Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 123 – Cat Dad and Siren City

The dock of a frigate-class or galleon-class ship was heavily protected by the local NPCs. When Wellerboy approached the dock, five flying mages circled around the ship from the sky, observing the crew’s movements.

All mages wore a different colorful robe – Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and White. Their (???) level and unique names hinted to everybody that they were big shots in the city.

Fortunately, Xiaomao and his crew’s negative karma was miraculously cleansed. No guard NPC harmed them so far.

The frigate parked at the dock. Xiaomao, Lucky, John, and Peter got down to the port, but Shepherd, Andrew, Magdalene, and James remained on the ship to protect their properties.

When Xiaomao and his crew entered the port, the five mages descended and walked toward them. All of them were elderly men in hooded robes, but their beards looked identical.

The old man in a red robe, Archmage Mayes, stood in front of his friends. He looked straight into Xiaomao’s eyes.

“Identify yourself. Which affiliation or nation are you from?”

Xiaomao temporarily disabled the Chameleon skill and revealed his golden name.

“I’m Xiaomao, munya. I’m here to seek the audience with the emperor, munya!”

The mages glanced at Xiaomao’s golden name. The white mage rotated his finger and cast a spell on the cat and his followers.

DING

<Archmage Casper has cast the spell, Curse of Honesty, on you.>

<You are immune to curses.>

“…”

Xiaomao narrowed his eyes. These people were up to something shady, and he didn’t like it.

TWITCH

For an unknown reason, his right eyebrow twitched. At the same time, he received a strange notification message._.

DING

<[?????? Instinct]: Curse of Honesty disables the cursed person’s ability to lie for a few minutes.>

<[Foresight]: You’re in an enemy’s territory. Never reveal your origins and the Mermaid Kingdom’s name here.>

Surprisingly, these two mysterious skills worked at a time like this.

While Xiaomao stared at the system notification messages in a daze, Casper nodded at Mayes. The red mage resumed the questioning.

“Do you have any ill intention to the emperor or the Yuan Empire?”

Xiaomao came back to his senses. He figured out what they were trying to do.

“No, munya.”

Even if it was true, Xiaomao would be stupid to confess his purposes here.

“Are you smuggling illegal items on your ship?”

“No, munya.”

That was a lie as he still kept the Mazinger Poison in his inventory.

“Are you planning to violate the laws of the Yuan Empire and Siren City in the future?”

“Of course not, munya!”

That was a lie as well. He was determined to become the enemy of the Pangu Church, and the Yuan Empire was the patron of the religion. They were bound to fight sooner or later, and Xiaomao had been planning to take the initiative here.

“Are you working for another country?”

“No, munya.”

Again, Xiaomao lied. He could never reveal the name of the Mermaid Kingdom and Cernun here.

Mayes paused for a moment and narrowed his eyes.

“Are you a Chaos Demon God worshiper?”

“Who is Chaos Demon God, munya?” Xiaomao innocently tilted his head to the side and smiled.

“Do you believe in god?”

“Yes, munya! Pangu is the true god, muncha-NYAAA! I BIT MY TONGUE!”

Mayes let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t notice that Xiaomao’s expression was distorted in disgust because of what he had said.

“What is your true purpose here?”

“I’m here because of the emperor’s edict, munya. I’m also here to trade with the merchant guild and the people of this city, munya!”

“Ah, I see.”

The mages nodded at each other. They smiled at Xiaomao and opened a way for him.

“Welcome to Siren City, adventurer Xiaomao. If you have time, visit the Pangu Church and the Mage Tower.”

“Thanks, munya!”

Xiaomao, Lucky, John, and Peter entered the port and followed the path to the city.

.

After Xiaomao had left, Mayes whispered to Casper, “Aren’t they criminals? Why aren’t they cursed by Pangu?”

Casper shrugged, “They must have been devoted followers. Criminals can receive forgiveness from Pangu if they are devoted enough. I bet they’re pilgrims among the players.”

“I hope they are pilgrims. My hunch keeps telling me that they’re up to no good.”

Casper smirked and turned to the frigate, where Shepherd and others remained behind.

“What’s the worry? We have hostages here, no?”

“… Right. I forgot about that.”

The mages sneered at the frigate and flew back to the Mage Tower.

.

After getting away from the five archmages, Xiaomao hid his name once more. He ordered Lucky to bring him to the palace ASAP.

Lucky, Peter, and John walked faster. They pushed and shoved pedestrians on the way as if they were running away from something.

