Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 44: The True Power of the Shape-Shifting Fruit

“Cat Bro, I’m hungry…” Teddy said cautiously to the Orange Cat. “Want some canned food? I found this imported stuff at the Wanda Mall in Weicheng—it’s really delicious.” As he spoke, he nudged a can of dog food toward the other cat. As a dog, his life experiences had always made him aware that cats were a species known for their bad tempers. Hungry!? Zuo Chen’s eyes widened as he instantly recalled a certain artifact in his storage space. Right, there’s that thing! Why didn’t I think of it sooner! The Orange Cat, who had been looking thoroughly annoyed, immediately put aside his anger. A fake smile spread across his feline face as he scratched his chin and said to the Teddy: “Oh my gosh, don’t eat canned food every day—you need a balanced diet! I’ve got something tasty here, big cat. Want some, meow?” Zhao Ritian was taken aback for a moment, then stuck out his tongue, wagged his tail, and eagerly asked, “I want some! I want some! What is it? I want to eat it!” “This is called a ‘Bigen Sweet Potato.’ It’s a food that boosts your energy—the more you eat, the stronger you’ll become,” Zuo Chen coaxed, while taking several roasted Bigen Sweet Potatoes from his storage space and placing them in front of Zhao Ritian. “It boosts my energy? So this is the Beigen Sweet Potato? It smells amazing!” Looking at the tender green Beigen Sweet Potatoes, Zhao Ritian’s eyes lit up like a dog’s, and drool began to drip from his mouth. “Cat Brother, I won’t hold back then! As the saying goes, ‘Green mountains remain, but drool flows on’—I’ll eat first to show my respect!” He opened his mouth wide and swallowed two Bigen Potatoes in one go, chewing them casually before swallowing them down. Then, like a whirlwind, he devoured the rest in no time. Zhao Ritian licked his lips, still wanting more, and said, “It smells pretty good, but it doesn’t really have much flavor. It’s kind of like Jell-O. Cat Brother, did you come from La Li Zao? Wang Wang, why is my head so swollen? Wang Wang, woo woo woo woo…” “Woo-woo-woo… woo-woo-woof…” Not long after Zhao Ritian finished eating, the numbing effect of the Begon potato kicked in. He quickly lost the ability to speak and could only sit there with his mouth open, tongue hanging out, drooling nonstop. He’d never seen anything like this before and instantly panicked, frantically rubbing his tongue with his paws—but he couldn’t feel a thing, as if his tongue no longer existed. Teddy let out a wail, but couldn’t even cry out loud; he could only silently shed tears, looking at Zuo Chen with a pitiful expression. Zuo Chen waved his paw and said, “Don’t worry, it’s normal. It’ll pass in a moment. See for yourself—aren’t you feeling stronger and stronger, meow?” Zhao Ritian silently checked and was immediately overjoyed, nodding repeatedly. He could feel that the sweet potato he’d eaten was like a little furnace, constantly radiating energy inside him and surging throughout his body. “Hurry up and use this chance to work out and absorb the energy—don’t waste it, meow.” With another wave of his paw, Zuo Chen said, “Start with twenty thousand push-ups.” Zhao Ritian immediately adopted a “I’m great at push-ups” expression, hopped over to an empty spot nearby, and began doing push-ups at lightning speed, sticking his butt high in the air. Finally, some peace and quiet… The Orange Cat turned and flopped down on the bed nearby, stretching out all four limbs, every paw stretched to its limit, and gave a big yawn. Why does spending time with this Teddy feel more exhausting than fighting a horde of mutated zombies… It was still a while before dark, so Zuo Chen also took out some food. As he ate, he began flipping through the Dark Energy recipes in the Gourmet System. Ever since he’d acquired this thing, he’d basically been fighting and running nonstop; he’d never had the time to sit down and take a proper look at it. Although it only contained information and recipes for Dark Energy ingredients below Level 30, the sheer volume of content was already staggering. After all, there were over ten thousand types of Level 1 Dark Energy ingredients alone! Level 2 ingredients numbered in the thousands as well, but once ingredients reached Level 10 or higher, the number of varieties per level dropped to