"D*mn it!" Zhao Yao exclaimed as Hanako's text flashed in his head. Immediately, he threw his hands over his face, suppressing a gasp, "This is bad. I've completely forgotten about Lightning and left him there in the plains! I even removed the extradimensional gate which I had erected there."

"Calm down … where did I leave Lightning at?"

Zhao Yao's hands tightened its grip on his head. Perspiration continued to run down his spine as he remarked, "Hmph … Pallas's cat king was the one who brought me to the plains but I've completely forgotten where it is!"

Before Zhao Yao could even summon any memory of Lightning's location, his phone began to vibrate again. It was another message from Hanako, "How's Lightning doing? Has he gotten fatter? How heavy is he? Is he sick of your food already? Remember to reward him with some canned food."

"Hmph …" Zhao Yao's fingers trembled as it ran across the screen, "Lightning is doing really well. He's at least two pounds heavier than before. I've never seen that silly smile of his disappeared from his face."

"Oh, is that so? I'm excited to hear that. By the way, is he near you? Can we do a video chat?"

Zhao Yao's nails began to sink into his own skin as his chest tightened with fear, "D*mn it, how am I supposed to do a video chat without him? I need to get him back ASAP, but how am I supposed to do it without his address? Maybe it's possible to navigate my way there with Amaps 1 ?"

Just when he thought that the situation couldn't get any worse, a video chat request by Hanako had lit up his screen.

Immediately, Zhao Yao slammed his finger against the reject b.u.t.ton. However, Hanako was relentless as another video chat requested popped up. Once again, Zhao Yao slammed against that same b.u.t.ton.

Finally, Hanako gave up and followed up with a text message, "Zhao Yao, what's happening? Why aren't you answering my video call? Did something happen to Lightning?

"I'm dead." Zhao Yao mumbled as he watched the deluge of message flooding his phone. Drops of sweat acc.u.mulated on his forehead began to drip against the table.

After three whole minutes of pointless waiting, Hanako finally received the video chat request from Zhao Yao and thought, "What the h.e.l.l is that guy up to?" She tapped on the answer b.u.t.ton and was immediately brought to a beautiful gra.s.s field. She could even see a Pallas's cat hiding within the cracks of a gravel. The cat was staring suspiciously at its surroundings.

Hanako was taken aback by this scene, "Zhao Yao, you guys went to the gra.s.sland?"

"Yup, that's right." Zhao Yao continued to clarify, "You do know that it has been Lightning's dream to run freely on the gra.s.slands since he was a baby. Hence, I decided to make his dream come true."

Hanako continued to observe the Pallas's cat in the video and was shocked beyond words, "Huh, is Lightning trying to catch that rat? When did he suddenly turn so 'wild'?"

With a few quick strides, the Pallas's cat had captured the rat in its mouth, with its blood dripping down its lips. Hanako hesitated for a split second before asking, "Lighting knows how to hunt? I mean he didn't even like to eat raw food in the past."

Zhao Yao immediately explained, "The gra.s.slands are the most conducive learning environment for a cat. They learn to grow in a safe yet realistic place. Since you left us, Lightning had turned into a potent hunting machine."

Hanako was not completely convinced, "But why does Lighting look so skinny from the video? I feel like he has become significantly skinnier since he turned into a hunting machine."

"He's not skinny. He has simply replaced his fats with lean muscle." Zhao Yao continued, "That explains his increase in weight! He's no longer that domesticated cat which only knows how to open his mouth for food. He is now the king of the gra.s.slands, running freely beneath the beautiful blue sky. He even has his own empire now."

Hanako's mouth finally curved into a smile as she nodded her head with delight, "Thank you, Zhao Yao. Originally, Lightning was a useless fool. I thought he would spend his entire life lazing at home. Every day, he only knows to turn on that stupid computer and sniff that disgusting catmint. I thought that he was bound to die on the sofa.

I cannot imagine just how much he has grown since he left me. He has already turned into an independent cat that can survive on his own. I am truly touched."

Zhao Yao answered, "Yes, Hanako. It's only natural for cats to grow and mature; Lightning is no exception. It's time to let him go and allow him to roam freely in his natural habitat."

