The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 523

Chapter 523: The Weird Cat and the Weird Fish

 

It was nightfall but Rollie was still not home.

Hao Ren led everyone to scout around the house, a few of Rollie’s favorite hiding spots, and two trees. However, there was no trace of the silly, black and white cat. Initially, everyone thought that the cat may have just strolled a little too far on a whim. But, as time went by, it got really late and the cat was still not home. Vivian became a bit worried.

“What could have happened to Rollie?” Vivian leaned forward and looked out the window. “I heard that there’s been a lot of dog-stealing incidents lately…”

Nangong Wuyue was amused. “But Rollie’s a cat,” she said.

“You know what I mean.” Vivian waved her hand. “Its daily routine has been pretty normal all this while. Why hasn’t it come home today?”

Among all of them, Hao Ren appeared the calmest. Although he had led everyone on a search, he was not worried at all. “Rest assured, that cat is good for nothing except the fact that it has nine lives. Don’t forget that it’s a stray. It’s been wandering the streets for more than two years. So, I always think that it’s not a big deal at all if it suddenly runs out and doesn’t come back. It may have gone to revisit some memories from its youth.”

“A cat recalling its youthful days?” Nangong Wuyue looked at Hao Ren in a weird manner. “Why don’t you just say that it’s gone to find itself?”

At this moment, a commotion was heard outside the doorway, followed by a few loud but low dog cries. Lily scurried to open the door. Hao Ren could see through the gaps around Lily’s body that a group was squatting outside. It had to be the maiden’s paparazzi team.

When Lily went out to find the cat in the afternoon, she had sent out instructions to her trusted ministers—Green Bean, Beanbag, Wangcai, Prince Reinhardt and the like to mobilize the entire dog squad in the city. No dog dared to go against the command of the Southern Suburbs Dog King. Dogs without a master came straight to rendezvous, while those with a master faked their illness and joined the others to gather in front of Hao Ren’s house at 8.30 in the evening. Seeing the hoo-ha outside, Hao Ren was a little perplexed. He did not feel the urgency of the matter, but Lily had already taken it to heart.

Lily, the Dog King of Southern Suburbs, was seen talking to a group of hench-dogs. Making some gestures from time to time, she was probably describing Rollie’s size and breed to all the hench-dog who were lining up in front of her according to seniority. They were taking turns in reporting their findings to her. It seemed that the group had already developed into a disciplined, large-scale organization. Vivian sighed as she hugged herself. “It’d be good to know some foreign languages… I don’t have a clue what they’re woofing about.”

Hao Ren stepped forward and patted Lily on the shoulder. “Is that necessary? Rollie’s just been gone for half a day.”

“It’s absolutely necessary.” Lily pointed at Beanbag in front. “See for yourself.”

Hao Ren looked down and saw the so-called former Dog King of Southern Suburbs. It had ruled all the strays in the town before Lily came around. Now,it was in an embarrassing state. It had lost a third of its body hair and it had two bloody marks on its face. Not to mention, its front paws were just as bloody as if they had been gnawed by some brutal beast. Beanbag seemed to know that it was a disgraced dog. It whispered a little before it lowered its head and looked away from Hao Ren.

Hao Ren smacked his mouth and said, “Is it the one that always challenged the Chow Chows. Did it finally meet its match?”

Beanbag was the most outrageous dog in Southern Suburbs. It was notorious for its bullying behavior, especially when it came to Chow Chows.

“It was beaten by Rollie,” Lily said quietly. “Got chased down the street with its tail between its legs.”

Hao Ren was shocked upon hearing that.

Although he did not have a good rapport with the dogs like Lily, Hao Ren at least knew a thing or two about the goings-on among the strays in the Southern Suburbs. Rollie used to be a bully king among the street cats, but Beanbag was its nemesis. As capable as Rollie was, it was only a cat; at no time would Rollie not be beaten black and blue by Beanbag. So, what Lily said this time had him dumbfounded.

Lily even repeated it to Hao Ren, in case he did not believe it. “Rollie bit it. This afternoon, when Beanbag bumped into Rollie on South Street, it went to bully Rollie like it always did. Little did it expect Rollie to beat the daylights out of it this time. Rollie was supposedly behaving in a strange manner at that time, as if it was looking for something, and there was a red glow in its eyes—Mr. Landlord, did Rollie eat something wrong?”

“I don’t think so…” Hao Ren said hesitantly, but he vaguely began to sense that some supernatural thing had happened to his cat: he had seen far too many supernatural things and could now sense strange events around him. Honestly, he would not be surprised even if Rollie were to suddenly fly back in a UFO, wanting to conquer Earth.

Lily had further conversations with her hench-dogs. Some of the neighbors began to switch on their lamps; the movement and noise there had probably attracted unnecessary attention. So Lily dismissed the group before she shook her head regrettably. “The last one to spot Rollie was Prince Reinhardt. It saw a cat going into the field. This makes it harder for us to find it.”

