Doomsday Cat City Lord - Chapter 4

“Ten years…”

Cheng Ningye’s gaze went blank. Self-proclaimed as a civilized man, he rarely lost his composure, but he couldn’t help but mutter a curse word under his breath.

Mi Miaomiao put on a calm front, licking its paw pads to clean its face, but judging by the single whisker it had accidentally snapped off with its claws, it wasn’t nearly as unfazed inside as it appeared.

“Which means in our past life, even if we hadn’t died then, we would have only had five more years left to live at most?” Cheng Ningye curled up on the sofa, burying his head in his hands. His voice was so soft it sounded like he was talking to himself, looking a bit broken.

A furry touch brushed past his cheek. Cheng Ningye looked up blankly, cradling the large cat paw that had suddenly been placed in his hands as his entire body was squeezed into the corner by the giant cat.

“Meow.” Just be sad for a moment, and that’s enough.

Mi Miaomiao knew that Cheng Ningye’s inner self wasn’t that fragile. In order to survive, he could overcome his instinctual fears to bargain and trade with others! In order to survive, he could fight for three whole days straight during a monster tide!

“Meow-meow!” We might not necessarily be able to shoulder the responsibility of being saviors, but if we work hard, striving to get into the top one hundred on the leaderboard isn’t completely impossible.

City levels ranged from 0 to 12. With five years left before the leaderboard deadline, the city currently sitting at number one was only at Level 8.

“Thank you, Miaomiao.” Listening to the large cat’s analysis while squeezing its bouncy, soft pink paw pads, Cheng Ningye’s emotions gradually stabilized. Looking at the city levels in the top one hundred of the leaderboards, he said in a serious tone, “Let’s work hard together. I’ll take care of the logistics and be a qualified Vice-City Lord.”

[Host: Mi Miaomiao]

Race: Feline

Evolution Tier: Tier 2

Evolutionary Skills: Basic Ability: Giantification (Strength Type); Wood-type Elemental Ability (Unawakened)

Identity: City Lord

[Secondary Bound Individual: Cheng Ningye]

Race: Human

Evolution Tier: Tier 2

Evolutionary Skills: Basic Ability: Psychic Perception; Psychic-type Elemental Ability (Initially Awakened)

Identity: Vice-City Lord

Trust Value: Green (0–30 Red, 30–60 Yellow, 60–100 Green)

“Meow?” Can the info panels of ordinary citizens display evolutionary skills too?

“This feature allows us to know our evolutionary direction in advance.”

Mi Miaomiao and Cheng Ningye dove into a deep discussion regarding the system’s second major function the City Construction Management Panel.

System 012 was an absolute expert in this regard. It desperately needed to showcase its capabilities to make its host trust it more, so it chimed in the moment they started:

【Host…】

“Meow, meow, meow.” 012, I want to research how to use these functions myself. I also need some time to think about our upcoming plans. Can you stay quiet? Just like before.

【Yes… I can.】 012 hugged itself, crying out loud inside.

Even though its host was bound to it and seemed intent on using its features properly… it was still clearly disliked by its host, wahhh!

“Meow.” By the way, what do you usually do while staying inside my consciousness space? Doesn’t it feel strange to look at the outside world through my perspective?

【Ho… Host, I downloaded a ton of data from headquarters before I left. I usually spend my time learning how to become a better system. In my spare time, I also browse this world’s internet to watch films and cultural works. Actually, I can block myself out automatically, and I’ll only appear when you call for me, Host.】

012 covered its mouth and silently shed tears. The host’s way of dismissing it was so tactful, but it understood completely and felt incredibly aggrieved.

Mi Miaomiao lowered its head, a trace of amusement flashing in its eyes, though it didn’t explicitly say whether it wanted the system to block itself out or not.

“Meow.” Then go study.

【Understood.】 012 waited hesitantly for thirty seconds, but in the end, it helplessly entered its built-in study space.

Cheng Ningye leaned forward to stroke the large cat’s back, asking with a smile, “Why do you keep teasing the system? It doesn’t seem very old.”

“Meow?” How long do you guess it’s been since it rolled off the assembly line?

Mi Miaomiao half-lay down, using its eyes to signal its shovel-handler to keep brushing its fur. One of its cat paws curled up to prop against its cheek in a thoughtful stance.

“Meow-uuu~” My intuition tells me it’s hiding something very important from me.

