Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 20

On the narrow path leading from Lushan Town to the back mountains, the lush banyan trees on both sides watched silently as people fled for their lives. Behind them was a group of bizarre-looking monsters, several of which were exceptionally fast and looked as though they were about to catch up.

A water orb slammed heavily onto a monster’s head. Peng Wang discarded his backpack and ran forward faster. As he passed Hong Jiaxi, he couldn’t help but curse: “Damn it, if you can’t keep your people in check, don’t pretend to be a leader.”

“Peng Wang, damn it, don’t think I don’t know! You and Li Kang were in contact two days ago. Who knows if it wasn’t you who instigated him to destroy the isolation zone!” Hong Jiaxi grabbed a little girl at the end of the line, and with just a few words, she directed the suspicious gazes of the wavering crowd back toward Peng Wang.

The three main roads of Lushan Town spanned from the mountainside to the summit, with a total residential population of over five thousand, with about three hundred people remaining in the shelter area. When Peng Wang first arrived in the small town, he tried to recruit the few rare Level 2 evolvers to leave with him, using less-than-honorable tactics.

Now that the shelter area was destroyed, morale was already volatile, and there were likely even fewer people willing to stay.

A flowing ribbon of water manifested around Peng Wang’s fist. However, when his gaze fell upon the pebbles dancing under the woman’s feet, a flash of wariness crossed his sinister eyes. He sneered: “How could I possibly do such a thankless job? Li Kang is a complete lunatic.”

The monsters had already caught up to their feet; at this point, distinguishing right from wrong was meaningless.

No one had expected that one of Lushan Town’s top Level 2 evolvers would become so deranged because his sister had failed to evolve and had turned into a monster. Li Kang had dug out his sister’s crystal in front of everyone during the day without changing his expression, and at night, under the cover of darkness, he had quietly dismantled the isolation zone outside Lushan Town, using his own flesh and blood to lure the monsters to the shelter area, wanting everyone to be buried with his sister.

Stumbling onto the highway, Peng Wang led his group toward the foot of the mountain. Hong Jiaxi turned and knelt on one leg; yellow halos lit up on her hands, which were pressed against the ground. A mud wall one person wide emerged from the earth, rising and widening.

“Those who have keys, drive! Everyone else, grab weapons and kill the monsters!” Hong Jiaxi was the first to lead her group to intercept a speed-type Level 2 monster. She swung her fire axe with all her might, severing one of the monster’s arms, and shouted:

“Peng Wang’s boats can’t take everyone! We’ll drive to the other side of the overpass, block the bridge, and then we can grind these monsters down!”

“BOOM!” Amidst the sound of monsters crashing into the mud wall, some people distributed the car keys. The group fought while retreating, and finally, before the mud wall collapsed, everyone had gotten into the vehicles.

“Pass the word down! Bind your wounds quickly! The monsters are going berserk!” Hong Jiaxi’s ability was exhausted, and her muscles were twitching in pain. She forced herself to sit up and treat the wounds of everyone in the car.

“Doesn’t anyone know that monsters will also devour each other? If you cage them up but don’t clear them out, you’ll only give birth to even more terrifying monsters!”

Learning the cause of the chaos in town from the people they rescued, Wen Yushuang’s hand, which was gripping a club, creaked with tension.

“We only found out two days ago, too. There wasn’t enough time.” The young man looked on in a daze as four animals jumped off the ship.

The giant white cat ran off in the blink of an eye, the black cat flew directly into the air, and what remained was a majestic male lion and a black-and-white giant bear clad in armor.

The lion stood in the middle of the road and let out a roar; the sonic waves actually created visible ripples in the air. Within five meters of it, ordinary Level 1 monsters collapsed one after another.

The giant bear stood on its hind legs, reaching over two meters tall. It stepped forward and shattered the skull of a Level 2 monster with a single swipe of its paw.

“Where are the rest of your people?” Ai Yuan looked at the dozen or so people they had rescued, his gaze worriedly following the two figures running toward the town center.

