Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

“Douse the fire and search for the criminal!”

The town guards ran around and returned with buckets of water.

Meanwhile, the culprit quietly sneaked away from the crime scene with the dead priest’s items in tow. While his chameleon skill was on, he flew to the rooftop of a tall guild building. He landed there and inspected the items.

Spirit stone x 30

Teleportation Spellbook x 3

Teleportation Rune x 1

Aside from these items, the rest was junk, which would be converted into gold coins later.

Xiaomao inspected the Teleportation Rune, which was rumored to be the exclusive item of every Pangu’s follower and their servant. He read the item description.

The item was a square-shaped black rock disc with a flat and smooth surface. The front was written in a moon-rune language that Xiaomao couldn’t comprehend. As for the back, nothing was written or carved into the stone.

Teleportation Rune (Marked)</strong>

This rune is a catalyst for teleportation spells; it pinpoints teleport destinations, making it convenient to control where the spell caster wants to go instead of relying on their vision and experience.

The rune has already been used to mark a destination. You cannot engrave it to mark a new location.

Item Type:</strong> Catalyst Tool

Rarity:</strong> Uncommon

Effect:</strong> If you use a teleportation spell while holding this rune in your hand, you will be teleported to the marked location (Highland Fort).

‘Highland Fort?’

Xiaomao narrowed his eyes. He knew this place.

Highland Fortress was located between the eastern region of the Yuan Empire and the Desert Frontier, which was the territory of a danger zone, according to the official website. In Xiaomao’s previous life, nobody could venture into the Desert Frontier’s territory and come out unharmed.

However, recently, Xiaomao gained a clue about the desert frontier. He still remembered the message when he joined the Mermaid Kingdom.

<Spear Demoness’ followers respect you. You can freely enter the Desert Frontier and trade with the Shakatu Nomads.>

‘Spear Demoness? I don’t remember her, but I definitely heard a rumor about Shakatu Nomads. If I remember correctly, everybody called them desert bandits, but was that really the case?’

Xiaomao could no longer rely on the rumor of the past as all information came from Pangu’s men. It might be fabricated, and some info might be false.

But one thing was certain – The fortress was there to defend the Yuan Empire from the nomads.

‘The enemy of my enemy is my ally. I might be able to befriend them if I visit them. Also, the teleport rune might connect to one of the Pangu Church’s hideouts.’

Xiaomao was tempted to teleport to Highland Fortress, but he had a date with Undine at noon today. He postponed the decision to another time.

For now, Xiaomao was curious about the name list and Yeet City, where the Spartan Guild’s headquarters was.

He scanned through Wang Mang’s data and searched for the keyword “Venea” as a starter.

DING

<942 Results found.>

There were actually a lot of players here! Xiaomao was delighted.

Still, the info was two weeks old. Some players might have already moved to a new city. In the end, Xiaomao needed to confirm the detail himself by manually searching for the players.

While in stealth mode, Xiaomao flew to the heart of Venea Town, aka the town center. Similar to Seaside Town, an adventurer guild, merchant guild, and labor guild were presented.

When Xiaomao saw the merchant guild’s building, he recalled that he had already paid for one of his evolution materials, and he hadn’t gotten the item yet.

‘I wonder if this city’s branch has a Cathulhu Essence Core. I still need the Dao Stone, Crystalized Catnip Essence, and that thing.’

Entering the merchant guild, Xiaomao looked around first. Upon seeing that no purple-named player was around, he uncloaked his chameleon ability, but he still hid his gold name.

Xiaomao hopped on the counter and presented the female clerk with his merchant guild’s ID card and the proof of contract, which he had used to purchase the Cathulhu Essence Core.

“I’m Xiaomao. I’m here to talk about the deal that I had with the guild, but Seaside Town’s guild is deserted for some reason, munya.”

The clerk’s eyes lit up, but she sweated profusely.

“S-Sir. I heard you are now a criminal. I-I can’t accept any commission from you, sir.”

Xiaomao tilted his head, acting as cutest as possible. His eyes became moist, “Do you believe in those bullies, too, munya? Why does everybody hate me when I’m doing my best, munya? What did I do wrong to deserve this treatment, munya?”

“!!!”

The sight of a cute catopus on the verge of crying broke the clerk’s heart. She shed a tear and pulled him into a hug.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to chase you away.”

Xiaomao buried his face in the clerk’s bosom. While no one could see Xiaomao’s face, his expression turned into Light Yagami’s famous expression meme.

‘All according to Keikaku!’

When the clerk stopped crying, she returned Xiaomao to the counter. Xiaomao also resumed his cute face, looking like a sad kitten.

“Can I still do business with you, munya?”

“Yes! YES, OF COURSE, my dear!”

The clerk stood up and sprinted toward the back office. A minute later, she returned with a folder of documents and flipped through the papers.

“Okay. I get it now. Dear, you commissioned Seaside Town’s branch to purchase Cathulhu Essence Core, right? The item has already been delivered, but due to the death of the adventurer’s guild branch, the town is now in chaos. The item has been later transferred here for safety. We have it right here, but the item is stored in our guild manager’s storeroom because of…”

The clerk couldn’t say it. She couldn’t believe that a cute catopus in front of her could be a criminal that the Pangu Church and Yuan Emperor were looking for.

