Kapitel 17: Chapter 11 Response Strategy_1
As night deepened, the number of pedestrians on the streets increased rather than diminished, as terror shrouded the city and they frantically sought a glimmer of hope for survival.
Marvin stood in the kitchen, holding Yuniya in his arms, with a golden pocket watch in his hand. The dinner prepared by Mrs. Cecil was laid out on the dining table, now somewhat cold.
"Daddy...."
Curled in his embrace, Yuniya was as light as a feather, her brow furrowed in pain, her petite frame trembling slightly. As her consciousness gradually clouded, she kept calling out for her father.
"I'm here."
"So... cold..."
Marvin glanced at the nearby stove, where the red embers mixed with black impurities exuded a warm atmosphere.
The kitchen was definitely not cold, quite the opposite, it was slightly stuffy, but Marvin knew that the chill Yuniya felt did not stem from her body but from the depths of her soul.
She was fading away.
"Don't be afraid... Daddy's here," Marvin soothed, his arms holding Yuniya tightening a bit more.
It had been 25 minutes since Fat Orange and Little Black had left. In that time, he had asked Mrs. Cecil to return to her upstairs room and boiled two pots of Holy Water, taking out all the dried small fish and cans from the house.
He had done everything he could. The cursed rat had caught everyone off guard, and with no better options available, if Fat Orange and Little Black couldn't bring back good news...
He would have to burn his bridges, open the Church doors wide, and distribute all the Holy Water, thereby temporarily boosting the number of followers to ensure Yuniya's survival at the very least.
He could no longer concern himself with the consequences of such actions.
Five minutes flew by in a blink, with Yuniya inching towards the brink of collapse. Seeing this, Marvin sighed and prepared to open the massive doors to attract those on the streets begging for salvation.
Just then...
"Meow!"
The cat's cry from outside the window drew his attention.
Taking three steps as though they were two, Marvin rushed to the window, pushed it open, and was met by a scene he would never forget.
An uncountable number of kitties leaped onto the Church walls, roofs, and branches, sitting neatly in every space they could find, their calls rising and falling in waves, their fur of myriad colors like a valley full of blooming flowers.
All the stray cats of the entire city had come.
They gathered together, parting to make way for the newly anointed Orange-Striped Emperor, along with his feline flunky.
Fat Orange and Little Black!
"I'm back."
Fat Orange approached Marvin and said, "The stray cats of New Ross City total 1,535, and aside from kittens and the elderly cats who cannot move, the remaining 986 are all here."
"So you really did have ambition..." Marvin laughed.
"Master! Master, meow! Little Black helped too! Praise me, praise me, meow!"
Casually tapping Little Black on the forehead, Marvin took a deep breath and said with a grave voice, "There's no time to lose, let's begin the baptism and registration."
"Mhm," Fat Orange nodded, raised a paw, and issued the first command, "All kitties, line up according to size, and enter the Church in an orderly fashion to receive the Priest's baptism!"
"Meow!"
Under the command of Fat Orange and Little Black, nearly a thousand cats lined up in orderly rows, jumped into the Church through windows, and, with elegant feline steps, made their way to Marvin, who stood in front of the statue.
To welcome this group of heretic believers, Marvin took out a brand-new registry from the drawer. The kitties only needed to bow their heads, allowing him to dab their foreheads with a finger wet with Holy Water, then press their Plum Blossom Paw Print on the registry to receive either a dried small fish or a can of meat.
The stockpile of dried small fish and canned meat at home was nowhere near enough to feed nearly a thousand kitties, so Marvin had no choice but to issue "Dried Small Fish Receipts" — a piece of paper with the word 'dried small fish' written on it, as a substitute for dried fish or canned meat.
As the baptism ritual proceeded, Yuniya's ethereal body gradually became more solid, and strands of dark red light flew from the kitties' foreheads into her being.
Halfway through the baptism ritual, Yuniya opened her eyes, her pupils once again sparkling with their usual liveliness.
The kitties gathered at her feet, rubbing their heads against her and continually acting cute and charming to win the Goddess's favor.
Yuniya giggled at their antics, but Little Black, seeing this, huffed discontentedly, "They are nothing but glamorous sluts, meow..."
"Little Black, come here."
"Coming, meow! Coming, meow!"
Hearing Yuniya's call, Little Black immediately dropped his task of directing the team and dashed over, squeezing out the kitties that surrounded her feet.
"Thank you, Little Black."
Yuniya gave him a kiss, "If it weren't for Daddy, Fat Orange, and you, Yuniya certainly couldn't have recovered."
Little Black was stunned for quite a while then burst into tears, "Little Black...Little Black knew the Goddess would remember Little Black's contributions, meow..."
Afterward, Little Black seized the opportunity to climb onto Yuniya's lap, accepting the Goddess's strokes while showing off a smug smile to the envious kitties around him.
Once the baptism ritual was completely finished, Fat Orange found Marvin, who had breathed a sigh of relief, and asked, "What do you plan to do next? Although Goddess Yuniya's crisis is temporarily resolved, the city is still in chaos. If we don't put a stop to it soon, I'm afraid a riot will break out."
In areas with poor living conditions, rats were a common sight, but in those luxurious residences and palaces, rats were a rare species, thus everyone wanted to flee to places without rats. The self-preserving actions of the officials and nobility completely infuriated the people.
"I've already thought of a strategy."
Marvin put away the registry that had accumulated the names of the kitty believers and laid out his plan, "No matter what, we can't abandon our believers and the common people like those officials and nobility have done. Prioritizing one's own safety is not the truth."
"The most urgent task is to stabilize the situation first."
"What good method do you have?"
"Firstly," Marvin raised a finger, "we need to clear the city of rats, the source of the disaster. If we don't promptly deal with the rats carrying the curse, the situation will never become stable."
Who is the natural enemy of rats?
Kitties!
Cats are naturally skilled at catching rats, and with thousands of kitties acting together, they could certainly clear the threats in the city in a short time.
This was the first step of Marvin's plan.
"Even if we solve the rat problem in the city, the curse that has already spread can't be resolved. If we use the Goddess's Blessing Power to save the believers and the common people, we'll definitely attract the attention of the other Great Churches!"
"That's the second thing I want to talk about..."
Marvin flashed a grin, "Each cat must carry a small bottle of Holy Water. While catching the rats, they'll distribute the Holy Water to those infected with the curse, which will solve the problem the curse brings."
Fat Orange frowned, "While that may indeed save the common folk, we are thanklessly exhausting ourselves, making sacrifices only to benefit other churches in the end!"
"Saving people needs no reason."
"But if the Church wants to expand, we must seize the opportunity!"
"Don't rush.... I have a third move, enough to reap both fame and benefits without exposing the Church."
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein