"This guy has to know something, right?" Zhao Yao wondered.
He tried to manipulate the sixth sense again and, at last, succeeded. The teenager, or rather, King of Death, raised his head. There was a pleasantly docile expression on his face when he asked, "How may I help you?"
"Could you tell me what's going on here?" Zhao Yao muttered through half-pursed lips.
There was a flash in the King of Death's eyes. A strange thought drifted across his mind, "Why should I reveal anything to this man?"
That would be the rational part of him speaking. Unfortunately, logic and reason reacted more slowly than the intuitive faculty of the sixth sense. Before he could register what was happening, the truth already began to tumble out of his mouth.
"We're here for the Cat King of the West. We would use him to take control of this prison and seize some of the apostles and supercats for our own. Ultimately, our end goal is to..."
At this point, there was a sudden hardness in his eyes. His sense of rationality overcame blind instinct right before he divulged his greatest secret. Like before, when he proposed to disband Ivory and to play a match of King's Glory, the effect of the sixth sense on his actions was fleeting.
When the King of Death glanced at Zhao Yao again, the look on his face had completely changed.
"Him. He's the one who had tried to swindle me into wasting my money on that stupid game. This man...he can affect my emotions and personality? At least he has not recognized me or how powerful I am."
He now regarded Zhao Yao as his mortal enemy. He absolutely must dispose of him quickly. This stranger's superpower could very well be his Achilles' heel. Just the thought of it caused the little hairs on the back of his neck to stand.
This flurry of thoughts rushed through the synapses of his brain in just one second. He only paused for a brief moment before he started speaking again.
"Our end goal is to take complete control of the King of the West, take the more valuable supercats and apostles with us, then releasing the rest of these prisoners to cause chaos."
As the King of Death said this to Zhao Yao, he had also begun to communicate with the puppets that were in the prison.
"Attention, everyone. There has been a change to today's mission. Now, you should be after one man and one man only. Seize him, then locate his supercats..."
Zhao Yao had no clue that turbulent changes were underway. All he knew was that his mission was still incomplete even though he had gotten an answer out of the teenager before him. This prompted him to ask more questions about the technicalities of the ultimate goal, but that did not work.
"Hmm? That's odd. Have I missed out something?" Zhao Yao deliberated, rereading his mission objective again, "Do I have to gather intel from the supercats, then combine it with what I currently know?"
He snuck a peek at the teenager, then struck him with a karate chop on the back of his neck. The boy crumpled to the ground instantly and Zhao Yao dragged him to the other end of the passageway.
In the meantime, the King of Death was trying desperately to assemble all of his men that were in the prison. They had to strike quickly and capture his enemy, this man of unremarkable appearance. Then, they had to force out of him the whereabouts of his cats.
"I cannot confront him myself. His power has too much sway over me. God knows what I might do next if he somehow influences me again. I shudder to think about the repercussions that might have on Ivory. My apostles would have to deal with him in my place.
Butcher can be in charge of apprehending the escapees. Everything else would have to wait. The only thing that matters now is to capture that man. I don't care if that jeopardizes our mission in the prison."
The King of Death's thoughts were shared with his men. Soon, they held onto these thoughts as tightly as if they were their own. They quickly assembled together in a pack.
Ah Kong and his men had received and internalized these orders as well. They immediately stopped giving chase to Black Panther and headed back to join the crowd. There were only apostles, but no supercats, in their midst. The cats were too precious. There was no way they would be directly involved in combat.
Ah Kong might have followed instructions obediently, but that did not mean that he was without questions.
"What's going on? Why is everyone mobilized for this?" he asked.
"Dunno. Seems like we're all supposed to catch some guy."
At that moment, three towering figures gradually emerged from the darkness of the passageway. They belonged to the Muscle Society's Butcher, Champion, and Tank Top. They kept a painfully tight grip on Xiao Ming as well as Black Panther and his supercat. Black Panther might be able to teleport, but it was clear that his ability was quite useless against the prowess of Butcher and his men. He barely had time to react before they were captured in one swoop fell.
Admiration shone on the faces of Ah Kong and the rest of the men.
"Butcher and his guys were the ones who caught them?"
"These three gay men are quite something, aren't they?"
"If those instructions came from anyone else but the King of Death, there's no way they would've listened."
Butcher tossed the two men and the cat on the floor.
"Stay here. Do not move. If you move, I'll break all of your necks," he threatened.
Black Panther, his supercat, and Xiao Ming gulped at the same time. They cast fearful glances at each other.
Butcher then turned to Ah Kong and the rest of the men, "So, what's going on here?"
Ah Kong was the only one who was courageous enough to respond to the hulk of a man. He told Butcher, "An apostle managed to break in. We need your help to capture him."
He raised the smartphone in his hand and continued, "The God is watching over us through video chat as we speak. He wants us to wait right here. Any time now, the apostle should appear..."
