Chapter 231: Testing Aina
“My lord, the meal is ready.”
When Zhou Ming walked down from the second-floor Laboratory, Catwoman Aina immediately handed him a warm towel for wiping his hands. Her service was even more attentive than expected.
“You’ve already advanced into a Catwoman. It seems you haven’t yet experienced your own strength, have you? Do you want to try it once?”
Zhou Ming took the warm towel she handed over. While wiping his hands, he suddenly raised a question that caught Aina completely off guard.
“Yes—no, no, I don’t.”
Still not having reacted, Aina blurted out her true thoughts. In the next instant, she hurriedly changed her answer and claimed she did not want to.
Seeing a faint smile appear on Zhou Ming’s cold face, Aina immediately felt extreme tension. The playful cat tail behind her unconsciously began swaying.
At this moment, her mind was in a tangled mess, constantly guessing Zhou Ming’s intentions. A trace of worry also appeared in her eyes.
However, Zhou Ming’s next sentence instantly put her at ease.
“Set the food aside first. Tonight, come with me to kill. It’s a good opportunity for me to witness the abilities of a Catwoman.”
As his words fell, Zhou Ming’s palm pressed against the Catwoman’s abdomen. A faint red glow belonging to bloodline power began to bloom.
“I’ve temporarily lifted the seal inside your body. If you want to run, you’d better think carefully about what would happen if you fell into the hands of other Blue Star humans.”
“Remember to put on a trench coat.”
Ignoring Aina’s reaction, Zhou Ming simply gave a brief instruction before walking straight toward the telephone placed in the living room.
To ensure the complete destruction of the Dark Card Organization’s stronghold, he still needed to mobilize Su Mei and the Snake Guards as assistance.
At the side, Aina sensed the surging power within her body flowing out like a tidal wave. Her eyes instantly became slightly moist.
She had finally transformed into a Catwoman, yet before she could even experience the changes in her strength, she had been captured and turned into a maid. Who could understand her feelings?
Though somewhat excited at this moment, Aina did not forget Zhou Ming’s order. She hurried back to her room and put on a trench coat that covered her entire body.
A short while later, Zhou Ming brought Aina, Su Mei, and more than a dozen Snake Guards who had recovered their mobility, heading toward Maple Leaf Ridge where the Dark Card Organization’s stronghold was located.
Maple Leaf Ridge lay more than fifty kilometers north of Qinghui Base. Several mountain ridges stood upon the land there, the terrain resembling interlocking canine fangs, exceptionally complex.
According to the intelligence provided by the Demonic-looking Man, beneath Maple Leaf Ridge was hidden a vast underground karst cave. That was one of the Dark Card Organization’s primary strongholds in the northern region of the Alliance.
Another main stronghold was near Yunhai Base.
Within the Dark Card Organization’s stronghold at Maple Leaf Ridge were more than a dozen Professional Beast Tamers. The person in charge was Diamonds Six, the strongest among them, who had already reached the peak of Mid-level Phantasmal Tamer, only one step away from High-level Phantasmal Tamer.
Additionally, there were Hearts Five, Clubs Five, and Spades Five, all Mid-level Professional Beast Tamers.
Together with more than a dozen Entry-level Professional Beast Tamers, this constituted all the high-end forces the Dark Card Organization had hidden near Qinghui Base.
If this had been a year ago, when Zhou Ming had not yet advanced to High-level Professional Rank, he would have chosen to abandon the Camp when facing such strength.
After all, once unable to annihilate them entirely, the Dark Card Organization would dispatch High-level Professional Beast Tamers.
But with his current strength, he was fully capable of swallowing one of the Dark Card Organization’s strongholds.
Night shrouded the earth. Tonight, neither stars nor moon shone. It was perfect weather for killing.
Zhou Ming fused the Ironthread Snake swarm into the Dark-gold Purple-patterned Python, commanding it to conceal its aura as it carried everyone swiftly through the mountains toward Maple Leaf Ridge.
