Noodle was racing through the woods, but not on all fours. Instead, he was standing upright on his hind legs, looking very much more like a werewolf than a dog. Rice Cake was still securely in one of his hands. A misty glow shrouded her whenever there was a vibration on the ground.
Thanks to her power, every tree, house, and boulder that stood in his way was promptly blown up, clearing out a path for him.
The more he used her as an explosive device, the better he got at operating her. He knew exactly which part of her legs he should squeeze to produce a specific effect. It was like she was a game controller.
Not only did he have the knowledge of how to utilize Rice Cake, his paws had grown to be strong and dexterous enough to hold her in various positions. The amount of power packed in his paw could now rival a human"s punch. In fact, it seemed like his overall physical abilities had been fortified.
Noodle tilted his head upwards and sniffed the air.
"It"s Fish Ball!" he announced, eyes narrowed in determination.
He immediately took off in pursuit of his companion. He caught up to them in no time. With Rice Cake"s help, he dislodged an enormous tree from the ground. It crashed onto the earth, right before Fish Ball and his rally of supercats. They skidded to a stop and narrowly avoided it.
Noodle chuckled darkly, "Are you running? Do you really think you can get away?"
The trio of female cats stepped in front of Fish Ball without hesitation, s.h.i.+elding him from the husky.
"Don"t you dare bully our Oppa!"
"We aren"t afraid of you, stupid dog!"
"Fish Ball, darling, just go. Don"t you worry about us. We won"t let him get close to you."
When the ladies turned around, they found that Fish Ball was already long gone.
Before they could react to this, Noodle had delivered a heavy blow against the back of their heads, knocking them out. They crumpled to the floor.
The husky gave chase again. He reached Fish Ball in a matter of seconds.
Of course, there was no way in h.e.l.l that Fish Ball was going to give in so easily. When he detected the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, he immediately unleashed a blaze of bright lights from every pore of his body. The light was so glaring that it was impossible to look into it directly.
This had been an effective defence, but it was used one too many times by now. Noodle knew that it was going to happen, so he had already shut his eyes tightly when he drew closer to the cat. He reached out and manage to grab Fish Ball.
"Switch off the lights now," he ordered.
The light that filtered through his eyelids diminished steadily. He opened his eyes when he sensed that everything was back to normal. The first sight he was met with was Fish Ball, whom was looking up at him with large, round, and sparkling eyes.
"You put me through a lot of trouble to find you, Fish Ball," he admonished.
The cat blinked at him innocently. "I"m just an adorable little kitty cat. I didn"t think I was worth all that effort to hunt me down."
"Of course you"re worth it," Noodle cut in, "Join me, Fish Ball. Together, we can change the world. Cats and dogs will never be the slaves of humans again! Do you really want to help Xiao Yu finish her homework for the rest of your life? Do you want to continue suffering under her tyrannical rule or be brave for once and overthrow her? Our success might not last forever, but it will be worth every second!"
"That was beautifully put. Yes, I"m in," Fish Ball agreed quickly.
To himself, he rolled his eyes. "This idiot must"ve gone mad. I"ll pretend to go along with him for now. Once Xiao Yu and Zhao Yao find us, he"s in for it."
"Hmm…" Noodle did not expect that he could convince Fish Ball so quickly.
There was a pregnant pause as he studied the cat thoughtfully. Then, he said, "If that"s the case, eat this curry. This is our initiation. Once you eat it, we"re officially allies."
Fish Ball looked visibly alarmed when he spotted the curry that was smeared in Noodle"s paw.
"Is it okay if I didn"t eat it?" he asked in a croaky voice.
He sounded like there was a ball of emotion lodged in his throat, threatening to be thrown up.
Noodle did not respond. Instead, in one swift move, his brought his paw down to Fish Ball"s face and smashed the curry into the cat"s open mouth.
Fat tears started rolling down Fish Ball"s face.
Noodle grinned in satisfaction. "Great! You"re one of us now."
Fish Ball did not say a word. However, he was screaming internally, "Stupid dog, you"re dead! You"re finished! Once Xiao Yu comes for us, I will make sure you suffer ten times worse of what you put me through! I will make Xiao Yu sterilize you!"
For now, however, he kept quiet. Noodle grabbed him with his free paw and shouted, "Light!"
Obediently, Fish Ball released a surge of light that radiated in all directions except for Noodle"s. He alone could see perfectly while everyone else surrounding them would be blinded by the glare.
"Perfect. If anyone wants to fight us, the first thing we"ll do is is give them a taste of your light show."
Noodle raised his arm and extended it to different angles. Fish Ball diligently altered the course of his light accordingly to avoid hitting Noodle.
"From now, you"ll be known as the Fish of Joy. You, me, and the Ultimate Sorrow will take over the world together and overthrow the corrupt humans."
Noodle raised both his paws. He was now armed with two fistfuls of supercats. With one paw on Ultimate Sorrow and the other on the Fish of Joy, it was as good as holding onto a high-frequency blade and a lightsaber.
However, a shadow of doubt was cast on his face.
"I feel like we"re missing something."
He moved his head closer to Rice Cake, whom was still moaning softly.
"I...want...to…go...online…"
He then tilted his head towards Fish Ball, whom was completely silent.
"Fish Ball, you have to laugh," he stated.
The cat stared at him blankly. "Huh?"
"You"re the Fish of Joy! You have to be, you know, joyful!"
There was a quiver in Fish Ball"s lips. It took him a substantial amount of effort to force a laugh.
"Ha. Ha."
"Fish Ball, could I trouble you to laugh with more happiness, please."
"Ha. Ha. Haaaa."
At the heart of the battle, Zhao Yao was still busy negotiating business with William.
The man was being knocked around like a tennis ball by the dragon. The deflective field protected him from life-threatening danger, but it was not fun being thrown around like that. The pressure from being crashed into the ground or against the side of a hill repeatedly was starting to hurt him.
There was a s.a.d.i.s.tic glow in the Cat Sage"s eyes as he continued tossing and flinging the golden man around. The man could muster as much strength as his dragon could, but he was way too light and slight. Every collision they made ended with him flying miles away while the dragon just stumbled a few steps back.
"Darn it!" William cursed.
He could feel a dull pain pulsing from within him. His organs had been knocked around incessantly and it was starting to sting. He knew that he could only keep up with this for that much longer. His only way out was to borrow money so he can get that Ultimate Counterattack Package.
In the meantime, the Cat Sage grew increasingly confident that the situation was entirely under his control now. In fact, he was beginning to find it fun to bully this little golden man and send him flying through the air.
He began to relax. The iron bite he had on the meteorite fragment loosened just a fraction. Unfortunately, that was enough for the fragment to be dislodged and instantly pried away from him by an invisible force.
He watched in horror as the fragment flew across the sky like a shooting star.
This was the work of Nekomata. He had been patiently waiting for the moment when the Cat Sage lost his focus. Once he loosened his bite slightly, the spirit cat had dived in to grab the fragment. There was a look of unadulterated joy on his face as he cradled the fragment in his hands, darting away as quickly as he could.
"No!" the dragon roared.
Its attention was directed away from William and was now firmly trained on the escaping meteorite fragment. It extended its humongous pair of wings. In a few flaps, it lifted into the air and headed straight for what was rightfully his.