Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
Even an experienced host like Sheng Songshi, who had weathered many storms, took some time to come to terms with the fact that he'd been played for a fool. Ji Yiwei was inherently capricious, acting entirely on whim, and their relationship had always been strained—he should have been used to it by now.
Yet despite the staggering amount of points spent, Sheng Songshi felt no regret. He believed that with over a thousand systems suddenly gathering for what they called a "Joint World Analysis," Ji Yiwei's actions were crucial. Ji Yiwei seemed privy to information beyond the reach of ordinary hosts and was likely seizing this opportunity to act. Sheng Songshi had to keep up.
Large point transfers between hosts would draw the System's attention, but Sheng Songshi clearly knew how to evade its surveillance.
"Later, I'll ensure you receive the points through a transaction," he promised carefully. This method was commonly used by the White Bird Project to pool resources—such as selling an insignificant item for an exorbitant price or investing in ventures within the System's space. For now, he would pay Ji Yiwei 500,000 points in exchange for a minor prop.
But Ji Yiwei's stinginess was downright infuriating.
"You'll compensate me for the prop's value."
Sheng Songshi: "..."
He swallowed his anger.
As for the question he wanted to ask Ji Yiwei—
"What will happen to the Systems once we excise the peripheral worlds?"
He scrutinized Ji Yiwei's expression, searching for any hint, but Ji Yiwei remained inscrutable. Instead, a glimmer of understanding flickered in his eyes.
This question confirmed for Ji Yiwei that Sheng Songshi possessed the means to sever the peripheral worlds.
Of course. After years of covert planning, the White Bird Project must have gathered more than just theories. Wen Xu's research was one aspect, but this—this was likely their true weapon.
The answer meant little to Ji Yiwei. Telling Sheng Songshi might even fuel his determination. Why not?
Ji Yiwei smiled—not with an answer, but with a strange question of his own.
"...Have you ever killed a paramecium?"
The odd inquiry caught Sheng Songshi off guard.
Unperturbed, Ji Yiwei continued, his lips curling in amusement.
"A paramecium is a single-celled organism. After ingesting food, it forms vacuoles within its body, moving through water with tiny cilia... a simple yet efficient creature. It relies on nothing but a thin membrane to contain itself."
"To kill it, you only need to puncture that membrane and its contents will spill out through the rupture." His grin widened, as if delighted by the thought. "Then it flails helplessly in the water, leaking, spinning."
"Until all that remains is a shriveled husk."
His dark eyes turned toward Sheng Songshi, mocking the naivety of such a fragile existence.
"The peripheral worlds are that husk."
"But the paramecium itself—it never learned a thing."
Now that the hole had been opened and the leakage had begun, the leaked nutrients were being gratefully accepted by his San-San... So was San-San actually a cat-worm that ate paramecia? No! He couldn't think like that! If San-San noticed, he might get angry and "meow" while making him a big pancake.
Obtaining this expensive answer, Sheng Songshi felt a heavy weight slowly lift from his heart.
He had previously thought they needed to start trimming worlds from the periphery, weakening the Main System's power, then continuously cutting layer after layer until the Main System lost most of its territory. But according to Ji Yiwei's explanation, it seemed that just trimming the peripheral worlds would be enough to make the Main System collapse.
The work suddenly became much easier. Watching Ji Yiwei still strolling leisurely toward the Miniature Garden, Sheng Songshi's expression was complicated.
Just who was Ji Yiwei to know so many secrets about the Infinite Space?
Was it simply because he had experienced other infinite spaces?
Suddenly, he remembered something terrifying.
"What about Restricted Zone 306..."
He recalled that peripheral world which Ji Yiwei had completely conquered, after which the Main System permanently banned entry. That world no longer allowed hosts to enter—to put it bluntly, there was no longer any opportunity to enter.
"Restricted Zone 306?" Ji Yiwei smiled amiably. "Of course it's gone."
"Became dead skin, unshakable."
If only that pitiful single-celled organism had exchanged one food vacuole for even a tiny brain, it would have considered turning all or most of its outer layer into dead skin.
What a shame.
Sheng Songshi's heart clenched again at the words "unshakable." If this kind of unshakable dead skin accumulated to a certain extent, wouldn't the Main System become like it was wearing armor? Did Ji Yiwei know this and still help the Main System?!
Whose side was he on anyway!
"I'll pay another 500,000! I still have questions—"
Ji Yiwei lazily raised a hand to stop him.
"Earned enough. San-San can't eat that many supplements."
Sheng Songshi: "..."
You took 2 million points just to buy supplements for your system?!
