Chapter 151 - Schrödinger's cat

The black tower's mechanical voice rang out in the ears of the five men.

Fu Wenduo was standing ten metres away from the steel rod when he heard the sound and stopped in his tracks. Tang Mo and the others were also a little surprised. They first looked around to make sure there was nothing strange, and then they all walked towards the thin steel rod. Tang Mo slowly stretched out his hand and touched the 30-metre-long object.

After a moment, he let go of his hand: "It feels like ordinary steel, and it's probably an iron bar. It's about thirty-five metres long." Tang Mo lifted his head to visually check the length of the steel rod.

Li Miaomiao, already used to being a 'captain', analysed: "The black tower has just issued a side mission, asking us to enter Schrödinger's Iron Fortress. This forest is called Schrödinger's Iron Forest and we should still be in it, without an exit. So the Iron Fortress ..."

Li Miaomiao's voice stops, and she says nothing more. She looked up at the huge steel pallet above her. Zhao Xiaofei, too, looks cautiously at the strange pallet that covers the sky above her, and swallows nervously.

Grea, with her blonde hair, clicked her bowler hat and smiled slightly.

Zhao Xiaofei said, "We've been searching in the forest for a long time, and we've only come this far to trigger the side quest. Then that steel fortress must be around here. So ... it's right above us?" Although it was a question, her tone was certain, "It should be right up there. Let's go up there."

Tang Mo does not deny Zhao Xiaofei's point.

There is a clear, ninety percent chance that Schrödinger's steel fortress is on this odd steel pallet above the group's heads. The steel rod is dozens of metres long, and the platform (pallet) it holds up covers hundreds of square metres, blotting out the red-bronze moonlight from the sky and casting a huge shadow on the ground.

If there is one place where the Iron Castle is most likely to be, it is on top of this platform. There's enough space, and it's blocked from view, to see the full extent of what's up there. It could only be here.

With no time to lose, Li Miaomiao took over from Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, taking on the role of team leader with Zhao Xiaofei and Grea. She settled into her role quickly, touching the steel stick and saying, "It's just an ordinary stick, I'm quite good at climbing trees and poles, so I should be able to climb this. I'll be the first one up?"

Zhao Xiaofei: "I've never climbed a pole, but I'm in good shape, so I should be able to." She looks over at Grea.

The handsome looking half-blood man looked up with a gentle, elegant smile as he flicked his wrist and his short staff was slung over his wide belt. "Of course, if any of the ladies need help, I am obliged to do so." With that, he looked fairly at all the players present, including Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo.

Tang Mo said, "I have no problem with that."

Fu Wenduo stood aloof, as if he didn't know Tang Mo or Li Miaomiao. His gaze swept over the ever-smiling Grea and he said indifferently, "No problem."

One never knows what dangers may arise from climbing the pole. Originally Tang Mo was going to let Fu Wenduo go first, but Li Miaomiao said, "It's okay, it's hard to kill me with a single blow from something normal, I can get out if there's an accident. And I'm good at climbing trees." Tang Mo understood what she meant and didn't stop her. He had seen Li Miaomiao's powerful self-healing ability, and unless it was a really fast and fatal blow, she would be able to escape.

The icy gale blew through the dark steel forest and the female doctor took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She stepped forward and pressed her hands against the metallic steel rod, then lifted her right foot and, with a push, looped her body around it. In just three seconds, she had climbed upwards a distance of five metres, at a tremendous speed. Relieved that she was not in any danger, another woman in the group stepped forward and started to climb the pole.

Zhao Xiaofei had certainly never climbed a pole before, as she clumsily clung to the thin pole and slowly climbed upwards on all fours in a very adolescent manner. After seeing her climb safely for more than ten metres, Tang Mo took a step forward and prepared to climb the pole. But just as he was about to touch the pole, he heard a shout from above his head. Tang Mo looked up quickly and Fu Wenduo frowned, reaching out to catch Zhao Xiaofei's falling body.

