Chapter 242: The Chase
Huahua’s loud meow jolted Zhang Yi awake. Since Huahua had started living with him, the cat had taken to sleeping in his room every night, curled up at the head of his bed. Zhang Yi enjoyed the comfort of petting the cat, so he never kicked it out. But tonight, Huahua's noise was so harsh that it almost made Zhang Yi panic. He opened his eyes to see Huahua in a defensive stance, staring intently at the door with its fur standing on end.
Huahua was exceptionally alert as a former stray and never displayed such behavior without reason. Zhang Yi immediately realized something was wrong in the house. Instinctively, he rolled out of bed, grabbing his gun as he did so.
"Huahua, what’s going on?" Zhang Yi asked.
Huahua, being highly intelligent, could understand Zhang Yi’s words, but the problem was that it couldn’t speak. It simply continued to stare at the door, meowing. After a few cries, it suddenly stopped, its eyes showing confusion as it curiously looked around.
"What’s happening?" Zhang Yi thought, puzzled. Could Huahua have had a nightmare? But he’d never heard of cats having nightmares. Unsettled, he picked up his phone and checked the surveillance footage for the entire shelter.
To his surprise, there was no unusual activity on the shelter's cameras. Meanwhile, Huahua moved to the door, placing its paw on it as if signaling it wanted to go out.
"Wait a second," Zhang Yi said, quickly getting dressed and grabbing his gun before opening the door.
Huahua darted down the stairs, sniffing around as it made odd, low noises. It eventually jumped onto the table in the living room. Zhang Yi followed it closely and soon spotted a black military knife lying on the table.
The fact that someone had been able to silently infiltrate his home meant they could potentially return anytime to take his life. Zhang Yi swallowed hard but quickly regained his composure. His house had surveillance everywhere—he just needed to check who had entered.
He immediately went to the television and instructed the smart system, "Replay the living room surveillance from 10 minutes ago, then fast forward to when someone appears!"
Soon, the large screen displayed the footage from ten minutes earlier. As the video sped up, Zhang Yi finally saw the eerie figure. He slowed the playback, not daring to blink for fear of missing details. He watched as a woman in a tight white suit slowly emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room.
"Zoom in!" Zhang Yi ordered.
He closely examined the footage and noticed that the woman hadn’t simply appeared out of thin air—she had walked straight through the wall. The solid wall offered no resistance as if it were made of air.
"So there’s an ability like that," Zhang Yi realized. Since the world started mutating, bizarre phenomena have become almost commonplace.
Zhang Yi continued watching the video. The woman observed the room for a while before heading towards the stairs. At that moment, Huahua’s meow rang out, startling the woman in white. She quickly left the military knife on the table and retreated through the wall.
Having watched the entire video, Zhang Yi felt a heavy foreboding. The presence of such a Superhuman posed a massive threat to him. No matter how fortified his shelter was, it wouldn’t help against someone like her. Even more unsettling was the fact that she had left a military knife on the table—an ominous message.
As someone familiar with weapons, Zhang Yi knew this was no ordinary knife—it was a standard military issue, likely from an official force. Allowing someone like her to walk away could result in a severe threat to his future safety. Zhang Yi’s eyes narrowed as a deadly resolve took hold of him.
That woman had to die—he couldn’t let her live.
"Huahua, come with me. We’re going to kill the intruder!" Zhang Yi commanded.
"Meow!" Huahua responded with a confident howl, its eyes glowing with an eerie blue light.
Zhang Yi didn’t rush outside immediately. Instead, he first armed himself in the living room. There were no sounds of engines nearby, so it was unlikely that the intruders had used a vehicle. They couldn’t have gotten far. As he dressed, Zhang Yi pulled up the surveillance footage outside the shelter to track their departure.
Through the infrared cameras, he detected the figures of two people moving away.
"Two of them? Let’s take out the woman who infiltrated the shelter first!" Zhang Yi thought, his determination unwavering. Since they had made the first move, he would show no mercy.
With Huahua by his side, Zhang Yi was confident they could handle any opponent. If not for the urgency, he would have also summoned Uncle You and Fatty Xu. But time was of the essence—he couldn’t risk letting them get too far ahead.
Fully geared up and armed with his sniper rifle, Zhang Yi set out with Huahua. "Huahua, can you track their scent?" he asked.
"Meow!" Huahua let out a confident cry as if saying, "Of course!"
Huahua’s body rapidly expanded the next moment, transforming into a massive creature over ten meters long. It crouched in front of Zhang Yi, signaling him to climb on.
In the snow, Huahua was faster than any snowmobile. Zhang Yi hesitated as he looked at the razor-sharp fur on Huahua’s back. "I’m worried it’ll stab my butt," he said.
Understanding his concern, Huahua quickly softened the fur on its back, making it safe for Zhang Yi to sit. Relieved, Zhang Yi mounted Huahua. "Just don’t get too excited and poke me suddenly!" he reminded Huahua.
In annoyance, the cat rolled its eyes and let out a disgruntled "Meow!" as if expressing its displeasure at Zhang Yi’s lack of trust.
Once securely seated, Huahua pushed off the snow with its massive paws, launching itself more than ten meters in a single leap. Zhang Yi clutched his sniper rifle. His eyes fixed on the path ahead through his tactical monocle.
No matter what, he wouldn’t let that woman leave alive tonight.
Man and cat sped off from Cloud Manor, heading northwest in pursuit of the intruders.
Meanwhile, riding their sled, Xie Huanhuan and Liu Ziyang were in high spirits as they headed back. Their reconnaissance mission had been a resounding success—they had discovered a populous and well-supplied village and uncovered secrets about Zhang Yi. Reporting this to their superiors would undoubtedly earn them great accolades.