“We got separated in the panic. Sister Hong and Peng Wang’s group should have all gone to the back mountain. The boats and cars are all over there.”

Mi Miaomiao frantically tried to identify the scent in the air. With monsters blocked up in the town, it was no wonder a true Level 5 monster had appeared here so early in its past life.

“Found it! There’s an exceptionally large monster to the west!” Xuan Yu finished speaking and accelerated as it flew over.

“Be careful!” Mi Miaomiao frowned and followed, accelerating as well.

Countless pale green, fleshy tentacles were coiled around the steel reinforcements of the bridge. Green secretions corroded the metal surface, creating pockmarks. From far away, one could hear the creak-creak sound of metal breaking after being compressed.

“It’s impossible to finish them off, and you can’t kill it!” Hong Jiaxi supported herself against a tree trunk, gasping for breath. The fire axe in her other hand was reduced to a rusty handle.

Countless massive tentacles were coiled on the water beneath the bridge. Looking out, it was like countless giant dead octopuses piled together, yet they were alive and had all grown from the same monster.

This monster had suddenly emerged from the water after they crossed the bridge, attacking the bridge, the cars, and the people who had gotten out of the cars.

Its huge, bloated limbs crushed the road surface, shattered the trees in the forest, and extended slowly but firmly, until all the survivors were within its range of attack.

The metal bridge was on the verge of collapse. The cars wrapped in tentacles had already been crushed flat, and those entangled by the tentacles had all been dragged into the water, never to appear again.

And those of them still struggling to survive found it impossible to escape!

She swung her club to strike the incoming tentacles. The moment it struck, hard clumps of earth gathered on the axe handle into a sharp edge, heavily severing a tentacle. The severed tentacle twisted and struggled, liquid mixed with deep green particles flowing from the wound, emitting the briny smell characteristic of seawater and marine plants.

Hong Jiaxi didn’t want to die. Even if the world was absolute bullsh*t, only by living was there hope! An orphan, she had relied on social welfare to survive until she was 16, and over the following 18 years, she had relied on her own hard work to become a manager at a Fortune Global 500 company. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, she didn’t want to die in such a pathetic way.

A short rest allowed her to recover more strength. Seeing the girl who had helped block tentacle attacks while she was resting fall into a predicament, Hong Jiaxi walked over and pulled her out.

“Thank you.” Lu Jia watched Hong Jiaxi walk away, turned, and went to her parents’ side. She replenished the dark energy for her two snakes, Sen Yu and Midnight, letting them continue to guard her parents. As she stood up while holding Jiuxin, she heard a scream.

“Look out!”

Before she could look back, her mother, who was standing to her left, pushed her hard. Lu Jia appeared behind her younger brother, stumbling, while a tentacle that had pierced through the ground appeared before her.

The next moment, her ankle tightened, and she was dragged into the water.

Before sinking into the water, she saw her mother who always said she treated both children equally nervously hugging her brother in her arms, and her father also embracing them tightly, leaving her with only their backs.

“Mom, Dad, I can’t swim…”

Her body sank rapidly. Her eyes couldn’t make out things in the water; her senses were sour and uncomfortable. They clearly knew they only talked about equality while only caring for her brother in their hearts! She had clearly already decided to cut ties with that family! Why did she still hold expectations for them!

When she saw Jiuxin swimming toward her with all its might, Lu Jia felt infinite resentment toward her own numb reaction and her past self-abandonment; suddenly, she found the strength to struggle.

Jiuxin was much smaller than a human, but the enhanced strength of a Second-Order evolved beast allowed it to coil around Lu Jia’s waist and bring its master to the surface.

The departure of her two guard snakes, Sen Yu and Midnight, led Lu Jia’s father and mother to see their daughter surfacing.

Lu Jia’s father was dazed; he didn’t even know when his daughter had fallen into the water. This was followed immediately by anger: “A single snake could have brought you ashore, why did you call both snakes away!”

