Chapter 1196: The Pride of Cats
"Hey..." The Vermilion Bird squirmed in Song Qi's hand for a moment, then grinned. "Not bad, you've got some schemes after all."
"Thanks." Song Qi found that his entire body was immobilized, as if encased in cement.
The Vermilion Bird's "Soul Steal" was far more powerful than anyone else's. Fortunately, his voice was now coming out through that ugly slit of flesh, or else if it were louder, others would hear.
"If I'd known you had this trick earlier... I'd rather have transferred to a stone right now, waited to make a comeback, and then toyed with you one by one until you died..."
Song Qi coldly eyed the mass of flesh. "That's why I kept my mouth shut about it until you fell into my trap. After all, you don't have that much time to think."
"You rats... 'Silence,' 'Twin Blossoms,' 'Teleport,' 'Flash Bang,' 'Lush Woods,' 'Overgrowth'—all bombarding me one after another..." The hoarse voice squeezed out the words with difficulty. "Every single one was a suicide attack. Don't any of you want to live?"
"Only suicide attacks catch you off guard, and you can't dodge them in time," Song Qi replied. "After all, even the other 'Divine Beasts' couldn't use suicide attacks to kill you, but we can."
"Kill me... naive... far too naive... Do you really think..."
Song Qi took a deep breath, then interrupted the Vermilion Bird's voice and said loudly, "Fifth Brother, this is over... Take the rest and leave."
Qian Wu pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
He knew that no matter the outcome, the Vermilion Bird had already become a lump of flesh.
He could no longer stop anyone, but as he looked at Song Qi's back, his expression gradually turned somber.
Song Qi had lied.
"Lao Qi... don't you want the brothers to see you off?"
"No need, Fifth Brother." Song Qi's voice was as normal as ever. "I'll go down to see them myself."
Qian Wu nodded, turned around to face the teleportation portal, and looked at Zhou Mo and Di Zhu. Both of them were wounded now—although Di Zhu had a new body, he still looked very weak.
How many of "Cat" had died in this battle?
Feng Shiqi, Wu Shisan, and Cui Shisi had their heads chopped off; Chou Ershi's body was severed; Yun Shijiu and Liu Ershi died in the final "Shift."
Their bodies slammed into Ning Shiba, who was already severely injured and nearly immobile. The three collided on the spot, with the sound of bone cracking echoing loudly.
Now even Ma Shier had been torn apart by "Explosive Combustion."
Excluding Officer Li and Su Shan, only five members of "Cat" remained alive.
Qian Wu, Saturday, Song Qi, Bai Jiu, Luo Shiyi.
But even Song Qi was about to leave the team.
Besides them... Zhou Mo had also lost all the "Extremists" who had followed him.
These two consecutive battles had nearly exhausted all the strength that "Cat" had accumulated over the years. But from the very beginning, "Cat" was established to kill the "Divine Beasts." Not having everyone die here was already a gain.
As for the plans after this... who cared?
That "Train" representing escape had never had anything to do with a group of "Cats" who didn't want to leave.
Cats naturally lingered on the edges of the city, standing on high walls and hiding in the darkness.
They never believed they needed to be taken care of or pitied by anyone.
They had a pride that outsiders never understood.
That pride would make them send away all their companions when they were about to die.
"I kind of miss my cat," Qian Wu murmured.
As everyone had expected, this battle against the Vermilion Bird was completely different from killing the Black Tortoise.
When both sides grasped each other's weaknesses, victory or defeat could be determined in an instant, and death came in just that single moment.
"Let's go," Qian Wu said to the others. "Xiao Jiu, stay with Eleven. He's in bad shape—no need to go in and die for nothing. Saturday and I will go."
"I..." Luo Shiyi sighed. "Fifth Brother... what kind of talk is that?"
"'Cat's' mission is over," Qian Wu said. "Dismissed on the spot."
When Luo Shiyi and Bai Jiu heard this, they felt a sudden emptiness in their hearts, as if life had suddenly lost its purpose.
"But there are still the 'Extremists'," Bai Jiu suddenly interjected, speaking to Zhou Mo. "Sixth Sister... you don't have your own squad anymore. Going in won't do much. Why not let Eleven and me serve as your squad?"
"Tch... Did you get a lump in your brain?" Zhou Mo slowly frowned upon hearing this.
"I can go too," Officer Li said. "Me, Su Shan, Bai Jiu, and Eleven—that's four people. We might be able to help you a little."
"You're all seriously sick..." Zhou Mo cursed angrily. "Not enough pain on your bodies?"
"Stop pushing back and forth at a time like this," Qian Wu said. "Don't make trouble for Lao Qi. Let's go quickly."
At this point, Zhou Mo noticed that Qian Wu's expression was also growing heavy. She could only stop talking. After exchanging a glance with Di Zhu, the group walked toward the teleportation portal.
At the last moment, they all turned back to look at Song Qi. He still seemed controlled by "Soul Steal" and never turned around.
Saturday pressed her hand against her ear hole and spoke softly into the distance:
"'Cat'... all missions complete."
Song Qi only relaxed when he heard the group enter the portal. He lowered his head again and looked at the minced flesh in his hand.
Good thing... they believed it.
Whether they really believed it or just pretended to...
They had all left.
"Song Qi... why do this to yourself?" the minced flesh laughed.
"What?"
"Normal people lying... isn't it usually to those who don't matter?" the flesh asked again. "You seem so close to them, and yet you still have to lie?"
"If I didn't lie, how could I send them away?" Song Qi said. "I said those words both for you to hear and for my teammates to hear, so that they could leave without worry."
"You know I won't truly die... right?" the Vermilion Bird laughed. "You're not crazy enough to treat a lump of flesh with eyes... like a bomb."
While Song Qi was unable to move, the Vermilion Bird slowly shifted his body and crawled up Song Qi's arm step by step.
"It doesn't matter," Song Qi replied. "Even if I can't do anything to you, this body of mine is already on a countdown to explosion."
"So... you're going to blow me up with yourself?" The lump of flesh laughed even more happily, as if its whole body was trembling.
"Hard to say," Song Qi replied. "Next, I might release the most powerful 'Explosive Combustion' in history—powerful enough to blow your reinforced body to pieces."
"Ha..." The Vermilion Bird climbed step by step onto Song Qi's shoulder. "If the explosion of that body would kill me... I'd already be dead when that middle-aged man exploded just now..."
He crawled slimy and sticky toward Song Qi's mouth, then dived right in.