Gu Ding was rendered speechless by the spectacle. The energy barrier outside the hoverboard was only capable of defending against attacks below Rank-10. It was not much different than a soap bubble in front of a Rank-12 viper.
On the other hand, the little cat thief had landed on Gu Ding’s shoulder, which meant that whatever trouble it got into, Gu Ding and his crew were in league.
Although Gu Ding was very reluctant to provoke two Rank-12 vipers, now that trouble had come to him, he had to face the music–he could not just give up little cat thief.
Although Kaya was familiar with the two vipers, she did not understand dragon language and thus did not know what was happening.
Just then, Elsa stepped forward. She uttered strange syllables at the golden-winged dragon horn beast. Her voice alternated between high and low sounds, and it did not sound like a voice the human throat could make.
After hearing Elsa’s voice, the golden-winged dragon horn beast opened its mouth and uttered similar-sounding syllables.
“Elsa speaks dragon?!” It was news to Gu Ding and his other crew members.
Kaya was also surprised.
After a few moments of communication, Elsa turned around to translate, “The viper said that it and the other viper was entrusted by Camilia to guard the nature reserve. It is their duty to prevent any other species from causing trouble in the area. However, that evil creature decimated the bloodthirsty abyss demon in a short amount of time. Its presence is a serious threat to the area.”
Just then, little cat thief opened its mouth, and the same strange syllables came out of its mouth. The occurrence of this made it even more inconceivable–it also knew dragon language.
Elsa continued to translate, “Little cat thief said that the abyssal creature’s existence was an even greater threat to other species in the area; she was only doing them a favor. What’s more is, if she hadn’t done something about it, the abyssal creature would have evolved to Rank-12 very soon. If that happened, the moment they were to emerge from the volcano, everything in the area will become its food, including the two vipers.”
At that moment, the crowned dragonhawk spoke up, his voice now louder.
“The dragonhawk said, we can’t trust you unless you can prove conclusively that the bloodthirsty abyss demon was on the verge of evolving into a Rank-12. If not, we’ll have to attack you,” Elsa translated.
With an extremely humane expression of helplessness, little cat thief stretched out its paw, glided through the air, and made a crack in midair. Then, a black crystal fell through the crack and landed in Gu Ding’s hands.
The black crystal was about the size of a fist and it looked like ink. The surface of the crystal was covered with numerous circles and spiral lines. There were dozens of those lines. The one at the top was a little lighter in color, and each spiral line was not fully embedded. Nevertheless, it was enough to suggest that the original owner of the crystal would soon evolve to become a Rank-12.
The two vipers stared at the crystal with their huge eyes and looked at it carefully. They also saw the spiral lines, and their faces instantly turned pale.
Abyssal creatures had extremely powerful combat effectiveness because they fought without the fear of death. They only had an eye for killing. Had the bloodthirsty abyss demon evolve into a Rank-12, it would have been difficult for the two vipers to keep it under control.
The two vipers were reluctant to admit it, but it looked like little cat thief had indeed done them a favor.
“Alright, we’ll admit that you’re right. We don’t know exactly what species you are, but we forbid you from attacking anyone else in the area. Otherwise, we’ll have to hunt you down together,” the crowned dragonhawk warned.
“Not even a steel-backed boar? That species is food.” the little cat thief asked with a fluke mind upon recovering the black crystal.
“No!” The crowned dragonhawk refused sternly.
“Let me just hunt two. You have a large herd here. I think there are more than thirty of them,” little cat thief tried negotiating.
“You aren’t allowed to even hunt one down!” The crowned dragonhawk and the golden-winged dragon horn beast roared at the kitten at the same time.
“Fine…” Little cat thief lowered its head unhappily.
Elsa did not translate the conversation. Instead, she only giggled with her mouth covered by her hand on one side. When the conversation between the three was over, she said to Gu Ding, “We can go. They’ve come to an agreement.”
The two dragons brushed against Kaya and fluttered away.
“Now that we’ve seen the two vipers up close, we can move on to the next stop.” Kaya smiled at Gu Ding and his crew as she adjusted her glasses that had been blown crooked by the wind.
Gu Ding and his party spent the rest of the day with Kaya at the nature reserve. It was not until late in the evening that they said goodbye to Kaya and returned to Camilia’s palace.
This time, little cat thief casually followed the group back to the guest room. It was as if it was already part of Gu Ding’s crew.
Robert purposely made a cat den for little cat thief. Lilith also stuffed it with an expensive blanket she had bought.
