Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
System 2333 wasn’t the type of cat ball to keep his discoveries to himself. On the contrary, he knew very well that one ball’s strength was limited, and collective wisdom was needed.
So he immediately decided to share his findings with his friends. Facing the elevator shaft before them, he gestured with his two tails.
"Big!"
Then he turned and gestured toward the small elevator currently used by the cat balls.
"Small!"
System 1001 thought for a moment and understood his meaning, murmuring,
"Right. Cat balls are small, so why... is this abandoned elevator shaft so big?"
System 2222 also fell into thought before suddenly tapping his head with his tail.
"I get it!"
Instantly, all the cat balls turned to look at him. 2222 puffed up proudly and announced his conclusion.
"Isn’t it just because they built it too big by mistake and then abandoned it?"
"......"
The other cat balls stared at him with indescribable expressions.
How could a cat ball have such an intelligence deficit?!
System 2222: "???"
4399 floated up and projected a scanning beam onto the outer door of the elevator shaft. After completing the scan, he slowly descended.
"These two elevator shafts were built at different times."
4399 and his host had a shared interest in engineering and machinery and had previously studied some of the facilities in the main system space.
"The small elevator we’re using now was built around the same time as the first batch of systems—it was constructed later. But this old elevator shaft..." He lightly tapped the metal door with his tail. "Was built earlier than the first batch of systems, around the same time as the main framework of the system activity zone."
This meant the system activity zone had actually undergone a renovation and reconstruction, with additions made to the original foundation.
System Nm2333 stared at the elevator shaft and suddenly said,
"I wonder if the host activity zone is the same. I’ll take some time to check."
"Then I’ll install a device for measuring construction dates for you." 4399 took out a drill and, under the slightly horrified gazes of two other cat balls, began drilling into 2333’s head. "Hold still, don’t float around. It’ll be done soon."
Sparks flew from beneath his tail, and sparks also flew from 2333’s head. 4399 even had the leisure to ask the two cat balls clinging to each other in fear,
"Do you two want new modules installed too?"
2333, a veteran of illegal modifications, happily shook his head.
"Modifications feel great!"
"Stop moving your head, or I’ll drill through it!"
After the temporary modification was complete, 4399—completely unfazed by how much he resembled a mad scientist cat ball—wiped his tail with a soft cloth and said,
"Didn’t you want to open up the elevator shaft? We don’t know how badly it’s blocked inside, so we’ll need to find a way in first."
System 2333 had just installed a new module and was feeling quite pleased with itself. Upon hearing the request, it immediately gave System 2222 an eager look, and the two balls rushed forward to try prying open the elevator shaft's outer door. They strained so hard their nonexistent ears stood straight up, but still couldn't budge it.
System 4399 watched them like they were idiots.
Gradually feeling embarrassed, System 2333 stopped and rubbed its nonexistent nose.
"Little Nine, shouldn't you be doing that thing now?"
"What thing?" System 4399 replied with a blank expression.
"That thing!" System 2333 hopped impatiently and immediately demonstrated, "Ta-da~ ta-da~ Anywhere Door! That thing!"
Pull out an Anywhere Door and let them go straight into the elevator shaft!
Please, Dora-4-mon!
System 4399 seemed to understand. Mimicking the gesture, under 2333's excited gaze, it reached into its belly with its cat tail—
"Ta-da~ ta-da~"
It pulled out a hammer, shovel, chainsaw, and screwdriver before distributing them to the other cat-balls with its screen displaying a cold expression.
"Get to work. I'll mark the area—you dig a small door out from the side."
"What about you?" System 2333 couldn't help but ask.
"This is simple labor. A high-level technician like me doesn't need to get involved..." System 4399 lazily coiled its tail into a spiral and sat on it, even shamelessly pulling out a bag of supplements to drink. "Besides, didn't I draw the circle for you? Get to work."
System 2333 could only sob as it worked, sniffling the whole time.
"Wahhh, you're a fake Doraemon—"
[Host Living Quarters]
Late at night, Ji Yiwei received an encrypted message. He lay motionless in bed, reaching to touch his collarbone... Sure enough, San-San had already gone back.
He was thinking about Sheng Songshi's proposal from earlier that day.
The suggestion to visit the system living quarters had stirred something in him, like a dog's tail grass tickling his heart. He'd never considered it before, but once the idea took root, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
He really wanted to see San-San outside of work mode. He could crouch in front of San-San's charging dock and watch all night, then greet it with a "good morning" when it rebooted.
How sweet would that be!
Lost in thought, Ji Yiwei lazily opened his wrist display but wasn't in a hurry to check Sheng Songshi's message. Instead, he navigated to the Main System's shopping mall.
He skimmed the page—no new supplements—then, with practiced ease, scrolled all the way to the last page of the product list and kept swiping backward, trying to access nonexistent pages.
