◎A fierce cat has spawned at your camp!◎
There were very few people in Gushan Town. When Lin Fuque was in primary school on Mount Gu, there were only two classes in her grade.
At that time, there was a large white cat at the school. She heard from the grandpa at the guardhouse that it was a Lion Cat. When she ate lunch at school, the big white Lion Cat would also sneak into the cafeteria, waiting to be fed by the kitchen staff.
At these times, everyone would wink at each other and secretly pet the cat under the table.
The cat was very docile and didn't run around. Despite being white, it was very clean. If you leaned in close, it had a faint scent and would purr.
It didn't eat quickly, either. Everyone liked feeding it meat back then. The cat would lick the chicken on the ground over and over again. Once, while eating meat, the cat stepped its two hind legs right onto Lin Fuque's shoes without any hesitation. This furry, warm, big white lump left fur all over her black pants.
Therefore, in her memory, cats were quiet, agile, yet beautiful and docile.
However, if naughty students threw things at the cat, it would bare its teeth, hiss, and quickly run away to hide.
But Little Yellow was different.
Lin Fuque actually hadn't thought about what to do. She had only made the butterfly monitor to find Little Yellow. Now that she saw it, she naturally controlled the monitor to follow.
Like other stray cats, Little Yellow fled at first, but it didn't run far. It turned around, backed its butt against a tree, and let out a sharp aowu sound at the large butterfly... That sound was truly so unpleasant it was somewhat scary, like a cat cursing loudly.
Lin Fuque was startled and stopped in her tracks. The next second, Little Yellow looked at her.
Little Yellow jumped up abruptly.
Lin Fuque let out an ah, took a big step back, and said, "I'm sorry—"
Wen Ce, who had followed her over: "..."
She apologized so fast!
But cats couldn't understand human words. Little Yellow was still cursing, the Lv. 6 symbol above its head moving back and forth with its movements. But right at that moment, seemingly unnoticed by both the cat and the humans, a black net swooped down from behind the birch tree!
The person hiding behind the birch tree was wearing the blue vest of the residential community's property management. It was a property management worker. Wen Ce saw that Lin Fuque seemed not to have reacted, but the mechanical butterfly fluttered... well, it flipped backwards sideways, dodged the net, circled around, and folded its wings against Lin Fuque's calf.
Meanwhile, the cat and the humans had already started fighting.
Seemingly noticing that the cat's loud meowing had attracted other residents who were out for a walk, a property management employee stood on the outer circle and explained, "This cat is new here and hasn't been neutered yet. We are planning to take it to the hospital for a check-up."
Little Yellow originally roamed east of the community's artificial lake, and the property management's cat food feeding station wasn't in an area frequented by humans. But perhaps just eating cat food wasn't enough to keep it full, so for the past month, it had frequently come near the residential area to rummage through the trash cans.
The community's property management was quite responsible. They would catch stray cats to neuter them, and the neutered cats would have their ears tipped. However, Little Yellow not only fought other cats but was also fierce towards humans. It was very alert, and despite setting up cat traps several times, they hadn't been able to catch it.
As she turned her head to speak, the other two property management employees were in action: one was opening a cage and waiting, while the other stepped on the edge of the net, preparing to stuff the cat into the cage using the net.
Just then, everyone heard a cry of pain—
"Ah!!"
In the blink of an eye, they saw that Little Yellow's teeth had already sunk into a colleague's thick glove. Immediately after, the cat, seizing the opportunity to slip out from under the net, kicked furiously at the human before leaping away violently, knocking over the cage in the process.
The surroundings instantly descended into chaos. Although they weren't the ones being bitten, the onlookers instinctively scattered, not wanting to become the next target of a bite.
The grass rustled, and the wind swept up some leaves. The yellow-and-white figure quickly disappeared from sight.
The bitten property management worker was relatively lucky. He was wearing two pairs of thick gloves. Although the gloves were bitten through, his hand wasn't bleeding.
