Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 16

Massive waves covered the sky, and the roaring sound of water gradually vanished as they drew closer. In the extremely quiet atmosphere, the only thing one could hear was the sound of their own nervous heartbeat.

The outermost mountain range of the Tiansong Mountains disappeared into the waves. Six minutes later, gale-force winds squeezed from the Songyuan River into the mountain gaps. Ten minutes later, standing on the hillside of Yanping Mountain, one could see the black water surge over the Song’an Reservoir dam.

The ships on the water were first blown over by the wind and then swallowed by the sea.

After the first wave of the massive surge ended, the water level of the Tuanfeng River had risen by nearly two hundred meters.

“Everyone, get up! Head to the mountaintop! There will be several more waves coming!” Cheng Ningye lay on the big cat, helping it quickly recover its mental energy. His throat was hoarse as he shouted to warn the animals and humans who had collapsed to the ground.

“Keep going!” Mi Miaomiao nuzzled Cheng Ningye’s cold face and stood up. The honeysuckle vines on the mountainside began to grow, layer by layer, wrapping around the small and large ships that were enveloped by the inflated floating boards on one side.

When the second wave struck, the reinforced branches kept snapping during the tug-of-war between the people and the waves. While the thirteen ships tied together were pulled by the water’s force toward the receding current, they were also pulled by the branches, gradually moving closer to the higher ground of Yanping Mountain, buoyed by the rising water.

Mi Miaomiao chewed on water orbs like candy, and without realizing it, its size swelled by another circle. They persisted through the fifth wave until the water level in the Tuanfeng River gradually calmed. The water surface was now only fifty meters away from the refuge cave.

Before its consciousness sank into darkness, Mi Miaomiao heard a hissing sound like a gas leak.

An hour later, Mi Miaomiao was jolted awake by a sense of suffocation and the pungent smell of gasoline. Its eyes were too tired to open, every muscle in its body was screaming in pain, and its limbs felt as if they had been dismantled like a toy and then put back together again.

It was essentially a “broken cat” now.

But the crackling sound of a fierce fire burning nearby and the intense heat that was nearly setting its tail fur on fire forced it to open its eyes.

What came into view was a sea of fire-red, the tattered remains of the large ship it was traveling on, and… a pair of pitch-black wings that shielded it from the torrential rain and heat.

The owner of the wings was crouched beside its neck. Emerald green eyes reflected in the firelight like transparent jade or perhaps an endless, boundless forest mysterious and gentle.

But when Xuan Yu looked up at the monsters crawling toward them from the ruins, the chilling coldness in its eyes turned into tangible pressure.

Monsters that knew no fear were all trembling under such terrifying might, frozen in place, unable to take another step.

Mi Miaomiao felt both happy and a bit lost. It was glad that Xuan Yu had fully mastered its basic abilities and grown complete wings, but… thinking back to Xuan Yu’s panicked actions and worried expression before it passed out, and seeing the fleet moving forward through the fire under the protection of wind blades—

Since being reborn, it seemed to have ignored Xuan Yu’s changes without realizing it, even though it was always standing right where it could be seen whenever it turned its head.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be able to leave the Tiansong Mountains in a little while.” The black cat remained in a crouched position, alert to the dangers around it, its gaze only able to linger briefly on the exceptionally weak white cat.

“I’ll be better soon.” Mi Miaomiao thought for a moment and took out a prized Level 3 wood-element crystal. While quickly repairing its body, it surveyed their surroundings.

The barge it was lying on had no supplies. The large ship in front had many indentations and scars from impacts, and severe cracks were held together by temporary repair glue. The small boat Cheng Ningye had ordered was gone, and of the 11 new small boats added to the fleet, only 8 remained.

Now, there was 1 large ship and 8 small boats remaining, plus the three barges converted from fish rafts.

Wind elementals cleared a path through the calm, black water, and the fleet sailed slowly across. All around were burning ruins and debris. One could vaguely make out the outlines of houses, crushed and deformed cars, capsized boats, and the pale corpses of humans floating in the water, while monsters with twisted limbs crawled over the ruins, gnawing on flesh.

The pungent smell Mi Miaomiao detected was caused by gasoline leaking after oil tankers crashed into the mountain. In addition, there was fuel leaking from the destroyed cars and ships on and under the water.

The sound it heard before falling unconscious was the gas leakage caused by ruptured underground gas pipelines.

Numerous flammable materials filled the water surface and the air. With the friction between the rubble, sparks ignited instantly, and the fire spread rapidly across the ruins.

The water temperature fermented to an alarming degree, triggering a chain reaction that led to tsunamis and fires.

Without outside rescue, this massive fire could last anywhere from two weeks to half a month. However, there was nothing left in the surrounding mountain forests but gray, withered trees, and the torrential rain in the sky had not ceased.

