Ch. 9 - The Great Pretender's Reputation Across the Valley

"Hey guys, have you heard of the news? Last night, a group of hyenas were found dead in a dark alley. Their cause of deaths varies. One got his face caved in while the other one died in a blade." Inside a dining room, the Furious Five were eating their lunch as usual when Monkey took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Let me guess, you heard it from your 'friends', whom we haven't met yet." Viper mocked him and chuckled.

"Hey! I do have friends outside of the Jade Palace! They're just uh.....shy? Anyways, why are we even talking about me? We should be talking about the rumour. Crane, you're the one who goes out of the Jade Palace more frequently than us, what do you think?" Monkey then turned his attention to the silent Crane, who was just eating his meal as he always do.

"What? Me? Oh....I think I heard about it earlier. From what I know, a few hyenas escaped the massacre and spread the rumors. They call him the Black Panther." Crane stated what he knows.

"The Black Panther? I thought they were extinct like the Dinosaurs?" A little green insect was the one to reply.

"We don't know for sure, Mantis. Maybe a few black panthers survived from that massacre, hundreds of years ago." Viper made a shrugging gesture before speaking.

"How about confirming it later instead of relying on these unreliable sources?" Suddenly, a certain unofficial leader of the Furious Five spoke this time.

"Tigress are you sure? Master Shifu told us to meet him at the training grounds before the sun sets down." Viper worriedly said while the other Furious Five members nodded their heads, agreeing to Viper's concern.

"Then we just have to be fast enough. Aren't we trained for these kinds of things? This is a good time to test the skills we have learned." Tigress stood up from her chair and spoke with dignation in her tone.

"That's...okay, I guess?" Monkey scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"If Monkey goes, then I'm left with no choice but to agree."

"Me too. It's kinda getting boring in the Jade Palace, everything we do is nothing but to train, train and train. I know the ceremony of choosing the Dragon Warrior is just a few weeks away but still..." It was Viper's turn to speak and agree.

"....Well, what am I supposed to do here without you guys? I'm coming." Crane finished his meal before saying with a shrug of his feathered arms.

Meanwhile, Tigress smiled at this in satisfaction.

***

Although what he did might cause Mr. Ping to trace it back to him, after all, the geese is the only one who knows that he's from Wakanda.

But does Leo care?

If he's gonna be honest, yes. But it is inevitable. It would be better if Mr. Ping knows about him sooner than later. After all, his purpose is to spread his reputation in the entire world.

Would keeping his background a secret from Mr. Ping help him in his goal of spreading his reputation, increasing his reputation points and also his Black Panther Template?

Obviously, the answer is no.

Though that doesn't mean Leo would outright shout in the entire world his Black Panther identity, that would just be a dumb move on his part.

He must bid time and wait for the right moment to announce himself to the world. Hence, he should lay low for now. He must find the perfect opportunity, he must find the time where the reputation of Black Panther is at its peak. And that's when he comes in and reveals his secret identity.

Not only would it increase his reputation points tremendously, but also because he wanted to confirm something in this world.

If this confirmation turns out to be correct, then finishing the bonus Quest of turning Wakanda into reality.

He must find if Black Panther exists here. Yes, he's referring to the animals themselves, the black panthers.

He once tried to ask Po and Mr. Ping about it but the only thing they could tell him was that the black panthers have long gone extinct a few hundred years ago.

They don't know how or why, which is unfortunate for Leo who seeks information towards the animals.

He believes that somehow obtaining at least a single tribe of black Panthers, he would be able to accomplish the bonus Quest.

He would make himself the King of Wakanda.

***

A few days have passed and Leo continued working at Mr. Ping's noodle shop to the point that he even became its chef for a whole day. This time, it wasn't due to a Sub-Quest but because Leo wanted to.

He just wanted a change in routine. Just cause he felt like it.

"Have you heard about the Black Panther, Leo? He's so awesome! They say that he lurks in the dark and once you blink your eyes, you'll never be able to open them again until you wake up tomorrow." While serving the customers, both Po and Leo were having a slight conversation.

