Chapter 337 - 279: The Death of the Big Orange Cat

"...You!" The Two-headed Scale People glared at the Fifth Apostle, at the face of Hu Kaikang. His lips moved, eyes filled with rage, doubt, and confusion. He clearly couldn’t understand why Fifth had done these things, why he had saved him...

A thousand words were stuck in his throat, yet he didn’t know what to say.

"Well then!" Fifth stretched his limbs and strode outside as if nothing were wrong. He was far too calm and composed, as if he were just heading out to go fishing...

"Where are you planning to go?" Chu Bamboo suddenly asked.

"Going back, of course!" Fifth’s voice was nonchalant. He turned his head to glance at Chu Bamboo, his expression unwavering. "I’m still carrying a portion of the Power of Destiny! It might not do much... but it’s something, right?"

"..." Chu Bamboo was silent for several breaths before asking again, "Why did you save us? And why are you going to throw your life away now? You... this Clone... if you were outside, even if your main body died, you should be able to live on through this body, right?"

The scene fell into silence.

Zhang Hai said nothing. The wings on his back waved gently, and a hazy light spread out... cutting off the refugees, Priests, nuns, and even Zhang Xu... from Chu Bamboo and the others who were now conversing...

Eleven was still in a state of shock, his worldview shattered, muttering incessantly to himself.

But thoughts surged in the mind of the Two-headed Scale People. He stared at Chu Bamboo in astonishment, keenly sensing that... compared to their utter confusion, it seemed... Chu Bamboo knew what was happening? Or at least part of it?!

"...Come on! Do me a favor and don’t provoke my killing intent, all right?" The Fifth Apostle spread his arms, staring at Chu Bamboo with pupils slightly constricted. At that moment, he truly looked as if he’d been possessed by a cat, his eyes exactly like those of a feline that had locked onto its prey.

"It was hard enough for me to stick to the principle of protecting ’my world’ and save you all! Considering our history... even if you’re a traitor, I wasn’t planning on killing you! But if you’re going to push it this far, then I’ll just have to..."

"What traitor?" Chu Bamboo retorted.

Waves stirred in his heart. In that moment, he was gaining a relatively clear understanding of the Cat of Destiny...

’This cat really is a damn jerk! Is she evil? Well, she’s like a lot of house cats—a real piece of work... But it seems that because of some issue with the God who raised her, she was also instilled with... the principle of protecting "her world" at all costs when faced with outside enemies...’

For some reason, Chu Bamboo found this a little familiar, and he struggled to keep a straight face. ’Wait, is she Homelander?’

’Okay... strictly speaking, this cat is actually a little better than Homelander! Maybe you could say... she’s somewhat reliable when there’s an external enemy. When there’s no external enemy, she *becomes* the external enemy...’

"Didn’t you throw in your lot with ’that guy’ and bait me to come here?" The Fifth Apostle licked his lips, and as he spoke, a chilling killing intent gradually rose in his eyes.

"First, I have no idea what that thing is!" Chu Bamboo said calmly. "Second, I only thought of you! You’re the one who jumped over here yourself... It has nothing to do with me. Third, if it’s you, possessing the past memories of the Fifth Apostle, you should understand... that guy appearing out of nowhere! That’s all on you... and it has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

Chu Bamboo unhesitatingly shifted the blame... No, it really was the fault of the bunch in front of him. Chu Bamboo spoke with the conviction of the righteous; he truly was innocent!

He just wanted to quietly build up his union’s power in the redevelopment district, strengthen himself a bit on the side, and then wait for a future opportunity to let Daqian taste the iron fist of the workers... Wasn’t this all their doing? It had jack-squat to do with him!

"...I guess so!" Fifth scratched his head. After a moment of recollection, a look of dawning realization appeared on his face.

Then, the scene fell silent.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

"Going back now... won’t decide anything! You might as well talk to me." Chu Bamboo spoke expressionlessly, and to prevent the Haki Cat from throwing a tantrum, he offered it an out. "In a certain past, I once told you, ’I am the one chosen by God,’ and then you killed me without hesitation! Looking at it now, the chosen one is clearly you, you damn cat..."

Eleven: "???"

Lost in a daze and questioning his existence, Eleven was suddenly jolted awake. He heard the keywords—God, chosen—and stared intently at Chu Bamboo as if grasping at a final, life-saving straw.

Fifth fell silent. He eyed Chu Bamboo, his expression a mixture of shock and suspicion as thoughts raced through his mind... He had a vague inkling of what was going on.

"You should understand my special connection with Nuwa, right?" Chu Bamboo continued, seriously adding another weight to the scales.

Fifth was silent for a moment before saying in a slightly hoarse voice, "Ask away. I can tell you what I’m able to answer."

"That thing..."

Fifth cut Chu Bamboo off. "You don’t need to ask about the enemy! You’re too weak... just hearing its name could kill you. If the name alone is like that... never mind the details!"

"..." A muscle in Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched. After a moment of thought, he asked again, "If I went back to the crack of dawn this morning, what method could I use to stop this disaster..."

A look of clear astonishment appeared on Fifth’s face. His lips moved, and he extended his claw... finger.

"...You could try to assimilate my Destiny," Chu Bamboo added with extreme calm. "You’ve tried it before, after all! You can think about... how that turned out."

Zhang Hai: "???"

