Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 64 Beat it up!

"Boss Sangbiao, just one more time to confirm, can you beat that black cat?"

"Damn it, you're doubting me?"

"I'm not innocent! I was worried about other dangers inside. What if Bella and I held you back, and you couldn't deal with that cat quickly enough..."

"Damn it, just think about why I was able to escape, that stupid black cat can't get away."

Lu Ran was taken aback, then suddenly realized what was going on and raised his claws.

"Boss, that's brilliant."

Logically speaking, one should consult a divination beforehand for such matters.

However, because of the lingering trauma from the previous death threat, Lu Ran decided to avoid messing around until he could systematically understand the rules of divination.

He felt that his divination magic was missing some crucial runes. Logically speaking, an excellent divination spell should at least allow one to have a general idea of ​​whether they can afford the corresponding price before using it.

If a fortune teller knows nothing and relies solely on fate to try and predict the outcome, then their life is worthless.

……

Knowing beforehand that the black cat had an exaggerated range of perception, Lu Ran did not get too close to investigate. Instead, he carefully selected a place that was several courtyards away from Dane's house.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the doorknobs were covered in dust. The owner didn't seem to be there, so the house was temporarily unoccupied and could serve as a good temporary place to stay.

Of course, it was also because there weren't many people living in the area that Dane had chosen. In fact, Lu Ran had even gone around to investigate the surrounding area, and the nearest police station was more than two kilometers away.

For this operation, Lu Ran made a special trip back to retrieve the revolver from the territory, and put it together with eleven crossbows in a cloth bag for Bella to bring over.

They also found One-Ear and nine other mice with good physical condition, along with Bella and Sangbiao.

There's one dog, one cat, and eleven mice in total. I'll pack everything up and get to work as soon as Dane goes to work the next day.

However, both weapons and revolvers are actually just spares.

Judging from Sang Biao's strength alone, Lu Ran felt that with his current abilities, he would have a hard time aiming at the black cat. He could only try to find an opportunity by using deception magic later.

Therefore, Black Cat's only direct opponent at that time is actually Sang Biao.

It could even be said that if Sang Biao hadn't made a move, Lu Ran would have definitely held back and developed his strength for a while before seeking revenge.

……

The night was deep, and the early spring evening breeze still carried a chill.

Bella's massive white body lay on its side on the lawn in the leeward corner of the wall, like a giant fireplace.

The savage cat, unusually, shed its usual ferocity. It curled itself into a warm ball of fur, snuggling tightly against Bella's soft belly, though its ears still twitched with the slightest rustling of grass in the night.

In the center of the protective circle formed by these two furry warm sources, a group of gray-black mice huddled together.

Lu Ran, however, was not asleep.

He rested his head on his paws, gazing up at the gray, waning moon in the sky, feeling the warmth emanating from his body.

Having been a mouse for so long, I'm slowly getting used to it. Sometimes I even really feel like I'm a mouse head that suddenly gained intelligence, rather than a human transmigrator...

……

Morning light streamed through the gaps in the heavy curtains, cutting through the darkness of Dane Fisher's bedroom, where his biological clock had made him wake up at the same time every day.

Dane opened his slightly bloodshot eyes and rubbed his throbbing temples.

He stayed up all night last night because he received new samples, but even so, he still put on his crisply ironed pinstripe three-piece suit and meticulously tied his bow tie.

Stepping out of the bedroom, instead of immediately going to the bathroom to wash up, she first opened the wooden door to the study. The windows there were completely sealed off, so no light could be seen when the door was closed. Only when the light switch was turned on did the overhead light illuminate the layout of the room.

Occupying a corner of the room was a huge glass culture tank, which, instead of aquatic plants and fish, contained strange vines submerged in a murky, dark green liquid. These vines were thick and twisted, their surfaces covered with dark purple, tumor-like bumps.

