Chapter 660: A Leisurely Half Day

Mo Mo felt more and more that this place was very strange—there was no sun in the sky, but the sky was clear and bright. It was said that the Borderlands outside were in the depths of winter, but the valley was as warm as spring. On both sides of the valley, tall mountains rose in layers, yet some parts of the mountains abruptly had huge gaps. Beyond those gaps was a dense black forest, as if it had been crudely "cut and pasted" in, extending from the mountain pass all the way to the edge of sight.

She didn't know how large this space really was, because it seemed that many strange "expanded spaces" were connected here. The black forest at the mountain pass was just the most obvious one. The tower in the north led to an alternate space called the "Omen Temple." A giant beanstalk grew out of thin air from the clouds among the mountains, and there was a small path that cut directly through the mountain barrier—it was said to lead to a magical kingdom ruled by a Cat King, which was larger than the valley itself, but only the king, his servants, and cats could see its entrance...

"We can't get through there, I tried before, meow," Lingdang said lazily from the side. "The king says Gipro people are Gipro people, cats are cats, the souls are different~~"

Mo Mo listened carefully. Some of what Lingdang said she understood, some she didn't. When it came to this valley, the parts she didn't understand accounted for the majority—but she didn't care about that now, because this place itself was like a bizarre dream to her.

At the end of the town, there was a large castle. She and Lingdang were now lying on the castle's rooftop. Although there was no sun here, it didn't stop them from sunbathing—Gipro people liked rooftops. In their homeland, many Gipro people even planned a small area on top of their houses, and whenever the weather was fine, they would go up to the roof and sleep.

She hadn't slept under a clear sky in ten years.

Mo Mo thought, if this really was a dream, at least let her lie a little longer on this rooftop.

"That big guy you saw earlier is my boss, meow, a very impressive human," Lingdang spoke up again. This compatriot with strong psychic abilities was a member of the Special Operations Bureau, serving as an attendant to a powerful "Deep Diver." It was an enviable job in Gipro society. "A while ago, he fought with an Artificial Saint, and just a few days later he was hopping around again. Super strong vitality, meow."

Mo Mo hummed vaguely, a small stick in her mouth that she chewed lightly.

This "stick" was made from tender twigs of a plant called "Valera," which was said to grow only in a small wetland on a colonial planet controlled by the Borderlands. The sticks were soaked in the highest-grade catnip extract—this was a specialty of the Borderlands, the purest and strongest "catnip sticks" in the universe.

In distant Terra, in the independent city-states of the Gipro people, a small box of this brand of "catnip sticks" was worth nearly a week's income for an ordinary person. But in the Special Operations Bureau, it was distributed free to psychic attendants as part of their employee benefits, with enough quota to even treat their friends.

The reason for this benefit was that high-quality catnip sticks could enhance a Gipro's psychic power... At least that's what the great Gipro psychic master and catnip connoisseur Cosette said, meow.

"Awesome~~" Lingdang turned over, gently poking Mo Mo's arm with her tail. Then she reached out and lightly touched the mechanical ear on Mo Mo's head. "Does this hurt, meow?"

"Uh, no," Mo Mo instinctively flinched, but quickly relaxed again. She hadn't interacted with a fellow Gipro in this kind of setting for so long that many things needed getting used to. "It just sometimes feels numb, and there are some sounds in my head... but after getting used to it, it doesn't affect me much."

"It should be fixable, meow," Lingdang said seriously. "The Bureau's medical care is very advanced, and Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain has body-regeneration techniques. If that doesn't work, you could try those weird 'spells' of Boss Yu Sheng's. Last time, one of the Eilens fell from the sky and broke into pieces. I saw her companions dig up some clay, mix in a few drops of blood, stir it up, and stick her back together, meow~"

"I..." Mo Mo hesitated, then finally shook her head. "Several very skilled doctors in the Feiyu Star Sector checked me. They said my body is stable now and I don't need treatment. Besides, the living metal has already formed a balanced symbiosis with my central nervous system. Forcibly stripping and regenerating it would actually harm my body. As for more radical treatment options, maybe there are... but I feel that if I did that, I wouldn't be me anymore."

"I didn't expect you to be so conservative," Lingdang said, chewing on her catnip stick, squinting under the sky glow. "But if you're okay with it, that's fine. It's no problem if you change your mind later. My boss often says—life's fault tolerance is very high, meow. Ah, he didn't add 'meow' when he said that."

Mo Mo thought for a moment, then thanked her sincerely: "Thank you."

"It's nothing, meow," Lingdang waved her hand casually, then seemed to think of something and said seemingly offhandedly, "You've been pretty tense these past few years, haven't you? Still haven't relaxed?"

