CH 27

TL: Moonlit

Touching the mouth is allowed, he can touch it anytime in his life. Gu Langu affectionately kissed Shu Shuishui’s forehead, and the two went to freshen up together.

The plan for the transformation of the energy stones has been settled, making Shu Shuishui, the whole dormouse, much more relaxed. Moreover, the cat didn’t show up during breakfast.

While eating, Yu Jin teased, “Shui Shuishui, cats may be furry, but they can be scary, right?”

Shu Shuishui sat on the plate with his two short legs slightly apart, struggling to eat the tasteless purple tree cakes. Shu Shuishui didn’t actually want to eat this kind of breakfast, but Nan Ge prepared it, and Shu Shuishui didn’t want to waste it. He quickly chewed with his small mouth. “When the cat doesn’t get jealous of my fur and doesn’t want to eat me, then it won’t be scary anymore.”

In fact, for dormice, the number of them being eaten by wild boars every year far exceeds the number eaten by cats. That’s because dormice are mostly wild, while most cats are domesticated. However, this doesn’t change Shu Shuishui’s innate fear of cats. It’s just like how Shu Shuishui can’t resist the temptation of sleep. It’s all instinct.

Shu Shuishui continued to nibble on the cake while comforting Yu Jin. “Don’t worry, you’re so big that the cat can’t eat you. If worst comes to worst, just call me, and I can distract the cat for you.”

Shu Shuishui had heard Shu Bao say that although humans are big, they fear all sorts of things. They can be afraid of cats, dogs, and even bugs and grasshoppers. Shu Shuishui couldn’t understand it at all. Bugs are so cute, especially grasshoppers. They’re low-maintenance pets, have good meat, and grow quickly. Come to think of it, it had been a long time. Should he go out and find a couple of grasshoppers to raise? Fatten them up and improve the diet of his humanoid pet.

Yu Jin, who was comforted, exclaimed, “…No! I’m not! Don’t make things up. I’m not afraid of cats.”

Shu Shuishui raised his eyes and made a knowing expression. “Hmm, hmm! You’re not afraid of cats.”

Yu Jin said, “…How do I explain this?”

Suddenly, Shu Shuishui thought of Gu Langu and raised his little head to ask, “Gu Gu, are you afraid of cats?”

At Shu Shuishui’s request, Gu Langu, who was also having breakfast, looked down at the little mouse on the plate and nodded earnestly. “Afraid!”

Nan Ge, who was drinking water, choked a bit but looked at Gu Langu’s flawless face and could only silently lower his head and continue eating.

Shu Shuishui patted Gu Langu’s hand and discreetly gave a high-five. “It’s okay, if there’s a cat, you call me!”

Gu Langu smiled happily. See! No one would believe that he was afraid of cats, but as long as he said it, the little dormouse would believe him. Yes, in the distant memories, when Gu Langu still knew what fear was, before he became half-mechanical, he was afraid of cats. But saying it now, no one would believe him anymore. Moreover, he wasn’t afraid of cats anymore. In this world, there was nothing that would make him feel fearful.

Cats are so scary! It’s normal to be afraid of cats! In Shu Shuishui’s world, after learning that humanoid pets are afraid of cats, Shu Shuishui secretly made up his mind to practice yoga, long-distance running, hurdles, and work hard to exercise his body. When the cat appeared, he would be able to immediately distract it. Shu Shuishui was confident that the cat couldn’t resist his fluffy body.

After breakfast, Shu Shuishui quickly returned to the second-floor bedroom to check the formation and made modifications according to the plan, redirecting the separated elemental energy from the energy stones into additional formations and reassembling them into spirit orbs.

Ideally, the separated energy would be best restored into different attribute gemstones, but unfortunately, Shu Shuishui couldn’t achieve that level yet. Some of the elemental energy would be lost, and he could only form small beads the size of fingertips. This method was self-created by Shu Shuishui, inspired by the human cultivation of pearls. Thinking of that, Shu Shuishui also remembered his seafood. Finally, he made up his mind to go out.

Because of the upcoming migration, there was a lot to do at the base, so Gu Langu couldn’t continue being lazy during the day, even if he could at night. The number of people at the base was not large, but when you combined the three bases, it was nearly a thousand people. Shu Shuishui confirmed the specific time of the migration with Gu Langu and learned that they would act five days later. After that, he happily bounced out of the town.

