Chapter 154: Cat and Mouse Game — Backing Down

Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Cat and Mouse Game — Backing Down

Watching the Lumina Ribbon and the countless pitch-black feathers about to crash down simultaneously, the leading cat shuddered. No longer caring about his dignity, he panicked and yelled loudly:

"Experts! Wait... wait a minute! I have something to say!"

Hearing this, Mouse No. 16 cast her eyes downward and snapped her fingers. The tens of thousands of black feathers hung suspended in mid-air, but they did not dissipate in the slightest.

Understanding her intention, Jeremy swung the ribbon out, hog-tying all three of them.

Knowing they stood no chance of resisting, the three cats didn’t even bother to struggle.

Seeing Mouse No. 16 remain silent, Jeremy spoke on her behalf: "Thirty seconds."

This was a countdown.

"..."

Why did they have to mess with exactly these two...

Cat No. 2 swallowed nervously: "As long as you two don’t make a move, not only will we let you go, but we’ll also point you directly to the clue for the elemental fragment!"

"Let us go?" Mouse No. 16 sneered. "Who is sparing whom right now?"

Cat No. 5 hastily corrected: "No, no, no, I mean using the clue in exchange for our freedom, I meant nothing else."

Resting one hand on her chin, Mouse No. 16’s voice revealed neither joy nor sorrow; it was calm yet cold: "You don’t seem to be in a position to set conditions."

"..."

Though that sentence was arrogant, it was the truth, leaving the three of them tongue-tied.

Cat No. 2 now regretted chasing after these two to the very marrow of his bones. He suppressed his emotions, cautiously asking: "Then what do you two experts want?"

Mouse No. 16: "Besides the clue, hand over all your weapons and accumulated points."

In the case of voluntary transfer, weapons were allowed to change owners. Furthermore, they could be converted into points.

But everyone assumed that rule was written for the Cat faction.

No one expected the first to smoothly take advantage of this clause would be two Order Mice currently in a passive position.

The clue was one thing, it was only a single fragment; if they didn’t speak, those two would eventually dig it out anyway. But handing over all their weapons and accumulated points was disadvantageous for their entire faction.

The three were indescribably conflicted, now only wishing they could turn back time.

While they were still hesitating, the feathers suspended in mid-air suddenly descended a notch, shortening the already close distance. At the same time, the ribbon wrapped around their bodies tightened further, nearing the point of suffocation.

That blatant threat utterly shattered all hesitation.

Cat No. 2’s team spirit evaporated in a flash. He gritted his teeth and yelled: "We agree!"

The other two remained silent.

They couldn’t care about that much either. Nodding first meant suffering less, at least. Besides, if it were anyone else in this situation, they would probably... likely... perhaps... make the exact same choice.

The three cowardly cats ultimately chose to back down.

Only after they "voluntarily" transferred their weapons and accumulated points, along with spilling the elemental fragment clue, did Jeremy and Mouse No. 16 agree to untie them.

A moment later.

The three, having been cleaned out completely, wanted to cry but had no tears: "You two, um... can we leave now?"

Mouse No. 16 waved her hand slightly, gesturing for them to scram quickly.

Waiting until they disappeared from sight, she tossed the parchment roll in her hand to Jeremy.

He opened it to look.

It was the map of the underground city. The elemental fragment was displayed in the southern sector. The checkpoints that had to be crossed were also marked — a central forest, a disordered Ferris wheel, and a dark zone. The entire route would consume at least twenty hours.

Mouse No. 16: "Do you want to set off right away or find a place to rest?"

After memorizing the entire map, Jeremy returned it: "Rest first. My magic power is nearly depleted as well."

"Alright." Mouse No. 16 had no objections.

The next day.

After a full night’s rest, when the sky brightened, the two began their new exploration route.

Over a dozen hours later, they successfully found the first elemental fragment — the Light fragment.

The ten elemental fragments were: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light, and Dark. The latter five attributes were quite difficult to find, so this harvest could be considered a smooth start.

Meanwhile, in another location, Phoenix was enduring a "torture session" unprecedented in his life.

The Forest of Eternal Night had no daytime. Only night.

But the first twelve hours were considered peaceful, with occasional faint moonlight shining down. Reaching the twelve hours from midnight to dawn, the moon would vanish, leaving not a single ray of light. And the wandering spirits in the forest would fully awaken.

Therefore, anyone thrown in here would make the most of the first twelve hours to explore, and lie low from midnight to dawn.

Phoenix was no exception.

Right now, it was late at night.

Cat No. 1 — Lomita — walked a full circle around Phoenix, who was sitting leaning against a tree trunk.

She also hadn’t expected that this guy, in his capacity as a Chaos Cat, would be chased half to death by his own prey, an Order Mouse.

No matter how you thought about it, it was laughable. But that was the truth.

Seeing him quiet as a clam for hours on end, Lomita still hadn’t given up, repeating her question: "Hey, do you really not know how to speak?"

Dry branches burned and crackled. The flickering firelight illuminated their two faces.

Towards this Cat No. 1 who had indirectly saved him, Phoenix calmly nodded, but couldn’t be bothered to spit out another word.

Lomita felt bored and waved her hand: "Alright then. You stay here, I’m leaving first."

The exact moment she stepped out of the campfire’s illuminated zone, Phoenix slightly looked up, his voice tinged with a bit of sleepiness:

"...If you don’t want your body possessed by spirits, it’s best not to step out of my range."

"?"

Lomita whipped around, her face completely scrunching up: "Didn’t you not know how to speak? Are you playing me?"

"..."

Phoenix didn’t reply.

This was a tight-lipped guy. Perhaps even someone suffering from social anxiety.

Lomita completely understood at this moment. Her anger also inexplicably subsided.

Half-believing, half-doubting, she tried stepping out of the firelight zone — meaning out of Phoenix’s range.

As a result, the moment she left that boundary, countless spirits with hideous faces instantly lunged forward to bite and tear at her like madmen.

They howled incessantly. On their white bone fragments still clung bits of rotting flesh, their limbs were all mutilated, and dark red bloodstains spread across their bodies, looking chilling to the bone.

"!"

Lomita pumped magic power into her starting weapon — the Ethereal Flute — and swept it out forcefully, severing a pair of bloody hands that had just touched her arm.

After a bout of combat, she had to admit that the tight-lipped guy was right.

The numbers were too great. In a situation where neither Spirit Covenant skills nor Sacred Weapons could be used, even she couldn’t handle it.

Lomita had no choice but to retreat to her original spot.

Realizing she was approaching, Phoenix didn’t even bother to look up, merely quietly guarding the fire.

"..."

Lomita silently walked to the opposite position and sat down.

She had taken action to deal with the Order Mouse relentlessly clinging to him only because she wanted to complete the mandatory task for the three days. But no matter how you put it, she had still indirectly bailed him out.

So staying a little longer probably wasn’t too much to ask, right...