"Wow!" Lucifer exclaimed as he stared at that spectacular fireworks display from the windowsill. He couldn"t help but reach his paws towards it, hoping that he could somehow reach it.
Matcha, Old Cat, Lucifer, Ares and the rest immediately followed suit and sprang onto the windowsill. Their eyes were gleaming like diamonds as they stood there, completely enchanted by this phenomenal spectacle.
After all, this was the first time these supercats had celebrated Chinese New Year since receiving their human-like intelligence. Hence, this also marked their first encounter with this amazing performance.
Obviously, not all cats were as fond of the celebration. Some of them disliked or even abhorred the sound of the fireworks blasting in their ears. Ultimately, they were still cats. It was only natural for them to fear such deafening blasts.
Currently, Roly Poly, Uncle Egg, and Caesar were hiding beneath the sofa, trembling in fear. Every blast which exploded in their ears would cause their heart to skip a beat.
Uncle Egg was shaking from head to toe when he suddenly noticed a familiar figure next to him. He was confounded by that individual"s appearance, "Roly Poly, why are you hiding here? Don"t tell me …"
"Oh, I just wanted to have some exercise after that satisfying meal," Roly Poly lied without even batting an eyelid. Suddenly, another deafening roar echoed in the apartment which caused Roly Poly"s fats to jiggle along to it.
Meanwhile, Caesar dared not to even open his eyes as he threw his paws over his ears. With his teeth chattering, he asked, "Is there a war being waged in Jiangmen City? Are the Americans trying to fight us? What do we do?"
"How can that possibly be a war. It is simply a firework." Roly Poly explained as his eyes swept across the content on Wikipedia, "Fireworks is a common thing humans detonate during festive occasions such as Chinese New Year."
"A thing you detonate during festive occasions?" Roly Poly"s words only managed to worsen Caesar"s trembles, "I knew it. Every single human out there is just like Zhao Yao! They are all devils!"
Hence, Chinese New Year Eve was over in a blur amidst the binge-eating, the gossiping, and the fireworks display. Soon, all the cats had somehow retreated to their usual spots for a wonderful sleep.
Ares"s body was stretched across the couch with Sphynx Cat"s head buried in his belly.
Elizabeth and her family were all huddled together in their cat bed, sleeping soundly to the tune of the snores.
Matcha"s entire body had curled up into a tiny ball, squeezed right next to Zhao Yao"s feet. You could even hear his adorable snore if you came close enough.
As for Zhao Yao, he had instantly collapsed onto his bed the moment he entered the bedroom. After all, he had just saved every supercat and apostle from Nightmare Cat"s insidious power.
Since it was Chinese New Year, the café was closed for the subsequent days. Zhao Yao also couldn"t be bothered to pay a visit to all those nosy relatives and thus decided a hedonistic and carefree lifestyle with his cats.
As for the experience points earned from this most recent adventure, Zhao Yao decided to save it first. By acc.u.mulating up to 20,000 experience points, it would allow him to upgrade his BOOK to lvl 7 any time.
This simply represented another trump card in his hand. By upgrading his BOOK to lvl 7, he would integrate Sphynx Cat"s strength, agility, speed into his own body.
Obviously, Zhao Yao would prefer to save it unless he was forced to show his hand. After all, Sphynx Cat would only continue to grow stronger, thus the effects of the integration would only grow more significant.
"Hmph, I"ll just have to acc.u.mulate up to 20,000 experience points. From then, I will only pump the surplus into the cats. This would allow me to upgrade the book whenever necessary."
A few days later, Zhao Yao was awoken amidst a series of meows and screams.
"D*mn it, why is it so noisy?"
He threw his hand over his head, straight towards the furry noise machine. With one throw, he had tossed him straight out of the bedroom.
Lightning"s body tumbled across the length of the hallway before coming to a screeching halt. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he bolted back into the bedroom and sprang right onto Zhao Yao"s lap, "No! Zhao Yao! I"m finished! I"m dead! I"m gone!"
Zhao Yao could not be bothered with his relentless screams and responded by kicking both Matcha and Lightning out of the bed, leaving Matcha completely confused.