Lu Jia’s mother first felt guilty, her gaze toward the two snakes filled with both disgust and desire. She greeted her with a smiling face: “Jiajia, come up quickly. Your father didn’t mean it, he was just too anxious.”

Lu Jia felt cold—not just in her body, but also in her heart.

Jiuxin, now able to understand human speech, was the first to sense its master’s sadness and anger. The car fragments floating on the water began to vibrate.

“Meow!” Jiuxin, I’m here! I’ve come to get you!

The giant white beast leaped violently into the water, treading on the water’s surface to quickly swim to Lu Jia’s side.

“Hisss-hisss-hisss!” Friend! Friend has come to pick us up!

Jiuxin nuzzled Lu Jia’s face. Lu Jia understood Jiuxin’s meaning and allowed the big cat to carry them one human and three snakes quickly to the opposite bank.

Lu Jia’s parents were dumbfounded; before they could even call out, their daughter and the three snakes she raised had already hidden in the woods on the opposite bank. Lu Jia’s father was angry to the extreme, but seeing tentacles striking again, he hurriedly pulled his wife and son into the crowd.

Saving Lu Jia before Jiuxin’s metal-type ability could be revealed caused a heavy stone in Mi Miaomiao’s heart to fall. This time, Lu Jia wouldn’t be targeted by her parents for her metal-type ability and forcibly taken away.

Moreover, judging by Lu Jia’s attitude just now, she should have already decided to leave her parents.

It didn’t know if she was willing to join Rong City. It already began to look forward to Lu Jia’s ability the only one of its kind, the dark-type ability. It was said that once she struck, the target would turn into a monster, which was even more terrifying than direct killing.

Mi Miaomiao sprinkled honeysuckle seeds on the shore and in the water, its gold and blue cat eyes staring fixedly at the green tentacles on the water. This was a five-level, dual-attribute fusion monster that had just been promoted and fused both octopus and plant characteristics.

The crystal inside it was different from the two-attribute situation in a two-headed snake; this was one crystal that possessed both water and wood attributes simultaneously. In its past life, Mi Miaomiao had once seen this crystal from afar, and the intense attraction it emitted proved that it could be absorbed by itself.

It didn’t know whose hands this crystal ended up in in its past life, but Mi Miaomiao had an intuition: if it absorbed this dual-attribute crystal, it was highly likely that it would awaken a water-type ability.

It was just that skipping the Level 4 crystal and absorbing a Level 5 one directly it didn’t know what kind of danger that might involve. But it had waited two full years for that Level 4 crystal in its past life; in this life, Mi Miaomiao couldn’t possibly wait another two years.

“Meow!” Xuan Yu, I want this crystal!

As the words fell, Mi Miaomiao transformed into a white arrow, diving into the water. Its sharp claws, carrying massive force, cut through the obstructing tentacles, using them as fertilizer to quickly catalyze the Level 1 honeysuckle.

Growth, sprouting, flowering, fruiting it continuously produced seeds with stronger energy.

Mi Miaomiao wasn’t even afraid of Level 5 monster groups when it was at Level 4, let alone this Level 5 monster it had participated in hunting in its past life.

The monster’s strength lay in its healing and corrosive properties. The combination of water and plant characteristics was a repeating life cycle, allowing it to continuously grow tentacles; its wounds could heal quickly, and it was hard to kill.

But its weaknesses were also obvious: it was too large, and its main body was slow.

Finding the meat-mountain-like monster body at the bottom of the water, it used its sharp claws to cut a gap and stuffed a handful of seeds inside, actively helping it heal the wound.

While retreating, it activated those seeds to grow inside the monster’s body.

Countless tentacles wove into a cage behind Mi Miaomiao. The giant cat was massive, and no matter how agile its movements were, it couldn’t be brought into play in such a cramped space.

A bang suddenly erupted on the water’s surface, followed by a large spray of water, and a wide array of wind blades descended.

The branches around Mi Miaomiao spread out, carrying solidified thorns that spiraled upward, twisting the healing tentacles along the way into shreds of meat like thorny chains.

