Chapter 488: An Island as Payment

Translator: Sparrow Translations  Editor: Sparrow Translations

Zhao Yao stroked the top of Cat Sage’s head.

“There’s no need to thank me,” he said, “I’m doing this because you guys are down on your luck right now. However, you do know that you shouldn’t stay on someone else’s property forever, yes?”

Cat Sage blinked up at him in surprise, “Then what should we do?”

“Work for me. I’ll give you wages. Save that up and you’ll be able to buy the island from me someday,” Zhao Yao responded.

He scratched the bottom of the cat’s chin. It felt nice, but Cat Sage wrenched his head from the man’s fingers.

He looked him in the eye, “We can buy the island back?”

Zhao Yao nodded.

“Of course. I’m not a slavedriver. You will be compensated fairly for your work. I will take care of your food and lodging. You won’t have to spend a cent that I pay you at the end of each month. I’ll keep that money safe for you so you can accumulate the funds you need to buy the island.”

Matcha decided to interrupt the conversation at this point.

“Did you hear that? You guys have got it good! We do back-breaking work every day and all we might get at the end of it is a cafe. You are promised a friggin’ island!” he exclaimed in mock outrage.

Cat Sage found himself lowering his head in embarrassment at his words.

“That doesn’t seem too fair,” he murmured.

“You took the words right out of my mouth!” Matcha agreed, “Zhao Yao, you’re being too generous to them. We, your original supercats, are not happy about this at all!”

While he spoke out defiantly in public, he was also communicating with Zhao Yao telepathically.

“Zhao Yao, how am I doing?” Matcha asked earnestly.

“Beautifully,” Zhao Yao responded.

Then, he kept up with the act.

“Matcha, look at these poor cats here. They’ve led a wretched life. They don’t get to eat or sleep well like you do in these horrible, sun-beaten conditions. You are all cats. Don’t you want to help them?”

Zhao Yao put on his most righteous expression and turned his gaze back to Cat Sage.

“I’m entrusting my cat island to you,” he said seriously, “Help me take good care of it. I hope that, one day, I can transform it into a supercat wonderland. It will be home to the homeless and family to the kinless.”

His words moved Cat Sage, whom was now looking up at him in awe.

“I understand,” the cat said solemnly, “Don’t worry. We will keep this island safe!”

Zhao Yao nodded in delight.

He glanced at the mission panel to see that his mission to cat thieves pay had been completed. With that, he had bagged 2,000*2 experience points.

“Hehe. It’s been a day well-spent. I guess that means that I now have…”

When he looked at the panel again, the Book was at Level 6 (42,262 / 20,000).

He was shaken out of his thoughts when the ground beneath his feet began to tremble.

He had forgotten about poor, little Rice Cake.

In an instant, he grabbed her and dumped her into the extradimensional belly.

The moment she was back in the familiar space, the light in her eyes began to return.

“I feel it,” Rice Cake whispered, “I feel the power of wifi.”

Her limp and lifeless body was revitalized all of a sudden. She scrambled onto her paws and bounced towards the nearest computer in joy.

Gaia was seated next to her. He smelt foul and greasy, as if he had not cleaned himself in weeks. She spotted open cans of half-eaten cat food scattered all over his desk. Gaia did not seem to notice her. His beady eyes were glued to the screen.

“What are you playing?” Rice Cake asked, peering at his screen as well.

Gaia did not bother turning to her to respond, “Dungeon Fighter Online.”

“Is it fun?”

A pained expression flashed past Gaia’s face.

“My advice is that you should steer clear of it. All it takes is a few minutes and you’ll never be able to stop. You’ll be a goner like me. All the cats here think I’m paralyzed. The truth is that I’ve not moved in so long that I’ve lost all the strength in my legs.”

Back in the real world, Zhao Yao had one last quest to deal with.

His eyes landed on Xiao Yu, who was still berating Fish Ball and Noodle.

“Xiao Yu,” he called out, “Come here.”

Sidequest: Help Xiao Yu find Noodle and Fish Ball!

Objective: Help Xiao Yu find her beloved pets, apprehend the cat thieves, and make them apologize for what they had done, especially to Xiao Yu.

