Send.
The infirmary fell silent for a few seconds.
Su Yu could feel Kevin's gaze burning holes into the back of his head. That look was probably confirming whether his brain had also been damaged in the fall.
Then, the phone vibrated.
[Kevin: ?]
Just a question mark. A massive, confusion-filled question mark. Kevin probably thought he was mentally unstable.
Su Yu coughed and braced himself to continue typing an explanation.
[Su Yu: It's the kind of... device that can temporarily disable a cat's ability to move in a critical moment.]
[Su Yu: Like a shock collar with a remote function, or an anesthetic syringe or something. That cat is too wild; if it gets triggered, it could really cost human lives.]
Kevin stared at the screen, sinking into a long silence. About half a minute passed before a new message popped up.
[Kevin: Su Yu.]
[Kevin: The cat you saved.]
[Kevin: Is it decent? Or rather... is it the kind of creature that walks on four legs?]
[Kevin: That's a tiger, right?]
"Pfft—"
Su Yu couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing, which tugged at the wound on the corner of his mouth, causing him to grimace in pain again.
He looked up and saw a complex expression on Kevin's stoic face—a mix of "I don't understand," "Greatly shocked," and "You're into some wild stuff."
"I'll explain later." Su Yu waved his hand guiltily and added another sentence.
[Su Yu: Special breed. Really... a cat that fell from the sky. If I don't control it, my house might be torn to ruins.]
Kevin stared at the phrase "cat that fell from the sky" on the phone screen for a full three seconds.
He raised his head, glanced at the white-haired girl chatting with Mei not far away, then looked down at Su Yu's leg, which was wrapped like a zongzi dumpling.
Forget it. If he couldn't ask, he wouldn't ask.
With so many years of friendship, he knew Su Yu too well. If there was something this guy didn't want to talk about, you couldn't pry it out of him even with a knife to his neck. But conversely, if he was willing to ask for help, then he genuinely needed it.
Kevin put away his phone and walked over to Mei.
"Mei."
Mei was chatting with Kiana about recently popular arithmetic problems—though it was mostly Mei talking and Kiana listening. Hearing the greeting, she walked over with some confusion.
"What's wrong? Is there an issue with Su Yu's injury?"
"No, the injury is fine. It's a... strange request. Come here for a second."
"Okay."
The two walked to the corner of the infirmary, and Kevin lowered his voice.
"Su Yu has a favor to ask of you."
"What favor?"
"He said..." Kevin paused, feeling that what he was about to say was simply too ridiculous. "He said he wants you to make an Anti-Cat Scratch Artifact."
Mei blinked. For a moment, she thought she had misheard.
"What artifact?"
"It's just... a device that can make a living creature lose the ability to move in a critical moment." Kevin felt his tongue getting a bit tied. "Like... a shock collar."
Mei fell silent.
As the top scientist here, her brain circuits obviously spun faster than Kevin's, and were more... divergent. Her gaze bypassed Kevin and landed precisely on Su Yu, who was sitting in the chair with his head down, pretending to be dead. Then it drifted to the white-haired girl who had been following Su Yu closely, never leaving his side.
"He got a cat?"
"Don't know."
"What breed of cat needs a shock collar? A tiger?"
"I asked that too," Kevin's expression was somewhat subtle. "He said it was a cat that fell from the sky."
Another bout of silence.
Mei raised her hand and rubbed her temples. The amount of information in this conversation was simply a bit too much. Her intuition told her there was definitely some hidden situation Su Yu couldn't conveniently disclose. That girl named Kiana, those inexplicable injuries, and this ridiculous request...
"Alright. Although this request sounds full of some kind of... cough, special fetish, I can do it." She reverted to that professional tone.
"I need specific parameters—the target's weight, tolerance levels. And, what degree of incapacitation is expected? Brief dizziness? Muscle relaxation? Or complete paralysis? Any history of heart disease?"
Kevin was stunned. "You're not going to ask why?"
"Would you two tell the truth if I asked?"
"...Probably not."
"Then that settles it." Mei shrugged. "You two have been like this since university, partners in crime. But since Su Yu asked, it means it's a necessity."
She turned to look at Su Yu. Su Yu happened to look up, meeting Mei's wise eyes. He guiltily made a "Please" gesture, his face piled with a fawning smile.
Mei sighed and nodded at him.
What was this? The tacit understanding of accomplices?
Kevin's expression was a bit complex. "Mei, sometimes I really feel you treat that guy Su Yu too well."
"Right back at you." Mei raised an eyebrow. "Who was chatting with him so fervently on the phone just now? And acting as his messenger?"
Kevin opened his mouth, finding himself speechless.
Not far away, Kiana quietly watched all of this.
She couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, but she could see the atmosphere. That kind of... atmosphere where they would trust and help each other unconditionally, even without saying a word.
She saw the woman named Mei, whose eyes held no suspicion toward her, only concern. She saw the man named Kevin, who, despite his cold face, had been helping Su Yu handle his troubles just now.
Su Yu made a gesture, then smiled with relief.
So... this is what friends are.
No need to explain too much, no need to prove anything. As long as you ask, they will help.
Kiana subconsciously tightened her grip on the hem of her clothes. In that world, she had friends like this too. Mei, Bronya, Himeko, Theresa... She thought she would never possess such things again in this lifetime.
But now, in this strange world, this ordinary person named Su Yu seemed to be retrieving these things for her, bit by bit.
"Hey, what are you standing there stupidly for? Cosplaying a sculpture?"
Su Yu's voice came from the side.
The familiar voice interrupted her thoughts. Su Yu had stood up at some point, one hand resting on Kevin's shoulder for leverage. He was grinning at her, a smile so brilliant it didn't look like someone who had just experienced life and death at all.
"Let's go, time to go home."
His tone was relaxed, as if nothing had happened.
"We haven't had our late-night snack yet. We agreed earlier, order whatever you want tonight, my treat. Don't think about saving me money, this is a mental damage fee."
Kiana looked at his punchable smiling face, that face that was clearly frowning slightly from pain yet still trying to act cool. Her nose felt a little sour.
But she was Kiana Kaslana; tsundere was her factory setting.
She turned her head away and huffed, her voice muffled but hiding a soft stickiness.
"...Who wants to eat your late-night snack."
She walked over, but very naturally supported Su Yu's other arm, letting him lean his weight on her.
"If we're eating, we're eating. You think I'm scared of you?"
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