Ah Kong pointed a finger towards the opening of a passageway that was a short distance away.
"Right there."
"An apostle?" Butcher scoffed, "We've all been assembled here for just one apostle? Where is the King of Death? Is he still hiding while we're all here?"
Ivory members that were gathered around the area prickled at his brash words. Displeasure was displayed plainly across their faces, especially for the three highest-ranking apostles that were present.
They stepped out and edged closer to Butcher.
Unlike everyone else, they were not wearing the prison guard uniform. Instead, they were dressed casually. The man that led the trio had a head of purple hair. The remaining two had dyed their hair as well. One had red hair while the other had yellow.
The purple-haired man spoke first, "Seems like you still don't know your place, Butcher. It's just one apostle. Team Flash can deal with that on our own. You can piss off. We don't lack apostles like you in Ivory."
Butcher stared down the three apostles standing before him. His lips curled into a cruel smirk.
"Indigo," he addressed the purple-haired man, "If it wasn't for the King of Death, you would be dead right now."
The men glared at each other with a loathing so intense that it was almost palpable. The rest of the apostles could feel the tension but were not sure what to do about it.
Indigo's trio had joined Ivory when the King of Death was wreaking havoc down south. The three men had known each other even before they were a part of the organization. They were known as Team Flash and they were pretty powerful. In fact, they were some of the most formidable apostles in Ivory.
Butcher's trio did not need much of an introduction. Even without the aid of a supercat, they were still physically strong enough to pose a legitimate threat to Team Flash.
Neither could tolerate the other.
This stemmed from the overwhelmingly different circumstances that got them to join Ivory. Indigo's trio had volunteered to be part of the group because they recognized and admired its strength, while Butcher's trio was forced into it by the King of Death.
The men did not respect each other and never saw eye to eye. This had resulted in quite a number of altercations between them, all over the smallest of issues.
Just as they were about to break into another fight, Butcher whipped his head towards the opening of the passageway. There was a deep furrow in his brow.
"Something...something's coming?"
He was sure of this, but he could see absolutely nothing there.
There was a quiver in his ears. Then, he sniffed the air. He could not make out any incoming sounds or scents. However, he could sense that something was coming their way. He could feel some kind of sonic pulse that was eerily familiar.
In an instant, the color had drained from Butcher's face.
"Retreat!" he shouted, "All of you, retreat right now!"
"This guy has to know something, right?" Zhao Yao wondered.
He tried to manipulate the sixth sense again and, at last, succeeded. The teenager, or rather, King of Death, raised his head. There was a pleasantly docile expression on his face when he asked, "How may I help you?"
"Could you tell me what's going on here?" Zhao Yao muttered through half-pursed lips.
There was a flash in the King of Death's eyes. A strange thought drifted across his mind, "Why should I reveal anything to this man?"
That would be the rational part of him speaking. Unfortunately, logic and reason reacted more slowly than the intuitive faculty of the sixth sense. Before he could register what was happening, the truth already began to tumble out of his mouth.
"We're here for the Cat King of the West. We would use him to take control of this prison and seize some of the apostles and supercats for our own. Ultimately, our end goal is to..."
At this point, there was a sudden hardness in his eyes. His sense of rationality overcame blind instinct right before he divulged his greatest secret. Like before, when he proposed to disband Ivory and to play a match of King's Glory, the effect of the sixth sense on his actions was fleeting.
When the King of Death glanced at Zhao Yao again, the look on his face had completely changed.
"Him. He's the one who had tried to swindle me into wasting my money on that stupid game. This man...he can affect my emotions and personality? At least he has not recognized me or how powerful I am."
He now regarded Zhao Yao as his mortal enemy. He absolutely must dispose of him quickly. This stranger's superpower could very well be his Achilles' heel. Just the thought of it caused the little hairs on the back of his neck to stand.
This flurry of thoughts rushed through the synapses of his brain in just one second. He only paused for a brief moment before he started speaking again.
"Our end goal is to take complete control of the King of the West, take the more valuable supercats and apostles with us, then releasing the rest of these prisoners to cause chaos."
As the King of Death said this to Zhao Yao, he had also begun to communicate with the puppets that were in the prison.
"Attention, everyone. There has been a change to today's mission. Now, you should be after one man and one man only. Seize him, then locate his supercats..."
Zhao Yao had no clue that turbulent changes were underway. All he knew was that his mission was still incomplete even though he had gotten an answer out of the teenager before him. This prompted him to ask more questions about the technicalities of the ultimate goal, but that did not work.
"Hmm? That's odd. Have I missed out something?" Zhao Yao deliberated, rereading his mission objective again, "Do I have to gather intel from the supercats, then combine it with what I currently know?"