’The earlier parts of the conversation... he could barely understand some of it! But now... why was he getting more and more confused the longer he listened? What the hell are you guys talking about?!’

The two heads of the Two-headed Scale People glanced at each other. They seemed to vaguely realize something, but they didn’t dare say a word.

Eleven was still muttering "God" and "chosen," staring blankly at Chu Bamboo, looking like a simpleton who would still be drooling even if he were cured.

"...You’re unbelievable!" Fifth ground his teeth and finally gave up. His face darkened as he said, "Don’t be a smart-ass, just think of the name! Do you have a way to seal memories... If not, I can—"

"It’s pointless," Chu Bamboo interrupted. "If the Big Orange Cat hadn’t come, that person would have been you! I’m talking about you... Fifth Apostle! Do you get it? That cat, whether she came or not, is completely irrelevant... Even if she hadn’t come, this still would have happened!"

The Fifth Apostle’s pupils constricted once more.

The area fell into a dead silence once again.

Suddenly, the Fifth Apostle looked to the south. He remained silent for a very long time as a flicker of sorrow gradually appeared in his eyes. His lips trembled.

"’I’ am dead!"

"!!!" Chu Bamboo’s expression changed drastically. ’The Big Orange Cat is dead? How is that possible!’

"Well, then." Fifth looked at his arm, which was gradually being stained a deep black. He let out a long sigh. "I’ll open a path for you in a moment. You all need to run..."

"You..."

"Don’t ask." Fifth shook his head, his tone matter-of-fact. "If it were just a simple death of the main body, I might still be a chance for it to be resurrected... But the main body had everything usurped!"

"My special connection to the main body... means that in the future, that guy will inevitably hunt me down! Rather than let that happen... I’d rather die a glorious death in battle."

An untamable pride flashed in Fifth’s eyes. Only now did Chu Bamboo realize that the man before him was truly worthy of being an incarnation of the Big Orange Cat... he truly embodied the spirit of choosing a glorious death over a disgraceful life!

In response, Chu Bamboo simply continued to press, "You still haven’t given me the answer."

Fifth gave Chu Bamboo a profound look, then abruptly shot his palm forward. A dazzling white light tore through the black mist, carving out a narrow path. "Go..."

Chu Bamboo frowned, watching as Zhang Hai, after a brief silence, made his decision. He gave the small group a deep look, bowed profoundly to Fifth, then turned to call the numerous refugees, Priests, and nuns... he organized them into a queue and had them begin to sneak away!

Gradually, only Chu Bamboo, Eleven, and the Two-headed Scale People remained where they stood...

"...The answer!" Seeing that Chu Bamboo wasn’t leaving, Fifth seemed to have confirmed something. A glimmer of realization appeared in his eyes, and he let out a breath. "The answer is... before that event is initiated... kill me!"

Chu Bamboo looked stunned for a moment as thoughts raced through his mind. He suddenly stepped forward and grasped Fifth’s hand. "...Don’t struggle."

As he began the Reproduction of Fifth’s Divine Techniques, Chu Bamboo asked cautiously, "So, with my current strength... how do I kill you? Just the answer, not the process... Huo Qiming can’t kill you! I have a way to contact the Bright Pope, but he won’t come! Or maybe... you have some other..."

"..." A muscle in Fifth’s eye twitched. ’Discussing how to kill myself with Chu Bamboo... how weird is this?’ He frowned deeply, thought for a long moment, and sighed, "You can’t kill me!"

"?" Chu Bamboo stared at Fifth with dead-fish eyes.

"There’s no way!" Fifth shrugged, feeling a headache coming on. ’This is the first time my own power and invincibility have given me a headache! Ah, how lonely it is to be invincible...’

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, his expression turning ugly as he looked out into the mist...

Footsteps suddenly rang out from within the black mist, clear and drawing closer, step by step.

Chu Bamboo suddenly felt like he’d seen a ghost, the hair on his arms standing on end. "...Damn it! Forget how to kill you for a second... just tell me, if I die now and see you again in a little bit, how can I earn your complete trust...?"

"...How could I ever completely trust someone like you!"

"Shut up!!!" Chu Bamboo brutally cut Fifth off, almost growling through gritted teeth, "...Speak!"

"...Gaining my trust is unlikely! My memories were sealed before. But gaining my main body’s trust... there’s a chance. You can say, ’Poop Scooper’ and ’Cat Lord’." Fifth offered the two phrases.

Chu Bamboo froze for a moment, because those two phrases were, unexpectedly, both in Mandarin.

He realized something and gave Fifth a complicated look.

"...However!" Fifth hesitated, then finally said, "Those two phrases! They’re actually a secret known only to me... but even if you say them, ’I’ won’t necessarily give you absolute trust... because it’s also possible that I’ll just use Destiny’s assimilation on you... Also, if you really know this and survive the crisis... it’s possible... that I’ll become the biggest threat... You’d better not trust me too much!"

Fifth was also a person in this moment... A man’s words are wise on his deathbed, and a cat’s, it seems, are true. Everything he said was the honest truth...

However...

Fifth didn’t have time to say any more.

The next instant.

A bizarre black shadow appeared within the black mist.

Chu Bamboo caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and his body went rigid. His head throbbed as if it were about to explode... no, perhaps it really was exploding...

Because he had triggered the reset!

In the next instant, time began to reverse.