Chapter 35: Departure

"Damn it..."

In his soul form, Raymond crossed his arms and leaned against the enormous, floating, and ethereal tombstone, staring dumbfoundedly at the scene before him.

Although the soul world was devoid of sound, it did not hinder his perception of the devastating destructive force at play. In fact, the silence made the world's collapse all the more astonishing. Skyscrapers, the ground, life—everything melted away effortlessly without the slightest resistance. Raymond didn't even want to describe the scene as "like a hot knife through butter" or "like sweeping away dead leaves" because, in the soundless world, it seemed more natural and irreversible, like the sun rising and dew evaporating, except the process was accelerated thousands, millions, billions of times over!

The view before his eyes vanished in an instant, leaving behind only a hurricane of dust and smoke, barely even considered remnants. Raymond suddenly felt a sense of surviving a catastrophe (even though he was already dead). He thought he might have to thank the group of evolvers who had besieged him earlier.

Because of the siege and the surrounding enemies, when the terrifying earthquake struck, he and Ben Mao had decided to use the chaos to escape instead of finding a place to hide. After all, while everyone was initially preoccupied, what would happen once the situation stabilized? Raymond doubted there would be any handshakes and reconciliation. Though it had been risky, looking back, it was his decisive action that allowed them to narrowly avoid the direct hit of the meteorite.

Of course, they hadn't completely escaped. The meteorite's impact created a massive crater several kilometers in diameter, with shockwaves sweeping across tens of kilometers! They had started fleeing the moment the earthquake began, but due to factors like time, terrain, the earthquake itself, and the thick fog, coupled with not anticipating the meteorite, they only managed to get two to three kilometers away from the impact zone, still within the shockwave radius. At least they had left the center. Otherwise, Raymond might have lost his life, but Ben Mao would have been in grave danger. The numerous abilities used during the fight against the evolvers had exhausted Ben Mao considerably.

Now, though Raymond had lost his life, Ben Mao was still safe.

Raymond looked down and saw his tattered body, with Ben Mao nestled in his arms. When the meteorite struck, he had shielded Ben Mao with his body, only to be blown away by the scorching, violent shockwave, dying in the process. Fortunately, thanks to the palm imprint, he could sense that Ben Mao was still alive. He hadn't expected both of them to emerge unscathed. The world seldom granted such straightforward miracles.

In such devastating impacts, it was a blessing that Ben Mao survived. As for him... In a world lacking effective medical care and full of dangers, even a broken leg would force him to commit suicide for a reset. Not that he liked it—suicide was painful—but sometimes it was the only choice or the best way to solve a problem. Of course, a certain dumb cat didn't agree with this notion.

In his soul state, Raymond rubbed his forehead in resignation, thinking, "Later, that dumb cat is going to scold me. Imagine, getting scolded by a cat..."

After a while, Raymond's mangled, barely recognizable body suddenly moved. Ben Mao, looking rather wilted, emerged from underneath. Even with Raymond's body acting as a shield, it had expended significant effort to withstand the shock. Normally, if Ben Mao were at full strength, it could have easily avoided harm, even at the meteorite's impact site, given its unreasonable powers. But the previous fights had drained it too much.

Though Ben Mao couldn't see souls, Raymond had told it where his soul hovered. So, it stood on its hind legs, looking weak but still waving its front paws in reproach, "Meow meow meow!"

Raymond watched quietly in the soundless world. Once he felt it had scolded enough, he chose to revive. Instantly, sound returned to the world. Simultaneously, a hot, acrid gust mixed with smoke rushed in, making him cover his mouth and nose quickly.

"Alright, don't be mad!" Raymond mumbled through his hand, sitting up.

"Meow meow!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Meow meow meow!!"

"It was an emergency!"

"Meow!!"

"Don't be mad!" Raymond soothed, patting Ben Mao's head while rubbing his nose.

Though displeased, Ben Mao finally relented, "Meow..."

"Let's go," Raymond said, patting its head with a smile.

With such a significant event, there would undoubtedly be many evolvers and possibly entire factions coming to investigate. Survivors from the city, and perhaps even from other cities, would converge here. It was best to leave this place of trouble quickly.

As for the original plan to upgrade Ben Mao, it was naturally scrapped. Life wasn't a novel or comic where everything went according to plan. Unexpected events were normal. Some could be rectified to bring the plan back on track or revised accordingly, but some were beyond correction, like this one. Though it was disappointing, surviving was already fortunate.

Hearing Raymond, Ben Mao pointed a paw in a direction, "Meow!"

"Not that way," Raymond said, "that's towards the meteorite impact. We need to leave here."

The thick fog had lifted, but the smoke from the meteorite still lingered, obstructing the view, even worse than before. Normally, it would be hard to determine direction with such similar surroundings and poor visibility, but Raymond's soul state allowed him to judge the impact point by the shockwave's direction.

Ben Mao shook its head, still pointing there, "Meow!"

Raymond understood, "You want to go there?"

"Meow meow!" Ben Mao nodded.

"Is there something there?" Raymond asked curiously.

"Meow..." Ben Mao looked troubled, perhaps not knowing how to describe it, or it was unsure itself. Raymond decisively nodded, "Let's go take a look."

Though they needed to leave quickly, there wasn't a need to rush desperately.

...

