Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 11

The little Red Panda anxiously hugged the giant white cat, chattering in a panicked frenzy: “Quack, quack, humph, humph!”

No, no! There are still Grandfathers up on the mountain who haven’t left, and the big cats are secretly hiding deep in the woods too! Dr. Wen the handler’s younger sister is up there as well! We were actually on our way to rescue them. The handler said the world has ended, and the mountain is incredibly dangerous right now!

A clean vertical seam split open along the dense wall of honeysuckle vines. Xuanyu, having completely purged the Tier 2 variants prowling outside, stepped through the gap to return with his newly harvested spoils of war.

The black cat’s steady stride abruptly ground to a halt. He froze dead in his tracks.

Why exactly was he looking at the precious, fluffy Miaomiao whom he had painstakingly raised being tightly embraced around the neck by an interloping, wild Red Panda?!

Low-Tier variants blanketed the outer perimeter of the honeysuckle wall like a suffocating carpet. Obsidian-black, beetle-like insects aggressively clawed at the tight seams, while underground variants burrowed through the topsoil, gnawing viciously at the thick root networks.

Deprived of regular human prey, the variants had even begun to turn on one another cannibalizing and fusing together, steadily force-evolving from Tier 1 forms into Tier 2 abominations.

The volatile energy fields radiated by these entities during their evolutionary spikes inevitably acted as beacons, drawing secondary Tier 2 variants into the fray to continue the cycle of consumption. Left unchecked, this entire sector would transform into a hyper-concentrated breeding ground for mutant accumulation.

Taiyang was the final member of the squad to accept the harsh reality that these lower-tier swarms were functionally infinite. Throwing his weight around, he pivoted and slumped heavily against the structural frame of the cargo pod, panting in deep, ragged drafts.

Ha-Da and Ha-Er scrambled over to his side, only for the old Husky to deliver two swift, disciplinary kicks directly to their flanks. He let out a cold, dismissive snort, his deep, ice-blue eyes rolling upward until nothing but the whites showed.

“Woof!” You unfilial brats, back off and give me some space!

The two Haskorgis offered sheepish, placating grins, not daring to irritate their adoptive father further. They pancaked flat against the asphalt, extending their front paws to give the old Husky a methodical massage.

With the vine wall completely sealed against the exterior elements, honeysuckle blooms began to erupt in dense, rapid clusters along the branches. A crisp, subtle fragrance condensed across the immediate atmosphere, the floral scent hanging so thick it felt like a heavy, intoxicating vortex.

Mi Miaomiao manipulated the primary root systems, driving them to tunnel eastward through the deep soil. Every 10 meters, it deposited a Tier 1 honeysuckle seed infused with a localized burst of Tier 2 energy. The vibrant, life-sustaining fragrance and surging vital currents successfully broke the attention of the mutant swarms, baiting them away from the compound.

It deployed twenty seeds in rapid succession, successfully luring the variants over two hundred meters away. The subterranean channels anchoring the immediate perimeter of the vine wall fell entirely silent, free of fresh lower-tier intrusions.

“Meow.” Two hundred meters represents the absolute threshold of my current command range over the primary flora. It’s sufficient to delude Tier 3 entities.

But if a Tier 4 variant materializes within a five-hundred-meter radius, even the most microscopic trace of fresh blood will anchor its attention directly onto us.

The white cat lay flat like a fuzzy cutting board across the absolute peak of the cargo containers, its mouth agape as it fought to draw in oxygen, its pink tongue occasionally slipping past its lips. The fur coating its cheeks, behind its ears, and along its neck was entirely saturated with a mixture of sweat and driving rain. Deprived of its trademark, puffy volume, the cat looked a full size smaller, revealing a surprisingly sleek, elegant, and beautifully long-proportioned physical silhouette.

Xuanyu crouched low, a small storage pouch secured between his teeth. He tipped a cascade of pristine water droplets right before the white cat’s lips, lowering his head to gently, methodically lick away the dampness clingy to Miaomiao’s ears and neck.

Caretaking beside his handler, the little Red Panda felt a freezing, razor-sharp predatory gaze sweep across his frame at regular intervals. A cold shiver rippled down his spine. Terrified, he tucked his puffed-up, ringed tail securely against his chest, frantically using his paws to smooth down his own fur in a bid to look small.

“If only we could secure a few pulse rifles,” Cheng Ningye muttered, brandishing disinfecting wipes and specialized air-purifying sprays as he frantically worked to scrub down the animals that had participated in active combat, masking the heavy scent of raw blood. Frankly speaking, with the atmosphere currently choked by a volatile cocktail of mutant rot and heavy honeysuckle fragrance, his sinuses felt entirely compromised.

