405 ∞ ?

Complete chaos dawned on cat nation the moment Dust Ball's scream reverberated through it.

"Ah!!!" Random electric sparks bounced along Lightning's furry skin, morphing him into an instant furball. He muttered repeatedly, "He cannot see me, he cannot see me!"

Meow! Every single shred of muscle within Rice Cake began to vibrate. No one had ever seen Rice Cake vibrate this long and with such intensity. It was as if she had lost control over her movements. Her body simply slid from one end to another because of the ceaseless vibration.

Elizabeth pounced on Matcha with one paw pressing against his fat cheek, "I came here to catch this stupid Matcha!"

Immediately, Matcha's stubby paws went straight for the gallery button but he just couldn't seem to reach it with his shaking paws, "I …I … I …I" All he managed to say were the four 'I's.

Meow! Another ear-splitting shriek erupted from another corner of the belly. Roly Poly had pounced into the air before executing a hair-commercial head flick before collapsing to the ground. With his paws pressing against his chest, he laid motionlessly against the ground. It seemed as if he had fainted.

Suddenly, his rear paws gave a quick twitch before some white gas escaped from his mouth.

Roly Poly muttered to himself, "I'm so stupid, really. Why am I so stupid?"

Baiquan let out an awkward laugh before wiping the cold sweat beading his forehead, "Isn't it just our boss? What's there to be afraid of?"

"Oh, really?" Zhao Yao's thunderous voice exploded in the belly. Baiquan felt the strength in his leg evaporate as it collapsed to the ground.

He turned his head around and was greeted by a pair of bloodshot eyes. A body of black gas enveloped Zhao Yao as he sauntered towards them. He looked like a demon from hell.

Of course, Zhao Yao still remembered to put on a mask to conceal his identity in front of their Japanese friends.

Baiquan struggled towards Zhao Yao and clarified, "Boss, I just came in here to check on the situation. I was just about to leave and report to you."

"No more end of year bonus for you."

With that, Zhao Yao snapped his fingers which sent his deflective field sweeping in all directions. Sphynx Cat's original cage began to vibrate before they levitated into the sky. With a loud clank, the cage had turned into five horrific crucifixes. The five crucifixes stood on the ground, side by side, producing an ominous aura.

"Do you think that what I said was a joke? What if that stupid ghost possessed your body and used it to escape this place?"

"Also, who is that r*tard who used Mango's toilet?"

The deflective field then reached out for the five cats before levitating them into the air and transported them to their individual crucifix. The metal ends of the crucifix began to contort as they fastened the cats' bodies to it.

However, the interrogation had barely begun. With the five crucified cats in place, Zhao Yao channeled his timefreeze abilities.

Lightning had already peed all over himself, with his fur drenched in pee. He screamed for dear life, "It wasn't me! I was forced to do this!"

Rice Cake just continued to vibrate in his new position, albeit less violently. A trickle of saliva was dangling from the corner of her lips. Evidently, she was scared silly by Zhao Yao's rampage.

A pool of white long fur rested at the foot of Elizabeth's crucifix. She tried to compose herself as she retorted, "Zhao Yao, I only came in here to capture Matcha!"

Matcha was stammering non-stop, "I, I, I, I, I … did, did, did, did, … Ro, Ro, Ro, Ro."

Roly Poly's eyes were devoid of any spirit or strength. He continued to whisper to himself, "Why am I so stupid?"

Zhao Yao retrieved a water gun from his pocket before taking turns shooting the five victims in their face, "One at a time! Stop screaming!"

Zhao Yao's brows snapped together when he noticed how Rice Cake had already vibrated beyond control. With another jet of water spurted over Rice Cake's face, Zhao Yao bellowed, "Stop vibrating, you are making me dizzy!"

"I … I … I can't stop."

Zhao Yao slid her a condescending glare before fixing his eyes on Elizabeth. With another jet of water sprayed on Elizabeth, he demanded, "Control her and make her stop!"

All this while, Airplane was hiding in a corner as he watched this disaster unfold. He couldn't believe his eyes as he muttered, "This is brutal."

He was not the only cat amongst the audience. Caesar had already wrapped his paws around his daughter's eyes as he warned, "Don't look at it, this is simply too horrific."

Zhao Yao's gaze swept past all five prosecuted cats before he announced, "Let's start with the first problem. Who used Mango's toilet?"

Naturally, all five cats shook their head in response.

Zhao Yao's lips curled into an evil grin. He pranced towards them before glancing at each of the five butts. After all, he had spent his last 10 years wiping after their butts. Naturally, he knew who used the toilet by just looking at their butt.

Immediately, he identified the culprit.

"Lightning!" Zhao Yao slid Lightning a frosty look before confronting him, "You were the only one who used the toilet recently!"

"Ah!" He fought back the tears that welled up in his eyes as he justified his actions, "I didn't do it on purpose! It was too dark! I had no idea I went to the wrong one! By the time I realized it was already too late!"

