Purrfect Romance

Fenix was delighted with his new awakened form. The damp wind rushed through the courtyard, blowing Fenix, who was staring at his reflection in a puddle, over.

The unfamiliar little kitty was tossed around like tumbleweed, rolling from one end of the porch to halfway across.

Then he was picked up by Lion.

Fenix was bewildered.

He couldn't believe it as he looked down at his four paws and large tail.

Just a gust of wind! Just a gust of wind?? Just a gust of wind blew me away?!

Fenix was completely stunned.

Lion was also taken aback for a moment.

It was the first time he'd seen an awakened individual blown away by the wind.

Fenix was being held by Lion, still swaying from the wind.

Lion: "..." Fenix: "?!"

Ugh! This is not the awakening I imagined!

Fenix was simply astonished.

A great awakened being, blown away by the wind! Where would my reputation as the basketball prince of Marina City University go if this got out!

Fenix turned to look at Lion, trying to gauge whether this situation was normal from Lion's expression.

Lion's brow twitched, drawing out his words: "Your situation—"

Fenix looked at him expectantly.

Lion laughed: "It's quite rare."

Fenix: "..."

What are you laughing at!

Fenix felt incredibly daring!

He dared to curse at Lion in his mind!

Lion looked at the frantic kicking of Fenix in his hands, opened the door, and set him down on the ground.

Fenix walked into the house with unfamiliar steps, one paw landing on the soft carpet.

The house was much larger than he had imagined.

Fenix recalled the introduction in the projection; this house could easily accommodate a dozen people.

Lion looked at the bodyguard: "His terminal."

Fenix saw the bodyguard pull out his terminal and connect it with a cable.

With a few gestures that Fenix couldn't understand, the terminal, which he couldn't authenticate due to the fingerprint lock, was cracked open.

Fenix: ???

How did you become so proficient at this!

Fenix mewed, sounding very anxious.

Lion: "You can't authenticate with fingerprints, so I helped crack it."

He used to be involved in shady dealings, caring only about results, not means. Now that he had gone legit, he still wasn't overly concerned with methods.

Fenix's anxiousness amused him.

Lion waved the terminal: "So eager?"

Fenix nodded, standing up and reaching out with his front paw to hook the terminal: "Mew!"

Lion slightly raised the terminal, teasing him: "Secrets?"

Fenix froze, then mewed louder, struck by his own secret.

Lion's brow twitched: "Really secrets."

"Mew!"

Yes!

I have a huge secret in my terminal!

It would scare you to death!

There are hundreds of thousands of Athenas plotting against you daily!

Are you scared?

Lion didn't feel scared at all.

After having his fun teasing the cat, he returned the terminal to Fenix.

The terminal was hung around the cat's neck.

Fortunately, terminals nowadays were lightweight like bracelets, otherwise Fenix wouldn't have been able to manage it.

Lion looked at the time and told Fenix: "Pick a room."

Without hesitation, Fenix chose the room on the second floor with a large terrace.

The bodyguard carried the cat and the backpack upstairs.

Lion retracted his gaze, swiping his own terminal and having his AI search through the information on Fenix's terminal.

The bodyguard, who was very skilled, had installed a small gadget while cracking Fenix's terminal.

It was a monitoring tool for messages and calls, but not a full surveillance program.

It would trigger alerts based on keywords like Lion's name and some of his secrets.

In the modern star citizen era, a terminal was bound to a person for life, making it easy to investigate someone's data if one wished.

Given Lion's special status, everyone he interacted with was subject to scrutiny.

Lion saw that recent data was minimal, but there was a spike in keyword occurrences when Fenix was fourteen.

Lion's face darkened as he saw the frequency of terms like "Lion" and "Lionheart Pirate Fleet."

He tapped to view the details.

He discovered that Fenix wasn't fixated solely on him but had also researched a lot of top-tier awakened individuals.

At fourteen, it was a time when one could prepare for awakening.

And Fenix's record...

Lion shifted his gaze to the displayed resume interface.

It stated that Fenix had failed to awaken when he was fourteen.

It seemed he was just a typical adolescent with a fascination for awakened beings.

He wasn't special to Fenix.

Lion let out a sigh of relief but felt a subtle dissatisfaction.

He frowned, burying this discomfort and stood up.

The waiting driver hurried forward: "Boss?"

Lion glanced at the bodyguard coming downstairs: "Go to the new headquarters."

The driver acknowledged and ran out to start the car.

Lion walked to the porch, paused, and turned to look at the closed door.

The bodyguard was quick-witted: "Boss, problem?"

"Move my stuff..." Lion paused, then changed his mind, "to the manor in the eastern suburbs."

"Understood, Boss."

Strange.

Lion got into the car.

He almost wanted to move directly here, to live with the little one.

His intuition told him it would be very pleasing.

—but his condition didn't allow it.

This kid was fragile enough to be blown away by a gust of wind. If he had an episode, Fenix would probably die right there.

Lion irritably took off his expensive suit jacket, crumpled it, and tossed it aside.

...

On the soft bed upstairs, Fenix was ecstatically bouncing around, completely unaware that he had narrowly escaped several disasters.

He bounced happily on the bed and then realized the bodyguard had disappeared sometime earlier.

Fenix immediately tensed up.

He didn't have access to the house yet!

