Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 1

“Are they all dead?”

“The psychic-type evolved human is dead. His cat still has a single breath left.”

“Tsk. To think a wood-type evolved beast actually swallowed a Brain-Splitter’s crystal. It managed to beat the odds and reach Level 5, but it’s completely crippled now anyway.”

“Heheh, that’s not necessarily true. This is the very pet City Lord Cui specifically requested by name. A Level 5 evolved beast can transform into a beautiful beast-eared human!”

Crude and obscene remarks were interspersed with mocking laughter.

The large white cat, dyed completely crimson with blood, was on the brink of death. Its tail and hind limbs had been severed by the sickle-like appendages of a Devourer monster, exposing ghastly white bones. Its spine was a chaotic mess of various bite and claw marks, and blood laced with crystal fragments continuously spilled from its mouth.

Including its tail, the great cat measured ten meters in length, requiring several men to work together just to bind it.

Amidst their frantic labor, they all inexplicably overlooked the shifting environment around them.

On the ground, shattered remnants of vines left behind from the battle were quietly coming back to life.

Wood-type energy possesses endless, vital longevity, whereas the characteristic of a Brain-Splitter’s psychic power is to continuously expand and fracture in a burst of violent energy. Utilizing the collision of these two mutually exclusive energies triggered a singularity; the resulting exploding shockwave reached a magnitude that exceeded even Level 7.

As the enemies let out their final, terrified shrieks, Mi Miaomiao also struggled on the very precipice of life and death.

At the final moment, he forced his eyes open to witness the absolute annihilation of these people.

Pain rushed over him alongside the encroaching darkness. Mi Miaomiao did not fear death; he merely felt a deep sense of unwilling resentment and regret.

He had wanted so desperately to keep living on behalf of his companions.

August 29, Year 353 of the Coalition Calendar.

The torrential downpour had persisted for eighteen days. Heavy, dense storm clouds gradually spread across the entire globe, yet the temperature was rising in a bizarre fashion. The large-scale melting of polar glaciers caused sea levels to continuously rise. Concurrently, earthquakes struck frequently, and the undersea tremors generated several tsunamis that swept across the mainland.

Lehai City, situated along the southeastern coast of the Central Zhou Continent, was severely afflicted. Within a single week, it suffered two successive magnitude-6 earthquakes and a Category 3 tsunami, resulting in two-thirds of the city’s area being swallowed by seawater. Fortunately, the city’s residents had begun evacuating ahead of time, resulting in virtually no casualties. However, the relentless rise of the sea level and the ever-present threat of subsequent tsunamis meant that even the suburban evacuation points were no longer safe.

The Coalition Headquarters issued an order for the military corps to uniformly organize the relocation of coastal citizens toward the interior of the mainland.

Muzhang County, Lehai City.

Inside a private residence situated near an evacuation point.

Mi Miaomiao and Cheng Ningye sat staring at each other in the study.

This second-floor study was exceptionally spacious. The large French windows were constructed from soundproof materials, ensuring that even though the torrential rain outside cascaded like a waterfall, the interior of the room remained quiet enough that a falling needle could be heard. The wall behind the desk was lined with bookshelves, while the cabinet on the opposite wall was filled to the brim with painting supplies. Fixed to the wall directly facing the glass windows was a beautifully staggered cat scratching tree. There were no particularly expensive or luxurious furnishings, but every single item had been meticulously chosen or even handcrafted by Cheng Ningye.

No matter how many times they checked, this was undeniably the house where Cheng Ningye had lived ever since his university days.

And yet… this house, along with the entire city, had been completely destroyed five years ago by a catastrophic tsunami that submerged more than half of the continent.

Five minutes had passed since they woke up together. They spent the first three minutes confirming the safety of their surroundings and adapting to their heavy, power-stripped bodies. Mi Miaomiao also had to readjust to the brand-new, upward-tilted perspective of an ordinary cat.

After a brief moment of panic, the human and the cat locked eyes. The pitch-black phoenix eyes and the heterochromia cat eyes one gold, one blue reflected an identical sense of bewilderment and wariness. Yet within that doubt and shock, a trace of joy and solace from surviving a disaster coexisted.

