Chapter 166: Weapon of Mass Destruction
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In ancient times, people smashed rocks on their chest; today, a weaponized chest had been used to smash handcuffs...
Looking at the crushed handcuffs, Jiang Liuying abruptly felt moved in her heart, as if she had performed a historic feat.
The main reason was because this armor-penetrating talisman was just too useful!
Elder sister had drawn this specialized talisman, and it was more destructive than the regular ones sold on the market. This was the reason why she had been able to generate enough power to directly reduce the handcuffs to smithereens.
Without the restraints of the handcuffs, Jiang Liuying could feel her spirit energy recover significantly.
Although the restraining magic array under the prison had played a role in suppressing her spirit energy, she had gradually gotten used to the restrictive environment during her time in prison. Her body had two golden cores that were like two CPUs, so her spirit energy circulated much faster than ordinary people's. In a restrictive environment, she could still use half of her strength... this had played a vital role in helping her escape from prison!
For an ordinary major criminal, without the help of the prison's resistance crystal, and limited both by the restraining magic array under the prison and the handcuffs, it would be utterly impossible for them to flee.
But the girl felt that her chances of escaping were now much higher.
This prison covered quite a vast area; she had only escaped from the main building. She was currently in a training zone three kilometers behind the main building, in a grove of trees. This was where prisoners came to exercise, but now it had become a hideout for Jiang Liuying.
If she rushed out recklessly, the prison officers who were already searching for her nearby would catch her straightaway...
Her priority now was to make use of the invisibility talisman in the escape service pack and find a sewer leading out of the prison as soon as possible. Before the armor-penetrating talisman lost its effectiveness, she could use her chest weapon to smash a hole in the protective barrier outside the prison wall; the high steel wall around the prison was ridiculously thick, so there was no way she could smash her way through from inside.
Under the circumstances, Jiang Liuying already had no other choice; she only had one last chance at escaping out of here!
In the grove, the girl grit her teeth and circulated her spirit energy to activate the invisibility talisman. She stuck it on her body, then sped off in one direction.
...
Half an hour later, after the prison officers patrolling outside had found the crushed handcuffs on the ground, Secretary Sun and Odd Zhuo swiftly reached the scene with a group of other people.
When he saw that the handcuffs had been reduced to pieces, the warden's heart trembled with fear, and his expression was distressed. With the restraining magic array in place and handcuffs on, how had the other party destroyed these specialized handcuffs?
"The other party had the strength to escape, so it would make sense that she could destroy these handcuffs." Secretary Dakang stared at the handcuffs and thought for a while. "But what kind of thing could have such destructive power? Little Zhuozi, do you have any ideas?"
Odd Zhuo's expression was blank. "..."
The old Secretary continued to speculate: "The handcuffs used in the national maximum security prison are all made of extremely dense and highly refined black iron; that this lady could actually damage them so badly proves without a doubt that the other party is carrying some weapon of mass destruction."
Warden: "Old Secretary, do you think this prisoner will harm the other major criminals in our prison?"
"Not really." Secretary Sun shook his head. "From the beginning, this lady's objective had been to escape from here. It's very likely that instead, she'll use the weapon of mass destruction to destroy the high prison wall or the protective barrier outside the wall."
Just as he said this, everyone heard an earth-shattering boom .
The warden spoke into his transceiver. "Go and check at once! What was that sound?"
Very soon, a reply came from the prison gatekeepers on the other end of the transceiver. "Reporting! We found the target, she's destroying the barrier!"
Warden: "Then go and quickly subdue the target!"
Prison officer: "Reporting! The target is moving very fast. It seems that she's using an invisibility talisman. We're using a scanner to locate her..."
Warden: "After determining her position, immediately seize her weapon and arrest her!"
"...Seize? Seize her weapon?"
At the maximum security prison barrier, the scanner showed that the girl had exposed herself.
"..."
A group of prison officers watched as the girl held her breasts in her palms and did her best to try and smash the barrier with them, and they couldn't help sinking into deep thought.
...
It was June 4th, the sixth Saturday after the start of the semester.
When Wang Ling woke up and turned on the TV in the morning, he found that all the channels were broadcasting the same news — at around six o'clock last night, a major criminal had broken through the barrier of Songhai's maximum security prison and successfully escaped.
