“Um... Kitty... what are you doing?” the boy couldn’t help asking loudly.

Before the little cat could say anything—

“Whoosh~”

Hundreds of burly men sprang to their feet and charged toward the boy, looking ready for a fight.

At their head was a dark-skinned giant. Standing two and a half meters tall, he looked down at the boy and said:

“Hey, kid. How dare you address my Cat Bro like that?”

“...”

“Meow~ Hic~ What’s going on~ Hic~”

The little cat shifted to one side and waved a tiny paw in the air.

“It’s nothing major. Some black-haired kid was just disrespectful to you, Cat Bro. There’s no need for you to get involved. Andy and the others can teach him how to behave.” The burly man beside the little cat’s left paw hurriedly replied with deference.

“Don’t!!!”

At the words “black-haired kid,” the little cat shuddered all over, wearing an expression like the end of the world had arrived. Whatever drunken haze he’d been in vanished in an instant.

“Smack~”

The bottle clutched in his little paw went flying far away.

“Stop, meow~”

The little cat stopped lounging on the supplies and hurriedly jumped up.

Shouting as he went, he rushed toward the boy.

“Cat Bro’s coming! Cat Bro’s coming! Make way, guys!”

The dark-skinned giant called out to the others.

“Whoosh~”

In an instant, the hundred-odd men formed two lines and bowed to welcome the little cat.

(The boy thought: My god, what exactly did Kitty do to them during that time?)

“Anyone who disrespects Cat Bro and interrupts his drinking is obviously going to get dealt with by Cat Bro himself.”

The dark-skinned giant pounded his right fist into his left palm and nodded, convinced his guess was spot-on.

But—

“Thump~”

The little cat rushed up to the boy and immediately flopped down in front of him. Putting on a cute expression, he looked up at the boy and said:

“Master, meow~ Hic~ I missed you so much~ Hic~”

“Thwack~”

A blow came down.

“Kitty, I think you’re the one who missed your liquor bottle.”

The boy narrowed his eyes and looked down at the little cat.

“I haven’t even eaten yet, and you’ve already started eating! Living pretty comfortably, aren’t you? How long have we even been apart?”

“What are you doing?! How dare you hit our Cat Bro!”

Seeing the little cat get hit, the burly men grabbed their swords and magic staves.

“Stop, stop, stop! Don’t come any closer! Put your weapons down!”

The little cat hurriedly stopped them.

“Oh, okay. Whatever Cat Bro says!”

Everyone immediately put down their weapons, fell silent, and lined up neatly behind him.

Their posture was absolutely textbook.

“Listen up. This is my Master. Just so you know, he can send me flying with a casual swing of his sword, so, heh heh heh... You get it, right?”

The little cat stretched out a tiny paw and introduced the boy to everyone.

“Oh!!! So he’s Cat Bro’s Master! We were terribly disrespectful. Our apologies, our apologies.” The burly men all shuddered and hurried to apologize.

Holy crap, even Cat Bro gets sent flying with a casual swing? No way...

Then this guy’s strength must be off the charts...

Just look at Cat Bro. Every little swing of his paw sent out a gust that seemed to crush the boss’s trash Super Tier sword techniques.

Thank goodness we were far enough away. We only lost a layer of skin each...

The third-in-command didn’t believe it and charged straight in. That powerful gust instantly scraped him into a cloud of blood mist.

And we actually offended this guy just now.

We’re done for, we’re done for. If we make him angry... I don’t even want to think about it...

At the thought, the burly men made their apologies even more earnest. Some bent so far forward they were practically folded in half.

“Remember, my Master’s name is... uh... Master, what was your name again, meow?”

The little cat had been about to announce his Master’s full name to everyone when he suddenly realized he didn’t actually know it.

This was a little awkward. He was so done for...

“Thwack~”

A blow came down.

“Meow~”

Just as expected.

“You, over there too. Listen up. I’m only saying this once.”

The boy kicked the little cat off to the side.

“Listen up. My name is Ye Xiaobai, and I’m this guy’s Master. Heh heh heh. Get all the food and put it in front of me—or you’ll be responsible for the consequences!!!”

The boy said with a stern expression.

“But if anyone’s curious about those consequences, I’d be happy to explain.”

The boy smiled.

The consequences...? Who’d dare be curious about that...? You’d have to be asking to die...

Everyone and the cat thought the same thing.

“Yes, sir!!!” the burly men answered in unison, their voices ringing through the sky.

“Yes, Master, meow!” the little cat hurriedly replied too.

“Waaah~”

At the front of the caravan, the bandit leader Boluo was still crying where he stood.

He was crying so pitifully that the ground beneath him was already wet.

“Boss... Boss, why are you crying?”

Boluo felt someone shaking him. He stopped crying and turned around to look.

It was one of his men, Little Yellow Teeth Barton.

“No, no. Why would I be crying?”

Boluo hurriedly wiped his tears, trying to cover up the truth.

“You must be seeing things...”

“Seeing things?” Barton asked.

“That’s right,” Boluo said firmly.

“Then, Boss, why are there tear tracks at the corners of your eyes?” Barton asked, pointing at Boluo’s eyes.

“Well, since you put it that way, I’ll admit it. I was so moved to see you that I started crying. Got it?” Boluo made up a reason for his tears on the spot.

“Really, Boss? I’m so touched...”

Barton didn’t doubt Boluo for even a second.

“By the way, Boss, have you ever seen a monster?”

“A monster?”

“Yeah. I ran into him while I was making a move on that girl. He was a black-haired boy, and he actually dared to interrupt my important business. So I fired a Flame Spear at him. My god, he was completely unharmed! I didn’t believe it, so I fired a second Flame Spear at him. Good heavens, that guy smacked my magic apart with one slap. It was terrifying! Boss, if he’s not a monster, what is he?”

Barton excitedly recounted his experience to Boluo.

Then—

“Wham~”

Boluo sent Barton flying with a swing of his sword.

“Boss, why’d you hit me?” Barton asked, looking utterly confused.

“A monster, huh? So you’re the idiot who brought that monster down on us! Do you even know what that guy is?!”

“No...” Barton looked completely baffled.

“The Sword Emperor!!! The Sword Emperor!!!”

Boluo roared.

“Even my Super Tier sword technique, Thunder Dragon Break, got crushed in one hand in front of that guy! Your Flame Spear probably didn’t even count as a fart, and you actually fired a second one at him?!”

“The fact that you’re still alive is a miracle.”

“...”

......

“But... you... just now... didn’t you charge at him again and again too?”

A timid voice suddenly sounded in their ears.

“From where I’m standing, both of you surviving is a miracle...”

“...”

“...”