"We'll settle this when we get back." With another gush of water sprayed on his face, Zhao Yao continued, "Why then did you come to the belly?"

Lightning clarified, "I realized that all the cats were gone when I went to the toilet. Finally, I noticed Rice Cake disappearing into this place. That's why I decided to tag along and find out more."

Zhao Yao's cold gaze then drifted towards Rice Cake. She immediately screamed, "I came because I saw Elizabeth enter!"

Elizabeth responded with the same excuse, "I entered because I saw Matcha enter!"

Zhao Yao's eyes then drifted towards Matcha, which continued to stammer, "I … I… I.. I came because I saw Roly Poly enter!"

Finally, Zhao Yao's eyes rested on that fat cat. He started off with another jet of water sprayed on his face, "Why did you come in here?"

Roly Poly's eyes simply stared blankly in front of him. He continued to mutter, "I'm stupid. I'm really stupid."

A line etched between Zhao Yao's brows as he muttered, "This stupid cat …trying to act dumb?" He noticed Roly Poly's phone resting on the ground and decided to take a look. A glimmer of fury flashed across his eyes as he scanned the contents.

He then turned his head towards Ishida, "You could have been more truthful to me. You could have just told me that you wanted to leave. I would have escorted you out myself if you gave me that money."

Fear crossed his face as Ishida nodded his head obediently, "I understand." However, there seemed to be a silver lining. From the looks of it, Zhao Yao wasn't bent on taking his life. RMB 1,000,000 might seem like an astronomical sum, but it was still better than death.

Zhao Yao sauntered towards Roly Poly with the phone dangling by his fingertips, "Roly Poly, I believe I've treated you rather well."

The fierce aura exhaled from Zhao Yao jolted Roly Poly from his semi-unconsciousness. However, it was all too late. Zhao Yao was already standing opposite him with the contents of his betrayal flashed across the screen. Fear was like a snake which slithered up his throat, constricting it, preventing him from saying anything. He almost fainted again.

However, he managed to compose himself and explained, "Zhao Yao, you must listen to me. I can explain …"

Zhao Yao had no time for this nonsense. He simply shot another mouthful of water into Roly Poly's mouth the moment he opened it. This continued for another 10 to 15 seconds.

Finally, Zhao Yao lowered his gun and asked, "What brought you here?'

In the midst of constructing his story, Zhao Yao's voice rang in his head, "You only have one chance. If you lie to me today, that'll be the last thing you ever do in your life."

Shiver ran down Roly Poly's spine as an alarm rang in his head. With so much at stake, he dared not to lie. He then recounted his entire experience with the lending platform.

Zhao Yao nodded along to the story and replied, "So that's all? All you did was simply use Zhao Xue and my identity to borrow some money from unlicensed moneylenders? To hide the truth from us, you took his money and even told that ghost to hide from me? This is nothing much, nothing much at all."

Tears of joy streamed down Roly Poly's chubby cheeks as he asked, "Really? Zhao Yao, does that mean you've forgiven me?"

Moments later, Roly Poly saw a blurry Zhao Yao appearing right in front of him before a giant slap came crashing towards his face.

Bam! Roly Poly's head exploded as his innards flew in all directions with his blood scattered across the ground. All that was left was the blood-stained crucifix.

Matcha fainted the moment he witnessed this scene.

Rice Cake's vibration resumed at an even greater intensity.

Not only did Lightning pee on himself, he even shat on himself.

However, Zhao Yao lifted the illusion moments later and revealed a completely intact Roly Poly attached to his crucifix.

However, he looked different. His jaws went slack. He didn't even move a single inch. The floor was accumulated with all his fur.

"Hmph, I've forgiven you."

Roly Poly finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief when those reassuring words echoed in his head. He could finally calm down.

However, Zhao Yao continued by saying, "However, you still have to pay for your mistake. It's just that I abhor physical punishment."

Roly Poly responded by nodding his head furiously, "Yes, yes. Physical punishment is truly too violent. We are civilized human and cats. We do not have to resort to physical punishment."

"Let's settle this with money then." Zhao Yao whipped out his phone and recounted, "How much did you borrow from them? You also thought of taking RMB 1,000,000 from Ishida right? Let me count …"

Worry snaked through him as he shivered with fear, "There were at least some rules when it came to the loan from the Japanese. God knows how much I am going to owe Zhao Yao."

However, Roly Poly had been through so much over the past week. What could Zhao Yao possibly do to him other than force him to pay back? Hence, he convinced himself that there was nothing much to worry.

Finally, Zhao Yao flashed his phone screen in his face, "This number."

A giant horizontal '8' stared straight at him. Roly Poly could literally feel the immense weight lifted off his back, "RMB eight? That's great. But Zhao Yao, I think there's something wrong with your eight. Shouldn't it be vertical?"

Zhao Yao responded with a shook of his head, "Oh, it isn't eight. It's infinity."