"The brainless one is back!"
A stray cat let out a haunting scream which reverberated down the entire underground tunnel. Immediately, tens of supercats and apostles screamed in fear before scattering off in all directions.
The stray cat smirked as it watched the frantic apostles and supercats ran off in fear. Then, it proceeded towards the object meant for the exchange.
However, it suddenly felt a s.h.i.+ver running down its spine. It swept its head around to see a shadow at the opposite end of the tunnel.
"Who is that?" The cat demanded as it mustered its most menacing snarl, "Come out! I can see you!"
Bit by bit, a human emerged from the shadows. It was draped in a silk black cloak as he replied coolly, "I"m not brainless. I"m the headless horseman."
"Brainless!" The cat retorted before its body split into tens of shadows and disappeared in all directions.
Immediately, Zhao Yao reacted. With the use of timefreeze and his enormous strength, all ten of the shadows vapourised simultaneously, leaving the cat struggling in Zhao Yao"s hands.
The stray cat continued to struggle relentlessly as his trembling voice echoed in reply, "Headless … I"m begging you. Don"t help me. I really don"t need your help."
Zhao Yao"s eyes squinted into a hard line as his calm voice echoed in the tunnel, "For the past month, were you the one who hide behind my name and used it to commit atrocious crimes, taking things that do not belong to you?"
After nabbing this imposter, Zhao Yao netted another 10*2 experience points for himself. However, that same frown remained hanging on his face. Obviously, he wasn"t too happy.
"Who the h.e.l.l is that b*stard who changed my t.i.tle to brainless? If I ever find him, I"ll make sure he comes crawling to me for forgiveness."
After letting out another sigh, Zhao Yao directed his attention back to the mission panel.
BOOK: lv (2402/2000).
Elizabeth: lv7 (00/20000)
"D*mn it! After devoting one entire day to all these missions and all I managed to earn was a couple of hundred of experience points? I"m still so far away from Elizabeth"s next upgrade." Zhao Yao"s brows were tightly knitted together as he lamented, "I guess I only have myself to blame. Because of all the negative news surrounding me, Jiangmen City is currently flooded with all those pesky thieves. No one dares to even commit any legit crimes."
Subsequently, Zhao Yao spent the rest of the night as a vigilante of his city. He ran around offering help to all those in need and reported to work with two humongous eye bags the following day.
Zhao Yao could hardly keep his eyes open the entire day until Old Man Zhuang and Inspector Ho appeared at night. Immediately, his eyes were peeled open and fixed straight on Inspector Ho"s s.h.i.+ny bald head.
Above the bald spot was the long-awaited golden exclamation mark floating above it. This exclamation mark, in particular, was impossible to miss. It was easily three times larger than the usual ones Zhao Yao had seen.
"Such a big exclamation mark? What kind of mission is awaiting me? Will there be lots of experience points?"
Meanwhile, Inspector Ho was visibly disturbed by Zhao Yao"s intrusive glare as anxiety swirled through him, "Hey, can you stop staring at me as if I"m some beautiful girl. Sorry to break your bubble but I"m not a gay and will never be. I"m only interested in girls with a big b.u.t.t coupled with big t.i.ts."
However, Zhao Yao was completely indifferent to Inspector Ho"s accusations. Instead, he approached Inspector Ho with a silly smile and patted him gently against his shoulder, "Inspector Ho, is there anything that I can help you with?"
On the surface, it might seem like a totally friendly gesture. However, Inspector Ho could feel the pit of his stomach fall when Zhao Yao"s palm touched his shoulders. Hence, he immediately swatted it away and retorted, "What are you trying to do? Don"t tell me that you wanna be involved in the South? I"m telling you that it"s impossible. It will be far more dangerous if you"re there. I cannot imagine what will happen if G.o.d of Death has his eyes fixed on your head instead."
Truth be told, Inspector Ho"s fear for Talon only increased as time pa.s.sed. This was especially true for an apostle of Zhao Yao"s caliber. If G.o.d of Death forced him to join his side by threatening his family, the results would be horrendous!
Inspector Ho shook his head and advised, "You should just stay put in Jiangmen City. Do not go to the South just because it seems "interesting". Do you understand?"
However, Zhao Yao shot him a confused glare before shaking his head, "Actually, I"m not referring to that. Other than this, is there anything else that you need my help with?"
Seeing Zhao Yao"s concerned gaze, Inspector Ho began to pry his head for any matter which was troubling him. Suddenly, he recalled, "Actually, I have something that has been bugging me for quite some time. Do you remember the Cat King of the West?"
Beams of excitement instantly shot out of Zhao Yao"s eyes, "Oh? Cat King of the West requires my help? That must be a huge mission!"
Inspector Ho scoffed before rolling his eyes, "It"s not that the Cat King of the West is in trouble, it"s that … he has not been contacting us. Also, he doesn"t reply whenever we tried to contact him on our end. This is strange because it has never happened before. Cat King of the West isn"t like this, hence I hope you can help me investigate this matter."
A tinge of annoyance was evident in Zhao Yao"s tone when he replied, "Can"t you handle such a simple task on your own? There are so many ways that you can track his situation."
However, Inspector Ho shook his head, "Cat King of the West"s situation is rather tricky because he is staying in a prison."
Noticing Zhao Yao"s confused glare, Inspector Ho immediately continued his explanation, "Cat King of the West has a unique power of leading cats and humans towards goodness and away from all their vices. Hence, he wasn"t thrown into a prison. Instead, he volunteered to stay there in hopes of influencing the prisoners for the better. He stopped contacting us a few days ago. I have contacted the wardens to help me identify any anomalies."
However, these words failed to convince Zhao Yao on the severity of the situation as he reasoned, "It"s just been a few days. Maybe he was out playing some stupid computer games."
"Do you think everyone behaves like you?" Inspector Ho was not particularly kind with his words, "The prison he lives in is flooded with all kinds of vile apostles and supercats. Hence, knowing his situation is of utmost importance! There can be no room for error! Even though the investigation has not concluded, I have a hunch that something has happened."
Inspector Ho glanced towards Zhao Yao and asked, "Could you disguise yourself as a criminal and infiltrate the prison and find out what"s going on?"
Mission: Prison Investigation
Objective: Disguise yourself as a fellow criminal to investigate the situation within the prison. Ultimately, identify the reason behind the entire incident
Reward: 2000 experience points
Punishment: Nil
Zhao Yao"s right eyebrow shot up when he saw the reward: "The reward itself isn"t too shabby but is there really a need to disguise myself as a criminal? It sounds like a ha.s.sle."
Zhao Yao informed Inspector Ho of his concerns and listened to his reasoning, "I"ve investigated all possible places that I could in my capacity. There is no anomaly on the surface. However, Cat King of the West still refuses to make contact with us. Furthermore, the criminals who initially changed for the better have reverted to their old self and were rumored to become even more violent."
Inspector Ho sighed, "All the previous apostles that I have sent had failed because they were exposed the moment they set foot there. Hence, I hope you could blend in and find out what"s going on."
Zhao Yao was not exactly pleased with Inspector Ho"s reasoning and retorted, "What are you trying to say? Your men were exposed because they behave like gentleman? Meanwhile, I would not face this problem because I"m an a*shole? Is that what you"re trying to say?"
Inspector Ho replied coolly, "You"re just better at hiding your true self."
Zhao Yao pondered, "2000*2 experience points still sounds rather enticing. Maybe I might even receive more missions after I infiltrate the prison."
Hence, he nodded his head and accepted the mission.
"However, which cat should I bring in if I"m entering a prison?"