Chapter 363: Kitty’s Gift

The Cat Clan youth went to the Underground City’s palace.

Yu Zhizhi and the Little Octopus browsed the market together. It was incredibly crowded, and they eventually stopped in front of a shop selling flying devices.

The flying device was silver, resembling a pair of mechanical wings.

Both Yu Zhizhi and the Little Octopus were very interested in it. After seeing the shop assistant’s explanation, Yu Zhizhi bought two pairs.

This type of mechanical flying device had a moderately-sized frame and could be mounted on one’s back. With sufficient power, it could fly at low altitudes.

There was an area in the Underground City specifically for entertainment.

Yu Zhizhi strapped on the silver mechanical wings. After she pressed the switch, her body was slowly lifted into the air.

She rose to a height of about two meters at an extremely slow speed, which was perfect for a novice to experience the joy of "flying."

The Little Octopus strapped its on as well.

It followed behind her, happily enjoying the flight.

It was from the Deep Sea and had never flown before!

It felt a bit like operating a small machine, but that also required a high level of spiritual power to Control. These mechanical wings, on the other hand, were recreational tools that flew low and slow, and needed to be recharged frequently.

Yu Zhizhi played with the Little Octopus for a good while. Feeling a bit tired, she decided to take off the mechanical wings and rest for a bit.

She pressed the red button, selecting the landing option.

However, the mechanical wings seemed to malfunction, swaying from side to side in the air.

Yu Zhizhi’s body became unstable. Her face turned pale as she frantically tried to make the mechanical wings land, but the force from the device on her back became more pronounced, as if a strong gust of wind was blowing her toward a more distant place.

In the vast test-flight area, no one had yet noticed that the Rabbit Clan female’s mechanical wings had failed.

The Little Octopus was having the time of its life, flying high and low.

Suddenly, it saw that the little rabbit seemed to be in trouble and hurriedly chased after her, but it was too late—

Yu Zhizhi felt the weightlessness from the mechanical wings as her body was blown out of the safe zone as if by a great gust of wind.

"Oh no! A customer is in trouble! After them, quick!"

The shop owner was startled. He quickly called for help, and a male pigeon beastman rushed out in a panic.

Yu Zhizhi fell from the edge of something like a cliff, the mechanical wings now completely out of control...

She felt the wind whipping past her ears, her heart pounding wildly. As she plummeted downward, she could vaguely see the red Little Octopus chasing her to the edge, but its mechanical wings were restricted by the test-flight area’s boundaries and automatically corrected their course.

The Little Octopus could only jump up and down in anxiety.

In other areas of the Underground City, people saw the figure falling from the sky.

Zero, who had just come out of the palace, recognized her at once. A spirit card appeared in his hand. Just as he was about to use it, a black figure flashed past his eyes—

The black wings on the man’s back instantly unfurled. He flew into the air and steadily caught the rapidly falling body of the Rabbit Clan girl.

The crowd of onlookers erupted in gasps. "It’s the Lord!"

"The Lord is back!"

"Look! He saved a Rabbit Clan female!"

Yu Zhizhi fell into a warm embrace. She stared blankly at Dracula in front of her, her gaze falling upon his cold mask and his tense jawline.

"Th-Thank you..." she stammered.

Dracula glanced at her, then, holding her small body with one arm, he slowly flew to a safe area.

He set the Rabbit Clan girl down.

Without a word, he turned and left.

The moment he saw her falling from the sky, his body had rushed forward before his brain had time to think. By the time he came to his senses, he had already saved the Rabbit Clan female.

’...This wasn’t what I intended.’

’My body made the choice faster than my mind.’

Yu Zhizhi wanted to remove the mechanical wings. After all that chaos, they had already lost power.

The feeling of flying had been wonderful, but... it was terrifying when the machine malfunctioned. For a moment, she thought she was going to have a nasty fall.

Zero came over and helped her remove the silver mechanical wings.

"Are you okay?"

Yu Zhizhi’s face was still pale, and she was in a bit of a daze. Zero held the mechanical wings in one hand and pulled her into his embrace with the other, comforting her softly.

"It’s okay now, it’s okay."

Only then did Yu Zhizhi’s racing heart begin to slow down.

She reached out and hugged the Cat Clan youth in front of her, burying her face in his chest.

The Little Octopus, who had rushed over, came running up carrying its own silver wings. It grabbed the corner of Yu Zhizhi’s clothes with a tentacle, panting, "You scared me to death!"

"Good thing this is the Cang Mountain Domain! There are a lot of Beastmen who can fly!"

The Little Octopus was also a bit angry. It bumped its head against the mechanical wings in Zero’s hand. "What is this junk? It’s useless! I’m never playing with this again!"

"But..." Yu Zhizhi said in a small voice, "the feeling of flying was actually pretty nice."

The Little Octopus babbled on for a while longer.

The three of them walked toward the small tavern together.

Yu Zhizhi thought of Dracula. She looked back, but couldn’t find any sign of the man.

’He saved me and then left without a word.’

In the evening, the small tavern was crowded with customers.

The Vulture youth was too busy to handle it all, so he roped Zero into helping.

Yu Zhizhi and the Little Octopus went back to their room first.

She noticed that the Purple Fox, who always liked to stay on the sofa, was gone.

A sound came from the bathroom.

When Yu Zhizhi got closer, she saw it was the Purple Fox, who had just finished bathing. It was soaking wet with a clean towel draped over its head as it slowly emerged from the steam.

Its injuries were much better than before. It could walk on its own now, though it would quickly run out of energy.

The Purple Fox saw the Rabbit Clan female had returned and gave a slight nod as a greeting.

It was holding a drying-type spirit card in its mouth.

A temp worker from the small tavern ran up and knocked on the door. "Ms. Zizhi, dinner is ready~"

"Okay, I’ll be right there."

Yu Zhizhi and the Little Octopus went down to eat.

She saw Zero standing behind the bar, an amiable smile on his face as he mixed several drinks in a row.

The customers here seemed to really like him.

Yu Zhizhi cut into the strawberry crisp in front of her. It made her think of the Little Snow Eagle—this was its favorite food.

The number of customers at the small tavern didn’t start to dwindle until late at night.

The Little Octopus was too sleepy, so it went back to the room first.

Yu Zhizhi waited for Zero to come over. After watching him finish his meal, she went up to the second floor with him.

Their rooms were very close to each other.

Zero suddenly called out to her. "Ms. Zhi Zhi, I have something for you."

He pushed open his door, a faint smile twinkling in his amber eyes. "Please, come in."

Yu Zhizhi walked in.

The room was a little smaller than hers.

The decor and furnishings were about the same.

Zero walked to the desk, pulled open a drawer, and took out a sky-blue spirit card, placing it in her hand.

"This is..."

Yu Zhizhi looked at the exquisite Spirit Technique Card. The Cat Clan youth before her said softly, "It’s a Flying Spirit Card. You can Control it with your spiritual power. It’s much more stable than the mechanical wings."