Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 2

[City-Building System successfully bound!]

[Congratulations! You have bound with the system formally known as the “Endangered Mini-World City Construction Racing Live Broadcast System.” I am Unit 012. I look forward to working with you, Host. Moving forward, I will—]

“Meow!” Shut up, stop being so noisy!

Catching a flash of bright color in the gloom, Mi Miaomiao had no time to process what the faint electronic voice echoing by his ear was talking about. He plunged into the water, clamped his teeth onto an orange bundle of fur amidst the rushing torrent, and paddled toward the bank with great effort.

It took immense exertion to haul the orange cat now exceptionally heavy from absorbing water onto the concrete steps. Laying Big Fat Orange flat, he could finally see its chest and abdomen rising and falling.

“Who dares strike Lord Orange?!” The winter-melon-shaped orange cat suddenly bounced up from the ground, its nose and eyes scrunched together as it yowled, looking ready to bite someone at any moment!

“Where are Grandpa and the others?”

“Grandpa Orange is right here!”

Seeing Big Fat Orange’s vulgar, rascal energy return the instant it woke up, Mi Miaomiao bared his teeth. Controlling his strength, he struck its head with his paw pad once more.

“Ouch, that hurts! Hey, wait, you’re Miaomiao? Just how many years have I been unconscious? Why have you changed so much? Or did I shrink?”

The orange cat squirmed beneath the giant cat’s paw like a fathead fish. Miaomiao’s physical transformation was simply too staggering; if not for the distinct stinging on its head and paws, Fat Orange would have assumed it was dreaming.

“Uncle Orange, there is no time to joke. Xuan Yu is heavily injured and unconscious. We can only rely on you to locate Grandpa Bai, Xiao Tian, and the others!”

Mi Miaomiao’s cries were sharp and urgent. The moment he finished speaking, he scruffed Big Fat Orange by the neck and dragged it over to the black cat’s side.

“I remember now!”

Jolted awake by the sight of the blood-drenched black cat, Big Fat Orange calmed down instantly. It raised a paw and pointed toward the western sector of the sewer, saying urgently, “There is an abandoned chamber eight hundred meters to the left. They’ve all passed out there! Miaomiao, hurry up and save them!”

“Xuan Yu took some medicine. Don’t move him for now.”

Leaving Big Fat Orange with this instruction, Mi Miaomiao vanished into the darkness before the final note of his voice could even finish echoing.

Ten minutes later, Mi Miaomiao emerged from the sewer lines, shattered the glass door of a street-front coffee shop, and carried the soaked cats and puppies inside one by one to take shelter from the storm.

Aside from the members of the cat pack, there had been two wide-awake puppy litters inside that abandoned chamber. It was actually these two pups who had nudged the unconscious felines onto a high platform deep within the room; otherwise, by the time Mi Miaomiao arrived, the cats would have already been swept away by the rising water.

“Woof-woo… woo.”

“Woof, woof, yip!”

The moment the puppies were set down, one immediately pressed against its sibling, whimpering as it nuzzled. The other, a golden-brown pup, turned its face away in apparent disdain but didn’t push its sibling away either, only letting out two warning yaps in an adorable, high-pitched baby voice.

They were still in their infancy; their vocalizations were merely to draw attention and could not convey any structured meaning.

“These two are the pups sired by Taiyang’s mate and a Golden Retriever. They’re only two months old.” Big Fat Orange dragged its injured leg over to lick the rainwater off the pups, offering an explanation when it noticed Mi Miaomiao’s curiosity.

Mi Miaomiao’s movements as he dragged a blanket from behind the counter came to a sudden halt; that single sentence packed an overwhelming amount of information.

Taiyang was the leader of the largest stray dog pack in Lehai City, and its mate was a purebred Husky, just like him.

The giant cat tilted his head, his mismatched gold and blue eyes carefully inspecting the two infants. He hadn’t been able to see clearly in the underground tunnels, but now, illuminated by the streetlights filtering through the window, he could see that the two pups looked nearly identical. Their build and coat color resembled a Golden Retriever, yet they possessed the distinct, upturned blue eyes of a Husky.

“Their mother…”

“Gone.”

In the animal kingdom, it was exceedingly rare for a nursing mother to willingly abandon her young.

“…”

Mi Miaomiao silently wrapped the cats in blankets. When it came time for the two puppies, they buried their heads against the belly of the sleeping Fat Orange, shivering uncontrollably.

The white cat softened his movements as he pulled the blanket over them, lowering his head to gently lick the birth fur on their heads, promising softly, “I will work hard to ensure you grow up safely.”

The stray cat pack consisted of seven felines in total. Aside from Mi Miaomiao, who was entirely unscathed, every single one of them bore injuries.

Big Fat Orange, a short-haired tabby-orange cat, had a passion for rescuing stray kittens. Xuan Yu, Xiao Tian, and Hua Bi had all been taken in by it. Right now, its left hind leg bore two rows of deep, bloody puncture wounds, and the flesh surrounding the injuries had turned entirely pale from a lack of blood circulation.