“Well, then do as you please,” Cheng Ningye said, his movements expertly kneading the tense muscles near the large cat’s spine, his eyes fixed on that swaying, incredibly fluffy long tail that felt amazing to the touch.

Unfortunately, the tail and the base of the spine were strictly forbidden zones for Miaomiao. Cheng Ningye had only managed to touch it once during its kittenhood, and the price had been three long claw marks on his arm, along with Xuanyu’s death stare that lasted for half a month.

Five minutes later, the white cat arched its back to stretch, its claws extending and digging twice into the thick woven carpet. Eight holes instantly appeared on the floor, their edges frayed with loose threads.

Mi Miaomiao walked up to the second-floor study with an entirely justified air, while Cheng Ningye completely ignored the tragic state of the carpet.

He estimated with his eyes that the cat’s height now reached his waist, and its length, including the tail, was roughly two meters. Given this rate of growth, in just a few more days, the small boat he had purchased wouldn’t afford Miaomiao enough space to move around freely.

In the study, the chairs had been pushed against the wall, and two thick quilts were laid out in the center. Xuanyu claimed one entirely for himself, while the remaining cats and dogs huddled together on the other side.

Xuanyu, Xiao Tian, and San Yi still hadn’t woken up. Grandpa Bai and Hua Bi had eaten some nutritional paste midway through, received anti-inflammatory shots, and fallen back into a deep slumber.

Ju Dabang sat with his eyes wide open, utterly exhausted as he pinned down two highly energetic puppies, keeping them from disturbing the other sleeping cats.

When Mi Miaomiao walked over, Ju Dabang’s eyes lit up  he was finally getting a reprieve.

The two puppies were initially startled into a slight shiver by its massive size, but after catching the scent of the cat that had saved their lives, their tails, tucked between their legs, perked back up, wagging like two small electric fans.

“Dabang.”

“What do you mean ‘Dabang’? Call me Uncle Ju! You’ve only grown in height, not in seniority. Show some respect to your elders.”

“Fine, Uncle Ju. I have something to ask you, and I need a serious answer. If I established a city that belonged entirely to animals, would you all be willing to live there?” Mi Miaomiao nodded casually, its heterochromatic eyes shining bright as it looked at the large orange tabby, leaving the old cat with no room to be cross.

“Of course we would!”

The orange cat instantly perked up, its tone excited yet deliberately keeping its voice low: “Miaomiao, is our cat race finally going to war with the humans?! I never expected you to be the one leading the charge!”

“…” Mi Miaomiao leaned its head back and rolled its eyes. The apocalypse hadn’t even started yet; what kind of daydream was this cat having?

“I’ll take the puppies with me. Focus on recovering from your injuries.”

Mi Miaomiao nudged close to Xuanyu, firmly rubbing against his uninjured ear. Once its fur caught a bit of the scent of dry grass from him, it picked up the two puppies in its mouth and departed.

Behind it, Ju Dabang flipped onto his back in disappointment, using the tip of his claw to hook a piece of freeze-dried meat nearby and crossly stuffing it into his mouth.

“Would you two like to live in my city as well?”

Mi Miaomiao had only asked the puppies on a whim, but to its surprise, the information for the two puppies actually appeared on the system panel. Because it had used the word “all of you” when asking Ju Dabang earlier, not only Ju Dabang but all the members of the stray cat squad except for Xuanyu were now listed.

As expected, Ju Dabang was the guardian cat of the squad recognized by the world’s consciousness. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make decisions on behalf of Xuanyu.

Among them, the two puppies were too young, and Sis Hua San’s physical condition was too poor to detect any evolutionary abilities yet. The remaining animals all possessed the potential to complete both phases of evolution.

“Miaomiao, I know why I had an impression of that small mountain village now!”

Cheng Ningye excitedly lifted the two puppies onto his lap and opened a land leasing document on his illuminated screen. Pointing his finger at a line of red text that read ‘Right to use approximately 1,300 square kilometers of mountain land,’ he said, “When I was five years old, I went there to attend my great-grandmother’s funeral. I inherited an estate back then two mountain peaks deep within the Shuishou Mountain Range with twenty years remaining on the lease. There are only eight months left on the lease now, but this piece of land is indeed registered under my name!”

“Meow!” The city can be upgraded!

Mi Miaomiao pricked its ears in excitement, pulling up the system panel:

[City Level: 0] (No city territory, no city name)

Upgrading to the next level requires 1,000 points and a minimum city area of 10 square kilometers.

