Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 32

October 11, Alliance Year 353.

[2 days until the geomagnetic storm arrives.]

6:15 AM, the night shift ended. Lu He-tao drove the bus, taking the members of the night-shift guard team back to the refuge area to rest.

During this period, he had been using the manual driving function, so he had become accustomed to the red light on the autopilot function.

Ten minutes later, the bus stopped at the Platform 1 square. Just as they stepped off the bus, a resplendent and magnificent sky immediately came into view.

Pure jade-green and enchanting red colors intertwined and shone in the sky, with large, massive stars hanging among them, like diamonds studded on a dancing canvas so mysterious it made one feel intoxicated.

At the same time, countless people witnessed the same scenery, but to those who understood the origin of the aurora, this was the beginning of a disaster.

“This is an aurora caused by high-energy particles being attracted by the poles.” Wang Xingchen closed her eyes to rest for a moment; her vision enhancement allowed her to see further than ordinary people.

Opening her eyes again, her vision focused on the shining stars behind the aurora. A unique arc of light, trailing orange-yellow flames, flowed among them like a diligent worker ant, transporting food without ever stopping.

“It actually really repaired the defense star-chain! We withstood the first wave of super-strong electromagnetic waves! But who on earth is operating that starship?”

“The three major legions risked danger, allowing three backup transport ships to lift off without positioning to provide support. All we can do now… is pray for them.”

Ding Chi placed the test tube into a white camouflage sealed box, looked out the window, and placed another larger black sealed box by her side. The bone chain connecting the boxes was firmly wrapped around her waist.

The vehicle drove rapidly through the sky filled with dancing white flakes. Even the triple-layer military anti-radiation glass could barely withstand the cold that pierced to the bone. The blizzard tore through the ice-sculpted forest, reminiscent of shrill, wailing roars.

Up ahead, a Level 2 swallowing monster appeared, looking like a dog but with the size of a cow, and a row of sharp triangular cones growing on its back.

Li Zhong operated the steering wheel, making a sharp turn. As a result, that swallowing monster suddenly flashed directly in front of them. Too late to brake, the car crashed straight into it.

The ZP-09 anti-ambush vehicle remained intact. The very front of the car roof flashed with light, illuminating the shattered upper body of the Level 2 swallowing monster, from which parts the color of the ice and snow on the ground fell out.

“Wait a minute, this monster is somewhat strange!” Team leader Li Zhong sensed the abnormality and gave a “standby” gesture to his teammates. He opened the driver’s door and got out alone. Half a minute later, he dragged the monster’s carcass into the cargo compartment at the back.

Wang Xingchen, who had been in the co-pilot seat, took the driver’s seat, started the anti-ambush vehicle, and continued moving toward the destination.

“I didn’t see wrong; the skeleton inside the monster has become like ice. Judging from the movement speed just now, its actions are no longer affected by ice and snow.” As Li Zhong spoke, he used his bare hands to break open the monster’s chest cavity. Filthy flesh and blood, frozen into ice dregs, fell away, exposing the special bones inside, which were translucent and mixed with gray-blue turbidity.

Deputy team leader Tan Wei, engineer Zhang Bo, sniper Ji Yongjiang, and energy research expert Ding Chi looked at each other; they were just afraid this wasn’t an isolated case.

They all understood that if all monsters evolved the ability to adapt to ice and snow, then the advantage currently held by humanity would soon disappear.

“Our current mission is to transport and guard the storage devices. Save the photos and information first; if there’s a chance, send them to the Major General.” Ding Chi patted the German Shepherd military dog, Knight, who was obediently squatting at the back of the car, and added: “But I suspect that with the base’s speed of clearing out monsters, they have probably already discovered their changes.”

“Right, the seven of us must first survive to complete the mission.” Ji Yongjiang rubbed Knight’s ears, put on night-vision goggles to observe the surroundings carefully, and muttered: “I hope we can still detect the monsters’ body temperature.”

