The two cats walked across the greenbelt, climbed over fences, looked through dumpsters and trash bins and went in and out of subway stations. They saw quite a few supercats as well and could be said to have combed through every spot where both stray cats and supercats played, ate, and rested in the vicinity.
They searched until it was past midnight close to 1am but still did not manage to find any leads. Matcha brought Milk Tea to a remote crossroad and stopped as he sighed to himself, "Where did this guy's mother go? There's actually no news about her at all?"
Just as he stopped to think for a while, he heard a snoring sound from behind him. He turned around and realized that Milk Tea had fallen asleep on the spot.
"He's a small cat afterall. He must be tired after walking for the whole day."
He glanced at Milk Tea who had collapsed on the floor with his belly facing up as he snored loudly in his sleep. Matcha thought, "This won't do, if I bring this kid along with me, won't it look like he's my child? I won't ever get a girlfriend in this state. Should I just take this chance to abandon him?"
However, after a few steps, Matcha stopped and hesitated again. "This guy is so young. He doesn't even know what his superpower is. He might just die after a few days out on the streets."
"But this has nothing to do with me. There are so many cats and dogs out there that can't survive on the streets. Even some humans can't. Doesn't mean I have to save all of them, right?"
Matcha took a few steps forward but stopped abruptly again. "But he calls me Brother Matcha, so he's still considered my little brother. If I leave him here just like that wouldn't that be very disloyal of me?"
"But a big brother can't possibly turn into a monk for the rest of his life just for his little brother and I taught him some survival skills anyway. If he can't even survive with that, he can only blame himself."
After much hesitation, Matcha finally decided to leave for good.
However, Milk Tea's voice came from behind, "Brother Matcha, are you leaving?"
Matcha turned. The small cat stared at him like he was about to cry as he asked, "Brother Matcha, are you also going to leave? Just like Mama?"
Matcha gulped before he let out a nervous laugh, "No, why would I? I'm going to buy something for you to eat. Wait for me here."
Milk Tea smiled immediately and nodded, "Milk Tea will wait patiently for Brother Matcha."
Matcha opened his mouth, about to say that he was not leaving anymore but he turned his head back suddenly and sprinted off. "No, I can't hesitate in times like these. This is clearly not a responsibility I have to shoulder. I can do something else to earn a Death Exemption Ticket. But if I keep shouldering this burden how am I supposed to roam the streets? When I'm back I'll just say he found his mother and left with her. I can't possibly have a son."
Half an hour later at the crossroad…
Matcha peeked out carefully from the back of a fence. He looked at Milk Tea, the small orange cat had remained standing at his spot at the crossroad. His eyes closed slightly as he drooled from the side of his mouth, ready to fall asleep.
However, he remained in a standing position. Whenever his head drooped sleepily, he would immediately raise it again as if he did not dare to fall asleep.
At the sight of this Matcha thought to himself, "This idiot, he's still waiting even after half an hour. Can't he tell that people are trying to ditch him? What a fool."
Matcha stared at him as he continued cursing at him in his heart but he silently took out his phone and starting playing with it. He would glance up occasionally to check on the small cat as he thought, "Forget it, I will leave after seeing you leave or else I'll have to shoulder the blame if something happens."
Two hours later…
"Fool, dumbass, idiot," Matcha stared at the small orange cat that had curled into a ball to withstand the cold as he was fuming in his heart, "Where did such a stupid cat come from? He's definitely not my son. Standing there in the wee hours of the night is really too dumb of him."
Matcha was so angry he wanted to run up and scold him badly but he stopped in his tracks. "No, if I go up now, it would just waste the past two hours of waiting. As long as I wait it out, even the dumbest cat would understand the situation after some time. He will eventually get it and leave."
As he thought of this, Matcha composed himself and continued playing Mobile Legends. However he still felt somewhat unsettled and would glance up occasionally at the crossroad.
After an hour, Matcha frowned as his phone went flat. He looked up at the crossroad again and saw a curled up furball trembling on the spot. Although summer was coming, the temperature at night was still a little low. On top of that, the small cat did not have enough fur on its body and still stood at a windy spot on the streets, so it was natural that he would be scared of the cold.
"You will really be the death of me," Matcha sighed, "Forget it, I'm not waiting anymore, I'll just go back."
However, just as he was about to leave, he heard some discordant meowing coming from the crossroad.
"Eh?" Matcha turned back at the sound and saw a big black, well-built cat snarling threateningly at Milk Tea.
Milk Tea was so scared that his fur stood up but he still meowed back in defense. Even then, he was so frightened that he could not help retreating backwards.
Matcha paused for a moment, "A stray cat? Forget it, it's none of my business."
The big black cat meowed even louder and turned fiercer as he stared at Milk Tea with a murderous glint in his eyes. He began to crouch on his four limbs as he advanced forward, motivated by his beastly instincts. It looked as if he was about to pounce forward any moment.
Milk Tea continued meowing as he flared his fur threateningly. He continued retreating backwards until he bumped against a wall.
Right at that moment, the big black cat turned into a black shadow as it charged forward. Milk Tea meowed out in an instant as he shut his eyes and scratched madly at the air in front of him with his paws. Wisps of black light seemed to emanate from his shut eyes.
However, the pain he had imagined never came. His eyes fluttered open and saw the big black cat crying in pain as it ran away.
Matcha's back appeared in front of Milk Tea. Staring at the fleeing big black cat, Matcha turned and asked, "You're not hurt right? … Foolish kid."
"Brother Matcha!" Milk Tea stared at Matcha in front of him and started crying out loud suddenly, banging his head on Matcha as he said, "I thought you had ditched me as well!"
"So annoying," Matcha thought, "Next time I will definitely ditch him." Looking at Milk Tea who continued bumping him with his head, Matcha thought to himself again, "Humph, I will use you to earn some money first and earn a Death Exemption Ticket. I will ditch you once I get my hands on the Death Exemption Ticket."
Both big and small cat walked home together as Milk Tea ran around Matcha happily.
"Brother Matcha, you're so powerful. How did you chase that big black cat away?"
"I have my superpower. I'm the strongest supercat afterall."
Milk Tea looked at Matcha in astonishment, "Ah!!!!! Brother Matcha, you're actually the strongest supercat?"
Matcha coughed a little and nodded, slightly embarrassed as he replied, "Yeah… the strongest."
At the spot where Matcha originally stood, a dimension portal slowly closed.
Zhao Yao yawned and turned off his computer and slowly stood up from the computer desk. "Matcha's intelligence is really dropping. He actually watched a cat for a whole night. How boring is that?"
Dust Ball slowly moved the dimension portal back to its original position and thought to herself, "You watched him for so long, isn't that equally boring? Humph, Zhao Yao's intelligence is really dropping. Looks like the house will have to depend on me, Dust Ball, in future."
As she thought about that, Dust Ball kicked out a paw and slashed the air viciously.
"Hmm, looks like my skills are improving."