Chapter 169: Chapter 169

Jenkins's lips twitched as he watched Chocolate gnawing on the uncorked mouth of the bottle. Because of the angle at which it was tilted, the red blood had already poured entirely into the cat's mouth.

A faint, coppery scent lingered in the air. He already knew what was going to happen.

He picked up the bottle and held it to the lamplight. The inside was spotless.

He lifted the kitten onto his lap and carefully pried open its mouth, revealing a soft, pink tongue, smooth and unlike the barbed tongues of other cats. Jenkins licked his own lips, then placed Chocolate back on the bed. The little cat tilted its head, gazing up at its master with an air of pure innocence.

The dragon's blood was worth no less than five thousand pounds. Now that Chocolate had accidentally gulped it all down, that made him a cat worth at least five thousand pounds.

"I have a strong urge to spank you. Would you consent to that?"

he asked the innocent-looking cat.

The kitten mewled softly, trying to leap back into his lap. Jenkins scooped it up with a resigned sigh, consoling himself with the thought that he was, after all, a successful author with eight thousand pounds to his name. As he held the cat, he summoned the golden ring that was steeped in his spirit.

The ring offered no reply, only a faint gleam of reflected light.

He slept fitfully that night. One moment, he dreamed of banknotes fluttering through the sky; the next, of Chocolate sprouting wings and flying away. He even had a final, vivid dream of a colossal cat opening its cavernous mouth, devouring the stars in the night sky before swallowing a brilliant yellow moon whole.

His little cat, however, was also restless. It lifted its head to gaze at the bright moon outside the window before gently rubbing its furry cheek against its sleeping master. Jenkins's expression was peaceful. In the depths of his completely relaxed sleep, his soul drew exceptionally close to the world, and he began to see strange things.

Though it was just the simple meow of a kitten, it seemed to carry a distinctly human-like note of apology.

Chocolate stood beside Jenkins's pillow, tilting its head to nuzzle his cheek. Then, it gently tapped his forehead with its front paw, and a wisp of red light shimmered from it.

Jenkins had only recently learned that if you give a cat an inch, it'll take a mile. First, you let it sleep somewhere other than its own bed, and soon it's demanding a spot on yours. Let it sleep on your bed, and before you know it, it's sprawling across your stomach.

When Jenkins woke the next morning, he picked up Chocolate and stared into the kitten's sleepy eyes for a long moment, finally managing to shake off the frustration from the night before.

"You're a five-thousand-gold-pound cat now, you know."

He slipped on his slippers, ready to visit the washroom before heading downstairs for breakfast. As he always did, he summoned the glowing orbs that represented his abilities and tapped the purple one. Nothing happened. He had an instinctive feeling that something was off. A quick count confirmed the number of orbs was the same, but their colors... something was wrong with the colors—

His [White Basic] ability, [Flexible Legs], had vanished. In its place was a brand-new [Red Martial] ability: [Cat's Grace].

Stunned, Jenkins narrowed his eyes and stared at Chocolate, who was still on the bed.

He blinked, activating his Eye of Reality. A faint white glow emanated from Chocolate. This was normal; ever since the cat had drunk the Animal Intelligence Awakening Potion, the white aura had grown steadily stronger as it instinctively accumulated Spirit. The light would fade once the potion was fully absorbed.

The kitten gave a soft meow, sprawled lazily beside the pillow as always, showing no intention of moving.

Jenkins took a deep breath and gently lifted the kitten, but the strange suspicion refused to fade.

On his way to Pops Antique Shop, Jenkins decided to test his new ability. Unlike something like [Twin Demons], whose purpose was impossible to guess from its name alone, [Cat's Grace] didn't sound particularly destructive.

The ability inherited the leg-strengthening properties of [Flexible Legs] but amplified his agility and balance to an unbelievable degree.

Jenkins took a detour down a quiet alley with few residents. He tried scaling a low wall and then walking along the thin ledge of its top course of bricks.

It was surprisingly easy. With the ability activated, the movements felt completely instinctual.

"You're here? I need to tell you something."

Leaving the cat at home for the day, a fully-equipped Jenkins had just stepped into Pops Antique Shop, the bell over the door chiming softly, when Pops called out to him.

"Come take a look at this!"

He was waving a piece of paper. Jenkins walked over, tilting his head to see a portrait of the pirate king, Femishue. It was a pencil sketch, exquisitely shaded—the artist was clearly talented. Judging by the angle, it was the very same drawing from the paper airplane Jenkins had tossed that night.

"Who's this? It's an excellent drawing!"

he asked with an easy tone. An upstanding Scribe like Jenkins couldn't possibly recognize a wanted criminal .

"Femishue," Pops replied. "The very same pirate king who was spotted in the Dock Area a few days ago."

The neatly dressed Pops thrust the paper into Jenkins's hand. "Take a good look. This morning, the Church of Ocean and Exploration shared this portrait of Femishue with the Nolan City police and the other Orthodox Churches. To think, after all these years, they finally managed to capture his likeness. All the previous sketches were based on verbal descriptions from his pursuers and were wildly inaccurate."

"Didn't you say he was a madman, Pops? How could he possibly still be in Nolan City? And even if he stayed, I can't imagine he'd let himself be seen so easily."

"That's the thing about madmen. Normal people like us can never guess what they'll do next."

Pops nodded. "With a portrait this clear, finding him shouldn't be too hard. Anyway, enough about that. Are you ready? Let's head out."

Jenkins leaned his cane against the counter and instinctively glanced behind him, only then remembering he'd left Chocolate at home.

"So, this morning when I woke up... one of my abilities had evolved."

Pops exclaimed, then immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, his gaze a mixture of emotions as he looked at Jenkins.

"I mean... well, you must be the Sage's most favored Scribe in this generation. Oh, Goddess," he prayed, "please save this young man who refuses to get married!"

the old man muttered, deftly tracing the holy symbol across his chest.

"No, no, it's not that I don't want to get married." Jenkins coughed. "That's not the point. The point is that my [White Basic] ability evolved into [Cat's Grace], and I just so happen to be raising a cat named Chocolate. Wouldn't you say that's a bit too coincidental?"

Jenkins sounded troubled. He undid the top button of his collar and sighed deeply. He couldn't shake his suspicion of Chocolate.

"Of course it's not a coincidence."

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