Translator:	Author:	Original Source:
MJCross	Cat’s Glasses	SFACG

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It just so happened that the old man with the claw hammer also ran a pharmacy.

Currently, he was tending to Zhao Zhao’s wounds, dabbing medical alcohol on his cuts. The stinging pain had Zhao Zhao gritting his teeth again.

Meanwhile, Officer Lei Luo was telling us about his delinquent son.

Years ago, Lei Luo had divorced, and at the time, Lei Kelie had been placed under the custody of his financially superior mother.

However, being a career-focused businesswoman, she barely had time for family matters.

Lei Luo himself was a police officer known for his grueling work schedule, so Lei Kelie essentially grew up unattended, inevitably falling in with street punks and low-level gangsters.

If he were just a rich kid, he’d be nothing more than a walking ATM for them.

But as fate would have it, he was also a combat sports enthusiast—one who could seriously throw down.

With both wealth and strength, it wasn’t long before he gained a following.

One day, he realized he had a pack of underlings trailing behind him, and it got to his head. That was when he started calling himself ‘Thunder Tiger’ Lei Laohu.

The attention and admiration from his gang filled the void in his heart, replacing the familial love he had never received.

“Kids from single-parent families often lack love, leading to emotional issues that make them vulnerable to going astray.”

Hearing this explanation from Lei Luo, I scoffed.

“Ha? I’ve never even met my mom since the day I was born. My dad’s an overworked corporate drone who’s barely home. By your logic, shouldn’t I be running around with Lei Laohu’s gang by now?”

Zhao Zhao, who was lying on his stomach while getting red medicine dabbed on him, suddenly burst into laughter.

“Oh come on, Commander, isn’t it thanks to Haitang and me that you didn’t turn into one of those delinquents? We filled the void in your heart with our love!”

“Screw off. I don’t need your love. I just want Haitang and Tangerine’s love.”

I had only said it casually, but now that I thought about it, I was a walking counterexample to Lei Luo’s theory. He looked like he was struggling to maintain his composure.

“A week ago, his mother called me saying the brat had taken a large sum of money and disappeared. When I investigated, I found out he’d gone full delinquent. That’s when I swore I’d track him down and beat some sense into him.”

Hah. You’re never gonna find him, old man. You’re about to lose your son for good.

Now that I knew Lei Laohu’s real name was Lei Kelie, what was stopping me from ruining his life?

This was revenge, pure and simple.

I didn’t even need to worry about whether he was alone or not—I’d be thrilled if he transformed in front of an entire crowd and ended up either getting sent to a research lab for study or, even better, [redacted] by his own gang.

Right now, I am the dark side of Chang Kai, the embodiment of malice.

My class? Avenger.

Once Zhao Zhao’s wounds were treated, the old man handed each of us an ice pack to help reduce swelling.

Before we could reach for our wallets, Officer Lei Luo beat us to it, taking out his own and insisting on covering the costs. The old man simply waved him off, saying that a bit of alcohol and red medicine wasn’t worth charging for.

Lei Luo then tried to shove the money into Zhao Zhao’s hands instead, but Zhao Zhao refused just as firmly.

“If you really want to make it up to us, how about focusing on locking Lei Laohu up so he doesn’t go around hurting more people? The police can’t be struggling to catch a bunch of street punks, right?”

That made Lei Luo’s expression darken with embarrassment.

He’d been chasing Lei Laohu for a week and still hadn’t even gotten close.

Seeing the awkwardness, the young officer beside him stepped in to explain.

“Because they’re just small-time gangsters, there aren’t enough resources allocated to catching them. Besides, they’re extremely cautious—if they sense trouble, they disappear. They haven’t been showing in Tianping Commercial District for a while now.”

Probably because they noticed the cops were onto them in Tianping Commercial District, so they moved into Urban Village to set up a new base.

Too bad they ran into Haitang and got their a̲s̲s̲e̲s̲ handed to them.

By the time we left Mifeng Street, the sky had gone completely dark.

Lei Luo insisted on giving us a ride home in the police car.

I didn’t argue—without my glasses, staying out of the public eye was definitely the better option.

As we drove into the village, I caught a glimpse of Old Feng instinctively preparing to pack up his stall—did he think the cops were city inspectors?

Originally, we’d planned to eat at Old Feng’s place, but with Zhao Zhao full of injuries, I was afraid Old Feng might suspect something if he saw him.

When we finally pulled up to my house, I held my bag up to cover my face before unlocking the door.

I wouldn’t want to give my dad a heart attack.

Dad had gotten home early again and was still sitting on the couch, fully immersed in his galgame therapy.

At this point, he seemed to be using dating sims as actual psychological treatment…

“Son, what are you doing? Why are you hiding your face? And—hold up, Zhao kid, you two… got into a fight?”

Seeing me walk in with my face hidden behind my bag and Zhao Zhao covered in bruises, he immediately looked concerned.

“We ran into some delinquents, but it’s fine. It just looks bad. We’ve already had our wounds treated.”

Zhao Zhao didn’t try to hide anything, giving a brief explanation.

“Why’d they target you two?”

“It’s a long story…but firstly, my glasses got broken. You really wanna hear the whole thing now?”

“Eh, never mind then… Just don’t take that bag off, I’m retreating to my room for shelter!”

My hand holding the bag nearly slipped.

Wait, is there any other father in this world who treats his own son’s face like a disaster?

Before I could even react, he grabbed his laptop and escaped upstairs. The moment I heard his bedroom door click shut, I took out the black covered notebook.

