Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 13

“You want me to assemble a mechanical toy for it? And how am I supposed to use a plush toy as its body?”

“Meow!” No, it’s a living creature! It’s a bird!

[Resident: King Species: King Bird-of-Paradise (Paradisaeidae) Evolution Level: Level 1 Evolutionary Ability: Basic Mechanization, Lightning Ability (Awakened) Identity: Ordinary City Resident Trust Value: Yellow (0–30 Red, 30–60 Yellow, 60–100 Green)]

The bird-of-paradise was predominantly white, with a gradient from ink-blue to jewel-blue on its head. The area around its beak and eyes was a lighter, pale blue. Its wings were missing, and its feathers lay flat, extending smoothly from its rounded head down to its tail. Its long, supple tail feathers hung down, fanning out at the tips, and its entire body was wreathed in a faint layer of electric arcs.

“It really does look like an exclamation mark.” Cheng Ningye pulled out his electric test pen and touched the arc. With a subtle expression, he remarked, “This is my first time seeing a Level 1 ability. This arc is on the same level as static electricity.”

Meow, meow, meow. “If it uses its full power, it can just charge our communicators, right? Mechanical evolutions are rare anyway; we can try to train it to become a repairman.”

Mi Miaomiao poked the bird’s hollow belly, then picked up a bottle of water and placed it on the table.

Dr. Wen’s words had given Mi Miaomiao plenty of inspiration. Even if this city belonged to animals, human technological products were essential.

Two years into the apocalypse, humans were doing everything possible to restore technology. Even if production lines were broken and raw materials were difficult to collect, communication devices, vehicles capable of long-distance travel, and night-vision goggles to assist in hunting were gradually appearing on the market with the help of ability users.

Ability users who assisted in the repair of mechanical equipment were known as “Repairmen.”

When Cheng Ningye assessed whether or not something could be repaired, his standard was based on the types of orders a “Repairman” could fulfill.

Mechanical evolutions were extremely rare. Initially, mechanical limbs were fragile and ill-suited for combat. However, mechanical limbs possessed self-repair capabilities similar to biological bodies and could be modified. Support-type Repairmen were famous for fixing machinery.

Combat-type mechanics were famous for a different reason—a certain human evolver had transformed himself into a mobile artillery platform and bombed a small base, leading to him being wanted by the Base Alliance.

“Alright, I’ll assemble its wings first. We can wait for it to wake up to handle the detailed structure itself,” Cheng Ningye nodded. He was also looking forward to Rong City having its own Repairman.

“By the way, Miaomiao, I just remembered that in our past life, toward the end, we actually saw ‘The Sun’.”

Cheng Ningye fed the bird some water and, meeting the big cat’s confused gaze, explained: “On the Base Alliance’s wanted list in the fourth year of the apocalypse, there was the No. 109 S-Class wanted notice: ‘Leader of the evolved dogs, led low-level evolved dogs to attack the No. 23 Medium Base on the Changsong Plain, hunted and killed three base executives, and bit 92 people.’”

The smile on the cat-servant’s face now held an indescribable meaning. His tone was soft: “Come to think of it, we should really try to recall the wanted list released by the Base Alliance. We know quite a few people on it. Perhaps, by following the list, we can find a lot of helpers for Rong City.”

Mi Miaomiao walked to the deck. A Husky with a scar on its face was lying on its side, trying its best to lick its two puppies gently.

In the past life, before it and its servant died, a secret laboratory was exposed on the Changsong Plain. Five medium-sized bases had united to conduct experiments on ability modification. Amidst the public outrage over these human experiments, other atrocities committed by the five bases were also revealed. One of them was keeping evolved beasts as livestock for slaughter.

The No. 23 Medium Base was one of those five.

Mi Miaomiao had seen the video from that time. The leading dog in the video had half its cheek missing, and its fur was patchy; if one hadn’t observed closely, they wouldn’t have recognized it as a Husky.

“Woof, woof, woof! Mi Miaomiao, what kind of look is that?!”

The Sun was beyond furious. He was doing just fine, so why was Mi Miaomiao looking at him with such pitying eyes?!

Faced with the ruffled Husky, the white cat stepped forward, pinned the dog down with just one paw, and lowered its head to lick the fur on the dog’s head.

