Chapter 184: Cat Bus
"Do you mean now?"
Du Jiajia had this idea for a long time, and she was the one who originally suggested it—to let Xiao Huang (the cat) carry everyone for an outing.
However, the biggest problem now wasn't the cat but the humans themselves.
Du Jiajia said helplessly, "I tried to climb on Xiao Huang's back, but it was too difficult. Even if it just stays there, it's still too high for me. And even if I manage to climb on, if it runs, I'll definitely fall off."
"Of course, even riding a horse is challenging without a saddle and reins."
"Are you suggesting... making a cat saddle?"
"It's something like that," Chen Mu said, "I was thinking, can we hang a glass box under the cat's neck, and people can be inside it, so we can follow the cat wherever it goes?"
"But at Xiao Huang's speed, I'm afraid even inside the box, I'll be shaken into mush," Du Jiajia expressed her concerns.
"As long as you're inside, I don't think that will happen," Chen Mu said confidently, "Do you remember, at the beginning, we were worried that the cats might accidentally harm you, but the reality proved that they are always careful about your safety. Last time, when Xiao Huang came running straight towards you, it intentionally avoided your position, even if it meant falling over itself. That was a good proof."
"Yeah, it seems so."
"Therefore, I think it's worth a try."
"But Chen Mu, why didn't you mention this before?"
"Before, there wasn't anyone brave enough to get close to your troublesome cat," Chen Mu replied grumpily, "Only Gu Yinglong, who is fearless, dared to touch it."
"Ha-ha."
Du Jiajia laughed and then became somewhat distressed, "But I still have to persuade Dong Junwei. The last time I wanted to climb on Xiao Huang's back, I was stopped and reprimanded by the class monitor for quite a while."
"Let's first ask Tang Jing. If she agrees too, then the class monitor shouldn't have a problem."
In reality, when Chen Mu and Tang Jing jointly decided on something, it was hard for Dong Junwei to insist otherwise.
Thus, the plan of riding a cat was set.
Du Jiajia even gave this plan a code name - "Xiao Huang Charge Forward."
Chen Mu had this idea of using a cat as a mount for a long time, but the implementation was rather challenging, so it hadn't been put into action. However, now, both Du Jiajia's abilities and the necessary equipment were ready to achieve this goal.
If this plan could truly succeed, its significance for enlightenment would be epoch-making.
Finally, they wouldn't be trapped in one place anymore.
Everyone was curious about the outside world. What was happening beyond the school? How many other humans had survived? Some even wanted to go back home and find their family if possible. All these desires could be fulfilled with the help of a cat.
This made humans feel even more insignificant.
The plan, codenamed "Xiao Huang Charge Forward," began early the next day. Chen Mu first constructed a glass cuboid that could accommodate three or four people, surrounded it with an iron fence, and equipped the box with a door and ventilation holes. Inside, he placed foam padding.
The next step was the most crucial one—to attach the box to Xiao Huang's neck.
Chen Mu remembered the story of a mouse once hanging a bell on a cat, and now he found himself in a similar situation. Only he could do this task.
In the afternoon, fully equipped, Chen Mu followed Du Jiajia outside. When he stood in front of Xiao Huang, his heart was pounding. There's a saying that humans have a natural fear of large cats, somewhat like an innate blood pressure response. And the feline in front of him was larger than any big cat he had seen before.
Throughout the process, Chen Mu was extremely cautious, making his movements as light as possible, afraid of triggering any aggressive reaction from the cat.
Initially, they had planned to put a collar on Xiao Huang. However, after weighing the options, Du Jiajia felt that Xiao Huang's temperament was too unpredictable, and she feared it might be difficult to control over time. Therefore, the more docile cat, Xiao Bai, became the first test subject.
Du Jiajia instructed Xiao Bai to lie down, and both cats quickly understood simple commands like this. However, when it came to specific targets and actions, they couldn't comprehend entirely. After all, telepathic communication was a vague concept and, to some extent, superior to human-to-human communication in certain aspects but lacked the precision of language.
Chen Mu looked up at the massive cat's head and silently prayed that Du Jiajia wouldn't reveal the fact that she used to call him "Little Annoying Cat."
A plastic strap, wider than a person, slowly climbed up the cat's neck. Xiao Bai obviously felt it and curiously turned its head left and right, but Du Jiajia quickly reassured it.
After about ten minutes, the plastic collar was finally placed around Xiao Bai's neck.
"Not bad, it looks pretty good," Du Jiajia looked up at the new equipment on Xiao Bai and found it quite amusing.
"Can you make it stop staring at me all the time?"
Throughout the whole process, the cat kept staring at the human in front of it, which made Chen Mu feel uneasy. This was definitely not a fun experience. He couldn't understand why Zhao Xiaoyan and her friends were so obsessed with playing with cats. They might end up scaring themselves if the cat reacted unexpectedly when they tried it.
Du Jiajia laughed heartily, "Sorry, Chen Mu, the command was a bit complicated, and Xiao Bai didn't understand."
Nevertheless, despite that, Du Jiajia managed to make eye contact with the cat easily, which indirectly helped Chen Mu.
After completing all the tasks, Chen Mu cautiously returned to his room. According to the plan, after putting the collar on the cat, they would let it adapt for a while. Otherwise, if they climbed on while Xiao Bai felt uncomfortable and started scratching around, it would be a mess.
Three days later, the second step continued.
This time it was much simpler – they just needed to attach the glass box under the collar.
Once everything was ready, Xiao Bai looked like a domestic cat with a bell on, and its aura instantly improved.
Although the box could only fit up to four people, they decided to let Du Jiajia be the first to try it out.
...
Xiao Bai lay down on the ground, and the glass box was placed on the floor.
Dong Junwei led everyone to say their goodbyes.
Du Jiajia walked forward alone, opened the door of the box, and then turned back to wave at everyone. She entered the box, closed the door, and secured the latch.
The others faintly heard Du Jiajia shout, "Xiao Bai, let's go!"
After that, they couldn't see anything.
But soon, they saw Xiao Bai suddenly stand up and make a soft meow before walking in the direction they came from.
Everyone couldn't help but hold their breath.
Fortunately, the little cat's movement was not fast. Unlike its usual sprinting, it was now elegantly walking with feline grace.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
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