Hao Ren blinked his eyes. He could not make out what the nerdy cat was doing this time.

A cool breeze blew around them as Vivian turned in a vampire. She was circled by a swarm of bats. “Let me help. Rollie’s been in a fight, I’m sure it has the stench of blood on it. My bats can search for bloodstains better than your dogs’ noses, ” Vivian said.

Lily gritted her teeth, feeling displeased. But in the end, she did not say anything.

Looking at Vivian’s bat swarm disappearing into the night sky, Hao Ren could only hope that those little bats would trace the blood on Rollie. He finally realized that his cat had experienced some unexpected changes… mostly related to the unusual creatures.

Nangong Sanba looked around and noticed that everyone had serious expressions. He could not help but stand up. “What can I do to help? I’m a demon hunter, I’m good at searching.”

“Let’s just keep your half-baked searching skills to yourself,” Nangong Wuyue unceremoniously dismissed her old brother’s enthusiasm.

Hao Ren also shook his head. “Let’s see what Vivian can come back with. If she can’t find it, no one can. If you have free time, please teach Lil Pea how to use her demon hunter powers.”

After Nangong Sanba came onboard, Lil Pea, the unprecedented demon hunting fish had a personal instructor. Although Nangong Sanba himself was just a half-baked demon hunter, Hao Ren did not intend to make Lil Pea a professional demon hunting fish—just by looking at her body size, one would know how far the training would get her to. He just needed someone who knew the basics to teach Lil Pea the way to control her natural skills.

Obviously, Nangong Sanba was at a loss on his first day at work. He sat on the couch, staring at Lil Pea, who was staring back at him on the coffee table. The little mermaid had been an obedient girl all this while, listening to her daddy’s words. She did not run around, but she did not seem to understand what Nangong Sanba was up to. Hence, she just stared at his big face curiously and slapped her tail occasionally, signifying that she was listening.

Nangong Sanba grabbed his head, feeling that he had to be the first and last instructor ever since the appearance of his species to teach a fish how to harness its power.

“Let’s start with the basics on how to focus your mental power on weapons. This basic training will let you control your mental power. If you wish to control your other abilities in the future, this basic training is indispensable,” said Nangong Sanba as he finally remembered what his father taught him, and likewise, he taught it to Lil Pea. He took out a small crossbow. “This is the weapon of demon hunters. In addition to using it in combat, it’s also a tool for practicing mental power. Look at these symbols; now raise the crossbow and touch your forehead with this silver nail…”

Lil Pea obediently picked up the crossbow, which to her was like an oversized crossbow. She found that her head could not even touch the so-called “silver nail”: she was small in size, even smaller than the small crossbow.

Lil Pea tried for a long time and found that there was no way she could do it. She decisively shifted her attention by playing with the trigger and the unloaded string of the crossbow. Before she knew it, she heard a humming sound and was flung half a meter back to the coffee table. The crossbow did not move an inch.

Nangong Sanba sighed and said, “Well, it looks like I’ll have to design a miniature crossbow for you.”

Chapter 524: That’s Why This is Just Plain Weird!

 

As Becky had since returned home, there was a spare room in the house, and with Nangong Sanba not being able to leave for the moment (he have yet to meet Raven 12345, and that needs to be done before he leaves), thus he stayed the night as Hao Ren’s place. As the new guy in the block, Nangong Sanba went about checking on the backstory of the group. He even met Big Beardy, and after the latter gave him a lecture on low-carbon healthcare and the Goddess’s teaching, Big Beardy dropped the bombshell, “Actually, I’m also a temporary tenant.”. That put laid to whatever enthuasiasm Nangong Sanba had.

Hao Ren did not sleep well last night. He was still thinking about the missing cat. Although Rollie had a history of leaving the house and go crazy for a night or two, and for a former stray cat, not coming home was a normal thing, but there was something rather off about this. Hao Ren was disturbed by the information Lily gave him, and plus the recent encounter with the First Born still weighed heavily on him, he had been having all sorts of dreams during his slumber. First was an invasion by a bunch of alien cats, the next was the scene where the Goddess in the Plane of Dreams sowing the seeds of life, last was him being dragged into the deep and was drowning. The moisture on his nose and lips were almost too real, and as he woke up in shock, he realised it was real. Lil Plea had leapt on his face and fell asleep. The moisture was from her wet tail….

The MDT laid lazily by the head of the bed, as it explained how Lil Pea ended up on him. “She leapt on to you herself, and it was pointless even if I kept an eye on here. Sides, you’re a father, it’s only right if she decided to trouble you.”

The little rascal was still revising her lessons even while asleep. Between breaths she mumbled what Nangong Sanba had thought her in the day. “Fooohhh…kusss..Koonn…truu…ll….gulugulugu….telly…poottt….”