Having locked eyes, he knew this was still that same familiar person.

Alright, having locked eyes, I know this is still the very same Miaomiao who accompanied me for seven years.

During the final minute, Mi Miaomiao recounted his experiences prior to his death.

The human and the cat fell into silence, both of their expressions filled with self-reproach.

“Meow, meow, meow!” When all is said and done, it was still a matter of insufficient strength! Otherwise, before I died, I would have killed that new City Lord who set a trap to harm us no matter what!

Recalling the vile and filthy words he had heard before dying, the white cat angrily struck the desk surface with his paw pads, the fur on his tail flaring up completely.

In the Anqing Base where they had resided, the entire place had become the sole dictatorship of the new City Lord ever since he assumed power. City Lord Cui did not wish to see a Level 5 psychic-type evolved human emerge within the city outside of his control. Yet, Cheng Ningye, who was at the peak of Level 4, remained strictly independent from all factions, leaving no leverage or vulnerability for others to exploit.

Mi Miaomiao, who was bound to him, was also an evolved beast at the peak of Level 4. Upon ascending to Level 5, his strength would increase at least fivefold. Furthermore, evolved beasts were far easier to control than humans.

Therefore, the owner died and Mi Miaomiao fell alive into the hands of those wretched people.

“Yes. This time, we will become even stronger. We will definitely be able to take our revenge!” Cheng Ningye nodded heavily. As soon as the words left his mouth, however, he detected an anomaly.

If time had truly reverted to five years ago, logically speaking, shouldn’t he currently be an ordinary human without any psychic power? How could he still understand Miaomiao’s words?

Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang abruptly within the quiet room. Mi Miaomiao witnessed his owner who had looked composed and reliable just a second prior instantly lose focus in his eyes, turning pale as he shrunk back into his chair.

The aura radiating from Cheng Ningye at this moment was exactly like a raw lemon: incredibly sour and bitter.

“Sigh~!” Mi Miaomiao let out a sigh.

Having experienced life and death once already, his owner’s human affliction known as “social anxiety disorder” actually showed signs of worsening.

He hadn’t even seen the person yet, and he was already experiencing a stress response.

Wagging his tail, the white cat leaped down from the desk and rushed to open the main door before the bell could ring a third time.

“Mr. Cheng, please collect your emergency pack and relocation notice. The final batch of rescue boats will begin arranging boarding tomorrow at 12:00 PM. They will set sail 24 hours later, so please do not miss it.”

“Mr. Cheng? Where are you?”

“Achoo! Achoo! Meow~!”

The rushing sound of rain echoed in his ears. His nose, which had endured three years of drought, suddenly plunged into the moist air, causing Mi Miaomiao to sneeze gently twice. Regaining his composure, he surveyed his surroundings.

The bottom of the brass front door was fitted with a self-opening cat door for easy entry and exit; beneath the glass awning covering the entire courtyard stood the cat scratching tree he had clawed since childhood; the flowerbeds bordering the surrounding walls were planted with fresh, lush cat grass; inside the shelving unit in the porch lay his owner’s coat and face mask, along with his own favorite black leash and cat toys.

This place was the home Mi Miaomiao knew all too well, where he had lived together with his owner before the end of the world!

Though his heart still harbored a sense of unreality regarding this rebirth, he could determine for certain that there was currently no danger in the immediate vicinity.

His extended sharp claws retracted back into his paw pads, and his tensed lower back relaxed. Mi Miaomiao adopted an elegant posture as he sat on the ground, tilting his head up to look at the somewhat familiar human woman standing before him.

As a former civil servant turned volunteer, Zhang Tao had dealt with humans of every bizarre temperament imaginable. However, at a critical and hectic juncture like this, having to deliver supplies to a doorstep without seeing the property owner would make even the most good-tempered person lose their patience.

Yet, the moment she looked down and saw the cat, the sparks of her frustration completely vanished before they could even ignite.

