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.