Zhao Yao tore open the bag of cat food and was able to discern its quality without even tasting it.
"I guess it"s an excellent quality cat food? It"s about the same as those brands I can get at supermarkets."
Zhao Yao scattered the cat food right in front of Matcha. However, he was totally indifferent to it. After all, Matcha"s diet consisted solely of legendary cat rice. He took a bite of it before vomiting the rest.
On the other hand, this was the best cat food Noodle and Fish Ball ever had. They simply could not have enough of it until Xiao Yu dragged them away after taking a few mouthfuls.
Xiao Yu exclaimed, "Are you guys gluttons? Where do you intend to excrete later? I did not bring plastic bags along. Are you trying to turn me into that kind of owners that never pick up after their pets?"
The pair of cat and dog could only lower their heads in shame. Xiao Yu realized how affected they were and decided to comfort them in case it affected their performance, "Alright, alright. I"ll treat the both of you to beef and salmon at the end of the compet.i.tion."
Immediately, both their tails went up as they began encircling Xiao Yu excitedly.
Hence, the rest of them remained standing on the deck while setting their eyes on the horizons. The winter breeze continued roaring, sending the majority of the people indoors after half an hour.
After sailing for more than three hours, a thunderous boom exploded from the bottom of the s.h.i.+p, sending tremors and vibrations into every corner. Seawater even started to seep into the s.h.i.+p through the gaps while the liner began tilting towards one side and started sinking.
All the partic.i.p.ants were overwhelmed with fear as they scurried across the place, with screams flooding the area. Suddenly, a voice rang through the speakers, "Everyone, this is just a mini test before the start of the compet.i.tion. This s.h.i.+p will be completely submerged in 10 minutes. Luckily, the island is just 3000 meters away from us. Those who managed to reach it will be eligible for the compet.i.tion."
When you peered through the windows, you could see the silhouette of the islands on the far horizon. You could even spot beams of light shooting from the island as if someone were controlling it.
"Also, please do not forget about your life vest. Every seat should come with a life vest!"
Flames of anger shot through the contestants when they heard that obnoxious voice. A sea of profanities and curses erupted in the s.h.i.+p.
"How can he do this to us? Is he trying to kill us?"
"B*stard! This is simply murder!"
"How can the organizers be so irresponsible? How can such compet.i.tions even exists?"
The voice from the speakers was totally indifferent to the scolding but continued explaining, "Oh yes, I would like to remind the partic.i.p.ants that there is no use searching for the speedboats or lifeboats. We have taken all of them away. Meowhahaha."
"This lunatic!"
"I"m gonna kill him!"
"What are we supposed to do?"
It was a complete chaos with hundreds of supercats and apostles rus.h.i.+ng around like headless chickens.
However, some apostles" powers came extremely handy. Some had the power to turn into mermaids, while others could walk on the surface of the water. Some cats and apostles could just fly across the water, towards the island.
Following a series of blaring explosions, a shadow emerged from the crowd into the sky. Explosions continually erupted from his soles before he flew towards the island at warp speed.
This person was none other than the teenager with the buzz cut and his Siamese cat.
However, not all the apostles were as lucky as the ones mentioned above. Most of them were at a loss of what to do. Some even resorted to climbing to the top of the s.h.i.+p while others jumped into the rough sea with their life vests on.
The situation was getting out of hand. Zhao Yao, who was caught in the middle of it, let out a sigh of despair. Immediately, he activated timefreeze. Then, he grabbed two life vests before dragging Liu Yun, the Serval Cat, Xiao Yu, the husky and Fish Ball to the deck.
When time resumed, Liu Yun and Xiao Yu just stared at their surroundings in shock. They had no idea how they just magically appeared there.
Zhao Yao simply stared at a distance as he tried to make out an island in the far horizons.
Zhao Yao turned to them with a solemn expression before answering their queries, "This is my ability, I"ll tell you more about it when we have time. The s.h.i.+p is about to sink. Can the both of you swim?"
Zhao Yao could breathe a momentary sigh of relief when both of them nodded their heads. He threw them the two life vests before instructing, "Put this on right now. Jump into the water when we are nearer to the surface. Remember to swim in the direction of the island. Do not get sucked into the eddy currents!"
After giving out his concise instructions, Zhao Yao immediately turned around and left them before Xiao Yu stopped him by tugging onto his sleeve, "What are you trying to do?"
"Save lives." Zhao Yao replied sternly.
This was the first time Xiao Yu ever saw Zhao Yao act so serious. However, she was immediately distracted by the seas of people gathering and the thunderous blare erupting from the s.h.i.+p. It was going to split into two at any moment.
Xiao Yu could not believe her ears and shook her head violently, "Are you crazy? How can you possibly save all of them? You might even lose your life because of it!"
"Do not worry, I"ll just do whatever I can. I"ll never do anything beyond my abilities. The two of you will just wait here for me." Zhao Yao swung Xiao Yu"s hand away before das.h.i.+ng back into the cabin. Meanwhile, he was thinking, "I"ll save as many people as I can. Maybe, I can even earn some experience points from this."
At this moment, the Serval cat began blinking and responded, "Maybe you do not have to save all of them."
With her sclera all exposed, the Serval cat explained, "By tapping on the fish"s vision, I realized that many of those who cannot save themselves are being taken away to a corner of the island."
From the fish perspective, one of the contestants who could not swim was enveloped in a giant bubble when he fell into the sea. Then, he was slowly brought towards the island.
"Oh really?" This piqued Zhao Yao"s curiosity, "What"s rescuing all these people?"
"I have no idea, they look really weird. I don"t think they are biological creatures."
Suddenly, a glimmer flashed across Zhao Yao"s eyes, "Oh yes, since the government is somehow related to this compet.i.tion, they will never allow any contestants to die on their watch. So this was done just to scare them? They just wanted to weed out the weaklings before the start of the actual race … this process allows them to see each partic.i.p.ant"s true character."
Zhao Yao finally managed to relax when he heard this rea.s.suring news. However, his eyes lit up when he noticed a giant exclamation mark at the corner of the s.h.i.+p deck.
Knowing that things were not as dire as expected, the solemn expression also disappeared from Zhao Yao"s face. He looked at the Serval cat and asked, "Oh yes, can you direct the fishes to save the people?"
Five minutes later, Meng Hao and his companions were all gathered together at a wooden plank. All their arms were resting on the planks along with their cats. The cats all huddled in the middle of the plank, for fear of a single drop of water touching their fur.
Meng Hao continued kicking relentlessly as he propelled the plank forward. He screamed words of encouragement, "Let"s go! We are almost at the island! One last pus.h.!.+"
One fatso commented, "Bro, if not for your composure and wit, we would never have thought of using this plank as a float. We would have been dead by now."
Meng Hao revealed a grin before replying, "This is the product of our combined effort. This compet.i.tion seems extremely bizarre. We will never know what will happen when we reach the island. We can only survive if we stay together as a group."
At this moment, a school of fish appeared, propelling Zhao Yao and the rest forward by producing a huge wave. However, the supercats which Noodle brought along fainted the moment they came in contact with water, eliminating them from the compet.i.tion.
Behind them were an entire group of people grabbing onto the planks for their dear lives. These were the contestants Zhao Yao had rescued.
When Zhao Yao pa.s.sed by Meng Hao and company, he noticed the exclamation marks above their heads and immediately asked them, "Hey Meng Hao, do you need any help?"