As for his BOOK"s abilities, Zhao Yao had initially thought that its functions were limited to training his supercats . However, since realizing that he could accept missions from other people and earn experience points from them, Zhao Yao understood that his BOOK could be enhanced by improving himself.
The other way to improve the BOOK"s abilities was simply by offering a helping hand.
"This is obviously a mission befitting of who I truly am. It exemplifies my kind and generous nature. I am an individual that is always out to help others improve their lives." Zhao Yao stared at his palms as excitement poured out of his eyes. He let out a soft sigh and muttered, "This pair of hands represents the perfect culmination of kindness and justice."
Zhao Yao thoughtfully stroked his chin and concluded, "Hmph, I only managed to help Elizabeth, Dr. Liu, a j.a.panese and another j.a.panese throughout the process. They"re all people I already know or have requests related to superpowers. This is too small a sample size."
After a round of deliberation, Zhao Yao decided to get out in search of people who required his help.
Speaking of missions, Zhao Yao glanced at his chain mission to establish a cat nation and realized that it remained incomplete. Because he had released them into the dugout, the current population of the belly had plummeted to 0/10. Zhao Yao was bewildered when he saw the number.
Currently, he had four main missions - establish cat nation, find new missions, manage cat café, and the upcoming cat king compet.i.tion.
He could only wait patiently for the commencement of the cat king compet.i.tion. The cat café"s business was improving steadily and the only way to go was up. Obtaining new missions from strangers was what he was currently busy with. However, he can"t get over the fact that he was still stuck at the first stage of the chain mission.
Hence, he went to the café"s backdoor and absorbed himself into the belly when he ensured that the coast was clear.
"Dust Ball, what"s happening? Why are all of them refusing to go back to the belly?" Zhao Yao burst out asking the moment he entered the extradimensional belly. Immediately, a shadow darted from a corner and grabbed tightly onto his calf. The shadow was none other than Roly Poly.
Roly Poly shouted at the top of his voice, "Daddy!"
Zhao Yao curled his lips in disgust before bending down to pry him off his calf, "I do not have such a fat son."
Roly Poly burst into tears and responded, "It is my fault. I apologize for being such an unreasonable child. Sorry for expecting you to clean up after my s.h.i.+t. Now, G.o.d has given me another opportunity, there"s only one thing that I would like to say to you … Daddy! I want to eat fried chicken!"
Actually, Roly Poly had spent the past few days with Dust Ball in a world free of food magically enchanted by Zhao Yao"s illusion that would turn them into fried chicken. Without the internet and fried chicken, Roly Poly found no reason to continue living and wanted to leave this place so badly.
Roly Poly had soon grown bored of the hunting game and decided to hide by turning his body invisible. Serendipitously, Dust Ball tripped over his invisible body and fell right into his paws.
Since then, he had spent all his time in the belly waiting for Zhao Yao"s return.
Zhao Yao ears" quivered when he heard Roly Poly"s stomach growling. He nodded his head and said, "Alright, I"ll bring you back soon."
"Yay!" Roly Poly was overwhelmed with joy and began jumping up and down.
Deep down, Zhao Yao thought, "What kind of game is Dust Ball playing with the supercats? Why are Ares and gang not back yet?"
Dust Ball finally absorbed herself back into the extradimensional belly after Zhao Yao roared for her the third consecutive time.
She was breathing heavily as she glanced at Zhao Yao before asking, "Zhao Yao, what brings you here today?"
"Where are the cats?" Zhao Yao asked with a look of confusion plastered on his face, "Why are there zero cats inside your belly?"
Roly Poly immediately blurted out before Dust Ball could answer, "That"s because they failed to catch Dust Ball Sister."
"Huh, catch you?" Zhao Yao"s forehead furrowed together as he c.o.c.ked his head towards Dust Ball and asked, "Dust Ball, what"s the meaning of this?"
Dust Ball literally felt the pit of her stomach fell as a stream of cold sweat trickled down her back. Her entire body froze as an awkward smile slowly found its way up her face. She responded, "Meowhaha, Zhao Yao, this smoky makeup really suits you."
"These are dark circles." Zhao Yao took a step forward and squatted down to face Dust Ball eye to eye. He eyeballed Dust Ball before asking, "Speak, what happened?"
