The moment Lin Luo saw the black cat, that was his immediate thought, but after a moment's consideration, he deemed it unlikely. He’d heard of pigs growing wings, so a cat creating a barrier... perhaps it wasn't impossible, given that pigs could indeed grow wings.

"What is that?" Qingzi poked her head out from behind Lin Luo, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Lin Luo also felt a profound sense of disbelief—referring, of course, to his second impression of the cat. How should he put it? This creature was likely a cat, right? Despite having three eyes, four tails, a pair of wings, a single sharp horn, and a thoroughly human-like expression, strip away those additions, and it really was just a cat.

"So cute."

What kind of perspective was that? Lin Luo deeply disdained Qingzi’s aesthetic judgment; she couldn't even distinguish friend from foe. This devilish cat had nearly swiped at both of them moments ago.

"Meow." The monstrous cat opposite them waved a paw at the two of them, emitting a fiercely intimidating... meow.

"Lin Luo, catch it!" Perhaps feeling provoked, Qingzi pointed at the monstrous cat and declared with great presence.

Now that was more like it—distinguishing friend from foe. Whether it was a cat or a dog, if it showed us its claws, we must return the favor with a stick... Lin Luo was just about to nod and praise Qingzi for a moment, but then she added, "It’s too cute, I want to keep it!"

Keep your sister, Lin Luo almost spat blood and collapsed. He shot Qingzi a fierce glare... I should be the one capturing you to raise, he thought, Loli Raising Project: Raise one loli this year, reap an older sister in ten years.

Speaking of which, in Tsukihime, Aozaki Aoko became the ultimate last resort precisely because she wanted to capture Shiro-Ren and raise her, leading to all that ridiculous nonsense... she truly is a capricious individual.

Too lazy to bother with this troublesome loli, Lin Luo focused all his attention on the monstrous cat before him. Though the cat’s appearance was avant-garde, Lin Luo felt a faint pressure emanating from it, as its demonic energy fluctuations were far greater than Rin’s.

A familiar?

The moment this word appeared in Lin Luo’s mind, his expression became grave. Although he could currently utilize two Contract States simultaneously, bringing his strength close to LV5, dealing with an average magus wouldn't be an issue. However, if the enemy was a high-ranking magus from the Moonlit World, that would be seriously problematic.

And right now, a being capable of conjuring such a complex barrier and commanding a familiar with such immense magical power could not possibly be an ordinary magus. Furthermore, the enemy was hidden while they were exposed...

"Meow." Another meow sounded. Before Lin Luo could ponder further, the monstrous cat transformed into a black shadow and lunged towards him with speed akin to lightning flashing in flint.

Quickly shifting states, an electronic thread shot from Lin Luo's fingertip, lancing out towards the black cat like a bolt of lightning. Almost without suspense, the white and black streaks of light collided, and then...

Swish. The white electronic thread twisted irregularly, instantly losing its aim and heading off towards his grandmother’s house a hundred thousand miles away.

"..." Lin Luo was dumbfounded. Atomic Collapse was swatted away? Are you kidding me?

Lin Luo could hardly believe it. Given the monstrous cat's speed, it was normal for it to dodge Atomic Collapse, but to bat it away... Was this a Lightning Cat?

Yet, what surprised Lin Luo even more was yet to come. After deflecting Atomic Collapse, the monstrous cat suddenly opened its mouth, revealing a rather "sinister" smile, and then it fired a... particle beam from its mouth?

Damn your ancestors!

Swiftly pulling Qingzi aside, Lin Luo was on the verge of collapse. Even a particle beam was deployed—was this Doraemon? You really are Doraemon, aren’t you?

While muttering under his breath, Lin Luo didn't stop his actions. A dazzling Spear of Lightning shot from his fingertips. Although he lacked the power of Heavenly Thunder summoning achieved at LV5, he could still accomplish many things with his current electrical capacity, such as a cute, scaled-down Railgun.

The Spear of Lightning formed an electrical net in mid-air, blocking the Doraemon's advance. However, this net quickly dimmed and vanished in an instant. Had its power been absorbed?

Despite his surprise at this turn of events, Lin Luo had bought enough time. A silver warhead ejected from his pocket, and upon landing, he flicked it with his finger.

Under the massive surge of electrical energy, the warhead carved an orange-red beam through the darkness, hurtling towards the Doraemon.

Boom... Zzzt.

The projectile hit dead center. After all, this was merely Doraemon’s shell, not as overwhelmingly powerful as the original. Instantly, the imposter was blasted away, crashing to the ground and shrieking in pain.

"Meeoow... meow..."

Hearing the miserable sounds, Qingzi’s compassion instantly flooded over her. She shot Lin Luo an admonishing look. "You hit too hard! What if you killed it? I still want to keep it!"