Mo Mo hesitated: "Yes... but why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"Because you don't say 'meow' when you talk."

Mo Mo was momentarily stunned: "...Ah?"

"Gipro people, when they're stressed, they don't say meow," Lingdang said, pulling out another catnip stick from her small box and handing it to her new friend. "Here, chew another one. Consider it celebrating the start of a new life, meow. This place here? It's a good place~~ When you're done chewing, I'll take you to the king's cat tree for a visit. He has lots of cans!"

Mo Mo stared blankly at the catnip stick handed to her, listening to the other's lazy voice. It took her several seconds to seem to wake up, instinctively take the stick, but as if afraid that any big movement would break this bizarre but reluctant-to-wake dream.

But she didn't "wake up." Everything was real. The catnip stick in her hand gave a tangible sensation.

"Thank you," Mo Mo said softly. Then she hesitated and added, "...Meow."

***

Little Red Riding Hood looked up at the castle rooftop in the distance. From this angle, she couldn't see the people on the roof, but the wind blowing through the street carried the fresh scent of hair conditioner—and the smell of catnip.

"Clean up that row of houses on the east side of town, each one can sleep four people—first, arrange according to this standard," she said, turning casually to the blonde tumbleweed beside her. "After this, quite a few 'employees' from Black Rock Station will be staying here permanently. This town is really going to get lively."

"Okay, okay, clean up the houses, arrange accommodations, take care of the kids, and watch those mass-produced dolls that came back from the front line missing arms and legs, so they don't run around half-repaired..." Rapunzel slowly put away her large hair shield that she had been using to isolate herself, muttering with a look of utter despair. "When there's fighting, you all go to battle. So why does all the cleanup work fall on me..."

"Rubbish! Isn't it because we didn't take you? Who told you to owe so many exam papers then!" Little Red glared at Rapunzel. "Tell me, you're already in senior year..."

"If you know I'm a senior, then don't give me so much work! Cinderella's been idle these past two days like crazy..."

Little Red didn't say a word, just calmly looked into Rapunzel's eyes until the latter felt goosebumps all over. Then she sighed helplessly and waved her hand: "Fine, fine, go call Cinderella. You don't need to handle the dormitory arrangements. Go back to your room and study."

With that one sentence, Rapunzel felt as if she had been granted amnesty. The next second, golden hair flying, she ran toward the other end of town: "Got it, got it! I'll go call her right now! Then I'll go find a knowledgeable person to ask questions!"

Little Red, hearing her distant shouts, felt that something was off, but before she could figure it out, the tumbleweed figure had already disappeared from sight. Then a phantom door suddenly appeared nearby, completely interrupting her thoughts.

The door opened, and Yu Sheng stepped out with Luna.

"I just got back from the Special Operations Bureau," he greeted Little Red casually. "Is Luo over here?"

"Yeah, she came with that Gipro named 'Mo Mo,'" Little Red said, shaking the image of that big golden retriever out of her mind. "Mo Mo is on the castle rooftop right now—the psychic attendant Xu Jiali brought is with her. As for Luo... she said she was going for a walk by the river. She mentioned she'd been sorting through materials and wanted to take a break here. Are you looking for her?"

"Not urgent. I'll head to the doll production center first," Yu Sheng waved his hand. "Go check on their recovery progress."

***

Near a grove some distance from the town, the riverbank was overgrown with grass and trees. One patch of grass had been specially cleared. A few stones were piled up in the clearing to form a windbreak. Between the stones, freshly gathered firewood was stacked.

Rapunzel was holding a branch, earnestly skewering mushrooms on it.

Luo sat across from her.

To be fair, the knowledge of a Black Spot scientist was indeed higher than that of a poor student—so Rapunzel felt perfectly justified in skewering mushrooms. She even thought that even if Little Red were standing in front of her right now, she wouldn't panic, because the words she had said could even pass a lie detector...

Of course, if Little Red really showed up, she'd run away immediately.

A ball of psychic fire was thrown into the woodpile, and the campfire crackled and began to burn.

Luo and Rapunzel looked serious.

"I think the main issue last time was that the mushrooms weren't cooked thoroughly—normal psychic mushrooms aren't that potent," Rapunzel said seriously.

Luo: "Indeed."

"This time I also got two Evil-Dispelling and Detoxification Pills from Uncle Cloud. We'll take the pills first, then eat the mushrooms. It'll definitely be fine."

Luo: "Indeed."

And so, the second session of the Golden-Haired Duo's Psychic Mushroom Tasting began.