However, he was clearly frightened and wore a miserable expression on his face.
There was a small birch forest and a small artificial lake in the community. Looking at the direction the cat fled, it had obviously entered the woods. The trees cast indistinct shadows, and with only a few green ground lights installed inside, it would be impossible to catch up.
A bystander couldn't help but say, "You still didn't catch it? This cat won't hurt people, right? This young man just got bitten."
The property management worker smiled apologetically. "We will do our best to catch it as soon as possible. We will definitely figure out a way!"
Someone else suggested, "Why don't you upgrade your equipment? Try using a tranquilizer gun?"
Property management: ...
Where on earth were they supposed to find a tranquilizer gun?
Lin Fuque felt her heart pounding. She didn't have thick gloves, and if the cat kicked her, her legs would immediately be covered in bruises.
She let out a long breath.
Well, quests were definitely not that easy to complete. She would have to take her time and plan accordingly!
Meanwhile, Wen Ce was still looking into the birch forest. Besides the cat, there was also the mechanical butterfly that had just quietly flown in after it.
Seeing that Lin Fuque was about to leave, he couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to take your butterfly back?"
"No need, I'm going home to eat. Do you want to eat at our house, Brother Wen?" Lin Fuque had already adjusted her mindset, and she figured her mom should be arriving home soon.
Wen Ce waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no need."
The streetlights in the community had all lit up. He looked to the left and saw Lin Fuque hopping homeward, stepping only on paving stones of the same color. He looked to the right, but he couldn't spot the mechanical butterfly in the woods at all... Perhaps, to a little kid, it really was just a toy made on a whim.
But if it was just left out there like that, wouldn't it be scratched to pieces by the cat?
It... it made his heart ache.
The large butterfly continued to follow behind Little Yellow.
According to the game's introduction, it would take about twelve butterflies to perfectly monitor a one-kilometer radius around the camp. Furthermore, the player didn't need to stare at the surveillance footage all day long. Instead, with every butterfly released, the resolution of the one-kilometer radius around the camp on the game map would improve. It would progress from only showing shop names, to displaying more intricate details upon zooming in, and finally to revealing the crowds of people in the vicinity. Through random flight paths, the twelve butterflies could achieve strong coverage of the monitored area, refreshing information at a high frequency to achieve real-time monitoring.
By then, Lin Fuque would be able to directly use her game map to see the prices and inventory changes of goods in the shops, as well as everyone's expressions and movements. The game log would automatically record conversations and sounds, achieving a three-dimensional monitoring mode.
But right now, the unfinished, defective large mechanical butterfly could only follow a single cat.
The other areas on the 3D map were still somewhat blurry; only the cat's every movement was incredibly clear.
She discovered something: Little Yellow was a cat that hated humans.
With no people around and the large butterfly keeping a two-meter distance, Little Yellow seemed much less agitated.
It swatted at the butterfly a couple of times and realized that although the mechanical butterfly flew low, it was still quite agile. Plus, it didn't smell like food. So, it sneezed, tucked its tail under its belly, and used its tail to wipe its mud-stained paws.
"Que, Que, look—" Lin Shiyao called out from the doorway. "Mom bought roast duck!"
Lin Fuque looked up and let out a "Wow," and when she lowered her head to glance at the screen again, she noticed that Little Yellow suddenly had a takeout bag in its mouth—one that looked completely unopened.
Ah, it... it was stealing takeout!
The cat chewed the bag open and began to enjoy its meal. Lin Fuque silently covered her face, only to find a roast duck wrap suddenly stuffed into her own gaping mouth.
"What are you spacing out for?" Lin Shiyao asked. "Hurry up and eat."
I wasn't spacing out, Mom. I was watching a thief.
"Give your dad a video call after you eat. He misses you, and Salina misses you too," Lin Shiyao said as she rummaged through the fridge for yogurt. When she turned around, she noticed her daughter's gaze still fixed on the void, her mouth just mechanically chewing. "...Hmm? Queque?"
