Chapter 433: Impossible!

Chapter 433 Impossible!

The Cindy in reality was even more beautiful than her summoned projection.

Perhaps due to the limitations of Aisli’s strength, or perhaps because of Cindy’s own limits, combined with the inevitable depletion inherent to a soul projection, the projected beasts always carried a sense of haziness.

In reality, there was no such loss; every detail could be clearly presented, and Cindy's beauty was the culmination of these individual details stacking up, where a quantitative change led to a qualitative transformation.

No wonder she was used as a sacred beast during sacrifices, or rather, she could also be called a ceremonial beast.

Upon seeing the true body, an urge to raise one arose within Karen's heart.

If he acquired a manor to live in later on, pushing open the window upon waking every morning and seeing Cindy flying above the green lawn would keep one in a very good mood for the entire day.

But on second thought, with a cat and a dog already at home, raising another pet would become somewhat unaffordable.

Aisli opened the door beneath the enclosure, and Karen walked inside with her.

Cindy’s relatively large body leaned against the opposite wall of the enclosure; she must be deeply regretting in her heart right now why she had set up such a cage to confine herself, for without this layer of containment, she would have flown away long ago.

"Cindy, come here, come on over," Aisli called out.

Cindy expressed her refusal.

She used to think this girl was quite cute when she was a child, and even after she became an intern researcher here, she still thought she was cute, but of all times, after going out to participate in some selection,

She! Was! No! Longer! Cute!

Yet as Karen actively walked toward her, she had nowhere left to hide, feeling that if she took flight again, the other party would likely drag her right back down.

She believed this young man before her was entirely capable of doing such a thing.

Kevin was not particularly interested in Cindy; instead, he wandered over to her massive food bowl on his own, which was large enough to serve as a bathtub for a golden retriever.

He leaned down to take a bite, then spat it out, sticking out his tongue—it tasted terrible.

Kevin was not as picky about his diet as Purr; he would not drink coffee or have afternoon tea like Purr did, and basically ate whatever the family ate, though in reality, the dining conditions in Karen’s house were far above the average level of the entire City of York.

"Cindy, be good, don't be afraid," Aisli continued to soothe her.

Cindy remained trembling, right up until Karen walked up to her, looking at her with a calm gaze.

Cindy folded her wings and lowered her head; in the subconscious depths, she felt that the young man before her exuded a majesty that made her feel very comfortable.

Yes, comfortable.

Her ancestors had been bred for generations to serve as decorations for the various sacrificial celebrations of the Church of Order, and over time, her lineage had naturally become tainted with a hint of the aura of Order.

Though this shift did not influence much, and she remained a relatively weak magical beast.

But at this moment, she perceived a sense of affinity radiating from Karen, because after being order-infused, Karen possessed only the purest aura of Order, a fact that had already been proven during his physical examination.

This rational resistance and emotional affinity nearly drove Cindy to distraction.

Karen’s hand brushed against Cindy’s feathers; they were very soft.

"Captain, I have some of Cindy’s feathers collected from before at my place, they can be used to make pillows."

Karen asked, "What about a blanket?"

"That works too, it'll be enough if I pluck a bit more from Cindy."

Cindy: "..."

After sitting with Cindy for a short while, Karen and Aisli walked out.

Cindy collapsed onto the ground, wearing an expression of ultimate deliverance.

"What used to be your responsibility here?" Karen asked.

"I lived here when I was a child, playing with the magical beasts, some of them have very gentle temperaments, and after I obtained the qualification of an intern researcher, I began to take on some feeding work."

"Living here must have been very happy, right?"

"Yes, it's very fun here, very interesting, though it might be because I've lived here so long that the feeling isn't as profound anymore, just like what you said, Captain, happiness comes from contrast."

"Did I say that?"

"You did, I remember it."

"Alright then."

Next, Karen arrived at Mombas’s cage.

His cage was very large, with three additional layers of cages capping the exterior, which also displayed his status; only beasts with formidable strength and strong aggressiveness could enjoy the treatment of multiple cages, well, except for Cindy.

"Can the door be opened?" Karen asked.

"I can open it, I know my father’s lock-breaking rune, but Father has never allowed me to approach Mombas alone."

Mombas, who was originally cooling off amid a pile of ice blocks, felt a sensation and stood up; he was entirely silver-gray with blue eyes, and his gaze carried an innate ferocity.

He paced forward, and upon seeing Karen, he seemed to have his memories from before the tomb of Conges stirred up.

Karen had once helped Aisli summon him, and back then, he had originally wanted to throw a tantrum before taking action, mostly to differentiate himself from things like Cindy.

But the Thousand Charms inside Karen’s body had responded to his provocation in the most direct manner, and at the same time, he had detected the dangerous aura hidden within Karen’s body, forcing him to choose to bow his head.

Now, the true principal had arrived, standing right outside the cage.

"Open it," Karen said.

"Alright, Captain."

Aisli would not go against her captain’s will, though she still reminded him, "Captain, the him in reality is much more powerful than the phantom summoned, oh, of course, I don't think you would worry about this, Captain, but please be a tiny bit careful."

"I know."