Reward: 1,000 experience points

Punishment: None

“Alright, everyone,” he shouted over the crowd of supercats that were gathered around him, “You’ve stolen her cat and dog from her and brought them to this island. That was not a nice thing to do. You should apologize.”

Cat Sage led the rest of the cats to prostrate before the little girl. They apologized sincerely in unison. Of course, all Xiao Yu could hear was a cacophony of meows.

“Good. Good. See, they’ve said that they’re sorry,” Zhao Yao motioned towards the cats, whom were lying face-first on the ground.

He was chuffed hat he had just bagged another 1,000*2 experience points.

Xiao Yu, however, was not satisfied.

She quirked an eyebrow and said, “That’s it? An apology? They stole my cat and dog. Shouldn’t they compensate me for my losses?”

Xiao Yu could not understand the language of cats, so she had no idea that Zhao Yao had already struck up a deal with Cat Sage. She did not know that the poor cats had already been tricked into giving up the island as payment.

Sighing, Zhao Yao stuck a hand into his pocket and fished around for something. A long while later, he managed to procure a crumpled two-dollar note and handed it to Xiao Yu.

The girl took the money, then threw it to the ground in a fit of rage.

“Two dollars?! Who wants that? I can’t even buy a crepe from the street vendor outside my school with two dollars! Even primary school students are richer than you!” she screeched.

“Oh, come on,” Zhao Yao sighed again, “Look at these cats. Look at the shabby grass huts they’re living in. Do you think they have money secretly stashed away to compensate you with? Even getting enough food and water is a challenge for them.”

Xiao Yu pursed her lips as she eyed the cats gathered around her feet.

She seemed to be mulling over something before finally speaking, “Fine. I’ll let them off the hook this time. What are we going to do about the island? Do we allow them to continue living here? The government is going to confiscate this place, isn’t it?”

Zhao Yao smiled.

“Well, I think it shouldn’t be too difficult to stop that from happening.”

With that, he whipped out his phone and dialed Inspector Ho’s number. It only took a couple rings before it was picked up.

“Zhao Yao?” the inspector sounded pleasantly surprised, “How’s it going? Is everything settled?”

“Yep, it’s done,” Zhao Yao responded, “I’ll send all the trespassers your way later on. Among them are two Americans from Star Cats.”

Inspector Ho’s tone turned serious, “There are apostles from Star Cats?”

Zhao Yao did not bother affirming this. Instead, he jumped right in and said, “One more thing, I want the island.”

“What?”

“Consider this a favor for an old friend. I want the island and the supercats that inhabit it.”

“Wait a minute!” Inspector Ho cried, “I don’t own the bloody island! I can’t just give it to you…”

Zhao Yao cut him off, “I’ll give you a superweapon. Anyone who puts it on will be able to use its power. As long as you “loan” me this island, the weapon will be yours. It’s an abandoned island anyway. It’s a good deal.”

“Just wait, Zhao Yao. I can’t just make this decision by myself. I need to call for a meeting…”

Once again, the inspector was interrupted by Zhao Yao, whom had hung up unceremoniously. Inspector Ho rubbed the top of his bald head in frustration.

“God! He just doesn’t give a s**t, does he?”

An exasperated sigh left his lips when he received an incoming message. His eyes lit up after he glossed through its contents.

“Huh? When did he create something like that? But wow…”

The message described the superweapon that Zhao Yao would give him in exchange for the island. It was called the Weapon of Illusion. It empowered its user to conjure visual and auditory illusions that affected all beings within a 100-meter radius.

This was one of Zhao Yao’s illusion seals. He could make three new ones each week, so he basically had an endless supply of them. He did not mind handing one to the authorities. The seal was not particularly precious to him, but it would be a treasure to them.

Of course, he did not want to arm them with too much power either. This was why he designed the seal to only be able to deprive an opponent of two senses and not all five of them.

Regardless, it was still immensely powerful. Used right, it could wipe out 99% of all supercats and apostles in an instant.

The one inconvenience was that Zhao Yao had to charge it once a week.

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