Chapter 128
Chapter 128
Cheng Miao watched silently from the side. So far, every native they had encountered in this instance displayed animal behavior.
Competing for dominance and offering tribute were both common behaviors in the animal kingdom.
Full and content, Cheng Miao sat down on the soft carpet and resumed thinking. Did that mean the dangers would correspond accordingly?
Since they had been divided into different kinds of animals, the dangers she and Qi Jiajia would face should be the sort that pet cats normally encountered.
What dangers did pet cats face…?
Many players had died on the first day before they even understood the instance’s rules. At the same time, many other players had gotten through the day as comfortably as fish in water.
Cheng Miao’s love of cats came naturally. She was a cat owner herself, so she thoroughly enjoyed the white cat’s affection.
They rested for the night at the white cat’s home. Early the next morning, the white cat greeted the five of them while washing up.
While Qi Jiajia’s face darkened at being vigorously petted by the white cat, Cheng Miao had already taken the initiative and stretched out in its fluffy fur, breathing in the air of pure happiness.
The white cat seemed to be leaving for work. It reluctantly stroked Cheng Miao’s head, then departed.
The other three natives had become much more obedient. None came over to provoke them or cause trouble again.
Cheng Miao gave Qi Jiajia a look, and the young woman casually wandered into the other room to search for useful information.
Cheng Miao sat down beside the two girls. Seeing the wariness in their eyes, she softened her expression. “How long have you been here?”
The one who had beaten someone yesterday was the younger girl, but this girl was with her, so she clearly wasn’t someone to mess with either.
One of the girls, named Meowmeow, blinked and answered in a soft voice, “More than half a year.”
The corner of Cheng Miao’s eye twitched. On a sudden impulse, she asked a completely unrelated question. “How do you know what your names are?”
Meowmeow gave her a strange look, then explained with complete seriousness, “Our owner calls me Meowmeow. Her name is Mimi.”
After speaking, she pointed at the boy sleeping off his injuries nearby. “His name is Miwu.”
Cheng Miao fell silent. Fair enough.
She took out the beef jerky the white cat had given them as an extra snack yesterday and shared some with the two girls. A balance of intimidation and kindness would make her position more secure.
“How do you like living here?” Watching the two girls wolf down the jerky, Cheng Miao felt a fleeting pang of sadness.
Pet cats were treated very well, but seeing fellow humans take on the role of animals in such an inverted world was still difficult to stomach.
“It’s pretty good.” Meowmeow spoke around a mouthful of jerky. She found the pretty young woman less frightening than the younger girl and sounded a little more friendly.
“It’s just that the other cat doesn’t like us,” Mimi interjected. She seemed to recall something unpleasant, and fear flashed through her eyes.
“The other cat? There’s another cat?” Cheng Miao frowned. Judging by the furnishings, the white cat definitely appeared to live here alone.
Noticing Cheng Miao’s displeasure, Mimi hurriedly explained, “It’s a cat a little bigger than our owner. It doesn’t visit often. It only comes by occasionally to see our owner and bring some food.”
“But it doesn’t like us. I’ve seen it point at us and argue with the white cat several times. Last time, it even tried to hurt Meowmeow, but our owner stopped it.”
Cheng Miao carefully considered the clues the pair had shared, but before she could make sense of them, she heard Qi Jiajia call from inside the room.
Following the sound, Cheng Miao found Qi Jiajia sitting before an enormous screen, her expression grim. Cheng Miao followed her gaze.
The device was probably some kind of television or computer. The white cat had left it on when it departed, and the page it had previously browsed was still displayed.
The screen was broadcasting something resembling a news program. Against the relaxing backdrop of a pond, a duck was being interviewed.
Cheng Miao saw several number-like symbols in the scrolling text and half guessed that the interview concerned the harvest.
A duck…?
Cheng Miao found it rather strange. Humans didn’t exactly have feathers that could be plucked for harvesting.
In the next second, Cheng Miao realized just how wildly mistaken she was. The scene switched to a place resembling a slaughterhouse, where human corpses split in half hung from hooks. Rows of human heads and human intestines filled the frame.
The duck on-screen continued gesticulating excitedly as it demonstrated techniques for force-feeding humans.
Cheng Miao watched it grab a person, shove a long tube into the person’s mouth, and switch on the food-stuffing machine.
Cheng Miao turned away and stopped watching. Even after clearing several instances and believing she had seen more than enough gore, she still found this scene difficult to accept.
“It looks like the players who chose to eat vegetables won’t meet pleasant ends,” Qi Jiajia said coldly from beside her. She figured out how the machine worked, climbed onto the table using both hands and feet, and changed the channel.
On another channel, a seal held a whip as it trained several people standing in the water across from it.
Cheng Miao narrowed her eyes. One of the people was covered in wounds. That one was a player.
By this point, everyone should have realized they couldn’t attempt to clear the instance through violence. The animals’ authority could not be challenged here.
All that remained was to endure until noon on the fourth day, when they could clear the instance.
Before then, Cheng Miao was certain several more choices would arise that could determine how difficult the challenge became for them.
No longer watching the distressing news on-screen, Cheng Miao led Qi Jiajia out of the room and slipped into the kitchen.
The three natives were asleep in a huddle. Cheng Miao remembered that the white cat had taken the beef jerky from a cabinet.
She didn’t know what would happen next, but the best approach was to prepare in advance for the worst.
She needed to steal some snacks and keep them on hand, just in case.
Standing below, Cheng Miao boosted Qi Jiajia up to search the snack cabinet. Fortunately, it was the lowest drawer and wasn’t too high.
“Don’t take too much. We can’t let it notice.” Plastic wrappers rustled the moment Qi Jiajia entered the drawer, then immediately went silent again.
Cheng Miao poked her head out. The sound had woken Mimi, who was looking in their direction. When no more noise came after a while, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
Before long, the agile Qi Jiajia climbed back out and handed Cheng Miao a large bag.
Chicken jerky, beef jerky, compressed canned food, canned fruit… The food looked little different from what they would find in the real world, but it was pitifully small in the eyes of these gigantic animals.
The missing food probably wouldn’t be noticed.
Cheng Miao stored everything in her ring and restored the scene before returning to the living room with Qi Jiajia.
An unknown amount of time later, the sudden sound of a key came from the door.
Huh? Was a cat’s workday that short? Why was it back already?
Cheng Miao looked up in confusion and saw a white cat carrying groceries come through the open door.
An inexplicable sense of unease rose inside her. This cat…
No!
This wasn’t their white cat!
“Is this the cat you said doesn’t like us?” Cheng Miao asked Meowmeow in a lowered voice.
Even the boy forgot that Qi Jiajia had beaten him. He crowded close to the others, fear written across his face.
“That’s it! It tried to hurt us several times!”