Wang Ling was surprised to see that this person was actually that girl who had been caught at No. 59 High School back then. From their related investigation, the cultivation police had confirmed that she was in fact the younger sister of the Master of Shadow Stream. Because of her identity, she had been directly sent to Songhai First Prison without trial.
After careful calculation, Wang Ling realized that it had been three weeks, almost a month, since she had been caught.
" Ai , so many officers in the prison and they were still no match for a girl." Sitting in front of the TV, the old man ate a mouthful of green vegetable porridge before directly turning the TV off.
"Dad, why did you turn off the TV?" Father Wang had been enjoying the news since this girl had a really big chest... of course, this wasn't the point. The main point was that Father Wang wanted to continue watching the news report as he was curious about how this girl had actually broken out of prison.
The old man shook his head. "Even without watching the rest, I can roughly guess what's going to happen next. Based on their usual style, if anything big happens, the department leaders involved will probably deny all responsibility. If you don't believe me, I'll turn it on again for you to see..."
The old man turned the TV on again. Coincidentally, the news at that moment was showing the person-in-charge at Songhai First Prison making a statement.
In a crowd of reporters with flashing cameras and a bunch of microphones, a middle-aged warden had a remorseful expression on his face. "We deeply regret making everyone worry! The situation this time in fact isn't as serious as it seems. We have issued a nationwide top-priority arrest warrant, and we are already on the trail of the fugitive. We will assemble our forces right away to capture and arrest the criminal."
A female journalist with black-rimmed glasses asked, "Warden Liang, can you explain the main reason for how this prisoner was able to escape?"
"In fact, the fault this time lies with our new prison staff. They still aren't familiar with the business, so during the time the wanted criminal was in custody, they made some mistakes in their check..."
Speaking up to this point, this Warden Liang lowered his head with a grieved expression. "Yes, that's right. This was all the part-timers' fault!"
Father Wang and Wang Ling: "..."
Chapter 167: Ling Zhenren's Family Cat Is Missing
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Just like this, the glorious part-timers had become scapegoats once again 1 ...
Wang Ling knew that this was the standard response practiced by Huaxiu government departments, like when Huaxiu nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned or protested something. This was a carefully-worded excuse that, like a panacea, could be used to reply to all kinds of interview questions.
Although the girl's escape from prison was all that the news could talk about, there was very little about it online. Wang Ling opened several news apps and found very few comments related to this incident. It was very obvious that, just like with the matter of Mother Wang being groped, anything related to this incident was being suppressed...
Warden Liang had downplayed it on TV. But watching the news report, Wang Ling somehow had a bad feeling.
His eyelid twitched again, and this time, the disaster level was three stars...
Thus, even though Wang Ling was at home and wasn't going anywhere this Saturday, he had a nagging sense of uneasiness. The frequent twitching of his eyelid made him a little anxious.
After breaking out of prison, what would that fugitive girl do?
Wang Ling lay on his bed with both arms crossed under his head, his thoughts in turmoil.
For the time being, after escaping prison, it was clearly not possible for her to seek revenge against No. 59 High School and No. 60 High School. Most of the students were already on vacation, and even if she dropped in to make trouble, there were still many teachers on duty in school who definitely wouldn't leave this Shadow Stream killer any opening for attack. Going after Wang Ming sounded even more unreasonable. Huaxiu nation's top leaders all knew about the "love-hate" relationship between this super brain and this Shadow Stream maiden; after the news of her escape had come out, they would have undoubtedly already dispatched more people to protect Wang Ming at all costs.
So the only party left whom she could take revenge on in the short term was Black Tan...
When a person had no outlet for their anger, they would naturally look for a soft persimmon to pound.
Wang Ling felt that Zheng Tan was now in danger.
...
Wang Ling transformed himself into a white Persian cat and appeared under that old willow tree in No. 59 High School. Given the urgency of the situation, he had directly teleported there.
He carefully felt out his surroundings, but it was silent all around. Lying down at the tree hole, he couldn't sense a trace of any aura inside. Whether it was the commander-in-chief, First Battalion Commander The Monk, or the cavalry, the infantry, and the air force under Zheng Tan, they were all gone.
Wang Ling opened his eyes and used his Heavenly Eye flashback ability. The scene in front of his eyes began to rewind, but it didn't give him much information.
What he could confirm was that Black Tan had left at least half an hour ago. Also, he had come out in full force; the entire army had sallied forth, armed to the teeth with all the weapons they had in the hole — even that Yidali Cannon was gone.
