Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 162 – Cat Dad’s Crown of Shapeshifting

‘Uh-oh.’

Xiaomao concentrated on his chameleon skill and flew away from the red hexagon tile in the sky.

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

Ten yellowish balls came out from the palace. Two of them hit the red hexagon tile of the force field and exploded while the other eight curved and chased after Xiaomao.

Xiaomao looked back. He fetched several gold coins from his inventory and tossed them at the chasing light, treating them as flairs of fighter jets.

The magic missiles hit the gold coins, and five of them exploded. However, three still pursued after Xiaomao.

He snorted at the incoming projectile and rushed closer to the barrier again. Then, he ordered his flying sword to stop.

The light missiles came for him. But before it could reach Xiaomao, he kept the flying sword in his inventory and free-fall to the ground.

BOOM

BOOM

The remaining three missiles hit the barrier.

As for Xiaomao, he maintained his camouflage ability. Although it was risky falling from a hundred meters in height, Xiaomao decided to trust his cat nature.

Xiaomao extended his tentacles and spread them like a spider. A few seconds later, the tips of his tentacles hit the ground first, serving as a cushion.

<strong>- 5,700 Damage!</strong>

Xiaomao felt the sharp pain in his tentacle legs. Even though they didn’t have bones, he still felt like he had broken one or two of his legs.

“FIND THE INTRUDER!”

Xiaomao heard the yell of the assuming emperor. He climbed the nearby tree and hid in it.

A few seconds later, knights swarmed the place where Xiaomao had fallen. They came with hunting dogs, mages, and their elite squads.

The black hounds barked and guided a tamer near Xiaomao’s tree. It sniffed around and looked up. Then, it scratched the tree and kept on barking.

The knights looked up and mages sent light balls toward the top of the tree, checking what the dog was barking at.

On the tree was a white cat – A literal cat, not a catopus. It hissed at the dog and shivered in fear.

The knights unsheathed their weapons and glared at the cat. However, when they found the cat’s name and level, they glared at the hounds and cursed the tamer.

“Useless mutts! Are you sure these are your best hunting dogs?!”

“T-This never happened! There must be something wrong!”

“Whatever! We’ll search the perimeter! Ignore the dogs!”

The knights and mages dispersed and searched for the trapped intruder in the barrier. Meanwhile, the tamers pulled the leashes and dragged his hunting dogs away from the tree.

While he was at it, he looked at the cat.

<strong>White Cat, Level 1</strong>

The tamer tilted his head in confusion. He scratched his head.

“Was there a cat in the garden before? Whose cat is this?”

.

Xiaomao sweated profusely and stared at the barking dogs. He couldn’t stop trembling as it was a close call.

The little white cat slowly reverted into a catopus. Xiaomao’s level and his name returned to normal.

He patted the crown on his head and let out a sigh.

‘Motherhumper. That was too close. I almost got caught.’

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<strong>Crown of Shapeshifting</strong>

This crown was created from the blood of a mimic king. It contains the essence of the mimic and the ability to shape-shift into any material or form as long as the wearer can visualize the new form accurately.

<strong>Item Type:</strong> Accessory

<strong>Rarity:</strong> Rare

<strong>Requirement:</strong> Level 150

<strong>Effects:</strong> Upon wearing this crown, the wearer gains the following benefits;

– Increase INT by 1,000.

– Increase WIS by 500

– Once a day, you can shape-shift into any object, animal, or person that you know. Your name and level also change according to the creature or object that you turn into. The effect lasts five minutes.

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It looked like an accessory that boosted his stats at glance, but it came with a skill, which synergized with Xiaomao’s play style and combat style. As Xiaomao always avoided a direct confrontation or a battle of attrition, he relied heavily on stealth skills and initiatives in battles. Thus, a transformation ability came in handy.

Xiaomao calmly slipped down from the tree while he was invisible. Now that the dogs were gone, he crept away from the garden, approaching the force field barrier on foot.

Strangely, the barrier only blocked flying objects. When Xiaomao approached the barrier, his body passed through it without an issue.

While he was leaving, several knights from outside the palace rushed into the palace through the main road. They came with two 3-meter-tall giants.

As Xiaomao was not far from the main road, he peeked at their name, wondering who the reinforcement commanders were.

Yan Liang, Great General of the Left, Servant of Yuan Hua, Level 2,000

Wen Chou, Great General of the Right, Servant of Yuan Hua, Level 2,200

Xiaomao wryly laughed. He had guessed it, but they looked impressive with their titles and levels.

