Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 587: The Damazti Cluster
"The Shapeshifter King…? That moniker sounds familiar…"
Lin Yuhsia frowned as she searched through her memories. It only took a moment before she finally found the matching information.
And the instant she did, her beautiful eyes widened in shock.
"Wait—don't tell me you mean that member of Kazdel's Royal Court?"
In response to her astonishment, the orange cat sitting obediently before Steven continued licking its paw leisurely.
Then, a clear, girlish voice completely mismatched with its tiny body rang out.
"As expected of the young man whom Lady Kal'tsit herself described as 'remarkable.' Your powers of observation truly live up to that praise."
The cat never opened its mouth.
The voice sounded as though it came directly from somewhere deep inside its body, instantly causing the hairs on the back of Lin Yuhsia's neck to stand on end.
She herself had carried out assassination-related missions before, so she understood better than most just how terrifying it would be if someone possessed the ability to disguise themselves as harmless little animals like this.
Not to mention Steven had directly exposed the other party's identity.
One of the Sarkaz Royal Court King—the Shapeshifter King, Damazti Cluster.
Why would such a being appear in a place like Lungmen?
Almost instinctively, Lin Yuhsia prepared to retreat and report this crucial information to her superior, but the cat's next sentence stopped her in her tracks.
"The young lady over there needn't be so nervous."
The clear female voice remained calm and composed, showing not the slightest concern over its identity being revealed.
"Wei Yenwu already knows who I am. Your father is likewise aware of my existence."
"I am merely an observer, quietly watching over Lungmen."
"In fact, I have even engaged in several small collaborations with your father before. There is no need to worry that I intend to do anything harmful to the city you care about."
Rather than threatening her, the creature was actually comforting her.
As if deciding that sitting atop a pile of garbage was too uncomfortable, the orange cat lightly leapt upward and landed directly on Steven's shoulder with the graceful agility of an ordinary stray.
"And compared to me…"
The cat turned its head slightly, its dark emerald eyes reflecting an eerie glimmer.
"…perhaps the person you should truly worry about is the young man beside you."
"The secrets hidden within him are more than enough to drag all of Lungmen into irreversible disaster."
"Hey now, don't go slandering me out of nowhere," Steven smiled.
"You're the one spying on my privacy here. Why are you making it sound like I'm the dangerous one?"
Then his expression shifted slightly.
"And judging from what you said… you seem pretty familiar with Kal'tsit?"
Steven didn't find it strange at all that a cat could talk.
Come on, in this day and age even penguins could rap—what was so weird about a cat speaking?
Besides, the thing was literally called the Shapeshifter King. Wasn't transforming kind of its whole deal?
Not to mention his own Shoggoth could do similar things anyway.
Hell, if he really wanted to, he could just install a mod and transform into whoever he pleased too.
"It goes beyond mere familiarity," the orange cat replied calmly while grooming its fur with its tongue like a completely normal feline.
"To be more precise… what I'm about to discuss would be better heard without the young lady beside you present."
Its gaze flicked toward Lin Yuhsia briefly before returning to Steven.
Steven glanced up at the little mouse girl, whose expression had already become somewhat awkward, then he shrugged without hesitation.
"It's fine."
"This little mouse doesn't look very smart anyway. As long as we phrase things vaguely enough, she probably won't understand a thing."
He waved his hand casually, signaling for the overly familiar shapeshifter to continue speaking.
There was no way he was sending away the tour guide he'd finally managed to recruit.
Lin Yuhsia, meanwhile, initially felt delighted upon hearing Steven say he trusted her.
But a second later, her expression turned extremely subtle.
Sure, being trusted was nice and all…
But wasn't that evaluation way too insulting!?
What did he mean by "doesn't look very smart"?!
Did this idiot even know her IQ test scores regularly exceeded two hundred!?
With an expression as awful as if she'd swallowed a fly, Lin Yuhsia could only stand quietly to the side while trying her best to conceal her presence.
She couldn't help it.
After all, she was extremely interested in whatever Steven and this mysterious Sarkaz were about to discuss.
"So your meaning is…" the orange cat asked calmly, "that Wei Yenwu and Lungmen can be trusted?"
The feline no longer insisted on having Lin Yuhsia removed. Instead, it merely sought confirmation from Steven.
By allowing the girl to remain, Steven had already revealed a certain stance.
At the very least, from his perspective, Lungmen was worthy of some degree of trust.
"Nah," Steven replied, waving his hand dismissively.
"I only trust this little mouse personally."
He paused thoughtfully before adding:
"If we end up discussing anything too important later, I'll decide then whether I need to tape her mouth shut."
The moment those words came out, Lin Yuhsia's fists clenched tightly.
Why was everything this guy said so unbelievably punchable!?
Meanwhile, the cat formed by the Shapeshifter clearly had no intention of continuing the topic any further. It wasn't interested in meddling with such matters anyway.
"I merely wished to meet the young man whom Lady Kal'tsit believes capable of saving this land," it said quietly.
"And to confirm certain things for myself."
The orange cat's emerald eyes stared directly into Steven's face.
"As it turns out… you are even more powerful than I imagined."
As one of the oldest members of the Sarkaz Royal Court, the Shapeshifter King held immense confidence in its own experience.
Especially when it came to understanding people.
Over countless years, it had observed innumerable individuals from perspectives others could never imagine.
And yet, even now, it still could not see through the young man before it.
It wasn't simply that it couldn't guess what Steven was thinking.
No—
It couldn't even determine what kind of person he truly was.
The only thing it could confirm was this:
Beneath all his disguises and casual behavior, the power hidden within him was just as unfathomable as the man himself.
At the very least, throughout all its long years of existence, this was the first time it had ever felt that even if every single one of its incarnations merged into one, it still might not be able to defeat someone.
It had never experienced such a sensation before.
"Hm. And?" Steven rubbed his chin.
"Is that all you wanted to say? To verify whether I actually had the strength for this?"
"Or were you checking if I'd just been fooling all of you?"
Truthfully, Steven hadn't expected Kal'tsit to move this quickly.
She'd already begun contacting every force she could possibly unite.
Though honestly, he really hadn't expected her to have ties with people like this too.
Then again, someone who'd lived as long as Kal'tsit naturally would've built an absurdly wide network of connections.
And this guy had arrived ridiculously fast too.
Only now did Steven truly feel that this world really did have its fair share of extraordinary individuals.
"No."
The orange cat shook its head.
"I have never doubted the words spoken by Lady Kal'tsit."
"Especially in matters such as these—she has never deceived us."
Compared to the other Royal Courts, the Shapeshifter King had been the very first to trust Kal'tsit.
After all, among all the powers across Terra, the Damazti Cluster possessed perhaps the deepest and most terrifying intelligence network in existence.
Its presence could be found in nearly every nation upon this land.
And because of that, it knew with absolute certainty that Kal'tsit had no reason to fabricate such a lie, much less a lie so vast that not a single nation on Terra had reacted to it.
"And so…"
The cat slowly leapt down from Steven's shoulder.
In the next instant, its tiny feline form transformed into a young girl with emerald hair.
She gracefully bent at the waist toward Steven, performing an impeccably formal gesture of gratitude.
"I come merely as one individual among the Damazti Cluster…"
"To offer you our thanks, and to present the friendship of our entire race."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M