What on earth were they going to do?
Wang Ling was very worried about Zheng Tan's safety.
Using an aura search, he could confirm that Zheng Tan and his group were already far away from Peiyuan district. It had been more than twelve hours since they had left the tree hole, much earlier than he had imagined. Now there was only one way left for him to find Zheng Tan...
...
In a mysterious lab on the border of Huaxiu nation, a man in black skintight clothes was absorbed in his research. He held in his hands a blueprint for the Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.
After his lab had been destroyed the last time, Little Black had been trying to restore this cannon which he had painstakingly created. Once he got word from Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal, he would take the cannon with him to the house of the bastard who had ruined his lab and blow it up!
While Little Black was recalculating the cannon's muzzle velocity, a hand suddenly pressed down on his shoulder, making him tremble from head to toe in fear. "Who?!"
This time, Little Black saw a young man in a white short-sleeved shirt standing behind him. "Who are you?"
Wang Ling spoke telepathically as he identified himself.
Little Black was shocked. "You're Ling Zhenren?"
This time, Wang Ling didn't have to deliberately cover up his face. The last time he had been here, he hadn't known the relationship between Little Black and Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal. Now that he knew Little Black was on their side, there was no need for him to hide himself.
To verify that he was truly Ling Zhenren, Wang Ling even shared a meme of Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal.
He had secretly taken this photo when he was with Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal, just in case of a situation like this.
Looking at the photo in which Grenade-Throwing Senior Immortal smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum, Little Black's doubts about this youngster's identity was thoroughly dispelled... only when he was with Ling Zhenren would this cultivation forum owner smile like an idiot like this.
"So you're Ling Zhenren... my apologies!" Little Black excitedly clasped his fists in a salute. So this was the big shot who would help him track down the bastard who had destroyed his lab! He actually looked so young!
"Is there a reason why Ling Zhenren is looking for me?"
Wang Ling didn't beat around the bush, but straightaway took out a quick sketch of Zheng Tan which he had prepared beforehand along with the specific location of that willow tree. "Can you find it?"
Looking at the sketch of Zheng Tan, it dawned on Little Black that Ling Zhenren's cat was missing!
But... why would it show up in such a strange location? Did big shots in the cultivation world now let their pets have free range?
Little Black politely didn't ask too many questions.
From the coordinates Wang Ling had given him, Little Black easily located the willow and managed to hack into nearby surveillance cameras.
This time, Wang Ling finally had a lead.
Zheng Tan and its group had set off at around eight o'clock last night, and each cat had had an invisibility talisman on it. As Wang Ling had guessed, they had taken all their weapons with them when they had left the tree hole... it was clear that they were off to do battle!
From the monitor screen, Wang Ling's Heavenly Eye could clearly see the confident expression on Zheng Tan's black face; this guy was actually smiling!
But what kind of battle would justify Zheng Tan mobilizing the power of all its troops?
Wang Ling's initial worry turned to curiosity.
Little Black was truly Little Black, an existence that could make something good out of something bad when it came to the online network. Just from Zheng Tan's route trajectory from where it had set off, he had been able to calculate what Zheng Tan's final destination was — Songhai City Dahuang International Airport.
Airport...
Whether it was Little Black or Wang Ling, both of them were completely astonished.
Little Black hacked into the airport's ticketing system to check the transaction records for that day, and finally discovered a set of very strange data. After analyzing it, he had a disbelieving expression on his face. "Ling Zhenren... your family cat is too amazing! It actually chartered a plane!"
"..." Wang Ling was stunned by Zheng Tan's action.
A black cat, taking all of its subordinates and equipment with it, and even chartering a plane... what the hell was it trying to do? Attack Ping'an country 2 ?
Chapter 168: Exactly How Strong Is the Independent Regiment?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
On the same day after Zheng Tan and Wang Ling in the form of Immortal Meow had worked together serendipitously in combat at No. 59 High School, Zheng Tan had returned invigorated, as if it had been injected with chicken blood 1 . It began drilling its independent regiment day and night, and had sent out several battalion commanders to expand their numbers by recruiting new soldiers from everywhere. Now, Zheng Tan led two cat divisions!
Even its realm and strength had increased at an unprecedented rate.