under 2,000. Ingredients above Level 10 generally number around 1,000 each, and for those at Level 20 and above, the number per level drops rapidly to fewer than 1,000. There are a total of 457 Level 30 ingredients—just under 500. However, what puzzled Zuo Chen was that he had not only never heard of or seen many of these ingredients, but judging by their appearance, they didn’t even look like anything that could grow on Earth. Could it be that some of these ingredients don’t even belong to this planet? The thought flashed through his mind, but Zuo Chen didn’t dwell on it. He was just a little kitten right now; he couldn’t even take care of his own affairs, let alone worry about anything else. His mental power was now extremely strong; once he concentrated, he could get a general idea of the contents on each page of the cookbook with just a quick glance. There lay the Orange Cat, his expression grave, gazing at a light screen before him. The images on it shifted rapidly, with numbers and illustrations cascading down like a waterfall. Level 1… None. Level 2… None. Level 3… Level 5… Level 10… Level 15… Level 20… Level 25… None at all! Finally, the recipe book reached the section on Level 27 Dark Energy ingredients. There were a total of 628 Level 27 ingredients. Page after page of the recipe book flashed by, and all manner of bizarre ingredients kept appearing before Zuo Chen, their surreal reflections shimmering in his star-like eyes. Suddenly, the description of a certain ingredient flashed before his eyes, causing his paw to twitch violently. Stop! I found it! He waved his paw to turn the page, and several large characters appeared before his eyes. Level 27 Dark Energy Ingredient: Shape-Shifting Snake Fruit! “This ingredient can hunt by shapeshifting, giving it unique properties. When prepared through a special cooking process, it grants the eater the ability to temporarily alter their form. Some greedy gourmets have gone to extreme lengths to find the Shape-Shifting Snake Fruit in hopes of curing erectile dysfunction…” This is it! But what the heck is that last sentence supposed to mean!? The Orange Cat read on, a vein throbbing on his forehead. He’d already noticed that many Dark Energy ingredients, aside from boosting the consumer’s energy, also possessed other unique effects—such as the paralyzing effect of the Blue Root, or other ingredients that could induce hallucinations or cause hair to grow, and so on. So, could there be a Dark Energy ingredient that allows the eater to transform their own body shape? After all, many creatures in nature possess various camouflage abilities—like the dead-leaf butterfly, Cordyceps, and the chameleon. With a “let’s give it a try” attitude, Zuo Chen went through the entire Dark Energy Cookbook—and to his surprise, he actually found just such an item among tens of thousands of ingredients! Shapeshifting Snake Fruit! It was a purple fruit that looked somewhat like an apple, growing on a shrub and appearing quite beautiful. Zuo Chen knew, however, that since this was a Level 27 ingredient, it was definitely no pushover—it was bound to harbor some dangers he wasn’t even aware of. But since he couldn’t find it anyway—he had no idea where to look—it didn’t really matter. What he was after wasn’t this so-called Shape-Shifting Snake Fruit, but a hope—a hope that would keep him moving forward. Just then, Zhao Ritian, who had just finished doing twenty thousand push-ups, showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. He ran excitedly up to Zuo Chen, holding a colorful ball the size of a watermelon: “Wang Wang, Cat Brother, I’m done with my push-ups. My mouth isn’t numb anymore, and I’m full of energy right now. Will you play ball with me for a bit?” After saying this, he looked at Zuo Chen with pleading eyes. Ever since his father died, it had been a long time since anyone had played ball with Zhao Ritian. Zuo Chen was in a great mood right now, so he didn’t mind playing with this silly dog. He nodded and said, “Put the ball down. I’ll kick it out for you.” Zhao Ritian wagged his tail and set the ball on the ground. The Orange Cat stood up on its hind legs and kicked it right away. There was a “thud” as the colorful ball flew away, and the Orange Cat let out a “yow!” as he clutched his hind paw and rolled around on the ground in pain. This is a damn shot put!