“Before we eat, let’s run an experiment. I need to understand more about the notebook’s properties.”

Slumping onto the sofa, Zhao Zhao weakly nodded and, in the voice of Sento¹, declared:

“Sa, let’s begin the experiment!”

“Firstly, Phase One.”

I picked up the accompanying pencil and wrote “Zhao Zhao” in the notebook.

A flash of dazzling white light, sparkles bursting around us, and—there she was.

A petite girl in a dirty white uniform, sitting on my couch, blinking in curiosity as she examined her body.

Her skin was smooth and flawless, like a newborn baby—every last bruise and wound was completely gone.

Zhao Lei lifted her arms in awe.

“Whoa! My bruises are gone!”

“Then Phase Two…”

Next, I erased the name “Zhao Zhao” from the notebook.

A flash of transformation effects later, Zhao Zhao—now back in his original form—groaned, “It hurts again! It hurts again!”, slumping onto the couch, still covered in bruises.

“So, the notebook doesn’t heal injuries, but it removes them upon transformation?”

“Alright, Commander, hurry up and turn me back into Zhao Lei.”

“Hold on, there’s still Phase Three…”

I wrote “Zhao Zhao” once more in the notebook.

Then, I picked up a pair of scissors and snipped off a small lock of Zhao Lei’s shoulder-length red-dyed hair, leaving an obvious gap in her hairstyle.

“A girl’s hair is her life! You fiend!” Zhao Lei shrieked in outrage.

Ignoring her complaints, I erased “Zhao Zhao” again.

The results were unexpected—not only did Zhao Zhao’s hair remain completely intact, but the cut-off lock of Zhao Lei’s hair in my hand still existed.

Even when I turned Zhao Zhao into Zhao Lei again, the gap in her hair remained.

“So, even though Zhao Zhao and Zhao Lei are essentially the same lump of clay molded into two different shapes, their data is stored independently. Given that the dyed tips persist, Zhao Lei’s body must have been created based on Zhao Zhao’s current form…” I muttered, summarizing my experiment’s findings.

Zhao Lei, however, looked thoroughly annoyed.

“Are you done yet?! Stop switching me back and forth!”

She snatched the pencil from my hand and glared at me.

“What are you trying to do, put me on a reality show? I’d totally win first place on Kasou Taishou!”

“Come on, don’t get mad. Everything you’re going through is helping me understand how to use the notebook more efficiently. Think of yourself as a pioneer in the field of science! Isn’t that an amazing way to look at it?”

“That’s just a fancy way of saying I’m your lab rat! I don’t care—I’m hungry! I want pasta! Commander, go make me some!”

So now she was using her female privilege to boss me around? I was just about to throw a snarky remark her way when I suddenly remembered how she had taken the beating for me earlier.

A warm feeling welled up in my chest, and before I realized it, the corners of my lips curled up into a smile.

“Whoa, Commander, your smiling face has way too much power… I think I’m falling for you! Wait, does that mean I’m turning straight? Or still gay? What’s the correct term here?”

“Quit messing around. Go watch TV. I’ll go make you some noodles².”

“Pfft—who wants to eat your ‘noodles’… are you flirting with me?!”

Ignoring her nonsense, I put on an apron and headed into the kitchen, pulling out ingredients from the fridge.

I brought a pot of water to a boil while finely chopping some tomatoes and onions, then tossed them into a heated pan with ground meat and olive oil, stirring until the rich tomato aroma filled the air. My stomach growled just from the smell.

Meanwhile, I threw the rigid pasta into the boiling water, adding a pinch of salt before covering it with a lid to cook for ten minutes.

Back in the pan, I added tomato sauce, salt, MSG, and black pepper, then gave it a final toss before turning off the heat.

Since it was summer, I quickly rinsed the cooked pasta in chilled mineral water before plating it—this kept the texture pleasantly firm.

Finally, I poured the rich tomato meat sauce over the top, completing a simple yet satisfying plate of spaghetti Bolognese.

By the time I carried the dish out, Zhao Lei had already seated herself properly at the dining table, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

“Commander, you can cook? Definitely waifu material~” she teased, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

“It’s nothing. This is a simple dish—anyone could make it.”

“Well, I totally can’t… but wow, this tastes amazing… slurp.”

“Ahem, actually, I still have one more experiment—Phase Four.”

Hearing that there was more, Zhao Lei immediately jumped up and made a show of protecting her eyes with her chopsticks.

“Relax! No more transformations for now. Just stay in your current form for a couple of days. After that, we’ll erase the name and see if Zhao Zhao’s bruises have faded. If they haven’t, it’ll mean Zhao Zhao’s body remains frozen in time while transformed. If that’s the case, you should stay in Zhao Zhao’s form and properly rest until you heal.”

“You’re literally a supernatural god in training, wielding a supernatural artifact, and yet you’re running scientific experiments?” Zhao Lei deadpanned, spreading her hands wide in exasperation.

I didn’t bother arguing with her.

Because there was something else I needed to do—something personal.

And I needed her support.

“Zhao Lei, listen to me.”

She stopped eating and looked at me, suddenly tense from my serious tone.

“I’m about to do something completely irrational… even though I know full well that this is driven by my own personal desires.”

“P-Personal desires?! W-What are you planning to do?!”

She instinctively clutched her flat chest, eyes darting around nervously.

“I want to write Lei Laohu’s name in the notebook.”

This isn’t about logic.

It’s revenge.

Pure revenge.