In fact, Wang Ling had to be credited with all this. Because when Zheng Tan had shaken hands with Wang Ling, several strands of white cat fur had been left behind in its paw; the most mystical thing about them was that they could actually gather the spirit energy of heaven and earth! They were damn more useful than any advanced spirit gathering array!
Hence, since that day, Zheng Tan's prowess had started to increase by leaps and bounds... within a short month, it had unexpectedly reached the peak late Golden Core stage!
These were all in fact premeditated actions on Zheng Tan's part.
During this month, apart from cultivating, Zheng Tan had heard from the stray cat masses of a secret stronghold suspected to be Shadow Stream's headquarters... it was at that time that Zheng Tan had started to think about an attack operation.
Then yesterday, Zheng Tan had received the news that the Shadow Stream maiden had broken out of prison.
It was then that Zheng Tan thought its opportunity had arrived.
While that girl was still intent on taking revenge on them, Zheng Tan decided to lead its army north beforehand to f**k the enemy headquarters in the ass!
...
Jinghua city was one of Songhai city's neighboring cities.
It was the capital of Huaxiu nation. No one would expect the current headquarters of Shadow Stream to be right on top of an inconspicuous hill in the suburbs of the capital.
"It seems Ah Ying has successfully escaped." The Master of Shadow Stream Jiang Liuyue frowned from where she was sitting in a wingback chair as she watched a news report on the prison break. "Have you heard from her? Make sure she doesn't take any further action and get her to return at once before we have another incident."
As she said this, she shifted her gaze to the figure next to her.
This was an assassin in white who wore a golden armband. There was a dagger at his waist and his clothes were as white as snow. He looked like a celestial being who had emerged from a painting. This man was called Mo Li, one of the leading generals among Shadow Stream's Gold Ribbon killers and also a think tank with prowess which surpassed Jiang Liuying's.
"Rest assured, Master. I've already sent someone to pick up Miss Ah Ying." Mo Li was confident as he answered her calmly. "But Miss Ah Ying appears to still be angry about what happened, and after throwing those prison officers off the trail, she went to look for that bunch of cats from before to take revenge on them."
Cats?
Jiang Liuyue felt a vague sense of uneasiness. "These cats have very common bloodlines, but they have spiritual intelligence and realms different from common people; they must have been enlightened by a grandmaster. I think it's better that we don't provoke them."
"Master, there is no need to worry. According to the information we received, it appears that Miss Ah Ying's attack was in vain," Mo Li answered softly.
"In vain? What do you mean?"
"When Miss Ah Ying went looking in the area from the last time, there were no signs of any cats; it seems that they had evacuated earlier on."
Evacuated?
Liang Liuyue frowned, feeling that things weren't as simple as they appeared.
For some reason lately, she had become a lot more vigilant against cats. This was because not long ago, she had found a kitten which seemed to be lost near the hilltop. The strangest thing was that the hill was private land which was off-limits, and an array had been set up here. Even the birds that flew over in passing would detour around here, so how had a cat entered this place? She had given this matter a lot of thought.
This was the first time that Mo Li had seen Jiang Liuyue so worried, and he couldn't help asking, "What are you worrying about, Master?"
"I'm worried that this bunch of cats might be plotting something..."
"Plotting?" Mo Li laughed. "Are you worried that the cats will find our headquarters and attack here?"
Just then, there was suddenly a tremendous explosion outside the hall.
"Where did that explosion come from?" Mo Li tilted his head.
A Shadow Stream killer swiftly appeared as a black shadow in front of Jiang Liuyue and Mo Li. "Reporting, Master and Lord Mo Li! The foot of the hill is under attack."
"...By who?" Mo Li was shocked.
"It's a large group of cats! A large group of cats are climbing the hill... they're carrying heavy weapons and number in the tens of thousands. It appears... that they intend to attack the headquarters!"
Mo Li: "..." Somehow, his face really hurt!
"As expected, there's something off about that group of cats!" Jiang Liuyue grit her teeth. Since they had heavy artillery with them, it was very clear that these tens of thousands of cats had come well-prepared. Furthermore, there was currently a limited number of killers on base. If she suffered heavy damage here, her image as the Master of Shadow Stream in the murder industry would thoroughly collapse!
"Mo Li, call everyone back at once to protect the headquarters, and don't confront this bunch of cats during this time. Whatever happens, the headquarters is our priority!"
"Yes, Master, I'll make the arrangements right away!"
