Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Little White and Vladimir, who were on opposite ends of the spectrum like fire and water, were stunned upon hearing Zhang Zian’s words. Their intention to kill momentarily dissipated. This was not what they had expected.
Cats and dogs actually had a common enemy now—that was rather ridiculous-sounding and unbelievable!
Little White was deeply skeptical. Cooperation must be based on a common foundation. Where was the common foundation with the stray cats?
“No! Impossible! We can never cooperate with these stupid cats! There needs to be mutual understanding for cooperation. Even if you want to deal with caterpillars, wait for us to deal with these stupid cats first!” Little White said, showing his fangs.
Vladimir sneered at him. “What the hell? Look at who will deal with who first!”
“Wait! Listen to me.”
Zhang Zian blurted this out in a hurry without much thought. However, after he said it, it made sense to him. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He couldn’t help but praise his own smarts.
“The first and most important base for stray cats is the greenspace, located behind the pet shop, which was occupied by caterpillars. The stray cats were forced to migrate to a poorly-developed unfinished building,” Zhang Zian explained. Nevertheless, he tried very hard not to expose the strategic locations of the stray cats.
Vladimir silently agreed and did not interrupt.
Since returning from Egypt, it had also been very surprised at the fact that the stray cats had voluntarily given up the important strategic location of the greenspace. Later, they realized that because the greenspace had been occupied by caterpillars and mosquitoes, it would be almost impossible to win it back. They could only wait for the weather to cool down and allow the caterpillars and mosquitoes to fight for their own survival. However, that was more than a few months away.
“And as for us humans, we do not have thick hair covering our bodies like cats and dogs, so we are more vulnerable to caterpillars,” Zhang Zian said.
Little White looked at him and at Vladimir and thought about it.
“I know that you are hostile toward each other. It will take a while to resolve the entire situation. I do not intend to try to cure the hostility between you. However, I hope that you will put each other’s hatred aside and concentrate on expelling the caterpillars first. After the city of Binhai is cured of this issue, you can have a good time settling scores with each other. I will not interfere with that or stop you. Think about it. What if, after the fight, the caterpillars end up being the ones sitting at the top?”
This was a temporary truce. However, currently, there was no time to think about the best solution, and perhaps there may be no such thing as a perfect solution. The only option then was to delay the battle between them.
As for what would happen in the future… Only the future knew what was in store. Maybe good solutions may emerge in the future. Maybe, just maybe, they would go from being enemies to being friends after fighting a common enemy. After all, they seemed to have the ability to love and hate each other at the same time…
“The exponentially-multiplied caterpillars have become a common problem for all three of us. In addition, this is merely the precursor to an outbreak. After heavy rainfall, that will be the real disaster,” he said.
The street office did not intend to provide help, so he could only try to unite with all the forces that suffered from them to deal with the caterpillars together.
Both Little White and Vladimir were silent.
They were very certain in their hearts that the two sides were almost evenly matched. Both intended to and would battle fiercely. The ending would be nothing more than one losing and the other winning. No matter who won or lost, the casualties would be heavy. The loser would withdraw, and the winner would not be able to control Binhai City. A power vacuum would form in the city. This was the perfect time for the caterpillars to proliferate rapidly and take over.
Though they were clear of the consequences, they both found it difficult to put their animosity aside and work together.
Zhang Zian saw that their attitudes had softened and continued persuading them. “In fact, there is no deep hatred between us,” he said. “Stray cats have driven out stray dogs, and the stray dogs have also counterattacked stray cats. Humans have also treated cats poorly and poisoned dogs, yet there are many who are scratched and bitten by cats and dogs… We can build a united front between us. Although you are a cat, you are a dog, and I am a human, but we are all mammals. We can’t even call caterpillars a distant relative…”
Little White and Vladimir were speechless over what they’d heard. It was a rather far-fetched argument, to say the least…
Though the example given was rather absurd, the ideology behind it was sound. Stray cats and stray dogs were hostile to each other, but they could at least communicate with each other. Even if they communicated with their claws and teeth, that was some type of communication after all. At least they knew that the other party was angry, happy, or sad… How would one communicate with caterpillars? One didn’t even know what they were thinking!
Little White sighed and said, as if talking to himself, “When I first came to this junkyard, I was very ambitious and determined to lead the stray dogs to something greater than themselves. At that time, I thought that civil… No, that is not right. I meant that race is the most important, followed by civil rights, but now… The people’s livelihood that allows us to survive seems to be the most important…”
This sounded familiar to some people, but Zhang Zian had no time to think about it in detail. He quickly said, “Yes, survival is the foundation of everything, and other things can be done later. As long as it is for the continuation of life, even if it is cooperation with the enemy, it does not matter!”
Little White nodded. “Well, if the other party has no objections, I agree to a form of limited cooperation.”
Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief and turned to Vladimir to see what he thought.
Vladimir had quietly analyzed the situation. If he did not cooperate, he would face a hard-to-win battle. This would be very unfavorable for the stray cats, who had not yet recovered.
Knowing that the current situation was not ideal for him, in order to preserve the strength of his team and strive for the final victory, he could choose a temporary compromise.
“Okay, I agree,” he replied. “The duration of the cooperation will be until the caterpillars are defeated. During this period, the stray cats will not take the initiative to provoke a dispute and will provide a certain level of assistance. However, if the stray dogs dare to provoke us, tearing up the hard-won temporary peace treaty, the stray cats will not sit still. We will fight back!”
“Haha. Oh, likewise.”
Little White did not show weakness in his choice of words.
Since both sides were willing to temporarily stop the fighting, Zhang Zian was feeling much better. At least he would not feel like he was caught between both of them.
“It seems that it will be unrealistic to sign a piece of paper for the agreement. However, I believe that you are all elfins who honor your words. Then… Shall we seal the deal with your paws and my hand?” he said, kneeling down and extending his hand. His palm faced the sky.
Little White and Vladimir looked at each other, both rather reluctant to approach. Eventually, they did, and two paws landed on Zhang Zian’s palm, overlapping one another.
“Good! A gentleman’s word—” he said.
“Cannot be broken!”
Little White and Vladimir responded at the same time. Their voices were very loud as they tried to overpower each other and prove their mettle. Since they couldn’t beat each other temporarily by force, they would fight in other areas.
Seizing the opportunity while their paws were still on his palm, Zhang Zian added, “I heard from girls that life requires a sense of ritual, and we have finally reached a truce after many twists and turns. I think it’s a very memorable moment—let’s take this time to commemorate it. Let’s give our cooperation today a name and call it ‘the first cooperation between cats and dogs.’ What do you think?”
“There will be no second time!”
Little White and Vladimir said this in unison.
