Ares and the other cats were sleeping soundly within the extradimensional belly.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yao and Hanako sat at a spot not too far away from them.
This being her first visit to the extradimensional belly, Hanako was naturally awestruck by it. She stared wide-eyed at this amazing place and asked, "Is this also a superpower? It"s so magical. Is it a s.p.a.ce manipulation power? Are we inside Dust Ball"s belly?" Inside her head, she thought, "Thankfully this place doesn"t smell as bad as her mouth."
"Hmm, I guess you can say that." Zhao Yao was still communicating with Dust Ball to understand the situation outside. He continued, "Other than Dust Ball and myself, no one can enter this place without our permission. This is the ultimate safe haven. The thought of keeping you here did cross my mind."
"Erm, I guess I can pa.s.s on that." Hanako said as she wiped off the sweat from her forehead, "Will Matcha and Dust Ball be alright?"
"There won"t be a problem. Do not worry." Zhao Yao pounded his chest and declared, "Even though they might seem a little lazy and stupid, but you can definitely count on them in times like these."
On the other hand, Matcha and Dust Ball were exploring the mysterious sewage channels.
"It"s so dark in here."
"It smells so bad."
"Dust Ball, are you still there?"
"Can you any louder than this?" Dust Ball turned her head around and shot a death glare at Matcha, "Are you even a cat? Even I feel embarra.s.sed on your behalf."
"These sewage channels are really disgusting. Please let me enter your extradimensional belly!" Matcha pleaded as he tugged at Dust Ball"s hind legs. He then took a look at his snow-white paws and realized that they had turned grey. There was also an indescribable sticky sensation which he cannot tolerate.
Dust Ball curled her lips in disgust and sneered, "You can"t even take this bit of grime and dirt? You"ll have to thank your lucky stars if you get to stay here when you"re living in the wild. Even though it might be a little dirty, but the safety it provides more than makes up for it. There are worse places to be in."
After making her point, Dust Ball turned her head around and continued down the path, turning a deaf ear to Matcha"s incessant complaining and grumbling.
Soon, they had already traveled a few hundred meters and had crossed umpteen junctions. Even though they had not seen Zhao Xue or Lion Head, but they could still detect their scent.
At this moment, two shadows emerged from an intersection up front. The shadows inched closer and blocked Dust Ball from proceeding further down. Because of her bad eyesight, Dust Ball only recognized them as Zhao Xue and Lion Head when they stood right in front of her. They had detected their presence and laid an ambush for Dust Ball and Matcha.
Lion Head roared, "Why are the two of you following us?"
Dust Ball and Matcha were shocked beyond words as they stared at the pair of cat and human. Actually, their eyes were glued to Zhao Xue.
Zhao Xue originally stood at 1.7 meters but had shrunk to the size of a human"s palm. Even her romper had shrunk accordingly. She sat on Lion Head"s back as she eyeballed her stalkers.
Matcha thought, "Oh, so is this the power to expand and shrink? She even managed to shrink Zhao Xue"s romper. This explains how the both of them managed to enter the manhole."
Finally, Matcha spoke, "We are just some random stray cats that had just arrived at this place. Are you guys the supercats residing on the campus?"
"Oh, you guys are also supercats?" Lion Head nodded her head proudly when she realized that Matcha was capable of communicating with her via their shared consciousness. Lion Head then started speaking in an extremely solemn tone, "To my new supercats, I am the cat king of the north, the ruler of this district. What is your purpose for coming here? Is it for war, or is it for peace?"
"You stu …" Dust Ball instantly pressed her paw against Matcha"s mouth before he could start offending Lion Head. She whispered, "Shut your mouth and let me do the talking."
"Meow …" Matcha struggled with all his might as he pried the paw off of his mouth. Matcha ran off to the side and started spitting non-stop. He exclaimed, "So smelly! So smelly! So smelly! Do you know how dirty your paws are from walking along these filthy sewage channels? Why did you use it to touch my mouth?"
