Chapter 183: Florida Man Accidentally Adopts Lion Cub And Unseals Gateway to Hell
Escaping the perverted clergywomen, Felix made his way home, his floating island. Approaching from the north, he flew over the area that used to be the infamous Purple Forest… or what should have been.
Instead of the ominous, miasma-filled woods and lurking monster dens he expected, he found a thriving jungle teeming with lush vegetation, wild fruits, and natural resources. Some trees even had golden dewdrops clinging to their leaves.
Curious about the transformation, Felix descended into the forest, heading toward the old cabin he had visited on his very first day in this world. Landing in front of the cabin, Felix inspected the building's conditions and its surroundings.
The condition remained mostly the same, except for the fences. All sinister man-eating flowers and thorn vines were gone, replaced by berry shrubs, colorful flowers, and greenery.
Felix hopped over the fences and checked the cabin. Entering the building, he found the rundown wooden structure and the broken wall, which remained the same. He then checked the other empty rooms if a creature or something had taken sheltered within.
Opening a door to a master bedroom, Felix discovered a puzzle cube in the middle of the room.
It reminded him of a scene from a horror movie. In that story, someone solved the cube and unsealed a dimensional portal to hell, and entities from the underworld came out, rewarding the person and the world with agony and death.
Someone with a bit of intelligence would leave it alone. But for Felix, he gleefully picked it up and stored it in his inventory, appraising it.
.
Broken Demonic Puzzle Cube
A treasure from a higher dimension, made by the Cathulhu Overlord, Mu-Nyang. It serves as an emergency beacon for his descendants to call for his aid. Due to an incident of the higher dimension, this beacon drifted to a lower dimension and fell into the hands of Joxonu. As Joxonu couldn't comprehend the secret of the divine treasure, he broke the device and turned it into a miasma box.
The cube has been purified, but it is still broken. Can only be repaired with a philosopher stone.
Can only be activated by those who inherit the Cathulhu Bloodline.
*
It was just useless junk to Felix as nobody could use it. Rather than keeping it around, he believed it would be safer to destroy it. Without hesitation, ejected it from his inventory and put it in his pocket, saving his inventory space. He planned to throw this into a junk box and turn it into mana later when his level limit was unlocked.
Felix searched other rooms, but he found nothing. As nothing interested him anymore, Felix left the cabin, flying home.
He didn't notice that as soon as he had left the place, a kitten peeked out from the crack of the wall. It looked up to make sure that the intruder had left.
The kitty turned around and rushed back into the room with the puzzle cube. However, it was no longer there.
The kitty meowed in shock. It turned to the direction that Felix had flown to and meowed again. Although it was scared of nature outside, it mustered its courage and started running, following Felix. Because of its anxiousness, its disguise was broken, revealing eight octopus tentacle tales.
Meanwhile, Felix was oblivious to the little critter. He arrived home and entered the building, planning to take a break after the long day and recollect his thoughts and plans. He also released Jiji so that she could help him prepare breakfast.
Just after Felix took a warm bath and collapsed on his bed, Diana returned. When she found Jiji, Diana was delighted. She asked her daughter, "Where's our master?"
"In the bedroom, mother."
"I see. Well, continue cooking. It's my turn to please him."
"Please let him rest. It has been a long day."
Diana pursed her lips, disapproving of the warning. Still, Diana had seen what he had done so far, and she couldn't refute her daughter.
"Alright. I'll concede," Diana shrugged and returned to her room, calling it a day as well.
Jiji sighed and proceeded with the meal preparation. When the meal was ready, she stored them in Felix's available inventory slot, preserving them for him.
12 hours later, Felix woke up. However, it was already nighttime. He sat on his bed and looked around.
Surprisingly, his two snake wives weren't in the room or attempted to milk him like usual. He patted his stomach, glad that he wouldn't waste time doing something unproductive for the day. Worrying about the progress, he checked the quest menu.
Quest Objectives: Increase your territory population to 2,000.
Current Progress: 549 / 2,000
Time Limit: 12 days, 17 Hours, 5 Minutes
He had less than 13 days to complete the mission. The population increased slightly, but it was far from enough. As he didn't have much time, he collected his thoughts, thinking of a solution.
'Should I go buy slaves from Crimson Desert or Solaris Empire? That should complete the quest, right? But how much will 1,500 slaves cost?'
Thinking of the local currency, Felix realized that he didn't keep gold coins with him. Aside from gold coins, he still stockpiled mana crystals in the refinery warehouse, which might be useful.
Still, instead of using the precious mana crystals, he could trade with spirit stones instead. After all, he could make some for free while the mana crystals were reserved for making weapons and mana-piercing ammunitions.
