Chapter 6176 - 5187: Soul Machine Utopia (44)

"You’re actually locking the cat up with these precious manuscripts, aren’t you worried that once you open the box you’ll find a pile of shredded paper?" Frank shook his head. "I don’t really like cats; they’re too uncontrollable, and they don’t understand who’s the boss, always innocently causing trouble."

"Don’t say that, Frank," Dr. Henry clearly disagreed, "Just like there are smart people among humans, this little guy is smarter than you think. It even helped me get these manuscripts!"

"Being too smart isn’t necessarily a good thing." Though Frank said this, he still reached out to stroke the cat’s head. Then, they started discussing the manuscript.

"I found this among the remnants of ancient books. Of course, it didn’t originally look like this; this is my restored version. It’s quite interesting, isn’t it?"

Frank frowned, instinctively picking up a pipe from nearby, and said a bit unclearly, "I don’t think humanoid machines are a good choice, even if it’s in an ancient book. It might just be a science fiction writer’s imagination."

Standing from Shiller’s angle, he couldn’t clearly see what was drawn on the manuscript. He was eager to look but neither of them gave him a suitable angle. He really wanted to jump onto someone like a cat and disrupt things, but worried he might damage the manuscript, he had to give up.

However, they didn’t study the manuscript for long; Frank soon changed the topic, asking, "If we really decide to form this expedition team, who do you want to lead it?"

"Can’t you do it?" Dr. Henry asked, "You’re an outstanding engineer, and you have leadership skills."

Frank shook his head, saying, "Since it’s primarily geological exploration, we should find a geologist to lead. Does Professor Dale have any projects lately?"

"He always has projects," Henry said with some helplessness, "He just took students to Newfoundland for samples a couple of days ago, but he should be back soon."

"I think he’s good, and there’s Atwood and his students. They’ve been to the North Pole, and they’re quite experienced. If possible, I’d like to bring Mrs. Ed along; she’s skilled in outdoor cooking, and having a warm soup in that environment is good for people’s physical and mental well-being."

Henry nodded and then said, "Who do you prefer from the biology department?"

"The most professional is probably Reck," Frank slightly frowned, "But I think he’s quite young, and this is his first time participating in such offshore scientific expeditions, so he might lack experience."

"I’ll discuss it with them," Henry said, "This time the sponsorship will be sufficient, allowing us to prepare well and hopefully gather more data while minimizing risk for you all."

By the time Henry left, the rain had already stopped, so he didn’t put the cat back in the handbag. Instead, he carried it slowly back home, muttering to himself, "Ever since the last incident, I’ve been feeling uneasy. Underneath the icebergs, there are secrets inaccessible to humans, mostly terrifying. Although I don’t approve of traveling at this moment, this opportunity is too precious."

Shiller had already pieced together what they were up to from the names mentioned; in short, it was just forming a group to die in Antarctica.

But that’s how the Cthulhu Mythos Universe is; no matter what humans try to do, it seems like a suicide mission. Investigate the sky and there’s an Outer God, explore the ground and there are Old Ones, check the ocean and there’s a giant octopus — no matter the direction, it’s a path to doom.

Despite this, Shiller still wanted to prevent the coming tragedy as much as possible and bring some souvenirs back home. The best way to intervene was to influence the selection of the Antarctic research team’s members.

Back at the tower, several cats were already curled up asleep in front of the fireplace. Bat Cat occupied the cushion where Shiller often stayed, Peter and Constantine were nestled on the carpet, and Little Superman slept on the hearth. Dr. Henry walked over, patting one of the cats; all woke up except Little Superman.

Bat Cat stretched out lazily, kneading the cushion with its front paws before elegantly jumping onto the table. Shiller also jumped onto the table, while Peter and Constantine stayed on the chairs.

Dr. Henry picked up the still-sleeping Little Superman, placing him on his lap. He then grabbed a nearby book, petting the cat while reading. Little Superman showed no intention of waking up, merely rolled over and continued to sleep.

The cats held a meeting on the table. Shiller explained the basic situation, then said, "If they just head to the South Pole like this, their survival chances aren’t great. We’d better find some more reliable people."

"Who do you think is more suitable?" Bat Cat asked.

"The librarian is definitely the best choice, but he’s too old, probably incapable of handling activities in Antarctica," Shiller glanced at Dr. Henry, who was indeed a legendary figure. But at over seventy, he was already showing signs of physical weakness while handling the Dunwich Horror Incident a couple of years ago. Surviving the harsh natural environment in Antarctica might be beyond him.

"So you’re thinking of someone in their prime?" Bat Cat contemplated, then asked again, "Who in the team are you most dissatisfied with?"

