The Earth is Online

Tang Mo took two steps back as the old man’s rotten wood collided with Fu Wenduo’s triangular weapon.

The old man was thin and small but a strong power was hidden in his body. Fu Wenduo took half a step back while the old man unexpectedly stood still. He let out a surprised sound when he saw that there was a shallow gash on his hand. He looked at Fu Wenduo’s right hand and showed greed. “Hey, cut off your hand for me and I’ll give you this bowl of cat food.”

Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo didn’t speak to him at all. The two people just attacked together.

In the s.p.a.cious garden, the sound of fierce fighting was heard.

Zhao Xiaofei soon joined the battle. She took out a small purple box from her pocket and pointed it at the old man, firing multiple purple needles. The old man comfortably avoided her needles while resisting Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. Gradually, he fell into a disadvantage.

The old man realized this and turned to run away. Tang Mo raised his right hand and dozens of silver steel needles instantly appeared, flying towards the old man. The old man cursed and dodged the attack. All the needles shot into the dirt. The old man was forced to run to the left and Fu Wenduo directly struck from the left side, making him unable to avoid it.

The old man roared angrily and broke the piece of rotting wood in his hand. A smell more terrible than the cat food suddenly emerged.

This scent transcended the limits of human imagination. Tang Mo’s throat squirmed and he almost vomited. Even Fu Wenduo paused for a moment. The old man used this opportunity to grab the cat food and ran. As he left, he spat towards the humans, “Bah! You shameless humans!”

Tang Mo covered his mouth with one hand, staring at the old man with a flushed face. Then he raised his other hand and fired dozens of needles again. Fu Wenduo also took out a thin rope to capture the map. The old man didn’t dare to be careless. The two players forced themselves to adapt to the terrible stench and chased him.

Fu Wenduo pierced the old man’s thigh and he staggered to the gate. Tang Mo threw the small parasol at him and pulled out the big match. The head of the match rubbed against the ground, causing sparks to fly. The big match was just about to ignite the old man’s clothes when a red figure appeared behind the old man. There was the sound of a sharp weapon piercing blood and flesh. Tang Mo’s actions stopped for a moment before he waved the match to ignite the old man’s body.

The old man opened his mouth and stared with disbelief at the three humans in front of him.

Tang Mo put the small parasol away and Fu Wenduo also stood still. They turned and saw a tall, elegant blond man gently pull down his hat. Grecia smiled and pulled his cane out from the old man’s chest. He complained, “This scent is really memorable, my lady. It shouldn’t exist in this world.”

It was unknown what material Grecia’s cane was made of but after it pierced the old man’s body, the old man stopped breathing. The flames soon engulfed her body and Li Miaomiao ran up to take the cat food from the old man. The flames gradually extinguished, leaving black ashes.

Tang Mo looked thoughtfully at the short cane in Grecia’s hand and then the ashes on the ground.

Li Miaomiao asked, “Is there really a cat who wants to eat something so smelly?”

Tang Mo turned to look at her.

Zhao Xiaofei looked at this p.o.o.p like thing and held her nose. “It’s stinky. The old man wasn’t lying to us was he? Is this really cat food?”

Grecia explained very patiently. “He might lie but the black tower will never lie. You can get a bowl of cat food from defeating the underground person who guards the cat good. We got it now, a bowl of delicious cat food.”

Tang Mo spoke lightly, “If you really think it is delicious then you can eat it.”

Grecia, “...”

He shut his mouth before he probably didn’t want to eat the cat food.

Li Miaomiao was a surgeon with a high tolerance for this stinky cat food. She took the bowl of cat food and walked carefully into Schrodinger’s castle. The others followed behind her, entering the door in turn before the middle-aged housekeeper closed it behind them. The five people, led by Li Miaomiao, moved through the castle.

“Meow meow, meow meow? Time to eat.” Li Miaomiao shouted as she held the cat food.

“Meow meow?”

“Here comes your favourite cat food.”

“Meow meow.”

