Pet King

In the night, Vladimir ran ahead at a brisk pace. He could have jumped over the wall and cut corners, but the yellow and white cat had just eaten too much, and sometimes it could not run, let alone climb the wall.

“Little devil! Hurry up! Don’t dilly-dally! We have to work hard to do this job. If you can’t even overcome these small difficulties, how can we do big things?”

Even though it had been planning to bring the yellow and white cat to see the world, Vladimir gave it a stricter requirement, treating it like a child soldier—a soldier that was ready for war, not a pitiful stray cat.

Before, when the yellow and white kitten had slopes and obstacles that it could not climb, Vladimir would pull it, push it, or simply take it by the back of its neck and put it down. But from now on, such preferential treatment would cease.

Vladimir must let it know that this line of work was full of hardships, unimaginable difficulties, and potential enemy encirclement and suppression. Choosing this meant a complete farewell to food, drink, and pleasure. Even if it succeeded, it would not have any material reward. All of the bloody sacrifices were for the equality and freedom of stray cats.

The yellow and white kitten showed great perseverance. No matter how rough the road ahead was, it always tried to follow Vladimir without complaining or saying that it was tired, unless it lost sight of Vladimir’s whereabouts. Whenever it succeeded in overcoming obstacles, it always won Vladimir’s praise.

The cats walked, one in front and the other behind, leaving the crowded main road and picking out secluded paths as they walked farther away from the pet shop.

Later on, the yellow and white kitten really could not walk anymore, and Vladimir directly put it on its back, increasing its speed and walking again.

They came to a semi-new residential area, and as soon as Vladimir jumped up the wall of the courtyard, it was alerted to what was staring at him in the darkness.

An unknown civet cat came out of the shadows, vigilant. It stared at Vladimir and the yellow-and-white kitten on his back. It suddenly raised a forepaw and called, “Meow meow meow meow meow!”

Vladimir also raised its forepaw and answered, “The demon kitten of Pagoda Town! Is everyone here already?”

The secret signal was correct, and the civet cat instantly relaxed, turning its head to face the deepest parts of the residential area.

“Alright, then I’ll go in. You should stand on the last shift and join us when you are sure that no other cats are present.”

Vladimir understood its meaning and gave the order before it carried the yellow and white kitten to the meeting spot that had been set beforehand.

If Zhang Zian had been here, he would’ve been able to recognize that this was Liu Wenying and Zhao Qi’s residential area.

When Vladimir had come last time, while Zhang Zian went upstairs, he stayed downstairs and chose the route. He ran to a separate two-story building, which was the property office building of the community. At night, people were gone, and the building was empty, leaving only a few security guards on duty.

The security guards ate instant noodles while chatting. They patrolled the neighborhood every hour to deal with errands and came back to eat instant noodles and chit-chat. They never imagined that, just above their heads, a historic event would be unfolding.

“Hold on to me tightly,” Vladimir instructed the yellow and white kitten on its back. It climbed up to the roof along the drainage pipe.

More than a dozen bright eyes looked at it at the same time. They were of different colors, but the common denominator was that they were full moons, all cats’ eyes.

Vladimir gently shook off the yellow and white kitten on his back and lifted up one of his forepaws. “The King of Heaven meows!”

The stray cats raised their forepaws at the same time and answered, “Meow meow meow meow meow!”

The young security guard downstairs had just put a mouthful of instant noodles into his mouth. It felt a little hot, and he spit it out and blew on the noodles, looking up doubtfully. “Hey, did you hear that? Was there a cat meowing just now?”

A veteran security guard laughed and said, “A cat meowing? Is your hearing all right? Didn’t Liu Yonghui kill all the stray cats in this community? Where would there be cats? At most, someone who owns a cat let it run out of the house, so don’t worry about it.”

“Speaking of Liu Yonghui, what is that boy doing these days? Why didn’t he come out?” the former asked curiously. “Didn’t he used to wander around the neighborhood all day with a bat?”

“He, ah… It’s said that he was scratched by a stray cat and is now wounded at home.” The old security guard lit a cigarette and sneered, “If you walk by the river often, how can you not wet your shoes? If you think about it, if the rabbit is in a hurry, it would kick the eagle, not to mention the cat. He beat cats all day, and the cats scratched his face, which is karma!”

“Is that right? I used to want to take over the beating of cats,” the young security guard said. “It’s an easy and simple job. It’s easy money. But Liu Yonghui has a good relationship with the property management group, and he took it first. Now that he’s injured, isn’t there anybody doing the work?”

The old security guard heard his implication and changed his face. “Listen to this old brother’s advice,” he said. “This job must not be accepted! Cats are evil animals! They are especially vengeful! That Liu Yonghui has harmed so many cats. This is the cats’ collective revenge on him! I heard that several cats suddenly appeared together that day and launched an attack against him. If it had been just one cat, how could he be scratched until he had blood all over his face?”

The young security guard felt somewhat guilty and laughed, “I was just joking, so don’t take it too seriously.”

Looking at the time, the old security guard put on his brimmed hat and asked, “Have you finished eating yet? It’s time to patrol. Otherwise, when the property management group watches the recording tomorrow, they will find that we didn’t patrol on time and have to deduct our salary—the salary is not much to begin with. How can we stand constant deduction?”

“Ugh! What a pain in their eggs! If you get such a small salary, even if you really find something illegal and criminal, you have to just ignore it. It’s not worth risking your life for!” After complaining, the young security guard quickly sucked all the noodles into his mouth, drank all the soup, and felt sweat at the tip of his nose as his whole body warmed up.

“Let’s go!”

The two of them took up their flashlights and left the security office.

As the two bright flashes of light grew farther and farther away, Vladimir’s eyes slowly swept across the faces of more than a dozen stray cats. It knew most of them, but there were a few he did not recognize.

“Sorry I’m late. I was delayed by this little devil.” Vladimir motioned to the yellow and white kitten next to him and continued, “Some of you may be meeting me for the first time. My name is Vladimir. Nice to meet you all! Those here are from all over the world, gathered here for the same purpose. I sincerely thank you for coming!

“I announce that Binhai City’s first Stray Cat Congress is now open!”