Before the regression, these guys cooperated with the Pangu Church in Cernun Hunt. They commissioned the players to kill Cernun and enslave mermaids, mermen, and the other sea folks.

After Cernun died, these generals backstabbed a group of players, who doubted Pangu Church’s motive after they had discovered Cernun and the mermaid kingdom’s hidden notes. After the players died, their respawn points were changed to prison, and none of them could get out.

‘Should I just assassinate their emperor and be done with it? Should I openly attack the Yuan Empire?’

Xiaomao had the urge to rampage and slaughter fellow players to gain stats, levels, and items. However, he reeled in his desire as he needed other players to evolve into superhumans as well.

‘I can’t protect the earth alone. I need other superhumans even if they serve the Pangu Church.’

Xiaomao turned away from the generals and went on his way. He pulled out his flying sword from his inventory and rode it back to his ship.

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.

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RUMBLE

BOOM

The ground below the church erupted, and the entire building sank into the ground, kicking the dust cloud up and spreading across the streets and nearby structures.

A silhouette shuttled from the dust and hovered in the night sky. When the silhouette stopped moving, the shadow of a witch with a pointy hat was illuminated by the moonlight.

Yuan Hua glared at the collapsed church and the sunken ground. She coughed and spat several mouthfuls of blood while her left hand pressed on her abdomen, covering a deep wound.

She took a deep breath. Then, the left hand shone, casting healing magic on herself.

A few seconds later, Yuan Hua’s HP recovered from 40% to 70%. Then, her HP bar gradually filled up.

“I hate that stupid chant and void spells. Goddammit! Why am I have to take care of that cockroach?!”

Yuan Hua turned around and flew back to the palace in the castle. She didn’t bother with the collapsed building anymore.

Under the collapsed debris, a steel dragon-like lion was laying on a pool of blood on his stomach. He kept panting and muttering.

“Nihil… Nihil… Nihil…”

Every time Taotie muttered, his HP bar increased by 5%. However, his HP slowly decreased because of the loss of blood.

Taotie didn’t panic. He opened his mouth and chewed on the steel bars, tiles, marble fragments, cement, and random objects. His fangs crushed everything while his saliva melted the material in his mouth.

DING

<Your stomach is full.>

<You have activated the skill, Gluttonous Vitality.>

<Your satiety bar is depleted.>

<Your Max HP has permanently increased by 10,000.>

<Your HP has recovered by 100,000,000.>

Taotie didn’t bother with the game notification messages. He kept on eating tasteless materials that buried him and slowly crawled to a safe area underground.

His crushed legs regenerated, and the wounds were sealed. The bleeding finally ceased.

Seeing that his HP no longer decreased, Taotie looked around and assessed the situation. He snorted.

“Bitch, you’re a thousand years too early to fight me! As long as I have something to eat, you can’t kill me! Hmph! NIHIL!”

A dark portal appeared in front of Taotie, and a dead deer was tossed out. The monster lion swallowed it whole. Then, he began digging the underground soil by eating dirt, rocks, and sand.

“NOM-NOM-NOM! NIHIL!!”

DING

<Your stomach is full.>

<You have activated the skill, Gluttonous Vitality.>

<Your satiety bar is depleted.>

<Your Max HP has permanently increased by 10,000.>

<Your HP has recovered by 100,000,000.>

While eating, Taotie mixed the disgusting dirt with dead animals that he had kept in his void inventory, using their rotten blood and flesh as the seasoning. While he was at it, his HP continued to increase.

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When Xiaomao got back to his ship, he discovered that everybody had been gathering around an old man in a priest robe.

Xiaomao recognized the old man. He rushed down and welcomed the senior.

“Senior Mimir! Where were you, munya?!”

Mimir, the former archbishop, stopped talking to Lucky and turned to Xiaomao.

“Oh, welcome back, child. By the way, that stupid Taotie is quite injured, and I was planning to rescue the fool. Do you mind if I go back and forth before I talk to you?”

Xiaomao was surprised. He opened the party menu and saw the blinking HP bar of Taotie.

“Err, is he in danger?”

Mimir nodded, “I sensed the presence of the witch princess. Did you run into her?”

“Who’s the witch princess, munya?”

Although Xiaomao knew about Yuan Hua, he wanted to hear it from Mimir’s mouth. After all, the intel from before the regression and this life might be different as many things had been changed.

“Yuan Hua, the sister of Emperor Yuan Shaoqing. She’s… a former colleague. She’s also an apostle of Pangu.”