As she mumbled the little mermaid activated her teleportation ability and slammed right into Hao Ren’s jaw. Lil Pea immediately woke up before slapping her tail happily and waving at Hao Ren. “Papa! Awake!”

No wonder Nangong Sanba kept reminding him to not have anything sharp near where Lil Pea was practicing her teleportation. And to keep the windows and any holes which she may go through sealed. Apparently the demon hunter’s ability could be activated even when the user is asleep!

Hao Ren brought the mermaid downstairs and saw Vivian sitting on the sofa meditating. He knew what the vampire was doing. “Have you found it?”

“All across the area, even the urban area of the Southern Suburbs and part of the town area. I even sent a few bats into the town, but a cat should not have ran that far away.” Vivian said as she slowly opened her eyes and messaged her temple. “I did felt some scent of blood, but it’s the trail is broken, almost as if something is happening to the person that is masking the scent…. I might have lost it all together.”

As Vivian spoke, the guest hall’s window suddenly opened by itself. A part of the bat swarm had completed their reconntoire and were heading back. Each of the bats had some vegetables in their claws. Vivian stood up to stretch, “That cat aside… I got some of the bats to bring back some vegetables. Let me make you some vegetable stew. You’ve a lot on your mind these few days, time to have something hearty.”

Hao Ren nodded, and was slightly touched by Vivian’s thoughfulness. At that very moment, a crash rang from the second floor, as if a window was forced open and the pots of the windowsill had toppled over.

Vivian let out a swarm of bats. “Let me see what’s going on.”

The bats quickly went upstairs. Just as Hao Ren was about to ask what was going on, he saw Vivian’s expression changed drastically as the latter stormed upstairs as well.

Seeing Vivian’s reaction, it was natural for Hao Ren to instictly follow her, but he was stopped at the staircase by Vivian. “Stand back Mr. Landlord, let me check things…. Doggie! Doggie, come here! Bring two of your old clothes!”

Lily poked her head out of her room door in a daze, “Ah?”

“The one in your hands will do!” Vivian said as she ordered her bats to snatch the a set of casual wear off Lily’s hands. The husky immediately leapt up, “Eh what you’re doing Battie! I was just taking those to wash!”

“I’ll explain later!” Vivian took the clothes and dashed up the second floor without turning back. “You’re pretty hygenic…”

Hao Ren could only look on in absolute confusion as the event progressed. He didn’t know what Vivian was up to. It was not until he heard sounds of crashing and shrills that he yelled, “Vivian! What’s going on?!”

“Don’t ask me! I’m confused myself!” Vivian replied. In the between her words were sounds of bare foot stomping the wooden floor. Things finally came to a rest after a crack of thunder, and it sounded like Vivian had shocked somebody down…

A moment later, Vivian’s head popped out of the stairwell, “It’s done… I’ll bring her down. She’s still in a daze..”

As Hao Ren looked on curiously, Vivian carried a person down the stairs.

It was a petite young lady, about a good head smaller than Lily. She had black hair and very refined features. Even from a distance she was a pretty looker, but it was rather difficult to discern anything with her face covered in soot and part of her hair was bristling due to statis electricity. So she was the one who ate Vivian’s lightning bolt earlier…

This lass of unknown origin was still stunned as she was brought downstairs by Vivian. Everyone in the house too were drawn in by the commotion and got out of their rooms to see what’s what. Hao Ren joined the crowd as he asked, “Who is she…?”

The stranger looked up as she heard Hao Ren’s voice and let out a silly smile. Her tail wagging at the back.

“… A tail?” Hao Ren exclaimed.

He only just realised that the person had a black bushy tail at her back, and on her head a pair of pointed, bushy cat ears! He thought it was just some decoration…

Lily blinked. “What does this ear shape looks so familiar?”

Hao Ren went and poke the lass’ ears and immediately pulled his hands back in shock. “It’s real!”

Lily’s ears too popped up at the same time. “Of course it is! You can tell it just by a glance. My ears are out and about almost every day and you still can’t still a fake a part?”

“What’s this situation?” Hao Ren looked bewilderedly at the lass. He looked on as she slowly recovered from her daze and numbness, and went about nonchalantly towards the cushion by the stairwell and rolled up into a ball. He looked at her struggling with her clothes – it seemed like she wasn’t used to it. A rough guess soon took hold.

“That can’t be Rollie can’t it?”

The cat girl who was just about to curl up and sleep quickly perked up, as if she heard something important keyword. Her eyes were fixed on Hao Ren, and let out a lazy and nonchalant “Meowwww—”

Seeing the cat girl like this, Hao Ren had no doubt of her identity.

“She jumped in from the window on the second floor. That’s Rollie’s usual route home.” Vivian explained what she saw upstairs. “It’s probably because she had became so big that she knocked aside everything on the windowsill. Putting the clothes on her was a chore too, she even scratched me a few times.”

Vivian showed Hao Ren the white claw marks on the back of her arm. “Then I gave her a shock.”

