A toneless, disembodied voice responded to William"s objection.
"10 million dollars is nothing. You have the rest of your life to earn it back. The Deluxe Superpower Package, however, will be taken off the shelves tomorrow. Once you miss this chance, you"ll never be able to get your hands on it."
William knitted his eyebrows in frustration.
"But...But I..," he began to stammer, "I don"t have 10 million dollars. My annual income is only 500 thousand dollars."
"Peasant," Zhao Yao thought, pursuing his lips.
He continued to operate the deflective field to stave off the six superpowers as he spoke, "Then how much cash do you have?"
William hesitated for a moment before replying, "Two million dollars. That"s all that I have."
"Why, William, you"re in luck. Our special White Day Combo Package is still available. Better yet, there"s an 80% discount right now. You"ll only have to pay two million dollars for a package that is worth 10 million. Isn"t this a wonderful coincidence?"
"Are you serious? 80% off? That"s a big loss for you, isn"t it?"
"Yes, it is. But, for you, it"s a great gain. Every time you purchase a package, I"m losing money. The more you spend, the more I lose."
William"s eyes were now sparkling with excitement.
"I"ll have it. Give me the special White Day Combo Package," he stated.
Zhao Yao was grinning from ear to ear once William transferred the promised two million dollars to his account. He loved missions that gifted him both money and experience points. This top-up task earned him 100 experience points for every 50 thousand dollars he received. This meant that he had just pocketed 4,000*2 points.
It was awesome.
With the money securely in his account, he instantly shrunk the deflective field and wrapped it snugly around William"s body like cellophane.
"The special White Day Combo Package has been downloaded and received. Congratulations on your new super strength, super speed, and indestructible body."
William watched in awe as he was cloaked in the golden sheath of the deflective field. The incoming superpowers could not penetrate it to hurt him. They bounced off him easily, destroying and scorching the surroundings instead.
The six supercats were sh.e.l.l-shocked.
"What kind of power is this?"
"Why are all our superpowers useless against him?"
William made a move as they tried to wrap their heads around the situation. He seemed to have made only one step to end up right behind one of the supercats. He nipped it gently, causing the poor thing to fall into an instant coma. He then tossed it away like a frisbee.
Boom!
The rest of the supercats jumped into action. A gigantic ball of fire swallowed William, obscuring him from view. The fireball crashed onto the ground, where it started rolling at fiery speed. Cheese halted it by encasing it with rocks and stones, transforming it into a small hill.
In no time, a loud explosion sounded as the hill was blown into bits by William, who strolled out of it, unharmed.
He laughed raucously as he looked down appreciatively at his golden body.
"Today is my lucky day! I struck the best bargain in the world. 2 million dollars in exchange for this power? Amazing," he thought to himself.
With that, he snuck up on one of the five remaining supercats and tossed him aside too.
Xiao Yu watched the events unfold in a state of confusion. She did not a.s.sociate William"s terrifying powers with Zhao Yao, but she witnessed the former transferring money to the latter.
"Hot d.a.m.n," she said, looking up at him with new-found respect, "How did you get him to give you all that money? Is this your new superpower? Can I exchange Fish Ball for it?"
"Leave me alone."
Cat Sage had been keenly observing the fight from afar as well, still holding the meteorite fragment between his teeth. He knew that he had to step in after watching the man charge towards his friends, taking them down one after another. He had no idea how this man had suddenly become so powerful, but he knew that his current state as a dinosaur would not be enough to defeat him.
He let out an earth-shattering roar as his body began to morph into a new form. The muscles packed underneath his skin started to grow. His hands began to lengthen and widen rapidly, transforming into a pair of humongous dragon claws. His neck was elongated. Two mounts were swelling in size on his back. They eventually burst open to reveal a set of large, scaly wings.
The prehistoric dinosaur had completed its transformation into the kind of dragon that graced Greek and Roman mythology. With each breath it took, smoke and sparks steamed out of its nostrils.
Cat Sage"s superpower allowed him to turn into not just any animal, but any living being at all. This was not always the case. Before he found the fragment, he could only take the form of common animals that walked the Earth, like a tiger, lion, rat, or perhaps a hippopotamus. With it, his ability strengthened with time and he could now transform into a mult.i.tude of beings, including those that only existed in legends. The fire-breathing dragon is his most powerful form yet.
He rocketed towards William at frightening speed. The two clashed in the air and began to fight. The epic collision between a dragon and a superhuman with explosive deflective fields generated a flurry of destructive energy. They soon tumbled into the heart of the woods, where their scramble for power uprooted every tree that stood in their way and kicked up quite a dust storm.
Cheese was hot on their trail. Likewise, Zhao Yao and Xiao Yu kept close to William while studying the huge dragon intently.
"He can turn into a freaking dragon?" Zhao Yao"s eyes were s.h.i.+ning with excitement, "I want him! I can ride him into battle next time!"
Ares, however, was not too sure if that was going to happen. The dragon was not only ferocious, but unexpectedly nimble and swift. The scales on its body were as impenetrable as armor plates on a battles.h.i.+p. No matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to incur any damage at all on the monster.
In comparison, he was thousands of times smaller in size. The deflective fields protected him from physical damage, but the sheer difference in size between himself and his opponent would do him in eventually. The amount of strength that knocked the dragon off his feet would send William flying hundreds of meters away. The amount of power it took to push the dragon mere steps backward would easily hammer William into the ground like a nail. Even if William"s body could take this, the ground he stood on would collapse ultimately.
This meant that William was at a severe disadvantage despite the deflective field being on par as the dragon"s physical damage.
Zhao Yao noticed that instantly too. A smirk spread across his lips as he projected his voice into William"s head with another auditory illusion.
"Dear host," he started, "We have just released the Ultimate Counterattack Package. It seems very helpful for your current predicament."
At the moment, William was using all his strength to spread apart the claws that were threatening to bind him. He shouted, "I don"t have a cent left!"
When he punctuated this statement, the dragon"s tail made a painful swipe against his chest, sending him flying into the distance.
Zhao Yao started speaking to William again, this time in a honeyed tone, "Silly boy, you can borrow money."