Chapter 25: Of All People, Why Did You Have to Pick a Fight with Him? (Please Follow and Bookmark)

"Pfft!"

A faint yet distinct sound of flesh tearing echoed through the space.

A deep blue water spike had pierced his throat with lethal precision. Beneath his hood, his eyes widened abruptly, filled with disbelief and terror. A guttural, wheezing sound bubbled from his throat as he tried to speak, but only searing, crimson blood sprayed forth.

The shadowy tentacles reaching for Xia Tong instantly lost their control, dissolving into wisps of ordinary shade.

Amo’s body swayed slightly before falling backward, hitting the dusty floor with a heavy thud. He lay still, lifeless.

The entire sequence unfolded in a flash—so quickly that the Scar-faced Captain, Ke Ji, and Xiao Ling had not even fully registered what had occurred.

...

"Amo?!" The Scar-faced Captain’s pupils contracted, and he let out a roar of shock and fury.

The tablet in Ke Ji’s hands nearly slipped to the floor. He stared at the life signal on his device, which had plummeted to zero, his face pale with incredulity. "Dead... he’s dead?"

Beside them, Xiao Ling’s eyes were wide with disbelief. She could not comprehend how a low-level shadow-manipulation ability user could be killed in a single strike by a seemingly barely-evolved mutant cat.

"How... how is this possible!?"

In the split second they remained stunned and enraged by Amo’s sudden death, Xia Tong chose not to hesitate. She did not give them a chance to react or surround her. Her body transformed into a nearly invisible shadow, and, aided by the momentary lapse in their attention, she vanished behind layers of obstacles.

All that remained in the air was a soft, mocking, and faint meow.

"Meow~"

...

"Damn it... you wretched cat!"

"Don't let me catch you!"

By the time the Scar-faced Captain bellowed and swung his great axe, smashing the shelves where Xia Tong had been hiding, the black cat was already long gone.

Only Amo’s still-warm corpse and the pool of blood spreading rapidly across the floor served as proof that what had just happened was no hallucination.

The mission at the base had barely begun, yet they had already paid the price for their arrogance and hubris. Losing a reliable teammate in the desolate wasteland was a blow akin to losing an arm.

Judging by their earlier conversation, the difficulty of this mission was extraordinary. Now, with the loss of a key member, Xia Tong could already foresee the fate of this squad.

...

The Scar-faced Captain’s rage seemed capable of setting the entire hall ablaze. He hacked wildly with his great axe, shredding twisted vines and warping old metal shelves until they groaned with screeching, metallic shrieks, sending debris flying everywhere.

Yet, aside from kicking up more dust, there was no sign of the cat.

"It ran! That damn beast!"

He panted heavily, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the direction where Xia Tong had disappeared, the veins on his forehead bulging.

Ke Ji’s face was deathly pale. Supporting his nearly slipping glasses, his fingers trembled as he operated the tablet. The screen showed that Amo’s vitals had completely vanished, replaced by an eye-searing red warning.

"Captain... Amo... he really is dead."

His voice trembled uncontrollably. A living teammate, someone he had been working alongside just seconds ago, was now a cold corpse.

"How could this happen?" he whispered, his voice shaky.

Xiao Ling stood by Amo’s body, her face ashen and her eyes filled with cold, murderous intent. She leaned down to carefully inspect the fatal wound in his throat—a pin-prick puncture, clean and precise, clearly caused by highly condensed energy.

"This is absolutely not an ordinary mutant cat," she stood up, her voice low and dangerous, as if laced with shards of ice. "Its intelligence and control over its abilities far exceed our estimates."

She took a deep breath to steady herself and said coldly, "We underestimated her."

The Scar-faced Captain slammed his great axe into the ground with a resounding "clang," causing the floor to tremble.

"I had intended to use her as bait..."

"A cat! A cat actually killed Amo!" He could not accept the fact; it was a humiliation beyond words.

They were an elite squad dispatched by the base, yet they had been outmaneuvered in a single encounter by an inconspicuous mutant cat, losing an important shadow-user in the process. The frustration made him nearly insane.

"Captain, that beast is too cunning! What do we do now? Should we keep chasing?" Ke Ji forced himself to calm down, looking at the Captain, his voice tinged with an imperceptible fear.

Xiao Ling spoke coldly, cutting off Ke Ji’s query.

"It’s already long gone. This building’s structure is complex, and it’s skilled at hiding. Finding it will be difficult."

Her implication was clear: pursuit was not only a waste of time but also highly risky. Who knew what other hidden cards that cat held?

Furthermore, their true mission remained unfulfilled.

The Captain’s chest heaved violently. Of course, he wanted to tear that cat to pieces to avenge Amo, but his reason told him that Xiao Ling was right.

The "Moonlight Orchid," their target, was still down in the treacherous underground. Not only were they a man down, but making more noise here might provoke the terrifying Blood-Winged Bat atop the building.

"First... take Amo with us."

The Captain’s voice was hoarse, filled with exhaustion and deep regret. He glanced at the corpse on the floor, its eyes still wide open in shock, and then at the dark, deep entrance leading underground. The ferocity on his face was replaced by a heavy, somber gloom.

This mission had been plagued by an eerie sense of misfortune from the very start. For the first time, he felt his confidence in the operation’s success wavering.

"Damn it... I’ll make that beast pay double for this debt, sooner or later!" he growled, his voice rasping with hatred.

...

Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows of the high floors, Xia Tong took in every reaction below.

She didn't care about their bitter resentment or curses; in fact, she found them laughable. They were nothing but weak, incompetent fools who only knew how to spout empty words—not worth a second thought.

But now, she needed to contemplate her next move.

Since they had taken the initiative to provoke her, there was no way she would let them pass so easily.

However, since these people dared to risk their lives to find this so-called "Moonlight Orchid," it meant the item must be of immense value, likely something needed by the "greedy vultures" in the high command of the base.

"Going down... perhaps that is an opportunity."

Xia Tong licked her paw, having made up her mind.

Exploring this unknown area alone was far less efficient than following an experienced squad. She could use them to scout the path and wait for her chance.

And then... reap the rewards without effort, and while she was at it, send them off to meet their ancestors!

Since they dared to provoke her, they wouldn't get the chance to bother anyone else ever again!