Nangong Sanba looked on, too stunned to speak. Only after a while that he mumbled to himself. “…Is this a case of sudden gene mutation… it’s just too…unreal?!”

Hao Ren messaged his temple. “Don’t ask me. I’m just as confused.”

Y’zaks arms was crossed as he stood on the outer circle of the crowd. “Hmm.. her aura is similar, but the change is huge. No wonder Vivian could not locate her. But the key is… how did she turned out like this?”

As everyone around discussed and hypothesised what happened to Rollie, the cat girl too opened her eyes. Seems like she could not sleep under such an enviroment. Her slit-eyes looked around for a bit before landing on Hao Ren again. After a few mewling, Hao Ren pet cat finally spoke her first words:

“Poop scooper, where’s my food?”

Yes that was it, but then again anything that lived under this roof, even if it was only a cat, it is only normal if it’s weird!

Chapter 525: So That’s That

 

Hao Ren could barely respond to that. To be fair, no one could have prepared for their pet cat suddenly changing into a full grown human. Even for someone like Hao Ren who had seen his fair share, it was too much too soon. And Rollie the cat girl did not seem too happy when dinner was not served to her. She raised her voice. “Poop scooper! Food! Where’s my food?!”

Hao Ren pointed to himself. “What did you call me again?”

“Poop scooper!” The cat girl stared at Hao Ren before going on all fours near his leg to scratch his itch. “Alright, rub rub. Can you give me food now? I’ve been running around all day long. I’m hungry…”

Hao Ren jumped as Rollie rubbed against him. “You’re really Rollie?!”

“Nya?” the cat girl instinctively responded to the word like a flicked switch.

“How can you spea… No… How did you turn out like this?” Hao Ren stammered as he was unsure of what question to ask. “So. you went out last night to transform? Did you eat anything wrong?”

Rollie yawned lazily as she shook her head and insisted on the very one thing on her mind. “Food.”

“Eat! Eat! Eat! That’s all you know!” Veins popped all over Hao Ren’s forehead. As he recovered from his initial shock, he realized that even if the cat’s life was upended, deep in her bones was still that lazy dumb cat, who only cared about eating. “Lily, get her some food.”

Lily nodded in a daze before bringing Rollie’s food bowl over. As she passed it to Hao Ren, something popped up in her head. “So, is she still going eat cat food from now on?”

Hao Ren did not have a chance to reply before Rollie darted over to grab her bowl and stuf her face full. She even had the courtesy to thank Lily. “Thanks, big dumb cat.”

“Awooo? I’m not a cat…”

“It looks like in the cat’s eyes, there are only three types of living organisms: big, medium and small cats. It then brances out to whether the cat is dumber or slower than her.” Hao Ren rolled his eyes. “And you of all people have the cheek to ask that after eating dog food yourself. Why can’t she eat cat food? Her food is much more expensive than the cookies I eat for goodness sake!”

Rollie then looked up at Hao Ren again. “Poop scooper, water.”

Hao Ren finally decided his pride needed defending and he pointed at the cat as he stomped his feet. “First, change the bloody way you address me. I’m your master, god damn it!”

“Oh, poop scooping master, I want water.”

Hao Ren was dumfounded.

The master and the cat argued for a good part of the day without anyone emerging victorious. The others also tried to talk with Rollie, but they were promptly ignored as the cat was busy eating. She maintained the grace and elegance of a cat, which was to ignore everyone.

The only progress was, everyone now knew where Hao Ren stood in her eyes. That… Ah… yes, he was the poop scooper.

Hao Ren had a defeated look on his face as he squatted on the sofa (he probably picked that up from Lily). As he looked at the cat girl rolling about lazily on her cushion, pawing her face as well as rubbing her ears and tail, Hao Ren was conflicted. Sighing deeply, he said to himself, “I remember reading about cat girls in those stories being all cuddly and considerate, and loving their masters to bits. Why did I end up with such a character instead—”

Before he could even finish, Rollie suddenly leaped up and dashed up the staircase before running down again. She repeated that for a few times looking absolutely confused. Hao Ren looked even more defeated as he pulled Nangong Wuyue by her sleeves. “…Teach her how to use the toilet… and how to get used to wearing clothes…”

Vivian patted Hao Ren on the shoulder. “I’ve heard many tales and legends about cat girls, and frankly speaking, the one before you is rather weird. But logically speaking, she’s much more realistic compared to the stories. At the very least, she hates clothes like a typical cat.”

“The question is, how did she transform?” Hao Ren facepalmed. “Even the most supernatural of phenonemons have a reason. You can’t simply have a cat transform into a human just because the script demands it… Besides, our place isn’t some enchanted ground…”

“Strictly speaking, our place is indeed enchanted ground.” Vivian shrugged. “That couplet by the door is worth several heaven’s gates. But I don’t think Rollie’s transformation has anything to do with the Fengshui of this house.”

