"Hmm?" Zhao Yao"s eyes were fixed on the exclamation mark that hung above Elizabeth"s head, "That looks just like Inspector Ho"s, except it"s gold, not silver. Does this mean there"s a mission?"
He turned to Elizabeth, eyes glimmering with hope.
"Lizzie, can I help you with anything?" he asked, batting his eyelids.
Elizabeth studied the strangely eager look on his face.
"You"re acting weird," she stated.
"Let"s not talk about me. I want to focus on you," he brushed her off swiftly, "I can tell that there"s something bothering you. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Elizabeth glanced at him hesitantly before speaking.
"Zhao Yao, can you save my parents and my dumb sister?"
"I have a feeling she doesn"t like this sister of hers," he thought, chortling to himself.
Elizabeth sighed deeply, "The three of them may be stupid and unthinkably unattractive, but they"re still family. I hope you can bring them here. They don"t deserve to be enslaved by the government forever."
When Elizabeth finished speaking, a new mission flashed on the board.
Side Quest: Family Should Stick Together!
Objective: Save Elizabeth"s family and keep all of them by your side
Reward: 100 experience points
Punishment For Failure: None
This mission did not look much different from every other one that came before it. However, unlike the other quests, Zhao Yao had the option to accept or decline it.
Of course, he did not think twice before accepting.
"I get it now," he thought gleefully, "It seems like I can now grant wishes as side quests! I wonder I can accept Elizabeth"s but not Inspector Ho"s? Maybe it"s his unattractive appearance and aura?"
He did not ponder over this for too long. He had more pressing matters at hand. The cats should still be painstakingly erasing memories back at the cafe. If he hurried over now, he could still catch them.
Time was of the essence here.
Zhao Yao shot out of the couch and dashed out the door, only to return as if he had forgotten something.
"Where"s Roly Poly?"
He skidded to a stop by the kitchen and scooped the fat cat into his arms.
"Boss, are you coming back for dinner?" Baiquan called out after him.
"Yes. I"ll be back soon."
Roly Poly was not happy with this turn of events.
He latched onto the front door with his claws, holding on as if his life depended on it.
"I do not want to leave this house! I need food!" he cried.
The poor cat looked like he was close to tears. Zhao Yao, of course, did not care. He dragged him out the house, leaving two-meter-long claw mark in his wake.
With an unwilling Roly Poly in tow, Zhao Yao sped to the cafe in his Panamera. When he got closer to the shopping strip, he could see that the gigantic tent was still there. Ah Wei, his men in black, and the ragdoll cats were all there too.
He heaved a sigh of relief, then quickly turned to Roly Poly. He pinched the cat"s face lovingly to grab his attention.
"I"m going to rescue those cats right now. To succeed, I need you to make me invisible, alright?" he said, smus.h.i.+ng Roly Poly"s cheeks.
Zhao Yao might be able to create perfect illusions, but that had limitations. They messed with the brain, so electronics were unaffected. Any camera would be able to see through them, much less the high-tech ones embedded in the men"s electronic gla.s.ses.
Roly Poly"s invisibility, however, was an optical phenomenon. He could literally make anything within his line of sight to, well, disappear from sight.
This was why he was crucial for this rescue mission.
Roly Poly looked up at Zhao Yao, puzzled, "Who are those cats? Why do you have to rescue them?"
"There are three ragdoll cats in that tent," Zhao Yao started explaining, "The moment I laid eyes on them, I felt this strong connection. I want to take them home with us."
Roly Poly"s eyes narrowed with disdain.
"Dude, those cats are Elizabeth"s parents and sister. If we don"t save them now, her family will be separated forever!" Zhao Yao added.
The fat cat"s eyes instantly widened in surprise, then narrowed again, but this time with determination.
"That"s my parents-in-law and sister-in-law right there!" he exclaimed, puffing out his chest, "Of course I"ll save them! Let"s go!"
Zhao Yao made a grab for Roly Poly to stop him from charging forward. The ragdolls were doing an important job. They could strike when every witness" memory had been erased.
The duo waited for more than half an hour before Ah Wei"s team started packing up. They looked at each other and nodded. With that, Roly Poly activated his power and both of them disappeared from view.
Zhao Yao easily slipped into the tent undetected. He sneaked up on the family of ragdolls and scooped them into his arms when no one was watching. The moment that happened, Roly Poly cloaked the cats with invisibility as well.
At the same time, Zhao Yao had cast an illusion on every person around him, robbing them of their sense of sound and touch. The ragdolls were struggling to shrug him off, so he stripped them of all five senses, knocking them out.
Ah Wei let out a shout of alarm when he watched the cats vanish right before his eyes. The level of tension in the tent immediately shot up to breaking point.
"For f**k"s sake," he sighed in defeat, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Some day this has been. There goes my bonus."
He then turned to the men around him.
"Find those cats now!" he barked.
Zhao Yao smirked as the men in black dispersed around the tent, searching every corner for the cats they would never find.
When he got home, he placed the three unconscious ragdolls on the couch.
The supercats crowded around the new arrivals curiously.
Matcha"s mouth fell to the floor when he saw them.
"Qian Qian?" he said in disbelief, "Isn"t that Qian Qian? Zhao Yao, you kidnapped her just for me?! You"re the best!"
In excitement, he started to mount Diana, "I"m going to get started then."
"No you"re not," Elizabeth hissed, casting her glowing eyes on Roly Poly.
The fat cat proceeded to smack Matcha with unprecedented strength, causing him to fly off the couch and crash onto the floor.
Roly Poly looked down at his paw in fear, then turned to Matcha. Something clicked in his mind. That really was Princess Qian. No wonder he found her so familiar. He was unable to recognize her because he had no browsed through her photos in a while. She had blocked him from her WeChat a few days ago.
"That Qian Qian is an imposter. She"s been using my sister, Diana"s, photos on her WeChat. I know because I"ve chatted with her before," Elizabeth said.
"An imposter?" Matcha cried, leaping onto the couch to study Diana, "Is she the real Qian Qian?"
"Her name is Diana, not this stupid Qian Qian," Elizabeth corrected impatiently.
Matcha and Roly Poly turned to Elizabeth, then stared at the unconscious Diana.
Matcha licked his lips creepily, "She looks even better in real life. I wonder what her fur feels like."
Roly Poly sneakily reached for his phone, hoping to take a photo.
Mango had already lost interest in the new cats. He was now running around the living room, carefree as always.
Dust Ball and Rice Cake were watching the three ragdolls with distaste. The former swished her tail haughtily, face full of contempt.
"That"s three more cats b.u.mming around, leeching our food."