After the Sub-Quest where he must help Po in his shift, he started to help him every time it was his shift, not like he wanted to but it's a good workout for his stamina.

Constantly working and moving all day would benefit him despite having 10% of Black Panther's template.

"Black Panther? What about him?" Seeing how it was Po who took the initiative to talk to him about the Black Panther, Leo was eager to know more about the rumours towards himself.

"You see. It's like this, it all started one night a few days ago when a group of hyenas were...." As Po's fanatic side took over, he started rambling about the Black Panther all while Leo decided to look at his status.

[Status

Name: Leonard Skinwalker

Current Templates:

- Template 1: Black Panther [10.120%]

- Template 2: [Locked]

- Reputation Points: 189

- Gacha

- Quest

- Inventory]

Seeing the reputation points turning from 0 to 189, Leo shivered in excitement to the point where he accidentally ignored the customer who was stating his order.

"Excuse me? Can you please listen to me when I order? I am a customer and I have my rights. I want to speak with the manager of this noodle shop!" Looking down and seeing a female pig whose fattiness seems to have surpassed the fat standards of the pigs, Leo's face twitched.

'Is this the infamous Karen? Is there seriously a Karen even in this world?' Leo then sighed in defeat. As much as he wanted to smash the irritating face of the woman pig in front of him, not only would it give trouble to Mr. Ping but it would also ruin the reputation of the noodle shop, it would've been fine if he was the only one bearing the consequence of such action.

So, he could only grit his teeth and apologize.

'I'll remember your face, pig!' Leo growled inside his mind, while on the outside, his acting side came to the rescue.

Contrary to his evil thoughts towards the pig, Leo's face has the most innocent and apologetic face there is in the valley.

"P-please forgive me, pi-I mean dear customer. I hope you forgive me. Would you please repeat your order again?" Leo kept apologizing and scratching the back of his head while the Karen pig smirked in satisfaction.

"Good boy! Now, I want a noodle for free!" The pig spoke with very high confidence while Leo sighed, thinking that he would have to use his own money to pay for the pig's noodle. When a certain panda suddenly came to his rescue.

"Free?!?" Immediately arriving beside Leo, Po squinted his eyes towards the Karen pig, who started sweating heavily and awkwardly smiling.

"It's you! You're here again, you senile pig! You're already blacklisted in our noodle shop and you still dare to come here and think you can trick my friend here in one of your scams?" Po crossed his arms and glared at the Karen pig.

"What the?" To be honest, Leo was stunned by this sudden turn of events. And here he was being gentle and afraid that he would accidentally ruin Mr. Ping's business when Po came started roasting the Karen customer.

"How about I guide you out for free?" Po smiled and the Karen pig quickly scurried away from the noodle shop.

"Are you okay, Leo? Sorry you had to deal with that." Po embarrassingly scratched his cheek as he apologized to Leo.

"I'm.....I'm sorry but I can't seem to catch up, what was that?" Leo said while pointing at the Karen pig who just exited the noodle shop through the front door.

"Oh that? Well, you know not all customers are kind to our noodle shop. There are customers like the pig from earlier who are full of themselves, thinking that they have authority just because they're customers. You don't have to worry about kicking them out though, in fact I encourage you to do so if you encounter one again." Po explained.

"Okay?" Patting Leo's shoulder, Po resumed taking and delivering orders, leaving a confused Leo.

'I can....fight the Karens without any consequence? Is this a dream come true?' Leo's eyes gleamed in excitement.

"Leo? Are you okay? Uhm, can you take over for a while? I-I can't hold it anymore.?" Looking at Po, who seemed to be struggling from holding his ass, Leo realized what it is about and decided to accept it.

"No worries, Po. Do your thing."

"Thank you, Leo! I owe you one!" Po yelled in a distance as he's already back inside the house.

***

While Leo and Po were working on the Noodle Shop, five figures kept flashing and jumping from roof to roof while stopping at some alleys, giving them suspicious vibes.

"We can't gather information like this! We must ask around!" Viper said before her eyes landed on a noodle shop brimming of the valley's citizens.

"There! It's a good place to start asking questions, let's go!"

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 10 - The Great Pretender's First Impressions]

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