Chapter 375: Desire for Freedom
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian put down the phone and looked at the excited Famous, "Are you drunk? You don’t even know what’s going on and asked me to promise her..."
Using its toes to hold a wine gla.s.s, Famous drank up the last drop of wine and put down the gla.s.s, "In short, that girl might run into trouble, right?"
Zhang Zian put his hands on his waist, "So?"
"We"re going to help her because I want to be an angel who can make everyone happy," said Famous solemnly.
Zhang Zian treated Snowy as a friend, that’s why he was hesitant to give his word to her father about guaranteeing her safety. He wasn’t sure whether he was able to do that. Everyone thought he was a Wing Chun Master, but he was not! He had only been practicing for a few days! He was good at making the standard postures, but his level wasn’t enough when it came to real fighting!
He hadn’t been to the dog market before, but he was sure that if they exposed the swindlers’ frauds, those desperate crooks will be very furious!
Of course, he can bring Old Time Tea there. But Old Time Tea was a cat, if it had beaten up the peddlers in the dog market by itself…imagine the terrible consequences afterwards. Absolutely not!
"You don’t understand. It’s not that I don’t want to help Snowy preserve justice, it’s just that I’m not strong enough. Wouldn’t I become a fool if I can’t live up to her and her father’s expectations?" Zhang Zian shrugged helplessly.
"Quack! Do you still think you"re not an idiot?" Richard shouted while pecking at the feather on its chest.
Famous said with confidence, "It doesn’t matter if you are an idiot. Everything will be fine if I, an angel, am present."
Zhang Zian seriously thought that this dog was drunk.
"Do you want to go to the dog market with me?" he asked.
Famous nodded seriously, "Of course, because I am an angel."
Zhang Zian pointed to the door, "Alright. If you can walk out of this shop, I will admit that you are an angel."
Richard fluttered its wings and flew to Zhang Zian"s shoulder, it said to Famous without sympathy, "Forget it. So, you are also an idiot. Let me tell you, don’t even try. Don’t you get it? You can’t leave this shop for the time being."
Zhang Zian turned his head and stared at Richard—weren’t you also trying to leave when you were here at the beginning? You are in no position to tell others what to do.
Famous walked to the entrance. Bang! Its nose hit an invisible wall and saliva was all over it face. It almost knocked its teeth out.
It was surprised for a moment. Wiping the saliva off its face, it carefully looked forward, and then sniffed. It was certain through its nose and its eyes that there should be no obstacles in front of it, but why couldn’t it go outside?
Famous was unwilling to give up. It reached out its forepaw tentatively, and touched a solid wall. It moved its paw horizontally, finding that this invisible wall seemed to have sealed the entire entrance of the pet shop.
Its heart sank. This was such a familiar situation.
Head down to ponder for a moment, Famous retreated a few steps, made a running start, and then leapt high...
Bang!
It hit the wall so hard this time! Its whole body was stuck on the air wall in a ridiculously amusing way, and then slipped down...
Seeing this, Old Time Tea smiled, and Fina scoffed, while Snowy Lionet was laughing aloud and patting on the cat tree, "Meow! Meow! Men really are fools!"
Richard fluttered its wings and grinned, "You"re an idiot! Why did you try so hard?"
Hands covering his face, Zhang Zian couldn’t watch it anymore. What a silly dog!
"Are you okay?" he asked with concern. Famous had hit the wall so hard that even Zhang Zian felt its pain.
Dizzy, Famous struggled to pick itself up from the ground, shook its head and stared at the front. It took Famous a while before it could see the world in front of it clearly…
Although it was in pain, Famous was muscular and robust, and wasn’t injured from the clash. It had gotten used to such crashes numerous times in the black box when it tried to leap over the endless darkness, but failed every time.
It had become accustomed to similar pain and disappointment.
Zhang Zian went out through the door easily with Richard on his shoulder, and then came back, and then went out, and back… he demonstrated several times so that Famous could understand.
"You can’t leave this shop right now," he explained to it. "This is a setting of the game, which has summoned you from the void to reality, that neither you nor I can modify. Why not stay in the shop for the time being? We can help Snowy later... "
He picked up the phone and was ready to call Snowy.
"Wait!" said Famous solemnly, holding up a forepaw, "Give me some time."
Zhang Zian was stunned. He put the phone down, wondering what it wanted to do.
Famous stood at the door and closed its eyes.
Darkness. It was back to darkness.
The shop was so similar to the black box. Though it was warm and bright in the pet shop, just like the black box, the game was confining its freedom.
In its imagination, it had returned to the black box again, reviewing what happened before the dawn came.
...
It was in the abysmal darkness.
"Meow, do you mean it? After leaving this place, Galaxy will encounter a new owner?" asked the black and white kitten with antic.i.p.ation.