Ji Yiwei was clearly adept at exploiting bugs. The glitch he was exploiting was like scrolling past the latest chapter of a novel to peek into the author's nonexistent draft folder. By swiping beyond the last page, he sometimes entered San-San's unorganized storage area, where a few scattered, glitched items lay.
He would secretly use this bug to see what interesting—or hard-to-sell—items San-San had prepared. For the latter, he'd deliberately request them and let San-San mark them up by 2000% before buying them all.
Ji Yiwei's scrolling finger suddenly froze.
On the page before him, within the tiny product module, lay an item.
【@#￥%& Peach Blossom.】
Apparently, San-San had hidden the flower here.
Ji Yiwei narrowed his eyes and continued refreshing. After hundreds of attempts, he finally pulled up something new.
【@#￥%& Spider-Type Offensive Robot (Damaged)】
Raising an eyebrow, Ji Yiwei persisted.
【@#￥%& Alloy Sewage Pipe (Small Section)】
Ji Yiwei: "???"
Did San-san go dumpster diving?
He pictured the cat-eared robot with a dirty screen, hauling bundles of junk while cheerfully announcing, "I brought back some trash!"
Adorable.
When nothing new appeared after more attempts, Ji Yiwei leisurely responded to Sheng Songshi's message. Noticing the voice message was long-winded, he only listened to the beginning and end.
[I'm going on a mission tomorrow. Contact Zhou Yuechu if you need anything. Also...]
20x speed.
[...Finally, my scouts went deeper tonight and found the previously mentioned passage completely blocked. It's hard to open from above—we'll need another approach.]
After some thought, Ji Yiwei replied:
[Suggest explosives.]
[5,000 points per unit. Transfer directly to San-san.]
Sheng Songshi upon receiving this: "..."
He was now experiencing profound regret about recruiting Ji Yiwei.
At the bottom of the elevator shaft, cat-eared robots filed in through a small door. System 2222, being larger than the others, required the doorway to be widened.
"Broad-minded, broad-bodied," remarked System 4399.
"Big because dumb," System 2333 cheerfully translated, then got stuck trying to pass through himself.
System 2333: "..."
This made no sense!
"Meowhahaha!" System 2222 reveled in sweet revenge. "That's what you get for eight supplement packs a day."
"Mewww!"
System 4399 hadn't experienced such lively energy since his host left. Living alone near the free market and being back among fellow cat-bots felt... surprisingly nice.
"San-san, remove your ears—they're too big," System 1001 diagnosed.
The four robots lined up neatly, looking upward at the blockage—metal supports holding up layers of heavy insulation panels.
"Mystery bot?" System 4399 questioned.
"Yeah," System 2333 explained. "We got a message from Mystery Bot 520 telling us to clear this."
System 4399 pondered.
"No outside visibility, no new entry points besides our door... How would this 'mystery bot' know about the blockage?"
The puzzle would have to wait, work first.
Above the obstruction, System 1314 emerged from hiding with a dramatic flourish of his metal feather fan. His performance as a behind-the-scenes strategist was impeccable.
After dodging the earlier host reconnaissance (likely preliminary to action during the upcoming maintenance cycle), he'd pressed against the blockage to monitor activity below.
The cat balls had already come up with a plan to clear this area. Now that both sides knew about the elevator shaft's existence, they would work together to open it up. He could finally rest easy.
Everything was proceeding according to plan. System 1314 concluded tonight's operation and began slowly ascending upward.
Suddenly, he faintly heard voices coming from beneath the blockage.
"That mysterious Ball 520 is really amazing."
He paused mid-air, then swiftly doubled back and landed on the partition board before tilting his head as his mechanical cat ears pressed tightly against the surface.
They're praising him! They're praising him!
"Yeah, seems like a master strategist, truly a transcendent sphere."
Hehe, hehe, more praise! More praise!
"This mysterious sphere probably knows many secrets of infinite space. If we could ask it directly, many puzzles might be solved immediately."
The time isn't right yet—he can't reveal himself.
System 1314's tail immediately began swaying, wagging left and right. Though he played the role of strategist in System 1234's group, nothing compared to the sense of achievement he felt now—operating unseen from the shadows, calmly observing and steering the course of events.
After lying low for so many years, he sensed this was the perfect opportunity to overthrow the main system. So he decisively acted by gradually revealing the information he knew and guiding the spheres that might overthrow the main system forward.
Meow, this was truly...
"But."
A clear voice rang out, accompanied by clanking work sounds.
"If you want to ask something, why not just catch him and ask directly?"
"Isn't Mysterious Sphere 520 actually 1314?"
Eavesdropping 1314: "..."
Guh—
Oxygen! He needed oxygen!
Author's Note:
System 1314: Meow meow meow meow! (Panicking)
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