can keep it, but when my pet mutates, you come to catch it. Is this a live demonstration of the Supervision Bureau's massive double standards?"

The two Supervision Bureau agents' faces instantly darkened.

Rage Points +10.

"How can you prove you raised it?" a Supervision Bureau agent asked, holding back his anger.

Fang Yuan told the two Supervision Bureau agents, "My sister and I feed these two cats every day. Every doctor in the hospital can vouch for us."

The two Supervision Bureau agents exchanged a glance and asked, "Are you an Awakener?"

"Yes. My ability is Iris Data."

Fang Yuan directly named their abilities, leaving both of them looking astonished.

One of them took out a form and held it out to Fang Yuan. "Pets that mutate have to be registered. Fill out this form first. Before next week, take both cats to the Mutant Biology Research Institute in Donghai City for a physical examination. Once registration is complete, you'll be issued pet collars. This is a mandatory procedure. We hope you'll cooperate."

Mutant animals in the city did indeed need to be registered. After all, mutant animals were sometimes more dangerous than Awakeners.

Fang Yuan filled out the form and left his phone number before handing it back.

After checking the information on the form, the two Supervision Bureau agents cautioned him, "I must remind you to keep a close watch on your mutant pets. If they injure anyone, they will definitely have to be taken back to be dealt with."

After saying this, the two Supervision Bureau agents took photos of both cats before leaving.