As Super Chen said, after the spirit sword exchange meet between No. 60 High and No. 59 High, the black cat called Zheng Tan became a cat overlord in the area, and Zheng Tan"s small "independent regiment" developed into a dozen or so military divisions.Zheng Tan had never imagined in its entire life that it would have so many troops.
With the increase in the number of cats under Zheng Tan, business naturally started to expand rapidly. Zheng Tan"s pest control team was now very large; in Songhai at least, there were no longer any human firms that could compete with the cat regiment led by Black Tan – cats were innately talented at catching the quick little pests to begin with.
Zheng Tan"s pest control team had now expanded overseas, and Zheng Tan even gave itself an English name: Lee Zheng Tan. It had no choice but to follow the trend in order to make foreign connections.
Of course, this was typical trade practice, but it was still fundamentally different compared with certain schools that demeaned themselves by looking for study partners for their foreign students. The business abroad didn"t do as well as in the domestic market, and Lee Zheng Tan donated all the international profits toward building local Hope Primary Schools.
Nowadays, even a stray cat knew the importance of equality. There should be mutual respect between living creatures. Demeaning yourself and licking the boots of outsiders was disgraceful, even in the eyes of a stray cat.
"Mr Lee Zheng Tan, we truly admire your team." In that same tree hole outside No. 59 High, Lee Zheng Tan was in foreign business discussions with a white cat with curly fur which held out one paw. This was a breed native to Mixiu: the Curly Spirit Fairy. A native spirit cat, it was inherently endowed with keen spiritual intelligence and formidable combat ability.
But they were too attractive, so many cultivators would rather keep and feed them at home rather than let them fight, for fear that they would hurt themselves.
Thus, the Curly Spirit Fairies in Mixiu gradually lost the ability to survive in the "wild": when they saw mice and c.o.c.kroaches, they would meow in fright. Lee Zheng Tan had seen the business opportunity in this, which was why it had expanded the business abroad.
The Curly Spirit Fairy in front of Lee Zheng Tan was called Mary, who could be considered a representative of all of Mixiu"s cats as it came across the ocean to negotiate. Mary"s owner loved her very much and had directly booked an entire immortal boat to send Mary over, stunning Lee Zheng Tan and the other cats around it with this extravagant gesture.
While the deal had been sealed, Lee Zheng Tan wasn"t in a good mood. This was a major venture, and according to Lee Zheng Tan and Mary"s agreement, a large number of cats on this side would be employed on a long-term basis and follow Mary back to get rid of the insects and mice problem which Mary and her compatriots faced.
Partings were always sad.
Another thing that made Lee Zheng Tan unhappy was the news currently being broadcast on TV, which had to do with Father Zheng and the hostage situation, and which was linked to a magic treasure plagiarism case from three years ago.
"Boss, the deal is settled; you should be happy," the Monk said comfortingly. It and the others had no idea what was wrong with their boss; they sensed that their boss had been absent-minded ever since it had seen the news.
Lee Zheng Tan didn"t say a word. It shook its tail at Mary politely before going out to climb the trunk of the old locust tree. Standing securely atop a branch, it stared off in one direction. The sun was setting at an angle, the light breaking through the tree cover to s.h.i.+ne in patches on the black cat"s body, as if spreading a floral skirt over it.
"A riot of flowers gradually enchant the eye…" Looking at this scene, the Monk couldn"t help reciting a poem. It came back to itself a moment later, and turned to look at Mary, their big client. "Miss Mary, our sincere apologies. Our boss is temperamental, and suddenly becomes moody at times."
"Oh~ it"s fine, I don"t mind at all. That"s the charm of such a cat!" The curly ahoge on Miss Mary"s head kept flicking back and forth, and she had an infatuated smile on her face. Why did Mary want to do such big business with Lee Zheng Tan"s team? A very large part of the reason was that she had taken a fancy to Lee Zheng Tan.
This was an aloof cat that was free of worldly and vulgar taste. Furthermore, it had still been able to act reserved after seeing Mary. This was really too rare! Mary was already deeply attracted to Lee Zheng Tan"s temperament. To her mind, a melancholy Lee Zheng Tan was the most handsome cat.
Ah! How good would it be if she could have a child with Lee Zheng Tan in this lifetime!
"Miss Mary? Miss Mary?" the Monk called out softly. Seeing that Miss Mary was still absorbed in the boss"s looks, the Monk left dejectedly. Beauty was in the eye of the cat beholder… It was none of the Monk"s business.
Instead, it was Lee Zheng Tan"s unusual state that the Monk was worried about. Although the boss had indeed become more melancholy after the cat regiment was set up, as its trusted aide of many years, the Monk could still tell whether or not it was truly melancholy that was reflected in the boss"s eyes.
In short, its boss was a little strange today.
Was it because of the news about Magic Treasure Development University?
The Monk thought back carefully. Three years ago, the independent regiment had still been very small, and basically had no business dealings with Magic Treasure Development University. However, they did take a job at that Divine Leisure Apartments, where those serial murders had taken place.
And the Monk clearly remembered that under their boss Lee Zheng Tan, they destroyed the base of the most horrible c.o.c.kroach gang leader in Divine Leisure Apartments: the king of c.o.c.kroaches in all of Songhai city, c.o.c.kroach Wenqiang
The Monk had even stepped on it a few times after this guy was caught, but it never thought that this small c.o.c.kroach could be so tenacious – not only wasn"t it injured in any way, it even yelled again and again that it felt good. That c.o.c.kroach gang leader was now confined to a fortified goldfish tank and couldn"t escape at all.
Why put it in a goldfish tank?
The reason was very simple.
Because it was the king of c.o.c.kroaches, c.o.c.kroach Wenqiang was pretty big, about the size of two human adult palms. It could even fly, and when the steel wings on its back were spread open, their ability to cut through things was extremely destructive.
Why was c.o.c.kroach Wenqiang so powerful? The reason was very simple: it was a pure-blooded southern c.o.c.kroach!! In addition, as the king of c.o.c.kroaches, it also had an extremely strong reproductive ability, which meant that it could produce thousands of c.o.c.kroaches in a single brood. These c.o.c.kroaches would reproduce in turn, and if unimpeded, their population could expand to make one loop around the world.
But fortunately, c.o.c.kroach Wenqiang had already been captured by the independent regiment. After the biggest c.o.c.kroach gang in Songhai was wiped out, the c.o.c.kroaches in every home were quiet for a period of time at least…
Seeing that its boss Lee Zheng Tan wasn"t in a good mood, the Monk was wondering whether to lift the goldfish tank which c.o.c.kroach Wenqiang was imprisoned in as a diversion. Just then, the Monk smelled a very familiar scent.
It abruptly lifted its head.
Immortal Meow…
This was Immortal Meow"s scent!