Suddenly, a black figure flashed past Tang Mo.

Thump, thump, thump!

The thin pole trembled slightly as someone stepped on it, only to see a crimson figure climbing the middle section of the pole at breakneck speed in the dim moonlight. Grea quickly reached out and caught the short-haired woman falling downwards with one hand, wrapping it around her waist. Zhao Xiaofei was also very dismayed. As a player who had cleared at least one level of The black tower, she would not have been hurt by a fall of this height, but she had only lost her footing because she had never climbed a pole before.

In the silence of the empty steel forest, Li Miaomiao looked down at the sound of voices: "Is everything all right?"

Midway up the pole, Grea was pulling the pole with one hand and holding the short-haired woman with the other. He looks down at the still unresponsive lady with a gentle smile on his pale face and a laugh in his voice: "My lady, do you need help?"

Zhao Xiaofei gradually came to her senses. As she was always going up anyway, she didn't refuse the offer of help and simply said, "Thank you."

In a tense and dangerous game of tower siege, no one has the heart to talk about love. Zhao Xiaofei shows no sign of feminine blush at all, staring warily at the foreign man holding her, not hiding her wariness.

Grea was not offended by her indifferent reaction, but just smiled a little wider. He climbs the pole so much faster than Zhao Xiaofei that even with a woman in one arm he is underneath Li Miaomiao in a few clicks. Gravity disappears completely beneath him, and instead of holding the pole upwards, he simply steps on it as if it were flat.

On the ground, Tang Mo watches the scene, his eyes slowly narrowing.

After a moment, Tang Mo looked at Fu Wenduo. The two men immediately understood each other's intentions, and Fu Wenduo had been thinking the same thing for a long time. He stepped forward, gripped the steel pole with one hand, and with a stomp of his foot, his whole body swished up the pole like a rocket.

Tang Mo watches carefully from below.

The corners of Tang Mo's mouth pursed slightly as Fu Wenduo caught up with the group. He walks forward without moving, holding the pole honestly and climbing upwards. Half a minute later, the five men are safely above the pallet. As Tang Mo's feet hit the platform, a clear child's voice rang out in their heads -

"Dingdong! Complete side mission one: enter Schrödinger's Iron Fortress."

Li Miaomiao exclaimed, "This ... is a steel fortress?! It's simply a steel castle, isn't it!"

Only on the flat and spacious steel platform stood a European-style ancient castle-like steel building. This dark steel castle stood coldly directly in front of the five men, surrounded by walls. A steel gate stood in front of them, and the red-bronze moonlight shone on the castle and the gate, reflecting a cold dipping sheen.

Amidst the bitter wind, Tang Mo suddenly heard a regular footstep. He pressed his hand against the small parasol and looked warily towards the mysterious and odd castle. There was a creak and the castle door was opened and a figure stepped out from behind it. The crowd immediately took out their weapons and watched the mystery man carefully, ready to attack.

The mysterious man steps out of the dark castle, steps through the door and appears before the eyes of the crowd.

It was a middle-aged man dressed in a black tuxedo, his hair meticulously combed and slicked back with a thick layer of hair oil. He carries an old-fashioned oil lamp in his hand and walks expressionlessly towards the steel gate, towards the five humans. When he reached a distance of five metres from the gate, Tang Mo and the others got a good look at him and he got a good look at the five players.

The middle-aged butler-like man paused in his steps, and after a moment, continued on.

He took out the key and opened this steel door. The five players remained where they were, cautiously surveying him, none of them entering the door.

The middle-aged man bowed slightly, his voice monotonous and undulating: "Welcome to Schrödinger's fortress of steel."

Five players stood outside the gate without moving.

Three minutes later, the middle-aged man bowed again and said, in the same tone and voice, in one word: "Welcome to Schrödinger's fortress of steel."

Li Miaomiao scowls at Tang Mo, asking him what to do next, but Tang Mo doesn't seem to see anything. She looked at Fu Wenduo again, but he ignored her, giving no response. Li Miaomiao grimaces in disbelief and follows the example of the two men, looking at the middle-aged man with indifference.