An hour later, several mountain ridges stretching over ten kilometers entered his field of vision.
Under the night curtain, the sounds of beast roars and insect chirps rose and fell, scenes of hunting and being hunted constantly unfolding.
Standing atop the Dark-gold Purple-patterned Python’s head, Zhou Ming took out a map drawn based on the intelligence provided by the Demonic-looking Man.
“Aina.”
“My lord, what are your orders?”
The moment Aina heard Zhou Ming’s summons, her figure instantly appeared behind him.
“This is a distribution map of hidden sentries. I want you to verify whether it’s accurate. Also check if there are any additional hidden sentries.”
“My lord, please rest assured. Aina will complete the task.”
Upon hearing that Zhou Ming allowed her to leave his side, Aina appeared exceptionally excited and hurriedly guaranteed she would accomplish the mission.
A Catwoman was the darling of the night. After receiving Zhou Ming’s permission, Aina’s figure immediately vanished into nothingness.
“My lord, could Aina take this opportunity to escape?”
After Aina departed, Su Mei hesitated briefly before stepping behind Zhou Ming to voice her concern.
“A wild cat raised long enough naturally becomes a house cat.”
“Even if some wildness remains, the collar around her neck hasn’t been completely removed.”
Zhou Ming had naturally taken precautions against Su Mei’s concern. After all, Aina was an intelligent Catwoman, not a wild cat driven purely by instinct.
Hearing that her lord had prepared safeguards, Su Mei said nothing further.
While Zhou Ming waited for Aina to return with her report, Aina had already transformed into a mass of shadow, blending into the wilderness.
“Should I take this chance to escape the Great Demon King’s grasp?”
“But what if I’m caught?”
“And what if I’m captured by other Blue Star humans? Would the outcome be even more miserable?”
After leaving Zhou Ming, Aina felt like a wild cat freed from a cage. Her instincts constantly urged her to flee.
Yet her fear of Zhou Ming prevented her from making a decision. Instead, she began scouting along the route marked on the map.
As thoughts surged like a tide in her mind, she discovered a hidden sentry concealed within a rock cave, several people inside, with various monitoring devices arranged around it.
However, for Catwoman Aina, such monitoring devices were completely useless. At this moment, she was like a wandering ghost in the wilderness, utterly undetectable to the outside world.
Upon discovering the hidden sentry marked on the map, Aina finally made her decision.
“I won’t run.”
After reaching adulthood, she had constantly fought for her clan. It had been a long time since she enjoyed such peaceful days.
If she had experienced how the Shadow Cat Clan treated Catwomen, perhaps she would not have thought this way. Unfortunately, just as she had transformed into a Catwoman, she had fallen into Zhou Ming’s hands.
Thus, Aina chose to remain by Zhou Ming’s side, unwilling to bear the risks that escape might bring.
Having made her decision, Aina carried out Zhou Ming’s orders even more seriously.
After finishing the task of scouting the hidden sentries, Aina returned with the map.
“Not bad.”
In response to Aina’s decision, Zhou Ming stroked her head in praise.
Hearing this, Aina immediately showed joy. Would she no longer need to undergo her lord’s experiments in the future?
However, after giving her a simple compliment, Zhou Ming shifted his gaze to the map she handed over.
Aside from the pre-marked hidden sentries, Aina had also marked several other concealed locations.
These locations matched the results of Zhou Ming’s own reconnaissance.
That was right—through the Ironthread Snakes in the wilderness, Zhou Ming had already thoroughly investigated the distribution of all hidden sentries in advance.
He had not completely trusted the intelligence provided by the Demonic-looking Man. Nor had he fully trusted the intelligence scouted by Aina.
This had merely been a test for Aina.
Fortunately, Aina made the correct choice. Otherwise, another corpse would have appeared upon the Experimental Platform.
Afterward, Zhou Ming began issuing the battle plan to everyone.