Fenix hurriedly rolled off the bed, walked to the door, and was about to scratch it when it opened.

This meant he was already listed as a resident of the house.

Fenix poked his head out of the room, looked downstairs, and found the whole house quiet except for the sound of rain outside.

Fenix was stunned.

Lion left?

Makes sense.

Who was Lion, to waste time on a nobody?

Fenix grumbled inwardly but then grinned widely!

Lion left!

That's even better!

This big house!

The soft carpet!

The spacious yard!

All mine to play in!

Fenix was overjoyed.

He hopped around, adapting to his new body, and searched for the house's control panel.

Most manors were equipped with functional robots.

He couldn't possibly expect to handle lawn care, cleaning, organizing, and cooking as a little kitty!

Fenix spent two hours practicing walking and running, achieving satisfactory results.

Though he still lost control and fell flat on his face in a bipedal manner when in a hurry, he was beyond the stage of rolling everywhere.

Not bad for me!

Fenix proudly leaped onto the desk and finally found the control panel chip.

The manor had all the necessary robots.

Fenix fumbled around on the control panel and managed to get his dinner out.

Then he held his terminal in his mouth and opened the search engine.

He found a post by an awakened individual sharing their experiences.

It detailed daily life and training content at an awakening school.

Coincidentally, the poster was also a cat.

Initially, Fenix had planned to rent a cheap room to endure the unstable period lasting three months to half a year.

As for how to learn and survive...

He relied on the highly developed internet.

Fenix sat solemnly on the desk and opened the post.

—This was his first step as an awakened individual!

[Life Sharing] Life Record of a Feline Awakened Individual at the Imperial Capital Beginner Awakening School~

Lesson 1: Feline socializing starts with grooming.

The teacher said that as awakened individuals, we must adapt to all behaviors of our awakened forms.

In feline socialization, the boss needs to groom all the subordinates.

Then a bunch of big, small, and miniature felines rolled together, grooming each other for a whole class.

Fenix: ? Fenix: ?? Fenix: ???

What the...?!! Garbage classes!

Fenix wore an expression of shock.

You guys learn this stuff in awakening schools?! Shouldn't we be punching the elderly and kicking the young, learning hardcore military and political content?! The investigation on career paths for awakened individuals shows a 98% rate of choosing military or politics!

Fenix scrolled down and found that the content summarized in the post was essentially "How to Become a Cat."

Fenix's shock gradually escalated from "what the...?" to "what the family."

Fenix was silent for a long time.

No, this can't be true! It must be the wrong post!

Fenix rallied his spirits and searched for posts by other types of awakened individuals.

Sadly, he found posts titled "How to Become a Dog/Goose/Elephant/Cheetah," etc., all over the internet.

Beginner courses were uniformly these kinds, and advanced courses weren't shared anywhere online.

Fenix closed the post, feeling exhausted.

This is nothing like what I imagined awakened individuals to be!

Fenix clung to his shattered dreams for three seconds and then opened his social account.

He couldn't disappear, needed to greet his roommates, report his safety, and fabricate a reason for moving out.

However, upon opening his social account, he saw a friend request from Lion.

He looked suspiciously at the new friend.

The profile picture was the logo of Lion Corp., Clean Energy.

Fenix thought for a moment and sent a question mark.

Lion, sitting in the car, felt his impatience growing.

Today's traffic jam caused by Athena's concert was severe, especially in the city center, with congestion both on the ground and in the airspace.

The bodyguard and driver in front were silent, not daring to utter a word, afraid of triggering Lion's fragile state.

At this moment, they missed the little one who had been chatting with Boss earlier, distracting him from the traffic.

Just as they thought this, Lion's terminal flashed.

The bodyguard, seeing the movement in the rearview mirror, sent a prayer for the sender.

Boss was in a bad mood.

Good luck.

Surprisingly, Lion's frown lifted when he saw the message, and instead of anger, he showed a hint of amusement. His frustration vanished instantly.

Lion: [?] Fenix: [Mr. Lion? Is it really you?] Lion: [Has anyone impersonated me?] Ah, it's Lion himself. Probably added during the terminal cracking.

Fenix: [No, just confirming.] After replying, Fenix searched his contacts but found no one else to answer his questions about awakened individuals.

Except Lion.

Fenix hesitated.

He felt Lion treated him well and was easy to talk to.

If he didn't know about Lion's past and his mental instability, he would've joined Lion's team right away.

Fenix hesitated for a while but finally messaged Lion.

Fenix: [Mr. Lion, I searched online for beginner courses at awakening schools, and they're all like this.] Fenix: [Shared webpage] Fenix: [Shared webpage] Fenix: [Can't find advanced courses, I don't know if this is real...]

Lion skimmed through the webpages.

Lion: [Beginner courses are indeed like this. Advanced courses are confidential and not allowed to be published.]

Fenix: ??? No way, it's actually like this?? Did awakening cause not only physiological changes but also a split in your mind??

Fenix: [Are these beginner courses... really useful?] Do I really need to learn this?

Fenix wrestled with his thoughts.

Lion replied straightforwardly: [Not really. They are used to familiarize oneself with the body functions. The current educational philosophy emphasizes learning through fun.]

Fenix breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Then he posed a soul-searching question to Lion.

Fenix: [Did you also take these beginner courses?]

Lion paused briefly, then expressionlessly closed the terminal.