Chapter 333: Let Me Show You The Power Of Popularity
The wharf at Northeby Port had not been peaceful in the past few days.
Two days ago, a group of people arrived at Northeby Port in a hurry and did not leave. They loitered all day at the wharf, throwing gloomy glances at the pa.s.sengers of the airs.h.i.+ps pa.s.sing by.
They had hara.s.sed the captains and owners of every single airs.h.i.+p had that stopped at the port, from people using private Special Items to all forms of commercial airs.h.i.+ps. According to the grapevine, these people were planning to head west but did not have an exact location. The group consisted of ten plus people yet none of them could accurately describe the place they wanted to go. As a result, even the few airs.h.i.+p captains who were willing to do business with them had to regrettably reject them.
As time pa.s.sed, the group of people grew impatient. Somehow, they managed to sneak into quite a few airs.h.i.+ps. If the other pa.s.sersby did not notice the few unconscious airs.h.i.+p captains in the water, those men would have died. However, none of the people in the group could fly an airs.h.i.+p so they had to get off the airs.h.i.+p begrudgingly. They continued squatting around the wharf, giving people the heebie-jeebies when they stared.
"What should we do? Our queen is no longer within my detectable range," a man with long, narrow eyes asked for the umpteen time as he pushed his fringe away from his eyes.
AYU let out a low, guttural, extraterrestrial roar. It was obvious that she was angry because she was feeling very frustrated. "Silverdale, can you say something we don"t know?!"
The Souls as a species consisted of normal Souls who did not have any abilities and Souls with their own specialized functional skills. After returning to the Cyber District, AYU had brought the other specialized Souls with human suits back to the Free District with her. Silverdale, the Soul wearing a suit with long and narrow eyes, could sense the queen if she was within a 100km radius.
"Well, I think waiting here pointlessly is not going to work," a woman with a thick scarf spoke. If Lin Sanjiu was around, she would be astonished and definitely identify her as Sajee, "Why don"t we catch another person who can pilot an airs.h.i.+p?"
A few Souls shot sidelong glances at her without replying. They had already tried that option. They kidnapped a captain last night and tried to get him to pilot his airs.h.i.+p. Unfortunately, their illusions could not make the captain listen and cooperate with them willingly. On top of that, as they could not pinpoint the location of the place they wanted to go, the airs.h.i.+p captain flew the airs.h.i.+p and pretended to be compliant before he made his crafty escape using a Special Item. Before the Souls realized that something was wrong, the airs.h.i.+p started shaking and sparks flew everywhere. They found out that the airs.h.i.+p captain was missing only when the airs.h.i.+p plunged into the ocean.
When they emerged from the ocean, dripping wet, two of the Souls had lost their human suits. Before they could find other suitable human suits, the two of them had to be fully wrapped with cloths. These two Souls were now like two ghosts which followed the group.
Due to their strange appearances, almost no posthumans dared to walk within a 100-meter radius.
"From your conversations, I think you need a little help from me… my friends," a sweet voice suddenly rang out. Sajee, who was standing in front of the group, suddenly leaped up. She looked around but couldn"t find the person speaking. That was until AYU lowered her head and exclaimed angrily, "Why did it follow us!"
A cat with ruffled fur sat quietly on the ground staring at them with his bright emerald eyes. His fur was of uneven length as if it had been gnawed by something.
The bow on his neck had been washed and now shone brilliantly like a red ruby. His damaged backpack had already been repaired. The hole in the backpack had been patched with a picture of a majestic crown. According to the posthuman who had done this for him, she felt that the royal theme matched Dr. Hu very well, so she specifically designed it for him. His usually beautiful whiskers looked a little scraggly but they wouldn"t grow out in a short time.
Just as Meowie Hu had expected, these group of strange people was unaffected by his charm. One of them even started to open his mouth wide. The cat was not startled by this. He quickly pressed the strap on his backpack and lowered his head swiftly. When he looked up again, half his round cat face was already covered by a face mask.
At almost the same time, that Soul"s pheromones. .h.i.t the air. However, unlike the previous time, the cat doctor did not pa.s.s out but blinked at them with his large eyes while he wore his mask. After all, he had learned from his mistake.
"So, you"ve come here prepared," AYU held back her fellow kinsperson and questioned the cat skeptically, "Why are you following us?"
The cat doctor shook his whiskers and stuck his head up a little, appearing to be slightly haughty.
"I"ve been following your group for such a long time that I already understand… Unfortunately, we both want to head to the same destination," the cat doctor"s voice was a little hard to hear as he spoke through his mask. However, his enunciation was as clear as ever. "Actually, I can just board an airs.h.i.+p and leave you guys behind. But, I"ve decided to reply animosity with kindness, so I"m going to help you out a little."
