Pet King
Pet King - Chapter 1076-1077: Bronze Body

The scene in the film kept replaying in its brain.

It had been in the shop for so long––so long that it seemed like time had stopped.

It could blurrily remember some things––a lot of cats, a lot of dogs, a lot of humans coming and going like a trotting horse lamp… There were a few people’s faces, both men and women, that kept appearing again and again. They seemed to always be inside the shop, so it could not really remember their faces.

There were also a few very special cats and dogs, and there was a scent that it was very familiar with there. It was fighting against that cat and had suffered some losses, but it had yet to be totally defeated. It could still be called back to the world by secret believers.

It was a very painful day. It watched the kittens and adult cats walking around in front of it, but its body could not move. It could not kill them or abuse them, nor could it even turn its head and look behind it. No one could feel its fear and anger except for it…

The most humiliating thing about it was that it was often patted on the head and hugged around its neck. Many people took photos with it, treating it as a mascot or something of the sort.

What were those idiots thinking? It was a god, not some kind of mascot!

It did not know when its consciousness was revived, but it had been confined in its heavy body in that pet shop since its revival. Then, one night, its body suddenly moved. Its sworn enemy was not there that night, so it fled the pet shop as fast as possible because it knew its strength was too weak and insufficient to fight against them.

As soon as its sworn enemy came back, it could very possibly notice that something had changed, and then try to deal with it like it had a few thousand years ago.

After it escaped, it had been wandering around Binhai City. Sometimes there were a lot of people in the city, so it would run further away, while other times it would go to the eastern urban area. It instinctively avoided the pet shop, however, because the time was not right yet, and it did not have enough power. It was patient and could afford to wait.

There were a lot of negatives to having a bronze body, but there were also positive things about it. The biggest positives were that it was not easily injured, and it was not weak.

It had waited for 2,000 years. If the timing was not right, what was waiting for 2,000 more? It could wait until the end of time––until all its enemies were rotting in the mud!

So, the next time it saw pet shop again, its first reaction was to turn its body and leave. If it stayed there and wandered around, there was a very high possibility it would meet its sworn enemy from 2,000 years ago.

However… The loud sound of a cat rang out again and again, and it was so tempting.

It listened carefully. What made it feel very at ease was that the sound did not come from the pet shop, but from behind the pet shop. It remembered that there was an empty, abandoned green space, and there were a lot of stray cats that gathered there.

It was a place that was naturally suitable for cat abuse. The stray cats were like delicacies, and it was salivating. Due to its fear of its sworn enemy, it had never dared to come close to the shop.

Should it leave? It raised its head to look at the sky. It was already the later half of the night. Soon, the sky would brighten.

If it missed its chance, it would have all been in vain. It was not resigned––really not resigned! What was it scared about? Was there anything to be scared about?

It lowered its head and stared at its front paws and chest. The bronze body was infinitely strong, and even if it met with its sworn enemy, its bronze body was enough to protect it.

As for that motley crew of stray cats––how could they injure its bronze body, even if they were in large numbers? When it thought of that, it could not bear to part with its body that was heavy and clumsy.

The long confrontation that had lasted for thousands of years was soon coming to an end. When it was reborn, it would take care of its sworn enemy in person. It would make sure that its sworn enemy would feel the flames of hell a hundred times over!

It did not hesitate anymore and jumped on top of the wall. It slowly walked around the pet shop, then ran towards the green space that the horrible screaming sounds were coming from.

The vegetation was very luxuriant, so the wetness of the green space was even greater than that of other places. It did not like places that were too wet because it then faced the danger of rusting.

Just to be careful, it hid between the branches of the pine and cypress trees and observed the movements in the green space.

Pa! Pa!

It heard it, then saw it––in the deeper part of the green space, there was a brave soldier that was abusing cats. They hit the cat in front of them, using all their strength, and pitiful wails sounded out.

The person had their back to it, and it could not see what they looked like. What they looked like was unimportant, anyway. They were only a tool that it was using.