“The wildlife park keeps anesthetic pulse rifles in storage. We use them on large-tier predators during surgical operations or routine medical evaluations,” Ai Yuan explained, bracing his forearms against the deck as he pushed himself upright. He felt an unprecedented wave of structural clarity ripple through his frame; the crushing fever had broken completely, replaced by a surging undercurrent of physical power, and his vision pierced through the deep gloom with absolute precision.

“Ai Yuan, caretaker for the Panda House at the Mizhang County Wildlife Park. My younger sister operates as the park’s primary veterinary physician. When the park executed its animal evacuation protocols five days ago, a specific cross-section of the species undergoing wilderness rehabilitation retreated deep into the interior ranges. Because of that, the team left two specialized anesthetic pulse rifles behind in the base camp, alongside two sealed boxes of corresponding ammunition. If your team can aid me in locating my sister, I will personally guide you to the storage vault housing those rifles.”

“Meow-ow!” Even without the leverage of those rifles, we were already planning to move on the mountain to extract the animals.

Mi Miaomiao turned its head to wait for its handler to provide the necessary verbal translation. To its absolute exasperation, the moment the human finished speaking, Cheng Ningye swiftly spun his frame around, pressing his forehead flat against the side of the cargo pod with his eyes snapped tight.

Mi Miaomiao: “…”

Fine. It looked like that flash of spine earlier was entirely temporary. Its handler remained the exact same, deeply entrenched social-phobic wreck he had always been.

Unable to bear the sight of Cheng Ningye looking half-dead from social strain, the white cat padded over, clamped its teeth firmly onto the back collar of his jacket, and used a front paw to pop the vehicle door open, unceremoniously stuffing him straight back into the driver’s seat.

The white cat braced its rear legs firmly against the doorframe, its massive head and front paws vaulting past the driver’s seat to hook Cheng Ningye’s backup communicator out from the center console storage box. Pressing a soft paw pad onto the interface, the screen flashed and unlocked.

“Meow-ow!” I can use this interface to maintain a text dialogue with Ai Yuan. Xuanyu and I will follow Ai Yuan to infiltrate the mountain ranges. You take the remaining animal contingent, pilot the vessels, and move out ahead of schedule. Route through the coastal channels, navigate into the western tributary where the Songyuan River converges with Mount Mizhang, and we’ll establish a rendezvous point there.

Given the physical acceleration thresholds of myself and Xuanyu, even if those animals have retreated into the absolute deepest valleys of Mount Mizhang, a round-trip extraction will take a maximum of five hours. The communication arrays on the mountain have likely collapsed; if an emergency manifests, signal me directly through the system interface.

As Mi Miaomiao laid out the operational blueprint, Cheng Ningye’s focus locked back into a sharp, serious intensity, cataloging every detail of the directive. Then, he voiced a structural question that had puzzled him for a significant window: “These cargo pods… how exactly am I supposed to transport this volume of assets over water?”

“Meow!” How many aquaculture rafts are currently adrift across the channels? Retrofit them. We don’t require an advanced vessel; we simply need one or more functional barges capable of hauling freight across the surface.

Cheng Ningye smacked his own forehead. What an absolute idiot! Was his operational logic still trapped within the rigid, hyper-calcified parameters of the later three years of the apocalypse, where water scarcity was absolute?

“Luoyun… I… I genuinely can’t run any further.” Wen Yushuang stumbled violently over a fallen, rotting trunk, crashing hard onto the forest floor while desperately cradling a six-month-old Giant Panda cub securely against her chest.

Her lungs felt as though they were on the verge of an absolute thermal explosion, every trace of physical reserve completely spent. Her cheek rested flat against a muddy puddle as she gazed blankly at the desolate, decaying mountain forest warping under the driving downpour.

Looking down the ridge line, she could already discern the distant structural outlines of the residential blocks within the Mizhang District. Yet, could they truly cross the remaining distance alive?

Everything had broken on the night of the 1st, triggered by that anomalous snow.

The primary evacuation convoy from the wildlife park had pulled out five days prior. A skeleton crew of three individuals had volunteered to remain behind to locate missing specimens—two tracking the internal mountain trails while one anchored the base camp below to handle logistics and monitor real-time data feeds from the animals’ location transponders.