Knowing that Shu Shuishui wanted to find livestock, Yu Jin pointed him in a direction, to the north of the town.

After leaving the desert, the temperature difference between day and night was not as terrifying. Some plants and animals were able to survive. Although Yu Jin didn’t know why Shu Shui wanted to find livestock, it couldn’t be for the purpose of keeping them, after all, Shu Shuishui was still smaller than a pig’s foot. Little did Yu Jin know that the livestock in Shu Shuishui’s mind was not the same as the livestock in his understanding.

Yu Jin didn’t hold much hope that Shu Shuishui would find livestock. In the current Cang Zhan Star, although there were plants and animals, the species were scarce, and most of them had mutated, becoming exceptionally fierce in order to survive the cruel law of survival of the fittest. Yu Jin simply thought that Shu Shuishui was bored and wanted to go out for a stroll. The area near the town wasn’t dangerous, so he pointed him in that direction.

Shu Shuishui followed Yu Jin’s direction and left the town. Along the way, he could vaguely see weeds growing, but they were sparse and looked lifeless, like they had lost their vitality. The color was a faded green, like an elderly person in their twilight years.

He extended his paw and plucked a blade of grass from the roadside, chewing on it. It was dry and lacked moisture, with a noticeable fibrous texture. Overall, it wasn’t very pleasant. Seeing such a pitiful sight, Shu Shuishui, who finally encountered some plants, didn’t feel much joy.

The most direct way to understand the environment of an area was through its local plants. Shu Shuishui could understand the lack of plants in the desert, but now that he was a distance away from the desert, it was surprising to see such barrenness. The chances of catching a grasshopper seemed slim!

Although it was a bit difficult, Shu Shuishui continued to walk toward the grassland to the north of the town. His warm brown body agilely maneuvered through the sparse grass. His little ears were alert, listening for any sounds around him. Sometimes, to avoid disturbing the grass, he would use his paw to hold his whiskers so they wouldn’t touch the leaves.

While Shu Shuishui was diligently searching for livestock, the people at the base were also busy.

The weather had been good these past few days, making it the perfect time to release simulators. Due to the uncertainty of the environment, the simulators would only be released within an approximate time frame, not a specific day. The simulators would be released in batches, continuously over three days or so. This way, the utilization of the simulators would be maximized, and it would prevent any single organization from monopolizing them.

According to the speculations of Fei Luo and Nan Ge, they believed that these few days should be the time when the simulators would land. This was one of the reasons why the group decided to wait five days before migrating. During these five days, people from the three bases decided to send out a large number of teams to search for the simulators.

In the conference room, the walls displayed high-definition diagrams of the simulators. To ensure the safety of the simulators, they were airdropped using primitive parachutes. Each simulator was smaller than a fist before opening, so only people very close by could see them as they floated down.

Therefore, even the numerous and powerful individuals in Area A couldn’t claim all the dropped simulators for themselves. There were always a lucky few who would stumble upon them by chance.

To expand the search range, each of the three bases sent out three teams to search continuously for four days. Whether they found anything or not, they had to return to the base after four days and then set off to the vicinity of Area B, avoiding the upcoming winter.

On the north side of the town, in the not-so-lush grassland, Shu Shuishui finally spotted the first grasshopper—a juvenile grasshopper nibbling on a leaf.

Shu Shuishui’s little ears twitched, and his eyes stared unblinkingly at the grasshopper. Lifting his tiny feet, he slowly approached step by step.

The grasshopper’s compound eyes observed everything around it clearly, so when Shu Shuishui pounced suddenly, the grasshopper leaped and flew a distance, landing on a far-off leaf, causing the grass to sway.

Shu Shuishui naturally didn’t give up. With lightning speed, his small body agilely chased after the grasshopper. His two short legs managed to catch up to the grasshopper’s wings.

When the grasshopper got tired and couldn’t fly anymore, Shu Shuishui pounced and finally caught his first grasshopper. With a dirty and disheveled appearance, Shu Shuishui couldn’t help but sigh. This extraterrestrial grasshopper was really hard to catch, unlike the adorable ones on Earth.