Cat 208: As If Blessed By Heaven

Chapter 208 As If Blessed by Heaven

To the giants, the toy airplane in the shop was just a plaything—but to Yan Jiyun and the others, it was a real, pilotable aircraft.

Qi Feng hadn’t pulled Yan Jiyun away because he doubted his ability to fly, but because he preferred to shoulder the risk himself. The toy plane had limited battery life; one slip in control and they could be hurt. One of them needed to operate the plane, while the other stood ready on the ground.

Yan Jiyun understood Qi Feng’s reasoning. He had no good argument to insist on getting into the plane as well.

Stepping into a new scenario after emerging from the snow globe required time to explore all over again. There had been no progress on their quest; everyone felt the pressure, though none of them showed it.

Qi Feng and Wen Ye each piloted a toy airplane, experimenting to see if they could knock other snow globes from the shelf down to the ground.

The shelves didn’t stand against a wall, but were open on both sides. The plan was to ram a globe from one end so that it crashed to the floor. If another player emerged from the broken globe, they’d know the globes were part of the instance’s puzzle.

The toy airplanes had fully equipped control panels and joysticks. They could use the remote control, but could just as easily manage manual take-off.

The planes were on the first shelf for display. More important than getting in the plane was avoiding detection by the little giant boy—the one interested in choosing a toy.

Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo located two working airplane remotes. In case Qi Feng or Wen Ye’s plane malfunctioned, they would try operating them via remote.

The remotes themselves were enormous. Even combined, Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo weren’t sure they’d be able to move the stick. After much deliberation, it once again came down to relying on Qi Feng and Wen Ye’s skills and luck. The two could only stand by below and await the outcome.

Qi Feng and Wen Ye flipped the power switches at once, pushed the joysticks upward, and the sizeable toy planes wobbled and then slowly lifted off, causing Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo’s hearts to leap in their chests.

But after two or three seconds of shaking, both camouflaged planes stabilized, heading straight for a snow globe slightly smaller than the planes themselves.

Yan Jiyun stroked the fur on Little Nine’s head. “If the plane runs into a snow globe, it’ll lose balance, right?”

Chu Mo nodded. “Of course. But toy airplanes aren’t built like real ones, and both of them have defensive gear. I think they’ll be fine.”

Yan Jiyun, who rarely used items, almost forgot about that. “That’s true.” There was little he could do now anyway. Petting Little Nine, something else occurred to him. “Didn’t any replicants follow you out of the snow globe?”

Chu Mo shook his head. “They chased us all the way to the exit, but once we jumped out through that gap, we never saw a single replicant again. Strange, isn’t it? These cats can come out, but the replicants can’t.”

Yan Jiyun prompted Chu Mo to draw his own conclusions: “They’re all Caramel’s duplicates—always following Caramel and never hostile to players.”

As expected, Chu Mo made the connection at once: “The replicants that followed us aren’t really on our side, but Caramel’s duplicant cats are, so they came out with us.”

Yan Jiyun pretended to have just realized this. “I just thought of it, too. There must be plenty more hidden rules in the instance that we haven’t found yet.”

Chu Mo picked up a cat, idly stroking it. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re running out of time. If we don’t finish the main quest soon, we’ll be stuck in the instance forever.”

Bang!

Just as their conversation started, Qi Feng’s plane crashed into a music box snow globe on the fourth shelf. The globe struck the ground, fluids spilling everywhere as it landed. Its music mechanism sputtered out a garbled “Happy Birthday.”

The crash successfully drew the giants’ attention.

The shopkeeper, still holding his feather duster, hurried toward the sound, just in time to see the toy airplanes rising and falling in midair.

“Who did this?” He looked at the little boy, who was crouched nearby choosing toys, and rushed at him. “Where are your parents, young man? Haven’t they taught you not to touch other people’s things?”

The giant child wasn’t completely wrongly accused—these very toy airplanes had originally been taken apart by him. When he saw the colors weren’t to his liking, he tossed them aside, which had given Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun their chance.

The two giants began to quarrel. The manager demanded the child’s parents, but the brat wriggled out of his grasp and tried to bolt for the door. However, an adult was not so easily shaken off; a few steps and the child was captured and dragged back, fighting and running around the store.

The commotion gave Qi Feng and Wen Ye their opportunity. Wen Ye also managed to crash another snow globe to the floor. Both globes, dropped from a great height, shattered completely.

With the second globe broken, the store manager was convinced the boy was responsible and grew even angrier.

Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo watched both smashed globes for any sign of activity.

Qi Feng and Wen Ye, having downed one globe, turned to attack others. Their efforts continued, but after each globe crashed, they saw no players emerge from inside.

Was their guess wrong? Were none of these globes related to the instance, except the one they’d just escaped?

They waited.

Qi Feng and Wen Ye also saw nothing; it was certain now that only their own globe was unusual.

The giant store manager was still chasing the mischievous kid, while Qi Feng and Wen Ye in their planes suddenly turned and flew to the other end of the store.

Yan Jiyun deduced the reason: they were scouting the environment from the air—an aircraft was far more efficient for exploration than traveling on foot.

Yan Jiyun had no mind to wait idly. Looking around, he saw the little giant had dismantled not only toy planes, but also toy cars.

