Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 6200 - 5211: Soul Machine Utopia (68)

Arriving at the cafeteria, a dazzling array of dishes had already been laid out. The sailors were eager to transport supplies because the first to access the goods wouldn’t have to worry about allocation rules and could feast heartily. Eating hard bread and jerky was nothing compared to vegetable stew and sausages.

The cats’ meals were also ready. Professor Atwood fulfilled his promise, not only with fried little sausages but also with a pot of fragrant fish stew and a large piece of vegetable oatmeal cake coated with seal oil. It might seem overly greasy to humans, but for cats, it was a delicious feast.

The three cats devoured their food ravenously. They couldn’t find anything tasty at the base. While at the ship’s cabin, they could at least feast on plump, juicy mice. At the base, they had to gnaw on jerky like humans, and sometimes there was no jerky, only bread to chew. Although cats aren’t particularly picky, eating the same thing for such a long time was really a bore.

Professor Atwood had already finished his meal, so he squatted there watching the cats eat and laughed, saying, "You’re eating nothing like cats; cats use their tongues to lick, not gobble up food like this."

The three cats didn’t even lift their heads. Although real cats mostly lick, with barbs on their tongues to roll food into their mouths, it’s a slow process. Just that little pot of mixed fish would take half an hour. Even looking at evolutionary history, jaws were meant to burrow into food, requiring big bites.

Another reason was that when they used to eat with Tibbers, the dog would snatch food if they didn’t eat quickly. Tibbers was a dog that was smart but not smart enough to overcome its instincts. While not understanding why it shouldn’t snatch food, it mastered the technique. The cats had to employ tactics and cooperate to prevent Tibbers from gobbling all the food. Thankfully, Batman was around; otherwise, eating would be problematic.

The cats gobbled up every bit of food, marveling once again at the wonder of human society. Nothing like this existed in the primitive forest. After eating, Professor Atwood picked up each cat one by one, weighed them, and emphasized again that they had gained weight. Then he brought out little snacks like jerky to tease the cats.

In fact, this era already had cat tease sticks, consisting of a string tied to the end of a rod, with a sandbag attached to the string’s end, adorned with bird feathers. In a cat’s vision, this swinging colorful object would be overwhelmingly attractive, impossible to resist pouncing on.

Though they weren’t truly cats, surely the Thousand Cats Dream coded cat instincts into them, with variations based on individual differences. Shiller found cat tease sticks utterly dull, and only when in a very good mood would he pretend to pounce a couple of times.

Peter and Little Superman, however, seemed possessed by cats, completely spacing out, instinct replacing thought, plunging straight for the feathers upon seeing them, biting, snatching at them, and even fighting over them. Even their brawls transformed into feline-style fights, first arching their backs like dragons, yowling, then biting at each other, kicking fiercely with their hind legs, chewing gum during a break, then resuming the biting, cat fur flying everywhere.

After realizing they fought over it, students lessened their use of cat tease sticks, opting instead to lure with jerky. Peter and Little Superman were less interested in jerky, finding it too tough and not tasty. It’s a pity cat snacks weren’t available back then, or they’d surely want a taste.

Aside from Peter and Little Superman, the other cats showed considerable interest in jerky. Shiller would snatch jerky regardless, bring it back to his den, only to have it confiscated by the professor, then immediately would go steal more. Of course, a portion ended up eaten by Constantine, who was never enthused about eating and spent days just sleeping, relying solely on Shiller’s feeding.

After playing with the students for a while, they scattered to sleep. Due to the polar day, tents were bright while the cabin was dark, allowing deeper sleep there. It was obvious Professor Atwood felt the same; he lay on his bed and slept soundly before noticing imminent danger.

At that moment, Shiller stood up, stretched lazily again, exchanged glances with Little Superman and Peter, and the three cats hopped off the table quietly. They opened the door silently and slipped through the gap.

To avoid spooking anyone, Shiller sprang off the wall and landed directly on the lampshade. The other cats repeated this, leaping up the nearest wall. To avoid alarming anyone, they closed their slightly glowing eyes and relied only on hearing and smell to track disturbances.

Cats possess exceptionally sharp hearing. Often what seems like quick reflexes is just them hearing sounds long before acting. In a quiet night, even the slightest noise becomes pronounced. No matter how formidable Shuggos was, he couldn’t fly over; footsteps on the cabin floor were thunderously loud.

The three cats crouched down immediately, tails swaying gently, indicating the muscle tension in their hind legs. When the silhouette appeared at the corridor entrance, the three cats jumped simultaneously, leaping down and then lunging onto their target.