Just when Zhao Yao thought that the debacle was over, a few shadows zoomed past their screen. A few wolves had appeared out of nowhere and pounced straight on top of that defenseless Pallas's cat. The cat was shredded to pieces and left to die in his own pool of blood, right before Hanako's eyes.

"Ah!"

Hanako's haunting scream reverberated in Zhao Yao's ears as he immediately stopped the video on his computer.

Hanako was barely able to breathe as she asked, "What just happened Zhao Yao? Was Lightning eaten by those disgusting wolves? Wait… Zhao Yao!"

Before Hanako could even finish her statement Zhao Yao had already ended the video call. This was proceeded by Hanako's non-stop message which turned his phone all hot. It had been a long time since Zhao Yao last felt so nervous.

"D*mn it." Zhao Yao began to scratch frantically against the back of his head, "Why does it have to be this particular species? If not, I could have just bought it off any pet store's shelf and gave it to Hanako."

Meanwhile, a new mission had appeared on his mission panel.

Mission: Find the Super Pallas's cat

Objective: Find the Super Pallas's cat, Lightning

Reward: 100 experience points

Punishment: Nil

"What? Just 100 experience points? I guess it's better than nothing."

Left with no options, Zhao Yao brought Roly Poly along and boarded the next available flight to that mysterious gra.s.sland. Once there, he opened his mouth and realized Sphynx Cat for this search and rescue mission.

Currently, Sphynx Cat was executing a one finger handstand push up. In order to make this already difficult exercise even more strenuous, Sphynx Cat even attached a 600kg dumbbell to his tail. If he had activated the 10X gravitation force of the belly, the weight would have increased to 6000kg!

Suddenly, the concrete floor lying beneath his head had turned into gra.s.s and soil. Sphynx Cat's jaw went slack when he noticed it before complaining, "What happened? Can't you see that I'm in the midst of an important training?"

Roly Poly, which was perched on top of Zhao Yao's shoulder, couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the monstrous dumbbell attached to Sphynx Cat's tails. It looked more like tank gun than a dumbbell! Roly Poly barely managed to bit back a scream as he thought, "I can't believe that Sphynx Cat has evolved to this stage. Can he even be considered a cat?"

On the other hand, Zhao Yao was completely indifferent to his actions. After all, he had been observing his training progress day in, day out. Zhao Yao explained, "Lightning is lost. Hence, I would like to trouble you to help find him."

"Tsk," Sphynx Cat scoffed as he leaped into the air with a graceful somersault. Because of the 600kg dumbbell still attached to his tail, the mere impact created to execute this move was enough to leave two mini pits on the ground.

Zhao Yao stared at Sphynx Cat's 'masterpiece' and asked, "Do you need me to help you return the dumbbells to the belly?"

"No! I haven't even met my 20,000 weighted handstand push up target for the day!" Suddenly, he went on all fours and started taking a few deep breaths, "There is nothing here. Don't tell me that you expect me to comb the entire gra.s.slands for him?"

"Nothing? But I remember that I left him somewhere here." Zhao Yao began to scratch his head in despair, "Can you help me search the surrounding area?"

"What a drag. Just wait here for me." Sphynx Cat instructed before resuming his handstand position, with the dumbbell attached to his tail. In that peculiar position, he began to sprint at a speed which was even faster than Zhao Yao with 'five is better than four' activated.

Zhao Yao could not help but sigh as he watched Sphynx Cat disappeared off into the horizons, "Roly Poly, just look at that."

Just when Zhao Yao thought that Sphynx Cat would be gone for some time, he had already returned with an exciting piece of news, "I've found him."

"So fast?" Zhao Yao couldn't believe his ears.

Sphynx Cat hesitated for a moment and struggled to piece his reply, "You'll understand when you see it."

Tagging behind Sphynx Cat, Zhao Yao ran for a few kilometers before arriving at a humongous statue of a cat-man hybrid. The head looked exactly like a Pallas's cat. Beside this magnificent statue stood an even larger pyramid.

"What the h.e.l.l?" Zhao Yao shook his head in disbelief, "What has that stupid cat been up to?"