Chapter 158: The Fourth Young Master, Shi Huajing [Part 1]
As Cillin had expected, the people who fainted at ‘Dance Night’ the night before all experienced memory confusion or memory loss. Their memory of a man and a cat having a dance battle on the tall, round platform of the dance floor were either too vague or just gone entirely. Perhaps they would recall some faint shadows after they recovered not long after, but that was also all they could remember. Every time they danced, some faint images would flash across their minds until they completely forgot about them entirely.
Of course, there were people who remembered that night. Although their memories were incomplete, they did know that Rikulab wasn’t the only one dancing on the tall, round platform that day; there was also a gray cat. Perhaps some people would view the gray cat as a monster or a special specie, but it was none of Cillin or the gray cat’s business.
After the night was over, ‘Dance Night’s’ senior management went through every recorder and found that all of their recordings had turned into mojibake that could not be restored. If they tried to restore it forcefully, then the records would automatically disappear.
They surmised that their system had been hacked into and all their records and programs tampered by high tech personnel that did not belong to ‘Dance Night’. They had reported this to the higher-ups, and the results they got from the GAL government was to forget about the matter.
The upper level of ‘Dance Night’ understood that this incident must have involved people that they could not afford to offend. As compared to the dance battle that night, they were more worried about their own statuses and careers. Therefore, the senior management of ‘Dance Night’ all experienced a ‘memory loss’ after they received the secret message from the higher-ups.
There were media people who continued to investigate into the matter, and they were met with forceful hindrance of unofficial forces or forceful intervention from the government. In the end, they had no choice but to give up. This was because they knew that they might not live to report the news even if they did learn about the truth that night. This planet itself contained countless numbers of wronged souls already, and the anguished wailings of these wronged souls amidst the sandstorm reminded the people of this planet constantly that there were eyes hidden in a certain dark corner.
Rikulab would only go to ‘Dance Night’ every once in a while. Therefore, after he went back home last night, he had returned to his usual decadent lifestyle and laid on top of his bed, sleeping. He did not even eat breakfast and lunch.
However, when Rikulab woke up to drink some water, the hand holding the cup suddenly paused and moved to pull open the door instead. He immediately saw Cillin sitting on the living room’s sofa and reading a paperback medical book. The gray cat was taking a stroll everywhere and sniffing at some medical bottles from time to time.
When the gray cat saw Rikulab, it raised its head and tail high and greeted him with an air of complacency, saying, “Yo, you woke up, loser!”
The corner of Rikulab’s eyes twitched once as he recalled the meow of rapture during the final curtain call once more. It was that meow that made it clear to him that he had lost to this spirit-like cat.
Rikulab pulled over a chair and sat down. He finished the water in his cup, put it down and stared expressionlessly at Cillin on the opposite side and the gray cat making proud circles beside him.
“I remember locking all the doors. How did you two come in?” Rikulab asked.
In reality, Rikulab had locked more than just the door. Every time he went to ‘Dance Night’ and got his kick, the moment he returned to his dwelling he would shut all the doors and windows tight and activate the security system to the max. The security system would annihilate even a bug that had crawled into his dwelling, and even if it couldn’t, it would sound the alarm. He might be asleep, but Rikulab did not believe that he would sleep so soundly that he could not hear the alarm. That meant that everything was normal. So how on earth did this man and cat enter his house when everything was normal?
The gray cat crouched on top of a tall cabinet and looked down from above. It was loving this feeling of looking over from a high spot more and more now. After casting a disdainful glance at Rikulab, it said while looking immensely pleased with itself, “Hmph hmph, do you seriously think that shabby level of security is enough to stop us?”
Cillin had not said anything all this time. Since it was a proposal that the gray cat had brought up on its own, there was no harm in allowing it to give it a try. Perhaps it might turn out for the better.
When Rikulab heard the gray cat’s words, he lifted an eyebrow. The security system of his house was on par with a planetary government’s, and yet this level of security was categorised as ‘shabby’ in the eyes of this cat.
