"I can definitively tell you, this isn't a dream. At least not the kind of dream you imagine where waking up solves everything." Shiller sighed softly and said, "A dream is just another interpretation of the cosmos. If I say that the multiverse we're in is just an ordinary person's dream, you should understand that a dream doesn't mean it's false, doesn't mean it can be pierced easily. It's better to be cautious."
"If that's the case, then maybe he had no choice but to use this method to convey some information to the outside world." Peter speculated.
"The question is whether he has such technology." Shiller said, "If he no longer restricts himself, can he create such a thing?"
"Theoretically, he can. But again, the style is not quite right." Peter said, "You might not have seen Mr. Stark's artificial intelligence creations. Even the smartest ones have a personality that is mild yet serious. I guess they might resemble his old butler rather than being... very lively."
"If he has both materials and technology, then I believe he'd prefer to create a human body rather than such a small gadget. Compressing space this much increases technical difficulty exponentially and becomes less reliable. More importantly, if his intent is rescue, then power is paramount. Such a small thing wouldn't have long endurance, right?"
Shiller understood Peter's point. Following Stark's style, or the thought process of any normal scientist, creating something has a very clear purpose. Stark enjoys targeted research, his array of counter-armor already shows this.
On this basis, if he were to develop an intelligent robot for rescue, he would definitely consider what is most important about such a robot. Clearly, the longer the range, the farther it can travel. At the very least, during regional searches, there's a greater chance of finding useful things.
The small gadget they've found now can recharge for five minutes but only last for two hours. While it seems pretty good, if this was potentially scaled up in terms of size to a car or a humanoid - adding more batteries or charging devices would make operational stability more reliable.
In comparison, designing it to be small and smart isn't much use. If made for entertainment or to accompany children, it might make sense, but given the current circumstances, designing it like this isn't sensible. This isn't like something top-notch scientist Iron Man would do.
As a fellow scientist, Peter keenly perceived this point, which led him to question whether this gadget was merely an illusion from a dream. Unfortunately, this is certainly not a dream - it can be seen as a Cthulhu Mythos multiverse similar to American Comics. In it, each cosmos has its own operating rules where bizarre events happen, which can't simply be explained as illusions.
"Perhaps out of sheer necessity." Shiller guessed, "Iron Man's situation must not be good. Maybe materials are limited, maybe space is constrained, so it can only be made like this."
Peter nodded, reluctantly accepting this explanation. They first carried the small drone back to the den, with Constantine taking it up to the treetop to bask in the sun, while the other three cats went to transport centipedes.
Speaking of centipedes, cat's mood tends to improve. Thanks to the flood, besides killing a big centipede, seventy to eighty small ones emerged. You ask who studied centipedes? Large ones are crispy, small ones whet the appetite, protein content is sixteen times that of beef - could there be a better reserve food source?
The other three cats went back and forth several times, collecting all the centipedes except for the big one. After all, that thing glows blue, its blood is blue too—who knows if it's poisonous, definitely not eager to eat. Some small ones glow too but they're fewer in number, they've left them on site for a lucky tasting customer.
After bringing back the centipedes, a few cats feasted first, setting up several stakes on the tree hollow top, hanging the remaining centipedes. Then they pondered where to hunt next. Given the humidity, food can't be stored long, it's better to return with more.
After basking in the sun half the day, by evening the little drone finally managed to fly again. However, to save power, it still crouched at the bottom of the den, staying with a few cats. Since the cats couldn't respond to it, they resorted to playing the heads-up, heads-down guessing game.
Shiller somewhat understood why Iron Man set the drone to be so intelligent. Peter thought the Thousand Cats Dream causing trouble was an accident, meaning they had a high probability of entering as human beings, but just a mishap caused this current state.
In fact, those who've studied the Cthulhu Mythos know that normal events are few here, mostly filled with surprises. Roads have no main paths, all are branching, mishaps are unavoidable.
If American Comics' underlying logic is significant events, then Cthulhu Mythos' underlying logic is surprises. Because without surprises, investigators couldn't accidentally enter dangerous areas, hence stories couldn't unfold.
So assuming rescue personnel could enter normally in human form feels rather presumptuous, given they're not entering as humans, anything is possible, turning into a Beast is already favorable, coming with a heap of tentacles isn't impossible. Such scenarios demand intelligent robots for communication with the other party.
