364 Cat Nation Evolution ?

Zhao Yao could not help the silly grin that was plastered on his face. Dust Ball's new skills were perfect.

The moment he unlocked them on her skill tree, a loud roar erupted from the depths of the extradimensional belly. The supercats watched in awe as the space they were in expanded rapidly before their eyes, stopping only when it hit 800 square meters.

They looked around curiously.

Dust Ball's paws fell to her sides. She had been in the midst of cleaning the cafe when she noticed the sudden expansion.

"Now I have more space to grow catmint!" she cheered quietly.

While the cats tried to figure out what was going on, Zhao Yao had moved on to testing out the next skill.

"Let's try building a doorway in the cafe," he thought.

*

At Jiangmen City Train Station.

Black Panther walked out of the station, hoisting an enormous polypropylene bag over his shoulder. He took in these foreign surroundings curiously, his gaze panning slowly across the street.

A calico cat's head popped up from the small opening of his bag.

"Oh man, so this is Jiangmen? Isn't she a beauty?"

The cat meowed in agreement.

The two of them had been released by the police a few days ago.

The officer told him it was because he had never harmed others during his time at the Chuan Xiao scam syndicate. More importantly, he had somewhat aided the police by taking down some of his own men that day.

He had been let off with nothing more than a warning.

The first reason was true, but the second was not.

In reality, Inspector Ho believed that Black Panther was somehow related to the Headless Horseman. Setting him free was an extension of friendship to the Horseman. It was also a test.

The Panther had ended up in Jiangmen City because the police told him that the Horseman was here. He had hoped to find him and strike it rich together.

"Darn, the city is huge. Where could Mr. Headless be?"

The flurry of sights and sounds had been exciting, but as soon as this reality hit, he descended into a pit of worry.

As he pondered over his next step, a middle-aged man stopped by him. The stranger wore a kind expression on his face.

"Hello there! Have you just arrived in our city?" he asked cordially.

"Yeah," Black Panther replied honestly.

The man did a quick once-over of him.

"You must be here for work, yes? I work for a recruitment agency. I can help you find work."

"Work?"

Black Panther considered this seriously. He had literally spent all his money on the train ticket to get here. He would need a job if he did not want to go hungry.

He nodded at the stranger. "But I have no skills or experience."

The middle-aged man swung an arm around his shoulder. He patted him assuringly.

"That's not a problem. We're looking for management trainees. You don't need prior experience or knowledge. We'll teach you everything you need. If you do well, you'll rise up the ranks. Being a CEO would be a possibility."

Black Panther's eyes widened, his heart brimming with appreciation.

"Is everyone in Jiangmen so nice?" he thought.

He put his own arm around the man's shoulder. "I never would have thought that I would meet a good person like you. It sucks that you caught me at my lowest, but don't worry, it's temporary. Once I find the Holy Water, I'm going to strike it rich. I'll take you to the top with me. We'll take the medical industry by storm and transform the way we treat and heal people. We'll be the catalyst for a new generation!"

The impassioned speech momentarily stunned the man into silence. He could only nod, wondering if this newcomer was a bit soft in the head.

"We're brothers from now on, alright? I'll be here for you through thick and thin," Black Panther said, looking right into his eyes.

The middle-aged man hesitated.

"Do you not want to be brothers? Do you look down on me because I'm from the country?"

The man shook his head furiously. "No! No, not at all. I'm just pleased is all!"

That was enough for Black Panther. He patted the man's shoulder bracingly.

"My brother!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. My brother," the middle-aged man repeated, albeit a lot less enthusiastically.

*

Back at the cat cafe, Zhao Yao was studying the doorway that he had conjured. Only he could see it.

He stuck his head into the portal, then backed up.

After a bit of experimentation, he seemed to have figured out how the Dimension Doorways worked.

For starters, he could configure the doorways to be visible only to himself and Dust Ball. He also learnt that whenever he entered a portal into the belly, he would come out at its center. There was no way to change that.

Of most importance was the fact that both him and Dust Ball could restrict who could enter or leave the doorways.

"This is good stuff," Zhao Yao concluded happily, smiling at the portal.

"I just need one at home, one at the cafe, and keep the last one with me. Wherever I put it, I'll be able to get back. I can even use it in combat."

If he met difficult opponents in the future, he could plant a portal before them. The doorways are invisible, so the opponent would fall right into the belly.

There, Zhao Yao could pin him with a pressure that was 10 times of gravity. Alternatively, he could rally dozens of supercats to attack.

"Perhaps the Sphynx alone would be enough."

Zhao Yao had been furious with Dust Ball for eating the catmint without permission, but that turned out to be a pretty great thing after all.

The portals were just half of it. The space expansion was another.

The extra square meters had helped him to finally complete the third task of the Cat Nation mission. It required him to raise the area of the belly such that there were at least 50 square meters per cat.

Now that this was achieved, he was awarded 400 x 2 experience points. Coupled with the 400 x 2 points he got from Old Cat's detailed intel, which spanned over two dozen reports, the Book now stood at Level 6 (3,962 / 20,000).

The fourth Cat Nation task had also been revealed.

Mission: How can the adorable kitties be without electricity and internet?

Objective: Find a way to provide stable electricity and internet access for the supercats

Reward: 800 experience points

Punishment: None

Zhao Yao's eyes lit up instantly.

"The first task was worth 100 points. The second was 200, third was 400, and now the fourth is 800?"

It seemed like the points were doubling with each task. He could not wait to finish this one to find out if that was really the case.

That night, he opened a Dimension Doorway in the middle of the living room once he got home. He entered it with a bundle of power strips cradled in his arms.

Some of the supercats watched him as he moved around. They were curious about what he was up to this time.

After all, a lot had changed recently. First, Red Packet and Old Cat joined the group. Then, today, their living space had expanded in size right before them. A portal had also appeared out of nowhere. They could not see where it led to. The door simply opened to blinding white light.

In general, cats hate change. Introducing a new cat to the family or even moving the litter box was considered earth-shattering news.

While supercats were smarter and faster to adapt to change, the barrage of new stuff they had experienced so far was a bit much.

They were starting to get a bit neurotic.