On the other side of the room, a huge oak bookcase was neatly arranged with glass jars of various sizes. They had replaced the original books. The solutions in the jars were pale yellow, containing all sorts of gruesome specimens of non-human biological organs—strange scales and claws, deformed internal organs…

In the center of the room, a sturdy metal operating table stood. On it lay an unconscious man, the worker Dane had carried home the previous night.

His limbs and torso were tightly bound by thick, tough leather straps, and his mouth was gagged with a strip of cloth. Even in his unconscious state, his body would twitch unconsciously from time to time, especially his right arm, where strange scaly substances had appeared.

Dane first used a magnifying glass and tweezers to examine the abnormalities in the man's arm, then checked his temperature and other vital signs as usual. Satisfied, she closed the study door, began washing up, and ate breakfast…

"Remember to eat by yourself, Vickers."

After filling the cat's bowl with food, Dane didn't linger. As usual, he patted the cat's head, then drove his specially made, large-scale steam car into the sparse traffic of Baker City in the early morning, heading towards the Black Gold Factory on the outskirts of the city.

Upon arriving at the factory's office area, Dane had barely settled into his seat on the cheap leather sofa when a clerk hesitantly announced from outside the door: "Mr. Fisher, Chief Edwin of the Baker City Police Department... says he has a case he needs to discuss with you."

Dane paused slightly, then quickly put on his usual smooth smile and jogged outside.

"Please come in! Sir, what a rare guest you are! Please have a seat."

……

Meanwhile, left alone in the empty house by Dane, the black cat Vickers, who was sound asleep, suddenly twitched its ears and slowly opened its amber eyes.

Vickers the black cat stood up gracefully, its jet-black fur slightly bristling. It slowly strolled to the large window facing the courtyard in the living room, its gaze casually sweeping across the clean glass.

A gentle breeze rustled the grass; there was nothing there.

Vickers raised his paw and gently pried open the cast iron latches on the window, then expertly pushed the window open and easily squeezed out through the gap.

However, the moment half of its head peeked out of the gap, a chilling shiver suddenly shot up its spine and up to its head! Even though it could not see any danger around it, the black fur on its entire body was stimulated and stood on end.

A terrifying aura threatening its life caused it to instinctively tense its hind leg muscles, like a spring compressed to its limit, unleashing a force beyond a cat's capabilities, ready to launch it forward suddenly.

boom!
A deafening roar abruptly shattered the brief morning tranquility!

The flames spewed from the gun muzzle tore apart the previous deception and disguise. Almost simultaneously with the gunshot, a series of subtle yet chillingly dense whistling sounds pierced the air!

“Swish, swish, swish—!”

The revolver bullets were aimed at its head sticking out of the window! And more than a dozen crossbow bolts, gleaming with a cold light, came in a fan shape, not only blocking its possible escape routes, but also covering its chest, abdomen and limbs!

Unfortunately, even though its vision had been obscured by deception magic before the gunshot, the black cat had already sensed the danger and made a dodge in advance. Its explosive side-backward ricochet was forced to change direction halfway through, and its huge body was twisted and rolled backwards to the ground in a twisted manner that exceeded the limits of feline flexibility!

*Pfft! Sizzle!*

The bullet grazed its ear tip and entered the wall behind the window frame, sending wood chips flying! The scalding heat brushed against its soft ear tip, taking away a few strands of black hair.

A cold, stinging sensation came from its left forelimb—a thin needle had pierced deeply into the muscle connecting the cat's paw to its leg.

The moment he realized he was injured, the black cat Vickers swung its paw violently, using the centrifugal force generated by the immense power to quickly fling the thin needle stuck in his flesh away.

“This one isn’t dead.”

Lu Ran cursed under his breath as he held the disproportionately large revolver. But as soon as he finished cursing, he saw the black cat suddenly turn its head to look at him with murderous intent in its eyes, and he quickly took a step back.

"Boss Sang Biao, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Hit it!"

(End of this chapter)