Or rather, Shiller himself didn't know why Iron Man dared to bet that these people coming in could communicate normally; if they've gone mad, can this little robot really bring them back?
So Shiller speculated that this little robot might be smarter and stronger than they imagined, and was likely designed to rescue those who came in for rescue. As the saying goes, Electronic Life truly isn't afraid of Cthulhu, perhaps it can indeed guide investigators and clear their abnormal states.
But then Shiller thought, is it possible to create something in the Cthulhu Universe that's completely immune to the Cthulhu Mythos? There shouldn't be such an option, right? Yet this little drone indeed looked like a mechanical creation; Iron Man is still too strong, and it's hard to say whether he got trapped by the Outer Gods or they suffered because of him.
At night, they talked with the little robot about that gigantic building in the distance. The little robot seemed to have fallen from the sky as well, and he knew of its existence, but he didn't know what it was for. He could only guess from its appearance that it might be a huge computer, responsible for calculating ecosystem environments and such.
Just then, Shiller proposed his own idea: with just these few cats, it's impossible to walk over from the ground. Even with the little drone, flying over is dangerous because they could be targeted by giant Pteranodons or other birds. So the best way might be to take a plane.
The nest of the giant Pteranodon is above that huge cube; at least, it seemed they were flying in that direction. If they can get them to carry them for a trip, things would be much simpler.
"But it's unlikely we can climb onto their back without being discovered, right?" Little Superman said hesitantly, "That thing has such a long mouth, it might just pierce us through directly."
"So we definitely can't go about it the hard way," Shiller contemplated, "In the next few days, aside from hunting, we need to observe the activity patterns of these giant Pteranodons from the treetops, mainly to watch for their latest landing spots and favorite prey."
Peter seemed to have guessed what Shiller wanted to do, but he didn't say anything, instead saying, "Tomorrow you take him out hunting, we'll go up to the treetops, I have some questions I want to ask JARVIS."
Shiller knew Peter might want to probe JARVIS, so he nodded and said, "Alright, tomorrow I'll take Clark out, maybe we'll go hunting a bit farther, might even bump into a Pteranodon."
A few cats slept just like that, and the little robot also fell into a dormant state. There was no rain, no bizarre vibrations, and no terrifying glaring this night; it was a rare moment of peace. The cats slept soundly, dreaming many strange and fanciful dreams.
Early the next morning, two teams set off separately. Peter and Constantine took the little robot to the treetops, while Shiller took Little Superman out hunting. Little Superman entirely lost that excitement of entering a new environment; the Primitive Jungle really didn't leave a good impression on him, and the bump on his tail had just healed—he certainly didn't want to get stung again.
But Shiller insisted on taking him to that place where he'd been stung before. Little Superman dawdled, stopped to scrape his paws every few steps, and finally, out of options, he nudged Shiller hard with his head, collapsed onto the ground, rolled over, and began to sulk.
"We don't need to go there, right?" Little Superman said, while making a few air swipes with his paw, "I don't think there are any decent prey there, just the terrifying, biting Beast; can't we just wander around nearby?"
What Shiller wanted to find was that biting Beast; he wanted to test whether his abilities were still usable here. So he coaxed and deceived, "The nest of the thing that bit you should be on the ground, and this area is within the flood zone; maybe it's long been washed away. Don't you want to see their dire state?"
Little Superman immediately rolled back over, showing his teeth, and said, "If they're washed away, I'll eat them all!"
Although he was still a bit resistant, at least he wasn't sulking anymore. Shiller wanted to find some topic to distract him, then thought for a moment and asked, "What's your favorite comic book?"
Little Superman was stunned, having never discussed such topics with Shiller because they couldn't talk about anything outside of the game when teaming up for quests. Or perhaps he subconsciously saw Shiller as a character from a comic book and forgot that he was a transmigrator like himself.
"Initially, I liked the Superman series best. But after Doomsday appeared, I gradually stopped liking it." Little Superman pouted and shook his whiskers, "I really don't understand why the writers had to give Superman a nemesis, and such a strong one; isn't Superman supposed to be invincible?"
"And the plot of Superman's death was completely absurd. Even if Superman had to die, it shouldn't be from fighting a super-monster. He should sacrifice himself for the people. That's just how Superman is, those writers destroyed my hero, and even caused me to cringe at Superman ever since I got here..."