Chapter 5: 005
Once you have made your decision, all that remains is action.
I spent two days researching and understanding the cat's lifestyle patterns.
After careful analysis, I came to one conclusion.
'He is truly an emperor.'
I guarantee you that the captain of this ship will be less comfortable than that cat.
I saw the crew for 6 days and most of them had a below average standard of living. For example, if you look at the meal menu, it focuses on foods that have no advantage other than being cheap, such as artificial meat and genetically modified grains.
'On the other hand, that cat only eats meat every day, thanks to its good relationship with its owner.'
That is, fresh raw meat slaughtered on the same day.
The ship has an agricultural area responsible for farming and ranching. This place exists to provide high-class cuisine to high-ranking officials within the ship or VIPs from outside, but it only serves the precious meat to cats and other items.
'If you look at that, Yujin Kisaragi is not an ordinary person.'
Maybe it's Prime Capital, a Martian noble, or Noble Capital, the top tier of Megacorp. Both are the core ruling class of Megacorp, each exerting control over the planet.
'They're troublesome people.'
Both classes have extremely high self-esteem, and if they have a grudge, they never forget it. They are cruel people who do not forget even the slightest grievance and always take revenge dozens or hundreds of times later. Because of that, I had a hard time playing games.
Even if I kill someone else instead of Kisaragi Yujin and escape the ship, she won't forget me. They will find me somehow and try to kill me.
'One more reason to die.'
Anyway, the status of the owner aside, the key is how to kill that cat.
"Meow."
The cat opened its mouth wide and yawned, as if it was bored. Looking at the guy rolling around on the top-of-the-line cushion, there was nothing like this.
This is Yujin Kisaragi's bedroom.
Right now I'm in an air vent connected to the wall near the bedroom floor. I've been watching that lazy guy through the wire mesh since a while ago, and seeing him lounging around makes me sigh.
'It looks dull, so it shouldn't be difficult to kill it.'
Unlike dogs, cats are animals that have not lost their wild habits despite being domesticated. They are also naturally excellent hunters.
So, I expected that it would be a difficult opponent for me, who is only a hatchling. Of course, I wouldn't lose if I fought, but I thought that a lot of blood loss was inevitable.
But when I saw him in person, I was worried for no reason. When I saw that fat belly, all I could think was that it was delicious rather than that it would taste bad.
'The problem is that you're too lazy.'
He spent most of the day on that cushion. Except when eating or going for a walk in the garden with its owner, it did not move at all.
'But I can't kill him right here.'
The funny thing is, the security here is better than the cargo bay.
On the outside, the ventilation shaft I was standing in was no different from any other place.
However, if you look at it with your extra senses, you can tell that the owner of the bedroom is concerned about security to the point of appearing paranoid. This is because laser signals installed throughout the area monitor illegal intruders.
What if I enter the room? The AI will immediately notify the guards standing outside the door that an unfamiliar visitor has entered.
'Then I'm finished right away.'
There is no need to use a gun. If the guard kicks me, my intestines will explode and I will die.
'I'm stuck here.'
The cat itself seemed easy, but the process of approaching it was unexpectedly more difficult. I got irritated and inadvertently started wagging my tail loudly.
'this!'
The cat's ears perked up as its tail made a sound against the passage wall.
"Nyaang?"
The cat jumped up and ran straight to where I was. For someone obese, his movements were quite agile.
The cat's body collided with the wire mesh and the laser signal activated.
I can feel the guards outside the door getting the signal and stiffening their bodies. You shouldn't be here anymore.
I glared at the guy scratching the wire mesh and left the place. As soon as I left there, guards came into the room.
"what? "What came in?"
"Tsk, the cat is being mean again."
"also?"
"Ugh, just do that!"
Leaving behind the grumbling voices of the guards, I returned to the nest.
'I can't believe I made such a mistake.'
My life was almost in danger. I've never made a mistake like this when I was wagging my tail because I was annoyed.
Was my cozy nest eating away at my heart? It may be that the body has become less sensitive to stimulation because it has become more comfortable.
'I'm crazy to attract attention with my tail… no wait.'
While I was blaming myself, something occurred to me.
Fragments of ideas randomly popped out one by one. I organized the thoughts that came to me at random, step by step, like putting together a puzzle.
'The reaction of the guards who stimulated the guy who looked bored.'
The key keywords are these three.
I finally figured out how to attack him.
–
Cat Caesar was spending some time on the cushion today as well.
He couldn't believe it when he found out that he would have to leave his hometown and end up in a piece of metal with a foul smell.
He solemnly scolded Yujin Kisaragi, the owner who fed him, but she only looked apologetic and ignored his opinion.
Caesar was very disappointed, but his suffering did not end there. The bed was very uncomfortable and the food was poor.
For him, who had lived his entire life eating the highest quality beef and freshly caught fish, the meals served on the ship were unbearable.
How could it be that he, a glutton, fasted for a day?
Because the owner knelt down and begged him earnestly, he had no choice but to eat poor quality meat.
Soon, Caesar adapted perfectly to the new environment, ignoring his initial resistance. This was because life on a ship with little change suited his lazy personality.
Caesar stretched out in boredom. Although he found it annoying to move, he did not lack the curiosity of a cat.
I wonder if something interesting will happen.
As he was thinking that, a rustling sound reached his ears.
When I looked up and checked, it was a sound coming from beyond the passage where the wind came in. Come to think of it, a strange being came out of there not long ago and caught his attention.
Caesar slowly got up. Last time, I was so hasty that I missed the unidentified being.
I approached cautiously, determined not to miss this time. As he approached the entrance to the passage, a small object caught his eye.
It was a cockroach with half its body cut off. Even though it had no hope of survival, the bug was writhing in an attempt to escape.
