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Chapter 5

After thorough analysis, I came to one conclusion: ‘Truly an emperor.’

I’d wager that even the captain of this ship wasn’t as comfortable as this cat.

For six days, I had been observing the crew, and most of them had a below-average standard of living. For example, the meal menu consisted mainly of low-cost foods, such as synthetic meat and genetically modified grains, with no other advantages.

‘On the other hand, this cat eats only meat every day, thanks to its excellent owner.’

And not just any meat, but freshly butchered, high-quality meat.

This ship had an agricultural area responsible for farming and livestock. It was a place designed to provide gourmet cuisine to the ship’s elite and visiting dignitaries, and they were sparingly offering such precious meat to a mere cat.

‘Seeing this, Keisaragi Yujin is definitely not an ordinary person.’

She might be a Martian aristocrat, a Prime Capital of the MegaCorp, or perhaps both. Both were powerful factions within the MegaCorp, each exerting dominance over a planetary region.

‘Troublesome social classes.’

Both classes had extremely high levels of pride and never forgot any grudges. Even the smallest grievances would be remembered, and they would later seek ruthless revenge, often many times over. This had made playing the game quite challenging.

Even if I were to kill someone other than Keisaragi Yujin and escape from the ship, she wouldn’t forget me. She would somehow find me and try to kill me.

‘Another reason to kill her.’

In any case, her status as an owner was one thing, but the crucial question was how to kill that cat.

“Meow.”

The cat yawned as if bored. Looking at it lounging on the top-grade cushion, there was no other like it.

This was Keisaragi Yujin’s bedroom. I was currently in the ventilation duct connected to the wall near the bedroom floor. I had been watching that lazy creature through the mesh for a while, and the sight of it being so sluggish made me sigh involuntarily.

‘It looks dull, so killing it shouldn’t be too difficult.’

Unlike dogs, cats had retained their wild instincts even after becoming domesticated livestock. They were also naturally excellent hunters.

So, I expected it to be a formidable opponent for someone like me, who was merely in the Hatchling stage. Of course, It wouldn’t win in a fight, but significant bleeding was inevitable.

However, seeing it in person made me realize that I was worrying unnecessarily. Looking at its chubby belly, I couldn’t help but think it would be delicious, more than anything else.

‘The problem is that it’s too lazy.’

Most of its time was spent rolling around on that cushion. Except when eating or going for a walk in the garden with its owner, it didn’t move at all.

‘Still, I can’t kill it right here.’

The amusing fact was that this place had better security than the cargo hold. To the naked eye, the ventilation duct I was in appeared no different from other areas.

However, with my heightened senses, I could tell that the bedroom’s owner paid extra attention to security, to the extent that it might seem obsessive-compulsive. Laser signal transmitters installed throughout the area were monitoring for illegal intruders.

What if I were to enter the room? The AI would immediately inform the guards outside about the presence of an unknown intruder.

‘Then, I’d be finished.’

They wouldn’t even need to use a gun. The guards would kick me, and my insides would explode, killing me instantly.

‘So, I’m stuck here.’

The cat itself seemed easy to deal with, but the process of approaching it unexpectedly proved to be quite tricky. In irritation, I carelessly shook my tail.

‘Uh-oh!’

When my tail hit the wall of the ventilation duct, making a noise, the cat’s ears perked up.

“Meow?”

The cat sprang up, rushing towards exactly where I was. Despite being overweight, its movements were quite agile.

As the cat’s body collided with the mesh, the laser signal transmitters activated. I could feel the guards outside the door stiffening in response. I couldn’t stay here any longer.

I gave the scratching cat a brief glance and then retreated from my position. Immediately after I left, the guards stormed into the room.

“What’s going on? What came in?”

“Ugh, the cat’s causing trouble again.”

“Again?”

“Ugh, just leave it!”

Ignoring the grumbling voices of the guards, I returned to my nest.

‘I can’t believe I made such a mistake.’

I had come close to putting my life in danger. I couldn’t believe I had been so careless.

