Meanwhile, on the very same day, hundreds of cats were strewn all over the floor of an underground bunker in Hanada district. Some were running around while others were busy sniffing their catmint. Some were just tussling with one another.
Fish Ball stood in the middle, with a spectrum of lights s.h.i.+ning from his palms. The lights illuminated the place like a dis...o...b..ll, turning the underground bunker into a dance floor.
"Everyone, put your hands in the air!"
Meow!
At least 18 cats responded to Fish Ball"s calls as they went on their feet and raved to the beat while exclaiming, "Long Live King Noodle!"
At the foot of the throne laid a pile of catmint. On it was Noodle with his entourage of female cats. They surrounded him and showered him with love by running their soft paws through his fur or swarming his face with their tender kisses.
Noodle could not help but smile when he saw all the cats which had submitted to him.
"Hmph, there"s nothing stopping me from winning the compet.i.tion!"
Above him floated a familiar figure - Nekomata. With his arms crossed together, Nekomata muttered, "Cat king compet.i.tion? That sounds interesting."
In a small garden resting in the middle of Jiangmen City, a cat covered with silky orange fur was violently tapping on its phone screen. It looked just like a walking ball of flame. His paws darted across the screen furiously as his tail swung from left to right. His eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with excitement and anger.
This was the cat which the j.a.panese have brought from their homeland - Chimera.
"Baka! How dare you scold me?" Chimera"s paws continued flying across the length of the screen as a string of words appeared, "The headless horseman is utter rubbis.h.!.+ He is a coward who only knows how to catch pesky thieves! Chimera is the strongest! I saw him burning an entire street to ashes at one go!"
Standing by his flanks were a pair of black and white supercats.
The white supercat"s lips trembled as it spoke, "Erm … boss …"
Chimera interrupted it with a dismissive wave of his paw, "Do not utter rubbish. The two of you will a.s.sist me in rebuking this fool! Also, remember to mention just how strong I am! It should come off naturally instead of contrived! Do not make it sound pretentious! Let me check the message before you sent it out. Today"s dinner is dependent on your performance."
"Err…" The white cat helplessly whipped out its phone and complied with the instructions. Evidently, the two of them were the original cat kings which Chimera had defeated.
While crafting the message, the black cat tapped on Chimera and clarified, "Boss, have you found an apostle yet? Will it affect the compet.i.tion tomorrow?"
"It doesn"t matter." Chimera scoffed, "I do not require the help of a human. I, alone, shall suffice."
In an adjacent sea bordering the perimeter of Jiangmen City rested a magnificent yacht anch.o.r.ed to the calm sea. A lanky Siamese cat laid at the bow of the yacht, deep in sleep.
Numerous explosions erupted in the water body in the vicinity of the yacht. Gushes of water spurted out of the water surface as if some sort of mines had detonated in the seabed.
The explosion grew louder and louder before a human finally appeared on the surface of the water. The man descended on the deck with a soft thud. This young man had a toned physique coated in his bronze skin, topped off with his buzz cut.
Meow! The streams of water splashed onto the Siamese cat, jolting it from its slumber. It sprang to its feet angrily as it shook its body violently to rid itself of the water.
The teenager burst out in laughter before commenting, "I"m so sorry, so sorry! Pork Chop, I"m truly too excited. We are just one day away from the compet.i.tion!"
He s.h.i.+elded his eyes from the blazing sun before remarking smugly, "We have hidden our powers for a long time. Now, it"s time to show Inspector Ho just how strong we truly are! I will stop at nothing to clinch the t.i.tle of cat king!"
The Siamese cat known as Pork Chop was incredible apathetic to the teenager"s words. It slid a condescending glance at him before continuing grooming itself, "The compet.i.tion … it sounds so troublesome … I should just apply for leave tomorrow…"
In an underground laboratory, Yue Shan was using psychokinesis to levitate himself into the air.
His power had a similar effect as Zhao Yao"s deflective field. By using the law of action-reaction, he could will the objects to levitate in the air.
He slowly lifted his eyelids which revealed a glint flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes. A metal sphere floating in the corner of the room was instantly shredded to pieces by an invisible sword before the remains were scattered across the place.
The researcher a.n.a.lyzing the results suppressed a gasp before commenting, "Your strength remains the same but your precision has improved significantly. The cross-sectional area of your attack was only … 0.04mm. It is truly astounding!"
"That"s not enough," Yue Shan balled his fists before muttering, "My goal isn"t to become the strongest in Jiangmen."
All the compet.i.tors were busy with their preparation for the impending compet.i.tion. Likewise, Zhao Yao had returned home after completing his lesson with Zhao Xue.
"This is so troublesome! Even Sphynx Cat"s side effects cannot adjust Zhao Xue"s orientation! Just how strong is her conviction? Or maybe she has not been exposed to the power long enough."
Zhao Yao let out a sigh of despair before shaking his hair helplessly. However, he decided to let this matter slide for now. With his body plunged into his couch, a string of numbers whizzed past his head.
BOOK: lv5(7308/10000)
Zhao Yao then took a glance at the situation of his cats.
Matcha: lv6(770/10000)
Elizabeth: lv5(1090/5000)
Dust Ball: lv6(850/10000)
Ares: lv4(1160/2000)
Lucifer: lv4(1020/2000)
"That"s great! Since incorporating the special catmint into my recipe, the cats have received 100 experience points daily! This is great!"
With the effects of the legendary cat rice and his efforts for the past two weeks coming into play, Zhao Yao had sufficient points to upgrade Elizabeth, Ares and Lucifer all at once. Just the thought of it sent him jumping up and down.
Hence, Zhao Yao started off by pumping 3910 experience points to Elizabeth, upgrading her to level 6.
Zhao Yao read through the new layer of ability trees. They were:
Illusion"s touch: Increase the affected radius of the illusion by 30%
Illusion"s seal (upgraded): The duration of the illusion sealed within the target would be proportional to the cat"s current level.
"Oh? Another skill upgrade?" Zhao Yao"s heart throbbed when he saw the illusion"s seal (upgraded) option. It"s not solely because of its potential but because of how applicable it was.
"With this skill, it"s as good as wielding another power simultaneously. Furthermore, the compet.i.tion has not mentioned a word about the details of the compet.i.tion. Even though the information is stated to be released tomorrow, the compet.i.tion can take place in two days, three days or even four days time. My current skill can only last for one day and it takes too much effort to seal an illusion inside it."
Zhao Yao knew exactly how burdensome it was to seal an illusion within an object which explained his reluctance to use it.
With this new skill, the duration of the effects would be extended to 6 days! He could simply prepare the illusion before the commencement of the compet.i.tion.
It need not be an overly elaborate illusion in case others started suspecting Zhao Yao. A few simple tricks would do the trick.
"Furthermore this has room for growth …"
After some deliberation, Zhao Yao decided to allocate it to illusion"s seal (upgraded) before allocating the rest of the points to Lucifer and Ares, upgrading them to level 5 each.