What was strange was that it did not see any of the stray cats that had come to the rescue the other night.

Nevermind that. No matter what, the stray cats could only frighten the trash that raced cars illegally. They could not do anything against people who abused cats.

It decided not to wait any longer. It jumped out of the branches and deliberately failed to control the force of the fall. It landed heavily on the ground, disturbing the surrounding soil.

Pa! Pa! The person was still using a lot of strength to hit the cat in front of it, as if it had not heard the sound of it landing on the ground.

Were they deaf? It was a bit unhappy, and was even a bit awkward, because it had very high expectations for its flashy entrance. It had wanted the person to be shocked and fearful when it saw it.

Heh-heh! Heh-heh! It laughed dryly a few times. Although its laugh was not loud, it had a high, penetrating power. There was a cold feeling that penetrated the green space.

At that time, the person heard the laughter. Their arm, which was raised in the air, stiffened suddenly. They did not continue to hit the cat.

Turn around! Let me admire your fear!

Just as it wished, that person slowly turned around. But their face did not have the fear it expected. They just wore a mocking facial expression.

At their side, a yellow and white kitten was calling out again and again, like it was having fun. There was not a single injury on its body.

What was going on? It was stunned and extremely confused.

Wait! It suddenly realized that it had seen that face before––it had seen it a lot of times. It was not the ordinary kind of familiar… It could call out his name easily because it had heard it many times. “Zhang… Zhang Zian!” It finally yelled out its name fiercely, its voice scratching people’s ears like metal. For the first time, it was able to speak.

But it was not happy. The situation had advanced in such a strange way, and it had already exceeded its control and understanding.

Suddenly, there was a loud chant that came from all around the green space!

“Long nights are hard to see in Binhai City!

Millennium Old Devil Dances!

Cat citizens 500 million are not reunited!

Long nights are hard to see in Binhai City!

Millennium Old Devil dances!

Cat citizens 500 million are not reunited!”

The chanting was firm with energy, just like the first church bell in the morning. It was echoing and unyielding, containing the anger of a volcano within it, like they were testifying against its evil ways with their very tears and blood.

It was shocked. It was usually the one doing the shocking, and yet it had been shocked today.

The sounds were making its ears ring with their shockwaves. But that was odd. It didn’t have eardrums, so why would they ring?

It wasn’t just its ears—its entire body was ringing, like a resonance had been made.

Wait!

This wasn’t ringing, and neither was it resonance. It was trembling.

Run!

Its instinct roared at it to hurry up and get out of here, because it seemed like its predator was hiding here.

Not enemy—predator!

“Enemies” often meant that they had equal strength, and there was a chance for the battle to go either way. But “predators”… They had an absolute advantage.

An eagle wouldn’t treat a rabbit as its enemy, because the eagle was the rabbit’s predator. The moment the rabbit was faced with the eagle, it could pretty much just wait for death.

There was another word to call one’s predator, and that was “bane.”

Maybe the difference in strength and abilities weren’t great—they might even be quite be similar—but due to a special ability or characteristic on one side, they would become the predator, or the bane, of the other’s existence.

But how could this be?

Where could this predator have come from?

It had roamed and ruled the rolling desert of Egypt for thousands of years, and it had never come across its predator, nor had it imagined that it would have one.

It couldn’t understand that times had changed and its rule was already over. Trying to repeat history would only result in failure.

Even if the real Cat God were to come to earth, it would be surprised by the changes.

This world was no longer one they were familiar with!

With the end of the chanting, countless strays shot out of the thicket, silent and disciplined. They quietly surrounded the whole green area, packing the center of it with hundreds, maybe even thousands of cats.

How could this be?

Were these still the disorganized strays that had used to fight each other for territory?

It was suspicious of everything it saw in front of it.

Maybe it was hallucinating?

“Honestly, even though I look calm on the outside, I’m actually really surprised. You can actually speak, and you shouted my name… You’ve really changed a lot in such a short time.”