Man and cat swiftly made their way towards the meteorite impact site. The closer they got, the fewer things Raymond saw. At first, there were some ruins and even scattered limbs, but soon there was nothing. The high temperatures from the meteorite had vaporized everything!

The closer to the center, the higher the residual heat. Without Ben Mao's power, Raymond wouldn't have been able to proceed.

After a while, they reached their destination. A "black mountain" stood silently. Due to the obstructed view, it seemed endless, its majestic presence commanding awe. But Raymond's gaze followed Ben Mao's to the side of the meteorite. Compared to the massive meteorite, it was tiny and inconspicuous but left Raymond utterly stunned.

In this life-forbidden zone, he saw the least expected thing—life!

A black-feathered, wingless bird, a species Raymond had never seen, lay there covered in blood and dust, yet still strikingly beautiful. It lay beside the meteorite, its fate unknown.

Undoubtedly, this was an extraordinarily powerful chosen one! Raymond had noticed the extreme weather before the meteorite hit—howling winds, lightning, lava spurting—highly unusual. It might have been caused by this chosen one or its opponent. Either way, it meant power. This was a perfect opportunity to seize an advantage!

Ben Mao approached and sniffed it, then looked puzzled, turning to Raymond. Seeing this, Raymond's heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable urge made him blurt out, "No!"

He was surprised by his own words. This was a perfect opportunity to seize a powerful advantage. Why did he feel he shouldn't? It was just a gut feeling.

Raymond frowned at the bird, contemplating before finally saying, "I feel like we shouldn't eat it."

Soon, he realized he might have overthought it. Ben Mao didn't seem interested in the chosen one. It flipped the bird over, revealing a pendant. The pendant was simple—a red string through a small black stone. The stone was beautiful, about the size of half a thumb, translucent black with a hint of deep purple. Strangely, the string was long, not something a bird would wear.

Ben Mao pointed at the pendant, "Meow!"

"You want this?" Raymond was startled, yet relieved.

His intuition had said not to let Ben Mao consume this chosen one, but forcing it to miss such a big opportunity was unpleasant. Luckily, Ben Mao wasn't interested.

"Take it," Raymond said, then pointed at the bird, "But don't eat it."

"Meow meow!" Ben Mao eagerly broke the string and swallowed the black stone.

Raymond was about to ask why it ate it when Ben Mao stumbled as if drunk. "What's wrong?!" Raymond was alarmed. His cat might be dumb, but it shouldn't trip on flat ground!

Ben Mao seemed like it was about to sleep, eyelids drooping. It struggled to stand, swaying, then placed its soft paws on Raymond's right hand, "Meow!"

After about two seconds, Ben Mao collapsed, curling into a fluffy white ball. Raymond was bewildered, poking it gently. The ball wobbled like a Weeble, "Damn..."

A familiar scene! The last time he saw this was during Ben Mao's evolution. Since then, despite absorbing many evolvers, even chosen ones, it hadn't shown any signs of this. What was that stone?

Raymond looked at his right hand and saw, besides the faint gray cat paw print, two black chains crossing each other. What were these?

The sudden situation likely exceeded even Ben Mao's expectations. It had only left something on his hand before falling asleep. These mysterious chains were probably Ben Mao's handiwork.

It seemed that there were many secrets in the other world that he had yet to learn about.

"Meow!" Raymond sighed and picked up Ben Mao, securing it inside his clothes.

Though this placed Raymond in a difficult position, it wasn't like before. He had been with Ben Mao for a while now. Though he relied heavily on it, he wasn't a typical parasite. He had other tricks up his sleeve.

Moreover, it was due to Ben Mao's sacrifice that they found the stone. Now, he just needed to make sure it was safe until it woke up. It was time to leave.

Raymond took a deep breath, "I hope nothing else goes wrong today..."

...

About half an hour later, Raymond, carrying Ben Mao, navigated through the desolate ruins. He avoided the site where the evolvers had fought, opting to find a way around the crater. He moved stealthily, ready to evade any potential danger.

Suddenly, he heard a distant rumbling. His instincts screamed at him, something bad was about to happen.

"Please don't be another disaster," he muttered, increasing his pace.

As he moved, the rumbling grew louder, and he realized it wasn't natural. It was an army, or at least a large group, moving in his direction.

Raymond's heart sank. He needed to find a hiding spot quickly.

He spotted a partially collapsed building, its shadow providing a decent cover. He dashed towards it and huddled in the shadows, watching the approaching group.

It was an army of survivors, armed and organized, possibly from a faction or another city. They were scouting the area, likely drawn by the meteorite's impact.

Raymond held his breath, hoping they wouldn't notice him.

Minutes passed, and the group moved on, unaware of his presence. Once they were a safe distance away, he emerged from his hiding spot and continued his journey, determined to find a safe place for him and Ben Mao.

As he moved further away from the impact site, the air cleared, and the landscape became less chaotic. He found a relatively intact building and decided to rest there for a while. He placed Ben Mao gently on the ground and sat beside it, keeping a vigilant watch.

"Rest well, little buddy," he whispered, "We'll get through this."

Raymond knew that their journey was far from over, but with Ben Mao by his side, he felt a glimmer of hope. They had survived this far, and they would continue to fight for their survival, no matter what challenges lay ahead.