The five people took the cat food from the first floor of the castle to the second floor before finally returning to the first floor. Every black cat would turn and run away when seeing them. It was even faster than before, as if they didn’t want to eat this cat food at all. Li Miaomiao gave up. “Sure enough, how can normal cats eat this type of thing? A dog can’t eat p.o.o.p. How can cats eat it?”

Zhao Xiaofei asked, “What should we do? The black tower said that Schrodinger’s cat will eat this bowl of cat food. If it doesn’t come out to eat then how can we find it?”

Things suddenly fell into a deadlock.

Suddenly, a stiff male voice was heard from behind Li Miaomiao. “Guests, this smelly thing can’t be placed in the castle. I can dispose of it if you aren’t going to.”

Li Miaomiao was stunned. “This is cat food and Schrodinger’s cat eats it.” Yet it couldn’t be placed in the castle?

The middle-aged housekeeper didn’t answer. He just kept his head bowed low and repeated, “Guest, this smelly thing...”

The people said a few more words but the housekeeper didn’t seem to hear it as he kept repeating the same thing. Wherever Li Miaomiao went, he would follow to constantly remind her.

Fu Wenduo finally ordered, “Give it to him.”

Li Miaomiao was startled. “This is the cat food that we managed to grab.”

Fu Wenduo told her, “There will be a bowl of cat food every three hours. We have no use for this bowl of cat food. We can give it to him. He said that he has a way to deal with it.”

Zhao Xiaofei cried out, “But...’

Li Miaomiao remembered Ruan w.a.n.gshu’s words before leaving and agreed. “Okay, I don’t want to keep holding this thing.” She quickly placed the cat food into the middle-aged housekeeper’s hands. The middle-aged housekeeper acted like he couldn’t smell it and walked into the kitchen.

Fu Wenduo glanced at Tang Mo and they followed him.

Li Miaomiao realized what they intended. “Eh, do you want to follow this housekeeper to find Schrodinger’s cat?”

The housekeeper slowly entered the kitchen with the cat food. He put the cat food into the cupboard, locked the door and left again. The five players waited in the kitchen. The kitchen stank and the black cats refused to enter. After waiting for half an hour, they had to give up and look for the cat according to the previous method.

This time everyone changed floors. Tang Mo and Li Miaomiao searched the first floor while Fu Wenduo’s trio searched the second floor.

Li Miaomiao grabbed the kitten and after checking it, she marked its legs. The pair quickly looked through 10 rooms and found nothing. As Tang Mo said, their efficiency in finding cats was greatly reduced. Of the cats that the pair caught, 80% had been marked already.

One and a half hours later, the pair found only 20 new cats.

Li Miaomiao let go of a dirty black cat and squatted on the ground. Her mind was very confused. “Does the instance really want us to look this way? We should’ve found more than 200 cats and there are over 100 left. If the cat isn’t here, wouldn’t all our work be wasted?”

“It must be here.” Tang Mo stated.

Li Miaomiao turned to look at him.

The remaining black cats were clever and ran away before the humans could come over. Tang Mo pretended to look away as he walked past a kitten hiding behind a vase. Once the kitten wasn’t paying attention, he reached out and grabbed the cat.

“Meow!”

The cat screamed angrily, scratching at Tang Mo’s hand with its paws. Unfortunately, the small claws couldn’t leave any traces on Tang Mo’s hard skin, same as its bite. Tang Mo checked the cat and put it down before looking over at Li Miaomiao. “The cat must be here. Any game given by the black tower can be cleared. If the cat isn’t here then we will never find it and it will be impossible to clear the instance. Thus, Schrodinger’s cat must be in this castle.”

Li Miaomiao understood this truth and gritted her teeth. “It has to be. We just have to look at every cat and use the exclusion method to find it.”

Tang Mo didn’t speak.

The two of them continued to search.