Grandpa Bai, a long-haired cat with orange-and-white patterns and short legs, was the oldest in years but looked the smallest; he served as the mentor to all the felines in the pack.

Sister Hua, a beautiful long-haired Calico with brown, black, and white markings, was Miaomiao’s biological maternal aunt, and she was also the one who had nursed Xuan Yu into adulthood.

These two-one advanced in age and the other frail in health remained unresponsive due to the rat monster’s sonic wave attack. Fortunately, they only bore minor, superficial scratches that were not life-threatening.

Xiao Tian, a handsome Ragdoll cat blind in his right eye, had been abused and subsequently abandoned by humans. Having just reached adulthood, he was the youngest in the pack.

Hua Bi, a grey-and-white tabby, had been a stray since childhood. Because he idolized Xuan Yu, he joined the cat pack, vowing to become a feline even stronger than Xuan Yu. On regular days, he viewed protecting Xiao Tian as his personal responsibility.

The two younger cats had fought fiercely at the absolute forefront, directly resulting in them being beaten into a state of unconsciousness. Their bodies were riddled with wounds, and several of their bones were fractured. If Xuan Yu hadn’t desperately drawn the rat monster away, Mi Miaomiao wouldn’t have had the chance to see them open their eyes again.

Xuan Yu was the most critically injured and had lost a massive amount of blood. Mi Miaomiao curled the black cat against his own reasonably clean belly, tenderly licking the bleeding wounds on its hind legs and front paws.

Right at that moment, the roar of a car engine echoed outside, followed by the sharp screech of a white vehicle braking hard right at the storefront. Cheng Ningye fully bundled up in a hat, face mask, and gloves burst through the entrance. He held a medical crate that stood half as tall as a human in one hand and a cat carrier in the other, asking breathlessly, “Is everyone alright?!”

“Meow~!” Owner, you’re finally here!

This heartfelt feline cry sounded exceptionally sweet and relieved.

Cheng Ningye’s gaze swiftly swept across the unconscious cats and dogs. He strode over to the black cat with the most critical injuries, popped open the medical kit, and injected a hemostatic shot into Xuan Yu. Guided by a portable treatment device, he cleansed and sutured the exposed wounds, applying a layer of healing ointment to stimulate tissue regeneration.

Watching the human’s long, clean fingers expertly wrap antibacterial gauze around the wounds, Mi Miaomiao relaxed completely. The backlash of pushing his physical limits to the absolute brink surged up violently.

Hunger, exhaustion, from his brain down to his claws every single part of his body screamed of profound fatigue!

The scent of nutritional gel drifted past his nose. Indolently opening his mouth, Mi Miaomiao drifted off to sleep, not even certain if he had managed to swallow it.

Cheng Ningye sat in the driver’s seat. The rear seats had been folded completely flat, where the white cat whose physique now rivaled that of a large adult dog was sleeping peacefully. A tight circle of cats and dogs snuggled closely around him. In the passenger seat, the black cat lay quietly inside a shock-absorbing cat carrier.

The vehicle cruised automatically at its minimum speed limit. He flipped open his folding computer; the internet was flooded with continuous discourse regarding the impending apocalypse, with netizens from various regions fervently discussing the freak weather anomalies occurring in their respective areas.

Ranking first on the trending topics was the storm duration counter; second was the real-time global sea level fluctuation tracker; third was the discussion on how humanity should save itself if a new Ice Age were to emerge.

Some advocated for a global migration to outer space; some proposed using the latest energy weapons to disperse the cloud layers from space; the majority, however, were compiling survival manuals for various natural disasters, detailing the application of emergency packs, listing emergency hotline numbers for the major military corps, and distributing official evacuation maps of every city, urging everyone to print them out for physical reference. They also reminded citizens in cities not yet inundated by water of what essential provisions they should stockpile.

Living in a coastal city, Cheng Ningye was accustomed to preparing various supplies during peak typhoon seasons.

By the fifth day of this continuous downpour, he had sensed that something was amiss. Following online data, he immediately purchased a vast quantity of common pharmaceuticals and compressed nutritional supplements, along with grain and vegetable seeds. Currently, the provisions stockpiled in his basement were sufficient to sustain him and the cat pack aboard a vessel for an entire year, effectively depleting the vast majority of his savings.

After scanning the online reports, Cheng Ningye felt there was no need for him to personally spread warnings about the apocalypse; the netizens were doing a far more comprehensive job than he could have envisioned. From floods, earthquakes, wars, and radiation, to scenarios involving zombies, pathogens, and microbial parasites they had formulated corresponding self-preservation protocols for every crisis.

In reality, enduring the ever-escalating disasters of a true apocalypse through individual preparation alone was virtually impossible. What Cheng Ningye desired most right now was to provide a warning to those who possessed genuine decision-making power and systemic influence.