“But didn’t that cat start developing odd habits a few weeks back?” Y’zaks had been silent all this while and only interjected at this moment. “Since when did she like to watch TV? And did she ever read the papers with you before?”

Hao Ren was gobsmacked. “She read the papers?”

“Yes, the papers.” Y’zaks nodded. “There was a time when my newspapers went missing and I later saw Rollie lying down by the staircase reading them. She was definitely reading them and not tearing them apart as the papers were neatly stacked beside her. None of it was out of place. But I suppose she didn’t know how to read yet, as she was only looking at the pictures.”

Hao Ren’s jaw dropped for a good while as he slowly recalled Rollie’s recent unusual behavior. He did not know when it started exactly, but the cat started to watch television and learned how to operate the remote. She could even remember the number of the channel on the top right of the TV screen and hit the corresponding button for the channel. She would also lay by the table and listen in when everyone was eating, as though she took an interest in the topics discussed. Then, she started to read the papers, figure out how the doors and windows worked. Heck, she would even go into the kitchen, not to steal some biscuits, but to see how her food was being made…

There were actual early warning signs before this, but because Rollie was a weird cat to begin with, and had a habit of doing things out of the blue, no one at home paid any attention to it. With Hao Ren cracking his head to solve the issue with the First Born and the other worlds, he never connected the dots, until now.

Y’lisabet pulled out her precious screwdriver and circled around Rollie before sighing resignedly. “Ahhh… what a shame, she’d be a perfect specimen to study… but there’s nothing to unscrew…”

He did not know how the mind of that demon princess worked as well.

“Seems like the changes to Rollie only happened after the New Year.” Vivian demurred. “While she didn’t gain her human form then, it was clear that she was mutating… Let’s ask her later?”

“I suddenly have this feeling that it’ll be rather difficult to talk to my own cat.” Hao Ren sighed again. “Did you guys not see her reaction earlier? A bloody runt she is. Say… Why didn’t I feel that way before?”

“Perhaps it’s because of the communication barrier that the relationship between master and pet grows. It’s probably a mental thing that makes you think that you’re close,” Lily suggested with a rare glint of insight. “Many times, people are able to talk so jovially because they don’t understand that the other party is actually mocking them. Have you forgotten how the Kerbalians first conducted diplomacy?”

Hao Ren sighed again. He realized that what Lily said was true, but he still had to figure out a way to talk to his cat… Perhaps, fish jerky would work?

By then, Nangong Wuyue had pulled Rollie out from the toilet. The cat girl was walking awkwardly and she had the instinctive urge to go on all fours. However, Wuyue was dragging her along on her feet.

It appeared that walking straight was a difficult thing for her.

Wuyue had washed Rollie’s face and tidied her hair. The latter now actually looked the part of a pretty cat girl. Hao Ren noticed that her facial features were a combination of Lily, Vivian and Wuyue’s, while her eye contour resembled Becky’s. Hao Ren wondered if the cat girl had chosen the features of those she had seen on a daily basis for her looks: if she had a hand in manipulating her transformation.

“Come here.” Hao Ren patted the sofa’s armrest. That was Rollie’s favorite resting place, but he quickly realiaed that she was now too big. “Uh, forget about that. Look for somewhere comfortable.”

Rollie meowed and deftly leaped onto the sofa, rolling up into a ball. She started to play with her tail and ears again. Hao Ren pointed at her body and asked. “Do you know what happened to you?”

The cat girl looked down at her tummy, and wiggled her head. “I became a big cat.”

“Do you know how you became like this?”

“Nyooo.”

“Do you know when you became like this?”

“Nyooo.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Poop scooper!”

“…Let’s skip that question. How do you feel now?”

Rollie rolled around on the sofa, her eyes still looking confused. She seemed perplexed with the changes to her body, and was probably unnerved by it. But, she nodded. “Nyothing… You all became small though.”

“That’s because you turned larger.” Hao Ren sighed again. “Forget about it. Looks like your intelligence has yet to fully form.You probably won’t be able to explain this at all.”

Chapter 526: Same Old, Same Old

 

Despite being a human now, Rollie still retained all of the characteristics of a cat; her oddball attitude, her act of curling up, her love for cat food, her love of the cushion and her fondness of calling her master “Poop Scooper”.

The last bit was the saddest part of them all.

After trying to “communicate” with Rollie for a while, Hao Ren was forced to accept that it was his fate to never have anything turn out normally around him. Do not be fooled by the stories of cat girls being cute, cuddly and loveable creatures. After becoming a cat girl, Rollie was still a cat in a human’s body. She lay lazily on the sofa and started to roll about. It did not take long for the seating and cushions to be all over the place. She then began to grumble about being hungry, and wanting someone to play with, or to eat while playing. Seems like turning into a cat girl had only exacerbated her needs and desires by fourfold.