Mi Miaomiao remembered that in its past life, this fire had lasted three days. At that time, the large ship that had survived the tsunami in the fleet had its engine disabled in an explosion caused by the fire and could only drift with the current.

“It hurts so much. Both my arms are broken, but I don’t dare stop. I keep looking for nearby floating objects to drift further away. The fire is right behind me; if I stop, I’ll die.”

“I’ve never seen so many human corpses. I can’t see a single living thing. I can only keep swimming in the water. I thought I was the only one left in the world.”

“Woof, woof, woof, woof!” I’m still alive! I’m still alive! I’m still alive! Sob! But I can’t find my owner.

“Meow!” Idiot! That fool, had to go and save people. Died… sob, dead is dead!

After being rescued onto the ships, those people and animals were initially numb. But after Mi Miaomiao healed their wounds and they ate warm food, realizing they were far away from that burning stretch of water, they were again consumed by pain and sorrow.

The white standard poodle’s curly fur turned into clumps of gray. The short-haired gray cat had large areas of skin burns, and after the wounds healed, its fur couldn’t grow back for a time. They huddled together, missing their owners, licking each other’s wounds, and finally falling into a weary sleep.

“Everyone’s mood is too heavy and depressed. I’m afraid something will happen if this continues, and then our rescue would have been in vain.” Wen Yushuang found Cheng Ningye huddled in a corner. After a brief hesitation, she walked over and asked earnestly:

“Could you let the animals disperse among those ships? Cute, fluffy animals can help them relieve stress, disperse some of their sorrow, and also let the animals and humans get to know each other.”

Cheng Ningye’s body was trembling, but he truly lacked the strength to stand up. After hearing Wen Yushuang’s words, the hair on his arms stood on end. With trembling hands, he typed two words on the communicator: “Can do.”

Soon, the animals received their respective tasks. In addition to the three kittens rescued later, the thirty animals that were in good physical and mental condition, apart from Xuan Yu and Mi Miaomiao, were dispersed among the eight small boats and two barges.

The cubs snuggled in the arms of human children, while the adult animals retracted their claws, pressing their soft fur and warm bodies against the exhausted humans. Even the wide arms of the old monkey king cradled two agonizing middle-aged people.

Gradually, the sobbing stopped.

The fleet sailed calmly toward the south across the endless water.

At this point, the boundary of the Songyuan River could no longer be found. The mountains exposed above the water looked like floating islands in the sea, and the tops of high-rise buildings standing above the water were the last traces left of the cities.

“Communication is completely dead. Even with auxiliary devices, I can’t find a signal.” Cheng Ningye looked at the control panel with concern. After the network went down, he had canceled the autopilot function and was piloting the ship using a navigation technique he wasn’t very familiar with.

“Meow!” The magnetic field isn’t chaotic yet, so the direction shouldn’t be a problem for now.

Mi Miaomiao poked the slumbering King Bird-of-Paradise with its paw. Its wings had been assembled neatly; with the addition of silver wings, the bird looked much more beautiful.

“If only King could wake up. King Birds-of-Paradise are solitary by nature and don’t like living in groups, but whenever the environment changes, they can sense changes in the magnetic field and fly high in the sky to act as guides for migrating groups.” Wen Yushuang had worked at the Shuizhang County Wildlife Park for three years and knew the habits of the animals inside like the back of her hand.

Cheng Ningye felt miserable and only wanted to hide in a corner, but the pilot house was packed full by the five-meter-long giant cat. As the other person with ship-piloting experience, Wen Yushuang could only sit next to him.

“That… King, it… there’s a very high probability it won’t be able to fly.”

Meeting the gaze of the human and the cat, Cheng Ningye turned his chair toward the corner and said with difficulty: “Its mechanical wings are too heavy; they can’t support its body.”

Wen Yushuang: “…”

Mi Miaomiao: “…”

Wen Yushuang bit her lip and lowered her head, flipping through the driving manual and trying her best to recall the mnemonic for magnetic compass calibration and the adjustment steps.

Mi Miaomiao stood up and went to the deck of the large ship. At its current weight, it had to be careful with every step to prevent the large ship filled with supplies from being capsized by its weight.

In the sky, a black figure spread its wings, flying recklessly through the gale and torrential rain.

How could I forget? Big Brother is currently the most suitable ‘bird’ to be our navigator. The worry in Mi Miaomiao’s heart immediately dissipated, and it quietly played a joke on Xuan Yu.

[Host, Host, are you free right now? I have good news to tell you!]

“Speak normally, stop pinching your throat.” The big cat shook its ears vigorously, still feeling electric arcs darting around in its brain.