“From now on, I’m your boss. I’ll be responsible for raising the puppies you picked up, too.”

The white cat flicked its tail and walked away, leaving the ruffled Husky jumping in place.

Most of the rooms on the large and small ships were filled with supplies, so Cheng Ningye rested in the medical room.

No matter how much Mi Miaomiao suppressed its growth, its body was now four meters long, so it could only sleep in the dining hall of the large ship. The animals brought from Lehai City were distributed across the large and small ships, and the two new humans were assigned to the pilot house of the small ship.

All three barges were loaded with supplies, but to make room for the animals from the zoo, the placement of the goods had been rearranged.

Plastic waterproof boxes, one meter wide, one meter high, and two meters long, were fixed along the four sides of the barges, stacking up into a two-meter-high wall. The animals were squeezed into the square space in the center, covered by a waterproof tarp, with gaps left at the four corners for them to move through.

Mi Miaomiao covered the rain tarp of the last barge, Ai Yuan used iron chains to secure the forklift to the wooden planks, and Wen Yushuang did a final check on the animals resting on the three barges.

The large ship led the way, with the three barges following in sequence and the small ship traveling along the sides of the fleet.

The ships had sufficient energy, sufficient supplies, and a clear destination.

On the morning of September 2nd, at 5:12 AM, the second wave of earthquakes and tsunamis ended. The sea level had risen by more than two meters, and the core area of the distant Lehai City was completely submerged in the ocean.

The surging waves gradually subsided, and heavy rain fell like beads onto the water surface. The sound of the ships’ turbines hummed incessantly.

The three humans and the animals peered outside through the windows and the gaps in the rain tarps.

Suddenly, honeysuckle vines began to grow, quickly rushing into the water and entangling a Border Collie that was struggling to swim toward the shore.

Dongfeng only felt a tightness around its waist and neck before its entire body was lifted into the air and dropped heavily onto the deck. A clean blanket was placed over it. The soaked body felt a glimmer of warmth, but it still lay on the ground, motionless.

Mi Miaomiao glanced back first, noticing that Xuan Yu’s energy state was stable and had not been disturbed by the commotion. Only then did it unfold the blanket and lie down against the cargo container.

This was the last barge, carrying only Xuan Yu, who was advancing to Level 3, itself, and the Border Collie that was playing dead.

This was the first time Mi Miaomiao had looked at a dog from such a close distance. It discovered that the Border Collie’s grayish-brown eyes looked like a thin layer of dark clouds. Its eyes were very round, and there was a gentle curve from the top of its head to the tip of its nose. Its mouth was also rounded; it didn’t look fierce at all. It seemed like it would be a dog with a gentle temperament.

At this moment, its ears were completely drooping, pressed against its cheeks. Its gaze was listless, as if it believed that Mi Miaomiao stopping it from returning to Lehai City to die was a mistake.

“Why don’t you get stronger yourself and find your owner?”

After thinking about The Sun, Mi Miaomiao found fragments of memory regarding Dongfeng in a corner of its mind.

In its memories from before the apocalypse in the past life, this Border Collie had left a deep impression.

It played with stray dogs every day and would sometimes look for stray cats to play with. However, after observing carefully, Mi Miaomiao realized that the Border Collie actually had a home and an owner. Furthermore, it lived in the same residential complex as its cat-servant. Every day, the Border Collie would get up very early, bite its own leash to walk itself, and then go to the pet park to mooch toys and food. But every so often, a pet store would come to refill its automatic feeder. Mi Miaomiao observed it for two months and never saw Dongfeng’s owner. Out of curiosity, it became friends with this Border Collie.

“Or do you think that staying in Lehai City will get you news about your owner?”

The Border Collie remained motionless, even trying to close its eyes.

“It’s the apocalypse. Human communication base stations can’t be repaired, and the signal will only get worse. Lehai City will be flooded. Even if the Shuizhang District is on higher ground, it will lose power even if it isn’t submerged. If you go back, you won’t be able to receive any communication from your owner.”

The Border Collie blinked its eyes and turned its head to the other side.

“So you knew. So… are you trying to use your death to make your owner regret it?”