Closing the webpages, Cheng Ningye raced against time to organize the critical information from his memories regarding the events before and after the apocalypse. Finally, he attached the photo of the rat monster captured by Miaomiao’s tracker today as supporting evidence.

Just before leaving the blackout zone, he keyed in a highly intricate string of unfamiliar code to access a private network space that virtually no one in the current era could decipher. Following a specific individual’s habits, he marked the email with an urgent tag.

Seeing the other party open and review it immediately, he promptly withdrew from the network.

His digital footprints might not have been wiped entirely clean, but it no longer mattered; there was only one day left before the apocalypse descended. Even for the cyber-security talents within the military, deciphering a technology developed by their own departments in the future would require a considerable amount of time.

“Since the Coalition authorities are allowing apocalyptic discussions to circulate freely, I hope they can also afford due weight to this concrete ‘prophecy.'”

The email had been sent out close to midday. That very night at 11:00 PM, Mi Miaomiao was jolted awake by a sudden, jarring emergency broadcast.

The piercing mechanical tone nearly pierced his eardrums, designed specifically to ensure that even those deep in slumber would be jarred awake.

[Attention all residents in the Lehai City evacuation zones! The latest directive from the Coalition Headquarters has been received: According to our monitoring, intense energy fluctuations have been detected at the tectonic boundary between the Eastern Ocean and the Changping Sea plates. A catastrophic trench earthquake capable of impacting the entire globe is imminent. The minimum projected energy release is registered at a magnitude of 10.3 on the Richter scale, generating destruction exceeding thirty times that of the highest-recorded earthquake in human history. It is projected to strike within ten working days.]

[Oceanic Earthquake Warning: The minimum projected magnitude is 9.5, with continuous aftershocks expected before and after the main tremor. However, there will be a 48-hour blank window prior to the main earthquake. Coastal residents must prepare yourselves and evacuate immediately! Those unable to evacuate in time must utilize this blank window to head to the highest secure geographic point in your vicinity to evade the ensuing tsunamis.]

[Tsunami Warning: Attention coastal and inland residents alike. The tsunami triggered by the trench earthquake has been formally designated as “The Great Flood.” Wave heights are projected to reach a hundred meters. Upon the eruption of the earthquake, the tsunami will reach the southeastern coast of the Central Zhou Continent within ten minutes at a velocity of 250 meters per second. It is expected to penetrate the central regions of Yan Province, Xusheng, and Yuyang Province within one hour… The destructive power is exceptionally severe and the impact zone is immense. Residents of the aforementioned provinces, please prepare for immediate relocation.]

Mi Miaomiao flattened his ears with his paws on the living room sofa, his eyes wide as he looked at his owner… In his past life, this disaster warning had never existed.

“Meow-ow?” Did you manage to get through to Gu Jing?

“Don’t worry, my identity wasn’t compromised,” Cheng Ningye nodded in confirmation. Immediately after, both the human and the cat flashed a lighthearted smile.

“We can finally repay him for saving our lives back then.”

In his previous life, the forecasted mega-tsunami had struck on the sixth day of the apocalypse. At that time, Mi Miaomiao and Cheng Ningye had just been rescued from the jaws of monsters by soldiers and were aboard a massive vessel heading inland. An unexpected mega-tsunami mid-journey inflicted catastrophic losses upon the fleet. They had to repair the ships in the water while simultaneously fighting off monsters. By the time they reached a territory suitable for establishing a base, less than one-tenth of the fleet’s population remained, and the soldiers protecting them were nearly entirely wiped out.

Gu Jing, a 31-year-old Major General of the Second Corps, was the military commander-in-chief responsible for evacuating the citizens of Xu Province’s coast. He had insisted on being the absolute last person to board the ships, and it was he who led the survivors to construct the initial foundations of the Anqing Base.

During the period following the magnetic field’s disruption when information technology personnel were scarcest, Cheng Ningye a freelance illustrator by trade, a socially anxious homebody who dabbled in mechanics and computer science in his spare time had been conscripted into service. He spent a frantic, isolated year working on covert operations within the technical department.

Because of this, Cheng Ningye knew exactly how to breach the internal military network, and he understood Gu Jing’s operational habits perfectly.

“Since they were able to get the Coalition Headquarters to verify the reality of the mega-tsunami so quickly, then given Gu Jing’s cautious temperament and immense executive capacity, he will undoubtedly treat everything in that ‘prophecy’ as a core emergency plan and guard against those perils with everything he has, even if there were only a ten percent chance of it being true. This time, the evacuation caravan should have a much smoother journey.”

Cheng Ningye stood up, parted the window curtains, and peered out through the sliver of space.

The disaster warning issued by the Coalition repeated three times. The evacuation zone lit up brilliantly, and even the heavy downpour could not drown out the panicked, chaotic shouts as crowds of people surged frantically toward the evacuation headquarters.