"You’re talking about the Divine Beast Hall? No, he wouldn’t bother with such a thankless task,"
Feng Yuan paused for a moment before replying, and after thinking for a bit, Feng Yuan said,
"He’s just worried those people might make trouble, after all, a stable environment is best for everyone, isn’t it?"
"They... you don’t plan to deal with them in advance?"
Glancing at Agunas, Feng Yuan said speechlessly,
"How can I deal with them in advance if they haven’t done anything yet? Should I falsely accuse them for no reason?"
"That’s true... They don’t have any other issues?"
Agunas paused unbelievingly, then nodded as Feng Yuan said helplessly,
"Exactly, unless they make a move, we really don’t have any reason to act against them."
Lost in thought, Agunas wondered what was on his mind when a distinctive ring of bells rang out in the night. Feng Yuan blurted out,
"Not good! It’s almost lights-out time!"
Feng Yuan shouted behind him to Qi Chen as he rushed towards the dormitory with Xiao Ji, just as Qi Chen was preparing to run, Dou Yanlan pulled him back and said in disbelief,
"He’s confused from sleep, it’s not even eight o’clock yet, how could it be the lights-out bell?"
Reminded by Dou Yanlan, Qi Chen paused and then said with a wry smile,
"That guy... But why would they suddenly ring the lights-out bell?"
"They’re probably afraid something will go wrong later, after all, they don’t want to be embarrassed, right?"
Dou Yanlan quickly guessed a possibility and took out her cell phone to check and said,
"Why didn’t you remind me?"
In the dormitory, Feng Yuan spoke discontentedly to Qi Chen, and seeing Feng Yuan with a look of grievance, Qi Chen said calmly,
"You ran so fast, I didn’t even have time to react before you vanished, what can I say?"
"Didn’t the teacher also send a mass text notification?"
"I wasn’t paying attention."
Holding Big Cat, Feng Yuan looked at Qi Chen with a pitiful gaze, and upon noticing that the other party simply didn’t care, Feng Yuan released Big Cat and lay down on the bed, pulling Pomiti into his arms, and said,
"Seriously, made me rush back for nothing."
"Speaking of which, haven’t you returned the hut yet?"
Qi Chen looked questioningly at Xiao Ji’s little hut, now that Xiao Ji’s size was too big to fit inside that small hut, Ah Mu’s hut had already been returned to the school when Ah Mu evolved.
"It can still serve as a lodging from time to time, no rush, I can just return it upon graduation."
"It can still serve?"
Qi Chen eyed Xiao Ji skeptically, the evolved Xiao Ji was half the height of a person, and in strict terms, nearly as tall as Big Cat before its evolution, albeit not as bulky. That small hut couldn’t possibly fit Xiao Ji no matter how you looked at it.
"Yeah, it will move back in after its excitement wears off in a couple of days."
As Feng Yuan said this, he patted Xiao Ji’s head and spoke somewhat speechlessly while Qi Chen looked on, baffled at the eagle-like Xiao Ji,
"But with its current size..."
"Have you forgotten about the game we played over the New Year?"
As Qi Chen tried hard to recall, Feng Yuan glanced at Xiao Ji and said,
"The reward Xiao Ji won back then, it used it."
Xiao Ji flapped its wings and amid a burst of light, it swiftly shrank until it reverted to the Eggshell Chicken form. Witnessing this bizarre transformation, Qi Chen looked at Feng Yuan, perplexed, and said,
"A shape-shift, it used the item to store the Eggshell Chicken form. However, in this form, its abilities are reduced,"
As Feng Yuan spoke, he stroked Xiao Ji’s head. Glaring at Feng Yuan, Xiao Ji shifted back to its eagle form, and Qi Chen said, taken aback,
"You mean... Xiao Ji can switch between the Eggshell Chicken and its evolved form?"
"Pretty much, but it’s a switch between its real form and a stored form. Meaning, after its next evolution, it won’t be able to change back to this eagle form,"
Hearing Feng Yuan’s explanation, Qi Chen curiously examined the eagle form of Xiao Ji and said,
"That won’t affect it, right?"