Click to view Level 1 City Privileges.

Clicking into the details:

[Level 1 City Privileges]:

Can appoint a second Vice-City Lord.

Rewards one special functional building constructed by the system (the City Lord may choose one from the following options): Level 1 City Wall (Upgradable), Level 1 Warehouse (Upgradable), Level 1 Hospital (Upgradable), Level 1 Cafeteria (Upgradable), Level 1 School (Upgradable).

Note: Under the prerequisite that social order still exists, the land required for the city must have legally obtained usage rights! (It can be under the name of either the City Lord or the Vice-City Lord.) Once the city location is selected, it cannot be altered midway!

The conditions were harsh. Mi Miaomiao had originally planned to wait until after the apocalypse hit to personally go to Boyun Province and measure out a piece of land. It never expected that a forgotten inheritance would move their timeline forward by at least half a month. It finally didn’t have to be the dead last city that could be squeezed out at any moment anymore. (Another new doomsday world had joined the leaderboard half an hour ago.)

The system was recalled from its isolation to verify the data, while Cheng Ningye narrated his great-grandmother’s story with a sigh of emotion:

“After searching through my grandmother’s diary just now, I found out that my great-grandmother’s life was truly legendary. She was born into an ordinary family, but at eight years old, she told the adults she could commune with spirits and was taken to see a psychiatrist. At eighteen, she dropped out of university and lost contact with her family. At twenty-four, she shot to fame after participating in a psychic variety show, hailed as the last true witch of the modern era. Visitors flocked to her endlessly, but after the show ended, she transferred a massive sum of money back home and vanished again. At thirty, she gave birth to my grandmother and raised her alone until she was twenty, leaving behind a sum of money before traveling the world by herself. After my mother was born, the fifty-six-year-old great-grandmother settled down in Boyun Province, completely secluding herself in the mountains away from the secular world.”

“I didn’t even know my great-grandmother was alive before I turned five. I was completely clueless when I inherited the estate. Over the years, this contract, along with the fixed assets left behind by my parents and elders, was handed over to a professional manager to look after. It wasn’t until I flipped through the contract just now that I realized she had originally only leased two large mountains deep within the range, totaling 300 square kilometers. The extra 1,000 square kilometers came about because she wanted to build a road from the village into the deep mountains, so the villagers pooled their land together and factored all the mountain forests passed along the route into the contract.”

“Meow, meow, meow!” Where is Great-Grandmother’s grave? I want to go pay my respects!

Mi Miaomiao pulled up the conversion formula provided by the system for point rewards, trying its best to calculate how many points 1,300 square kilometers could fetch.

Cheng Ningye pressed a hand to his forehead and laughed softly. Even his unruly cat master could be swayed by human wealth~~

【Upon detection, the contents of the data are verified as authentic. Do you confirm the establishment of your city in the Muyuan Mountains and their subordinate peaks?】

“Meow-meow.” Confirm.

【City location finalized. City area data updated.Congratulations on receiving 4,342 bonus points for land acquisition! You have met the requirements for an upgrade. Would you like to expend 1,000 points to elevate your city to Level 1?】

Mi Miaomiao nodded.

【Data updating… Please name your city. (A solemn reminder: Once the name is confirmed, it cannot be altered. The information of the top 500 cities on the leaderboard will be made public.)】

“…” Casting aside the long string of meow-meow-meow names it had initially thought up, the white cat turned to look at Cheng Ningye, asking seriously:

“Meow?” What was Great-Grandmother’s name?

“Qin Rong. ‘Rong’ as in the banyan tree.”

“Meow-meow.” Then this city will be called ‘Banyan City.’ Its primary citizens will be evolved animals and evolved plants.

Cheng Ningye let out a massive sigh of relief, secretly thinking to himself that it would be perfect if he were the only human in this city!

【Data updated. Congratulations, your city has successfully upgraded to Level 1! Banyan City is currently ranked 1,918th on the leaderboard (Total participating cities: 2,200).】

【Please select your Level 1 city reward. The special functional buildings created by the system are designed with reference to the laws of this world; even after the system unbinds, the buildings will continue to function normally.】

[Reward Options]:

Level 1 City Wall: 8 meters high, 3 meters wide, with a total length of 5,000 meters. (A Level 2 City Wall can choose from the following upgrade paths: 1. Increase height and width; 2. Increase length; 3. Add an energy shield capable of defending against attacks from 200 Tier-2 monsters simultaneously.)