Famous gasped weakly and replied, "Yes, you will, but you must leave here first."
"Meow, Galaxy wants to go out!"
"I want to too, but I can’t..." it said despondently, "I don’t know how you got out earlier than I, but I"m afraid I"ll be stuck here all my life ..."
"Meow… woo..."
Famous moved its ears. Galaxy"s movements seemed somewhat strange.
It was futile for Famous to try to see in the darkness. But why was Galaxy on its left side when it "meow"ed, and then the sound of "woo" came from its right?
That was so scary!
"Galaxy, what are you doing?" it asked anxiously. Fear sprung up in its heart again.
"Meow, Galaxy wants to go out!"
Famous advised Galaxy, "Stop trying, it’s useless. I’m bigger than you, and I can jump higher than you, but even I can’t get out, let alone you."
"Meow, Galaxy wants to go out!"
Regardless of what Famous said, Galaxy had always repeated this sentence.
And just like that, they didn’t know how long it had been, and how many times they had gone through reincarnation.
When Famous woke up, the pain of cyanide poisoning remained in its body.
It had probably experienced death once again. Famous thought calmly, as Galaxy had said, it would feel less pain if it got used to death.
What?
Famous moved its ears. Why was Galaxy so quiet? Did it finally give up?
"Hey! Galaxy, are you tired?" it asked in the darkness.
No response.
"Galaxy?" It reckoned that Galaxy was asleep. It raised its volume and asked again.
Still no response.
"Galaxy!" It trembled, shouting with its loudest voice possible.
It had never been so scared since it was pulled into this inexplicable black box. No matter how painful it was, it was not alone. Galaxy was always there. It had been used to Galaxy"s company.
However, where was Galaxy right now?
Famous’s first thought was that Galaxy was dead, thoroughly, and would not resurrect anymore.
It did not feel sad. Jealousy struck it madly. It was jealous of Galaxy, who finally had escaped from the endless reincarnations, even if it meant it was completely dead.
It carefully explored the black box, in which it didn’t know how many times it had overturned the poison bottle. But still, it had never found Galaxy"s body in the black box.
Another possibility emerged in his mind—had Galaxy really succeeded? Had Galaxy escaped from here?
From thinking of this possibility, it trembled with excitement.
If Galaxy could escape, maybe it could, too!
What special thing did Galaxy do before it escaped?
It carefully recalled that Galaxy just kept saying "Galaxy wants to go out".
"Meow... No. Famous wants to go out!"
It tried to imitate Galaxy, but it couldn’t say the word "meow".
After numerous reincarnations, Famous finally found the secret of Galaxy. Therefore, whenever it had an uncontrollable desire for freedom in its heart, it seemed that it was able to move itself a very short distance randomly around itself—a distance shorter than its leap.
What was the use of such a short range? It was far from being able to escape the black box like Galaxy.
...
Famous opened its eyes again. It was embraced by the bright light in the pet shop now.
It turned back and watched Galaxy who was busy playing hide and seek with the American Shorthair in the pet shop. This Galaxy, probably not exactly the same Galaxy that Famous knew of. This Galaxy, who had always been alone in the black box, wasn’t the Galaxy in Famous’s mind.
As Famous realized, what it experienced by itself in the black box probably did not exist in the reality, but existed in the imagination, a virtual cognition derived from a fragment of Galaxy"s memory.
But why did this matter to it? Even the black box and Galaxy were nothing but humans’ imaginations. As long as its mind was strong enough, it could distort reality.
Famous had experienced numerous reincarnations in the black box, and though not as many as Galaxy, it still had plenty of time to think and learn something.
"Galaxy, please let me borrow your power." It looked at Galaxy and murmured to itself.
Famous retreated again, this time retreating a very long distance.
Zhang Zian instantly understood what it wanted to do.
"Hey! Don’t!" He tried to stop it from doing something stupid. With such a long distance to start running, it would injure itself instead of merely suffering from a headache.
However, it was too late. Famous had begun a full sprint, running towards the invisible air wall.
"Famous wants to be an angel!" it roared, exhausting all its strength.
Desire.
It temporarily abandoned everything. Because of its experience in the black box, it even could ignore its own life and safety. The only thought in its heart was its desire for freedom!
Zhang Zian covered his face with his hands.
Richard hid its face into its wings and couldn’t bear to see the tragedy that would happen next.
Old Time Tea, Fina and Snowy Lionet were all dumbfounded by what Famous was going to do, and only Galaxy was still playing.
Famous did not hit any obstacle. It teleported a small distance in the air, and appeared outside the shop door, landing firmly on the ground.
Zhang Zian and Richard looked at each other, shouting one sentence in unison: "What the f**k!"