Upon seeing this, Caesar felt his long-dormant predator instinct awaken. He hit the bug without realizing it.
Caesar, who had crushed a cockroach with his paw, felt an unfamiliar emotion.
It was a fun feeling. His little brain was filled with thoughts of how he wished he had more toys.
Caesar saw another bug beyond the wire mesh. He was discouraged. Last time I touched the wire mesh, it didn't budge.
Feeling disappointed, I tapped the wire mesh, but surprisingly, I got a different result this time.
The wire mesh had fallen forward.
He smiled and crawled into the passage to catch bugs.
"Hey, is it ringing again?"
"It must be a cat. "It's annoying, but let's go in later."
"Well, where can the cat go? "We are protecting it like this."
Because Caesar was a cat, he didn't understand what the guards were talking about outside.
Even if he understood, it would have been of no use because he was distracted by the bugs.
A bright light came into his eyes as he followed the insects scattered across the passage. I followed the light and found an open hallway.
"Nyaang?"
When I came out into the hallway and looked around, I saw that Caesar had never been to a place before.
He wondered if he should go back now, but the sight of the bug again paralyzed his reason.
Behind the insect corpse, there was a dark space with its mouth wide open, contrasting with the light of the hallway. Caesar jumped into the space without fear.
That place was a cargo bay.
–
'It's coming.'
I was hiding on top of the container, looking down at him. That stupid cat followed the bugs into the cargo hold without any suspicion.
'Can't you just say I'm stupid?'
The cat simply followed its instincts.
For animals, instinct is such an absolute thing.
Even if it has been domesticated by humans, wild genes still remain in its body. The genes of hunters and predators.
"Meow."
He gets closer to the container. I prepared to pounce on him.
Blood flow becomes faster than usual due to tension. The thick, flexible tail on its tail screams that it can be stabbed at any time.
The muscles that make up the four pairs of legs contracted and the body posture lowered, indicating that it was ready for battle.
While my body was being prepared, my faithful servant, the auxiliary sense, was calculating the best time to attack at his master's command.
Aimov's unique transcendental vision penetrated beyond the dark cargo hold and glared directly at the cat. As a result of observing the movement of the cat's muscles and bones and the cat's habits, it was found that the cat's right eye had lower vision than its left eye.
"Nyaang?"
The guy turns his head to the left. With his poor eyesight, he can't find me hiding in the dark.
Now is your chance.
My body floats in the air using my tightly bent legs as propulsion.
I don't use my wings on purpose because they make noise. To quickly approach it, it is enough to rely on the power of gravity.
The distance between him and the guy quickly narrows.
The cat's ears perk up when it hears the sound of the wind. The guy's head turns towards me and his pupils widen greatly. I can feel his body sensing a crisis and tensing up.
But it was too late.
My tail became the assassin's arrow and pierced the guy's side. The poison, enough to instantly paralyze an adult, spread through the animal's blood vessels and throughout its body. There was no way that a creature with a much smaller body than a human could withstand the paralyzing poison. Within seconds of being hit by the poisonous needle, the boy's heart stopped.
The hunt was successful.
I fell to the floor, stepped on the motionless booty, and let out a low roar.
The predator's shout of victory echoed throughout the cargo hold, and the occupants trembled in fear and awe.
'good. Let's eat it now.'
Now that the ceremony has been successfully completed, it is time to check the rewards. I took a bite of the cat corpse.
'hmm?!'
The texture, which was completely different from that of bugs and calorie bars, struck my mind.
First, the warm blood characteristic of mammals flowed into my mouth. Before I could even savor the sweet taste of blood, chewy muscles and delicious fat rushed into my mouth, mercilessly toying with my taste buds.
It's so shocking that you literally feel like your spine is being sucked out.
I thought cockroach and spider calorie bars were worth eating, but I was completely wrong.
The sense of 'delicious' refers to this feeling.
I barely held on to my trembling legs and bit the cat one more time.
'crazy.'
It wasn't an illusion. It tasted so good that I could just eat cat meat until I died. With my poor vocabulary, it was difficult to explain how delicious cats are.
I didn't think about anything and just concentrated on eating the meat.
It took less than five minutes for the corpse of a cat larger than me to disappear.
'Tsk.'
I chewed down to the bones and licked every drop of blood that spilled on the floor to satisfy my appetite.
As I cooled off after a frantic meal, I could understand why Amov was crazy about meat.
'Because it's fucking delicious.'
The taste is so admirable that I can't help but curse.
Aside from the goal of collecting genetic essence, if the meat was this delicious, it was worth going out of your way to search for it.
As I was licking the flesh and blood from my front leg in regret, a text box suddenly came to mind.
"Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired the 'Wild Instinct' gene essence.」
「Taken away the 'Wild Instinct' among the creature characteristics of the 'Cat'.」
「Would you like to apply the 'Wild Instinct'?」
'Oh?'
Eating meat feels good, but on top of that, you get genetic essence. It was my first time eating it and I didn't know I would get the genetic essence from it.
'It's a wild instinct. It's a trait I've never seen before.'
Since this was my first time eating a cat, I didn't even know it had special properties. I don't know what effect it had, but there was no harm in having it, so I clicked accept.
「The 'Wild Instinct' trait has been applied. 」
「Can be fused with the existing 'Extra Sensory' trait. 」
「The 'Wild Instinct' and 'Extra Sensory' traits are fused. Evolved into the 'Predator Sense' trait! 」
「Predator Sense: The 'Extra-Sense' trait is strengthened. Based on the information you have, you can detect threats that will occur in the near future in advance.
*PS: A good hunter knows how to read the future. 」
'Huh?'
I was speechless when I saw the text box.