Dust Ball slid Roly Poly an annoyed glare and started shouting at him telepathically, "You busybody cat! Get ready to die in my hands once Zhao Yao leaves. Don"t think that I won"t dare to bully you just because you have Zhao Yao backing you up. Meowhaha, to think that you would stoop to the level of calling him, daddy. How shameless can you get?"
Dust Ball was always aware of the situation inside her belly 24/7, hence she knew whatever that went on inside it, no matter where she was.
She never expected the Roly Poly who always behaved like a coward in her eyes started to sn.i.g.g.e.r and replied telepathically, "What do you know? This is an ancient art form where you address your enemy as your dad. What do I have to lose by simply calling him daddy? Zhao Yao is the owner of a cat café. With him behind me, I will instantly become second to none. From now on, no one will dare to lay a finger on me."
After these few days of non-stop torture, Roly Poly had gleaned for himself the rules of the jungle. He had decided to join Zhao Yao"s side by embracing his thick calfs wholeheartedly.
"Tsk!" Dust Ball rolled her eyes at Roly Poly before turning her head back to Zhao Yao. She gave an awkward shrug of her shoulders and explained, "Actually, it is nothing much. I just want them to spend some time outdoors before returning here. I mean it"s not good for them to lead such sedentary lives. Just look at Stephen Hawking, his health deteriorated since he was confined to a chair.
Zhao Yao could not help but facepalmed himself, "Let"s not talk about the supercats first, when did you hear about the nonsense regarding Stephen Hawking?" Zhao Yao suspected that Hawking would be so furious that he would stand on his feet when he heard those insolent remarks.
Dust Ball replied with an innocent expression, "Matcha told me that."
Zhao Yao shook his head and could not believe that he would actually go around spreading such baseless rumors. It was time for them to sit down and discuss some societal values.
Zhao Yao carried on by asking, "So how do you make them spend time outdoors?"
"Erm … erm … I just make them run."
A frown crept up Zhao Yao"s face when he noticed how uneasy Dust Ball acted and could easily tell that she was lying. He turned his head towards Roly Poly and demanded, "Tell me the truth."
During the split second Zhao Yao took to turn his head, Dust Ball had already given Roly Poly a death glare before drawing a finger across her throat, warning him of the consequences for telling the truth.
Roly Poly"s body shook violently before he immediately straightened his back and thought, "Are you kidding me. Now I have Zhao Yao behind me supporting me. What can you do about me?"
With this rea.s.suring thought in his head, Roly Poly began explaining the entire situation in the Village of Dreams.
Dust Ball turned extremely edgy when she noticed Zhao Yao"s face. She asked, "Zhao Yao? Actually I .."
"You have disappointed me." Zhao Yao said after heaving a sigh of despair. A face of abject disappointment was clearly reflected on him as he continued, "Do you know how much faith I had in you? I wanted to entrust the future of the Village of Dreams into your paws. You are going to be the ruler of the cat nation. I never expected you to stoop to this level, repressing the male cats and wreaking havoc among the common cats. You have disappointed me…"
"Huh?" Dust Ball tilted her head and stared dumbfoundedly at Zhao Yao and thought, "What"s this guy saying?"
However, she played along with Zhao Yao and exclaimed, "Zhao Yao, trust me. I will send them back here immediately!"
After less than half an hour, Zhao Yao could clearly feel the supercats returning to the belly and separating into their respective corners as they began fiddling with their laptops.
The corner of his mouth curled upwards at this sight. He thought, "There will definitely be a perfect game for each of them. At this rate, the first mission to establish my cat nation would be completed sooner than I imagined."
"Next, I"ll just have to wait for the announcement for the cat king compet.i.tion. I predict that it would arrive in the upcoming month. Now, the cat café is also doing pretty well …"
Suddenly, a mission sprang up as Zhao Yao was still deep in his thoughts.
Mission: Time to welcome a new batch of cats!
Objective: Following the expansion of your cat café, you need more cats working under you. This beautiful city is home to numerous stray cats. Why not invite them to join you in your business? Attract 20 stray cats to work at your cat café.
Reward: 100 experience points
Punishment: Nil
"Oh, I have almost forgotten about it. Indeed, there are insufficient cats inside the café. Hmph, I guess I"ll just …"
Next, Zhao Yao drove to Jiangmen University and instantly captured 20 stray cats in one fell swoop. He intended to get Elizabeth to train them before their a.s.similation into the cat café.