369 Strategic Shif ?

Ishida and Onitsuka kept trying.

Unfortunately, their hard work did not pay off. Not a single one of the calls got through.

They ended up sending her a text message instead.

In that moment, it seemed like all three leads had gone cold.

"Lord Ishida, what is our next move?" Onitsuka asked.

While the assistant was clearly feeling defeated by the succession of failures, Ishida looked like he was just getting started. You could almost see the cogs turning in his mind.

"We'll have to change our strategy," he concluded simply.

There was a venomous expression on his handsome face.

Ishida spoke to the shadow that was settled next to his feet. "Have you finished eating, Kagemaru?"

The shadow was no longer as compact as it had been. It was now at least five meters long. Tendrils branched out from the black mass, sweeping the plates of food on the table into its depths, from which emitted sounds of chewing and swallowing.

The shadow let out a satisfied meow in response to Ishida's question.

"Good. Then let's go."

The solid outlines of Ishida's body began to soften and blur before Onitsuka's eyes. He watched in awe as Ishida began to merge with the shadow, eventually becoming one with it.

"This is Lord Kagemaru's power? It is phenomenal!" he exclaimed.

"The Chinese believe that they can keep close tabs on me, but that really is just wistful thinking. You wait here. I'll be back," Ishida said.

With that, the shadow darted out of the hotel room through the gap between the door and the floor.

As Ishida bolted through the hotel's hallways, he could not help regretting that he did not sneak into the country in shadow form.

"It would have kept those irritating officers off my back," he thought.

That might have been a mistake, but it was not too late to rectify it now. As a shadow, he could leave the hotel under their noses and complete his mission. As long as returned quickly and made deliberate appearances to show that he had been in his room all day, no one would suspect what he had been up to.

*

That night, Zhao Xue was training at the usual spot near her brother's apartment.

It had been almost a month since she first started borrowing the Sphynx's power to train. It was obvious that the time and effort had paid off. Each of her movements was lightning quick and pointedly accurate. Every kick and punch she threw was accompanied by an audible swoosh.

The vast progress she had made was not lost on Zhao Yao.

"She's stronger than an Olympic champion now. She might even be stronger than an Avenger," he observed, watching her closely.

Zhao Xue was moving so swiftly that a normal person would be unable to catch what she was doing. It would just look like a great, big blur. Of course, Zhao Yao was no normal human. He had the combined power of five cats, so he was even quicker than she was. His eyes could discern each of her actions and he busied himself analyzing her attacking and defensive moves.

"She is on her way to being as powerful as the Butcher, but her body is transforming differently," he thought, scanning her from head to toe, "That Muscle Society was full of meatheads whose arms were too muscular to fit into sleeves. Zhao Xue looks more like a combination of a sprinter and a high-diver. She's more lean than muscular, but she sure packs a punch."

Zhao Yao's eyes glazed over as he considered why she was developing differently.

"Is it a gender thing?"

Baiquan's newly acquired body appeared in his head.

"Nope, that can't be it. Baiquan's not become a bodybuilder either. Perhaps it's because I leveled up the Sphynx. Maybe his ability is not just more powerful now, but more refined."

Zhao Yao was happy with this conclusion, even if he was wrong. The most important thing was that Zhao Xue and Baiquan were happy with their new appearance. Neither of them was particularly keen on packing massive muscles. If that had been the aftermath of their training, they would not want to continue and Zhao Yao would not want to coerce them into it.

While Zhao Yao continued his observation, Roly Poly was worming deeper into his chest. The fat cat was here because he needed to lend his power to Zhao Xue. Now that that was done, he had nothing else to do. He was cold and bored.

"It is animal abuse to be forced to come out here on such a cold winter's day! Does he want me to freeze to death?" he thought begrudgingly, curling into a ball.

Of course, these complaints were kept strictly to himself. He dared not mention them to his owner.

When the training session came to an end, Zhao Xue made her way to her brother, whom she saw as King George.

Her face was flushed from the constant exertion. She was panting so hard that the sound rang through the night. The temperature in the air was so low that there was visible steam pouring from her body.

She sat down and faced King George. "Did I do okay?"

"That was not bad at all. You've been working hard recently."

"I have to. There seem to be more and more apostles now. Some of them have even rallied together to form alliances at my university. The worst part is that supercat-related crime is on the rise. I must grow stronger."

Zhao Yao nodded with understanding. Censorship of supercat rumors online seemed to have become more relaxed. The authorities have not officially acknowledged the situation, but they have also stopped eradicating the stories and conspiracies that were plastered all over the Internet.

When Zhao Xue was done grumbling about the current state of affairs, she turned to King George and looked at him seriously. She only started speaking when he turned to her.

"The Headless Horseman is her, isn't it?" she asked.

Zhao Yao's left eyebrow twitched involuntarily.

"How did you come across the Headless Horseman?" he asked in return.

"It was all over the Cat Web this morning," Zhao Xue replied.

She rummaged in her bag and produced a handphone. She offered it to Zhao Yao carefully, as if it was not just a phone, but a piece of cherished treasure.

"Do you know about the Cat Web? You can access it with this phone. It's a space for apostles and supercats to interact and bond. I was browsing through it when I read about the Headless Horseman, whom is supposed to be the strongest apostle in all of Jiangmen City. And guess what? The name of her supercat is King George!"

She was beaming at Zhao Yao, genuine excitement radiating from every pore. He could almost see stars shimmering in her eyes. She looked stupidly starstruck.

Zhao Yao pursed his lips. "Yes, that King George is me."

Zhao Xue was delighted by his admission, but she wanted more information.

"So, does that mean that the Headless Horseman is her? It's Guang Yu, isn't it?"

"No."

"What? How can that be? Isn't she your apostle? Isn't the Headless Horseman also your apostle? You just admitted it. I also read on the Cat Web that when the Horseman used her greatest power, she was bathed in bright, golden light, just like Guang Yu!"

Zhao Xue gently squished and pinched King George's face, hoping to get a 'yes' out of him.

"It must be her, right?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

Zhao Yao let out a heavy sigh. "What's it to you? I told you. You don't stand a chance."

"That's not the point," Zhao Xue muttered, blushing, "I just wanted to know the truth. It's so amazing that the amazing Headless Horseman is actually a woman. It's also really cool that I know her personally and I'm the only one who knows her true identity."

Zhao Yao moved away from her in annoyance. "Well, I would advise you to keep your nose out of the business of strangers. You should spend time on your family instead. You've got a brother, don't you? It wouldn't hurt to show him a bit of concern."

It was Zhao Xue's turn to purse her lips. "There's no need for that. Mom told me that he's struck it rich. He drives a fancy sports car and cohabits with some Japanese chick. He's even blocked Mom's friends from viewing his WeChat profile. Seriously, who does he think he is?"

Zhao Yao could not help but shoot his sister a glare. "There are two sides to every story. Middle-aged women love to gossip and exaggerate. He is your brother after all. You should be kind to him and you should keep in touch with him."

She nodded begrudgingly.

Zhao Yao let out a sigh. "So, you mentioned that there are supercat alliances in your school now. Have you joined one of them?"

"Yeah, I did. I was curious, so I joined one. I wasn't very impressed though."