The Border Collie quickly turned its head back and glared at Mi Miaomiao.

“Making humans regret is the most useless thing. What if he has another dog out there and doesn’t remember you at all? Wouldn’t you have died for nothing?”

“He wouldn’t. He is a soldier; he can’t keep other dogs.”

Mi Miaomiao stretched its front legs, arched its back, and let out a comfortable yawn before continuing to persuade it: “Which regiment is he in? I’ll have my servant help you check.”

Dongfeng’s eyes brightened significantly.

However, Mi Miaomiao had to dampen its spirits, reminding it: “I know you Border Collies like to be loyal to one person. But you have to think carefully: if your owner is still alive, as a soldier, he will only be busier than before. Even if you find him, I’m afraid you still won’t be able to live with him.”

“I don’t want to live with him. I’m already used to living alone.” The Border Collie lowered its head, though its white-tipped tail swayed slightly behind it.

“You’re clearly saying one thing and meaning another. You can find a different way to live with him—on your own terms.”

“My own terms?”

“Yeah. You get stronger, you become the owner, and you keep the human in your own territory. Don’t you think that sounds awesome?”

Mi Miaomiao felt it had already achieved this goal, and it was the servant who had volunteered for it. He didn’t just want to be kept; he wanted to lock himself in the house, preferably never having to go out again.

“Come with me. Join the city I’m building, and you’ll be a founding member.”

The Border Collie was still deep in thought, but Mi Miaomiao nimbly turned its head, rested it behind Xuan Yu, and raised an eyebrow to open the system panel.

By now, every living creature on the ship was a member of Rong City.

… [Points distribution listed] …

After Mi Miaomiao and Cheng Ningye advanced to Level 3, the system had awarded them 100 points each. Their total was now 3,622.4 points. They were 1,377.6 points away from the 5,000 points needed to upgrade to a Level 2 city.

Just then, the total points jumped again to 3,722.4.

Mi Miaomiao smiled. Xuan Yu had advanced to Level 3. Now they were 1,277.6 points away from a Level 2 city.

Next, as long as either it or its servant could advance to Level 4, they would soon have a portable storage space.

It opened the ranking list.

[Data updated. Rong City is currently ranked 1,910th (Total participating cities: 2,241).]

In four days, 21 new apocalypse cities had been added, but Rong City remained at the bottom.

The fleet continued forward. Within a single day, there were three successive earthquakes, each more intense than the last, followed by increasingly large tsunami waves. The large and small ships had stabilization devices, but the three barges behind them experienced a major capsizing. Fortunately, the outer plastic shells of the supply boxes were made of materials specifically for long-distance travel, which generated a large amount of gas upon contact with water, so the cargo did not sink to the bottom.

After flipping the barges over and re-securing the supplies, the animals on the boats became even more careful.

Looking back at the direction they came from, the parts of Xu Province where Lehai City was located still showed some mountainous cities at higher elevations exposed above the water. The lower-lying Gangze Province to the west of the Songyuan River had already turned into a marshland.

On the morning of September 3rd, the fleet followed the Songyuan River into Yan Province. This province had not had a military-led evacuation with large ships, and humans and boats began to appear along the riverbanks and on the Songyuan River itself.

On the third day of the apocalypse, people had already discovered that the number of monsters in the water was lower than on land, so some who could find boats began to escape by water.

The Songyuan River was one of the two largest rivers on the Zhongzhou continent. At its widest, it was 50 kilometers across, and at its narrowest, it was over 400 meters.

The river was filled with all kinds of vessels: large cruise ships, ferries, cargo ships, yachts, rafts, jet skis, and bamboo rafts. A fleet like Mi Miaomiao’s cruise ship with barges in tow did not look out of place among them.

The only things that caught people’s attention were the giant cat standing on the deck and the near-total absence of human figures.

In addition to the various boats, some people, in their haste to escape the monsters on the shore, had climbed onto wooden boards or plastic sheets and entered the water. Some were even swimming alone without a single life jacket. They would call out to passing ships for help. Some ships stopped to rescue them, while others did not slow down, sounding sirens from afar to drive those people away.

The large amount of empty space on Mi Miaomiao’s ship drew even more cries for help.