Mo Li nodded immediately; this time, he finally realized the severity of the situation.
Outside the hall, a spirit light sprung up in his hand, and a string of magic bells emerged. Standing at a high vantage point, he rang them lightly three times.
As he recited a spell, the magic bells began to vibrate rapidly, and invisible sound waves which couldn't be seen by the naked eye rippled out from him.
Three rings of the magic bells was the highest level of priority given to the command for Shadow Stream members to assemble.
"Two hours... can we hold on until then?" Mo Li felt anxious as the cat army advanced vigorously up the hill.
...
Zheng Tan's attack this time was a completely independent operation that hadn't been reported in advance.
In fact, there had been countless incidents of Shadow Stream killers mistreating cats in recent years. This had incurred the hate of cats all over the country. Cats throughout Huaxiu nation had been looking for Shadow Stream's headquarters all this time with the intent of organizing their forces to launch an attack. Recently, coordinates for the headquarters had been circulating in the cat group but had yet to be verified, so all the cats had been waiting for further confirmation from their general headquarters.
None of the cats had expected Zheng Tan to make a move before their headquarters had verified the location!
Zheng Tan's Independent Regiment was a little famous among the cat armies led by Tang Shi, Song Ci and Yuan Qu. All these years, under the leadership of these three cat tyrants, the battalions and regiments of "The Little Tigers" nationwide had been secretly observing the movements of Shadow Stream killers everywhere.
This attack by Zheng Tan had hence mobilized all the stray cats in several nearby cities.
It was the new troop of cats led by Yuan Qu's capable subordinate, cat general Li Yuanba, who first caught wind of the Shadow Stream killers' movements.
Li Yuanba's new troop was located in Dongbei city, which was to the north of Jinghua city.
At that very moment, in an abandoned sewer in Dongbei, a yellow-haired, short-tailed cat with a sturdy physique was surveying a map, accompanied by two cat staff officers.
One of the cat staff officers said, "Currently, surveillance of the Shadow Stream killers in Dongbei city show that they're gathering together as quickly as possible and are attempting to head for the capital, Jinghua city."
Li Yuanba: "What mission are they running?"
"It doesn't seem to be a mission. They're impatient to reach Jinghua city, and are in no mood to engage in drawn-out skirmishes. When small units of our cat army harass them, they're quick to break away and take a detour."
"Two days ago, Zheng Tan kept telling me it was going to create big news. It looks like something big is going on with it over there..." Li Yuanba murmured softly, its eyes narrowed. "Otherwise, this bunch of Shadow Stream killers wouldn't be so desperate to reach Jinghua city. Their headquarters is definitely there!"
Cat staff officer: "Does Commander think that Shadow Stream's headquarters is under attack? Zheng Tan only has one independent regiment... would a single regiment dare attack the headquarters?"
Li Yuanba laughed. "Hehe, why not? There's nothing that Zheng Tan doesn't dare do! If it had one or two divisions, it would have already f**king annihilated all of Shadow Stream long ago!"
Cat staff officer: "..."
Chapter 169: At Least Gang Up Before a Fight
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Li Yuanba hunkered down on the ground and clapped its big thigh with one thick paw. "Pass my order along, have the entire group assemble immediately! Employ zero-casualty harassment tactics and do everything you can to delay this group of Shadow Stream killers before Zheng Tan's official attack on Shadow Stream's headquarters!"
Cat staff officer: "Commander, should we wait for instructions from the higher-up...?"
The corners of Li Yuanba's mouth twitched. "Instructions? There isn't any time... opportunities in battle change all the time and are fleeting! The old leader is so busy, don't bother it! Rather than miss the opportunity... we should strike decisively! Even if this bunch is setting off to offer their Master birthday congratulations, they must not be allowed to advance!"
The cat staff officer stopped talking at once. "..."
Because it was as if it could already see the end result.
Actually, the regiment cats could guess that based on Li Yuanba and Zheng Tan's relationship, Li Yuanba would fully support whatever move Zheng Tan made, even if it hadn't been told about it beforehand. The two cats had formed this tacit understanding which didn't require words back when they were being groomed by the three cat tyrants. This iron rapport and friendship wasn't something that regular cats could understand.
The cat staff officer next to Li Yuanba sighed in its heart. Once Li Yuanba made a move, it was very likely that there would be a chain reaction among the stray cat regiments in the neighboring cities; by then, the stray cats would all be in a complete mess.