"What do you mean?" AYU stared at him cautiously.
Ever since they left Seagal Square, this talking cat had been stalking them. As the Souls illusions only worked on humans and they weren"t much stronger than humans, they were evenly matched with the cat. Without much of a choice, the Souls released their precious pheromones and escaped the cat. Yet, none of them expected that the cat would find them after less than two days.
If it weren"t for their unusual ability, Meowie Hu would want to destroy the faces of all the people in that group. Meeting Lin Sanjiu who wasn"t affected by his charm was one thing. However, he couldn"t stand that these ten plus people, who seemed somewhat non-human, could resist his influence and even made him unconscious. Luckily, the "charm and brilliance" of Dr. Hu worked even when he was unconscious so he was rescued by a pa.s.sing posthuman.
When a person came close to Meowie Hu, they would be charmed unless Meowie Hu attacked them directly. There was no real limitation to his particular ability. Humans who had seen him would voluntarily be his guide, his wallet, his sewing machine, and his radar. With the enthusiastic help from so many people, Meowie Hu took almost no effort to locate this group of people.
After people heard that the cat had escaped from a dangerous situation, the cat"s little backpack was now twice the size as it was before.
"Oh well, since you people are so unpopular, you naturally don"t understand what I mean," Meowie sighed, showing his pity. He looked to AYU and said, "Follow and watch me."
He turned around and took a few steps while he took off his mask. The cat doctor had his eyes on a captain who was standing at the other end of the wharf. The captain was standing with her two crew members and was guarding his small airs.h.i.+p as she watched the group of Souls warily.
However, when they blatantly walked toward the captain, a fight did not break out, unlike what AYU antic.i.p.ated. When the cat doctor reached a certain distance from the female captain, she suddenly stepped forward to welcome him. Then, AYU watched the whole situation like she had seen a ghost when the captain knelt on the ground with a thud in front of the cat and spoke to the cat reverently, "Dear Doctor, how are you? I see that you"re with that group of people. Are you in trouble, sir?"
"h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo. I appreciate your concern, but I am currently very safe…" the cat raised his paw and waved his little pink paw pad in a very leader-like manner, "I have something I would like to ask you, captain."
"Please go ahead, sir."
"Well, it"s like this. I... and this person want to head west out to the ocean. There is a pocket dimension there but we aren"t quite sure of its location. Could you tell me where I could find an airs.h.i.+p that is heading in that direction?
Other than adding "pocket dimension" to his question, AYU and the others had already asked many people the same question. Perhaps, they were a little too crude when they were asking for direction, but she was sure that that captain did not know—
"Please give us the honor to have you onboard our airs.h.i.+p!" The airs.h.i.+p captain replied eagerly, "I have heard of this pocket dimension before, but I only have a rough impression of where it is. If you don"t mind, please let me bring you out to the ocean and we"ll search for it?"
"If only there was someone that knew the exact location..." Meowie Hu maintained his elegant demeanor even when he was being very demanding. "Oh," the cat said, looking a little troubled as if he was thinking about something. AYU couldn"t wait any longer. She quickly said to the cat, "Let her fly the airs.h.i.+p! Once we"re near, we have someone that can naturally detect its location."
"Ah, since that"s the case, we would have to trouble you, captain," Meowie Hu gave the captain a graceful nod. The woman suddenly blushed with excitement.
This conundrum which had lasted for two days was solved by the cat in just ten minutes. When AYU informed the other Souls to board the airs.h.i.+p, every single one of them had a look of slight disbelief.
"Maybe, we have chosen the wrong skin," Silverdale mumbled to another Soul. "If we wore cat skins, maybe, we could also do this."
The cat doctor"s hearing was much better than humans". He was shocked when he heard what they said. He leaped up and his tail bristled. He stared at the group of people suspiciously for quite a while, just when he was wondering if he should continue on this journey with them, AYU walked toward him.
"Why are you helping us? What do you want?"
To the Souls, the need to quickly reproduce and create the second generation was carved into their genes. Soulsqn was the only one who could possibly help their species fulfill this. As a result, finding and protecting their queen was a mission that every Soul had. Just when they were on the edge of despair, they had received this unexpected help. Under such circ.u.mstances, AYU couldn"t help feeling suspicious no matter how relieved she felt.
"A few of my friends are in a bit of trouble there. As you can see, I am really small and I don"t know how to fight... I think I will need help from all of you."
Even though the Souls did not have the same emotions and affections like humans, AYU nodded and before she turned around she added, "If it doesn"t affect us much, we"ll help you out."
When she turned around, the cat crooked his head. His large eyes were sparkingly. "What"s under that human skin... what will it look like dissected?" he thought to himself.