196 Discussions and Arrangements ? (1/2)

The fugitives' reign of fear was over.

However, while three of the four apostles were captured that day, tensions had never been higher at the authorities.

For starters, their efforts to cover up what truly happened were not as effective as they hoped. The official story was that a gas leak and a faulty hydrant caused the explosions, but rumors ran amok online anyway.

Although multiple parasitic hosts had been arrested, the true identity of God of Death remained a mystery. It was frustrating and frightening. Doubt and suspicion began to seep into the department, poisoning the trust colleagues had for each other.

The one consolation was that Sun Meng was now off the streets and safely locked away. Inspector Ho managed to convince her to reveal the whereabouts of her three ragdoll cats. It turned out that they had always been close by and within reach if Sun Meng needed help.

With the help of the cats, the damage made to the comatose victims were reversed and they finally regained consciousness.

The incident may have come to a close, but its repercussions were far-reaching. Certain factions of the government used it as a reason to adopt stricter and more aggressive regulations for supercats and apostles.

This was why Zhao Yao was now in Inspector Ho's office, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

”If I knew things would escalate to this, I would never have gotten involved,” he thought regretfully.

There were too many pairs of eyes on him now. Too many people knew how powerful he actually was. This did not bode well because the element of surprise was crucial for defeating another apostle.

Zhao Yao knew that he did not have much to worry about even if the world knew his abilities. Elizabeth's perfect illusion alone could tackle at least 99% of the people he meets. Coupled with Matcha's timefreeze, Dust Ball's extradimensional belly, and Ares' force fields, he was basically untouchable.

However, he still did not like the thought of laying all his cards on the table.

When enemies understood his powers, they would know how to bring him to his knees.

”At least no one knows about timefreeze and the space-time distortion it brings.”

Inspector Ho was seated on the other side of the table. He studied Zhao Yao, watching as his face took on a myriad of different expressions. He could tell he was worried.

”Don't worry,” he started, ”It is true that a lot of people know you defeated the four of them. However, no one knows how you did that. Even Ah Wei couldn't make out what was happening and he was there. Or rather, he couldn't make sense of what it was you did. Wanna tell me what happened?”

Zhao Yao pursed his lips at the sneaky smile the inspector offered him.

”You'll be interrogating Sun Meng soon, won't you? I'm sure she'll give you a fantastic play-by-play on what happened,” he said.

He felt a surge of relief from the inspector's words. Nessie had made sure that their entire battle was shrouded with showers of water. Witnesses would not be able to see what happened clearly.

”Maybe they'll assume that I'm some kind of invincible, teleporting Hercules,” he hoped.

Inspector Ho rolled his eyes.

”You rascal, they can't explain what happened as well as you can,” he commented.

Zhao Yao scratched the back of his ear absentmindedly. He ignored the request.

”Let's not get sidetracked. Why am I here? Business is booming and this little visit is costing me money. You've got to compensate for that.”

”Rascal,” the inspector repeated, shooting him a death glare, ”Do you know how much s**t your little adventure has caused? There's been a lot of fighting at headquarters. Everyone wants to know who you are. Among them, many want to lock you up, then take your cats and your cafe. You're looking at the only reason that's not happened yet.”

Of course, the inspector had only presented a partial truth. What really went down was a lot more complicated.

Zhao Yao's seeming invincibility had sparked a heated debate among senior state officials. Some of them asserted that what he managed to do single-handedly proved that he was a threat to the nation. As such, his supercats must be handed to the state.

That was but the first step. They had bigger plans. Eventually, they would implement stricter regulations to keep rogue apostles under their thumb. In fact, they would take cats forcibly from their apostles.

Naturally, this did not sit well with people like Inspector Ho.

There were too many supercats and apostles in the country for the authorities to take on by themselves.

The moment they take things too far, the apostles will fight back. That would be the beginning of the end.

This was why the American government did not declare war against the rogue apostles, no matter the trouble they stirred. Even if they defeated every apostle, which was highly unlikely, it would come at a cost. There was no saying how much damage there would be to the country.

When the fight between the officers got too intense, it was Old Man Zhuang who spoke up and made the final decision.

He firmly opposed the autocratic style of regulating the apostles and inevitably became Zhao Yao's champion.

”Do you know how many high ranking leaders have demanded your cats? Putting a stop to that was not easy. You have no clue how many fires I had to put out,” Inspector Ho said.

That was, of course, a shameless exaggeration. The inspector made it in hopes that it would scare some sense into Zhao Yao.