The feline before her eyes was so breathtakingly beautiful that it made her forget to breathe. This Lion Cat possessed a physique slightly larger than an ordinary cat, clad in a coat of pure white long fur that was fluffy, soft, and sleek, making her helplessly think of a dense and delicate cream cake. The fluffy, magnificent tail raised behind its back swayed gently; looking at it allowed one to easily imagine the immense warmth of holding it, soothing away the gloomy emotions brought on by the continuous torrential rain.

Most striking of all were its heterochromia eyes one gold, one blue. Deep within those clear, translucent pupils, a brilliant radiance akin to hidden stars and the sun gleamed. Being gazed upon by them made one feel as though they were falling into a magnificent, surreal dream.

In a complete daze, she entirely overlooked the fact that the cat’s owner had failed to appear from beginning to end. Following the direction of the cat’s raised paw and its guiding gaze, Zhang Tao meekly placed the emergency pack into the cabinet inside the doorway and recorded the necessary precautionary details into the visual intercom system.

Even as she knocked on the door of the next household, she was still pondering: How can I add that cat owner’s social media account? I want pictures of that cat so badly!

“Meow-woo~” Once the person had departed, Mi Miaomiao was finally able to think in peace. The scent on that human seemed to have appeared in his memory before.

His nose twitched slightly. The primary note was a sweet peach fragrance, but the undertone was strangely pungent… Mi Miaomiao favored eating unfamiliar foods, particularly items with strong, stimulating flavors. Prior to the apocalypse, his owner would let him try them, but would never allow the cat to eat too much. Consequently, Mi Miaomiao’s memory regarding scents associated with chili peppers was always exceptionally vivid.

His mismatched eyes suddenly grew bright, and his large white tail lightly patted the ground. The cat’s head poked out from the cat door, gazing out at the world obscured by the curtain of rain: gray perimeter walls, two-story villas that were uniquely decorated yet uniform in structure, neat rows of green plants separating the sidewalks, and a cyan cobblestone pathway. Occasionally, one or two humans clad in raincoats would dash past the front door in a great hurry.

Mi Miaomiao narrowed his eyes and withdrew his head. He was certain! Five years ago, a few days before the arrival of the end of the world, an identical scene had occurred.

Just as he wanted to run back inside the house to break the news to his owner, his field of vision suddenly shifted higher. Sensing the familiar aura of his owner behind him, Mi Miaomiao remained completely defenseless, allowing the human to help him put on a pet raincoat and fasten a small pet tracker around his neck.

“Meow?” What’s wrong?

“Miaomiao, we really have returned to five years ago! Furthermore, our supernatural abilities haven’t vanished either; they’ve merely reverted to the state when they first awakened, but they are currently recovering continuously.” Cheng Ningye spoke in a rushed tone, so agitated that a nasal tone emerged in his voice. “Moreover, today is August 29th!”

He tapped open the folding computer on his arm, and a corner of the light screen displayed the time: Year 353, August 29, 8:46 AM.

There were only 39 hours and 14 minutes remaining until the apocalypse descended at midnight on September 1st.

His round pupils constricted into tiny slits. Looking at this time, Mi Miaomiao’s deepest buried memories and regrets were instantly awakened. A misty layer of unshed tears gradually welled up within those translucent, mismatched eyes, only to dissipate as he blinked rapidly.

“Meow!” I am going to find them!

The white cat twisted his body forcefully and leaped down. His four clean, pink paws landed lightly on the waterlogged ground. Exerting force through his hind legs, he transformed into a long-strained white arrow, piercing straight through the dim curtain of rain.

On August 29th, the members of the stray cat pack were all still alive!

Mi Miaomiao had been born into a stray cat colony, losing his mother when he was barely a month old. In a situation where no nursing queen could be found, the leader of the cat colony had picked through the humans who routinely fed the strays, ultimately delivering the little kitten to an isolated, quiet, and highly patient young human male who loved animals.

With Cheng Ningye ascending to the role of owner, Mi Miaomiao managed to grow up safely. Xuan Yu and the other felines of the cat pack, after showering Cheng Ningye with a bout of affection, secured permission to enter and leave his home freely.

Thus, although Mi Miaomiao was domesticated, he never lacked companions; he, too, was a member of the stray cat pack.