Waiting to be a sitting duck was not his style. He signaled Chu Mo with a tilt of his chin. “There are toy cars over there. Let’s have a look, too.”

Chu Mo had noticed them as well. “Been waiting for you to say that.”

Seeing no one nearby, both dashed straight toward the two cars that had been tossed on the ground.

To them, the toy planes operated by Qi Feng and Wen Ye were the size of helicopters, while these toy cars were as big as real vehicles. There was hardly any difference.

Yan Jiyun climbed into the driver’s seat of one—steering wheel, brakes, all functions were present. Like a bumper car; as long as there was power, it could drive anywhere.

He and Chu Mo each took one. Chu Mo was even more reckless, speeding ahead.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t driven since becoming a cat, but his skills had improved in the instance.

Now it was all about moving forward.

Qi Feng and Wen Ye were above while they searched below, working in tandem to hunt for the so-called Christmas treasure.

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper had managed to grab the naughty boy, but the boy had no intention of cooperating; he refused to answer a single question, sobbing uncontrollably. The manager, seeing this, quickly tied him up and set him down on the floor. As he prepared to call the police, he caught sight of the toy planes circling the store.

“Who’s doing this!”

It wasn’t just the toy planes. He also heard the whine of toy car wheels scraping across the ground.

The only female customer in the store had already fled, terrified; she’d seen the toy cars driving themselves, even making turns, with no one inside!

The manager was frightened as well—why were the toys moving on their own?

“Who’s playing tricks in here?”

He dashed toward the planes darting about the shop, trying to swat them down.

Qi Feng and Wen Ye piloted their planes to the highest shelf, finally getting a clear look at the manager’s face—it was the same giant who had been glaring at them before!

The manager flailed his arms, trying to wrench the planes from the air. “Damn it! Whoever’s doing this, when I catch you, you’re finished!”

Qi Feng and Wen Ye narrowly avoided his grasp, but escape was difficult. The giant was simply too big, and the planes too slow; one misstep and they’d be caught.

The manager roared, “Still daring to provoke me!”

Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo raced their toy cars right under the manager’s feet.

No matter how you looked at it, these were really just toys and made plenty of noise. The manager chalked the situation up to some childish prank.

He suddenly spun around and locked the shop door. “We’ll soon see if anyone escapes now.”

Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo had only wanted to draw his attention away, but now they’d blocked off their own exit.

It seemed their playable area would be restricted to this store.

The manager chased after the cars, his long legs proving much faster than the toy vehicles. The thundering footsteps matched the sounds they’d heard while in the mall.

So it was the manager who’d made that racket all along—a real hothead, this giant.

Yan Jiyun’s luck always lagged just behind others’. The giant’s stomping was right on his tail. Glancing back, he saw only a few strides separated them—one more step and the giant would crush his toy car, quite likely killing him inside it.

As the enormous foot came down, Yan Jiyun acted fast—he flung open the car door, leapt out, rolled clear, and darted beneath a shelf.

The giant only had eyes for the toy car, unaware its occupant had rolled free.

Crunch! The toy car was instantly totaled.

Just then, a toy airplane streaked past the giant’s face. The manager swiped at it, but missed, and the wing sliced his cheek instead.

Yan Jiyun saw clearly that it was Qi Feng’s camo-painted aircraft. Did Qi Feng think he’d just been flattened by the giant?

He quickly scrambled out from under the shelving and called up, “Qi Feng, hurry up and search for the store’s treasure!” Whether or not he could be heard was another matter.

Clearly, with dozens of meters between them, Qi Feng could not hear him. Flying on, Qi Feng swooped behind the giant’s neck, slashing at it with the wing!

What was he thinking?

Trying to kill the giant with a toy plane?

That was brazen beyond belief!

Helpless, Yan Jiyun could only fret below; but the truth was, he had nothing useful to do either.

How could a toy plane stand a chance against the manager? At most, the wing might scratch his skin.

Chu Mo, dodging the giant’s legs, had also gotten separated from him.

Yan Jiyun checked his experience card’s timer, then glanced up at Qi Feng, still fighting above. The giant, quicker than he looked, managed to grab the plane’s wing and snapped off one corner.

The aircraft lurched and began a rapid descent!

This was just a toy—there were no safety features to protect the pilot.

Yan Jiyun had no idea whether Qi Feng had any fall-protection gear. The sight made his heart leap to his throat. He couldn’t lose his “shovel officer”—if Qi Feng died, he would too!

Qi Feng himself realized he’d been reckless. The toy plane was falling faster than he’d anticipated, and as a mid-game entrant he’d never collected a defensive item. He frantically searched for the rope he’d stashed on his body.

Let’s hope he wasn’t really done for. By his calculations, the plane’s fall shouldn’t kill him—he might just be injured, but that could make him a burden to his teammates.

Watching the ground rush toward him, Qi Feng didn’t have time to throw the rope. He braced for an emergency jump.

Crack!

He barely had time to unclasp his seatbelt, heart pounding, brain going blank—when suddenly, the plane stopped falling, suspended midair, intact.

Qi Feng clung hard to his seat, looking around in astonishment—his aircraft was clamped gently in the jaws of a colossal black cat, seemingly sent by providence!

Head tilted upward, he saw two dazzling white fangs beside the plane’s wings. Yet there was no fear—at that moment, Caramel was nothing short of a god to him.