The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

"what happened?"

Lingji, who was working with Lin Xiyue, noticed that she was lost in thought. She nudged Lin Xiyue and asked her what was wrong.

"Oh? It's nothing. I just felt like someone was watching me."

Lin Xiyue snapped out of her daze and subconsciously answered Lingji's question.

"Have you figured out who it is? As ability users, we rarely have such misperceptions, so you need to be careful."

Lingji frowned and explained some very important knowledge to Lin Xiyue.

She knew that Lin Xiyue was a support-type ability user who had only recently awakened her abilities, and this was even the first time she had faced danger directly.

That's why she tirelessly emphasized the importance of being careful to Lin Xiyue whenever she encountered a situation that required attention.

Of course, she was also very grateful for the help Lin Xiyue provided, which was really important to her.

"Hmm... I didn't find anything. But I didn't sense any malice, so it should be alright. Never mind, let's keep working hard. Everyone's working very hard."

Lin Xiyue shook her head, clearing her mind of those thoughts, and prepared to do her best to help.

"Okay, let's go. Let me see where to go next... Hmm, this way, let's go."

Lingji noticed Lin Xiyue's indifference and decided to make a special effort to keep an eye on things for her later.

..............................

Meanwhile, on the moon.

After noticing Lin Xiyue looking over, Mo Luos knew she couldn't see him, but he still instinctively hid.

"Gurgle gurgle—(～￣▽￣)～"

The slime that had been following Meros suddenly let out a strange cry.

"what happened?"

Meros glanced back at the thing he had been carrying around like a balloon.

"Goojigji!"

Black Charcoal became even more excited, and began to move around wildly inside the spherical enclosure, seemingly trying to chase after Earl.

"Huh? Oh."

Meros looked around and realized that it hadn't fallen in love with its "master," but rather that it had finished eating the finger bone that Earl had cut for it earlier, and it wanted to eat more, so it wanted to go down and take another bite.

"Want to go down?"

"Meros asked."

"Gurgle! Gurgle! ?(? ? ??)"

Black Charcoal barked a few times, then, sensing that Meros might not understand, it simulated a head. Its two small eyes were scattered across the protruding sphere that resembled a head, and it nodded vigorously.

"You understand. Okay, I'll let you down, but you're not allowed to hurt anyone. Take this with you."

After thinking about it, Meros decided to let him go; it wasn't like he was the one who wanted to keep this thing.

However, just to be on the safe side, he took out a small ring with some black patterns on it and a faint green glow.

"Once you put this on, no one but me can take it off. It will integrate into your body. You just need to follow my instructions. If you agree, eat it and I will let you go."

Meros handed over the ring, letting it choose for itself.

"Gooji! (ノ≧?≦)ノ"

With a cry, Black Charcoal decisively swallowed the ring. Then, the instant Meros opened the shield, it rushed out.

To fall faster, it even shaped its body into a cone with the pointed end facing down.

I don't know if it actually works, but it seems to work very quickly, though it might just be a placebo effect.

"Tsk, I have to go down too. There's nothing left here. It's been cleaned up really well."

Meros glanced around, clicked his tongue, and followed them down.

..............................

The red waves that the monster and Earl transformed into also fell down along with the tumors of all sizes.

They originally wanted to change their landing location. After all, they still had their brains. They could clearly see that the law enforcement officers below had already set up a formation to welcome them. Wouldn't it be foolish to put their formation back on?

As a result, it's possible that because this point corresponds to the door on the moon, its position cannot be changed at all.

To be precise, the monster wanted to change its position but couldn't. Earl, on the other hand, was already reckless and furious, so he wouldn't be considering anything else. Besides, the one he was using was a clone, so losing it wouldn't be a big loss.

"boom--"

There was a loud bang.

That monster—oh, it was Liu Meng—landed first, smashing several fleshy tumors as he landed, creating a huge circular crater.

Upon landing, he didn't linger. Eight short, stout human legs quickly emerged from his tumor-like lower body, and he frantically ran outwards with his calves digging. It looked as if a dog was chasing him.

