Free Web NovelChapter 124: Chapter 104: The Entire Tribe Seeks Refuge
Li Ziyu leaned back in his large chair, propping his head up with one hand. He raised an eyebrow when he heard what the Little Cat Girl said.
He could tell from her earlier actions that she wasn’t full. She still wanted to eat, but for some reason, she was forcing herself to stop.
"Why take it with you? Wouldn’t it be better to eat it here?" Li Ziyu asked, curious.
The Little Cat Girl looked down at the roasted meat in her hands and swallowed hard. "My sister... my sister hasn’t eaten yet," she whispered. "She’s very hungry, too. I want to give this to her."
So that’s why.
’When I stroked her hair earlier, I noticed it wasn’t smooth at all. Plus, she’s so light... This little one must be malnourished. It looks like her tribe isn’t doing too well.’
’A food shortage?’
’Isn’t this perfect? It’s the best time to get on their good side.’
Li Ziyu had always been looking forward to meeting Beast Girls. Now that an opportunity to make contact had presented itself, there was no way he’d let it pass.
He gestured again, and an Undead brought over two more units of meat, placing them in front of the Little Cat Girl.
"Go ahead and eat the roasted meat. Take this other meat back with you. It’s always best when it’s freshly roasted," Li Ziyu said, stroking the Little Cat Girl’s head.
In the end, the Little Cat Girl still didn’t eat the roasted meat. To her, food was precious. It was enough that her stomach was no longer growling; any extra food could be stored—dried into jerky and saved for later.
As the Little Cat Girl left the Undead Fortress, she took one last, deep look back. A strange feeling stirred in her heart. ’These Undead, or at least this Master of the Undead, are completely different from the rumors. They didn’t kill me, and they even gave me food.’
’Mm-hmm. The legends are all lies. These are good Undead.’
Meat in hand, the Little Cat Girl’s figure flashed as she dashed off into the Wasteland.
The moment she left, an Undead set out after her, attempting to track her to the Tribe’s location. But the Little Cat Girl was very fast; the Undead hadn’t followed for long before she gave it the slip, forcing it to return to the fortress.
The Skeleton Undead’s failure to keep up with the Little Cat Girl was within Li Ziyu’s expectations, but he still found it a bit regrettable.
’My Undead are still lacking in the Speed department. The Dark Skeletons are fast enough, but those things are unhinged. Without me there to keep them in check, sending one to track the Little Cat Girl probably wouldn’t result in information about her Tribe—it would bring back a Catman corpse.’
’I need to do more R&D. I’m lacking a mobile Combat Sequence; it’s a struggle just to tail one Catman.’
’But you have to take things one step at a time. Patience is a virtue. Once my "dear friends and beloved family" furiously gift me a wave of Soul Energy, everything will be just fine.’
’When it comes to rock-solid relationships, you really can’t beat my "dear friends and beloved family."’
With nothing better to do, Li Ziyu opened the forum to read battle reports and analyze intelligence. Sooner or later, he would leave this Wasteland to see the world beyond, and now was the time to start gathering information about the Otherworld.
Reading the battle reports was actually quite interesting, almost like reading a novel. He could learn about all sorts of different Races and their bizarre tactics; it was far from boring.
The hottest topic recently was that the Vampires and Werewolves were at it again, fighting with great gusto. The two Races were apparently mortal enemies. Interestingly, both Vampires and Werewolves had accepted Transmigrator City Lords into their ranks, and the City Lords of those Races had eagerly joined the fray.
Battle reports from both sides were flying everywhere, making a mess of the forums. There were even siege battles breaking out. The City Lords themselves were progressing rapidly; they were no longer limited to cold steel, as various firearms had begun to appear. Li Ziyu had been taken aback when he first read about it.
But on second thought, it made sense. After all, no one had ever said this was a world limited to cold weapons.
...
「Dora Catman Tribe.」
In the dead of night, a small figure ran in from the distance, deftly avoiding the simple traps meant to deter Wild Beasts, and arrived at the outskirts of the Tribe.
"Who’s there!"
With a low shout, two Night Guard Catmen emerged from the shadows, their Stone Spears aimed at the unexpected visitor.
"It’s me." The Little Cat Girl quickly stepped out of the darkness and into the moonlight so the two Night Guard Catmen could get a clear look at her.
"Oh, it’s you, Mengmeng. What are you doing back so late? Your sister, Meng Ni, has been looking for you. Hurry and get back." Seeing that she was one of them, the Night Guard Catmen lowered their Stone Spears, though they couldn’t help but scold her a bit.
Mengmeng nodded quickly. She wouldn’t dare talk back to the adult Catmen, so she replied obediently, "Okay, I’m heading home now."
One of the Night Guard Catmen’s nose twitched, and he finally noticed what Mengmeng was carrying. "What’s that you have? Meat! Where did you get meat?"
The Little Cat Girl Mengmeng quickly hid the meat behind her back, forcing a nervous laugh. "You... you’re seeing things. There’s no meat. How could I have meat?"
Watching her, the Night Guard Catman sighed. "No need to be so tense. We’re not going to steal food from a child. Now, hurry on back."
Even though the Night Guard Catman had said that, Mengmeng remained wary. Keeping her hands behind her back, she slowly shuffled backward, facing them the whole time as she inched her way into the Tribe. Only when she saw them turn away and stop staring did she finally hurry home.
Their Tribe was small and lacked significant combat strength, with its people living in burrows dug straight into the earth. Mengmeng ran all the way to her family’s burrow, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and then slipped inside.
"Sister, I’m home! Sister," Mengmeng called out in a tiny voice. The burrow was pitch-black, without a single glimmer of light.