“What kind of game is this? How can a cat like to eat that cat food?” Li Miaomiao complained. Before the earth went online, she had raised a cat. He wasn’t a valuable species but he wouldn’t even eat fish, let alone p.o.o.p. He was a very picky eater. There may be cats in the world that didn’t eat fish but there were none who loved to eat p.o.o.p. “...Is Schrodinger’s cat so different? Is it different from other normal cats?”

Tang Mo’s footsteps suddenly stopped.

Li Miaomiao took a few steps before turning to glance at him. “Tang Mo?”

Tang Mo’s eyes were narrowed as he thought quickly. He closed his eyes and the next moment, he muttered, “The cat is different... perhaps Schrodinger’s cat isn’t a cat?”

“Eh?”

Tang Mo asked, “Do you know Schrodinger’s theory?”

“Of course I know it, I am a science student. Schrodinger’s cat is an experiment he proposed. Put a cat in a box of radioactive material. It has a 50% chance of decaying, which means the cat will die. There is also a 50% chance of not decaying and the cat won’t die. Before the box is opened, no one knows whether the cat is alive or dead. It is in a state of survival and death.” She paused and wondered, “What does that have to do with this game?”

“Is Schrodinger’s cat necessarily a cat?”

“How can it not be a cat?”

Tang Mo frowned but the corners of his lips slowly curved up. He whispered the three rules of the black tower and explained when Li Miaomiao was about to ask again. “Before we find the cat and finish the game, no one knows if the cat is a cat or something else. The cat might be an ordinary cat or it might not be a cat at all. Your name is Li Miaomiao.”

Li Miaomiao was vaguely aware of Tang Mo’s meaning but she still didn’t understand. “My name is Li Miaomiao? Does this have anything to do with the game?”

“Yes, your name is Li Miao...” A cat suddenly threw itself at Tang Mo and he stopped. He checked the little black cat that threw itself into his arms, saw the markings on the hind legs and let it go. He raised his head and continued, “Your name is Li Miaomiao so you can’t be cat. But what if your name is Cat?”

Li Miaomiao’s eyes widened in a startled manner. “You mean, anything can be the cat? Schrodinger’s cat isn’t necessarily a real cat? The three rules of the game given by the black tower: Schrodinger has only one cat, it is unsociable, loves cleanliness and likes to eat cat food... eh? Can it be like this?”

An hour later, the pendulum clock in the centre of the castle hall rang in a punctual manner.

The five players gathered downstairs, exchanged information and counted the number of black cats that everyone checked. After determining that no one had found Schrodinger’s cat, the five people walked out of the door and into the garden, waiting for the cat food to appear.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo walked at the end.

Tang Mo lowered his voice. “How is it?”

Fu Wenduo’s eyes lowered and stared at Tang Mo. “There is nothing strange. It looks like an ordinary short cane. It should be a prop that isn’t weaker than your big match.”

In order to kill an underground person in an instant, the quality of this prop must be very high.

Tang Mo thought for a moment. “What about the bowl of cat food?”

“It is still in the cupboard.” Then Fu Wenduo added, “There is a lock on the cabinet.”

Tang Mo’s footsteps stopped when he heard this and he looked up at Fu Wenduo’s dark eyes with amazement. The two men quietly watched each other and Tang Mo understood Fu Wenduo’s meaning. He thought quickly, several ideas turning over in his head. He didn’t have time to speak them when a familiar and unpleasant song was heard in the distance.

“Oh, are we eating stowaways today?”

“The heart of a stowaway is especially good to eat.”

“Stowaway’s liver isn’t too greasy when fried.”

“A stowaway’s thighs are chewy and powerful.”

“Ah! My dear Lord Schrodinger, have you eaten stowaways today?”

Li Miaomiao was shocked when she heard this song. She grasped her weapon and saw a black shadow slowly approaching from a distance. It was a short and thin dirty old man dressed in ragged grey clothes. His face was covered in ash, as if he hadn’t had a bath for many days. He went to the middle of the garden and sat down, pulling out a bowl of dirty stuff.