When they set up camp that evening, Wen Yushuang took the first watch. As she drank black coffee to stave off exhaustion, a beautiful, mesmerizing silver snow cascaded from the heavens. Immediately afterward—a blood-curdling scream tore through her communicator, and the signal linking them to the base camp vanished into absolute static.

Within thirty minutes, the surrounding timber began to die off on a massive, structural scale. The singular surviving specimen a massive iron holly tree ballooned rapidly until it scaled over twenty meters in height, its cascading berries detonating like live fragmentation grenades the moment they hit the forest floor.

Li Yao had suffered severe shrapnel lacerations to his legs inside the tent. Before they could retreat to a secure position to dress his wounds, a foul, putrid stench began to radiate from his pores. His skin fractured and peeled away in massive, decaying flakes, his pupils shrinking to microscopic pinpricks as he turned and violently assaulted Wen Yushuang.

The avian swarms anchoring the peaks and the subterranean insects mutated to monstrous proportions, initiating a relentless campaign against her and the remaining uncorrupted animals.

Relying on the exceptional physical coordination and archery fundamentals she had honed since a childhood spent on the open grasslands, supplemented by a sudden, hyper-acute visual perception that allowed her to track microscopic details in real-time, she had successfully neutralized the mutated Li Yao. From there, she fled down the mountain slopes, slaughtering an uncounted volume of minor variants along the path.

Just when she believed her life would end on this mountain, she crossed paths with Luoyun, a Giant Panda navigating the peaks alone with her cub.

Luoyun provided tactical protection for her, while she stepped in to guard the Giant Panda cub, Yanguo. Together, the mismatched trio had held the line through an entire night and a grueling day.

“Ying-ying!” Inside her arms, Yanguo struggled to extend a paw, his small claws—already showing the sharp, lethal characteristics of a mature bear gently patting her cheek. The cool, grounded touch snapped Wen Yushuang back to reality. She reached out, instantly crushing a cicada-shaped variant that had lunged out from a muddy puddle, fighting through her exhaustion to pull herself into a seated posture while cradling the cub.

“Roar!” Luoyun was a mature, seventeen-year-old Giant Panda in his absolute prime. His left front paw had been partially amputated during his youth due to a severe infection; right now, that missing extremity had been replaced by a dense, ash-grey stone formation. A rough, stone-textured armor plating had materialized across his shoulders and lumbar ridge. Dropping onto all fours, he anchored his massive frame squarely before the veterinarian and the cub.

Enclosing their position was a tightening, writhing swarm of serpentine variants!

Abruptly, a heavy, synchronized cascade of footsteps echoed from the dense brush behind them. Wen Yushuang spun around in a defensive posture, only to lock eyes with the very same mature animals that had vanished from the wildlife park’s roster. Leading the vanguard was Kuangkuang, a mature male African Lion, flanked by a towering giraffe, two zebras, two antelopes, and an old monkey king. Secured between their jaws were various animal infants harvested from unknown sectors, running at full acceleration.

Two infant monkeys, a lion cub, three baby antelopes, and a zebra foal all of them tender in age were gently deposited around Wen Yushuang’s frame. The mature animals instantly shifted into a rigid outward-facing perimeter, refusing to let a single serpentine variant breach the line.

Yanguo exhibited zero fear. He remained docile within the veterinarian’s grasp, his small arms wrapping tightly around the two infant monkeys. He turned his head, letting out a soft vocalization toward the three shivering antelope calves. Wen Yushuang observed that the calves appeared to comprehend the cub’s intent perfectly; they huddled flush against her legs, quietly and nervously nibbling at the hem of her jacket.

Having operated alongside animals since her youth, Wen Yushuang maintained a profound, fundamental respect for natural life. She understood that animals possessed a high baseline of intelligence. Yet, she could clearly discern that under normal circumstances, distinct species could never achieve such seamless, unhindered coordination let alone read the precise intent behind each other’s glances and roars to execute a flawless tactical defense.

Their current deployment mirrored the behavior of three calm, hyper-rational human commanders leading five green subordinates through a live engagement.

That level of cognitive development triggered a fleeting spike of terror within her chest. If the entire planet was undergoing the exact same transformation manifesting right before her eyes, the animals’ expanded intelligence, devastating physical attributes, and anomalous supernatural abilities would grant them a massive survival advantage over humanity.

But shifting her perspective, if animals possessed intelligence capable of rivaling humanity, they could potentially serve as humanity’s most crucial allies within the crucible of the apocalypse.