After another three minutes, the middle-aged man bowed again and, in the exact same voice and with the exact same facial gestures, repeated once more, "Welcome to Schrödinger's steel fortress."

Li Miaomiao suddenly realised: "Wait, you're a robot?

Zhao Xiaofei also noticed the anomaly: "Yes, his expression, his voice and even the way he bends over are exactly the same every time he speaks!"

The middle-aged man's voice remained stiff: "I'm not a robot."

Li Miaomiao: "So you're an underground person?"

The middle-aged man kept his head down, not looking directly at the player: "This is Schrödinger's Iron Castle, not the Kingdom of the Underlanders."

Soon the three minutes were up again and the middle-aged man bowed once more, "Welcome to Schrödinger's fortress of steel."

The crowd looked at each other.

As the middle-aged butler was about to say it for the fifth time, the crowd finally lifted their feet and walked into the mysterious castle. Seeing this, the middle-aged butler shut his mouth and stood quietly to one side, bowing and saying, "Please come in, sir." Only when all five were inside did he step forward and lead the way, carrying the small, worn-out steel oil lamp that stood in front of him.

One by one, the five men entered the gates of the castle, the last one still being Tang Mo. When he had gone in, there was a loud bang and the gate closed behind them.

Zhao Xiaofei: "What are you doing!"

In the darkness of the castle, only the oil lamp in the butler's hand glowed dimly.

Before they could attack, the two men stopped moving in unison and slowly turned their heads to look down the dark castle hall.

Grea had somehow managed to lean on his staff again, propping it up with his right hand and lifting his left to press his bowler hat. His blue eyes blinked and Grea exclaimed in all sincerity, "Wow, what a cute little baby."

A pair of dark green eyes were seen in the black castle staring deadly at the five humans.

Li Miaomiao swallowed hard at the ghastly eyes and a chill ran through her heart. She was about to ask Tang Mo to turn on the torch and shine a light on the brightness, when the next moment her mouth suddenly closed.

"Brush-brush-brush-"

In the deadly silence of the gloomy castle, pair after pair of green eyes appeared out of nowhere. From every corner of the castle, hundreds of green eyes stared at the five humans who had burst in. When they moved a little, these eyes moved with them. Li Miaomiao felt this numbing sensation on her scalp for the first time, her body was covered in goose bumps and her sweat was standing on end. She did not want to meet these green eyes, but when she lowered her head, she felt that they were all looking at her.

Li Miaomiao drew a scalpel straight away, ready to die with these green-eyed things.

At that moment, only a stiff voice rang out in the crowd's minds. The voice appeared without warning, and Li Miaomiao, who was actually the most timid of all, was so frightened that she stumbled backwards, almost knocking over the middle-aged butler's oil lamp.

Immediately afterwards, "Pop-"

The lights suddenly came on and the entire castle was illuminated in its entirety. Hundreds of black cats were seen filling every corner of the spacious castle, staring grimly at the five players standing in the doorway.

Suddenly, the first cat opened its mouth and let out a shrill catcall. Next, one black cat after another purred. The sound of the yowls filled the castle, as if nails were scraping against glass, causing the players to cover their ears. Only the middle-aged butler, as if he had already gotten used to it, watched it all with cold eyes.

After a long time, the cat's purring stopped abruptly.

"Dingdong! Trigger side quest two: Find Schrödinger's cat."

"The rules of the game--"

"First, Schrödinger only has one cat."

"Secondly, Mr. Cat is very clean and out of touch."

"Third, every three hours, a bowl of cat food will appear in the middle of the castle hall. Defeat the greedy underground man guarding the cat food to get it. Schrödinger's cats love cat food."

"The great Lord Schrödinger has upset his cat again today and, as a competent pooper scooper, Lord Schrödinger is thinking about how to win back his cat's heart. Perhaps a bowl of delicious cat food is the most powerful prop."