Once again, Lightning sprang onto the bed before resuming his wailing.
Acting as the perfect lapdog, Matcha dashed towards Lightning and sent one tight slap across his face, "What"s the matter? Do you understand the ramification of your actions for disrupting our dear leader"s much-needed rest?" Cold-bloodedly, Matcha began to drag Lightning out of the room.
Lightning struggled mightily as he threw his paws against the parquet floor, leaving behind a long trail of scratch, "Let me speak to Zhao Yao! Just one sentence is enough! If not, I will really die! I am really going to die!"
Zhao Yao let out a long sigh before struggling to get himself up. With his zombie-like eyes staring straight at Lightning, he asked, "Speak up, what is the matter?"
Lightning"s scream was so loud that even the furniture started to tremble, "Zhao Yao, I have contracted a terminal illness! I am going to die!"
Zhao Yao"s face twisted into a frown as he muttered, "What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"
Lightning clarified, "This morning when I went for my morning toilet run, I felt a searing pain running through my belly!"
Zhao Yao shot him a glare before insisting, "Erm, I"m sure it"s because you overate last night."
"No, it"s not!" With terror seared across his face, Lightning whipped out his phone and flashed the Google results straight in Zhao Yao"s face, "I went to google the moment I felt the pain! After more than one hour of research, I realized that I have contracted a terminal disease! In a week"s time, I will start to pee blood. Then, the mind-numbing pain will sear through my entire body. By then, I will have less than six months to live!"
Zhao Yao"s face went blank as his body crashed back onto his bed, "All the information out there is false. Trust me, drink some water and the pain will be gone."
"How can all of that be fake?" A line was etched between Lightning"s brows, "Those were comments left by professionals! Doctors!"
Lightning climbed up to Zhao Yao and whispered into his ears, "Zhao Yao, on the account that I"ll be dead in six months" time, can you kindly help me fulfill my last wish?"
All these while, Matcha was just sitting on the floor staring dumbfoundedly at this eccentric Lightning. Hearing his last sentence, Matcha clarified, "What is your last wish?"
Lightning announced, "My last wish is to return to the borderless plain fields, to hunt in the Gobi Desert, to climb up the ravines, to take in the fresh air that nature has to offer, to admire the beautiful blue sky! I want to die as a Pallas"s cat!"
Zhao Yao"s eyelids sagged as he listened to his absurd claims and muttered, "How lame."
However, an amazing sight awaited Zhao Yao when he randomly stretched his neck towards Lightning"s direction. It was the golden exclamation mark!
"A mission?"
Mission: Return home
Objective: Bring Lightning to a place which resembled his natural habitat
Reward: 200 experience points
Punishment: Nil
Zhao Yao noticed the new mission a.s.signed to him and immediately accepted the offer. After all, there was nothing for him to lose.
"But to think of it, the paltry experience point is quite a disappointment."
However, it was still better than nothing. Zhao Yao then dragged his heavy body out of his bed before bringing Roly Poly and Lightning out on a trip.
Lightning struggled relentlessly in his arms and screamed, "What are you doing?"
"I"m bringing you back home."
Immediately, beams of antic.i.p.ation shot out of his eyes, "Really? That"s amazing! I can finally return to those beautiful plains!"
On the other hand, Zhao Yao only brought Roly Poly along because his power offered the perfect camouflage in the modern metropolis. Furthermore, Zhao Yao had yet to receive Roly Poly"s power since he had not been recruited into the team.
One hour later, Lightning was seen squatting next to a giant tree trunk with his eyes fixed on a nearby cage. A few dumb-looking Pallas"s cats simply stared back at him, blankly. Anger rolled through him as Lightning demanded, "Is this a joke? I asked for the plain fields! The Gobi Desert! How is the zoo my natural habitat?"
"Alright, alright."
Five minutes later, Lightning found himself standing at the entrance to the wild beast exhibit. He got so angry that the static had caused his body to puff up to twice his original size, "Who told you that I preferred a safari? Other than the difference in size, this place is still a b.l.o.o.d.y zoo! I want my plain fields! I want the Gobi Desert!"