What is this for?
Jiang Lin walked directly into the main hall.
He didn't expose the little ones hiding away,
His gaze fell on a single metal object placed on the desk.
Palm-sized, square.
It looked like a brick, or… a mobile phone used in the human world.
His perception swept over it casually, and he could feel the presence of an energy source within the metal core.
But it seemed a bit strange.
Jiang Lin concentrated, feeling it carefully.
His perception, when it swept over the metal core… was it repelled?
What did the machine ball add inside?
A seal?
Jiang Lin pondered, picked up the small black brick, and switched his gaze.
Under the sight of 'Number One',
Jiang Lin saw layers of overlapping nets on the small black brick.
The outer large net enclosed a smaller net.
The smaller net enclosed an even smaller net.
At the very center of these nets was a faintly glowing energy core.
Suddenly,
Jiang Lin's gaze shifted to the metal objects installed on the bookshelves and roof beams.
He always felt that the nets inside the black brick had an inextricable connection with these things.
In fact, under the sight of Number One,
He did see some energy lines different from ordinary ghost artifacts.
These energy lines intertwined, and if these metal objects were combined, they should form a pattern.
This reminded Jiang Lin of forbidden techniques,
But these things were fundamentally different from the forbidden techniques he had encountered.
Just as Jiang Lin was thinking,
Continuously analyzing and dissecting these small objects with the sight of Number One,
Becoming more and more focused.
A ding-donging bell rang.
The black brick in his hand lit up.
It displayed a caller ID page that Jiang Lin was very familiar with.
Caller: Qiu Qiu.
Jiang Lin 'looked' at the machine ball (little white cat) hiding behind the Eighteenth Hall, in the pavilion in the middle of the lotus pond, and answered the call.
A cheerful meow immediately sounded from the other end.
"Master!"
"Mhm."
Jiang Lin responded lightly, but his heart skipped a beat.
He had a strange guess.
This little guy… couldn't it have solved the unsolved mysteries of the underworld?
It shouldn't be possible, right?
But the machine ball was a special product sent by the system when he returned from the West Hall…
The West Hall was an expert in this field, and it was a system product…
Jiang Lin couldn't help but hesitate.
After all,
The entire West Hall had been busy for so many years without cracking this puzzle.
How long had the machine ball taken?
No, why would it think of the underworld network?
Compared to Jiang Lin's churning thoughts, the machine ball (little white cat) on the other end of the phone thought very simply.
Its voice was filled with joy:
"Master, we have a network now! We can use mobile phones too!"
"Aren't you happy? Aren't you excited?"
Do you want to increase its allowance?
The little white cat in the pavilion meowed at the black phone on the ground, wagging its tail happily.
It had put in a lot of effort this time.
It had spent months of allowance and old spare parts.
The voice on the other end paused, "...Mhm, happy."
In an instant,
The little white cat's eyes lit up, and its tail wagged, "How happy?!"
Increase allowance? Increase allowance?
"..."
Jiang Lin raised an eyebrow, "What reward do you want?"
The little white cat shivered all over, "Increase allowance!"
Jiang Lin: "Okay."
"Double… triple?"
"Okay."
The little white cat's throat began to purr. That was triple allowance!
Triple!
It was equivalent to getting three months of allowance at once!
This was worth it!
The senior student didn't lie to it!
Effort and reward are relative!
The little white cat purred, circling the phone.
Habitually, it raised its paw and dug at the ground from time to time.
It wanted to hide the phone.
Just like hiding its allowance and precious spare parts.
There was no sound from the pavilion.
Jiang Lin glanced at the little guys from the Counterattack Alliance in the corner.
He spoke into the phone:
"How about I treat you and your friends to a big meal?"
The little white cat was still immersed in joy,
Happily nodding, "Okay, okay!"
Everyone go eat delicious food!
"!!!"
The little guys, who had been squatting until their legs were numb, their eyes suddenly lit up.
This trip was not in vain!
...
Half an hour later,
In the largest restaurant in the Ghost Market.
The machine ball (little white cat) sat beside Jiang Lin, watching its friends devour the table full of delicacies.
It suddenly came to its senses.
Oh right, it couldn't eat the big meal!
Is it really that delicious?
The little white cat tilted its head, its pair of sapphire blue eyes filled with curiosity.
It recalled novels it had read before.
There were various descriptions of food.
'The braised pork had a beautiful color and emitted an enticing aroma.
When eaten, it was tender and not greasy, with a slight chewiness.
Pouring the sauce over rice could make one eat two large bowls of rice.'
'This stir-fried tomatoes and eggs had a strong homemade flavor. The tomatoes had released their juices, perfectly blending with the aroma of the fried eggs...'
...It seemed really delicious.
Just as the little white cat was participating in the feast solely through imagination,
A bowl of energy candies was placed in the bowl in front of it.
Jiang Lin: "Do you want to eat this?"
The little white cat's eyes lit up, and it meowed happily.
"Yes!"
—Senior, I think I'm getting closer to being the group's pet.
...
...
After the meal.
Jiang Lin requested the little pet beasts from the Counterattack Alliance to temporarily keep the "network" a secret.
The little pet beasts, who were full and their limbs were weak, readily agreed.
Anyway, they had only helped out a little, providing some minor assistance.
It was the machine ball's invention in the first place.
If they weren't allowed to talk about it, they wouldn't.
Although they were looking forward to playing various games together once the network was connected,
Given the machine ball's current network and research speed…
It would probably take a while.
...
After bidding farewell to the little guys from the Counterattack Alliance,
Jiang Lin also took the machine ball back to the Eighteenth Hall.
Then, to the machine ball's bewildered gaze, he activated three layers of defensive shields.
Machine ball: ???
...