Aisli opened the cage; for large-statured beasts, the cages were generally divided into two channels, one for the entry and exit of beasts and one for researchers, the latter being much smaller.

Karen walked inside, and the air within was not foul or pungent at all, but rather quite fresh, completely unlike a zoo.

Mombas stared intently at Karen, low growls vibrating within his throat.

Karen smiled, finding a relatively flat piece of ice to sit down on, since his divine robes were not afraid of getting wet anyway.

Mombas continued to stare at Karen.

Kevin chose this moment to wander over to Mombas’s feeding trough on his own, lowering his head to take a look, and then took a bite; Cindy's food box contained mostly fruits, whereas Mombas's place had mostly meat, looking like meatballs.

But it still didn't taste very good, though his excellent upbringing prevented him from spitting it out, and he swallowed it instead.

As he turned around, Mombas twisted his head, looking toward Kevin.

Even among humans, snatching someone else's food bowl was the ultimate taboo, let alone for a magical beast.

When Mombas faced Karen, his gaze still held a hint of restraint, but when facing Kevin the golden retriever, his eyes were filled with fury, and he even lowered his head, releasing a low growl at Kevin.

"Roar!"

The golden retriever counted as a large dog, but before Mombas, he still appeared very weak and small.

Yet, Kevin showed no trace of fear, instead looking at Mombas with a gaze full of contempt:

"Woof."

Mombas froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting that a tiny dog would dare to resist his majesty, and just as he prepared to raise his paw, Karen spoke:

"That's enough."

"Roar!"

Mombas, as if finding a reason, turned his head and roared at Karen. It had held back for a long time and hesitated for just as long, but now it finally let loose its pent-up fury.

The howling wind whipped up Karen's hair.

Karen stood up. Behind him, chains of order materialized, spreading completely outward and pointing straight at Mombas.

Attached to the central chain was Qianmei, staring with an angry gaze at the creature before it that dared offend its master and its canine elder brother.

Mombas possessed an instinctive dread of Qianmei; at this moment, it took two steps back, effectively backing down.

Kevin, acting as though nothing had happened, walked back to Karen's side with light steps.

"Mombas, mind your manners."

Aisli, standing behind Karen, reprimanded Mombas.

Clearly, she lacked confidence when facing this magical beast that had been personally castrated by her father.

However, her father had not castrated it to intentionally mock it. Rare magical beasts bred in the research institute more or less carried physical illnesses and required special care and handling.

If Mombas had not been castrated back then, it would not have survived to this day, but its male pride prevented it from being reasonable about the matter.

In truth, Karen also knew that Mombas had no intention of fighting. Aside from the wind blown out during its roar just now, no storm had formed around them; when a storm wolf truly wanted to fight, it would definitely conjure a hurricane first.

It merely wanted to save some face, or rather, it simply cared more about its own image than Sindy did.

After another period of confrontation, Mombas lay down. It was not submitting to Karen, but rather looked as though it could no longer be bothered to pay attention to them.

Yet this was its cage and its territory; choosing to ignore people who had walked into its own home seemed like a form of self-deception no matter how one looked at it.

Regardless, seeing Mombas calm down allowed Aisli to breathe a long sigh of relief.

Kevin continued his strolling, arriving at the spot where Mombas had been lying earlier. It spotted an ice pool with a water outlet above, from which clean water fell, circulating over ice blocks to gather below.

The water contained the storm aura that Mombas had intentionally infused into it, and because this wolf loved cleanliness, not a single strand of fur could be found near the water source.

Kevin extended a paw and felt it, discovering that there was actually a protective barrier above. It was not sturdy, but it was enough to keep out the dust.

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!"

Kevin began to bark at Aisli.

"Huh?"

Aisli walked over.

Kevin shook the bag on its body, indicating the left pocket with its head.

Aisli reached in and pulled out a water cup. Kevin barked twice more toward the pool ahead.

"Is this for the Captain to drink?"

Aisli understood. She bent down to fetch water from the pool.

"Woof!"

"Oh, right."

Aisli went to the ice water pipe to catch the water directly, so the Captain would not have to drink from the same bowl as Mombas.

After filling it, Aisli walked over to Karen's side and asked, "Captain, do you want to try some?"

Karen did not know whether to laugh or cry. He liked drinking ice water simply because he preferred things straightforward and disliked trouble; he really had no desire to try anything fancy with ice water.

But speaking of fancy, the ice water brewed from the dark ice in Lord Dahl's cave was truly delicious, sending a pleasant chill flowing through every bone and limb.

Karen took the cup and took a sip.

It was ice-cold upon entry, which was not surprising, but perhaps because the power of the storm had been infused into the water, layers of bubbles burst at the tip of his tongue.

This taste was even more satisfying than a carbonated beverage.

If a little sugar were added, it would be the most natural Sprite.

One sip, two sips.

Karen let out a soft burp, then returned the cup to Aisli.

Driven by curiosity, Aisli also took a sip and said wonderingly, "This texture, it tastes really good."

Kevin proactively ran toward Mombas. Mombas's large head lay on the ground, its eyes open as it watched the dog approach. It exhaled a breath through its nose at it, but Kevin leaped away directly.