"Reck isn’t very reliable," Shiller said, "You should have heard of him, a biology professor, but quite young. Most importantly, he hasn’t achieved much, which might lead him to rush things — the exact thing to avoid in scientific expeditions."

Bat Cat nodded and said: "Speaking of the Biology Department, I know a good candidate. Have you heard of Professor Dexter?"

"Is that the Black professor?" Peter thought for a moment and said, "I think I’ve attended his class. His fundamentals are quite solid, and he has a gentle personality. But that Professor Reck you mentioned is quite hasty, leaving right after his lecture, not very steady."

"Then let’s choose Professor Dexter." Bat Cat said, "Also, in the coming days, we’ll listen to other professors’ lectures to see if there are better candidates. Who’s leading the team?"

"Professor Dale." Shiller said, and several cats suddenly understood. This professor is quite old, but he is a pillar of Miskatonic University and a golden nameplate, very authoritative in geology.

"Then I’ll also go listen to his class tomorrow," Peter said. "I wasn’t very interested in geology before, so I haven’t been to that classroom, just heard about him from students. Have the student candidates been decided?"

"Each professor needs to bring their own graduate students and PhD candidates." Shiller said, "Professor Dale can probably take two or three, and each of the other professors will take one. Help check if there are any issues with the candidate selection."

"Alright." The several cats all nodded.

In fact, being a cat is very convenient. Not only can they freely enter and leave classrooms, but they can also go into student dormitories at will. They can move around in the common lounges and even go inside the dorms, and nobody would be wary of a cat, so they can easily hear many daily conversations of the students, making it easy to understand their personalities.

"By the way, John, has there been anything unusual with the person I asked you to keep an eye on?" Shiller turned to Constantine and asked.

"Old Professor Pislei does seem a bit off." Constantine replied, "During lectures he always seems distracted, often spacing out and not speaking. When students ask him what’s wrong, he doesn’t say, but when certain things are mentioned, a look of fear appears on his face."

"What things?"

"Some psychology terms, I don’t quite understand." Constantine said, "It seems to be about spirit and dreams."

Shiller pondered and then said, "Keep an eye on him, and also watch his son, Little Professor Pislei. Recently, I have other matters to attend to and may temporarily leave the university. Let’s meet again next Sunday."

"Where are you going?" Bat Cat asked.

"I need to find a dog," Shiller said, "It used to be the library’s guard dog, but disappeared during an incident before. I need to find it."

"What is special about it?"

"This dog has the ability to detect Old Ones’ bloodlines," Shiller said, "You can think of it as being able to sniff out monsters and tainted hybrids among humans, which is especially important for us."

"It seems the South Pole is quite perilous." Bat Cat seemed to understand something.

"Even in a universe without Outer Gods, polar expeditions are dangerous, not to mention besides the Outer Gods, Earth hides many terrifying Ancient Ones, so we must be extra careful."

The cats discussed, and to Dr. Henry it sounded like a bunch of little cats meowing. Once the discussion ended, Dr. Henry was already asleep, but Shiller quietly slipped into the library. He went to the lowest level, to the side of the library’s main entrance, where there was a small room now used for storing miscellaneous items, but which used to be a dog house.

Miskatonic University’s library contains many precious tomes. To prevent theft, they kept a dog, but about two years ago, a hybrid with otherworldly blood tried to sneak in to steal the Necronomicon and was bitten by the guard dog. However, after biting the intruder, the dog ran away, and Dr. Henry searched all of Miskatonic University and the surrounding area but couldn’t find it.

This dog is very special. Although it appears to be just a normal guard dog, it possesses the ability to detect otherworldly bloodlines. It is gentle with the school’s teachers and students but bit to death Wilbur Whateley, a descendant of Yog-Sothoth, during the Dunwich Horror Incident, preventing him from summoning his vile twin brother and stopping the horror event from occurring.

This story sounds absurd, but it is actually a very important link in the Cthulhu Mythos Universe, not only introducing the important setting of Yog-Sothoth but also laying the groundwork for the power system of the Cthulhu Mythos Universe.

Although the original author disliked ranking power levels, believing that too clear power stratification would weaken the sense of horror, the Cthulhu Mythos Universe still has a certain power ranking, more akin to Pokémon with mutual restraining relationships compared to American Comics.

Yog-Sothoth is set as a very high-tier entity, so when many saw his descendant bitten to death by a dog, they found it unbelievable. But in the Cthulhu Mythos Universe, there are two divine artifacts: human willpower and animal instinct. When these attributes are maxed out, they can repel the followers of the Outer Gods.