Li Zhong noticed that except for Tan Wei and Ding Chi, the other four team members were not in high spirits. It was understandable they were elite guards beside Gu Jing who had become seasoned veterans in the special forces, and had become Level 3 evolvers quickly after the apocalypse, yet now they were suddenly sent away to guard the unfamiliar Rong City, and their identities in the base had been erased.

Before the apocalypse, this would have been a dishonorable discharge. Even if they knew the mission they were executing was important, it was still hard to adjust their mindset in such a short time.

“This mission is not that complicated. You’ll understand after the magnetic storm passes.”

Li Zhong and Tan Wei were appointed as the team’s leader and deputy leader by Gu Jing. They had been informed about the prophecy and knew that Rong City was a place that must be focused on for investigation. The two of them were the ones who truly had to stay in Rong City to execute the mission; Gu Jing had made other arrangements for the rest of the people.

A soldier’s duty is to obey! Although Ji Yongjiang was curious, he didn’t dare to ask too much.

Zhang Bo opened the communicator, checked the photos released officially by Rong City, and was amazed once again: “Looking at the photos, the city walls are at least twenty meters tall. How on earth did they build them? And so many animals what kind of people can make them obey arrangements?”

“Woof!” Knight let out a soft bark.

“Hahahaha, Knight, you are also a member of our team. When we get to Rong City, we might have to rely on you to support us.” Zhang Bo rubbed the dog’s head, but was pulled to the window by the military dog biting the clothing on his wrist.

“Team leader, there seem to be birds flying in the sky in the direction of West 18.”

Wang Xingchen slowed the vehicle, and Ding Chi crouched down beside the two password boxes.

Ten minutes later, they saw a silver, strange flying bird hovering in mid-air.

“Ga-ga, are you guys the people sent by the Anqing Base to guard the data?”

In the wind and snow, the blue and gold feather lines on Great King Bird-of-Paradise’s body were very eye-catching. It landed straight on the metal railing in front of the camouflage military vehicle’s windshield.

There were six people in the car. Except for the leader and deputy leader who were guarding against movements in the distance, the gaze of the other four couldn’t help but be attracted to the silver bird’s wings, which had transformed from turbine mode back to a normal state.

“Yes, I am Li Zhong, the leader of the escort team.” Li Zhong introduced himself to a bird seriously and earnestly without the slightest hesitation.

“Hello, I am the lead bird of the Rong City team, Great King. The City Lord said the snow is too heavy, and the monsters are also a bit restless today, so he asked me to lead the way for you. Follow me.” After speaking, Great King opened its wings again, hovering about 3 meters above the military vehicle, leading them forward at an unhurried pace.

Twenty minutes later, Wang Xingchen drove the vehicle into an abandoned mountain village. Not far ahead was the continuous, ice-covered mountain forest of the Boyun Mountains. The village buildings were low, and most of the houses were full of cracks, with many walls being knocked down by impacts.

In a wooden house in the center of the village that had lost one wall, a warm yellow flame was burning fiercely. The wind and snow blew the hems of the two people’s clothes beside the fire.

Li Zhong got out of the car. The two people in the house turned their heads at the same time. What was revealed before him wasn’t human faces, but two animal masks with eerie styles.

Strands of animal fur were carved so clearly they were visible. On the identical gray masks, an exaggerated mouth shape one upward, one downward was painted with red oil paint and showed pale white teeth. On top of their heads were lifelike gray rabbit ears and brown deer antlers.

“Hello, I am Lu Jia, a Rong City administrator.” Miss Rabbit stood up. A layer of veil-like scarf draped over her long, ankle-length black down jacket danced in the wind, and one could vaguely see snake scales hidden underneath.

“Since everyone is here, let’s set off for Rong City. We’ve been freezing here for half a day.” Lu Jia took the initiative to shake hands with Li Zhong, then pulled him toward their vehicle.

“Wait, don’t you need to confirm the escorted items? And… the prophet we agreed upon seems to be a gentleman.”

Under Li Zhong’s calm expression was full surprise. As a strength-type evolver, he couldn’t resist the woman’s hand in front of him at all; the place she touched seemed to lose all sensation.