However, when they woke up the next morning, they found little cat thief asleep on the sofa. It did not seem to like the den very much.
Robert was a little confused, he had designed the cat den according to little cat thief’s body size. Hence, it should have been extremely comfortable; he did not know why little cat thief did not like it.
During breakfast, the crew gathered to give little cat thief a name.
“This little one is sneaky, let’s just call it little cat thief,” Gu Ding suggested.
“Let’s call it Tigerstripes. The little guy has tiger stripes all over it.” Biggie really had no talent for names.
“Call it Kim!” Elsa shouted.
“I think it should be called Little Mischief.” Lilliath laughed.
“My name is Tagore.” Just then, a voice was heard.
Everyone looked at Robert, thinking he had suggested the name.
“I didn’t say anything.” Robert spread out his hands.
“I said that. My name is Tagore.” Little cat thief who was sitting on the coffee table raised his paw. “Now you can stop thinking of a name for me.”
“You can talk? !” Gu Ding’s eyes were almost glowing.
“It’s nothing to be surprised about. The human language is not the most complicated compared to all the other races.” Little cat thief did not find it strange.
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Gu Ding asked with some curiosity.
“That’s because I didn’t know you well before.” Little cat thief, Tagore, had a look of entitlement. “So you know us now?” Gu Ding asked expectantly.
“Does that mean you know us well now?” Gu Ding asked again.
“No, it’s because you have food to eat.” Tagore’s reply disappointed Gu Ding, but it struck a chord with Elsa who ended up nodding desperately in agreement.
“Tagore, join our crew!” The moment Gu Ding found out that he was a cat that could talk, his desire to invite him to join his crew became even stronger.
“Sure, but I have a few conditions.” Tagore once again stretched out his furry paws.
“First, don’t treat me like a cat. Don’t feed me cat food even though it tastes good; Nor make me a cat bed, though it was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in; Don’t pat my head, though it feels very comfortable.”
“Second, I have the same rights as you to rummage through the fridge.”
“Third, I want my own room–just like all of you–with a bed and a quilt. I also want a shower and a bathtub even though I don’t like water.”
“Fourth, I want an intelligent wristwatch because you all have one.”
“Fifth, don’t leave me out when there’s fun. That’s because I’m a fellow crew member and I have the right to enjoy the same fun as you.”
“And one last thing, every year on my birthday, I want everyone to give me a birthday present. I also want a birthday cake even though I don’t like cake.”
“If you promise that you can fulfill all of that, I’ll join you.” Tagore looked at Gu Ding.
“It should be fine. There’s still room on the spaceship. We can also buy you an intelligent wristwatch. As for your birthday… When is your birthday?” Gu Ding thought about it. All of it seemed easy, except for Tagore’s first condition.
“I don’t know…” Tagore hung his head low at the question.
“Let’s just make it today. Everyone else, give me a gift list and I’ll buy it for you.” Gu Ding had always been a person with strong execution capability.
“I’ll buy the cake, I’ll buy the cake!” Elsa shouted as she raised her hand.
“I’ll go buy the cake with Elsa.” Lilliath thought that she should keep an eye on Elsa to prevent her from secretly eating the cake on their way back.
“I’ll make dinner!” Biggie ran happily to the kitchen.
“Let me set up the birthday party…” Robert also found himself a job.
…
Tagore had his first birthday party that night. There were cakes, presents, and everyone else sang him a birthday song. After the party, Tagore slept soundly in the cat den Robert had built for him.
In the few days that followed, Gu Ding did not go out to play. Instead, he practiced the Sun Sutra every day under the sun. Each time Gu Ding was practicing his cultivation, Tagore slept on his shoulder. In turn, it made Gu Ding feel that he was absorbing light energy much faster.
Gu Ding did not tell anyone about the Dark Sectors’ pursuit. Only Neptune and himself knew about it. Hence, Lilliath did not feel too nervous. She and Elsa went out each day for the past few days to run errands for Robert and bring him items on his list.
Robert was occupied each day; he always had something to do.
As for Biggie, he originally wanted to try out some new dishes. However, after seeing how hard Gu Ding was cultivating, he gave in and began studying a new sword technique–wanting to make himself stronger.
The four days passed by very quickly, and Camilia’s birthday party arrived.
Robert was forced into a tuxedo by Lilliath, while Tagore was dressed in a black tuxedo and a stylish hat–he looked very handsome.