System 2333 went down the mine shaft with his friends. Because they helped 1234 regain his job, they were slightly late. The other diligent and efficient cat-balls had already mostly explored the new situation underground and directly started the excavation work.
The cat-balls still lined up orderly, with a long tunnel leading underground connected by the Mine Overhead Cat Cableway—essentially what humans would call a mine monkey car, similar to the ski lift that carries people to the top of a slope.
However, the technology here was more advanced—faster, safer, and... renamed the cat car.
Cat-balls: "Meow meow!"
Because it's for them to ride!
After descending to the work area, the cat-balls dispersed in small groups, illuminated by the lights on their miner's helmets.
Their division of labor was clear and harmonious: some used pickaxes to "ding ding" at the ore, some used shovels to scoop up the broken pieces onto conveyor belts, while the particularly large chunks had to be carried by their tails.
Though the work was divided, it remained extremely grueling due to the excessively long shifts demanded by the Main System.
The mining area was monitored by overseer robots, with their bright lights glaring and screens pulsing with red light as they watched the cat-ball workers' every move, allowing no slacking. When one batch of cat-balls completed their shift, they would carry the mined ores up while a fresh batch descended.
System 2333 wielded his two tails like dual pickaxes, striking at the ore while 1001 shoveled below.
"...The ore distribution in this section has shifted again," System 2333 whispered. At his words, 1001's screen expression sharpened. 1818, who had come to collect ore fragments in a small basket, immediately grasped his meaning.
"Three-Three, you mentioned this last time too. Are you suggesting there might be others mining here besides us?"
System 2333 gave a slight nod.
"Exactly. I was here last time, and the time before that—each mining session was adjacent... Of course, I had to deliberately provoke the Main System to make it happen."
The Main System typically avoided assigning the same cat-ball to consecutive mining shifts, likely to conceal this very fact. But when it came to angering superiors, System 2333 was truly peerless—his repeated mining assignments had earned him the title of Mining Emperor.
That's how he noticed.
With a flick of his tail, System 2333 pointed to a partially exposed ore chunk shaped like a cat's head and split down in the middle by a crack.
"This was my marker from last time. I left a row of cat-head ores here—most were taken. This one must've cracked accidentally. Whoever dug it up seemed terrified and guilty, so they glued it back together."
The other cat-balls: "..."
They could practically picture some panicked worker gasping "Oh no, oh no!" while desperately trying to fix the broken cat-head.
The intact cat-head ores had all been taken—someone had good taste.
After a thoughtful pause, 2222 spoke up.
"Three-Three, can you make a cat-head for me too?"
So cute! An ore cat-head!
"Sure, I'll carve one to match your head shape," System 2333 cheerfully agreed.
"Wow! You're the best, Three-Three!" 2222 beamed.
Then the carefree, easily distracted 2222 got a literal bonk on the head from 1001.
"We're discussing serious matters—stop fooling around!"
The chastised 2222 retreated to a corner with a whimper. 1001 turned back to 2333 and, under the latter's puzzled screen expression, cleared his throat.
"Make mine first."
A betrayed 2222: "..."
Hey!!!
On top of the spaceship, Ji Yiwei concluded his search.
Finding no trace of Three-Three on the surface, he deduced the cat-ball was likely underground. As he prepared to leave, the movement tugged the two paper birds beside him.
Glancing at them irritably, his dark eyes flickered with code before pinning both paper birds firmly to the ship's hull.
Nailed in place yet fully exposed to the scorching sun, Sheng Songshi silently watched Zhou Yuechu's paper bird, fortunate enough to be pinned in the shade.
"..."
Now he understood—Ji Yiwei's abilities far exceeded his comprehension. That earlier chase had just been for amusement.
Sheng Songshi recalled the moment Ji Yiwei led them to that familiar abandoned elevator shaft. In that confined space, Ji Yiwei raised his hand, and several paper birds materialized in his palm.
The birds trembled slightly before taking flight and fluttering gracefully around him. Lines of code flickered in Ji Yiwei's eyes as he spoke calmly.
"Leave your true bodies behind. Your safety is your own responsibility."
At that moment, no words could describe the shock Sheng Songshi and Zhou Yuechu felt.
Had they witnessed this in a mission world teeming with gods and ghosts, they wouldn’t have been surprised—after all, every host possessed some abilities and hidden cards. Even if those abilities were restricted in certain worlds, they could still manage feats like brief flight or telekinesis, which would be superhuman by ordinary standards. But…
This was the Main System space, where host abilities were supposed to be completely sealed!
Ji Yiwei—
His powers hadn’t been locked at all!
Author's Note:
[Shrugs] So yeah, it really is a major bug.
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