How could a cute-looking catopus with innocent eyes be a criminal? They must have bullied this kitty!

“Dear, I’ll help you! I’ll definitely get your item back! Wait right here!”

The woman’s pupils suddenly lit up as if she was determined to do something drastic. She rushed back to the back office and bellowed.

“BRING ME THE TREASURE ROOM’S KEYS, OR ELSE!!”

“…”

Xiaomao’s expression was blank. She stared at the door of the back office in shock.

A few seconds later, the girl ran out of the room with a bundle of keys in her hand. She rushed toward the stairs to the second floor and disappeared into one of the rooms.

Within a minute, the girl returned and tossed the bundle of keys into the back office. Then, she sprinted toward Xiaomao.

The cat stared at the clerk, who was sweating bullets. She smiled at him and presented Xiaomao with a pouch on a plate.

Inside the pouch, Xiaomao could sense the nostalgic scent, which had a similar odor to Mir, Mu-Nyang, and Meowmeow.

“Here you are, sir.”

DING

<Mary has given you Cathulhu Essence Core.>

With this, Xiaomao had five out of seven necessary evolution materials! Two more, and Xiaomao could become a proper Cathulhu and unlock the true potential of this character.

However, the woman’s action came with a consequence. The merchant branch manager stomped out of the back office and glared at Xiaomao.

Xiaomao’s eyes also met with the manager’s eyes. The former was surprised when he saw the NPC’s name and appearance.

Tang Yuan, Merchant Guild’s Venea Branch Manager, Level 50</strong>

The guy was once the merchant guild branch manager of Seaside Town (First appeared in chapter 30). However, he came out as this town’s branch manager instead.

“So, it’s you, Regressor!”

Xiaomao narrowed his eyes. Whoever mentioned his title always had something to do with either Nian or Pangu.

Xiaomao still pretended to be a weak cat. He sobbed and shed a tear.

“Why? Why are you yelling at me, munya? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Because of the commotion, the local players had been watching the drama unfold. None of them had realized that the catopus was Xiaomao yet.

Like the NPC clerk, the men and women in the guild’s building gazed at Xiaomao with a sympathetic look, wondering what made this cat cry. Then, they saw Tang Yuan’s angry face and heard their absurd conversation.

“Return the item, criminal! You have no right to trade with the merchant guild!” Bellowed Tang Yuan.

“B-But I already paid for it,” Xiaomao sniffed and hugged the pouch, which carried the item inside.

“GET IT BACK HERE! THAT’S MINE!”

Tang Yuan reached out to seize Xiaomao’s pouch, but the clerk woman pushed the fatty away and slapped him.

“STOP BEING A DISGRACE FOR ONCE, MANAGER!” Yelled Mary.

Tang Yuan faltered. He glared at his employee.

“That’s it! You’re fired!”

The clerk’s face turned dark, but her angry look didn’t fade from her face. She pulled her long skirt and kicked the manager’s groin.

Every man hated getting kicked in the nuts. Tang Yuan’s face turned purple, and he collapsed to the ground.

The ex-clerk wiped her tear from her face. She carried Xiaomao in her arms.

“Let’s go, kitty. We don’t need to socialize with that trash anymore.”

Xiaomao was surprised. His round eyes looked at this NPC in admiration and respect.

“But you’ve just lost your job, munya.”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s a trash boss that always steals items from our customers. Do you know where he kept your item? HIS PERSONAL SAFE LOCKER! I ain’t working for this crook no more! He can go to hell for all I care!”

She purposely spoke out loud, and the players in the guild heard everything. They nodded as they managed to guess the backstory of this commotion.

One of them slowly clapped their hands at Mary and Xiaomao. Then, the other players began to applaud.

The claps were so loud as if the players were celebrating or congratulating something. They whistled and cheered for the NPC.

“GOOD GIRL!”

“That’s right. You don’t need to work for that asshole!”

“HE DOESN’T DESERVE YOU!”

Realizing that the players cheered for her, she sobbed. The woman bit her lower lips to stop crying and wiped her face.

“Thank you, everybody! Thank you, really!”

She walked out of the guild building with Xiaomao in her arms. Her back straightened like the true victor. Even after she had left, the claps didn’t cease as the people loved this kind of NPC interaction and little interaction between players.

After the ex-clerk walked out of the building, her determined and upright demeanor vanished. She suddenly cried a river.

“… What am I going to do now? How am I going to feed my kids? I don’t have a job anymore.”

“…”

Xiaomao silently looked at Mary’s face. He raised his brows for a moment and glanced at her name to see if she had any good hidden title or modifier.

Mary, Single Mom Accountant, Level 100

‘An accountant?’

Xiaomao suddenly had an idea. He reached out and patted Mary’s head. Then, he licked her face like a cat.

Being soothed by the kitty, Mary calmed down.

“I-I’m sorry. This is embarrassing.”

“No, munya! Even the strongest Chad cries whenever he needs to!”

“…Um.”

Mary finally stopped crying. She took a deep breath and sighed.

Before Mary could speak anything, Xiaomao took the initiative.

“This is coincident, but I’m looking for an accountant or a secretary to look after my guild’s finance and general affairs, munya. Would you like to work for me?”