Exactly like right now…

Luoyun anchored the vanguard, the dense, heavy evolutionary energy radiating from his frame serving to draw the attention of the majority of the mutant snakes. Another contingent of minor insects and arboreal serpents was systematically baited away by the old monkey king, whose brachial muscle groups had swelled to the point where he looked as though he possessed the mass of three separate primates, a single hand effortlessly popping Tier 1 serpentine variants like ripe fruit.

Kuangkuang the lion a bizarre, hyper-vocal specimen who had historically been ostracized by his own pride inside the park seemed to have achieved an unspoken tactical synchronization with the giraffe, antelopes, and zebras. The animals first deployed various methods to firmly cover their own ears. Following a deafening, structurally resonant lion roar that shattered the air, massive swathes of the mutant snakes collapsed paralyzed onto the earth.

The antelopes and zebras, breaking through the sensory shock first, charged straight into the paralyzed cluster, deploying their hooves to stomp the variants into paste with absolute, desperate force.

Having learned from Ai Yuan that the animals fleeing into the interior ranges of the wildlife park consisted primarily of geriatric, frail, or injured specimens, Mi Miaomiao had prepared itself for the absolute worst-case scenario.

It had merely performed a cursory sweep across the hills behind its own residential block and collided directly with a Tier 3 Earthworm Alpha; the sheer geographic volume of Mount Mizhang was over a hundred times greater than that hill, harboring an uncounted wealth of colony-based lifeforms.

The moment it sighted the animal contingent bleeding out and steadily losing their leverage, yet fiercely maintaining their defensive perimeter Mi Miaomiao let out a massive sigh of relief, instantly opening its stride to sprint toward their position.

“Meow!” Heads up! There’s an incredibly dense serpentine scent consolidating right beneath the topsoil!

Xuanyu tracked flush against Mi Miaomiao’s flank, his obsidian frame blending seamlessly into the ink-black night like a living shadow.

“Meow.” We need to draw it out into the open.

“Meow-ow.” Leave that to me.

The moment the words cleared, Xuanyu mobilized the internal reserves of his energy. A surging, volatile reservoir of power hovering a mere millimeter away from triggering a Tier 3 breakthrough vaporized outward from his bloodstream. The ambient scent of dry thatch suddenly carried a rich, metallic sweetness; it wasn’t unrefined or unpleasant.

In fact, lingering in the scent for too long caused a biological creature’s blood to literally boil!

Mi Miaomiao planted a heavy claw directly onto a massive serpentine snout that had just punched through the topsoil. Its right eye instantly wept a dense, pitch-black fluid. Xuanyu, moving in perfect lockstep behind it, sliced a deep laceration straight across the creature’s nasal ridge.

Both cats struck the ground simultaneously, their physical silhouettes overlapping perfectly as Xuanyu dissolved entirely beneath Mi Miaomiao’s shadow.

The mutant serpent thrashed in raw agony, emitting a low, hollow roar. The ground buckled, fractured, and rolled upward in massive sheets, mimicking the surface of boiling water. The variant no… it was more accurate to classify it as a mutant python revealed a writhing, twisted trunk as thick as an oil drum as it exposed its full mass to the open air, its scales scraping against the displaced stone with a sickening, dry rustle. As the titanic python flicked its tongue, a piercing, high-frequency hiss tore through the air, vibrating like fingernails dragging methodically across the interior of a skull. The biological organisms caught within the acoustic radius felt a blinding, splitting headache; those possessing weaker thresholds wept fresh blood from their ear canals, losing consciousness on the spot.

“Meow! It’s at the absolute peak of Tier 3, a fraction of a hair away from breaking into Tier 4.” The white cat and the black cat traded a swift, synchronized glance, the exact same spark of primal, competitive hunger dancing within their eyes.

Ai Yuan and Xiao Quan arrived a half-step late. Covering their ears, they plowed straight through the minor snake clusters, the handler reaching down to scoop his injured, exhausted younger sister into a clean bridal carry.

Sighting the white cat waving a claw in his direction, the little Red Panda immediately bent low, systematically stuffing the remaining animal infants into the massive transport pack strapped to his back, calling out to the remaining mature animals capable of movement:

“Humph, humph, humph!” Evacuate, fast! Leave this sector to the Boss!

The minor serpentine swarms circling their position began to condense rapidly toward the python king, their individual bodies dissolving and melting into its massive trunk.

Wen Yushuang fought through a splitting, explosive headache, wiping away the fresh blood tracking down from her nose. As her blurry vision focused on the clearing behind them, she witnessed the titanic python hoist its upper torso four meters into the open air. And it possessed two distinct, independent heads!

It was a Two-Headed Python!