He snuck a peek at the teenager, then struck him with a karate chop on the back of his neck. The boy crumpled to the ground instantly and Zhao Yao dragged him to the other end of the passageway.
In the meantime, the King of Death was trying desperately to assemble all of his men that were in the prison. They had to strike quickly and capture his enemy, this man of unremarkable appearance. Then, they had to force out of him the whereabouts of his cats.
"I cannot confront him myself. His power has too much sway over me. God knows what I might do next if he somehow influences me again. I shudder to think about the repercussions that might have on Ivory. My apostles would have to deal with him in my place.
Butcher can be in charge of apprehending the escapees. Everything else would have to wait. The only thing that matters now is to capture that man. I don't care if that jeopardizes our mission in the prison."
The King of Death's thoughts were shared with his men. Soon, they held onto these thoughts as tightly as if they were their own. They quickly assembled together in a pack.
Ah Kong and his men had received and internalized these orders as well. They immediately stopped giving chase to Black Panther and headed back to join the crowd. There were only apostles, but no supercats, in their midst. The cats were too precious. There was no way they would be directly involved in combat.
Ah Kong might have followed instructions obediently, but that did not mean that he was without questions.
"What's going on? Why is everyone mobilized for this?" he asked.
"Dunno. Seems like we're all supposed to catch some guy."
At that moment, three towering figures gradually emerged from the darkness of the passageway. They belonged to the Muscle Society's Butcher, Champion, and Tank Top. They kept a painfully tight grip on Xiao Ming as well as Black Panther and his supercat. Black Panther might be able to teleport, but it was clear that his ability was quite useless against the prowess of Butcher and his men. He barely had time to react before they were captured in one swoop fell.
Admiration shone on the faces of Ah Kong and the rest of the men.
"Butcher and his guys were the ones who caught them?"
"These three gay men are quite something, aren't they?"
"If those instructions came from anyone else but the King of Death, there's no way they would've listened."
Butcher tossed the two men and the cat on the floor.
"Stay here. Do not move. If you move, I'll break all of your necks," he threatened.
Black Panther, his supercat, and Xiao Ming gulped at the same time. They cast fearful glances at each other.
Butcher then turned to Ah Kong and the rest of the men, "So, what's going on here?"
Ah Kong was the only one who was courageous enough to respond to the hulk of a man. He told Butcher, "An apostle managed to break in. We need your help to capture him."
He raised the smartphone in his hand and continued, "The God is watching over us through video chat as we speak. He wants us to wait right here. Any time now, the apostle should appear..."
Ah Kong pointed a finger towards the opening of a passageway that was a short distance away.
"Right there."
"An apostle?" Butcher scoffed, "We've all been assembled here for just one apostle? Where is the King of Death? Is he still hiding while we're all here?"
Ivory members that were gathered around the area prickled at his brash words. Displeasure was displayed plainly across their faces, especially for the three highest-ranking apostles that were present.
They stepped out and edged closer to Butcher.
Unlike everyone else, they were not wearing the prison guard uniform. Instead, they were dressed casually. The man that led the trio had a head of purple hair. The remaining two had dyed their hair as well. One had red hair while the other had yellow.
The purple-haired man spoke first, "Seems like you still don't know your place, Butcher. It's just one apostle. Team Flash can deal with that on our own. You can piss off. We don't lack apostles like you in Ivory."
Butcher stared down the three apostles standing before him. His lips curled into a cruel smirk.
"Indigo," he addressed the purple-haired man, "If it wasn't for the King of Death, you would be dead right now."
The men glared at each other with a loathing so intense that it was almost palpable. The rest of the apostles could feel the tension but were not sure what to do about it.
Indigo's trio had joined Ivory when the King of Death was wreaking havoc down south. The three men had known each other even before they were a part of the organization. They were known as Team Flash and they were pretty powerful. In fact, they were some of the most formidable apostles in Ivory.
Butcher's trio did not need much of an introduction. Even without the aid of a supercat, they were still physically strong enough to pose a legitimate threat to Team Flash.
Neither could tolerate the other.
This stemmed from the overwhelmingly different circumstances that got them to join Ivory. Indigo's trio had volunteered to be part of the group because they recognized and admired its strength, while Butcher's trio was forced into it by the King of Death.
The men did not respect each other and never saw eye to eye. This had resulted in quite a number of altercations between them, all over the smallest of issues.
Just as they were about to break into another fight, Butcher whipped his head towards the opening of the passageway. There was a deep furrow in his brow.
"Something...something's coming?"
He was sure of this, but he could see absolutely nothing there.
There was a quiver in his ears. Then, he sniffed the air. He could not make out any incoming sounds or scents. However, he could sense that something was coming their way. He could feel some kind of sonic pulse that was eerily familiar.
In an instant, the color had drained from Butcher's face.
"Retreat!" he shouted, "All of you, retreat right now!"