Dust Ball waved her paw awkwardly in the air and tried to put on her most amiable look before saying, "Hi, cat king of the north. We were banished by the cat king of our original district. We came to this place in search of friends.h.i.+p. We would like to join forces with you. If you don"t mind, can this place be our new haven?"
Lion Head stared at Dust Ball and Matcha with a look of suspicion and abruptly asked, "Are the two of you domestic cats?"
"Yeah, we …"
Bam! Dust Ball sent a tight slap across Matcha"s cheek and started bellowing in laughter.
"Meowhaha, how can the two of us be domestic cats? We are pure-blooded stray cats. Initially, we lived in the malls on the southern side. Who even wants to be a pet? The notion itself disgusts me. I"ll just grow fat and stupid if I stay in a human"s house!"
While Dust Ball was fabricating their background, she instructed Matcha telepathically, "Zhao Yao instructed us to stalk them and find out what they are doing. Do not tell them that you are domestic cats. Stray cats despise us, domestic cats."
Matcha pouted and set his lips in a hard line.
Lion Head listened to Dust Ball"s story and nodded her head. She announced, "Since that"s the case, I would like you to join us. You guys are really lucky because something momentous is about to happen today. You can come and witness it."
Lion Head instantly turned her head around after extending her invitation. However, Zhao Xue who was sitting on her back continued to stare at Matcha. She thought, "Why does this cat seem so sneaky?"
Throughout the journey, the cat king of the north introduced the current situation in Jiangmen University to Dust Ball and Matcha.
The school which Zhao Xue currently studied in, Jiangmen University, had a huge campus ground. However, a road ran through the middle, hence dividing the campus into two: the northern campus and southern campus.
To an ordinary human, a six-lane road was a common sight. However, a six-lane road could be the difference between life and death to an ordinary cat.
Even though it was one university, cats had divided it into two territories with the six-lane road as the border separating them.
Lion Head was the king of the northern campus.
Lion Head declared, "Today, we are going to meet the silly fools of the southern campus and negotiate with them. We will decide on who is going to represent us in the compet.i.tion?"
"Compet.i.tion? What kind of compet.i.tion?" Matcha asked.
Lion Head"s right eyebrow shot up as she stared at the pair of cats, "You guys don"t know about the compet.i.tion?"
"Meowhahaha," Dust Ball slapped Matcha on his back and used her laughter to divert Lion Head"s attention. Dust Ball explained, "This guy over here just came from the village. He is still rather ignorant about life in the city."
"Oh, he comes from the village?" Immediately, Lion Head changed the way she looked at Matcha. There was a tinge of disdain emanating from her eyes. She sn.i.g.g.e.red, "No wonder this village b.u.mpkin reeks of the village stench. He doesn"t even know about the cat king compet.i.tion in Jiangmen city."
"Me? Village b.u.mpkin?" Matcha wagged his tails in anger. In his head, he was screaming at the top of his voice, "This cat has the audacity to call me a village b.u.mpkin? I think she should just stare in the mirror and take a look at her hideous black spots. Has she ever played Mobile Legends? Does she have WeChat? Why does she even have the cheeks to call me a village b.u.mpkin?"
"Alright, alright, just give in to her for now. Zhao Yao had given us clear instructions to follow her. Do not foil the plan."
"No, I want to beat her up and kill her now." Matcha stretched out his right paw and unleashed his razor-sharp claws, "I"ll use this pair of musician paws to send her to the afterlife."
Dust Ball pounced onto Matcha and cupped his nose with her mouth. An intense stench flooded Matcha"s nose instantly.
"Stupid cat, if you hinder me from completing this mission, I"ll force feed you with s.h.i.+t till the day you die."
Matcha instantly covered his nose with his paw and took a few steps back, "Tsk, I have no idea what Zhao Yao used to entice this stupid cat. Why is she even so serious?"
Meanwhile, Lion King was oblivious to the commotion and continued to explain the details of the cat king compet.i.tion.