The Most Random System

The white cat nodded, then meowed again, this time with a clear warning tone, its body slightly retreating.

Almost at the instant the white cat finished meowing, the nearby bushes suddenly shook, and a shadow sprang out.

Indeed, it was Bai Bufan, a dog that resembled a Chinese stray dog mix, its fur hard to discern in the dark, of medium build.

The dog initially intended to bare its teeth at the cats provoking it, but upon seeing a person alongside the three cats, it froze, then immediately turned and ran. It stopped only after reaching a distance it deemed safe.

"Hello, can I talk to you?" Lin Li called out to it.

The dog didn’t react particularly strangely, it merely retreated another step.

It seemed it didn’t understand what he was saying,

"Can you guys communicate with it verbally?" Lin Li looked down at the three cats, "Or is it just based on habit and tone, like how you treat humans?"

Shaking their heads and then nodding, apparently it was the latter.

There are language barriers between different species, too.

He couldn’t use the cat as a medium to communicate with other animals.

Since it was unrelated to his task, Lin Li decided to ignore the dog.

Lin Li crouched down: "Perhaps I was unclear earlier. My main point was to focus on ’humans.’ Have any humans ever bullied you?"

Worried that the three cats might misunderstand the concept of bullying, Lin Li added, "I mean a relatively serious kind of bullying, like maliciously causing injury."

The three cats looked at each other, seemingly communicating.

The white cat was the first to shake its head, appearing a bit bewildered, followed by the cow-patterned cat shaking its head.

The orange cat was busy licking its paws and paid no attention.

It seemed they hadn’t faced serious malicious harm from humans as Lin Li described.

This wasn’t surprising at all.

Though there certainly exist cat abusers, they usually hide their actions, making encounters rare.

Moreover, these three cats were healthy and even friendly towards humans, which clearly wasn’t the condition of abused cats.

"Then," Lin Li changed his approach, speaking gently, "Do any of your other cat friends know anyone who has been bullied by humans? Beaten, or deliberately harmed?"

This time, the orange and cow-patterned cats seemed unaware, but the white cat nodded.

"Can you take me to meet those cats?"

"Meow~"

The three cats exchanged glances, their subsequent meows sounding weaker.

While such cats did exist, they weren’t aware of their current location?

With this thought, Lin Li raised an eyebrow, asking another question: "Wait, do you have a ’Big Cat’? Someone who is the boss of the area, holding authority, and most knowledgeable about the surroundings?"

——Lin Li realized that it might be more suitable and efficient to find the ’Big Cat’ of the area directly, rather than communicating with these three cats.

All three cats nodded in unison.

"Then, if possible, could you take me to meet this Big Cat? With it as a medium, I can better help you guys, is that okay?"

Seeing no objections from the cats, Lin Li stood up, gesturing for them to lead the way.

The three cats immediately sprang into action, elegantly leading the way ahead, through sparse bushes and scattered stones.

This time, they ventured quite a distance, actually leaving the park area.

So much so that Lin Li decided to carry the three cats, asking them to guide him as he hurried along, to save time.

Three minutes later, guided by the cats, Lin Li and the three cats arrived in front of a semi-hidden natural cat shelter made from a dilapidated wooden box and waterproof cloth.

The white cat in his arms landed, and meowed twice towards the crevice in the box.

Silence inside.

The white cat raised its volume and meowed again.

"Grrrr—!!!"

A hoarse, deep growl, full of irritability and impatience.

Even Lin Li could sense the intense dissatisfaction and warning of having its territory disturbed in the voice.

Impressive, very spirited!

The three cats, ears flat against their heads, tails drooping.

From the shadows of the box crevice emerged a larger-than-them all tabby cat, its fur patchy, physique lean but with a sturdy frame.

Its eyes sparkled with ghostly green light in the dim light, carrying lingering anger, throat rolling with threatening growls.

Yet, as its menacing gaze swept over the three timid cats and finally landed on Lin Li standing behind them—

That fierce expression slightly froze.

The next instant, like a miraculous switch had been flipped—

"Meow~~w~~~"

First lesson in urban survival—

Puffing up before other cats, meowing placidly before humans!