Zhao Yao hung up and turned to Xiao Yu .

"It's done," he stated, "From today, this island is officially mine . "

There was skepticism written all over her face when she looked at him .

"Oh really? The government gave you the island just like that? Zhao Yao, are you trying to trick a child right now?"

"I honestly do not care if you believe me or not," he said casually, "Hey, you're not done with winter break homework, are you? School starts tomorrow . You have better things to do than gallivant out here . Go home and finish your a.s.signments . "

He cast a severe look at Xiao Yu, then pushed her, Fish Ball, Noodle, and Nekomata through the dimension doorway . This led them into the extradimensional belly, where they fell through another doorway and ended up in the cat cafe .

"No!" Xiao Yu cried .

She had not want to return to the real world . She grabbed onto Zhao Yao's hand to catch his attention .

"It's exactly because school is starting tomorrow that I can't waste my remaining freedom on homework!" she whined, "It's the last day of winter break! I want to stay out and play until the very last minute! Noodle and Fish Ball will help me with my a.s.signments! I don't have to go home!"

Xiao Yu batted her eyelashes at him as she continued, "That was a beautiful island! There's sun, sand, and the ocean! Just let me stay there a while more? And help me take some photos?"

Seeing that Zhao Yao did not budge, she engaged in a more aggressive approach .

"I'll wear a nice swimsuit . I'll even invite a few friends . They're the prettiest girls at my school . Guys at your age idolize high school girls, no?"

Zhao Yao let out a bark of exasperated laughter .

"Not interested," he stated, throwing her a dirty look .

"It's up to you if you want to do your homework," he continued, "You can go play wherever you want except on my island . I have big renovation plans for it . You're not allowed there . "

With that, he took one step back and disappeared into the portal . Xiao Yu rushed forward, hoping to steal inside as well, but she fell through thin air instead . She glared at the spot where Zhao Yao disappeared .

Now that Xiao Yu was safely back in the city, Zhao Yao could focus his attention on William .

At this point, Old Cat had successfully brainwashed William and convinced him to divulge every bit of intelligence he had about the meteorite . Zhao Yao did not ask the cat to reiterate everything that he had heard . That was a risky move . As long as Old Cat had a chance to talk, he had a chance to attack . Instead, Zhao Yao chose to hear straight from the horse's mouth and made William repeat everything he had shared .

William said that the meteorite that crashed onto Earth was the cause of the supercat awakening . It had crossed the globe before finally landing in Maine, USA . However, that did not mean that the whole meteorite could be found there . It had gradually broken into pieces as it journeyed through the atmosphere, scattering meteorite fragments around the world . The thing that ended up in Maine was the largest of these fragments .

The theory William subscribed to was that the fragments could intensify a supercat's abilities . This was why the ones in Maine were particularly powerful . The radiation from the fragment bounced onto them, strengthening them day by day and pus.h.i.+ng them to evolve into unexpected, new levels . It had reached a point where supercats had entered the public service . Some of them had successfully climbed up the ladder and had fought for equal speaking and voting rights as their human counterparts .

With this new arrangement came the genesis of Star Cats . It was an organization in which the American government and free supercats worked together to manage global catastrophes and to conduct research on the meteorite .

Zhao Yao narrowed his eyes as he took in all this information .

"How far have you come in terms of meteorite and supercat research?" he asked .

William shrugged, "I'm just a n.o.body . I don't know much . "

"Tell me whatever you know . "

"Well, there are a few trump cards, or rather, trump cats, in my organization," William began, "The government uses the fragment to strengthen them . They grow and evolve continuously . Even though there are apostles who borrow their abilities, no one really knows the true depths of their powers . "

Zhao Yao nodded impatiently . It was expected that they would use the fragment to bolster their best cats .

"What else?" he prompted .

A deep groove settled between William's eyebrows as he racked his brain for more details .

"I've heard some stories . There was talk that they hoped to breed supercats, clone them, and somehow replicate the power of the fragment to accelerate the evolution of the cats . I'm not sure if there's any truth to them . "

Zhao Yao continued to probe him, but it quickly became clear that William did not know much more .

He ended the interrogation with one final question, "Is there anything else you would like to add? You do have a partner here on the island . If what you tell me does not match what he says, there will be trouble . "

William hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I'm not lying to you . Everything I've told you is true . We're just low-level officers . We don't know much . "

After an intense brainwas.h.i.+ng session with Old Cat, it was close to impossible for him to lie . However, Zhao Yao's threat did seem to remind him of something he missed out . There was another crinkle between his brows when he added, "Oh, there is one more thing I've heard . It's quite far-fetched, so I doubt it's anything more than a rumor

a rumor . "

"Oh?" Zhao Yao was curious and itching to know more, "What rumor? Pray tell . "

There was another pause before William continued, "A colleague told me that there was an, erm, incident in the research facility . An alien escaped . "

"Huh? An alien?"

Willian nodded earnestly, "Yes . I heard that the government managed to extract an alien from the big fragment that landed in Maine, but I think it is absolutely ridiculous . There have been so many stories about aliens in Area 51 for decades too, no?"

Zhao Yao shrugged . "Perhaps . "

In the next moment, William had been robbed of all five senses and had fallen to the ground, unconscious .

Zhao Yao called for Diana and Caesar, whom appeared quickly .

"Erase his memories from the past 24 hours," he ordered .

After that, he got Old Cat to brainwash William's colleague, whom became honest and compliant, but did not offer any new information . The man had his memory erased as well .

"As I suspected, America has been actively regulating and developing superpowers too . I hope we aren't too far behind?" Zhao Yao mused, scratching the bottom of his chin .

The things he heard were a little unsettling .

He was fairly confident that he was one of the strongest apostles in the world . However, there was no way that he could take down an entire country, much less one that had the latest military technology and a substantial number of meteorite fragments .

The dimension doorways were the ultimate defence and served as the perfect escape,

the perfect escape, but they were not indestructible .

"If I want to get my hands on all the fragments, I might have to fight the American government . I really need more horsepower for that . "

He was not ready, but that was okay . Collecting the fragments was no simple task . It would take time and preparation . For now, Zhao Yao would focus on tying up all loose ends on the island and eventually transform it into his personal, portable basecamp with the help of a dimension doorway .

One of those final loose strings included freeing the two Americans and the rest of the stranded individuals from the island . This rescue mission earned him 520 * 2 experience points .

With that, the mission panel became:

Book: Level 6 (45,302 / 10,000)

Matcha: Level 7 (4,700 / 20,000)

Elizabeth: Level 6 (4,200 / 10,000)

Dust Ball: Level 8 (6,355 / 50,000)

Ares: Level 6 (5,400 / 10,000)

Lucifer: Level 6 (2,900 / 10,000)

Sphynx Cat: Level 6 (300 / 10,000)

"Oh right, there'll be the end-of-month tally tonight . There's going to be an influx of experience points . Looks like I can level up a few cats at once . "

Zhao Yao nodded his head smugly . Right now, he was feeling fairly confident about his upcoming mission to fight Star Cats so that he can collect all the meteorite fragments .