Hao Ren sighed again. “Why was Rollie not this difficult to deal with back then. Don’t tell me her attitude took a turn for the worse when she transformed?”

Vivian curled her lips. “Pffftt, that’s because you didn’t understand what she said. Did you actually believe that her meowing by your legs was just to greet you?”

The cat girl seated across the tea table looked up at the people around her, and after a stretch, she rumbled. “I want to eat fish jerky! Give me fish jerky!”

Nangong Sanba looked at Hao Ren. “What Vivian said is true. Just treat her as you normally did in the past. So, what would you do when she acted up?

Hao Ren thought for a moment. “Grab her by the neck and throw her out.”

Everyone present perked up as they heard that. Their eyes jumped between Hao Ren and Rollie. Y’zaks even quipped nonchalantly, “That’s similar to how demons educate their children. Are you sure you still want to throw her out now?”

Hao Ren glanced at Rollie and got up menacingly to grab the cat girl by her neck. The latter quickly shrunk her neck and kept quiet. This was instictive and seeing this, Hao Ren grinned. “Heh, at least I’ve still retained some dignity as a master…”

At the same time, Lily was inspecting Rollie, giving the cat a good sniff or two. The cat girl immediately bristled. “Big dumb cat, what are you doing?!”

“I realized something.” Lily scratched her head. “Ever since she turned into this, I haven’t been afraid of her anymore…”

Rollie’s tail immediately stood up as she gave Lily a menacing growl. The latter was unfazed and even went ahead to pat the cat on her ears. Hao Ren was surprised and puzzled at the same time. “Say… I don’t understand this. You’re a husky, why are you afraid of cats anyway?”

Lily mumbled as she patted Rollie on the head, “How would I know? Even some of the greatest humans are still afraid of cockroaches.”

So that was it, the end of Rollie’s reign of terror on Lily. The dumb cat however, had no clue what just happened.

Lil Pea was also drawn in by the commotion and she leaped up onto the tea table to join in on the fun. Rollie immediately let out a shrilling meow as she saw the demonic mermaid. She then sat up straight as if awaiting orders. Lil Pea gave the cat girl a confused look. She did not recognize Rollie.

Hao Ren could only sigh even more. The dumb cat had not learned anything. And after turning into a human, her place in the household hierarchy just fell right to the bottom…

“I think it’s best if I bring this idiot to Raven 12345,” Hao Ren said as he got up. He patted Nangong Sanba on the shoulder. “I’ll bring you along as well. I thought of waiting till tomorrow… but with Rollie’s situation now, I can’t afford any delays. Who knows what she might change into again.”

Everyone at home nodded in agreement. Only Vivian had her arms on her waist. “Eat up before you leave! Look at the time!”

After finishing breakfast, Hao Ren brought the slightly excited Nangong Sanba, and Rollie, who was glued to the sofa straight to heaven.

A bright flash later, the three of them arrived at the mansion in another universe. Hao Ren was pleased to see that the building had been restored, and there were no signs of the previous destruction. The white walls and blue roof tiles were all brand new, and even the luxurious decorations outside the mansion shimmered brilliantly. A few arcane orbs floated about the mansion, maintaining the place. Well, Raven 12345’s mansion had earned this moment of respite.

Seems like the crazy goddess’ shopping binge and manic research had come to an end.

Nangong Sanba was awestruck by the building before him as he teleported in. He quickly realized that the mist surrounding the place was hiding something beyond natural. He guessed it was probably a barrier or something even more advanced shrouding the place. At the same time, Rollie’s eyes were wide open. She was still lazing on the sofa and dozing off before finding herself in an unknown place. Her feline brain could not process the sudden change of location and she went into defensive mode. Between her slightly agitated breath, she mumbled, “Poop scooper, where are we? Don’t be afraid… I’ll protect you…”

Hao Ren gave Rollie a surprised look. He never thought the latter would actually say something like that. So the dumb cat had some shred of conscience after all?

However, he was still livid at the first part of the sentence though. Why the bloody hell was she still calling him Poop Scooper!!

The arcane servant quickly appeared out of thin air, and led the guests to the goddess’ office. Nangong Sanba gawked at the blue luminiscent servant as he followed it into the mansion. With a low voice he asked Hao Ren, “What is that?”

“A guardian created by Raven 12345. By normal religion standards, it’s probably a servant of God or something?” Hao Ren tried to explain. “It’s duty is to guide visitors, and to serve as the hand of god at certain times in the mortal world.”

The arcane servant led the three of them into a deeper part of the mansion. Hao Ren realized that this was not the usual path he took, and asked the servant, “Is Raven 12345 not in her office?”

The servant replied in a buzzing string of sentence, “The mistress is at the observatory on Stargaze Peak.”

Hao Ren had never heard of the place and thought it was probably some special area within the mansion. The place was far more complicated than it looked and there were many connections to mysterious dimensions from it. There were also structures present that could not have possibly existed within a three dimensional construct. From what Hao Ren knew, the mansion had a 10-storey-tall clock tower, but it was not visible from the outside of the mansion.