Could it be that this comfortable nest had gotten into my head? Has my body become numb to stimuli because of the comfort?

‘Tempting the cat with my tail… I must be out of my mind. Wait a minute.’

While I was berating myself, something popped into my head.

Fragments of ideas began to emerge randomly, like puzzle pieces falling into place. I methodically organized the thoughts that were coming to me like a jigsaw puzzle.

‘The cat looked bored, provocation, the reaction of the guards.’

These were the three key elements.

Finally, I had a clue about how to approach and conquer that cat.

***

Cat Caesar was once again spending its time on top of the cushion.

When it first left its homeland for this metal monstrosity that reeked of hostility, Caesar couldn’t believe it. It scolded its owner, Keisaragi Yujin, with solemn eyes, but she just ignored its complaints, wearing a somewhat apologetic expression.

Caesar was greatly disappointed, but its suffering didn’t end there. Its sleeping arrangements were far from comfortable, and the food it received was pitiful.

For someone who had lived its entire life eating the finest beef and freshly caught fish, the meals on the ship were unbearable.

In fact, Caesar might have fasted for the day.

Because its owner had knelt down and pleaded desperately, Caesar had no choice but to eat the miserable meat.

Before long, Caesar had perfectly adapted to the new environment, making its initial resistance seem trivial. Life on the ship, where there was almost no change, suited its lazy personality well.

Caesar stretched in boredom. It was too lazy to move around much, but it wasn’t lacking in feline curiosity.

‘Is there anything interesting happening today?’

Just as it thought so, it heard a rustling sound from beyond the ventilation duct. Raising its head to investigate, Caesar realized the sound was coming from the passage where the wind was blowing.

Come to think of it, not long ago, something strange had appeared there and caught its attention.

Caesar slowly got up. Last time, it had rushed over hastily and missed whatever unknown presence there was.

This time, it promised itself it wouldn’t miss it. It cautiously approached. As it got closer to the entrance of the passage, it saw a small object.

It was a cockroach, partially severed in half. Despite having no chance of survival, the bug was wriggling and trying to escape.

Seeing this, Caesar felt its long-dormant predator instincts awakening. Almost involuntarily, it pounced on the cockroach.

With its front paws, Caesar toyed with the cockroach until it stopped moving. As Caesar watched the lifeless insect, it felt an unfamiliar emotion.

It was an emotion that could be described as fascinating. Caesar’s small brain was filled with thoughts like it wished there were more toys around.

Through Caesar’s eyes, another bug was visible beyond the mesh. It felt disappointed because last time it had touched the mesh, nothing had happened.

In frustration, it lightly tapped the mesh, and surprisingly, this time it produced a different result.

The mesh fell forward.

It hesitated for a moment, then crawled into the passage to catch the bug.

“Hey, what’s making that noise again?”

“It’s probably the cat. Let’s check it out later; it’s annoying.”

“After all, where would a cat go? We’re guarding it like this.”

Because it was a cat, Caesar couldn’t understand what the guards were talking about outside.

Even if it could understand, it was too preoccupied with the bugs to care.

Following the scattered bugs in the passage, a bright light entered his field of view. Following the light, it found itself in an open corridor.

“Meow?”

After entering the corridor and looking around, Caesar realized that it had never been to this place before.

It thought about turning back now, but once again, the sight of a bug mesmerized it.

Behind the bug’s body was a dark space in sharp contrast to the light in the corridor. Without fear, Caesar jumped into that space.

It was a cargo hold.

***

“It’s coming.”

I was hiding on top of a container, watching the cat below. The stupid cat was following the bugs without any suspicion.

Instinct in animals is absolute.

Even if they are tamed by human hands, the genes of a hunter and a predator still exist within them. It’s the genes of a hunter and a predator.

“Meow.”

The cat approached the container. I was ready to pounce.

My blood flowed faster due to tension. My thick and flexible tail, which was in my rear end, was ready to strike at any moment.