“Who are you people? What are your objectives?” Rikulab asked with a heavy voice. From the last time Udoze brought these two fellows over to his house, he already noticed that the person sitting on his sofa right now had hidden his blade well deep. He even suspected that the reason he could detect the ‘neurotoxin’ was because this man had intentionally let him.
“Hey loser, you wanna change into a new living environment? Something like working for us? Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. I’m very strong you know.” the gray cat spoke in the tone of a boss speaking to its underling.
Rikulab tugged the corner of his lips noncommittally. He looked towards the reactionless Cillin, but he discovered that Cillin hadn’t even lifted his head as he kept his gaze on the open book in his hand.
“Not interested.” Rikulab said.
“Hmm? You refuse?” The gray cat’s whiskers straightened as it narrowed its eyes at Rikulab. Anyone could sense that the cat was feeling not so great right now. After all, it had made the guarantee to Cillin to Rikulab that it would definitely be able to convince Rikulab. But who knew that this guy would turn him down so bluntly!
“Yeah, this is fine. I’m very satisfied with my current state of life.” Rikulab poured himself a cup of tea to freshen up. As for the guy on the opposite side, he had already finished a few cups of tea already without his consent. In fact, he was using the high grade tea leaves he collected in the cabinet. It must have been that bastard cat who rummaged through his stuff!
“This is fine?” the gray cat sized Rikulab up and down and looked around him once just like when it was looking at Udoze’s shabby car, “You look just like a wretch right now.”
A wretch…
It was a word that he hadn’t heard for a very long time.
Rikulab’s eyes instantly turned sharp, and the killing intent that had poured out of him instantly caused the indoor temperature to fall by several degrees. However, neither Cillin and the gray cat reacted to it much.
“What, I exposed your shame and now you wanna silence a cat? Your sir cat can take out one of you a paw each…”
Before the gray cat could finish, a surgical knife plunged deep into the cabinet right next to its paw.
Cillin lifted his head to take a look. Then he refocused his attention back on the book.
The few strands of hair above the gray cat’s eyebrows shook once, and with a humph the gray cat lifted its seemingly meaty paws, extended its claws and cut the surgical knife from top to bottom into ribbons as if it was cutting tofu. If there wasn’t a biting noise, if Rikulab didn’t know what kind of material the surgical knife was made of, he absolutely would’ve suspected that the knife was made out of wood.
The gray cat did not stop after it had cut the knife into ribbons. As if it was trying to establish its power, the gray cat lifted the the remains of the knife with a paw, opened its mouth and bit it. It ate the knife bit by bit as if it was crunching a biscuit. When it had fully eaten the knife, it mumbled to itself, “This tastes bad. Pooh.”
A metallic ball was spat out of its mouth. It looked like it was melted in high temperature and made into a ball.
Rikulab’s pupils shrank as he felt a sudden wave of powerlessness wash through him. No wonder he had lost to this cat; it wasn’t something that a man could match against at all.
He sighed. He knew that he was not the cat’s match in terms of martial force, and even if he were to use drugs, Rikulab had no confidence that he would be able to win against them. The living room was filled with drugs, and there were several types that were colorless and odorless. Anyone who stayed here for long would eventually show some symptoms. However, both Cillin and the cat did not look unwell at all despite having stayed here for quite some time.
This was the first time in many years Rikulab felt as powerless as today. A day earlier he was defeated by this cat in a dance battle, and now he could not even beat it through martial force. Even the chemical compounds he was confident in had no effects at all.
What Rikulab did not realise was that his chemical compounds weren’t actually useless. It’s just that Cillin and the gray cat’s constitution was just too special and hence, would not react to his drugs at all.
The gray cat grew angry after seeing Rikulab staying silent and not speaking. It would appear that it had to change its tactics. Clearing its throat pretentiously, the gray cat said, “Rikulab Fan. You came to Planet Acallela eighteen years ago. Although I do not know what kind of relationship you share with the planetary government, it must be a good one. If you are worried that they will cause you trouble and prevent you from leaving, I can take care of this for you.”