Hence, Hao Ren was not surprised when he heard about this other place.

As they came to the end of the corridor, the servant pushed open a door with many astronomical symbols etched upon it and signalled the guests to step forward before disappearing.

Hao Ren stepped through the door and found himself on a mountain peak, which was floating in the middle of space.

Vast space surrounded him, and many star systems lit the skies. Beneath him was a titanium-colored mountain peak. On top of the peak was a platform and on it, a model of the star systems and many real time infographic holograms were afloat. The place seemed to show every corner of the universe. Meanwhile, while Raven 12345 was standing not too far away from the platform. Her back was facing the ground, and she was looking into the stars. Her silver hair glowed like the stars around her.

Hao Ren had thought of greeting her as normal before he noticed that the goddess was concentrating on something. He quickly swallowed his words, and even Nangong Sanba as well as Rollie stood at attention.

“This the observatory of the universe, the closest to the core,” Raven 12345’s voice rang. “You can see everything in the universe here, every minute detail.”

“Are… you on official business or something?” Hao Ren asked carefully, figuring that he had finally ran into Raven 12345 being serious about her job. So, he should act accordingly.

“Three hundred years ago, I created a new planet using the starforge and sent it into space. That was the best of my handiwork.” Raven 12345 did not respond to Hao Ren’s question directly. She seemed to be mumbling to herself, “Now, the creators of planets are picking the best new planet and I’ve been thinking for the past few days…”

Raven 12345 looked up as she stared at the sea of stars. “Where the f*ck did I throw that sorry thing to back then?”

Hao Ren was speechless.

Hao Ren suddenly realized that his efforts earlier were all for naught. Raven 12345 was still a god damned loon!

Chapter 527: You Effing Fed That to a Cat?

 

The first thing Raven 12345 said revealed her true nature. Hao Ren realised he could never hope for this lunatic of a Goddess to play the role of a proper Goddess and simply just dropped the formalities. He went forward to greet her with the usual casualness. “Boss, I’ve came back from the Plane of Dreams.”

“I know. You’ve found a stable pathway into the Plane of Dreams? I detected a world crossing distortion but there were no upheavels in the Plane of Dreams so I figured that you had found the gateway.” Raven 12345 turned back. “We don’t know how many such leaks are there, this is a real hea…. OH EMPEROR ON A POGO STICK what is THAT??!”

The first thing Raven 12345 saw was Rollie who was squatting down and pawing her face. Her enchanted eyes immediately told her that this was an unusual creature and it surprised her. Nangong Sanba was rather conflicted when he heard the lady’s reaction. He slowly nudged Hao Ren by the arm, “This is…”

“This is the Goddess.” Hao Ren gritted his teeth as he tried his level best to keep calm while introducing his superior to the two guests. “The gentleman here is Nangong Sanba, Wuyue’s brother. I think you already know his situation and he will be joining the crew, so I brought him for introductions. That furry creature squatting on the floor…. is Rollie.”

Hao Ren was worried that Raven 12345 might not get him, so he added. “This was the cat I had at home…”

Raven 12345 looked at Hao Ren as if she was looking at an idiit. “How did your cat turn into that?”

“Beats me, I was just about to ask you that.” Hao Ren shrugged. “She turned into human out of th blue this morning. She can even speak human language. But she wasn’t sure how that happened, and it seemed her mental capacity only grew recently. I was thinking if she had gained sapience by somesort of transcendence…say… surely you can tell right?”

“Of course. Nothing escapes my certified Goddess eyesight.” Raven 12345 placed her hands on her waist. “And to think that you’d assume it was about transcendence, you know how long did humans needed to evolve into a straight walking creature? What, you think some wild animal howling to the moon would suddenly mutate into a man?…. Silly cat, look over here, into my eyes.”

Raven 12345’s voice seemed to carry some sort of compelling force, as Rollie usually could not be arsed to even look at an outsider, but now she obediently ran over to the Goddess and stared blankly at her eyes.

Raven 12345 grabbed Rollie’s dumb face as she inspected the latter, an azure glow flashed in her iris. A moment later she let out a sigh and turned towards Hao Ren. “Seems like something changed after the new year. Did you feed her anything weird that time?”

“Anything weird?” Hao Ren rubbed his chin. “I don’t remember…. F*ck… was this caused by the apple?”

It was only now that Hao Ren remembered that ‘something weird’ that he fed Rollie during the new year and cold sweat streamed from his forehead. “The Golden Apple! I fed her that. Don’t tell me that apple actually could do this?!”

Even Raven 12345 panicked when she heard that and she glared at Hao Ren. “You f*cking wot? You fed the Golden Apple to a cat? The Golden Apple that people killed and died for, the apple that would have caused a thousand year war if thrown into a mortal world? You f*cking fed it to a cat?!”