Furthermore, zero casualties... was that truly possible?
...
Of course, Zheng Tan didn't have just one zealous brother in Li Yuanba. Everyone knew that the four heavenly guardians had once been groomed by the three great cat tyrants, Tang Shi, Song Ci and Yuan Qu. Zheng Tan was a soldier under the thunderbolt tiger Tang Shi and Li Yuanba was under the baby tiger Yuan Qu. As for the last small handsome tiger Song Ci, it had groomed the remaining two heavenly guardians, Yun Fei and Ah Huang.
Yun Fei and Zheng Tan's fate had been tied together starting with the color of their fur; they were both black cats, though Yun Fei's chest and four paws were all white. This made it look like it had walked through snow, so there were some who said that Yun Fei was a snowy mitt breed. Back then, Yun Fei and Zheng Tan had trained in the middle of the night and executed missions together, and thus had forged a deep and profound bond.
Now, Zheng Tan was the commander of the Independent Regiment, while Yun Fei led another regiment, with the regiment number 358.
This number had a special significance for Yun Fei; it was the number of tasks it had carried out together with Zheng Tan, which was three hundred and fifty-eight exactly.
Yun Fei's Regiment 358 was probably the closest to Zheng Tan's Independent Regiment geographically; they were both situated in Songhai city. Zheng Tan had found a tree hole to use as the regiment's headquarters, while Yun Fei had found a shit-shoveling officer who would do anything for it, and thus it lived comfortably in a villa. This big villa was also the headquarters of Yun Fei's Regiment 358; the cat houses arranged neatly in the backyard were inhabited by Yun Fei's subordinates. Of course, the space inside these cat houses had been expanded, like Zheng Tan's tree hole.
There were many types of cat houses: for the cavalry, the infantry, the artillery soldiers, and Yun Fei's own command post.
After Zheng Tan had left Songhai city to launch an attack and Li Yuanba had issued an order to back it up, Yun Fei was the third cat to become aware of this large-scale military campaign.
In Regiment 358's headquarters, Yun Fei was viewing a map. "...Who is brazen enough to actually go out and fight alone?"
Yun Fei's cat staff officer: "From our observations of recent movements, only Zheng Tan's Independent Regiment can call upon enough forces in this short period of time to arm themselves and enter the capital to launch an attack. Judging from the location on the map, that place is Shadow Stream's headquarters. Those coordinates were initially just a rumor, but no one had thought Commander Zheng Tan would jump the gun and launch an assault..."
Yun Fei frowned for a bit, then rubbed its face with its snow-white paws. "That's not good, either; Jinghua, Dongbei and Songhai... there's fighting everywhere. The entire South Huaxiu cat army has become a mess — this Zheng Tan is also too reckless!"
Cat staff officer: "Commander, what should we do now?"
Yun Fei: "What else can we do... of course we have to help obstruct the enemy! Inform the artillery battalion to get out all the latest things! Keep in mind that the Shadow Stream killers are quite fierce. We just need to focus on harassing them as much as possible; smoke bombs, flash bombs, noise bombs... launch whatever needs to be launched!"
Cat staff officer: "Ah! Including that Liu Baby brand flash bomb?"
Yun Fei: "Hm... use it first! Then get Zheng Tan to reimburse me! Even if it wasn't Zheng Tan who organized this assault, my Regiment 358 will still go out to help!"
Cat staff officer: "..."
...
The last one of the four heavenly guardians to hear this news was Ah Huang, a yellow tabby cat that was quite pitiful, since its owner had castrated it at birth. At one point it had suffered depression, and it was Zheng Tan that had helped it out of that psychological shadow, so they had a deep and profound friendship.
Ah Huang's new regiment was in Nanyan, between Jinghua and Songhai.
It was sipping on wine in the sewer while it received the battle report.
The chief of staff next to it reported the situation with a solemn expression. "We've just received news from the liaison officer that's with our allies; Li Yuanba's new cat army and some stray cat groups nearby have all gone into battle..."
Ah Huang: "Huh?"
Chief of staff: "...Even Yun Fei's Regiment 358 has pitched in mindlessly; without any directions from the leaders, we have no idea what is going on."
Ah Huang: "Hahahaha! It must be Zheng Tan! This guy's f**king making trouble again!"