On this exact day in his past life, Xuan Yu and the others had departed around 4:00 AM. The stray cat pack was going out one final time to the disaster zones of Lehai City to search for and rescue trapped animals.

They had agreed with Mi Miaomiao to assemble at the owner’s house on the morning of the 31st to evacuate Lehai City together. To this end, Cheng Ningye had specifically spent a fortune to acquire a small mechanical transport vessel.

However, right up until the apocalypse descended and Lehai City fell entirely, the cat pack never returned.

After departing from the residential district, temporary evacuation zones lined both sides of the road. Dense clusters of tents were pitched beneath tall metal sheds. Mi Miaomiao carefully evaded the crowds of people moving in and out to search for provisions, his speed matching the swiftness of a gust of wind.

A young child holding a toy cat in his arms rubbed his eyes in bewilderment: “Xiao Mi, why did all the curtains suddenly fly up?”

After traversing six main thoroughfares and two large bridges in succession, he entered the “prosperous” circular commercial district near the city center. The first floor of the southernmost building had already been submerged by seawater, and due to the lack of major supermarkets nearby, the area was devoid of human presence.

To prevent secondary disasters from occurring, the city’s power grid had already been deactivated following the evacuation of the civilian population.

Beneath the deep, bleak canopy of the sky, the main urban district of Lehai City resembled a crouching behemoth. Complementary streetlights fitted with renewable energy sources emitted a faint aura as their blades spun in the rain, punctuating the dark skyscrapers forged of steel and the shifting expanses of accumulated water.

The wind brushed past his body, his fur slicing through the raindrops and generating splatters of water that refracted a faint, shimmering glow around the white cat’s form.

Mi Miaomiao’s strength was indeed recovering; the faster he ran, the more his body gravitated toward a giant physical state. By the time he caught a fleeting, dispersing scent of dried straw, his physique had already reached the size of an adult Maine Coon.

Before him lay a lift-style sewer manhole cover, its internal ventilation fans operating normally. This was the exact location where Mi Miaomiao had last caught the scent of the cat pack in his previous life.

Right now, the faint, familiar scent of dried straw proved that he had not searched in the wrong place.

Bam! The metal cover on the road surface was violently shattered by a single swipe of his paw, and the battle deep within the sewer lines also drew to a temporary halt.

The underground conduits at the city’s core were wide enough to accommodate an engineering vehicle. The surrounding walls were lined with narrow platforms suitable for walking and climbing guardrails. The sectors that had not been inundated by seawater continued to function normally. The surging currents of water had flushed through from high to low for over a dozen days; originally, the odor wouldn’t have been too foul, but upon Mi Miaomiao entering the dim passage, the putrid stench of corpses and the ferocious, agonizing shrieks of dying rats scrambled to assault his senses.

Pressing his ears flat into a straight line, Mi Miaomiao sprinted madly along the metal guardrails on the wall toward the source of the scent.

The closer he drew, the more tensed his mind became, because he seemed to detect the scent of a monster? Moreover, it was a Devourer monster currently ascending to Level 2!

Black cat ears stained with blood pricked up quietly. A familiar scent of oranges caused a bright gleam to flash within Xuan Yu’s dark green eyes, but immediately following that, he witnessed the rat monster beside him whose neck he had just broken unexpectedly stand back up!

“Danger, don’t come over!” The black cat’s hoarse voice sounded even deeper in his weakened state.

Xuan Yu was immensely tense, urging Miaomiao to leave.

However, from Mi Miaomiao’s perspective, what he saw was this: Xuan Yu, who had been lost for five years, currently possessed a feeble aura and a swaying silhouette, yet he refused to retreat a single step as he shielded himself against the black monster!

The monster’s physical size was four to five times that of the black cat. It possessed the head of a rat and the lower limbs of a rat, yet its midsection was bizarrely pieced together with a human thoracic cavity and arms. Those arms, skin tinged with black, bore traces of rot and were radiating a foul stench.

“Food… squeak, delicious food! I want to eat!” The rat’s mouth opened and closed, producing a voice that sounded partly human and partly rodent, making it highly difficult to discern.