Along the way, Xiaomao looked around. Three-story houses lined up along the main street. Horse wagons and carts parked on the roadsides while pedestrians and merchants were minding their businesses.

NPCs here either wore priest robes, mage robes, or adventurer clothes. Knights in smooth shiny armor patrolled the city in a squad of ten with a named NPC as a leader while players in fancy clothes ran and leaped over buildings as if they were ninjas.

When the cat’s party passed through the checkpoint at the city gate, Xiaomao’s heart thumped.

He shifted his gaze to the sky, which should be at the center of the city.

There was nothing there. However, Xiaomao felt like something was missing here.

“Where is the pylon tower…”

“Pai-Ron, what?” Lucky was confused.

“Err, nothing. Forget what I said, munya.”

Despite saying that, Xiaomao couldn’t calm his racing heart. He felt like he had a déjà vu, or he was visiting a hometown after he had left for a decade.

Currently, Siren City was exactly what Xiaomao had remembered before the regression, yet deep down inside Xiaomao’s heart, he knew this place like the back of his hand, but it changed a lot.

Pylon Tower of Life Essence was a tall tower in his dream. It resembled a pylon tower from the StarCraft Series, but it was a source of Life Qi and Life Essence for cultivators.

In his dream, there weren’t as many buildings as the city in the game. The main population of the city was beastmen, mermaids, dryads, and friends of his father. Secondly, the only major buildings in the dream city were a mansion and the pylon tower. In the south, there was a monastery of a sect or a cult. And at the east, refugee camps and a huge arena were the last landmarks.

Thinking of the city in his dream, Xiaomao remembered something. He patted Lucky’s head.

“Guys. Does anybody remember if there’s a moat in front of the city wall?”

Peter scratched his head, but John repeatedly nodded. He used the sign language that there was a river moat surrounding the city wall.

Xiaomao closed his eyes and tried to think harder. He still had a feeling that he forgot something very important in his dream.

While Xiaomao was in deep thought, a group of players visited the nearby antique store. A male player pointed at merchandise on a display shelf.

“Hey, isn’t this chalice look nice?”

His friend laughed, “We’re here to buy empty crates and containers for the next raid. Why are you interested in a useless cup?”

“Hey! Chalices are romance, you know. I’m not going to use leaves or wooden barks as cups or plates anymore. I want a proper dish and cup for my food and drink.”

“Tsk. Use a canteen or a Tupperware, then. Don’t bring that stupid heavy chalice on our journey!”

Hearing their conversation, Xiaomao snapped open his eyes.

He finally remembered. Near the pylon tower, there was a pond and a pedestal with a chalice on it. The chalice in his dream continuously produced precious water, which his father and his foster mothers nicknamed “Unified Element Water” or “Elixir.”

“To the city center, munya!”

Lucky, Peter, and John were surprised, “We’re not going to the palace first?”

“No! City Center first, munya. I need to confirm something!”

“O-Okay!”

The group rushed to the center of the city, following the main road.

.

Minutes later, they reached the center of the city.

However, Xiaomao was disappointed. Instead of finding the remaining pylon tower, he found a complex mansion and a tall tower. At the center of the complex buildings, a Christian-like church and a 3-meter-tall fountain statue of a barbarian man stood tall like a store thumb.

The fountain shot bright transparent water into the man-made pond. A hundred city guards stood around the large fountain statue, glaring at every passer-by not to get closer to the fountain.

Xiaomao had the urge to get closer to the fountain to check. But upon looking carefully, he lost interest. He glanced at the fountain and clicked his tongue.

“Fake elixir. Let’s go, munya.”

Lucky, Peter, and John were confused. They gazed at the unusual water fountain and the statue, wondering what their master was thinking.

The group turned around and was about to leave. Suddenly, they heard a commotion in front of the church.

“I’M NOT SERVING THAT FAKE GOD! LET ME OUT!”

BOOM

A city guard in knight armor was hit by something and slammed onto the statue.

The bronze barbarian was broken in half and fell to the ground. Debris fell to the fountain and hit the guarding soldiers below.

In front of the church, a young boy in a ragged cloth, whose neck was cuffed by an iron choker, glared at the soldiers in front of the church. A colorful aura coiled around him, and an illusion of a golden rain dragon wielding a glaive roared.

Behind the young slave, an injured elderly man struggled to get up. His legs were cuffed by iron restrains, and he couldn’t get up.

Xiaomao looked around. The first thing he checked was the person’s name and level.

Meng Xin, Level (???)

‘Oh, an NPC? That’s quite a high-leveled NPC, but I heard of this name somewhere before.’