Chief of staff: "Does Commander think that it's Commander Zheng Tan that made a move? The coordinates for that location seem to be Shadow Stream's headquarters, which was just verified recently. The leaders haven't issued any orders, but that guy actually made a move beforehand?"
"Who knows what that guy is thinking... it has bad blood with Shadow Stream to begin with. Maybe it wants to launch a preemptive strike..."
Ah Huang swished its tail and laughed. "This guy's attack has also motivated me! It's more awesome than the leaders!"
...
In an apartment in the heart of Jinghua city, cat leader Tang Shi, the thunderbolt tiger, was on the phone and so angry its fur was bristling. "What the hell is with this situation?! If you can't clearly distinguish between a division and a brigade, then what are all of you capable of?! Are your heads chamber pots?!"
Baby tiger Yuan Qu's paws pressed down on the table, its expression pained. "What is going on? Without even a telephone report, they all went off to fight? Who's leading the battle?! The f**k... at least gang up before going out to fight!"
"Someone tell me, what on earth is happening? Oh, omnipotent Immortal Meow! If only you were here..." Song Ci sighed helplessly.
Just then, in a burst of spirit light and mist, a snow-white Persian cat appeared in front of the three cat tyrants.
Wang Ling, who had changed into this white Persian cat, floated in the air. At the sight of the three cat tyrants, he sighed softly.
He had been delayed since he had had to ask Little Black to determine the whereabouts of the three cat tyrants, so it was a relief that he had been able to catch up to them.
Chapter 170: Wasn't It Agreed That Animals Couldn't Be "Awakened"?!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When Wang Ling manifested as Immortal Meow in front of the three cat tyrants, they stared wide-eyed at him with disbelieving expressions. The other cats in the apartment were also all stunned, as they had never seen Immortal Meow before and had only heard hearsay of him from the three cat leaders, Tang Shi, Song Ci and Yuan Qu.
None of the cats had anticipated that Immortal Meow would appear at this very moment.
The three cat tyrants were instantly so moved that they couldn't hold back their tears.
Seeing Tang Shi, Song Ci and Yuan Qu once again, these three cats that he had personally groomed, Wang Ling also felt deeply moved in his heart. He had never thought that the three mongrels cats that he had found in a paper box back then would actually grow this big.
They were all cats that had been abandoned by their owners; now, these unwanted kittens from back then had become the leaders of three cat armies, and had even purchased a high-class condo in the heart of Jinghua city to use as their command post... actually, the thought of it was truly astounding.
It was already one o'clock in the afternoon, and based on conservative estimates, two hours had already passed after Zheng Tan had launched its assault. With the firefight centered around Zheng Tan, the nearby cat regiments were obstructing the enemy and supporting the attack... it was just Tang Shi's headquarters that had been left in the dark.
Wang Ling's appearance could thus be said to be very timely.
He stretched out a cat claw to point at a particular point on the map.
Seeing the position, Song Ci immediately connected the dots. "Aren't these the coordinates that we received recently, that was rumored to be where Shadow Stream's headquarters is located? The information hasn't been verified, right? Yet the fighting's already started... which troop is it?"
After saying this, Song Ci and Yuan Qu both looked at Tang Shi in unison.
Tang Shi: "What are you looking at me for..."
Song Ci and Yuan Qu spoke in one voice. "Except for your family's Zheng Tan, no other cat has such guts!"
Tang Shi: "..."
Song Ci scratched its head, then turned to Wang Ling with paws clasped in a salute. "Thanks to Immortal Meow, at least we've found the flashpoint of the fighting."
"Then what do we do now?" Yuan Qu cupped its chin.
"What else can we do? The fight has already started... it's no use stopping Zheng Tan now. First, we should try and obstruct enemy reinforcements, then do our best to help Zheng Tan seize the headquarters." Song Ci sighed, feeling its head hurt as it answered.
Wang Ling didn't intend to linger in these headquarters of Tang Shi and the others, and instead wanted to go and take a look at the situation with Zheng Tan. And so, he gave Tang Shi a large pile of spirit talismans.
These were light armor talismans with strong protective properties which Wang Ling had drawn at Little Black's lab. Wang Ling wanted Tang Shi and the others to quickly distribute these spirit talismans in all the battle zones.