"Woof, woof, woof, woof."

Mombas showed a look of confusion; it could not understand.

Kevin paused, and then disappointment showed in its eyes. Losing interest instantly, it turned and walked back.

This made Mombas very uncomfortable. What was with that look?

Mombas instinctively wanted to stand up again, but it glanced at Karen sitting there and stopped its movement.

"About how much longer will it take?" Karen asked.

"I don't know, it shouldn't be too long. I'm not clear on the specifics because opportunities like this are rare. My parents usually find it hard to secure that machine to examine the magical beasts they breed themselves."

"It really is a trouble for your parents."

"No, it's because Purr is your magical beast, so your reputation played a role here."

"My reputation?"

"Yes, because the person responsible for the approval is the deputy department supervisor. He is a little bit... worldly. Purr's application was definitely submitted under the name of your magical beast."

"He can't obtain any benefits from me though."

"Consider it a form of investment. That's what my mother said. She will also come for dinner later; she specifically requested it herself."

"A female supervisor?"

"Yes, in her forties. Ah, Captain, you won't mind bringing others to dinner, will you?"

"No."

I hadn't even agreed to attend the dinner...

But now, even if he wanted to disagree, he had to agree, since Purr had received the benefit.

"Captain, do you want to go look at other places?"

Mombas pricked up its ears.

"No need, it's cool here."

Mombas lowered its ears.

...

Purr levitated as it flew out from a huge apparatus, landing on a blanket.

"Alright, it's finished."

"Rest, time to rest."

A group of staff members responsible for maintaining the apparatus left their posts one after another after this examination was completed; after all, it was time to get off work.

Santos waved goodbye to them. Strictly speaking, he was using the department's apparatus to ask the young people in the department to do a private job for him.

Selina brought out the concrete test results, and upon seeing the data, she gasped, covering her mouth in astonishment.

"What is it?" Santos asked.

"What's wrong?" Pu'er inquired.

"Oh? You're awake?" Santos was utterly surprised.

"Mm, took a midday nap, quite comfortable," Pu'er said rather languidly.

"By all accounts, you should have remained comatose for at least three days. I was even planning to prescribe you vital nutrients."

"Oh, no need to go to such trouble, I'm fine." Pu'er climbed up and looked at Selina. "Madame Selina, is there a problem?"

"A very big problem," Selina said, fixing her eyes on Pu'er.

Even now, the couple was still somewhat uncertain of what attitude to adopt toward Pu'er.

"Oh, it's alright, you can tell me the results straight. I can take the blow."

"It is like this: your... cough... Your body, according to my research, should originally have been in a state of extreme depletion."

"Mm, and then?"

"There ought to be a threshold within your body. Beyond this threshold, you can manifest different forms, much like certain shape-shifting magical beasts."

"Ah, yes, exactly."

In truth, they had it backward. Pu'er was originally human; she had inverted into a cat.

But Pu'er was not so bored as to correct them now. At any rate, this couple was quite perceptive and had always treated her with personal dignity.

"The reason you cannot transform is that there has always been a peculiar entity upon you, draining the strength you ought to have stored. To use an analogy, you are a pool, but you are also connected to a reservoir."

"I understand. You mean that because that reservoir isn't full, it's difficult for my little pool to accumulate enough to reach the passing mark?"

"Yes, precisely," Santos answered. "Our original plan was to assist you in conducting a..."

"Severance?"

Pu'er froze. You want to excise the Finger of Light from my tail?

Oh heavens, do you have any idea what level of surgery that would be!

If it were possible to completely sever its medium with her body, from flesh to soul, would she have waited until now?

"Not severance, but containment," Santos explained. "We intended to use a method to install a floodgate at the junction between your pool and that reservoir. This way, you could fill your own pool and meet the requirements for transformation."

Pu'er's eyes instantly lit up.

The current dilemma was simple: because of the existence of that Finger of Light, her recovery of strength had been long delayed, leaving her with only a shallow layer; any higher, and it would spill over into that bottomless, massive reservoir.

If a floodgate could be added, she could accumulate strength, and once she slowly recovered to a certain degree, she would be able to change back into a human!

"Heavens, you two are absolute geniuses!"

"But..." Selina hesitated.

"But what?" Pu'er pressed immediately.

"Through this examination, we discovered a circumstance we hadn't noticed before," Selina said.

"What is it?"

"That is, beside that reservoir, there is actually another reservoir. The second reservoir is also immense, and it seems to be expanding further. Based on the test data from just now, although the rate of change is low, there is a clear trend of growth when compared to the control data."

"A second reservoir, and it's still growing?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Then can the surgery still be done?" Pu'er asked.

"It cannot be done for the time being," Santos said. "If the second reservoir were static and fixed, we could calculate it in advance and simply add another floodgate during the operation; it could be done in stages. But if it is dynamically changing, we have no way to proceed."

Selina spoke up, "I surmise, have you... have you entered into a symbiotic covenant with Mr. Karen?"

"Yes, exactly."

Selina suggested, "Perhaps you could find a way to dissolve this covenant first..."

Pu'er spoke up instantly:

"Impossible!"