Hao Ren’s cold sweat had turned into a waterfall by now. “I never thought it would have such an effect…. Didn’t you say just give it to anyone at home?”

“I meant those supernaturals bunking at your place, not your bloody cat!” Raven12345 glared at Hao Ren again. “Just because it was something given during Chinese New Year you took it for something cheap? This is a Golden Apple, the fourth batch hand raised by the Goddess of Life herself!”

Hao Ren felt like the Golden Apples really sounded cheap when he heard the last line…

“So what now?” Hao Ren gave Rollie a defeated look. The cat girl was almost dozing off now and after rolling on a floor twice by habit she came close to Hao Ren, and wanted to lay down on the latter’s shoe to nap. But now she was much, much bigger than last time and she just could not find the sweet spot of yore and in a rage she started biting Hao Ren’s pants.

“I’ll figure something out. She will be under your care from now out.” Raven 12345 shrugged. “The Golden Apple had fully taken effect and she is now a totally new lifeform… almost like the supernaturals you have back home.

Hao Ren then pulled Rollie’s collar to stop her from biting his pants as he shook his head. “At the very least none at home, Lily included would bite my pants, or roll on the floor days on end…”

“Poop Scooper! Put meow down! Put meow down!”

“And none of them would call me Poop Scooper.”

“Just slowly educate her then.” Raven 12345 shot out a small spark towards the cat girl and shocked the latter. “Her intelligence has been fully unlocked, it’s just that she have yet to learn on how to get rid of her old habits. She will understand anything that you tell her. Just educate her, step by step, she’ll be used to the human way of life soon enough.”

Hao Ren could only gave an emphatic “Oh, alright.” But he was still curious. “I can understand if she were to transcend into a human, but how did she learn to speak from day one? This would require some time no? Don’t tell me that the Golden Apple had something in it that gave her maximum intelligence?”

“Actually you hit the jackpot. The real effect of the Golden Apple is to ‘lifeform template enhancement’. It allows any lifeform to obtain enhancement in every aspect similar to the best lifeform template when gods created mortals. While it does not work as well as direct bioenhancement, its effects is still remarkable given time. Your cat’s intelligence was of course on the low side, but the apple gave it maximum points in intelligence, and it took the chance to learn human language while still a cat. Thus when she became human she only needed some adjustments to speak. Of course, this effect will slowly decrease to the point of a standard normalcy, something like how your medication loses effect with time.

Hao Ren never thought the Golden Apple had such an effect and simply just nodded as he listened. Something suddenly popped up in his mind. “I understand what you’re saying… but can this actually cure stupidity?”

Raven 12345’s eyebrows twitched. “What do you mean?”

“Lily already had two of the apples but she will still gnaw on her tail every morning. Even now and then she’ll drag me out to bring her for a stroll.” Hao Ren rubbed his chin. “Not sure if that’s me seeing things… but I think her condition is getting worse.”

Raven 12345 rolled her eyes. “That’s not being stupid. That’s just her normal daily life. Every race have different habits. The Hazzk Swarmkins would see human’s need for cutleries to eat their food as foolishness. For such cultural differences, who is to say who is right?”

Hao Ren had nothing to retort as he suddenly recalled something Lily said sometime back.

“If a tail is not for gnawing, what use does it has?”

It is true that there is no solution to the question of cultural differences.

After that, Hao Ren discussed with Raven 12345 on the topic of rearing cats and dogs (no mistake there) at home before bringing up the topic of Nangong Sanba joining the crew.

“I’ve read the job manual and Inspectors are empowered to, as required after preliminary review could expand his force on the world, and take in new subordinates.” Hao Ren patted Nangong Sanba’s shoulder. “His sister is already part of the crew, so I think it is best to just bring her brother along.”

Nangong Sanba was busy staring the stars on the planetary display. And truthly speaking, aside from the lunatic Goddess, the place was surely majestic and divine. He quickly refocused as he heard Hao Ren mentioning his name. “Ah yes, I’d like to join in…”

“Hmm… an outsider who has information about the job. Well, most review requirements have been relaxed and you indeed could gather a few more subordinates like him.” Raven 12345 looked at Nangong Sanba and nodded at Hao Ren. “Have you ascertain his capabilities?”

Hao Ren gritted his teeth as the words came stiffly from his mouth. “A reliable demon hunter…”

Nangong Sanba sighed. “Even I feel sorry for you.”

“Well, if you say he’s reliable so be it.” Raven 12345 could tell what Nangong Sanba was by just a glance. But she just turned a blind eye. “A mixed blood… Interesting, perhaps he is even rarer than a true blue demon hunter.”

After that, Hao Ren something out from his Dimensional Pocket for Raven12345 to see. Something of utmost importance.

“This is the primal blood.” Hao Ren passed a small phial to Raven12345. “The living sample of the Seed of Origin.”