Chapter 297 - 248: Cat of Destiny

"But you seem to know a lot of secrets?" The Big Orange Cat mused, gently tapping her head with her other paw. "In that case..."

"...Your Majesty of Chaos!" a cold voice suddenly blared from the phone still clutched in Chu Bamboo’s hand. "You’ve crossed the line!"

"Oh no, I haven’t," the Big Orange Cat said, blinking her eyes with feigned innocence. "Let me think... which generation are you again? Ah, well, it’s not important."

"The simple fact is, you thought of me, and that’s why I came running..." the Big Orange Cat’s voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction. "Besides, this place is... what, the suburbs of some prosperous city? It’s not even a major metropolis..."

"...You have violated the religious treaty established by the founding Grand Ancestor in the Imperial Capital’s Grand Ancestral Temple, before the Great Goddess Nuwa!" The Pope ignored the Big Orange Cat’s quibbling, his words deliberate and sharp. "You can sever the connection right now... but I already have proof!"

The Pope continued coldly, "Your avatar... actually dared to replace a Bishop of my God Worship Sect!"

"I will take this to the Imperial Capital! To the Heavenly Monarch! To the Imperial Capital’s Grand Ancestral Temple!"

The Pope truly had tried his utmost to maintain his composure. It was just... some things simply can’t be contained. This incident had truly crossed his line—it’s only natural to lose one’s composure in the face of such rage.

"Hey, hey, hey, I’ll sue you for slander!" The Big Orange Cat’s fur bristled for a second; she was clearly a little flustered. She surreptitiously wiped cold sweat from her brow. "What are you talking about...? That’s not my avatar! It’s just... a coincidence... someone who happens to have the same Divine Technique as me! You know, no matter how powerful a Divine Technique is, it’s theoretically possible for there to be duplicates..."

"...Let’s not even get into whether a second person could have your Divine Technique—even if they could!" The Pope’s voice dripped with sarcasm. "I don’t believe that fellow hasn’t been... assimilated by you. Need I recite your long list of misdeeds recorded in our church’s holy scriptures?"

"When a Destiny has been assimilated, even if he still retains his own consciousness, even if he’s never been aware of your existence from start to finish... he is, in essence, still your avatar! He is merely a more advanced version compared to those puppet-like avatars you create from scratch—one that can think for itself and has its own life... but an avatar nonetheless."

"I am not wrong, am I... owner of the noun-type Divine Technique: Destiny! The Cat of Destiny, Your Majesty of Chaos!"

’!!!’ A storm raged within Chu Bamboo. ’Fuck! Why did you say her name out loud?!’

’We’re screwed!’

’And...’

’Destiny... Destiny...’

’So that’s it! It’s actually... something like this!’

For a moment, Chu Bamboo felt like he suddenly understood so many of the strange things that had happened before.

The Big Orange Cat was quiet for a long moment, then sighed. She made no further attempt to argue. With a snap of her small paw, the phone instantly shattered into pieces.

"...You’re really causing me a lot of trouble!" the Big Orange Cat said, staring intently at Chu Bamboo while grooming her fur.

Chu Bamboo could see a glimmer in Big Orange’s eyes. For a second, he even thought the Big Orange Cat was kind of cute... but then he remembered what she was doing, and he started sweating even more profusely.

’And... Destiny!’

’A noun-type Divine Technique... Of course, it’s another noun-type Divine Technique.’

For a moment, Chu Bamboo didn’t know what emotion to show. He had now fully grasped it... compared to adjective-type Divine Techniques, the potential of noun-types was terrifyingly high.

’I’m not sure if it’s true what they said about noun-type Divine Techniques being difficult to develop... but the ones that are developed seem more absurdly overpowered than the last!’

’Exchanging identities... perhaps it wasn’t identities that were swapped, but Destinies...’

’Transferring injuries... maybe that works by changing the injured person’s Destiny...’

’And then there was that ’Destiny assimilation’ she mentioned... Terrifying.’

’It’s too terrifying! Too bizarre!’

Chu Bamboo found it impossible to imagine how such a profoundly abstract word could be developed into so many inconceivable powers.

"However, your secrets! I’ll take them as compensation," the Big Orange Cat said matter-of-factly.

What bad intentions could Hajime possibly have? The worst she’s capable of is enjoying playing with her prey, watching it grasp at a sliver of hope amid despair, attempt to flee, only to be caught again just before success, utterly extinguishing any chance of escape... That’s all!

The Big Orange Cat yawned, revealing sharp teeth. She gently pressed her other small paw against Chu Bamboo’s forehead. "All of your past experiences, your Destiny... they belong to me now! And let me stress, this is compensation for the scare you gave me! I’m certainly not violating any religious treaty."

"..." Chu Bamboo had never met such a shameless cat. ’Though I have no idea what that religious treaty even is!’

At that moment, he felt a strange power gradually seeping into his body. He began to uncontrollably recall everything from his past—’Is this thing forcing my life to flash before my eyes?!’

No, this wasn’t just his life flashing before his eyes!

"Let me see your... Huh?!!"

The Big Orange Cat’s pupils constricted. She seemed to realize something, staring in disbelief at two ethereal, flickering streams of images that had appeared out of thin air beside Chu Bamboo...

’This guy... how does he have two life paths? And they’re parallel!’

’And why are both these life paths so bizarre—’

’The images reflected from his dream life look like they’re covered in countless censor pixels! Or like innumerable pictures stacked on top of each other, making the scene too chaotic to decipher!’

’You can tell it’s supposed to be an image, but you can’t make out what’s actually happening.’

’As for the other path... it was extremely faint! It was like a bad broadcast signal; the images were relatively clear, but they would flicker in and out of existence or freeze, making it impossible to watch...’

’But even if it was so faint as to only show a frame or two, the bustling metropolis, the towering skyscrapers, the factories entering an age of automation... they were enough for the viewer to perceive that this faint worldline represented a completely different, supremely brilliant civilization, unlike the current ignorant and chaotic age...’

The Big Orange Cat’s gaze fell upon the faint image of the Real World. Her pupils gradually constricted into tiny dots—the reaction of a feline that has spotted prey, but also one of profound shock...

She instinctively took a step back, both paws leaving Chu Bamboo’s face. Standing on the air itself, she arched her body, fur on end, and her feline lips twitched slightly.

The next instant, it was as if something had been triggered.

The world froze.

The Big Orange Cat snapped to her senses, a whirlwind of contemplation, joy, and hatred flashing in her eyes. She seemed to want to say something, but it was too late.

The next instant—

Time began to reverse!