Against the Algorithm

Chapter 6: The Guardian and the Claim

"That's... a big one." Ming muttered with his lips twitching in mild amusement.

Even Sicheng, who had just stepped into the room, paused, his sharp amber eyes flickering over the feline with the kind of calculation reserved for evaluating opponents.

Da Bing, entirely unbothered by the sudden attention, sat down gracefully beside Yao, his thick tail wrapping neatly around his large paws. His striking blue eyes slowly flickered over each of them, his expression carrying an unmistakable aura of judgmental indifference. He did not look impressed. If anything, he looked as if he had seen better, and that they were all something to be tolerated.

Silence stretched as the team processed the sheer size of the cat, the weight of his presence despite him saying nothing.

Then—

Yue grinned. "Oh my god, he's perfect."

Lao K still hadn't recovered. "Yao, I thought you said he was thirty-five pounds—"

Yao, slightly flustered, muttered, "He is."

Pang gawked. "He's the size of a damn bobcat."

Da Bing flicked his tail, his expression unimpressed, his large body completely relaxed beside Yao as if to say, And what of it?

Ming hummed. "He fits right in."

Sicheng, still watching, exhaled through his nose, shaking his head before turning away. "As long as he doesn't touch my fish."

At that, Da Bing slowly turned his icy blue gaze toward Sicheng, staring at him in a way that made it very clear. He was not the one to be giving orders here.

Sicheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

Da Bing blinked, slowly, superiorly, then turned back to Yao as if dismissing him entirely.

Yue let out a cackle. "Oh hell yes, I love this cat."

Yao, burying her face in her hands, groaned. She was never going to survive this team.

Yao, still thoroughly flustered from the sheer reaction her cat had caused, sighed and lifted her head, gently scratching Da Bing behind his ears as he continued sitting beside her like a judgmental emperor surveying his new kingdom. "He won't attack anyone," she muttered, feeling the need to clarify before things got even more out of hand. "But... he doesn't like anyone but me."

The room paused.

Then—

Yue, who had been grinning this entire time, beamed. "Oh, even better."

Lao K, still reeling from the sheer size of Da Bing, squinted at the massive cat. "Wait, wait—so you're saying if we try to pet him, he's just going to... what? Hate us silently?"

Yao exhaled, nodding. "Pretty much."

Pang smirked. "I respect that."

Ming tilted his head. "So, he's like Sicheng?"

Silence.

Yao froze.

Sicheng, standing off to the side, slowly turned his head toward Ming with a deadpan expression.

Lao Mao, always the instigator, grinned. "Actually, yeah, I see it."

"Oh my god, we should've seen this coming! Of course Yao's cat is just Cheng in feline form!" Yue, cackling, threw his arm around Pang's shoulder.

"Doesn't like people? Judgy as hell? Stares like he's silently questioning everyone's life choices?" Lao K, now fully onboard, nodded sagely.

Pang snorted. "Yup. That's him."