Ah, no. There's a dog chasing it. Isn't Earl a dog-mimicking creature? (.;?;:益:;?;.)

As Earl landed behind him, it didn't appear as if it were being splattered like liquid. Instead, it seemed to have no deformation at all, directly covering the ground, spreading wildly in all directions, and preparing to surround the monster in front of it.

"Ho-ho-ho-ho-"

Liu Meng was panting heavily as he ran as fast as he could, as if he wished he could transform into a centipede.

"What is that?! Σ (?Д?;) "

Someone spotted Liu Meng and immediately shouted it out.

Because Liu Meng initially landed far from where the law enforcement officers and Lin Xiyue were, and because of the endless stream of tumors falling from the sky, no one noticed Liu Meng.

However, the formation set up here by law enforcement is a highly complete and massive formation.

This formation not only has the ability to defend and protect people, but it also forms a shield the size of the entire area. It will not be opened until the matter is resolved or all the energy is exhausted. Only the captain of each elite squad knows how to open this formation.

Therefore, Liu Meng's despair after finally reaching the edge and finding himself unable to get out was indescribable.

His strong will to survive prevented him from stopping to think about what to do; instead, he began running along the edge of the enclosure without hesitation.

Naturally, he ran into the law enforcement officers who were resting on the other side of the enclosure.

Lin Xiyue was also unlucky enough to be on her turn to rest. It's hard to say who was unlucky, but they just happened to run into each other.

After the first person spotted him and shouted it out, everyone present saw Liu Meng.

"This is a monster that makes me feel physically uncomfortable."

"Prepare for battle, everyone on high alert."

"Wait until it stops!"

"He has reason?!"

The group was resting, but upon seeing Liu Meng, they all instinctively stood up, ready to fight.

But everyone was puzzled when they realized that Liu Meng hadn't made any move.

"Wait a minute! I feel like I've seen him somewhere before!"

Lin Xiyue looked at Liu Meng and felt that he looked familiar no matter how she looked at him.

"I've seen it before? Let me see."

Upon hearing this, Lingji also began to observe Liu Meng carefully, and the more she looked at him, the more familiar he seemed.

However, because Liu Meng had been transformed so drastically that he was no longer recognizable and had become a monster, it wasn't so easy to tell.

"I know! w(°o°)w He's Liu Meng! The one with the 500,000 yuan wanted poster!"

Lin Xiyue thought for a while, then suddenly shouted out.

"???"

"????"

"..."

Everyone was puzzled when they heard Lin Xiyue's words.

"How did you recognize him? He's turned into a monster, are you sure?"

Lingji asked the question that he and everyone else present had.

"Because of the mole next to his eyebrow and his distinctive bulbous nose! Plus, there's a 500,000 yuan reward for providing the correct information about him! ヽ(￣▽￣)?"

Lin Xiyue said in a cheerful tone.

"..."

Everyone present fell silent.

"Ahem, stop talking! He's trying to run away, stop him!"

Lingji glanced over and realized that Liu Meng was trying to take the opportunity to escape, so he quickly spoke up.

"Oh!"

"boom--"

The one standing at the very front, a robust man resembling a double door, reached out and picked up a giant hammer beside him, then swung it at Liu Meng.

"boom--"

When the man was carrying the giant hammer, it looked like it was made of foam. But after it hit Liu Meng, he couldn't stand up anymore.

"Damn it, you bastards! Are you guys really looking to die? Once that monster catches up with us, none of us will escape!"

After Liu Meng's escape was discovered and he was even brought under control, he angrily cursed.

"Thorn-"

No one paid him any attention; the crowd tacitly surrounded him.

Someone swung a knife at him. The knife, imbued with supernatural power, was incredibly sharp. In an instant, it seemed as if a knife was cutting through tofu, severing Liu Meng's foot.

“Ahhhh——————”

Liu Meng let out a scream.

This wasn't just about him having a leg chopped off; almost simultaneously, more than a dozen weapons were thrust into his body. These wounds erupted at once, and some even carried energy into his body—the pain was unbearable.

"Cut off their limbs, remove anything unnecessary, and try to capture them alive."