"..." Keep your sister, keep your sister. To be honest, Lin Luo suddenly had the urge to throw this loli over to the imposter Doraemon as a pet, but it felt too bizarre, and he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Completely ignoring the loli’s protest, Lin Luo slowly walked forward. But after only a few steps, he noticed something was wrong... Although the imposter Doraemon had been hit by the Railgun and cried out in pain, why was there no blood?

Familiars come in two types: those composed purely of magical energy, and those in a biological form.

Familiars made purely of magical energy possess immortality; they have no sense of pain or thought, acting merely as pure combat puppets. They only vanish when their master dies. Biological familiars can be injured, bleed, and are not immortal, but they possess considerable intelligence, and they will not die even if their master perishes. The two are fundamentally different entities.

The imposter Doraemon before him was clearly a biological familiar. To be struck by such a potent Railgun and show no blood seemed utterly impossible. Moreover, the miserable cries suggested severe injury...

Lin Luo felt something was amiss and instinctively stopped, preparing to fire another Railgun. But before he could retrieve a warhead, the seemingly half-dead imposter Doraemon suddenly leaped up from the ground, emitting a sharp cry like an eagle as it swooped toward him.

"Damn it, it was faking death!" Lin Luo couldn't help but curse. This devil cat was incredibly cunning.

Stimulated by bio-currents, Lin Luo immediately activated his High-Speed State. Electricity close to peak LV4 allowed his reaction speed to increase by about five to six times. While he could push it higher, the side effects would be considerable. Five to six times was precisely the limit without negative consequences.

Lin Luo was now very accustomed to this High-Speed State. With a mere sidestep, he evaded the Doraemon’s dive attack, then, as he turned, he condensed all his electrical power into his right hand and swung out like a whip, his fist slamming brutally into the Doraemon, which couldn't escape in time.

"Meeoow..." Sent flying, the Doraemon rolled on the ground like a rubber ball, groaning in agony. This time, the scream was genuine.

"So that’s how it is." Lin Luo began to understand. The abilities of this imposter Doraemon... its ability to swat away Atomic Collapse and remain unharmed by the Railgun wasn't due to being so overwhelmingly invincible. Rather, it was immune to, or could even absorb, energy attacks.

Atomic Collapse was an energy attack, and while the Railgun possessed a physical attribute, it was propelled entirely by electricity. Thus, the instant it struck, the absorbed electricity perfectly canceled out the attack, allowing it to naturally remain unscathed. However, when Lin Luo channeled the current into his own body and used physical attacks, that was pure physical assault, rendering the imposter Doraemon's ability useless.

Based on the sequence of events, Lin Luo drew this conclusion. While his theoretical knowledge was severely lacking, his improvisation skills were clearly top-notch... Truly, a genuine powerhouse speaks through action.

With this realization, Lin Luo couldn't help but feel a touch of pride.

However, when it came down to it, being able to ignore and absorb energy attacks was already incredibly potent, since the majority of magecraft relied on energy systems. Mages specializing in close combat were rare indeed; only someone like Aozaki Aoko, a human rocket launcher, was a pure melee mage, with Rin perhaps being a reluctant half-case.

It could be said that if this imposter Doraemon fought ten mages, it would probably win seven or more matches.

If Lin Luo were a pure magus, he would have certainly lost. But having inherited some of Mugino’s close-quarters combat skills, his fighting ability had drastically improved, coupled with a reaction speed five to six times greater than normal. Dealing with a mere cat was hardly a problem.

When the imposter Doraemon staggered back to its feet, Lin Luo attacked once more. However, he remained cautious, as the energy beam could not be ignored, and heaven knew if it possessed any other tricks besides energy absorption. He kept some contingency plans ready during his assaults.

What surprised him, though, was that the cat suddenly seemed to exit its burst mode; the buff wore off, and its basic attributes plummeted by 90%, becoming far less ferocious than at the beginning. A few minutes later, the imposter Doraemon completely collapsed, indicating it could fight no more.

And once the cat was defeated, the barrier vanished immediately.

This fact greatly surprised Lin Luo. During the fight, he had been intently watching for the magus commanding this cat to make a move, but the supposed magus never appeared until the end. From the current situation, it seemed no magus existed at all; the enemy was solely the imposter Doraemon, and it was the one that created the barrier... Well, it seemed quite versatile.

Of course, no matter how versatile, a cat is still just a cat.

Seeing that the imposter Doraemon had truly lost its combat capability, Lin Luo walked forward and lifted it up. The instant he made contact, something suddenly drilled into his mind. Before he could react, Lin Luo felt his head grow fuzzy, and an overwhelming urge to sleep washed over him... A.