The four pairs of muscles making up my legs contracted, and my body’s posture lowered sharply, signaling that I was ready for combat.

While my body was getting ready, my loyal subordinate, my super-sense, calculated the best time to attack under the owner’s command.

The transcendent vision unique to Amorph pierced through the darkness of the cargo hold beyond the cat and aimed accurately at the cat. Observing the cat’s muscles, bone movements, and habits, I concluded that its right eye had lower eyesight than its left eye.

“Meow?”

The cat turned its head to the left. With its diminishing eyesight, it couldn’t spot me lurking in the darkness.

Now was the chance.

I used my legs, which were bent almost entirely, as propulsion to lift my body into the air.

I didn’t use my wings because they made noise. Approaching the cat quickly was enough with the power of gravity.

The distance between me and the cat rapidly closed.

The cat’s ears perked up at the sound of the wind. Its head turned towards me, and its pupils dilated. It sensed danger and tensed up but it was too late.

My tail became the assassin’s dart, and it stabbed the cat’s side. The venom, which would paralyze even an adult, spread throughout the cat’s body through its veins. Despite having a much smaller body than a human, the cat had no chance of withstanding the paralysis poison.

After being stung, within seconds, the cat’s heart stopped.

The hunt was successful.

I fell to the ground, stepping on the motionless prey, and let out a triumphant roar.

The triumphant cry of a predator echoed through the cargo hold, and the inhabitants shivered in fear and awe.

‘Good. Shall we eat now?’

The ceremony was successfully completed, so it was time to check the reward. I took a bite of the cat’s corpse.

‘Hmm?’

The sensation in my mouth was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Before I even had a chance to savor the sweet taste of blood, the chewy muscles and the flavorful fat overwhelmed my senses.

The feeling was so shocking that it sent shivers down my spine. I had thought that cockroaches, spiders, and calorie bars were edible, but I was completely wrong.

The sensation of ‘delicious’ is exactly what I felt.

I gripped my trembling legs and took another bite of the cat.

‘Insane.’

It wasn’t an illusion. The taste of cat meat was so good that it could be the only thing I ate until I died. With my limited vocabulary, it was hard to describe just how delicious a cat was.

I didn’t think about anything else; I focused on eating the meat.

It took less than five minutes for the larger cat’s corpse to disappear.

‘Sigh.’

After chewing the bones and licking up every drop of blood that had spilled onto the floor, I was satisfied.

Having completed my frenzy of a meal and regained my composure, I could understand why Amorph’s were so obsessed with meat.

‘It’s insanely delicious.’

I couldn’t help but swear, it was such an amazing taste. Even excluding the goal of collecting genetic essence, if meat tasted this good, I would have sought it out intentionally.

As I licked the flesh and blood that had stuck to my front paws in regret, a text box suddenly appeared.

[Predation effect activated! Successfully obtained ‘Wild Instinct’ genetic essence from ‘Cat.’]

[Extracted the ‘Wild Instinct’ from the biological characteristics of ‘Cat’.]

[Do you want to apply the ‘Wild Instinct’?]

‘Oh?’

I was feeling good after eating the meat, and then there was talk of genetic essence acquisition. Moreover, I had no idea that I could obtain genetic essence by eating something for the first time.

‘Wild Instinct, huh? A characteristic I’ve never seen before.’

Since this was the first time I had eaten a cat, I didn’t even know it had a characteristic. I had no idea what effect it would have, but since it wouldn’t hurt to have it, I pressed accept.

[The ‘Wild Instinct’ characteristic has been applied.]

[It’s possible to fuse it the existing trait ‘Super-sense’]

[Fusion of ‘Wild Instinct’ and ‘Super-sense’ traits. Evolving into ‘Predator Sense’ trait!]

[Predator Sense: The ‘Super-sense’ characteristic is enhanced. It allows you to pre-detect threats in the near future based on available information.

*Note: Exceptional hunters have a knack for reading the future.]

‘Huh?’

I stared at the text box, at a loss for words.