"No, it’s just an extra form for being cute; that shape has weakened abilities and can’t be used in battle,"
Feng Yuan said, tapping Xiao Ji’s head, "I used to regret that the plump and adorable Xiao Ji changing into this would mean much less fun, but now..."
"Plump and adorable..."
Qi Chen noted, examining the eagle-like Xiao Ji. Unlike Big Cat, the eagle-like Xiao Ji had a robust figure with not an ounce of excess fat.
Xiao Ji turned its head and let out a dissatisfied squawk, pleased with its current form—it might not be able to nestle in Feng Yuan’s embrace, but its fighting capability was much stronger than that of Big Cat’s form.
Thinking of this, Xiao Ji became somewhat impatient and called out to Agunas several times. Agunas said in a resigned tone,
"You’re... I don’t think he’ll agree."
Feng Yuan looked puzzledly at Agunas, who pointed at Xiao Ji and translated,
"It wants to stay up late practicing its ultimate moves."
"If it wants to go, let it. I certainly won’t accompany it,"
Feng Yuan yawned, and Xiao Ji froze for a moment. Qi Chen, puzzled, asked,
"You’re not going to stop it?"
Glancing at Xiao Ji, Feng Yuan said,
"It’s not as defenseless as it used to be. I’m not really worried about it being in school. As long as it doesn’t leave the school, it can do whatever it wants."
Seeing Xiao Ji happily leave the dorm, Agunas stared at Feng Yuan and questioned,
"Is that really what you think?"
Shrugging, Feng Yuan stood up and walked over to Big Cat, saying,
"What else? Should I keep restricting it? It’ll get tired of playing after a few days on its own."
"Didn’t you see that Big Cat has even stopped playing games now?"
Feng Yuan said, gently patting Big Cat’s belly. Big Cat made an unhappy mew but showed no further reaction. Glancing at Big Cat, Agunas remarked,
"Speaking of which, you really don’t need to be so busy, right?"
As Feng Yuan looked at him, Agunas explained,
"Big Cat has created a data intelligence, although it can only exist in a specific area of the Data Domain, maintaining that game isn’t too difficult."
Big Cat mewed and flapped its wings as if it was saying something. Agunas flicked his tail and said,
"Could it really not help you with the design of the expansion pack? But haven’t you already finished that game? What else is there that needs your attention?"
Smiling at a perplexed Agunas, Feng Yuan chuckled and replied,
"Well, of course, what Big Cat is making is an online game. No online game stays the same forever; it need continual updates with new content."
"Is that so? If that’s the case, you really can’t do without Big Cat."
"Data intelligence can’t develop expansion packs autonomously?"
Feng Yuan was curious about what this data intelligence was. Agunas nodded and said,
"It’s rather simple-minded. It can only deal with and maintain game issues according to established rules. Although it has the ability to correct mistakes, well..."
"It doesn’t have its own independent thought? But that’s understandable—such things involving life and soul aren’t what Big Cat can create."
Feng Yuan nodded, adding, while Big Cat’s mews of agreement sounded as if it concurred with Feng Yuan and Agunas’s discussion. Stroking Big Cat’s head, Feng Yuan said with a smile,
"You are quite remarkable to have made something like that, though—"
"The Alliance couldn’t create such a thing, right?"
Noticing Feng Yuan looking her way, Agunas nodded and confirmed,
"Indeed, but they don’t know Big Cat has this kind of capability."
"That’s Big Cat’s business. If they want it, they should negotiate with Big Cat directly. I’m staying out of it,"
Feng Yuan bluntly stated. Though Big Cat couldn’t speak, communicating with humans through chatting software posed no issue; at least Feng Yuan had seen it conversing with people through chat apps, even if its language skills were a bit rough.
Big Cat nuzzled Feng Yuan affectionately. Gently patting Big Cat’s head, Feng Yuan said with amusement,
"Really, you should be careful exposing yourself like that or Xiao Ji might take a shot at you."
Big Cat suddenly looked baffled, seemingly clueless about what was happening. If Feng Yuan hadn’t known Big Cat’s secrets, he might have been fooled too. Sensing neither Feng Yuan nor Agunas were deceived, Big Cat drooped its head in a disappointed manner.
"Alright, you’ve got to deal with your own stuff. After all, it concerns your interests,"
Feng Yuan said with a hint of resignation.