Zhang Zian finally opened his mouth to speak.

He was the one who had planned this with Vladimir—luring the Holy Cat statue here with strays so they could catch the mouse in the trap. When they were planning this, he hadn’t had confidence that it would work, but surprisingly, it had, and on the very first night.

He had made sufficient mental preparation for the Holy Cat statue to show up, so he wasn’t surprised, but he was surprised that it could actually speak now. If it continued to grow, it might eventually become a true elfin.

“How should we greet each other?” Zhang Zian scratched his head, chasing away the mosquitoes with branches he’d picked up. “Should we say, ‘Long time no see’? Even though I’ve never thought we’d meet again in this manner.”

The smattering of lights in the plot of land were only half lit, and some of them were off. With the help of the fuzzy moonlight, he observed the…should he say “statue,” or should he say “cat”?

Well, he observed it, anyway.

After a few months of being in the pet shop, he and the employees were both familiar with the Holy Cat statue.

It was similar to how it had looked months ago, but there were differences.

The previous statue had been black in colour, shining copper green under the lights. Even though it looked a little gloomy, it had still been an exceptional art piece.

But now there were several obvious cracks along its body and hairline cracks lining its entire self. It might have just been his imagination, but it looked as though there was dark smoke seeping out from those.

The nose ring that Old Time Tea had cut off and Zhang Zian had sent to the gold shop to recycle had showed up on its nose again, seeming to shine even brighter than it had before.

Zhang Zian spaced out for a moment, thinking that if the gold nose ring would regenerate on its own, it would be a great way to generate income…

Its purity wouldn’t reach 24K, but if it worked, then he wouldn’t need his bike anymore!

It opened its wide mouth, exhaling sharply and showing off its fangs in a threatening way, interrupting Zhang Zian’s thoughts.

The biggest difference was in its face. The previous Holy Cat statue hadn’t had eyes, only two deep-set holes. But it had eyes now, a pair of bloodred ones that showed its bloodlust and cruelty…reminding Zhang Zian of the Terminator T-800.

Its chest was flat now too—it wasn’t that it had lost G-cup-sized breasts, but the Wadjet Amulet that had previously been carved into it was missing. Even though the protective Wadjet Amulet was important and significant to it, it still wasn’t the Holy Cat statue’s.

“Look, let’s negotiate. You’re already backed into a corner, but I’m a nice guy, so would you consider surrendering?” Zhang Zian proposed, waving his stick around. “If you agree to surrender and promise to never do bad things again, maybe I can plead for you… Of course, I can’t just help you for nothing. If you are willing to help me research on how to properly use your nose ring, I’ll call it even.”

It was surprised and stuck out its tongue to lick at its nose ring, not knowing what he was planning.

But his confusion was quickly buried under all of his exploded anger.

It was a god! How could gods surrender to mere mortals?

It glared at him with its blood red eyes, straining its mouth wider and baring its copper fangs as intimidation.

“It’s no use struggling meaninglessly,” Zhang Zian said and shook his head. “Do you still not get it? You’ve been caught right in the middle of the man-cat war, and it would be easier to sleep on clouds than to escape from us. Why not just work together with me and add to the foundation of science research? Give me a Holy Cat statue, and I can crash the entire gold market!”

It couldn’t be bothered to listen to his ramblings, observing its surroundings keenly instead.

It didn’t think that it was backed into a corner at all. Even though it was surrounded by countless strays, no matter their numbers, what could they do about it?

“Where… Where is Fina Paris? Now… Which generation of Fina Paris is it?” it squeezed out using its hoarse voice. Compared to these mortals, it was more concerned about whether its enemy was here.

“Which generation? Oh, let me think. I think it’s the thirteenth?” Zhang Zian tried his best to remember. Fina’s full name was pretty unfamiliar to him since he had always addressed it with a nickname.

“It’s here? Let Fina Paris the Thirteenth come out to meet me!” it roared.