In the red moonlight, a small black cat sat on Grecia’s shoulders and raised green eyes to look at the humans in front of it.
Dead silence filled the kitchen.
Li Miaomiao slowly opened her mouth while Zhao Xiaofei stared in disbelief at the cat who had been wrapped around Grecia for four hours.
Grecia smiled and said, “Schrodinger’s cat is a person so Schrodinger is a cat… this theory makes a lot of sense.”
Tang Mo stated, “If you aren’t Schrodinger then it doesn’t matter if we catch you now.” Tang Mo didn’t give the black cat a chance to answer and directly grabbed it. The small black cat jumped from Grecia’s shoulder and flew towards the head of the middle-aged housekeeper. The movements were fast, faster than Tang Mo. Even Fu Wenduo couldn’t catch him.
The little cat sat on top of the housekeeper’s head and stared at the five players in the kitchen. The pink nose moved and he let out a snort. “HEy, you stupid humans!”
Tang Mo, “…”
Fu Wenduo, “…”
Everyone, “…”
Schrodinger didn’t notice the strange expressions of the players. He shook his tail and continued, “Greedy and shameless humans. Entering my steel forest without permission and daring to break into my steel fortress! The human race is always entering and trying to steal my treasures without permission.”
The little black cat was too small and could walk around in a circle on the head of the housekeeper. He walked on his short legs and cursed the people who steal his treasures. Schrodinger only stopped after five minutes. The black cat stared with round eyes at the group of players. “What are you doing?”
A low laugh was heard.
Grecia couldn’t help laughing.
Everyone stared as the blond boy laughed brightly.
Schrodinger’s fur suddenly stood up. “Don’t laugh!”
The soft sound of laughter filled the kitchen for a while.
Tang Mo didn’t think it was funny but he found it strange. The small, arrogant… Schrodinger actually had a sweet and soft voice. Tang Mo had never raised a cat or been exposed to cats. He heard cats crying every spring and the sound of cats in heat were often heard below the university dorms. They were a bit like a baby’s cries but they weren’t as sweet as Schrodinger’s voice.
The players couldn’t help feeling it was funny when they heard this voice saying things like ‘stupid humans.’
Grecia smiled after a moment. “Okay, I won’t laugh.”
Schrodinger, “…”
“Hahaha.”
Schrodinger cried out, “You’re still laughing!”
The little cat shouted, “Damn black tower, why did you send this bastard here? I can’t communicate with someone with low IQ. It is insulting my intelligence! What type of damn game is the black tower releasing this time?”
The middle-aged housekeeper licked the cat food. “Meow.”
Schrodinger’s voice was surprised. “The hide-and-seek game?” A moment later, he happily laughed twice. “Oh yes, it is my favourite hide-and-seek game!” He raised his head. “Okay you damn humans, hurry up and start the hide-and-seek game. As long as you find me, you can take away my inventions. If you haven’t found me after three rounds…”
A huge cloud floated on the horizon, covering half the moon. Red moonlight shone through the window, illuminating half the face of the small cat. The big green eyes sparkled with a red light and Schrodinger cried out angrily in his sweet voice, “I want you to join my collection!”
Tang Mo, “…”
Fu Wenduo, “…”
Everyone, “…”
Schrodinger shouted, “…Don’t laugh!”
Grecia didn’t give him face and laughed again.
The small black cat was so angry that he constantly scolded Grecia. However, any words that emerged from his mouth just became petulant. While they argued, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo glanced at each other and moved. The two men moved to the left and right to grab the black cat crouching on the housekeeper’s head. However, the black cat was already on guard. The middle-aged housekeeper suddenly threw the cat food and jumped to the rear to dodge Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo’s attacks.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were ready to rush over when Schrodinger placed a paw on the wall of the kitchen.
Boom—
A violent sound resounded through the entire steel fortress. The ground and ceiling shook like there was an earthquake. The bowls in the kitchen fell out of the cupboard and smashed into the ground. A robotic arm protruded from every corner of the wall and swept the debris into the trash can. Countless steel boards were hidden inside the walls. They folded out and wrapped around the walls, ground and ceiling.
