486 Evolution ?

Zhao Yao smiled at the dragon.

"It's alright if you don't want to admit defeat."

The red glow in his eyes thickened into a scarlet fog. He had used Elizabeth's mind-control again. This time, he forced Cat Sage to revoke his superpower. In an instant, the three-headed dragon was reduced to a small cat that stood barely taller than the grass. The cat looked down at its body in surprise.

The corners of Zhao Yao's lips lifted into a satisfied grin. Of all that superpowers at his disposal, Matcha's and Elizabeth's were the most effective for one-on-one combat. As long as he was close enough to maintain eye-contact with the opponent, Elizabeth's mind-control would always get him the upper hand.

It was no different this time. He had spent time observing Cat Sage and his ring of supercats. Mind-control would do the trick.

Zhao Yao could not help a chuckle when he spotted his opponent in his original form. He scooped the cat into his arms and stroked the top of his head comfortingly.

"Everything's alright now. In time, you'll understand that everything I'm doing is for your own good," he said soothingly.

It turned out that Cat Sage was an American Shorthair with a chocolate coat of fur. He squirmed and writhed against Zhao Yao, trying desperately to avoid the touch of his filthy claws. His large eyes were narrowed in chagrin. However, he did not intend to transform into a dragon as retaliation.

Zhao Yao would like to force his new dragon steed into submission right now, but there were other pressing matters to tend to. There were plenty of loose ends to tie up on this island.

For a start, he had to deal with William. The American was useless to him now. There were no new missions that depended on him. The key supercats that ruled the island were also in his possession.

Zhao Yao cast a sideways glance at the man, whom jumped and started breaking out in cold sweat again.

William wasted no time to introduce himself, "I'm an investigator from Star Cats. My supervisors know that I've here. The supercat you're holding actually escaped from our lab…"

There was an annoyed twitch in Zhao Yao's right eyebrow.

"Of course, if you like him, you can keep him," William added quickly, "Under your supervision, I'm certain he won't cause any trouble for mankind. Well, if that's all, I'm going to leave now."

With that, he began to take a few slow steps backward, right in the direction of the meteorite fragment. He was frank about the cat, but kept quiet about the fragment because he hoped to leave with it unnoticed.

Zhao Yao smiled coldly.

"You're not too honest," he commented lightly.

With Cat Sage still in his arms, he ambled forward and picked up the fragment. It was the size of a clenched fist.

"This is the meteorite fragment, correct?"

William had no choice but to plaster a fake smile. "Yes, that is the fragment. We've conducted multiple tests on it. To date, we have not found it to hold any special properties."

Zhao Yao did not respond to his words. He looked oddly preoccupied and thoughtful the moment he made contact with the fragment.

Main Mission: Assemble the meteorite

Mission: Collect all the meteorite fragments that had awakened the supercats

Reward: Receive 1 supercat skill point with every 10% of the fragments collected. Activate the supercat evolution module once 100% of the fragments are collected.

Punishment: None

After he had read the last word of the mission description, the meteorite fragment in his palm began to melt into liquid globules. The globules were absorbed into his body one after another. Zhao Yao spun around instinctively, using his back to prevent anyone from seeing what was happening. His eyes were widened in disbelief.

He could never have imagined that he would be able to absorb the fragment to evolve his Book.

His mind was whirling with questions and guesses. One of them in particular stood out, "Perhaps the main missions are used to upgrade the Book while the sidequests are used to fulfill my personal goals?"

This had only been the second main mission he had encountered. The first was to level up the Book. Every other mission he had been assigned so far could be considered sidequests.

This new mission also made it clear that the powers of his Book were closely linked to the mysterious meteorite.

"I always thought that the evolution module would be available after I level up the Book. Turns out I have to collect the fragments first," he mused.

Zhao Yao scratched the bottom of his chin as he reflected on the progress of the Book from the very beginning. When he was first given the Book, it took him no time to notice the multitude of options and abilities that were locked. As it leveled up, some of them, for example the diamond hall and delegation panel, were made available.

The prospect of activating the supercat evolution module thrilled him.

"Gosh, will it be like Pikachu evolving into Raichu? I wonder what Matcha's evolved version would look like," he contemplated, "It won't be easy to get all those pieces though. Any supercat or human that has one will not give it up without a fight."

While he was consumed in his thoughts, Zhao Yao's facial expressions transformed fluidly from one to another. William watched and waited, not knowing what was going on in the man's head.

He spoke eventually, "Excuse me, sir? If there's nothing else you need from me, I'm gonna get going."

"Hmm?"

His voice brought Zhao Yao's attention back to him.

"How many meteorite fragments do the Americans have?" Zhao Yao asked point-blank.

William was frozen in surprise for a moment, but recovered quickly.

"I have no idea. I'm an entry-grade investigator. They don't tell me these things," he replied smoothly.

Zhao Yao did not buy it.

He called for Old Cat and spat him out into the forest in an instant. He pursed his lips, then decided to bring out Matcha, Roly Poly, Elizabeth, Ares, Sphynx Cat, and a dozen more trustworthy supercats from the extradimensional belly. These were his trusted feline allies after all. With their help, he would be able to deal with all the loose ends on this island.

William gawked at the sight of the cats rolling out of Zhao Yao's open jaw in an orderly fashion.

The first order Zhao Yao issued was for Old Cat to squeeze every, last drop of intel from William. Due to the formidable nature of the cat's ability, he was not keen on releasing him into the real world. However, his curiosity about what the Americans might be hiding overpowered his caution. This was why he arranged for the two to have a private chat on the island.

Once that was done, he turned his attention to the rest of his supercats.

"Matcha, Roly Poly, Sphynx Cat, and Ares," he addressed, "Search the island and bring me every supercat you find."

The four cats sprung into action right away. They were equally eager to begin their mission, but there was an obvious disparity in terms of their speed and agility. While Sphynx Cat and Ares darted forward as quickly as a pair of lightning bolts, Matcha and Roly Poly could only run as quickly as normal house cats (which was not quick at all).

Zhao Yao raised a hand. "It's alright. Let those two run the circumference of the island. You guys can focus on nabbing the cats nearby."

Matcha immediately leaped towards Cheese and started stomping on his face with his paws.

"You rascal! How dare you steal my cat? Do you know how influential I am now?" he taunted.

To himself, Matcha thought, "This dude sure is handsome and powerful. I've got to imprint on him the idea that he can never, ever defeat me and must always live in my shadow. This way, he would never entertain the thought of opposing me in the future."