The brain tissue of a Devourer monster is severely atrophied, leaving it devoid of thinking capacity; instinct merely urged it to consume flesh and blood of a higher caliber.

With Mi Miaomiao present whose energy was far more substantial the rat monster simply chose to disregard the black cat before it. Even though the opponent had nearly dragged it down to a mutual destruction just moments ago, it raised its leg, preparing to stomp downward.

“Get down!”

The white cat lowered his body, squeezing out every ounce of strength from his entire being to launch himself off the guardrail, leaping toward the concrete platform on the opposite side.

While still mid-air, he suddenly felt a chill envelop his body, as though a blade were resting against his neck, or as if he were standing on the edge of a precipice welcoming a howling gale.

The heavy sense of crisis vanished in an instant. Mi Miaomiao had long grown accustomed to being surrounded by peril during his five years in the apocalypse, but the rat monster’s movements faltered in hesitation.

In the next instant, Mi Miaomiao crashed heavily into the rat monster like a cannonball. His left claw plunged into its right eye, which still bore a residual wound, while his right claw viciously ripped open the injury on the monster’s neck that had mostly healed.

Splat! The rat monster’s mutated, basin-sized triangular head slammed into the ground under the immense force, fracturing completely into pieces.

Having been excessively anxious, Mi Miaomiao had actually forgotten that during the early stages of the apocalypse, the bodies of monsters were remarkably fragile.

His raincoat had long been discarded due to his expanding physical size. Mi Miaomiao shook his head forcefully, causing the filth on his long fur to drop away along with the water droplets. A sharp claw dug into the shattered skull of the rat monster, hooking a clean, transparent round bead out from the squalor.

A massive amount of dormant corrosive bacteria accumulates within a monster’s body; within two hours of its death, the bacterial colonies will completely digest its carcass. However, the hearts of Level 2 monsters and above can heal wounds and elevate foundational capabilities, while the crystals within their heads can enhance supernatural powers.

The round bead was a semi-finished crystal unique to Level 1 monsters, its efficacy slightly superior to the heart of a Level 2 monster. The rat monster had only just ascended to Level 2, so the round bead had not yet had the chance to evolve into a true crystal.

Because it felt soft and springy to the touch and resembled a transparent balloon filled with water, it had been named a “Water Orb” by humans in his past life.

“Swallow it quickly, it’s beneficial for your wounds!” Chewing the water orb in his mouth, the white cat lowered his head, pressing it into the black cat’s mouth with urgent movements.

The short fur on the black cat’s body was matted into strands by blood and filth, a gash marred his ear, three of the claws on his front paws were broken, and the gruesome wound on his back exposed his pale spine directly. The lower half of his body was currently entirely incapable of movement, rendering him so wretched that Mi Miaomiao could easily picture Xuan Yu’s ultimate fate in his previous life.

Yet, no trace of vulnerability could be seen within his half-opened green eyes. Deep within those pupils lay an expansive forest of cedar trees composed, proud, and unyielding, laced with wariness. Being gazed upon by them felt akin to being buried beneath the thick snow of winter.

Xuan Yu gazed intently at Miaomiao, whose appearance and temperament had undergone a massive transformation. His gaze ultimately locked onto those anxious, mismatched eyes that were spilling over with tears. After a brief moment, the black cat exerted an effort to relax his tensed body; even the simple act of swallowing proved to be exceptionally difficult.

Upon consuming the “Water Orb,” Xuan Yu immediately slipped into a semi-comatose state, the muscle tissue surrounding the spinal wound beginning to ripple dynamically on its own.

Mi Miaomiao pressed his ear against the black cat’s chest. Hearing that heartbeat which, though faint, had turned steady he let out a massive sigh of relief.

However, it was not yet time to rest. The white cat sat on his haunches and surveyed the dim underground passage, striving to scent out the positions of the other members of the cat pack amidst the chaotic odors. While recovering his physical strength, he pressed the emergency call button on his tracker.

His tail inadvertently brushed against Xuan Yu’s tail, and a faint glint of light flashed past in an instant.

A moment later, a bizarre, mechanical voice echoed beside Mi Miaomiao’s ear.

[Ding! Qualified host detected. System binding initiated…]