Peter jumped the highest, swiping at Reck’s face, climbing onto his shoulders, then circling to the back of his neck, tentacles extending from his tail, tightly constricting Reck’s neck.

Little Superman pounced on the abdomen, extending tentacles prematurely, stabbing into Reck’s belly, piercing straight through. Meanwhile, Shiller bound Reck’s legs with tentacles.

Reck’s reaction was much like a human’s; instinctively grabbing his neck when he felt it constricted, staggering backward. But with legs bound, his retreat caused him to fall, producing a loud bang.

Though everyone was fast asleep, such a loud noise made by a person falling naturally awoke some people. Sounds came from inside the room, suggesting someone was getting up to check outside.

Reck never anticipated such an unexpected occurrence. In fact, at the university, he should’ve known the cats were somewhat unusual. But without surveillance in Miskatonic University, he didn’t know how Shiller and Little Superman had defeated the tentacle monster nor realized cats could possess such combat prowess.

Seeing someone already pushing the door open, with even the corridor’s end lighting up, Reck was forced to transform into a puddle of slime and flee down the stairs in panic. Shiller watched his retreat thoughtfully, while Peter approached and rubbed against him, saying, "What’s up? Are you alright?"

Shiller shook his head, but murmured to himself, "...Something doesn’t feel right."

But soon, Professor Atwood came rushing out. Seeing only a few cats in the hallway, he looked a bit puzzled but glanced around at the students. He still walked over, picked up the cats, and said, "You haven’t rolled down the stairs, have you? Poor little ones, go back to sleep quickly, we have to leave early tomorrow morning."

Yet this time Shiller didn’t obediently follow him back; the cats just guarded the corridor. Professor Atwood seemed to understand something and waved his hand, saying, "Go back to sleep, all of you."

The students were already incredibly tired, rubbing their eyes like ghosts, they went back to sleep. Professor Atwood kept looking back every few steps, but eventually returned to his room. The latter half of the night was incredibly quiet.

The next morning, the students gathered in the canteen to discuss last night’s events. One of the students said, "I live in the room near the stairs; I swear the sound yesterday wasn’t something a cat could make, it sounded like someone fell to the ground."

"Really? Could it be a drunken sailor?"

"Impossible to be a sailor; how come we didn’t see anyone if it was? I headed out at the first sound."

"No way! Are you trying to scare us with ghost stories again?"

"No, not at all. You don’t know, but I often go to the library for books. Before we set out, the librarian told me if we encounter danger, seek out the cats. I think maybe the cats protected us."

"That could be. I’ve heard before that the South Pole has evil spirits; do you think ghostly sailors might have come looking for us?"

The students chattered away until Professor Atwood came along. He cleared his throat, stopping the spread of panic, and then made a hearty meal for the students, quickly making them forget the little incident.

The cats perched up high and observed everyone; they had watched all night last night and now saw everyone entering the canteen. Shuggos had no space to replace anyone, which meant everyone in this team was trustworthy.

If some are trustworthy, naturally, some are not. Reck was unsuccessful on the ship, so might target the base. He might not know where the base is now, but he will surely find it and try to infiltrate. Right now, the base is poorly defended; the professors and Bat Cat are busy with the Ancient One case, leaving only some weaker students and logistical staff at the base. Reck has a high chance of sneaking in.

Thus, Shiller kept urging Professor Atwood that they needed to return quickly. Professor Atwood obviously realized the noise last night might be a sign of danger; it’s not safe to linger on the ship. After finishing the meal, he promptly led the students, geared up, and set off back to the base without delay, not even stopping to rest or replenish physical strength, marching briskly back.

Upon returning to the base, everyone was utterly exhausted. Mrs. Ed hurried over to help them unload their backpacks, then went to brew hot soup. They returned with a portion of the supplies, and sailors on the supply ship were also busy unloading.

Professor Atwood looked about and asked, "Haven’t they returned yet?"

The students shook their heads. Professor Atwood sighed; he was indeed uneasy but had no other choice, so he said to the students, "Everyone, return to your rooms, complete your tasks; don’t wander around unnecessarily."

After the students returned, Professor Atwood began checking the supplies. The cats went back to the clutter pile and were astonished to find Constantine awake, licking his paws while washing his face.

"Why are you awake?" Shiller asked in surprise.

"Naturally, because there’s work to be done." Constantine jumped down from the high place. "A bizarre-looking monster tried to attack the students; do you know what’s going on?"

The three cats were even more astonished. Peter asked, "How do you know about what happened on the ship?"

"On the ship? No, it happened at the base. A student went outside to retrieve frozen samples, and a mass of unknown substance attacked him from behind, just before you returned."