The next second, the familiar stench filled the garden. The players were ready for it this time.

The old man saw everyone’s calm reaction and spat with disappointment. Then he sniffed and smelt a delicious aroma. “Oh, what is this I smell? Stowaways, two stowaways! Delicious cat food, the best-known royal cat food in the Underground Kingdom, do you want to buy it? A stowaway for a bowl of cat food. This is a really cost-effective deal!”

Zhao Xiaofei hesitated as she casually looked over Tang Mo and the others. Zhao Xiaofei had to pa.s.s at least the black tower’s first floor to be able to enter this game. She wasn’t a fool. She observed that Tang Mo shouldn’t be a stowaway and Fu Wenduo didn’t seem like one. The most likely people to be stowaways were Li Miaomiao and the inexplicable Grecia.

Zhao Xiaofei was in favour of exchanging Grecia for cat food. This man was somewhat different and seemed to have a secret. Having this mean in the team was like holding a bomb.

But they couldn’t do this.

Zhao Xiaofei held the purple box and prepared to attack. She didn’t expect Li Miaomiao to suddenly ask, “Does Schrodinger’s cat really like to eat your cat food?”

It was like the old man had been poked in the feet as he jumped up. “What do you shameless humans know? Schrodinger’s cat only eats my cat food. It likes to eat this cat food!”

Li Miaomiao told him, “However, the cat didn’t eat the last bowl of cat food you sent over.”

The old man shouted, “Impossible!”

Li Miaomiao saw his reaction and knew that he wasn’t lying. Schrodinger’s cat really liked to eat this stinky cat food. In that case...

“Schrodinger’s cat must be in this fortress. He is unsociable, very clean and likes to eat this bowl of cat food. Yet he didn’t eat it. There is only one possibility.” Li Miaomiao’s eyes swept over the people present before landing on one person. “Who said that Schrodinger’s cat must be a cat? He didn’t eat that bowl of cat food because he didn’t get a chance to. He was with us the whole time...”

“Right Mr. Grecia?”

In the bright sunlight, the man in red clothing was looking down and teasing the black cat in his arms. Grecia looked at everyone with surprise and seemed incredulous. He blinked at Li Miaomiao’s certain expression. “Me? Schrodinger’s cat? My lady, you think that I am Schrodinger’s cat?” He laughed and asked, “Dear lady, can I ask why you made such a judgment? Why am I the cat and not him, him or her?”

Grecia pointed to Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo and Zhao Xiaofei.

Li Miaomiao couldn’t say that she knew Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo and knew they weren’t cats. As for Zhao Xiaofei being the cat...”

Li Miaomiao’s expression didn’t change. “It is a woman’s intuition.”

“Then to you, I am like a cat?” Grecia raised his eyebrows and nodded. He seemed to figure something else as he grabbed the kitten’s paws and imitated the waving money cat. He gently scratched at the air and made a soft sound, “Like this~”

“...Meow~?”

The air stiffened for a moment.

This reaction wasn’t supported by the black tower and Li Miaomiao found that she might’ve guessed wrong. “How is it possible? The ability to eat cat food shows that it must be a living thing. In this castle, us humans and the hundreds of cats are the only ones present. The hundreds of cats won’t eat cat food because none of them are Schrodinger’s cat. In addition, normal cats won’t eat this cat food. Then we are the only ones left...”

Li Miaomiao turned to look at Zhao Xiaofei.

Zhao Xiaofei’s eyes became red. “You are sick. How can I be the cat? I am human?”

Hoa.r.s.e and unpleasant laughter rang out. “Haha, look what I heard. You actually said that he is Schrodinger’s cat? How can the real Schrodinger’s cat be like this? This is the funniest joke in the Underground Kingdom this year. If I sell it to Peter Pan’s gossip tabloid, I will be sure to get a King’s Gold Coin! The name I thought about is Strange...” The old man suddenly closed his mouth and blinked. “I won’t say it. I have to follow the rules of the black tower. So... do you want to buy my cat food now?”

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