In the blink of an eye, the kitchen became a pure steel fortress.
The middle-aged housekeeper held the small black cat in one hand and stood at the door of the kitchen, staring blankly at the five humans in front of him. The cat’s sweet voice was filled with laughter, forming an echo that bounced off the steel walls. “Stupid humans, just wait to join my collection!”
The middle-aged housekeeper turned with the black cat and jumped into a dark steel slide. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo wanted to keep chasing but the slide closed before they could enter. The ground was still shaking and the kitchen seemed to be moved by something. There was the sound of steel creaking in the castle.
Five minutes later, it was finally over.
Tang Mo’s group stood in the steel wall and stared at each other. They waited for a moment and didn’t see any movements. Fu Wenduo nodded and walked to the kitchen door. He pushed the doorknob with one hand while the other hand moved slightly, a dark dagger appearing in his palm.
There was a click and the door was pulled open.
Everyone grabbed their weapons, aware of the enemies that might appear at any time. The next second, a song entered their ears.
“Lalala, Schrodinger has a steel forest.”
“Lalala, Schrodinger has a steel fortress.”
“Lalala, Schrodinger’s castle is home to Schrodinger and his cat.”
“Lalala, there are poor underground people who have become part of Schrodinger’s collection.”
“Ding dong! Opened the main mission: Schrodinger’s hide-and-seek game.”
“The rules of the game—”
“First, there are 108 rooms in Schrodinger’s steel fortress and Schrodinger is hiding in one of the rooms.”
“Second, Schrodinger’s steel fortress is divided into two floors. All rooms are open to players. Players are free to search for Schrodinger.”
“Third, the doors of the room are spread across both sides of the corridor and each player can only walk once in the same corridor. Once a player walks through a corridor, human footprints will be left in the corridor. Any corridor with human footprints are forbidden to enter.”
“Fourth, no footprints will be left in the rooms.”
“Fifth, the players have three chances to find Schrodinger. Every time the game fails, they can rest for 10 minutes.”
“Sixth, Schrodinger’s room might contain Schrodinger’s inventions. There are successful and failed inventions.’
“Seventh, look through all the rooms and you will definitely find Schrodinger.”
“Eighth, if the players don’t find Schrodinger after three rounds then it is Schrodinger’s victory. The players will become part of Schrodinger’s collection. If the players find Schrodinger then the game will be over and the players will win. Players can make a request to Schrodinger which can’t be rejected if it is within Schrodinger’s capabilities.”
“Ninth, Schrodinger’s steel fortress is located in a seam of time and any props with a time effect can’t be used.”
“The great Schrodinger wants to catch children to make a stew today. Which child will be lucky?”
In the dark steel fortress, the black tower stopped speaking but its loud voice continued to reverberate between the steel walls. Tang Mo went to the kitchen door, stood by Fu Wenduo and observed the outside. The castle was completely different from what they had seen previously. It really became steel fortress, not a castle.
The oil paintings hanging on the walls and the gold foil attached to the pillars disappeared. The furniture was also gone and dark corridors appeared on both sides. There were no lights and only the red moonlight shone. Tang Mo’s range of vision was five metres. He turned on the flashlight, illuminating the corridor. Then he stopped on the place directly opposite the kitchen door.
The remaining three people also came forward and saw the place where Tang Mo’s flashlight was shining.
“What is this?”
There was a strange four corridor fork.
Like the refraction of light on the water surface, the corridor in front of Tang Mo stretched out in a straight line like horizontal planes. A beam of light shone from the top left and refracted out. The trajectory of this light became two corridors. If Tang Mo’s group wanted to look for Schrodinger starting from the kitchen door, they had four possible paths. They could go to the left, the right or choose the two strange corridors in front of them.
Tang Mo looked down.
They were currently standing in the kitchen. The castle had completely changed and the pattern was different from before. If they took a step forward then they would enter the corridor. Entering the corridor would leave human footprints and they couldn’t go back.
Tang Mo thought about it and took a step forward, standing in the middle of the four forks.