“That isn’t him.”

Li Zhong sat in the car helplessly and looked back. The man with the deer-faced mask stood up and jumped onto a giant cat that had appeared from who knew where.

That cat, including its tail, was fully ten meters long, and even when standing up, it was over three meters tall twice as large as their anti-ambush vehicle; it could eat a human in one bite.

The energy level displayed on the vehicle-mounted detector far exceeded that of an ordinary Level 4; it was much stronger than Major General Gu Jing.

Ji Yongjiang couldn’t restrain himself from swallowing his throat, clenching the sniper rifle in his hand, and then lowering the gun again. He had realized that he simply wouldn’t be able to hit a powerhouse of this level.

Li Zhong and Tan Wei looked at each other with such powerhouses, there was no need to doubt the authenticity of their identities.

It was just that… is the prophet the City Lord of Rong City? His pet is truly magical.

Just as they walked into the city gate, they saw a little girl wrapped into a fur ball waving to greet the big cat: “Hello City Lord-sama, hello Vice City Lord too!”

“Good morning, Feifei.” The big cat lowered its head and touched the little girl with its side face.

The masked youth also nodded at her.

“Wow, Vice City Lord-sama’s mask is so cute.”

Cheng Feifei wanted to get closer, but Cheng Ningye retreated again and again. He discovered that the mask only gave him the courage to look directly at others, but close-contact interaction still wouldn’t work. He waved his hand hurriedly and walked quickly toward the parking area.

Wang Xingchen widened her eyes in surprise: “Is that cat the City Lord? It can even talk?”

“Woof, woof, woof!” Knight watched the giant panda, red panda, golden retriever, and Samoyed patrolling on the city walls, unable to stop barking excitedly.

“Yes, Miaomiao is the City Lord. If there is anything important, you can go find it. Don’t get close to the Vice City Lord normally.” Lu Jia beckoned and took the six people and one dog to the office at the entrance to register their identities.

“Regardless of your reason for joining Rong City, after you become a part of Rong City, the welfare benefits you should have won’t be lacking, and when Rong City encounters catastrophe, you should also fulfill your responsibilities.”

Hang Qiushi looked at the updated data in the city resident database: 6 Level 3 evolvers, one Level 2 peak evolver, all abilities awakened. Among them, that military dog even had a special mist-form ability.

Thinking of the 610 points added, Hang Qiushi’s attitude toward them became even better. Temporarily delegating her work to Great King, she personally led the six people and one dog toward the bank.

Hang Qiushi helped them pay the fees, finished the item storage procedures, and incidentally registered the six as bank guards.

“Two people come to be on duty every day; you can arrange your remaining time freely. Holding your identification certificate, you can claim five days’ worth of food, and you can live in the refuge area rooms for free for three months. If your points are insufficient, you can go check the Mission Hall; Rong City will be very busy in the next two days, so you can quickly save up enough points to live on.”

After speaking, Hang Qiushi turned and walked into the biting wind and snow, leaving the six people and one dog standing in the bank hall with only two cat staff at the front desk, messy in the wind.

“Rong City really is free. Can we move around as we please now?”

Wang Xingchen’s emotions, which had been nervous the whole way, were eased. Listening to the bustling sounds in the square ahead, she really wanted to go out and take a look.

“Wang Xingchen and I are on duty today. You guys go first to the refuge area to confirm your rooms; there’s no need for everyone to live together.” Li Zhong made arrangements in a few words, leading a grumpy-faced Wang Xingchen toward the front desk to negotiate work content with the two cat employees one white and one blue.

In the office, Mi Miaomiao rarely had leisure time, sketching and drawing on paper, designing its future house.

The door was suddenly pushed open with great force. Deng Huai squeezed the document in his hand, excited: “It’s confirmed, it’s been measured! System buildings have a certain probability of blocking the impact of high-energy charged particles; the effect is better than existing anti-radiation materials. We can save a portion of high-tech equipment!”