Thinking of the pros and cons, Felix made his decision. He decided to consult Diana and Jiji to get more information about slave markets. Exiting the room, he rushed out of his house without eating anything.
Upon exiting his house, Felix rushed outside without looking at the path. His right foot then kicked something small, which let out a painful cry.
"Mew!"
Upon hearing a kitten's noise, Felix flinched and looked below. Indeed, a small trembling black kitten was there, staring at him with its wet black eyes.
Feeling bad for accidentally kicking the little creature, Felix leaned over and picked up the kitten. Upon touching it, he sensed its wet fur and its skeleton outline.
It was so thin and weak. From its appearance and health condition, it appeared to have just been born for a month.
"How the hell did you come here? I thought all the monsters had already eaten all the local animals. What are you?"
"Mew." The kitten wearily meowed back. Its entire body shook in fright, fearing for its life.
Unable to suppress the urge, Felix submitted to the cuteness and the pitifulness of this kitten. He brought it into his house and opened the system menu, searching for kitten milk replacer or KMR powder.
The product was practically cheap as it cost only 1,000 points of mana. He purchased a large can and a syringe for pet feeding. He also glanced at the description of the store and noticed red texts of warning.
[In case of feeding newborn Cathulhu, keep the water temperature above 80 Celsius.]
Felix pursed his lips, wondering why it required hot milk instead of warm one.
"What a Cathulhu? Is it the misspelled Cthulhu?"
Disregarding the warning, Felix wrapped the kitten in a small blanket and put it in a dry kitchen sink. He rotated the faucet to another empty sink and poured tap water into the kettle to the brim and breathed fire to it.
The kettle blackened instantly, and the water boiled. Felix snorted, extinguishing his fire breath. He then scooped a teaspoon of cat milk powder into a coffee mug and poured water into it. Controlling the water with his essence manipulation technique, the powder melted and blended into the boiling liquid.
Just like that, Felix got the milk in his coffee mug. He poured the content into a pet syringe and shook it. He turned around and walked to the refrigerator, planning to put it inside for a few minutes to cool it down.
But as Felix looked away, the kitten's tentacle tails crept over to the milk mug and pulled it toward itself. The cute kitten's head enlarged as it opened its mouth, pouring the milk down its throat. It then quietly returned the mug and withdrew its tails.
Felix turned around to look at the mug and smacked his forehead, realizing his stupidity.
"Why did I only put the syringe in the fridge? I could have put the mug in there instead. Man, I'm stupid."
Walking toward the mug, Felix coiled his fingers around the handle and pulled it off the kitchen counter. However, Felix sensed that it was lighter than usual, and he looked into the cup.
He was surprised. It was empty.
He checked the kitten. Indeed, the blanket was undone, and the little critter had a swollen belly. It had just drank the entire cup of milk.
Felix smirked and wiped its mouth, which was still wet. He asked it.
"That was freaking boiling milk. I thought cats are sensitive to heat."
"Mew!" The kitten smiled and meowed.
For the first time after a while, Felix laughed, finding peace without touching a woman. He petted the kitten, and it purred, lifting its head and showing its chin.
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Felix suddenly had an idea. He wondered if he could take in a regular animal as a familiar, "Hey, Jessica. Can I make it a familiar?"
<You do not have enough familiar slots. Please increase your strength or unlock it by completing the main quests.>
"Bummer."
Felix sighed. He fixed the blanket and carried the kitten to his bedroom, away from nasty snake wives who might eat it.
Unfortunately, Diana and Jiji rarely slept. As Felix woke up, the two returned to the building to report the changes over the day. Felix and the Lamias crossed paths, and the girls noticed the kitten in his arms.
Coincidentally, Eins had been loitering in the vent. As she caught the scent of the milk and the new furry animal, she peeked outside and found the creature.
"Oh, how nice of you, master. You've brought food." Jiji eyed the cat.
Diana sighed deeply. Fortunately, she was once an Earthling, so she wasn't interested in the furry meal, "We're not some tribal humans in a rural country. We don't eat cats."
*CLANK*
Eins and Zwei broke a duct cover and landed on top of Felix's head. Their four eyes fixed on the kitten, and their mouth watered. The nameless black kitten sensed their killing intent and shivered in fear.
Felix rolled his eyes and flickered Eins and Zwei's foreheads, punishing them for scaring the kitten.
"This is your new family member! If I find anybody eating this kitty, I'll expel you from our land and family. Got it?!"
The little hydra pouted and returned to the ventilation pipe to catch some bugs, cockroaches, and rats as usual. Jiji was slightly disappointed, but she didn't show it on her face.
As everybody gathered, Felix changed the subject and asked them about slaves.
"Do you girls know anything about slave markets? I'm planning to buy slaves to complete my quest."