The game was finally going to start. The other four also came forward and entered the corridor together. Fu Wenduo took a step and a glowing blue footprint appeared.
Li Miaomiao said, “This is the human footprint. As long as we walk through a place, we can’t go back.”
Everyone raised their feet and they also had blue footprints underneath their feet. Li Miaomiao was thinking about which way to go forward when a voice was heard. “Wait, I found the method to clear the game.”
It was Zhao Xiaofei. “It is very simple! The black tower says that we can’t enter places we have already walked. It is tantamount to not letting us go back. Then when we look for Schrodinger, we are likely to miss some rooms and can’t find him. However, we can split up! We have five people and this fork has fork corridors. Each of us will choose a corridor and leave footprints in the hallway. Then we will look in as many rooms as we can. If there is no longer any path to walk, just stop where you are and wait for your teammates to finish. Then we will surely find Schrodinger.”
Li Miaomiao muttered, “It makes sense. Then we will split into four groups to find Schrodinger. The rules of the game states that Schrodinger’s invention might be in the room. It is estimated that some rooms will contain punishments. Then our weakest and strongest players should stay in one group while the other players will choose one path each.”
Li Miaomiao quietly looked at Tang Mo, wanting to solicit opinions from Tang Mo.
Tang Mo’s brow tightened and he bowed his head, not saying anything. Li Miaomiao signalled to him for a long time but Tang Mo didn’t give a response. She was anxious and about to say something when Tang Mo looked up. “We can try it but I don’t think it will be that simple.”
“I will team up with him.” Grecia raised his hand and pointed to Tang Mo.
Li Miaomiao asked, “You…?”
Grecia winked. “I’m the weakest and he’s the strongest.”
Li Miaomiao, “…”
The weakest should be her and Zhao Xiaofei while Fu Wenduo was the strongest!
Li Miaomiao hadn’t managed to speak when a low male voice was heard. “I am weaker.” Fu Wenduo calmly stood beside Tang Mo and deliberately pulled down the neckline of his shirt, making a weak expression.
Li Miaomiao who knew Fu Wenduo’s identity, “…”
Zhao Xiaofei who wasn’t blind, “…”
Couldn’t they show a bit of responsibility!
Tang Mo naturally had no problems with the grouping and wanted to be in a team with Fu Wenduo. However, they didn’t have to worry about this matter for too long. The five people were just preparing to step in four directions when they were stopped by an invisible wall.
“You shameless humans!” A soft voice echoed through the castle. “Shameless, shameless, shameless! Shameless!” I, the distinguished Schrodinger put down my stature to play a game with you. You actually want to split up and look for me? Shameless humans, you want to bully Schrodinger!”
The five of them went back to the original point.
“Hey shameless humans, I will allow it if you want to split up. However, I will release my most powerful invention. Come and find me. You will definitely die first! Die in one blow! I swear!!”
Tang Mo had long felt that this method wouldn’t work. In the rules of the game given by the black tower, the players were treated as one. This was a game between humans and Schrodinger. If it was as simple as splitting up then it would be too unfair to Schrodinger.
Therefore, the five players could move forward together and not separately.
In the corridor, Schrodinger was still repeating the word ‘shameless.’ The small cat’s sticky voice entered the ears of the group. Li Miaomiao pretended not to hear as she said, “We can’t go separately and must choose a direction. Which way should we choose?” She was asking Tang Mo.
Tang Mo used a flashlight to light up the left and right sides of the corridor, then he illuminated the two strange corridors.
“The corridors on these two sides should be straight and at least 100 metres long, based on the reflection of light. The two corridors in front of us aren’t long and are around 10 metres each. Straight corridors are generally simpler and won’t change much. Let’s go to the other two first. Pick one.” Tang Mo glanced at Fu Wenduo.
Tang Mo never believed in himself when it came to luck.
Fu Wenduo took the flashlight and walked to the sloping corridor on the right. “This one.”
The five people entered the right oblique corridor in turn.
They walked down the long corridor with the background noise of ‘shameless.’ Red moonlight shone on the steel fortress, reflecting a cold light.