The monster’s main body suddenly began to tremble and contract violently. With a strange, long wail, black liquid spread in the water.

“Meow!” Scatter!

Mi Miaomiao reached the water surface at the fastest speed possible. Xuan Yu dove down, grabbed the shoulder strap on the white cat’s back, used the wind element to share the weight, and tumbled heavily onto the ground together with Miaomiao.

When the monster sprayed venom, Mi Miaomiao catalyzed honeysuckle on the shore. On the opposite bank, Hong Jiaxi built two massive mud pillars in the water single-handedly. A speed-type evolver used these as fulcrums, acting as a spear at super-high speed. Xuan Yu’s wind blades penetrated deep into the water, stopping the tentacles from growing from the midsection.

When the venom dispersed, other evolvers on the bank slashed at tentacles, hauling stones, rubble, mud, and dead branches into the water, forcing the monster to move its root system.

They ground it out for a full day before finally exhausting the Level 5 monster to death.

The bridge collapsed, and ordinary evolvers had long since evacuated from the combat zone. Several Level 2 evolvers were also physically exhausted and only rejoined the battle after recovering in the distance. From the middle stage on, it was the arriving animals that helped Mi Miaomiao.

The only ones who fought the whole way through were Mi Miaomiao, Xuan Yu, Hong Jiaxi, and Lu Jia.

Although both Hong Jiaxi and Lu Jia were Level 2 evolvers, they had both evolved their abilities. Mi Miaomiao also truly felt the power of the dark-type ability—it could push evolution toward the dark category.

Half of the honeysuckle trees it had planted in the monster’s body were twisted and blackened, and the Level 2 seeds produced had teeth, looking like living creatures, yet they could be completely controlled by Mi Miaomiao.

These seeds were stored separately from normal Level 2 honeysuckle seeds.

Immediately afterward, it used vine branches to drag the monster’s shattered corpse out of the water, piece by piece.

The half-plant, half-aquatic monster showed no signs of rot and had no stench; Mi Miaomiao felt it was excellent fertilizer and couldn’t be wasted.

After it dug out the Level 5 crystal, the people and animals who were still able to stand gathered around, curiously taking it in their hands to watch.

“Meow-aow.” I need this crystal, and among the evolvers present, only I can use it.

Mi Miaomiao placed its paw in Lu Jia’s hand. Lu Jia, who possessed telepathic abilities, acted as its translator for the time being.

“Clatter!” Mi Miaomiao and Xuan Yu each opened the pockets on their bodies; a colorful assortment of Level 2 and Level 3 crystals also spread out to cover a small patch.

“Meow.” These crystals are enough for everyone to take two each. If you don’t want crystals, you can also exchange them for a condition with me.

Mi Miaomiao also told everyone about the Rong City base it had established. No matter what, being able to fight together until now meant the temperaments of these people and animals were all qualified to join Rong City, so it was fine to let them know the location of the Rong City base.

Jiuxin had long been fascinated by the group of animal friends who could converse with it, and it pestered its master to join Rong City.

Lu Jia received Mi Miaomiao’s affirmation. She squatted down and carefully chose a suitable Level 2 crystal for each of her snakes. Just as she was about to take any random crystal as her own reward, she had a black Level 3 crystal shoved into her hand by the big cat.

Mi Miaomiao had exerted the most effort; if it hadn’t stood up, it was unknown how many of the evolvers present would have survived. Therefore, the others human and animal alike either chose one or two crystals, and only Hong Jiaxi and Lu He-tao didn’t move; each asked Mi Miaomiao for a promise.

At this point, the Level 5 fusion crystal had completely fallen into Mi Miaomiao’s hands. It couldn’t wait to break through, but the main purpose of this outing hadn’t been completed yet.

Returning to the location of the fleet, those who hadn’t participated in the battle weren’t idling. Two people with good swimming skills wore the only two diving suits on the ship and performed a simple survey of the building areas beneath Lushan Town, compiling a map of underwater supply points.