Level 1 Warehouse: Covers an area of 500 square meters, equipped with an automated sorting program and compartmentalized temperature control to maximize the preservation of items. (A Level 2 Warehouse can choose from the following upgrade paths: 1. Increase warehouse area; 2. Unlock remote storage permissions; 3. Unlock remote retrieval permissions.)

Mi Miaomiao and Cheng Ningye exchanged a look and spoke in unison: “No need to introduce the rest, we choose the warehouse!”

Cheng Ningye cradled his folding laptop, a beaming smile washing over his face as he exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “This isn’t just a warehouse this is a 500-square-meter dimensional pocket space!”

“Meow-oww.” I have 9 points left from my Tier-2 reward, you have 10 points from your Tier-2 reward, and Dabang and the others don’t count toward points since they haven’t evolved yet and are severely injured. Adding what’s left from the land reward, we currently have a total of 3,361 points. We still need 1,639 points to upgrade the city to Level 2.

Cheng Ningye nodded, adding, “We can’t expand our land for the time being, so we can only acquire points by increasing the number of citizens and raising their evolutionary tiers.”

Reaching Tier 4 evolution could net a maximum reward of 1,000 points, while Tier 3 gave 100 points.

Seeing its host and the shovel-handler deep in their own discussion about how to accumulate points, the system felt there was nothing left for it to add. Deeply sensing its own lack of utility, it obediently slunk back into its self-study room to learn.

Mi Miaomiao looked up at the digital clock in the living room. It was August 31st, 3:27 AM, leaving exactly twenty hours and thirty-three minutes before the apocalypse descended.

Cheng Ningye intended to continue meditating to speed up the recovery of his strength, but Mi Miaomiao chased him back to the bedroom to sleep.

Three hours later, at six o’clock in the morning.

The population gathered at the Mount Shuizhang shelter point had basically completely evacuated overnight. Mi Miaomiao and Cheng Ningye prepared their vehicle and emergency water equipment, donned their raincoats and rainboots, and instructed Ju Dabang to guard the house well no one was to open the door, no matter who came.

With only a dozen or so hours of safety remaining, and given the massive pressure of having a warehouse to fill and a whole city to feed, it was impossible for Cheng Ningye to let go of the vast amounts of resources left abandoned inside Lehai City.

His own clothing, food, and medicine supplies were fairly well-stocked. However, they would be raising many animals in the future, leaving an unimaginably large deficit in pet supplies.

After the torrential rain ended, a year-long period of extreme, bitter cold would follow. Warm clothing and essential wilderness supplies needed for the migration journey also had to be gathered as quickly as possible. But these resources weren’t the most critical targets right now.

The car twisted and turned through several back alleys before finally coming to a halt on a narrow road. Any further forward lay the disaster zone.

Black silt and mud blanketed the ground, houses, and broken trees. Even across the heavy curtain of rain, it still exuded the distinct fishy stench of seabed muck.

Most houses had withstood the initial earthquakes and tsunamis, but the wooden holiday cabins built along the shore and various scenic tourist facilities had failed to survive the tsunami’s devastation. Remnants of debris bobbed up and down in the black tides that had yet to recede.

The white cat dragged a cushion-sized red plastic box out of the car’s trunk, pressing its paw pad gently against it. The box snapped open automatically, and five minutes later, a six-seater rubber inflatable raft appeared on the ground.

Cheng Ningye had already put on his fishing waders. Grabbing the raft’s rope, he easily hauled both the boat and the cat together into the water.

The small boat bobbed unsteadily as it navigated across the water’s surface. Feline instinct made Mi Miaomiao despise water, especially under the current conditions where rain fell from above and the sea swirled below. However, the three-year drought at the end of their past life gave it a unique sense of gratitude toward water now.

Suppressing its urge to puff up its fur, the cat immediately leapt out of the raft once they reached their destination. Stepping lightly across the fishing rafts piled together by the waves, it nimbly vaulted onto the third floor of a commercial building protruding from the water, shattering the glass to slip inside.

Turning around, it bit onto the rope Cheng Ningye tossed up, securing it tightly around a metal shelf welded to the room’s frame.

The entire building was a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. All the shops across its nine floors sold related gear.

Walking all the way up, many shops had long been emptied out, though a portion of the storefronts remained perfectly preserved behind tightly sealed metal security shutters.