He had also reinforced the initial effectiveness of the light armor talismans with a discernment spell and a transmission spell. When the spirit talismans were in effective range, they would automatically discern all the cats present and then automatically create a protective connection. Actually, it worked in pretty much the same way as WIFI — oh, by the way, Wang Ling had plagiarized this creative concept from the WIFI pill that Immortal Toya was researching.
...
It was already half past one in the afternoon. Shadow Stream's secret headquarters on the hilltop was still doing its best to try and block Zheng Tan's offensive. A total of about twenty Shadow Stream killers were using every type of defensive spell they had to build a defensive barrier around their headquarters.
Before reinforcements arrived, the headquarters only had a pitiful number of twenty-odd people...
"Commander, we currently have an absolute advantage on all fronts, and there hasn't been a single casualty!" First Battalion Commander, The Monk, was giving Zheng Tan, who was directing them from the rear, a simple report.
Everything was within Zheng Tan's expectations.
There hadn't been many people in Shadow Stream's headquarters to begin with. Some of them might have higher realms than the cats, but they were so caught up in defense mode that their realms weren't of any damn use to them. This bunch of killers were most skillful at sneaking around the back to stab someone and blow up things. As long as the cats could defend against this and trap all the enemy on the hilltop, forcing them to build a defense array, the battle plan could already be considered halfway a success.
"Do we have enough cannons?" Zheng Tan asked as he raised a high-powered military telescope to survey the top of the hill.
The Monk answered, "Yes, Second Battalion Commander brought a lot."
Zheng Tan: "That's good. This time, our regiment brought about thirty Yidali Cannons in total, and we have enough firepower to hold the advantage. Pass my order along: tell Second Battalion Commander not to be stingy with its artillery shells; have it keep up a barrage of explosions."
"Yes, Commander!" answered The Monk.
The impact from the continuous and fierce bombardment by the Yidali Cannons was torturous for the Shadow Stream killers on the hilltop who were doing their best to support the protective barrier; for some of them, their hukous were already numb from the shock. An Yidali Cannon could be used up to ten times, and could fire thirty shells at a time. Hence, if there were more than enough artillery shells, a Yidali Cannon could shoot three hundred of them!
Most importantly, this kind of artillery shell was as powerful as an all-out attack by a middle Golden Core stage cultivator. The most terrifying thing was that its damage output was passively increased based on the number of women present in the target of their bombing... including the Master of Shadow Stream Jiang Liuyue, there were six female Shadow Stream killers trapped on the hilltop right now!
This directly increased the power of each of the Yidali Cannons by sixty percent.
At the sound of the rapid and heavy bombardment, Mo Li looked anxiously at the barrier outside. He was doing all he could to strengthen their defense; if Shadow Stream reinforcements continued to be delayed, they really might not be able to survive.
A Shadow Stream killer who had sustained internal injuries from the bombardment of artillery couldn't help spitting blood. "Lord Mo Li, how about we surrender..."
Surrender?
Mo Li gnashed his teeth hard. Surrender to a bunch of cats? What kind of foreign joke was that?!
"Master, what should we do now?" Although Mo Li didn't want to surrender, the situation was already beyond any tears he could shed. After the nation had been founded, hadn't it been agreed that animals couldn't be "awakened"? These ones were damn near about to become immortal!
"Is there any way to get in touch with Ah Ying? Tell her to stay away for a while and not to return here!" Jiang Liuyue was also struggling hard to prop up the barrier; she had a bad feeling.
Bzz ! —
At that moment, there was a flash of spirit light in the air on the top of the hill, and a snowy-white figure suddenly appeared.
Jiang Liuyue had very sharp eyes, and clearly saw straightaway that it was a white Persian cat.
Her intuition told her that this Persian cat was in cahoots with that bunch of cats down the hill!
But why was this cat here? Had it been sent here by a magic weapon?
There was no time to think so much given how urgent the situation was. She looked at this white cat, then bent down to abruptly lunge at it.
Wang Ling, who had just teleported here, was still focused on locking down Zheng Tan's position when he saw a woman unexpectedly attack him with her "balls" as she caught him and held him firmly to her bosom.
Before Wang Ling could figure out what this woman was thinking, Jiang Liuyue lifted him high aloft and projected her voice with a spell as she shouted down the hill: "Listen up, cats down the hill! Your little bro is now our cat hostage! Please cease your assault! Otherwise, my venerable self will kill him right away!"
Wang Ling: "..."