"Mom!" Lin Fuque snapped back to reality. "Has there been a takeout thief in the neighborhood lately?"
"Ah, I think someone mentioned that in the property management group chat," Lin Shiyao replied, wondering why she had brought this up out of nowhere. "Some takeout left outside the gym got stolen. The management is looking into it."
The residential compound had an access control system that required key cards to enter and exit, so stolen takeout was a rare occurrence.
Clearly, the property management had either not found the feline thief yet, or they had checked the security footage, discovered it was a cat, and were at a loss for what to do. They would just have to catch it themselves.
However, the mention of a thief suddenly reminded Lin Fuque of their own smart fingerprint lock.
This place was no longer just a home; it was player Lin Fuque's "camp"! She remembered that she still had fifty unearned points for Task 1. The fastest way to upgrade her security level was to install an even safer fingerprint lock—
Lin Fuque decided to just bring it up with her mom.
"The lock we have wasn't cheap, you know. It's highly secure," Lin Shiyao said, baffled as to why her daughter was suddenly talking about door locks. She poked her daughter's forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "You want an even better one? Sure, but the better they are, the more expensive they get. A top-tier one would cost at least five figures. Are you going to pay for it with your New Year's money?"
Lin Fuque: QvQ
Darn it... was playing this game really going to be this expensive?
Feeling completely deflated, she headed back to her room.
Lin Shiyao stood at the door and peeked inside, clicking her tongue at the state of the bedroom. What exactly had Wen Ce taken her out to buy? Why was there a workbench in here, along with a whole woven sack full of miscellaneous junk?
Her mother's expression turned slightly stern. She pointed at the bulging sack, then at the trash can, and made a throat-slitting gesture at Lin Fuque: You better clean this up.
Whoever made the mess had to clean it up.
"Got it, got it."
Meanwhile, Wen Ce silently returned to his own apartment in Building One.
His roommate wasn't home yet, but his phone indicated he was online. After a moment of thought, Wen Ce sent him a message:
[Boss, let me ask you a question. Could you build a smart, butterfly-shaped flying drone using parts from a rice cooker, a hair dryer, transistors, and stuff like that?]
The person on the other end seemed to take a moment to read through the dense list of items before replying with a sincere question of his own:
[Are you messing with me?]
Wen Ce's fingers flew across the keyboard: [No, I really saw someone build one today...]
He went on to describe the mechanical butterfly's functions. He didn't actually know that the large butterfly was a surveillance device, but its flight and tracking capabilities were obvious to the naked eye. Wen Ce was a mechanical physics major himself. Ever since he got home, he had been pulling his hair out over it. He had even gone to his workshop to test a few things out, but he simply couldn't figure out the mechanics behind it.
The other side replied with a string of ellipses.
[Based on what you're saying, that would be a bionic butterfly robot. But if you used the materials you listed, the butterfly wouldn't be able to fly at all. The structure would have to be incredibly lightweight, and there aren't any servos on the market that are light enough for that. Besides, current technology can't even achieve the kind of smart tracking you're describing...]
His roommate was clearly pondering the problem, sending messages as he thought it through, and tossing in a few videos of other bionic butterflies for Wen Ce to look at.
But Wen Ce had seen it with his own eyes. He had watched the giant butterfly take two swipes from a cat and then tilt its wings to fly right back to Lin Fuque's side.
There was no remote control, and no visible servos controlling the flapping of its wings. It didn't even require a strictly controlled indoor environment. That little girl had just cobbled it together so crudely and then casually let it fly off.
He wanted to send his roommate a video to prove it, but then he realized he had completely forgotten to record one.
[Sigh, you just don't get it. Go back to what you were doing.]
He sent the message with a heavy sigh and flopped backward onto his bed.
His roommate replied: "...?"
Are you seriously just messing with me today?
