Chapter 1 The Developments

The course of events unfolded exactly as Feng Bujue had predicted; Widogast had indeed arrived.

Being a "Master of Infiltration," he would undoubtedly have a way in; to say nothing of a dimly lit bar like this, even high-level security facilities would be child's play for Widogast.

He could easily approach anyone and eavesdrop on their conversations, taking advantage of being a cat.

He wouldn't be detected by counter-surveillance equipment, nor would he be affected by jamming devices. Most importantly... even if he were discovered, no one would take him seriously.

Just like the scenes we've seen countless times in movies and TV shows—a guard hears a noise, nervously runs over with his weapon, only to find a cat and says, "Oh, it's just a cat, scared me." Then they think everything's fine.

Imagine if that cat were the infiltrator, what would happen?

In any case, Widogast successfully infiltrated the bar and found Sam; needless to say... he also noticed Jue-ge, who was talking to him.

At that moment, a strange feeling rapidly spread through Widogast's heart.

The brief contact with Feng Bujue in the evening had already given him that feeling; and now, at this time, in this place... seeing this person again, Widogast's detective instincts told him—this guy surnamed Feng must be someone important.

On the other hand...

Feng Bujue had actually spotted Widogast as well.

Two minutes after sitting down at the bar, Jue-ge focused his energy on being vigilant about his surroundings, and the one he was guarding against... was Widogast.

As for his conversation with Sam, that didn't take up too much of his energy at all. For Jue-ge, who was used to multitasking, dealing with this kind of "mutually distracted" conversation was simply too easy.

Sam's little schemes were quite obvious; he simply wanted to maintain this "chatting" state for a certain period of time to ensure the integrity of his "alibi"; although Sam also tried his best to appear engaged and happy in the chat on the surface, his actions of sneaking a peek at his watch every five minutes had already exposed that his true focus was elsewhere.

Feng Bujue saw through his behavior but didn't expose it; to complete the task, Jue-ge had to let the case "happen" without letting it be "solved" too quickly, so the best approach was to cooperate with Sam's actions without making a sound, while also being wary of Widogast, who might be here to monitor Sam.

"Sorry, Feng, I need to make a call."

Finally, three minutes before eleven o'clock, Sam said the line that Jue-ge had been waiting for.

"No problem, buddy, I'll be here, not going anywhere." Feng Bujue replied in a very casual tone, while turning his head to the bartender and saying, "Hey, Tang, another one of the same for me."

As he ordered the cocktail, Sam had already left his seat.

Generally speaking, people who want to make a phone call in a relatively noisy environment like a bar would go to the restroom, because it's relatively quiet there; Sam was no exception, and he had already reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone halfway to the restroom.

Widogast, who had been monitoring in the shadows for a long time, immediately emerged from a dark corner and cautiously followed.

Unexpectedly, just as Widogast tiptoed closer behind Sam...

"Heave-ho!"

Accompanied by a light shout, Widogast's limbs left the ground, and when he realized what had happened, he was already in Feng Bujue's arms.

This is called... the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Although Jue-ge had known Widogast's location for a long time, he had no intention of taking action until Sam left his seat; the reason was... he knew very well that a guy like Widogast, even with the advantage of knowing the other's intentions, still needed to choose an excellent opportunity to capture him.

If Jue-ge had taken action as soon as he spotted Widogast, he would most likely have ended up with a futile attempt that only scared the cat away.

Even now, Feng Bujue was only able to succeed because of environmental factors; he specifically chose the moment when Widogast was focusing his attention on Sam, coupled with the cover of various voices, footsteps, and music in the bar, to succeed with one grab.

"Little guy, this is not a place for you to be." Feng Bujue smiled as he picked up Widogast and turned to walk towards the bar's entrance.

Widogast's surprise lasted about a second, and in the next two seconds, he had calmed down and come up with a plan.

Three seconds later, Widogast suddenly exerted force, his body contracted and expanded like a spring, unleashing amazing power, and was about to leap out of Jue-ge's arms.

"Wow~wow~ don't move around, buddy." Unfortunately, Feng Bujue, who was prepared, calmly nipped Widogast's escape plan in the bud, "Don't be afraid, I'm just going to send you back to your owner, it's dangerous for you to run around outside like this."

As he spoke, he had already reached the door of the bar.

"Sir, you can't bring pets..." Coincidentally, a waiter saw Feng Bujue from afar and wanted to come forward to remind him that he couldn't bring a cat into the bar.

"Ah, you've come at the right time." Feng Bujue directly interrupted him and said, "I just found this little guy near the restroom..." He paused, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be my friend's cat... my friend lives in room 0716, a young man surnamed Zuo, could you please help me send the cat up?"

The waiter heard this, thought for two seconds, and replied, "Oh... I see... okay, sir, hand him over to me."

"You have to be careful, he's very strong, he almost ran away again when I picked him up." Feng Bujue said as he handed the cat over, "No... no, you can't hold a cat by its stomach, you might hurt him, you have to do it like this, grab him under both armpits... yes, yes... pinch the joints, this way you can hold him firmly and won't hurt him."

Just like that, the waiter, under Jue-ge's "guidance," took Widogast away.

From beginning to end, Feng Bujue's every move seemed very normal, a common expression of someone who is "relatively fond of cats"; even if Widogast had doubts in his heart, he couldn't find anything particularly unusual.

To put it more bluntly—regarding the current situation, Widogast could at most explain it as "bad luck," and wouldn't come to the conclusion that "this human is intentionally targeting me."

Of course, even if he thought of this conclusion, the existing information wouldn't be enough to "confirm" this guess.