After discovering that Liu Meng was only intimidating in appearance, they quickly and decisively decided to capture him alive, since Liu Meng was still connected to another major and heinous incident.

"Yes!"

The others answered in unison, and then chopped even harder.

As time passed, Liu Meng, like a pig waiting to be slaughtered, gradually weakened and it seemed that he had no chance of winning.

"Mmm—drink!"

Liu Meng realized he was about to die, so he decisively gathered his last bit of energy and concentrated it in his mouth.

He let out a loud bang and spat out a jet of water from his mouth.

The water jet precisely escaped from the crowd.

"careful!"

Lin Xiyue was originally watching the excitement from the sidelines, cheering everyone on whenever she had the chance. After all, it looked like it was no challenge at all. If Lingji hadn't stopped her, she would have rushed up and slashed a couple of times.

In the end, at the very last moment, the boss suddenly unleashed its power and attacked her.

Are you lying to me?

Are you kidding me? Am I really that unlucky? I can get shot even when I'm just a bystander?

Lin Xiyue was shocked to see this. She was about to teleport away, but the water was moving too fast, and she didn't have time to react.

Because he had just gone to help, Lingji, who was standing a little distance away from Lin Xiyue, was furious and ran frantically toward Lin Xiyue.

"Zi-"

Lingji didn't arrive in time; instead, a dark barrier suddenly rose from Lin Xiyue's shadow, completely blocking the water column.

Lin Xiyue stood there motionless for such a short time. After all, she was just an ordinary person who had not received any training. How could she possibly react to so many things in an instant?

The next second, Lin Xiyue closed her eyes and fainted.

Everyone except Lin Xiyue saw a cat's shadow rise from her shadow.

After rising, the shadow cat possessively enveloped Lin Xiyue, completely catching her as she fainted. Then, the shadow cat slowly opened its eyes; they were dark green eyes, appearing unfathomable in the scene.

"!!!"

The moment Liu Meng saw those eyes, he began to struggle violently, desperately trying to get away from there. Unfortunately, because of the previous beating, he had no chance to escape.

"No, don't eat me!!"

Liu Meng cried out, her voice trembling with sobs.

"Well--"

Before Liu Meng could utter another word of pleading for mercy, Shadow covered his mouth.

"Shh—she's asleep, be quiet, okay?"

The shadow cat didn't make a sound, but its meaning was accurately conveyed to the minds of everyone present.

"Wait, wait a minute. We need to leave one alive!"

Seeing that the shadow cat was devouring Liu Meng, he suppressed his fear and spoke up to stop it.

Shadow Cat looked at Lingji, then at Lin Xiyue in his arms, and finally nodded to Lingji.

"I'm going back soon. I'll take care of everything for you. You take her back and let her get some rest."

After Shadow Cat transmitted this message to Lingji's mind, it released Liu Meng, whom it had devoured.

At this point, Liu Meng only had his head and chest above his waist left. Shadow Cat even kindly sealed up the parts of Liu Meng that might bleed, forcibly saving his life.

"Alright, then—you can hand Lin Xiyue over to me."

"!!!"

"Ah, I mean I'll take her to a safer place."

Lingji felt a strong threat as soon as she uttered her first words, and out of a survival instinct, she quickly changed her words.

Shadow Cat nodded and placed Lin Xiyue in Lingji's arms.

He lingered reluctantly around Lin Xiyue's body, and slowly, with obvious reluctance, he retreated back into Lin Xiyue's shadow.

After Lingji took Lin Xiyue, he stayed where he was and watched the whole process.

"Is this possessiveness too strong?! Does Lin Xiyue know about this?"

Lingji thought to herself, but she knew she would be overheard, so she didn't say it aloud.

……

"Lingji! What happened? Are you all alright?!"

Lingyan's tense voice came from the front line; he had run back frantically.

"It's alright, it's been resolved, don't worry."

Lingji noticed Lingyan approaching and immediately comforted him.

"Phew, that's good. ...Um...what's this? What happened?"

When Lingyan arrived, he discovered Liu Meng lying on the ground, along with the wounded soldiers slumped around him.

……