371 Start of Something New ? (1/2)

Zhao Yao's fingers began to dart across the map application as he continued to impart his hard-earned wisdom to his new padawans – Ares and Dust Ball.

”Today, I'll be teaching you how to accurately identify someone in distress and complete a mission. Keep your eyes peeled and learn as much as possible.”

Suddenly, Zhao Yao started to extend his index finger into his mouth. It seemed as if he was fishing for something, ”Roly Poly, come out.”

Meanwhile, Roly Poly was totally absorbed in his conversation with Gaia. Hence, he did not even notice Zhao Yao's call. Suddenly, he felt a hard tug on the back of his neck as he was forcefully dragged out of the belly.

Immediately, Roly Poly had settled on his usual position – atop Zhao Yao's left shoulder. Without even reminding him, Roly Poly had already cast his power on Zhao Yao.

The party of a man and four cats started making their way towards the city as they followed the tiny blue dot on the map.

…

Meanwhile, Sato was finally released by the Chinese government apostles.

His predicament in China was beyond terrible. Since leading the sneak attack on Zhao Yao, he was instead held captive by Zhao Yao and was grilled for hours. After what seemed like eons, he was then handed over to Lin Chen.

Obviously, he had no idea why he was suddenly released today. Actually, it was all part of the government's plan to bait Ishida into revealing his grand plans. To the government, Sato was just a tiny pawn in their grand scheme of things.

Walking along the unfamiliar streets of Jiangmen, Sato could not help but feel so disoriented and scared. Immediately, he reached his hands into his pocket for his phone, only to realize that he had run out of value. He could only depend on his vague memory as he made his way towards Storm's headquarters in Jiangmen.

However, Jiangmen City was just too big. After more than half an hour of aimless walking, Sato finally admitted that he was lost.

”D*mn it.” His body locked up with rage as he stared at the skyscrapers towering over him. He was so angry and frustrated with everything that had happened. Suddenly, Zhao Yao's image began to float into his mind.

”That stupid Chinese man! I would make him pay back for everything that he had done if I ever meet him again. I must give him a taste of hell!”

The chance to feed Zhao Yao his own medicine was Sato's only motivation during his time locked in his tiny cell. His anger fueled his perseverance which allowed him to endure all those humiliations.

…

On a rooftop not too far away, Zhao Yao suddenly halted as the three cats tagged behind him. He noticed Sato standing along the street at the corner of his eyes. Immediately, beams of excitement shot out of his eyes as he announced. ”I guess it's your lucky day. I didn't expect to meet a Japanese on your very first mission. You guys are really lucky!”

”Furthermore, I have met this Japanese before. He isn't particularly dangerous or conformational. Yet, we can squeeze quite a few missions out of him. He is the perfect candidate for your first mission!”

As Zhao Yao spoke, he squatted next to Ares before presenting a phone to him, ”Ares, this is the phone which I have specially prepared for you. Don't worry, I have already deposited some money into it. If you face any problems during your missions, use this phone to contact me immediately. Ideally, this is just a tool for you to communicate with humans.”

Naturally, the success of the mission was heavily dependent on the cats' interaction with the humans. Hence, Zhao Yao had entrusted this important tasks to Ares. Compared to Dust Ball, Ares's deflective field granted him the perfect skill to handle the phone. The precision and accuracy of his movements were evident in his gaming career.

The deflective field was even more effective than a pair of stubby human hands.

Hence, Zhao Yao descended from the rooftop and stopped next to Sato and started walking right next to him, shoulder to shoulder. In his invisible state, he continued flooding Ares and Dust Ball an endless list of pointers, ”The first thing to do after finalizing your target is to lure him to a secluded corner. You must remember to not attract any attention to yourself throughout the entire execution phase. The worst thing is to have your actions caught on tape …”

While explaining, Zhao Yao suddenly threw his arms in the air before exclaiming, ”This is a good opportunity!”

A gust of intense wind started blowing out of nowhere. By then, the deflective field had already morphed into the shape of a palm as it slapped across Sato's body, throwing him into a secluded cul-de-sac.

Ah!

Following a shrilling shriek, Sato had collapsed to the ground as he writhed in pain. His lips drew back into a snarl as he exclaimed, ”What is it?”

Suddenly, he noticed two huge shadows moving around in the corner. Sato immediately got to his feet as he demanded, ”Who is it?”

Instead of two thugs appearing, two adorable kittens appeared from the shadows. The two pairs of giant eyes stared at him as they began to scrutinize him from head to toe.

Even before turning into an apostle, Sato had always been fond of little animals such as cats. Hence, he immediately lowered his guards when greeted by this pair of adorable guests. Similarly, the snarl evaporated and turned into a wide grin as he asked, ”Hey, little cats, what happened? Are you guys hungry?”

Both Zhao Yao and Roly Poly were hidden in the corner as Zhao Yao began to pour out even more instructions, ”Look at his head! Currently, you do not see the golden exclamation mark above it. This means that there are no missions. Hence, you have to find some way to change the status quo. You can only help him when there is a mission!

If he has a mission which he can entrust to you, the golden exclamation mark will appear above his head.