The boat’s capacity was limited, so Cheng Ningye first noted down the locations of these stores before quickly heading up to the ninth floor. Some shops on the top floor sold “military-grade items” and were usually closed to the public.

Mi Miaomiao broke down doors with brute force all along the way. Finally, inside a shop tucked into a far corner, Cheng Ningye located the primary objective of this outing: military-grade night-vision goggles and crates of thermal imaging glasses.

The bodies of the monsters were no longer considered living tissue, so their body temperatures were incredibly low, but the temperatures at the locations of their hearts and brains were higher than those of humans. Thermal imaging glasses could search out the tracks of monsters with high efficiency.

There were ten sets of night-vision goggles in the shop all packed away!

There were five crates of thermal imaging glasses, containing one hundred pairs per crate. They took two crates. These things broke easily, and they wouldn’t be able to repair them after the massive electromagnetic storm hit anyway, so taking too many would be a waste it was better to leave some behind for people who came later.

Aside from these, the weapons and defensive gear here even if they were secondary items phased out by the military were far better than anything Cheng Ningye had used in his previous life.

What man didn’t love these things? Even Mi Miaomiao fancied them! No matter how sharp an animal’s claws were, there would be times when they got damaged, whereas human weapons could be replaced and modified for animal use.

The human and the cat picked through the selection. Daggers, folding knives, claw-guards, and ancient-style long swords displayed by the shopkeeper as decorative crafts they took as many cold weapons as possible.

As for various models of laser knives new-style weapons that were destined to break down they took very few. The most advanced item in the shop was a military Tier-2 Coulomb laser device: capable of both offense and defense, it utilized miniature Coulomb explosions to intercept bullets and could transform into an amorphous resonant cavity laser knife. Its coverage area was small, but in the hands of a powerhouse, its destructive force was immense. Most importantly, its core internal components could still be manufactured after the massive electromagnetic storm! It could be repaired!!

“Take it, we absolutely have to take this!”

They only took five civilian Tier-2 electrode shields since they were unrepairable.

Fluid shields: Utilized the thickening effect of non-Newtonian fluids to cushion impacts. They were bulky and heavy, but recyclable and repairable.

“Take them all!” Cheng Ningye’s grand declarations ground to a halt against the weight limits of the raft and the car. The raft could carry two fluid shields at most; loading a third would leave no room for a person and a cat to sit.

Just one shop had left both Cheng Ningye and Mi Miaomiao feeling practically intoxicated with excitement. Cheng Ningye’s cheeks flushed red, and the large white cat’s ears grew warm with blood flow.

Opening the door to the neighboring shop, though the storefront was empty, the back warehouse still held a small fraction of supplies. Looking at the light armor, military combat suits, and military Tier-2 protective suits bearing official insignias, Cheng Ningye felt like a mouse that had fallen into a grain granary!

Pack it up, pack it up, pack it up furious packing ensued!

The small boat definitely couldn’t hold it all, so all these items were lowered down to the third floor using ropes. Mi Miaomiao found a five-story building near the commercial center to serve as a temporary resource transit station.

After all, they had encountered a rodent monster before, and since outside survivors could arrive at this place at any moment, Mi Miaomiao moved with the utmost speed every time it transferred supplies.

It was a stroke of luck that it made it back in time. Just as it met up with Cheng Ningye, a chorus of orderly footsteps echoed throughout the commercial building, accompanied by the operational commands of military personnel.

“…There are a lot of people.” The excited expression froze on Cheng Ningye’s face. His body trembled instinctively, and his eyes grew somewhat unfocused.

Seeing this, the white cat abruptly bit onto its shovel-handler’s clothes, forcefully tossing the man onto its back. Its tail swept across the messy footprints on the floor, and its eyes inadvertently caught a glimpse of a crate wedged under the very bottom of a display counter.

‘Military Tier-2 Mechanical Prosthetic Limb’

The cat’s pupils dilated instantly. This was a rare and precious find whether before or after the apocalypse—take it!

Leaping out of the window, the wild wind mixed with torrential rain crashed against its body. Cheng Ningye closed his eyes tight, leaving his safety entirely in the paws of the large cat.

[System Notification: Congratulations! Your city “Banyan City” has successfully registered its first wave of cached resources! The leaderboard has updated your current ranking is 1,895th. Keep up the momentum, City Lord!]